Fandom PMD - The Disappearing Law (Riolux & Runesage)

[Riolux]

Luca himself sort of looked around again, frowning a bit as he found sleep a bit more elusive than Lyle did. 'I know we gotta be up early tomorrow, but...ugh. My mind's swimming with questions. Why'd I become a Zorua, why is Trill so keen on training us, and is there a way to go back home? Heck...do I even want to go home? I dunno, but I won't find answers pacing around my room all night. Guess I better try and sleep.' he thought, climbing into his bed and lying down. After a boring half-hour, he finally managed to for himself to drift off to a rather restless sleep.


@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

The night passed uneventfully save for a few strange dreams that disturbed the pair of them. They were forgotten on waking, however, and the sun rose beautifully in the morning. As the first rays of dawn touched Lyle's face, he woke, stretching in his bed. "Ah," he sighed contentedly as he gazed out the window. "Day one of a new adventure." He said to himself. He turned to Luca and shook him awake. "Hey, Luca, We've got to be ready to go in about half an hour. Are you ready?"


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca groaned as he turned over, tiredly waving Lyle away. "Mmm...five more minutes, dude. The sun's barely up..." he mumbled as he attempted to go back asleep. He'd had a rather sleepless night, having woken up multiple times during the night having not truly been tired when he'd gone to bed and now it was coming back to bite him in the rear. Now all he felt was exhaustion as his partner seemed intent to get him up at who knows what hour.


@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Luca, we'll be late." Lyle said, nudging him again. "What do you think the Captain will do if we miss roll call."

"Same thing he does every day. Check to see who's there, then go back to bed."


"AH!" Lyle screamed as the voice came from right behind him. He whirled around, sparks flying wildly around his body as he shorted his energy in his panic. They were harmless, but bright. He spotted a grinning Alolan Sandslash, Trill, standing behind him and his panic escalated. "What are you doing here? I thought we were-"


"I got permission last night to train you two differently. You'll be on different schedules." The sandslash said. "A lot of what most teams do is dungeon exploration and requests in dungeons. You two," the Chief said pointing at them, "will still do some of that, but you'll also do out-of-dungeon tasks as well. Any questions?" 



Lyle thought for a second, knowing the obvious question, but wanting Luca to say it. He was still confused about who the Sandslash reminded him of.


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca sat up and leaped off his bed, walking up to Trill, knowing exactly what question he wanted to ask. "Just one. Why us? What makes us worth training separately from the others and why do you want to do it personally? I feel like me and my partner here deserve to know, sir." he said firmly, wanting answers as to why he and his partner had been handpicked to be trained specifically under someone so seemingly important as Trill. He didn't like being kept out of the loop with things like this.

@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Hmmm..." Trill said. "I assume you won't be satisfied with the answer 'you intrigued me,' right." Lyle shook his head. "Well." Trill said. "You two remind me of some Pokemon. That's all you'll get for now."


"What?" Lyle said. "That's not a reason."


"How about we play a game? You find out what my real name is, and I'll tell you everything." Trill said. "But if you guess wrong, I'll reveal one of your secrets to the other."


"S-secrets?" Lyle stuttered.


"You both are full of them. When you have secrets, you begin to be able to tell when others do as well." Trill replied. "Now, anything else, or should we get started."


"We haven't even said we want a part of your game yet!" Lyle shouted. He mused for a minute. "I don't know... It's your call Luca."


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Lyle, I don't know about you, but there's not much I'm afraid to tell you and the rest there's literally no way in the world he'd be able to know unless I told him myself. So I'm game if you are. It's not my call. It's yours." he told his partner, determined to get more answers. He had no dark secrets to hide from this Sandslash and even if Trill somehow figured out that he wasn't originally a Pokemon, at least he wouldn't have to hide it from Lyle anymore. He patiently awaited his partner's answer as he looked to Trill.



@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Hmm... I guess that's true for me as well." Lyle said. There were only two people who knew his secrets, and one had disappeared a long time ago, while the other would never tell. "All right. We'll play your game."
 


"Excellent. Now, how about we begin training. Normally we'd start you off learning the basics in the dojo downstairs. However, you two are coming with me to a dungeon. But before we go, let's review the equipment we have." Trill looked serious; the lesson had begun. "Always review your equipment before entering a dungeon. You may find yourself short on supplies if you don't." Trill grabbed their Treasure Bag. "You've got two items in here. Standard issue Power Band and Def. Scarf. I suggest you put them on now to save time." He tossed the Power Band to Luca and the Def. Scarf to Lyle. "The dungeon we're going to has lots of essential supplies in it, so we're fine there. These," Trill said, grabbing the Explorer Badges, "are your Explorer Badges. They're the mark you're an exploration team, and they have a lot of other benefits as well."



"Like what, sir?" Lyle asked, carefully winding the Def. Scarf around his neck.


"Don't call me sir. Call me Chief. They can get you out of dungeons if you're knocked out or complete a mission, they can actually fully heal you if it senses a much stronger enemy, and when paired with these," He grabbed the other devices, "They can inform you of you and your teammates status. Just attach it like so." Trill inserted the badge into the device, and a screen popped up. "This pair of devices also keeps track of the layout of the current floor." 


"Where are we going, Cheif?" Lyle asked. 


"Excellent question. We've got a job, marked B8F of Lilia Forest. We need to retrieve a item that's missing. We don't know why it's there. It could have been stolen or just lost there."

"Lilia Forest, That's the forest to the north right? That's close to where I met you." Lyle said.


"Anyway, I'll explain how Dungeon combat works when we get there. Are you ready to go?" Trill asked. 


Lyle nodded. "I am. What about you, Luca?"


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca wrapped the Power Band around his neck as well, not having a more fitting place to put it and honestly, he gasped a bit as he felt...different. He wasn't sure how. He just felt it. Looking to Lyle, he nodded. "Born ready," he answered.


"Good. Then let's get going." Trill answered and they departed, leaving the Guild Hall and the town behind to head towards Lilia Forest to the north. Honestly, the thought of returning to that place filled him with dread. He'd felt something deeply wrong there the first time and from what Trill and Lyle had said, he'd apparently woken up dangerously close to this "Mystery Dungeon". He shivered at the thought of what might've happened if he'd gone the wrong way. 


'I could be dead right now and no one would've known.' he thought to himself. Finally, they reached the entrance of the Dungeon, a tree's trunk had been warped down the middle indicating the entrance of the Mystery Dungeon. It was fairly dark, the thick canopy only letting thin rays of light and the leaves themselves filtering most of it out, seeming to give everything an almost ethereal green tint. Luca heard some Poochyena cries in the distance, but he did not recognize them as such. All he knew is that something felt deeply wrong to him and he wanted nothing more to do with this place. He scowled as his fur bristled a bit instinctively.

@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Lyle peered into the darkness. "Will we be able to see in there?" 


Trill shook his head. "Not very far. Only about two rounds of walking. Which brings me to dungeon combat. Time moves a little... differently... in Mystery Dungeons. All actions happen simultaneously, at the same speed. That means that if you two don't move, I won't move as well. This allows you time to plan out your actions. None of the enemies in the dungeon will be able to move until you do." Trill looked at Luca bristling by the tree. "Feels off right? Most of the Pokemon in there feel so as well. The Explorer Badges will be keep you from the worst of it, but this aura of wrongness is what drives most of the Pokemon here crazy as well. They WILL," Trill looked sharply at the pair, "WILL, attack you. Stay on your guard. This dungeon houses mostly grass and bug type Pokemon. Our goal is B8F. The item we're trying to retrieve is a Invisify Orb. Are you two ready?" They nodded. "Good. Let's begin." The trio vanished into the darkness. 


"It's really hard to see in here." Lyle said as they went down... stairs? Suddenly the room opened up. "Huh, there's no one in here but us." He looked around the room and began to panic. "The stairs disappeared!" 


"The only way to go is down. Check your Explorer Devices."


Lyle pulled out his. A map appeared on the screen, as well as a list of moves. "Huh. I didn't know I could use Signal Beam." He knew about the other moves, Helping Hand, Spark, and Quick Attack. "Well, it looks like I can attack from a distance and help you out. Why don't you take the lead, Luca?"


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Me? Take front? I don't know about this..." he said as he checked his moves. "Scratch, Feint Attack, Snatch, and Dark Pulse?" he read aloud. "I don't even know how to begin to use any of these," he said. "I mean I could probably easily get Scratch, but...ugh." he moaned, having a feeling that this was going to suck. He took a step and, from the darkness of a corridor, a Wurmple emerged. "Oh hey there, little guy," Luca said to it, futilely trying to be friendly.


@Runesage 

 

[Runesage]

Lyle followed Luca's step and noticed Trill follow him. "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself." Trill said.


"I wasn't worrying. I was noticing how this time thing worked. Also, do you have any tips for me and Luca at using the moves we're not familiar with?" Lyle said. 


"Well... there's a center of energy inside of all of us. Most attacks that we have are based on summoning that energy. For example, you can use Spark, right?"


"Yeah."



"Well, it's the same center of energy, just manifested differently. Beam attacks are usually through the hands or concentrated in front of the mouth." 



"Like this?" Lyle reached inside to where his energy core was. Being an electric type, it was easy to find. Energy began to gather in his hands, and flash different colors. "Is this right?"


"Yeah, just don't point it at me or Luca when you decide to release it. It's hard to hit your allies here, because of the way time moves, but it can still happen." Trill responded. "Luca's center of energy is probably a little more difficult to find. Instead of looking for energy inside you, look for the lack of energy. Pull that negative energy around yourself, and you'll be able to use Feint Attack, suspend it in front of you to use Snatch, and launch it around you to use Dark Pulse. You can also swing with a regular attack, not using a move at all, but it doesn't do as much damage and you don't learn as much from it." Trill pointed at the Wurmple. "Next time he can, he's going to use String Shot on you Luca. That will slow you down, so much so that for every one action you take, he'll be able to take two. I suggest taking him out right now before he can. Dark Pulse cuts corners, you could hit him from here with it. Lyle can hit him with Signal Beam as well." Lyle nodded. "Your call Luca. We could try to avoid him, but he'll just String Shot us until we get surrounded."

@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca blinked in confusion, mostly getting what Trill was saying, but not getting why they had to fight the Wurmple in the first place. "That all swell and dandy, Chief, but why are we picking fights in the first place? How do we know they're an enemy and not just lost or something? We could be attacking someone completely innocent out of nothing but paranoia." he reasoned, obviously unaware that the only 'mons they were going to find were going to be hostile. All he knew is that they were being told to simply attack an unknown Pokemon and it didn't really sit right with him.


@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Trill sighed. "Check the Map again." Lyle looked, and a red dot was on the map approximately where the Wurmple was. "The red dot indicates that he is hostile. You will notice that Luca and I are indicated with a Yellow dot. That means they are allies or not hostile at least. You are indicated with a white flashing dot."


"Yeah, but how does the device know?" Lyle asked.


Trill sighed again. "Switch places with me Luca." Trill and Luca swapped positions and the Wurmple launched a String Shot at Trill. "You just learn to trust the device. I don't know how it works, but it's always right. You might encounter other Pokemon who are indicated as Yellow. These are generally mission objectives, or at least not hostile. You also will encounter napping Pokemon indicated by a Red dot. If you get too close to them, they will wake up and attack. You can avoid them if you want."  Trill gathered energy between his hands, a Focus Blast, and launched it at the Wurmple, who fainted. "Based on the way Mystery Dungeons work, because he was knocked out here, he'll get transported out of the dungeon, where the aura will not affect him." Trill gestured at Luca. "I'll catch up, I'm still slowed by the String Shot. You two go on ahead."



@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca nodded sheepishly, feeling like an idiot. "C'mon, Lyle," he told his friend and proceeded to start moving them down a hallway. "This all feels so foreign to me. I mean he expects us to fight without training and stuff? What's the deal with that ?" he asked until he spotted a Poochyena just a few steps away from them. "Ah geez. More trouble. Hey, Lyle? How far can your Signal Beam hit?" he asked, seeing as they had a few steps to sort this out until the Poochyena would be within striking range. He figured they might as well make the most out of the way time worked here.



@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Lyle frowned slightly. "I don't know."


"It's around 10 spaces away." Trill's voice came from the device. Lyle jumped, and Trill snickered. "I did tell you that you can communicate using these. Based on the map that I have, you could easily hit the Poochyena from where you're standing."


Lyle nodded. "Here we go." Lyle pulled the energy between his hands. He felt it grow until he couldn't hold it anymore, and launched it down the corridor. "Got him!" Lyle exclaimed as the beam struck, knocking the Poochyena out. "Yes!" 


"Good job. Try to find the stairs as you go around the dungeon. They'll take us to the next floor." 


Lyle nodded. "Affirmative Chief." He turned to Luca. "Let's go!" He was getting excited again.


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Right. Nice shot, by the way." Luca said as they pressed on. This time he gave himself a bit of a scare as a Sunkern rounded the corner directly in front of him. "Oh c'mon! Gimme a break here!" he said and attempted to build up the same energy like Lyle did, but to use Scratch instead, figuring the use of his claws would be the easiest. While it was difficult for him, his relatively short claws extended in a white energy on one paw, allowing him to perform the move, scratching the Sunkern. It was not, however, enough to knock it out, and it retaliated my throwing itself into his face. "Ow! Hey!" he replied, rubbing his nose.
@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Look out!" Lyle said and he pulled energy up again. This time, instead of forcing it between his hands, he forced it into his feet. He dashed past Luca and rammed into the Sunkern with a Quick Attack. The Sunkern fell back, disappearing into the dungeon's depths. 


"You two all right?" Trill's voice said from the device. 


"Yeah, we're fine. You?"


"These attacks are nothing more than an annoyance to me. I'm much stronger than any Pokemon that hides out in this dungeon. Don't worry about me. You should be finding the stairs soon. I've searched the other side of the floor, but I haven't found it yet."



Lyle nodded. "Gotcha Chief."


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

'"Yeah, we're fine." Speak for yourself.' Luca thought rather sourly to himself. "If he's checked the other side, then it must be on our side, which means we're getting close. Let's keep going." Luca reasoned, gesturing for Lyle to follow him while wiggling his nose a bit and sniffing to make sure it wasn't bleeding or anything. After a bit of walking, they'd entered a large room, with an Oran Berry on the ground a pile of coins in the corner. There was also an odd tile with what looked like a green arrow pointing to the north wall of the room. At the very back of the room, however, was a staircase. "I think that's it, Lyle!" Luca said, pointing.


@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Yeah! Lets go!" Lyle was about to start running towards the stairs when Trill's voice stopped him.


"There was another reason we came to this dungeon, remember. There's lots of essential supplies here. Why don't you two go pick them up. I should be with you again by that time."


"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Lyle took a few steps to the pile of coins. The pile added up to 52 Poke. When he turned back to the entrance of the room, Trill was standing at the entry. "Hey, what's that tile for?"


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Trill looked over to the tile Lyle had inquired about. "That is a Wonder Tile. It's designed to restore you back to original state sans health. If you were hit with a move like Growl or Leer, it would cause the effects to disappear. Careful when using it though, as Swords Dance and Nasty Plots effects are also removed." Trill explain to them. Luca raised an eyebrow in curiosity.


"What happens if you just step on it without either of those, Chief?" he questioned.


"If you step on it without any changes to your strength or endurance then it does nothing. Anything else?" he asked, to which Luca shook his head.



@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Then let's go." Trill said. He grabbed the Oran Berry on the way to the stairs, and they headed down a floor. The next couple of floors passed without much commotion. Total items collected: 4 Apples 3 Oran Berries, 2 Max Elixirs, 18 total Geo Pebbles, 2 Pecha Berries, 2 Blast Seeds, 1 Tiny Reviver Seed. Total Gold: 371 Poke. Encountered a total of 24 enemies, defeated them all. Both Lyle and Luca Leveled up 1 time. 


B8F:


"This is the floor, right?" Lyle said. Trill nodded. 


"It's also the end of the dungeon, see?" Trill pointed at the walls. There wasn't an exit to the room. Trill gave a sudden start. "That's not supposed to be there..." He muttered to himself, looking at a mirror set between two trees. The trees formed a natural archway, and the mirror seemed to join seamlessly with the branches and trunks that made the archway. "Hmm... I'd better tell the Captain about- LYLE! What are you doing?"


"I found the orb, Cheif!" Lyle shouted, holding the orb, standing extremely close to the mirror. "This mirror's pretty weird too. It's not showing any of our reflections."

"Get away from there. You grew up in Mirror City, you should know better."


A look of panic crossed Lyle's face, and he stepped back hastily. "Sorry Chief." He took a couple of breaths, then looked up in curiosity. "What now?"


"Now we get out of here. Take out your badge." Lyle, Trill, and Luca pulled out their badges. Trill held his over theirs, and a mysterious light enveloped them all. The light flashed brightly, and they were standing in the Guild Hall. "Let's call the client. I'm sure she'll be pleased."


A couple of minutes later, a grateful Corsola stood in front of them. "Thank you so much for retrieving that item for me. Here's the promised reward." 


Team Disa recieved: 200 Poke, a Reviver Seed, and a Gravelrock(10). 


As the Corsola left, Trill turned towards the pair of them. "Don't tell anyone about the mirror in the dungeon. I will tell the Cheif." He left the pair of them to discuss the days adventure before dinner.


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Lyle...what was that thing?" he asked his partner in a hushed tone, understanding that they apparently didn't want anyone talking about it. Luca didn't get what the big fuss was over a fancy old mirror. 'Lyle had mentioned that it didn't show our reflections...and Trill seemed pretty upset about it too. I need to know what's up with that. They seemed hell-bent on not letting anyone know it was there.' he thought to himself as he waited for Lyle to answer. He was hoping that Lyle trusted Luca enough to at least inform him of the possible dangers.



@Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Well, a mirror shouldn't grow out of some trees." Lyle whispered back. "But the real reason I was worried was because of a Mirror City legend. There are three big mirrors in a tower at the center of town. All of the buildings have mirrors inside as well. The myth was that... well..." Lyle averted his eyes. "It may be hard to believe, but we believed that the local guardians used the mirrors to watch us and protect us. Whenever something was stolen, we'd find it in front of the mirror. However, a couple of years back, it changed. Some Pokemon's reflections stopped showing up in the mirror. Later on, the same Pokemon disappeared. We thought they were being kidnapped by the Dark Stars a local gang that hadn't been any trouble beforehand. Seeing the mirror, but no reflection, it reminded me of that time." Lyle shook slightly. "I know that those rumors about mirrors are true. Some very special Pokemon can move through mirrors. At least one of the Dark Stars can. I've seen them. It's why I had to leave."


A bell rang, causing Lyle to jump. "What was that?" Lyle panicked, not realizing that it was the dinner bell.


@Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Not a clue. Chill out, though. I'm sure we'll find out shortly." he said, trying to get Lyle to relax. He did flick his ears a bit in annoyance, though. The pitch bugged him more than a little due to his now sensitive hearing. Off to the side, a Rhyhorn called over to them. "Hey! You two are gonna miss dinner just standing around! Hurry up!" he told them before heading towards the dining hall. "I could eat. Haven't eaten all day. Let's go, Lyle." he said to his partner, gesturing for him to follow as he started to walk the same direction as the Rhyhorn.



@Runesage