Devon listened intently to Celty discus what moves he and Dylan could possibly perform, and once his jaws were brought up, the Totodile frowned a bit in confusion. "Water Gun and Bite?....Would be the best bet I guess. But let's just worry about that later. Let's head into town!" As Celty and Dylan made their way out of the guild, the Big Jaw Pokémon sort of lagged behind a bit as he practised opening his mouth wide, then slamming his jaws together with incredible force. ....Guess I know Bite then. How is opening and closing your mouth supposed to be a move? I don't get it. With that said, he picked up the pace to catch up with his two companions.



Devon followed along swiftly behind Celty along with Dylan as they made their way through the marvel that was Valiant Village. The excited Totodile's head shooting to every angle as he took in the surroundings of many busy Pokémon going about their day on the cobblestone streets. "This place is pretty nice. And there's so much going here. So many Pokémon running around doing stuff....It feels...I dunno, familiar?" Devon's head continued to track across the quaint little village until his vision rested upon a bridge. Made out of the same cobblestone as the streets, the peaceful river flowing underneath it's two arches seeming to attract Devon. The reptile pointed at it with a single claw as he spoke up. "Hey guys! We should check out that bridge! I bet we could get a good view of everything too! Come on!" With that said, Devon raced ahead of both Dylan and Celty as he ran halfway across the bridge before skidding to a halt. The Water-type then plopped down on the edge of the stone structure and let his feet dangle upon the river as he looked upon Central Plaza with it's grand statue. Mouth agape, he pointed again and turned his head towards Celty. "Whoa....Hey Celty, what's with that statue? Who's it of?"

@Ninian@Noklu

[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

@Noklu@Light Lord
The quaint village was not unlike Seelie, though those who lived there and other little nuances were completely different. Glancing behind her, she was fairly certain it was both Devon and Dylan's first time visiting a village, given their expressions. That, to her, was incredibly strange. Who are these children?

At Devon's words, a soft chuckle escaped the Mawile's lips. "You're absolutely right, this place is bustling for it being so early in the morning. Though I guess that's not all that surprising." Thinking for a moment she continued to walk along. With a pause, the Mawile turned and looked to Dylan, and then Devon. "What do you mean by familiar? As if... you've lived in a village before, maybe? I suppose it's possible, but I'm still curious how you both even got here. The travel to the neighboring village is through a few Mystery Dungeons. I don't really think there's any other way, either."

Devon raced ahead to the taller bridge, and Celty followed at a quickened pace. Finally arriving beside Devon she tilted her head until she followed his claw to the central statue. "Oh, that's the Swords of Justice. Uhh, I'm a bit rusty on my history, but I want to say they founded this village. As for who the individual members are ummm... I think the leader's name was Cobalion? I can't remember the others, though. If you're really curious you might want to ask one of the townspeople."

@Ninian@Noklu



Celty questioned him of his familiarity of the place, and Devon simply shrugged in response. "I guess it's just....All the activity going on around here.....I just feel like I've been in a place this busy before. It might have been another village? And as for how I got here, that's a great question that I still don't got an answer to."

Devon's head turned back to the statue as Celty explained it to be of something called the 'Swords of Justice'. Of course the amnesiac Totodile had absolutely no clue who they were, but the info was interesting none the less. "Huh. Cool. I might ask around about that later." The blue crocodile moved his legs as they dangled over the edge of the bridge. His gaze focused on two Furret tossing a ball back and forth to each other on in the plaza, but the scene soon grew stale as something gleamed in the corner of his eye. Devon's head tilted downwards to peer into the stream lazily running beneath him to spot some sort of shiny object at the bottom of the river bed. "Hey, what's that shiny thing down there in the water?.....Hang on, I'm gonna go grab it."

Like lightning, the Totodile had already taken a deep breath and pushed himself off of the edge of the bridge to fall into the water with a loud SPLASH! The river was deeper then it looked, and Devon was now a few feet down under the liquid as he looked around below him to spot the shiny item once again. The water actually felt really relaxing, and was pretty warm too. With surprising speed and grace, the Water-type kicked his feet and swished his tail to dive deep down onto the river bed. Snatching the little object into his claws and quickly racing back up, Devon popped his scaly head out of the surface of the water with a satisfying sigh. "Ah....This feels great! Who needs naps when you can take a dip?"

He then looked up to the edge of the bridge above him to spot Celty and Dylan peering down at him. The Totodile gave a grin in response, and began to float on his back as he gestured to the two Pokémon. "You guys should come in! It's fun! Oh! And check out what I found down there!" He then proceeded to hold up his right arm, revealing a small, gold metal disc with the letter 'P' stamped onto it.

Devon wore a face of confusion as he looked between both Dylan and Celty. "Do you guys know what this little piece of metal is? Cause I don't."

[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

@Noklu@Light Lord
The Mawile furrowed her brows at the Totodile when he explained that he was familiar with some sort of lively area. Well that's useful information... not. Poor kid. After the quick thought she replied, "At least it answers the question about whether or not you were a loner, or one of the nomadic tribes. Though I guess some of those can get pretty big. You probably lived in a village or perhaps even a town. Oh well. Hopefully you'll remember sooner rather than later."

Devon launched himself into the water rather unexpectedly, though Celty assumed it was probably just a Water-type thing. There was a Marill in her village who did precisely the same thing whenever she was able.

"Yeah... I don't really swim, Devon. I appreciate the offer, though. I'll let you and Dylan enjoy yourselves." Leaning over, she looked down at the shimmering currency with a sympathetic smile. "That's a Poké coin. It's used to purchase food, supplies... really anything. Does uh... that make sense to you?"

@Iatos @Ordure
Spirit was taken aback by the sudden display of emotion by Tzerah, as long as he'd known here he'd never seen her like this. Then again, he thought of her position right now. Her instincts telling her she had to do everything to protect her pride, her child... He'd nearly been the same way last night with Rico and Lulu. No matter how many people said otherwise, being a parent is the hardest thing you'll ever do in life. He gently embraced the exhausted Luxray, petting her gently on the back.

He quickly scanned her aura, it was very pale compared to her usual color. She'd been working and worrying far too much for her own good. "It's okay, just rest now, that's the best thing you can do for us and yourself." He looked over towards the kitchen once more. "Takeo, make those apples to go, and think you could give me a hand helping her to the Guild?"



In just a few minutes the twosome were across town, heading to their little hideout where they would hang out and play. Lulu, as usual, took the lead, and soon they were in the home stretch. As they came to their little quiet corner of the world, they were greeted by three more Pokemon: A Chikorita, a Vulpix, and a Pikachu. The Pikachu came forward first. "Lulu, boy are we glad to see you're okay!" The Vulpix smirked at the remark. "I had no doubts, you can't keep Lulu down If you tried." Then came the Chikorita. "To think we thought we'd have to spend a day without her, the mere thought!"

Lulu addressed them in order of which they spoke. "Peach, Flare, Lyla, you three are the best. So are you Krissy. So, what do we have planned for today? I'm guessing dad's going to let me and Rico have the rest of the day off anyways, so we've got lots of time to play!" The group chit chatted amongst themselves for a while, trying to figure out what they could do for fun that day.



@Polaris North
Hearing the call of a Pokemon, Roserade hurried to the front door. "Ah, you're that boy Spirit said would help me today correct? Well then come in, come in. I usually have my daughter help me with this, but she had to head to Treasure Town on business." She opened up the back door, which led into a massive garden. "You see, I grow helpful and medicinal herbs in this garden, which I give out to weary travelers or sell to Kecleon, who in turn sells them to Pokemon who want them. My grandmother did this, and my mother took after her. And I ended up taking after my mother. Hopefully Roselia continues the tradition, but I don't know anymore... that girl has dreams of her own, crazy dreams, but that's good to have... I'm rambling aren't I? I'm sorry, I'm sure you'd like to get to work, so start on the far left side, I'll start on the right. We're harvesting today's crop. If it works out, I'll meet you in the middle."

@Shiny Keldeo



"Yes ma'am. I'm Zaru." He decided to introduce himself so that Roserade would be able to call him when she needed to. The young Chimchar happily listened to Roserade's story as he followed her into the garden. Boy was it huge. It was really impressive from his point of view. So her family is the one responsible for taking care of such a magnificent garden? This family must've been a big help for all the travellers who passed by. He thought that maybe his parents went by here when they were younger and then got some help with their herbs. When she apologized because she began to drift off topic, Zaru quickly shook his head. "Oh no, it's alright. It's quite interesting really." He admitted. "Maybe if Roselia doesn't continue it, maybe you could find a helper who is enthusiastic about taking care of the garden." He decided to suggest. There must be someone out there who has the same interest as them and won't mind taking care of this huge garden.

"Alrighty then!" Although these kinds of jobs were tedious and boring, Zaru began to take a liking to them as it was usually what he did on his regular days when there were requests. He picked up a basket and then scampered towards the left end of the garden and took note of how long it took for him to get there. He sighed, this was going to take some time but no matter, he won't let it get him down so much. He then began his work. As someone who has been jumping around collecting apples when he was a child as part of a competition, he was pretty quick with the harvesting. Once he got himself into the rhythm, it didn't seem like he was going to stop very soon.

Once he reached half of what was assigned to him, he started humming. He heard it back when he was at Treasure Town. He wasn't exactly sure what the lyrics were but he was confident that he knew the tune. And so he continued on, with no sign of stopping any time soon. He got to the middle faster than expected. He actually grew pretty tired once he got to that point. He decided to sit down for a moment or two to recollect his breath. If Roserade doesn't get there by that time, he would continue harvesting to help the older pokemon. Even if he wasn't going to be paid, a job was still a job.

@Light Lord
@Ninian





Looking around the plaza and not seeing Spirit yet, Milton realized that he was probably going to take a while. He was about to head home to wash himself off when he saw his new friends by the bridge, the mawile and the Totodile. He laughed a bit at this, they might not be confirmed friends yet or anything but he decided to rush over none the less. The Totodile was already splashing around in the water and it made Milton smirk slightly as he quickly dashed up to the edge and yelled "CANNON BALL!" as he spun around in the air, curled up and made a huge splash on the way down. He then plopped up as he broke the surface again and laughed fully "Hi again~" he said cheerfully as he greeted them, he looked up to the Mawile and then to the Totodile again as he gave the two a smile.

Splashing around on his own, using his four feet to dog paddle he was not even close to as agile or mobile as the water type. However he also knew that he was told to stay away from the river unless he got an adult with him, buuut... The Mawile was technically an adult, and he also had a water type nearby so there was no way he would drown or anything. There was not even a strong current in the village river so it was very easy to swim in. He soon spotted the shivering thing in Totodile's hand it was a Poké, causing Milton to gaze at it for a moment "Oh you found that?.. Lucky Poké, its said if you find a poké outside of a mystery dungeon its a 'Lucky coin'" he said and laughed again clearly enjoying himself, well a dip in the river was always one way to get that paint out.

@Polaris North
Roserade appeared from the house with two glasses of Oran Berry Juice, looking quite surprised at the young Pokemon so out of breath. "Did you only just finish? Well, perfect timing then. I squeezed us some fresh Oran Berry Juice as a reward for a job well done." She smiled, and looked over to the Chimchar again. "You took a little longer than I expected, I've been done for about ten minutes, so I had plenty of time to make this. Here, i'll help restore your energy." She handed the little fire type one of the glasses.



@Iatos @Light Lord @Ninian
The group had decided that on such a nice sunny day, a cool refreshing dip would be just the perfect way to spend the late blooming morning into the early afternoon. When they got to the river, they saw there were already a few Pokemon there. "Hey! Milton!" Yelled Lulu as she saw her Zorua friend already there, along with a Totodile in the water. "You got room for a few more?" They didn't wait for an answer, as the group plunged in without a second thought. Even Vulpix, who was a Fire Type, didn't seem to mind the water. "Having fun like this in the water is fine to me, it's getting blasted in the face in battle with a Hydro Pump that'll get me down!"

@Shiny Keldeo



Zaru's eyes immediately got caught on the Oran Berry juice. "Yeah. Wow~ You're really fast." He said when Roserade mentioned that she was done for about ten minutes or so. He then sprung up and then happily accepted the juice. He then began to drink it. He then exactly gulp everything down but it wasn't exactly slow like he was savoring it. It wasn't long until he finished the whole glass, his body feeling lighter, as if the fatigue just decided to randomly go away. He then looked back at the garden. "It was pretty relaxing here." He mused before turning back to the client. "Do you need anything more done?" As always, he had to make sure he had done everything his client wanted him to do.

@Shiny Keldeo
@Light Lord



He was about to start a splash war that he bet his hind part that he were going to lose when a familiar voice called out to him. It was Lulu, he turned to her direction and noticed it was not just Lulu but a whole bunch of girls. "Oh Hi Lulu'n Girls" he called back cheerfully, even thought the comment soon made him blush slightly. However it didn't last long before they asked if they could join, then leaped into the water before he could respond making him gasp as he tried to not get washed away with the splash wave. He then laughed as even the Vulpix joined them, it was simply the weirdest thing... but it kinda made sense, it was not like she had a flame she needed to keep alive or something.

He looked to all the girls and the Totodile for a second before laughing again [color=black]"Seems this river suddenly became a 'Monster House" he said and laughed slightly. However he kinda guessed the Totodile wouldn't know what that meant, so he went ahead and tried to explain it so everyone was at the same page, or so to speak. "Sometimes when your exploring mystery dungeons, you can find rooms with lots of stuff in them, it usually means you need to be extra careful as it could be a trap set by the inhabitants to lure greedy adventurers. Such a Room is called a 'Monster House' and usually means you have to either fight off or flee from a huge amount of opponents. Kinda like all these girls but more"he said and laughed slightly... then he blushed again as it probably sounded weird.

He looked to Lulu again with a smile however "Watch this~" he said, his mischievous gleam shining again as he took a deep breath, dove under water and then... wham!... A Sharpedo appeared!. Rawring somewhat, Milton swam towards Lulu and the others "I'm gona get you~ then I'll eat you~" he said as he tried to catch them, even if he probably swam slower than any normal Sharpedo.

Once Celty explained to him the concept of currency, Devon played with the little gold Poké coin between his claws and stared at it with a somewhat strained face. "Yeah it makes sense. Buying stuff....I think I remember doing that alot...."

The Totodile didn't have very much time to ponder the thought of past transactions, as a Zorua covered in paint seem to just randomly splash onto the scene. Literally. Milton's yelling caught Devon off guard, and forced him to quickly swim away from the fox's point of impact in the water so as to not get flattened. "WHOA!"

The Tricky Fox popped back out from below the water with the most happy, dopey smile Devon had ever seen. He couldn't help but return the friendly gesture with a toothy smile of his own. "Hey Milton. Nice day huh?"

Milton then mentioned that Devon's new found change was apparently special. This caused the little croc to stare at the coin in his palm once again smile slightly. "It's supposed to bring me luck then?" Tossing the coin in the air, he then caught it once again with his other hand. "Let's hope that's true. I could use some good luck right about now."

Then Lulu's gang made an appearance as well, and just before Devon could answer her question, the hoard of little girls descended upon the river and sent plenty more move splashing around the Totodile. Causing a bit of water to get in his mouth and make him cough. "Ugh...Hey everyone. Lulu! Looks like you're feeling alot better! Not even falling off a cliff can keep you down huh? Oh uh, I'm Devon, if you didn't hear it from anyone else yet." With the greetings, Devon gave a short wave to the girls and a grin.

Milton then made some sort of reference to something called a 'Monster House'. Of course this entire concept went over Devon's head. The Water-type simply stared with a blank expression at the Zorua child. "Uh....'Monster house'? Sorry, I'm dumb, what are those?"

Thankfully Milton explained the concept to those who weren't in the know, and Devon nodded slowly at the explanation. "Oooooh. That's what that is. Ok, I uh...Think I got it now. Thanks Milton." That was totally a lie.

Blinking still, Devon returned to floating on his back as he stared at the clouds above him. Lost in his thoughts. I keep hearing about these 'Mystery Dungeons' too.....What are they? It seems like they're pretty common knowledge around here....I'm probably gonna look like even more of idiot if I ask....Especially with all of these girls around....Last thing I want is to be the laughing stock of town....Maybe I'll ask Celty later when there's less Pokémon around....

As Milton began to bug them with his Sharpedo illusion, Devon looked over at the slowly approaching shark and snickered. His raspy voice loaded with sarcasm as he too seemed to be amused by the display. "Oh no! A big scary Sharpedo is gonna eat us! What will we do!?" The prank seemed to somewhat remind Devon of someone, but the thought soon fled his mind as he looked back up at the lip of the bridge to spot both Dylan and Celty both still standing there watching them all swim. His deep brown eye's shot to the Mudkip standing close to the Mawile as he waved at the other Water-type. "Hey Dylan! You ok? You've been spacing out there for awhile! Come swimming with us dude! Don't be a lameo!"

@Ninian@Noklu@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo

[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

@Noklu@Light Lord@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo
A flash of black came up out of Celty's peripheral vision. Wide-eyed, she readied herself in the event it was something bad. A sigh of relief escaped the Mawile's lips as she noted it was simply the Zorua child from before. At the greeting, Celty held up her small arm, waving back, "I'm glad to see you again! Thank you for your help earlier." When Milton continued on about Devon's find being a 'Lucky Coin', Celty tilted her head with a somewhat confused expression. She then thought to herself, Lucky Coin? Hmm... maybe that's a new children's thing.

It was only a minute or two until another group of children arrived at the river, presumably to take a swim. "Good morning, everyone," was about all Celty managed to say to the newcomers. With furrowed brows, she watched as a Vulpix swam around, confusion evident upon her visage. Despite the young Pokémon's words, she still couldn't figure how swimming was physically different from a Water-type attack.

That train of thought crashed when Milton referenced a Monster House, in what was apparently supposed to be a joke. That joke, which caused Celty to freeze where she stood. It wasn't funny, and quite frankly her rather neutral disposition shifted to a significantly more sullen demeanor. Despite her lack of commentary, it was very clear the allusion upset her.

Sitting down, she leaned against a rail, facing away from the children currently playing in the river. The fur beneath Celty's eyes grew damp, and she finally placed her head between her knees, trying her best to ignore everything around her.

Dylan the Mudkip

Valiant Village-Spirit’s Guild

Before they headed off to explore, Dylan was put to a small train of thought regarding what Celty said before walking. As they walked, his brain was chugging ahead at full speed. What moves could he use…? He had no memory of ever using any moves, being a human before all of this, of course, but he did know a fair amount of info about Pokemon and what they could do. For example, he knew Devon probably did, in fact, know bite, judging by the sound he heard coming from the Totodile’s jaws, but he didn’t know much about himself. Chances were he did know water gun, being a basic water move learned early on, but other than that, it was all uncharted territory. He didn’t even know how strong he was. Well, that rigorous training Celty had mentioned would probably help sort that out.

Valiant Village-Central Plaza

Dylan’s train came to a slow halt as they entered what appeared to be a community area of sorts, the new sight pulling him to the current surroundings. For a village, it certainly had a very nice feeling to it, as if it was still growing. The Mudkip looked around, letting as much of it sink in as he could.

As Devon spoke up, Dylan’s eyes shifted to the Pokemon walking about their daily lives. It was true, there was a lot going on, each Pokemon clearly having their own story. However, was it familiar…? The Mudkip wasn’t sure either way on that part. But if it meant Devon was remembering something, that was good at least! However, they both still didn’t know how they got here, as Celty reminded the two of them. The fact that there dungeons in the way made him question how he got there. Not to mention he didn’t even know what a “Mystery Dungeon” even was.

Before he could ask, the Mudkip’s eyes followed along with Devon’s movements as he suddenly and energetically sped towards the bridge, before sitting on the edge of it. He had to admit, the scene looked nicely picturesque. However, the Totodile’s sudden change in expression and tone made him turn to the statue in the plaza.

The forms displayed in stone rang a bell in his library of knowledge. They must have been the legendary quartet of the Swords of Justice. This fact was only confirmed by Celty’s answer. Though it seemed she didn’t know too much about them, only knowing Cobalion’s name and their backstory with this town. This made him wonder how he knew all of their names, since Celty seemed to know quite a bit. It also helped him relax a bit, knowing his knowledge was still mostly there, despite the amnesia.

The Mudkip’s attention was once again redirected to the Totodile as he mentioned something about a shiny, before splashing into the water. Devon seemed to be enjoying the water as he popped out quickly, holding a coin of sorts it looked like. Going off of Celty’s answer, he surmised it must be the currency around these parts. Though, he didn’t know if that was the only type of currency or not.

As he processed this information, another splash made Dylan turn his head towards the river, only to see Milton diving in alongside Devon. As Milton swam closer to the Totodile, he mentioned something about that being a lucky coin, and once again the phrase “Mystery Dungeon” popped up. He needed to know what that was…

As he was about to ask, a small group of Pokemon suddenly appeared by the river as well, wanting to join in the warm water fun apparently! Dylan waved hello from above if anyone from the group was watching, not wanting to interrupt by calling out. The name Lulu popped up, reminding him of last night. So one of them was one of the two in trouble, huh…? Probably was the Riolu, based on how Spirit had reacted. Was Lulu related to Spirit perhaps? Well, in any case, the new group had jumped in without a second thought, making the river quite lively indeed.

Milton threw out a comment about how it was becoming a “Monster House” in there, making Dylan wonder what that second new term was. Thankfully, Milton went on to explain that it was something in a “Mystery Dungeon” that spelt out danger to anyone who managed to find one. Well, at least he now knew something about Mystery Dungeons, though he wanted to know more. The Mudkip finally decided to speak out to the Mawile beside him, asking for information.

“Hey, um, Miss Celty, what exactly is a Mystery Dungeon? I can’t seem to remember anything about…” Dylan’s words slowly trailed off as he turned to address the Mawile, only to see her in a fetal position of sorts, oddly enough. Had she decided to sleep, or… He dismissed that thought instantly as he looked closer. It almost seemed as if she was crying?

Dylan’s heart slowed down as he realized this, mind’s gears quickly changing pace on what to do. He heard Devon’s voice call out from below, calling him out to join in the water with everyone. He turned away from Celty momentarily, calling back. “A-ah, yeah, I’m fine, just give me a moment! I’ll join you shortly here!” Whether or not he’d swim well was up in the air, but that was hardly important at the time.

The Mudkip’s attention snapped back to the Mawile, a concerned expression on his face. “H-hey, Miss Celty… Is everything alright?” As soon as those words slipped out of his mouth, he felt stupid. Of course she wasn’t alright, it was a pointless question. He changed gears. “What’s wrong? Do you need help?”

@Ninian@Light Lord@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo

[Valiant Village - Central Plaza]

@Noklu@Light Lord@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo
Staring at the cobblestone bridge beneath her, Celty remained quiet for a few moments before addressing Dylan's original question; not quite feeling the need to respond to his offer of help, at least not yet. "....A Mystery Dungeon is a type of labyrinth...or ah, maze I suppose. Aside from the fact that they change their layout every time you enter one, little is really known about them. They contain treasure... as well as hostile Pokémon. Many Guilds attempt to chart these dungeons... and often times Pokémon will get lost, or trapped within them..."

Closing her eyes, Celty took a deep breath, exhaling through her mouth. "Dylan... Mystery Dungeons are... dangerous. Quite dangerous. You asked what's wrong..." Wiping away the tears welling in her eyes, Celty continued, "Monster Houses are not... a joke. There is nothing amusing about them. It's not just a trap for greedy adventurers. There... are often Pokémon who may seem nice who will attempt to lure you into one.... They... they..." It was clear that Celty had more to say, and wanted to finish, but her throat was beginning to swell, causing her to hyperventilate.

@Shiny Keldeo
@Light Lord
@Noklu



He was glad to hear the Tototodile remembering his name, it meant that they were friends already in Miltons narrow world. He asked him if he too thought it was a nice day, to what he had to nod in agreement. [color=balck]"Yup, its a perfect day~"[/color] he replied, and quite frankly it was hard to say that it was not, unless you were a perfectionist there was nothing about this day to complain about yet. He paid some mind to the Mudkip, but it seemed it didn't want to join them 'yet' perhaps it was shy or didn't want to leave the Mawile... mother?. Alone.

The Trickster fox laughed as the Totodile chimed in to his illusion, it made him start to chase the Totodile for a moment even thought he realized that capturing him would be impossible. Milton didn't however realize what effects his word had on Celty, nor did he really pay much attention to her as she was way up on the bridge and his attention was fully turned to this game of theirs. For him Danger was quite a foreign term, he had been qutie safe in his life and even the term of a monster house was one that he didn't really know for sure as he had never encountered one considering he only had been in very easy and safe dungeons like the school's dungeon before and that with a team.

@Ninian @Iatos @Light Lord @Noklu
When Milton took on the appearance of a Sharpedo, the group decided to play along, pretending it was an actual Sharpedo while remembering it was just Milton. The group was giggling as they swam away from the ferocious shark, everyone seemed so happy. Then Lulu just stopped, looking up at the bridge. The Mawile had disappeared from view. Even though she was still young, and not as adept at reading aura as her dad, she could feel the shift up there. Where there was joy and heart suddenly was replaced by sadness, loss, darkness. Was it... Milton's joke about Monster Houses? That being said, it was rare way out here to find an explorer or traveling Pokemon without a partner. Maybe something happened...

She was quickly snapped out of her thought as the Sharpedo Milton swam by, splashing her head with a tiny wave. "Oh, you did NOT just do that! You're gonna get it now Milton, hahahaha!" Lulu quickly shifted her focus to their game, as she took off after the Sharpedo Milton.



@Iatos
After thanking Takeo for helping and paying him for the Apples, he stood inside the room where they had left the sleeping Luxray they had hefted here. Scanning her aura one last time, he saw it slowly brightening. "Hm, good, this is just what she needed. I'd better go check on Milton and Zaru, see how their chores are doing." He left the room, and started walking down the hallway when he noticed something. The kid's room door was closed, he didn't recall closing it... He investigated to find Rico still fast asleep in bed, but Lulu nowhere to be seen. "Well... did I expect any less from that girl?" He said to himself as he gave a slight smirk before heading downstairs and out towards the Center Plaza.

When he got there, he didn't see any sign of Milton or Zaru. That means they were either still working or... he heard laughter, carried on the wind. He made his way over to the bridge that connected both sides of the Village over the river, and found... kids. Lulu, her friends from the village, Devon the Totodile, and Milton, disguised as a Sharpedo. He sensed two others, but the feelings he felt told him to keep his mind to himself for now. He wouldn't inturrupt the others, either. They were still kids after all, they deserved to have fun like this.



@Polaris North
After the Chimchar, Zaru, finished his juice, he asked if there was anything else he could do for her. Well, she couldn't quite think of anything she couldn't do herself. "No, I can't think of anything else you could do for me right now, and you did a wonderful job harvesting those herbs. I'll have Roselia help me tomorrow to plant a new batch when she gets back. I'll make sure to pass on word of how good you did to Spirit, now go on. It's a beautiful day, go have some fun. You're still a kid after all, enjoy it while it lasts!"

@Shiny Keldeo



Zaru smiled at her and said, "Alright!" He then gave her a mock salute before waving as he started to make his way to the center plaza where the statue stood. "Bye Roserade!" He called out before continuing on. He expected that Milton was there but he wasn't. Maybe he wasn't done with his job yet. Then he saw Spirit approach the place before heading off to some other place. Curious, the Chimchar decided to follow him. It led him to a river where everyone else was playing.

His eyes brightened up as he saw the others and he didn't notice that he placed himself beside their guildmaster. He quickly corrected it though and spoke, "All done with the job sir!" He exclaimed before looking around, eyes searching for a tree. His eyes quickly found one and then he scampered up and then sat down there to watch the other pokemon play around. Ah, this was refreshing to see.

There was that Totodile, Devon, Lulu (glad she's alright), some of her friends and a Sharpedo, no doubt Milton. The others might be running around in panic but if it was real, then they would've gotten out of the water. Besides, there was no one that was aggressive enough in this village that would even do such a thing. He then leaned on the trunk as he continued to watch, a smile easing to his face. He was pretty sure that no one else besides Spirit noticed him here, not that he needed to announce his presence. Watching them was enough for him and being a fire type, he wasn't exactly too keen on jumping in unlike that Vulpix.

Devon once again noted Dylan's hesitation, but simply shrugged it off. Linking it to the possibility of shyness. Bet he's just shy in front of all the girls around here....He'll warm up to em.....Hopefully. I'll check on him in a few.

He didn't really have time to think about that now however. A 'Sharpedo' was swiftly approaching him from his right. This playful advance by Milton caused the reptile to smirk at the disguised Zorua. "Ohhoho! Bad idea! This is my turf!"

Devon quickly rolled over onto his stomach to stay floating on the waters surface, and proceeded to rapidly kick his feet and swish his tail to create large waves that rolled towards Milton. Laughing as he stirred up the water. "HAHA! FEEL THE WRATH OF THE TOTODILE!" Busying himself with the splashing, he was still oblivious to everything going on the bridge above him.

@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo@Polaris North@Ninian@Noklu

Dylan the Mudkip

Valiant Village-Central Plaza

Dylan carefully listened to the Mawile’s words as they trailed out from her mouth, the tone they carried making him a bit worried about Celty. However, he paid attention to what was being said through the commotion and splashing down below, marking down every last word and bit of information into his brain, certain to remember it. With how often he had heard the phrase “Mystery Dungeon” lately, it wouldn’t surprise him if they played a large role in this world’s society.

The Mudkip couldn’t help but feel a bit awed at them himself, the mentioned treasure and mystery they held making his brain imagine what could be. However, Celty’s tone seemed to be lacking that spark to it, instead focusing on the dangerous aspects of the dungeons. Pokemon did have tremendous power, and if used in the wrong way by hostile Pokemon… he could definitely see how that could turn sour quickly.

As Celty finished speaking, words slowly dying off, replaced by heavy breathing instead, Dylan’s focus left his thoughts, returning to the Mawile in front of him. “H-hey, it’s okay, it’s okay…! We aren’t in a Mystery Dungeon right now, we’re in a calm town. No one will trick you, no one will hurt you”.

A small tinge of guilt stabbed into Dylan’s side when he finished, as if it were saying by not telling everyone about him being a human, he was tricking them all, that he shouldn’t try and act like a Pokemon around them. However, he shook those thoughts off, telling himself it had no ill-will to it, it was just him trying to do something with his current predicament.

@Polaris North@Light Lord@Shiny Keldeo@Iatos@Ninian

[Valiant Village - Central Plaza Bridge]

@Noklu
Slowly, Celty shook her head, wiping the tears from her matted fur. It took about a minute of attempting to regain her composure for her to actually do so. With the hyperventilating ceasing, Celty finally turned to look at Dylan with misty eyes. "...I... I know no one will hurt me. It's not me that I'm..." With half her thoughts verbalized, the Mawile decided to end that particular line of conversation.

Barely resting her head on her knee, Celty's gaze was upon the temporally displaced Mudkip. "You don't know anything. There may be some—many who might try to deceive you. Mystery Dungeons—while certainly not without their perks—are not safe. Do not trust anyone who wants to take you into one..." Shifting her gaze to Devon briefly, she let out a sigh before continuing, "...given he's seemingly in the same situation as you are, it's likely he's the only person you can trust. Everyone here seems nice. They might even be nice... but EVERYONE... seems nice. Especially if they wish to hurt you."

Burying her head fully between her knees she continued speaking, though her voice would come across a bit muffled, "As long as you remain in this village, you should be safe. There are enough genuinely kind Pokémon here that no one would dare hurt you here." Bringing her head up again, it was evident that new tears were beginning to well up. "I... understand that since you have no memories, and that you are also young... you... probably want to explore. I... I can't stop you, but please... do not go alone. E-Even one other partner is not enough..."

@Light Lord@Iatos@Shiny Keldeo@Polaris North