Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Endless Storms [Story]

The poll on how I should update the story is over (Thank you to the five who voted) and the winner is updating as I finish it. I am still busy with Legion but I do happen to have the first chapter done. Hopefully progress on Endless Storms will continue soon, but for now I present to you the first chapter (and prologue) of Endless Storms. (Only Prologue and Chapter 1 will share a post, chapters after this will be in a new post)






The sky was bathed in a crimson light as a lone Absol sat on a hill, the faint lights of a town behind her, safely tucked away in the shadows of the hills. A soft breeze tugged at her white fur as she stared off at the setting sun, the light reflecting in one of her crimson eyes - the other foggy and blind to the glorious sight before it. But on the horizon, barely noticeable, the tip of the sky was blanketed in dark clouds.

Her head faintly turned in silence greeting as another Pokemon floated up behind her - a Haunter. His disconnected arms were folded across each other as he came to a stop, opening his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off.

“Tell me, Morris, do you feel it?” the Absol asked, her voice soft yet ragged - a testament to her age. Knowledge flashed in her good eye as she stared at her second-in-command, waiting patiently for a response.

But instead, silence filled the air between them as the Haunter simply frowned at her and raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t say she was surprised, but instead sighed as she turned her gaze away. “There is a storm on the way,” she explained in a hushed tone, almost inaudible to her ghostly company.

A laugh escaped Morris, causing the older Absol to meet his crimson gaze once more as he shook his head. “Mistress...Artemis,” he said gently, a smile flashing on his face. “You say that as if I shouldn’t know.” His gaze turned ever so slightly to stare at the blanket of darkness that sat on the edge of the horizon. “We are after all filled with report after report about it.”

Artemis frowned sharply at the ghost-type, narrowing her eyes as she sneered softly at him. “Morris, I often respect your view of taking everything at face value but this is not the time to do so.” She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she turned her face to bask it in the fading glow of the sunset. “But...You are partly right. What I speak of involves the endless one that seems to plague the north but I also speak of a metaphorical one…” Her eyes flickered open. “I see it in my dreams. A hero will rise, a hero will fall. Who such a hero is, it escapes me but-” her voice suddenly cut off, a silver light filling her eyes as the oval on her head started to glow in the same light.

Morris leaned forward to stare at his Guild Leader’s face, studying it as the glow faded and she was brought back to reality. “Well, mistress?” he asked, a polite tone to his words. “What catastrophe did you see? Or have your senses warned you of something else?”

Her mouth opened as if she was going to respond, but she thought better of it and shook her head as she pulled herself to her paws. “You will see in time, Morris,” she responded coldly as she turned her head to stare at the half-full moon that hung silently in the sky. “Now come, we should return to the Guild.”

“Ah, of course,” he hummed as she trotted back the way they came. He however lingered, his gaze fixed on the stars as they started to appear in the sky. He...He was worried. He could not hide that fact. An endless storm with no one knowing the cause...It was very unsettling, even for a ghost type. His eyes reflected a shooting star as it pierced the heaven. He grimaced as he turned and followed Lady Artemis, loyal as always.






Gabriel moaned as he came to, stirring slightly as he flashed open his eyes. The first thing he saw was grass. Reaching out a paw, he gently cupped one of the pieces of grass as it softly tickled at his fur. A faint smile touched his face before he slowly started to push himself up, glancing around him to take in his surrounding. He was in a clearing amidst a forest - trees loomed over him. He rested a blue paw on the tree next to him, pulling himself to his feet as he shook his head. Where was he?

It took a few moments, but he soon realized that he didn’t know. In fact, there was a lot of things that he didn’t know. His eyes flashed to his blue paws, turning them over as he paused, staring at the faint oval bump that arose from it. He gently touched his other paw to it, frowning softly. He...He knew his name. Gabriel. It was a relief really but...The lack of everything else scared him.

There...Was a few other information that seemed to lurk around, name of species of Pokemon, typing...But nothing else. His breath started to quicken as he leaned against the tree he was standing next to, barely noticing the faint blue glow that his body started to let off as his fear grew and the feeling of something rising on his head. Why was he here? What had happened so that he didn’t remember a thing? Did he have family? Were they worried? He was so…

No. He shut his eyes as he raised his paws to his head. Panicking was bad, he had to calm down. Freaking out would get him nowhere, he had to remain in control of his emotions. He took a deep breath, letting it out in a huff. He repeated until he felt something bump against his paws. His eyes flickered open as he gently moved what had bumped against his paw to look at it. It was black, slightly oval shape but it was hard to see as it was attached to his head.

Had it been what he had felt rising during his panic? It must of been connected with the power he had let off. He did note that the blue glow was gone, figuring it had disappeared when he had calmed himself. Now that he wasn’t freaking out, he let his gaze scan the clearing he was in a bit more. This time, taking notice of a pool on the other side of the clearing.

Perhaps he could get an answer there of what he was. He slowly moved forward, feeling slightly off balance. He stood and moved on his toes. It felt natural enough but still...Off. He did suppose that moving on all fours was a viable option if he needed to but he was sure that would feel even more unnatural. But, he soon pushed it aside as he reached the pool and stared at his own reflection.

A blue face stared back at him with a black mask-like pattern. His crimson eyes took notice of the two black appendages that hung from the corner of his mask. Ah, so that was what they were. After a few moments of staring at his reflection, he finally gathered a name for what he was. A Riolu. Well, that was good to know. He did find it odd that he knew his name, his species but nothing else...But it was a start.

The more he thought about the species of Riolu, he recalled another detail - he was a fighting type. He felt that was important but...His ear twitched as he heard the sound of a snapping twig behind him. He straightened up, turning to look behind him but saw nothing. Nothing but trees and bushes. Silence cut the air for a few seconds before he felt that there was...Something out there, along with the faint whisper of a voice that was quickly getting louder.

“I’m telling you, mom, I felt it from this direction!” a high-pitched voiced cried, the sound of thumping paws following. Part of Gabriel told him to move but yet he found himself rooted in place, staring ahead at the bushes with a mixture of confusement and excitement. The sound was getting rather loud now.

Then a yellow blur broke from the bushes. Gabriel only had a few seconds to study the Pokemon before panic gripped him - it was heading straight for him with no signs of stopping. Before he could dive out of the way, he saw a grinning face inches away from him. “I found you!” it cried before it dove headfirst into his legs.

Gabriel gasped as he stumbled backwards, solid ground disappearing under his foot as he tumbled into the water. A few seconds later, he was sitting up as he spat out water - the pool not very deep as the water sat around his waist. He raised a paw and was doing his best to get the water out of his eyes when a soft giggle interrupted him.

His eyes met orange ones of his ‘attacker’ who was couched at the edge of the pool with a faint grin on her face. “I’m really sorry about that, I just got really excited,” she apologized with a flicker of her large tail. Her head tilted to the side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he responded as he studied her face in an attempt to gather a name for her species. It took a few moments, but then it came to him. He was looking at a Fennekin. As for its type - well, it wasn’t hard to guess with the flame-like tufts of fur that stuck out of her large ears. A fire type for sure.

However, as he looked at her he felt something was off. Her tail, her chest...They seemed rather...Fluffy. Unkempt fur that looked almost like a mane of sorts covered her chest - her tail looking much the same to that but also with the added feature of the tip of her tail being...Well, bent. While the tail for the most part stood up as it waved back and forth in an excited manner, the tip of it bent so it was facing the ground.

He opened his mouth, about to ask a question when another voice split the air. “Kaida, you must be more careful,” it sighed. The voice itself was soft yet...Wary, holding a tired tone to it. Then, the owner of the voice stepped from the shadows.

A crimson eye met his own as the white fur-figure moved toward the two of them without a sound. Her chest was a mane of snow white fur, while her head was that of a darker blue color. There was of course fur on her head as well, coming down in a crescent-like pattern on her left side while a curved horn adorned her right side. As she came to a stop behind Kaida, Gabriel could see that a faint trio of scars that ran down her left eye, which was lifeless and dull as she stared at him.

Kaida pulled herself to her feet as she turned to look at the Pokemon - an Absol - with a soft frown. “Sorry mother,” she said with a soft whine, lowering her head slightly. “I got really excited and just kinda raced ahead…”

The Absol shook her head with a soft sigh as she reached forward and pulled Kaida to her. “I understand, but you must be more careful.” The movement brought something to Gabriel’s attention - an orb hung around her neck, attached by a string. The orb itself was a light blue color with a darker blue and white ‘S’-like marking sitting within. It was strange, but he was forced to look away when the Absol spoke again.

“I am sorry for my daughter’s rash behavior. I hope you are not harm?” She tilted her head slightly, her voice cold and perhaps filled with a little distrust as if she was not sure of what to make of him. But either way, it also held a tone of politeness and a wariness that hinted this was not the first time she had to say such words.

Gabriel blinked before giving the two a soft smile. “I’m fine,” he said as he stood up, shaking the water from his fur as he stepped onto dry land. As the cold water clung to his body, he shivered as he looked down at his paw as he attempted to shake it dry. There was a few moments of silence and when he looked up at the two again, he jolted upon finding the Absol’s face looming not far from his own.

Her eyes were narrowed, her single good one studying him as if attempting to recognize him from somewhere. A calm frown rested on her face as she finally pulled her head away, giving him a distrustful glare. “It is strange to find a Riolu in this part of the world, what are you doing here?”

He opened his mouth, struggling to find the words to reply with. What was he doing here? He didn’t even know, his whole mind just...Empty when it came to remembering anything about him other then his name, species and type. The thought of not knowing where he was from still scared him, but he swallowed his fear as he forced himself to gather a response. “I...I don’t know,” he confessed, gaining a strange look from the looming Absol. “I just...I can’t remember...Anything really.”

For a second, a look of confusement flashed upon the Absol’s face before it shifted into one of great interest, leaning forward with a slight tilt of her head. “Are you claiming amnesia?” she scoffed, yet something in her voice hinted that perhaps she believed his claim. “That you can truly recall nothing?”

Gabriel leaned back to escape the sharpness of her gaze, nodding sheepishly as he fudged his paws together. “I...I guess I am?” he said unconvinced, as he wasn’t sure what to describe what he felt. “I mean...I know my name...Um, species of Pokemon and even types but...Not anything else. I...I don’t know who I am.”

Kaida, who had remained silent throughout the whole talk, suddenly bounced forward, almost knocking him into the water once more. Her eyes glimmered as she raised up her head, staring intently at Gabriel with a large smile plastered onto his face. “Well, then what is your name?” she asked with a wag of her tail.

What surprised Gabriel the most about Kaida was the stark difference between her and her mother. While Kaida had a burning curiosity that was only second best to her bouncy friendliness, her mother had a cold, professional air around her along with what Gabriel felt was a seeming knowledge of what was truly going on. Between the two, Gabriel felt confused on what to even say so he simply answered the perky Fennekin's question. “It's Gabriel,” he said in a soft tone.

Kaida’s grin widen if it was even possible to do so, her neck crained so that she could look up at him even though he was almost twice her height. “Well, it's great to meet you Gabriel!” she cheered happily. “My name is Kaida and this is-”

“My name is Artemis, it is a pleasure to meet you Gabriel,” the Absol interrupted with a gentle hum, smiling ever-so softly at him as she dipped her head. Perhaps she would of gone on to say more, but Kaida quickly spoke back up as she bounced slightly where she stood.

“My mom is the leader of the local exploration guild,” she proclaimed as if it was a grand achievement, but Gabriel could only respond with a look of utter confusement. ‘Exploration guild…’ It meant nothing to him, and Kaida gave him a look of shock as it dawned on her that he failed to understand what she had just said.

“You really don’t know what a exploration guild is?” she gasped, before the glimmer in her eyes and the smile on her face returned. “Oh, that means I can tell you all about it! An exploration guild is a group of teams that ex-” her rambling was cut off as claws cuffed one of her ears, her mother looking down at her with a frown.

“This is not the time for one of your excited rambles, my dear,” Artemis cooed softly, a hint of annoyance seeped into her words. “We do not want to overload our new ‘friend.’ If he truly knows nothing, then we should not be feeding him so much information at once.”

Kaida wiggled out from under her mother’s claw, her ears flickering back on her head as she gave Gabriel a sheepish look. “Sorry,” she said with a faint smile.

“It's fine,” he said. He was rather thankful for Artemis stopping him before Kaida could just dump all of that information on him. It was hard enough to soak in what had happened to him - or the lack of knowledge of what had happened to him that he wasn’t quite ready for so much information at once. But, there was at least one question he sought an answer to. “Um...Where do you two live?”

Artemis promptly gave him a sharp glare, frowning as her chest fur started to bristle - clearly not okay with how sudden that question was. Gabriel would've taken a step back if it didn’t mean landing in the pool again and instead raised his paws up with a small smile. “I-I’m just asking cause...Well, I don’t have a place to stay. At least no place that I know of.” He lowered his paws with a wistful sigh, rubbing one of the ovals on his paws without much thought. “And besides, Kaida was saying that a guild is a group of teams or something?” His ruby eyes met Artemis’ seering crimson gaze. “That...That sounds like a place with a lot of room that...Well, maybe I could stay in one?”

All in all, he sounded very uncertain of himself. He was asking two complete strangers to let them stay with them, or at least in the guild that the Absol was the leader of. What were the chances they would let somebody who doesn’t even know who he was stay with - “He can stay in my room!”

Both Artemis and Gabriel jolted as Kaida spoke up, turning in an excited circle to look at her mother. While Gabriel gave the Fenniken a look of complete shock, Artemis simply wore an expression of annoyance as she frowned at her daughter. “I mean, my room is plenty big seeing how it's just me in there and it wouldn’t be any trouble to gather up another nest. And we just can’t leave him without a place to stay…” she drifted off, wearing a grin as she stared at her mother with wide, pleading eyes.

The Absol stared at her, seeming weighing her options before she let out a soft sigh with a shake of her head. “Fine,” she huffed although the slightest hints of a smile remained on her face. “I suppose we can let him stay in your room.”

To say that Gabriel was surprised would be an understatement. He had been taken aback by Kaida simply offering her room but was even more surprised by the fact that Artemis agreed. He watched in stunned silence as Kaida started to bounce around her mother’s legs, repeating ‘Thank you’ over and over in an excited, cheery voice.

Gabriel struggled to find the words that would describe his feelings before simply deciding to rely on what Kaida was saying. “Thank you,” he said, getting Artemis’ attention which had moments before been focused on the very happy Fennekin circling her. “I-I’m willing to help out if I need to pay my keep but-”

“No,” Artemis cooly cut him off, smiling ever so softly as she watched her daughter bounce past her for the tenth time. “That will not be necessary. We have many Pokemon staying under the Guild’s roof. What is one more? Now come along you two, we should return to the guild and get Gabriel settled in.”

She turned quickly and started to head back the way that her and Kaida had come, Kaida wasting no time in following after her mother. Gabriel however, found himself following a bit slower as he stared at the two of them. There was...Something off about them. Watching the two side by side, something in his mind told him that it was just...Wrong.

As he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that child and their mothers were always the same species, or...Was he wrong? Watching the two, he felt that Artemis being Kaida’s mother was just….Not right. Well, not possible. But to him, the idea just didn’t feel stable. It simply was there but had no true knowledge to tell him if it was correct or not....

“Do you have any questions, Gabriel?” Artemis’ voice shook him out from his thoughts, glancing over her shoulder. “I understand that you may still be gripping with the knowledge that you do not know anything, but if you do have any questions, I may be able to give you some answers.”

Gabriel was silent for a few seconds, trying to think of what to ask before he met her gaze once more. “Well...I suppose if I am going to be staying at the guild, I should at least know what a guild is about.” He had thought about asking about their relationship, were they truly family? But with his mind so unsure if he was right on the fact that they couldn’t be mother and daughter...He felt it wasn’t his place to ask, at least not yet.

Kaida gasped happily, slowing down her pace so she fell in line with Gabriel as she looked up at him with glimmering eyes. “I can explain about that! You see, my mom is the leader of an Explorer’s Guild.”

“You already told me that part, Kaida,” Gabriel stated, giving her a soft, slightly pained smile. “What I want to know is what an Explorer’s Guild is. I...I mean I don’t have any knowledge that would pertain to having the slightest clue of what one is.”

“I oversee groups of Pokemon,” Artemis spoke up, taking the mantle of explaining before Kaida could. Her gaze focused on the path ahead of them yet her voice carried strong as she went on. “These groups of Pokemon are called teams, each with their own name and members. These teams take on missions varying from exploring, recusing or even fighting bandits and criminals as we gain knowledge of them.”

Kaida smiled as she took over, her tail flickering happily back and forth. “Most teams tend to do all of the types of missions, but it isn’t unheard of for teams to focus on one type of missions depending on their skill sets!”

Teams, huh? He glanced back and forth between the two as the air was filled for silence before he finally asked the new question that was on his mind. “Are you two a part of a team?”

Artemis’ reply was quick and cold, the slightest bit of hate and perhaps even remorse flavored her words. “Once, a long time ago.” The sudden chilling reply made Gabriel freeze, regretting he had asked as he turned his attention to Kaida.

Her ears slicked back on her head as she shook her head, giving him a soft smile. “No...I’m not,” she said, her voice making it clear that she wasn’t happy about it. “Most of my friends are already in rescue teams and well...Most teams tend to be in pairs. Although sometimes they have more than two members.”

“I...See,” he said, frowning slightly as he decided to turn his gaze onto the forest around him, studying it for the first real time since they had started their trek. As they walked, he noticed that some of the leaves had the slightest hints of color. Overall, it was beautiful as he ran his paw against a passing tree trunk. “Hey,” he found himself asking as he glanced at the two of them once more. “What is the name of this place?”

Artemis’ gaze flickered toward him for a quick second. “Seda Forest,” she replied coolly as Kaida smiled widely at him.

“Seda Forest is the closest forest to our home and luckily it is so peaceful! I just love to explore this place because every Pokemon here is so nice! Of course, I always have to be careful because there is a mystery dungeon somewhere in here and you never want to enter one of those,” she rambled, and almost pained expression passing though her face at the mention of a mystery dungeon.

A mystery dungeon? It was another thing that he had no knowledge about, frowning as he glanced between the two. “What is a mystery dungeon?” he found himself asking, only to gain a sharp, quick reply from Artemis as the Absol refused to look back at him.

“A dangerous place that every Pokemon should avoid - no matter how strong they think they are.” Her words came out as a growl, but Gabriel could almost feel the despair and regret that Artemis let flavor her words. Kaida had nothing to add, her ears laying flat on her head as she stared at the ground.

There was no reply that Gabriel could even think of saying. He was shocked by their reactions to him asking what a mystery dungeon was and could only figure that they both had some sort of link to one...He frowned as he started to glance around the forest once more, only to take notice that the trees were starting to thin out.

“We are almost to Pillian Town,” Artemis suddenly said as if knowing that Gabriel had taken notice of the thinning trees. She didn’t even bother to look back at him as he picked up the pace to catch up to the two of them. It didn’t take long for the trees to fully give away and as the three of them stepped into the open air, Artemis and Kaida both came to a stop, forcing Gabriel to do the same.

Peering over past Artemis’ shoulder, he saw that they were all standing on the top of a hill - a town resting in a basin of sorts as the hill circled the whole town. One thing that caught his attention was a building - huge compared to the rest of the buildings and something inside of him told him that he had just spotted the town’s guild.

Kaida glanced back at him, seeming have recovered her cheery attitude as she grinned widely at him with a flicker of her tail. “Welcome to your new home!”

The trek down the hill to Pillian Village was a short one, with Kaida rambling the whole time about things that her and Gabriel could do together once he was settled in. Gabriel listened to the Fennekin go on and on, wearing a look of disbelief that she was already making plans when they had met not even an hour beforehand.

She only stopped when Artemis halted suddenly. Gabriel blinked in surprise as he turned to see why the Absol had stopped, only to see a Pokemon floated toward them. Just a simple look at that oncoming Pokemon told him its type - ghost. Nothing more then really a head with floating arms, the purple Pokemon wore a frown as he came up to the group with his arms folded in front of his body. “There you are, Mistress Artemis!” the Pokemon - a Haunter - scolded. “You must stop disappearing without telling me!”

Artemis met him with a cold look and a frown, but a smile quickly flashed on her face. “I’m sorry, Morris but I thought you would be able to handle things while I spent time with my daughter. Are you telling me I was wrong?” she said, her voice holding traces of simple, pure teasing in it as she gave the Haunter a faint smile.

Morris seemed to be unable to come up with a response, remaining silence with a frown on his face until he spotted Gabriel. He blinked in surprise as he floated toward Gabriel, making the young fighting type take a step back as the Haunter peered at him with a mixture of interest and confusion before he glanced at Artemis. “And who is this?” he asked with a slight frown.

It was Kaida who responded. “He is my new roommate!” she happily said with a wag of her tail, gaining a strange look from Morris as he raised an eyebrow at her. Perhaps Kaida would've said more but Artemis cuffed her on the ear once again to stop her from talking as she spoke instead.

“He is somebody that I have decided to let stay with us for a while and Kaida has…” she drifted off as if attempting to grasp the right word to say. Finally she seemed to find one that worked. “Kindly decided to allow him to stay in her room.”

“There must be more to it then that, Artemis,” Morris responded sharply, scowling at the Absol. “You wouldn’t just let-”

“That is all that is needed to be said at this moment, Morris,” Artemis cut him off, narrowing her eyes at him. “I am granting him permission to remain under our roof until he wishes to leave and you should know better then to question my choices. We will talk about this later.” She turned and started to walk down the street in a brisk manner, giving the Haunter no time to form a response.

The ghost type huffed in response as he frowned, following after her as Gabriel and Kaida followed behind a bit slower. After a few moments of silence, Morris glanced over to Gabriel as he slowed himself down to float at the Riolu’s side. He frowned for a quick second as he studied him, but it quickly turned into a soft - a bit creepy - smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that - nothing she does is without reason and I...Just fail to see the reason behind this,” he said with a small gesture of his floating hand. “But I have little reason to doubt her so...I suppose I should ask for your name.”

“It's...Gabriel,” he said softly, giving him a small smile. ‘It's a pleasure to meet you, I hope I won’t be a bother to you all.”

Morris waved a clawed hand, shaking his head. “No, no, it's fine. We have many Pokemon under our roof, what is one more?” After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. “Say, my dear Gabriel, where are you from?”

Silence. “I...Don’t...Know,” Gabriel finally said, his gaze shifting to the ground in front of him as his shoulders sagged as he frowned softly.

“You...Don’t know?” Disbelief echoed in Morris’ voice, floating down slightly so he was more level with Gabriel as he peered worryingly at the young Riolu.

“I just...Don’t,” he managed weakly, his voice more or less a whisper. “I can’t remember anything other then my name and...Types and species. But where I am from? How I ended up in the forest...Who I am? I just...Don’t know.” It was...Confusing. The way he felt about his memories was...Odd. He didn’t know how he was suppose to feel about them - he had no feelings toward his missing memories then just confusion. He knew they should be there, but he didn’t know what they felt like. The common knowledge of his past was empty - trying to think of them was like trying to find the right word to say. He knew it should be there, but it wasn’t and he just couldn’t find them no matter how hard he looked.

Morris frowned at him, noticing the discomfort that the Riolu was feeling and cleared his voice. “Well, perhaps we should change the subject away from something so...Bleak.” He smiled softly, his jagged mouth forming a toothy grin. “My name is Morris, and I am the second-in-command when it comes to the the Requiem Guild.”

The Requiem Guild? It wasn’t hard for Gabriel to realize that it was the name of Artemis’ guild and found he rather liked the name. Seemed fitting for a guild ran by a dark type and a ghost type. He also didn’t find it surprising that Morris was second-in-command after he had referred to Artemis as ‘mistress.’ An odd title, but it was clear that the Haunter respected her. “Second-in-command? What does that entail?” he found himself asking.

Morris looked at him, surprise for a quick second before it shifted to joy - all to please to tell somebody new what he did for the guild. “Why, its rather simple. I help Artemis run the guild. While she tends to work in the background, I am the foreman of our little duo. I am the one that interacts with the teams - I keep track of what jobs have arrived, what jobs the teams take and correct and sort their reports once those missions are complete! It's my job to make sure the guild runs smoothly while Mistress Artemis takes care of the...Finer details that may pop up that fit her area of expertise.”

Once the Haunter was done, Gabriel stared at him with an open mouth, before he closed it with a soft frown. “That...Doesn’t seem all that simple sir.”

“Hm, simple enough for a ghost type like me,” Morris scoffed with a wave of his hand, before a new voice split the air.

“Oh, Miss Artemis! Mister Morris! There you are!” The voice was soft, feminine and graceful as the whole group came to a stop. Gabriel turned his gaze to the owner of the voice, a young Kirlia who stood in front of Artemis with bright ruby eyes as she looked up at the Absol. “Miss Artemis, did you happen to run into my mother? She was looking for you a short while ago.”

Artemis frowned softly at the slightly smaller Kirlia, tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the side. “No, Reya, we have yet to run into your mother. Did Darice say what she was seeking me out for?”

The Kirlia - Reya - gave the dark type a sheepish look, shaking her head slightly. “No she didn’t say. I asked her about it but she just said it was some important grown-up stuff. I-I could tell that it bothered her so I left it as it was.”

Artemis’ frown sharpen at that, opening her mouth to reply when yet another voice spoke up. “Reya, where did you go?” A deeper voice said, hints of annoyance seeped into his words. This isn’t the time to be wandering off.” To their side, a Pokemon with striking similar with the Kirlia stepped out - a Gallade. In one of his arms was a sleeping Ralts, curled up against the red horn that stuck out of the larger Pokemon chest.

And larger he was. The Gallade towered over the whole group, even over Artemis as he came to a stop upon spotting the group. “Oh, hello guild leader,” he said with a dip of his head, keeping his body movements limited and small in order to not disturb the young sleeping Ralts. But even in these small movements, Gabriel could tell that despite his tall body, he was graceful - a natural-born fighter almost. Which wasn’t surprising, he was a fighting type along with being a psychic type.

“Regis,” Artemis purred happily, giving the Gallade a soft smile. “It's a pleasure to see you again, but I do not wish to bother you if Oba is sleeping. I would hate to wake him up.”

Regis smiled back, shaking his head slightly. “It is never a bother to speak with you, guild master. And besides, Oba here is a heavy sleeper when it comes to talking - most of the time just talking around him tends to put him to sleep!” He beamed happily down at the tiny Ralts curled against his chest.

“That may be true, Regis, but we must be on our way anyhow,” Morris spoke up, giving the Gallade a soft frown. “You see, we must prepare for our new guest,” he said, motioning toward Gabriel.

The Gallade blinked in surprise upon finally noticing Gabriel, before he grinned with a soft, hearty laugh. “It's about time the guild gets a fighting type! What is your name, son?”

Gabriel blinked, before giving a soft smile back. “Gabriel, sir.”

Being referred to as ‘sir’ gave Regis a even bigger smile as he laughed once again, smiling widely at the much smaller Riolu. “And look at that, he is polite! I’m liking this new recruit already, Artemis!” He shook his head with a soft laugh. “But I will let you four go on your way - come along, Reya, I need some help with making dinner.”

“Yes father,” Reya said as her father stepped back into the hut, before looking at the group followed with a bow. “It was nice to see you all.” With those final words, she spun gracefully and followed her father.

And so, they continued on their trek forward. Gabriel found himself scanning the town, the slightest hints of a frown on his face. The town itself was peaceful - not many Pokemon seemed to walk the streets, but the huts had lights peeking from within hinting that everybody was simply inside. And it made sense, as Gabriel flickered his gaze to the sky he found it darkening - night quickly on its way. It only raised the question of how long he had been in that forest as his expression flickered to one of confusement.

“What are you thinking about, Gabriel?” Kaida’s voice broke his trace, snapping him back to reality as he stared down in surprise and shock as the Fenniken bounced along next to him, having slowed to move at his side without him noticing. Her eyes were bright, glimmering with interest but he could tell that she had spotted the confusion in his eyes and her ears dipped just a little.

What response did he want to give? Tell her the truth or brush it off saying that he was fine? He lingered on both options, before he finally released a sad sigh as he turned his gaze to the setting sun. “I’m...I’m thinking of my home, I guess. Or...Well, my lack of one.” He raised a paw to his head, his eyes squeezing shut as he attempted to draw forth any memories from his past but none came. “I...I don’t know where I am from. Do I have a family? Do I have friends? I just don’t know and they could be worried sick about me and I am just none the wiser...I don’t even know who I am!”

Kaida frowned at him, her ears falling back all the way as she took a small step closer to him. “Whatever is going on with you, we will figure it out together. This...Pillian Town may not be your true home, but I do hope it will be good enough for now.”

There was no response Gabriel could even think about giving but Kaida seemed to understand as she brushed her face against his leg before trotting forward to leave him alone. But as Gabriel allowed his gaze to follow her, he noticed that Morris was gone. He almost paused in confusion before he turned his gaze to the side and found the Haunter floating next to him with narrowed eyes. He jolted from surprise, half wondering if everybody in this town could move so quietly. “Hello, sir.”

After a few seconds, Morris waved a hand at Gabriel with a shake of his head. “Oh no, no need for the formality. At least no reason to simply call me sir. Morris will suit me just fine.”

“Alright…” Gabriel said, a bit unsure as he peered up at the ghost type. “Morris...Can I help you? Is there a reason you are watching me so closely?”

Morris seemed stunned, as if he didn’t realize that Gabriel had noticed him watching before he sighed as he allowed his gaze to drift up to Artemis and Kaida as the two walked side by side. “I am sorry, it is simply that it's rare for Mistress Artemis to do something without there being a motive behind it. Nothing seems to happen that she isn’t aware of…” he drifted off, catching Gabriel’s confuse look.

He gave the Riolu a soft smile. “As an Absol, she has the innate ability to sense disasters. However, she also knows the move known as Future Sight and thus she can see the disaster upon sensing it, but it also allows her to see the future - even if it is not always by her will.”

“So…” Gabriel tilted his head slightly. “Did she know that Kaida was going to run into me?”

Gabriel thought that Morris shrugged, but it was hard to tell when one doesn’t have shoulders to shrug with. “Perhaps. I think it's highly likely that she did. I do not know what she sees when she can peer into the future, but I think it is nothing more than pieces - unable to fully see it but enough to gain an idea of what is to take place…” he drifted off, his frown sharpening for a second as he turned his gaze back to Gabriel. After a few seconds, the frown was replaced with a slight smile. “I don’t know what the future lies in store, Gabriel, but I feel that you are special.”

He didn’t allow for Gabriel to form a response before floating off, causing Gabriel to follow his gaze only to come to a stop by the sight before him. What could only be the Requiem Guild loomed above him, the door itself being over four times his height and was large across - almost like an entrance of a cave instead of an entrance to a guild. All he could was gawk as such a large building - making him think of a castle almost instead of a base of operations that it was.

Despite being in the middle of gawking, he saw Kaida bounce up to him, gently bumping her head against him to gather his attention. When he finally managed to tear his gaze away from the building, she grinned widely at him with a flicker of her tail. “Welcome to the Requiem Guild!” she cheered.

“Come along, you two. We should get Gabriel settled in for the night,” Artemis spoke up, staring coolly at the two of them as she stood in the towering entrance of the building. They quickly entered in behind her as she swept her gaze around the large main room of the guild, pausing slightly when she spotted Gabriel’s awestruck look. “Surprise, no? Maybe are surprised at how large guilds tend to be. All guilds across the region tend to offer their services to any Pokemon that is willing to join - thus the buildings must be large enough to fit all sorts of Pokemon. Once you grow older and evolve, this building won’t see as massive,” she hummed.

“Welcome back, Artemis, Morris, Kaida!” A Gardevoir floated over from where she had been behind a desk, smiling sweetly at the group before she paused upon seeing Gabriel. “Oh, hello. I see we have a new member. My name is Darice,” she hummed.

That fact didn’t come to much of a surprise to Gabriel - she looked much like her family. They were all from the same evolution line after all - the fact that they were family was far from surprising. “Ah, there you are, Darica,” Artemis hummed as she took a step forward, raising her gaze to the Gardevoir. “Reya said you had been looking for me?”

She jolted, a sheepish look flashing across her face but there were hints of something else within...Fear? Gabriel couldn’t be sure as she spoke up. “Ah, yes I do but...It is something to be spoken over in private. It's...Troubling news.”

Artemis didn’t respond for a few seconds, her eyes narrowed as if she was attempting to figure out what Darica was saying without the Gardevoir truly speaking the words. Then, her face grew solid as she turned to Kaida and Gabriel, giving them a hard look. “Kaida, you should take Gabriel to your room - make a bed for him. Its getting late and I want you both up in time for the morning meeting. You can show him around the guild and town tomorrow.”

Kaida frowned, seeming confused by her mother’s sudden cold behavior but nodded her head. Turning, she flickered her tail at Gabriel as she headed toward the left hallway. “Come on, Gabriel. It's going to take a bit of time getting your bed together!” She bounded off as Artemis, Morris and Darica headed off. Gabriel found himself watching the trio before he finally turned and headed after Kaida.
He soon found himself being led down a giant hallway, entrances on each side leading to rooms. Some rooms were empty while others had nests - some of the nests were even full of sleeping form of a Pokemon but he didn’t bother to linger around enough to put a name to them.

They soon ended up entering the door at the very end of the hallway. A window streamed in the moonlight as Gabriel glanced around the room. It was rather...Empty to say the least. Twigs sat in one corner of the room while a pile of hay sat underneath the window. Sitting in the middle of the room was a loan nest of hay - Kaida’s bed no doubt. His eyes soon flickered back to the pile of hay as Kaida bounced over to it, frowning.

“Why is there so much hay in here?” he asked as he followed her, watching as she dug her paws into the pile and started to scoop it out - only to send it cascading down to her feet where it started to gather. Hm, supposed it was hard to gather hay when you moved on four legs.

“We keep piles of hay in most of the rooms in case the team gets a new member - which granted happens rarely - or if one of the current members evolve,” Kaida explains, not stopping in her small quest to make a mess around her with the hay as she continued to dig it out. “Pokemon can change from one size to another rather quickly with evolutions so it's always a good idea to keep a bunch of hay just in case.”

Gabriel leaned down next to her, scooping up the hay that was scattered at Kaida’s feet. As he gathered the hay, he heard her gasp causing him to pause. He lifted his gaze only to see her staring at him with wide eyes. “Say, do you even know what evolution is? What hay is?”

He frowned at the questions, standing up with his pile of hay as he moved over toward her nest. “My amnesia is...Strange,” he sighed as he dropped the hay, trying to shake off the scraps that stuck to his fur. “It's like...I know common things. I know what hay is, evolution is...Even what species and type other Pokemon are but…” he drifted off as he turned and moved back to her side, gathering more hay. “What I don’t know seems to really only be things that involve me. And...Well, name of places I suppose.”

Kaida was silent for a few seconds before she raised an eyebrow. “But you don’t know what a Mystery Dungeon is? I say that would be common knowledge as everybody knows what one is and to stay away from them.”

Gabriel paused, before sighing as he shook his head. “I...No, I don’t know what those are. Other then when you and Artemis mentioned it on the walk in the forest...I’ve never heard of them. I know what those two words are apart but together? I just don’t have a clue.”

“That’s good,” Kaida said, her voice sharp and even a bit cold as she stared down at the hay. “Like we said, it's a dangerous place. A lot of Pokemon have lost their lives exploring it.”

She didn’t say any more, and Gabriel didn’t feel like pushing the question. The next few minutes were in silence as they continued to gather hay for his bed until it seemed reasonable size. As Kaida curled up in her own bed, Gabriel sat in his and frowned as he ran a paw over the hay. “It's...Not very comfortable. It's kinda itchy,” he admitted as he patted down the hay in an attempt to keep the strains from bothering his fur.

Kaida peaked over her tail, curled into a tight ball as she looked at him. “Well, it's the best we have to work with. It's better than the floor - that’s for sure.”

“Yeah…”

Kaida yawned as she lowered her head, somehow curling even tighter into a ball. “Its getting late and I’m tired...Goodnight Gabriel,” she said, her voice muffled by the hay and her fluffy tail.

“Goodnight,” Gabriel responded softly as he laid back in the hay, grimacing softly from where it poked at his fur. He supposed it could've been worse - the hay would be a thousand times more terrible if he didn’t have fur. He turned to his side, staring at the strange pile of twigs.

And although he didn’t feel tired, he felt his mind grow heavy. It was almost as if the darkness was calling for him, or perhaps he was more tired than he knew. As his eyes grew heavy as he started to drift off to sleep, he swore for a second he saw a shadow. A shadow that was without a body but he didn’t have the time to think about it before the darkness of sleep consumed him.

When Gabriel next opened up his eyes, he found himself standing in a void. It was the only word that he could even think could describe the world he was in. The sky - if you could call it that - was a deep blue, perhaps even a bit purple. He was confused - why was he standing when he was just asleep? Where was he? What kind of world was this?

Pieces of earth floated past him, floating by peacefully under no rule of gravity. In fact, for a second he thought gravity didn’t exist. Dulled colored plants grew perfectly fine although they were growing on a sideways surface. In the distance he could see a waterfall, but unless his eyes were playing tricks on him the water was falling into the sky. But as he moved around the small piece of earth he found himself on he felt the familiar tug of gravity holding him in place.It was confusing, and he found it better to not think about it at all.

As he questioned once more why he was in such a strange place, he became away of a shadow falling across him. He spun to face what had stuck up on him only to be scared speechless by the creature that loomed over him. If it was a Pokemon, he had no knowledge of name for it. Its face was covered in what looked like golden armor - covering its mouth with a small part starting in the middle of its head and stretching out that reminded him of a crown.

Small, brightly burning crimson eyes stared into his own as its long serpentine body coiled around the piece of earth he was on - cutting off any hopes of escape the riolu might have had. Three golden spikes adored each side of what could classify as the Pokemon’s neck on either side, moving slightly as if claws. From its back, six black tendrils stretched from it - three on each side much like the golden spikes but these ended in bright crimson spikes which stood out against the dark blue of the void around.

Gabriel was forced to swallow his fear, taking a small step back as the beast’s eyes stared into his own. Finally, after what seemed like minutes of silence - a rumble left the creature. “This?” it echoed, its voice just the slightest feminine yet still felt genderless but more importantly - powerful. The voice itself sounded bored mixed with disbelief which followed into the next few words. “This is who my father has summoned?”

“Perhaps he is truly not as weak as he appears my dear?” Another voice spoke up - this one clearly masculine yet felt...Echoed. As if the speaker wasn’t truly speaking. He spun to find a pitch-black Pokemon staring at him. The name of it escaped him as well as it stared down at him with a single glowing blue eyes - the other covered in a mane of white hair that floated into the sky and shifted ever so slightly as if made of smoke yet...Solid. A collar of red spikes rested around its neck, covering most of its face from view.

“Even if it is weak,” the voice continued on - clearly belonging to the shadow-like Pokemon as it leaned forward resting a clawed hand on its chin as he stared at Gabriel. “He has time to grow - he may prove to be a true challenge to her!” The last part ended with a snicker, causing Gabriel to frown at the larger Pokemon. “Ah, what a game this will be,” he purred as he narrowed his single glowing eye exactly.

“Who…” Gabriel gasped to find the courage to speak - much less form - words. “Who are you? Why am I here? Where am I even?” he growled, fear tinting his words.

The shadow Pokemon clasped his claws together, making a soft ‘cooing’ sound although he didn’t have a mouth to make one which. “Look at him, he is so adorable and fierce! But also...He’s scared.” His voice grew low, dangerous for a second as his eye started to grow even brighter as the Pokemon leaned forward suddenly so he was inches away from Gabriel. “You question who we are, mortal?” he scoffed yet sounding like he would be wearing a grin if he could make one. “I will tell you - I am a nightmare.”

He leaned back as he raised an arm, floating slowly away from him as its companion watched on in silence of the scene that was unfolding before it. “But you? You are weak, scared. It is not time for us to chat - it is too soon.” At those words, a dark wind blew past its outstretched arms, striking Gabriel hard into the chest and right off the side of the floating island he had been on. Gabriel cried out into the void as he fell, seeing the cold gaze of the serpentine-like pokemon watch him. The other Pokemon’s voice echoed in his head.

“Once you get more power - when you are stronger. Then we will talk…” A laugh. “You may be useful after all.”

Gabriel awoke with a start, his heartbeat racing as he attempted to catch his breath - finding it hard to do so. Only as he became aware of the concern face of Kaida looming over him, he realized why as he felt her paws placed on his chest. “Kaida?” He muttered softly as he waved a paw at her, causing her to step off of his chest as she frowned softly at him.

“A-Are you alright, Gabriel?” she squeaked as she circled around his nest as he sat up. “I tried waking you up earlier because it looked like you were having a bad dream but...You just wouldn’t wake up!” She sighed a breath of relief. “I’m happy to see that you are awake now.”

Gabriel was in the middle of rubbing one of his eyes when he blinked at her words, lowering his paw as he stared at her. “Wait, how long have you been awake? I didn’t oversleep, did I? Artemis said something about a meeting and-”

Kaida cut him off with a shake of her head, a faint smile on her lips. “Ah, no, you didn’t sleep though that! I was just so excited that I couldn’t sleep! The meeting is about to start, come on sleepyhead!” She turned and practically pranced out of the room - any sign of her previous concern gone as Gabriel hurried to follow after her.

Once he had caught up to her, she turned and gave him a wide grin. “I ended up talking to my mom about something involving the two of us - I would of brought you along to talk to her but because I couldn’t wake you up I thought I would do it myself.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, expecting her to explain what she had talked to her mother about but she never did until he cleared his voice and spoke up. “So, uh, what did you talk to her about?”

Kaida beamed at him with a mischievous grin, wagging her tail as she giggled. “I’m not going to tell you now! You will have to wait like everybody else now!”

Part of him wanted to say that wasn’t fair - if he was apart of whatever she talked to her mother about then it was his right to know. But as he stared at her, the glimmer in his eyes stopped his mouth from ever opening. She was just so excited - excited about whatever she had spoken to Artemis about and to see his reaction to it. He found himself unable to steal that joy from her, so he simply sighed softly as the stepped out of the hallway and into the main room of the guild.

The first thing he noticed was that there wasn’t many Pokemon in the guild. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting but the total of about twenty Pokemon that were gathered in the room took him by surprise. But the Pokemon that were there were of different shapes and sizes - two of them standing out amidst the crowd due to their size as they loomed over the other members. Perhaps the third tallest of the whole group was about half the size of the tallest one.

As he followed Kaida to the gathered group, his eyes flickered from Pokemon to Pokemon as he put a name to them. The first two Pokemon that stuck out was the tallest ones - an Aggron and Scizor. They both were talking to each other in hushed tones. Then there was a Staraptor, Servine, Misdreavus, Murkrow. Vivillon, Lilligant among others that he couldn’t make out as they were behind the taller Pokemon.

Kaida however came to a stop next to a Meowth and Espurr. The Meowth turned her head to look at Kaida and Gabriel as they came to a stop, smiling softly at Kaida. “Hey Kaida,” she purred softly before she spotted Gabriel, the smile fading from her face as she blinked in surprise. “Woah, who is this? I don’t remember seeing him around before.”

Kaida smiled widely at the Meowth. “He is new! Artemis and I found him in Seda Forest yesterday! He is currently staying in my room for now. His name is Gabriel.” Her glimmering eyes spun to look at Gabriel. “Gabriel, this is -”

“Everybody, quiet down!” Morris’ voice split the air, cutting off Kaida before she could utter the Meowth’s name. Gabriel turned his gaze to the front of the room as Artemis and Morris stood in front of the group. Their backs were to the front entrance of the guild, the faint rays of dawn flooding in behind them as Morris floated slightly into the air so that everybody could see him clearly as he continued on.

“Thank you all for gathering here as always,” he said as he folded his floating arms behind his back in a professional manner. His jagged mouth formed a faint frown as he narrowed his eyes. “I fear that like the last few days, I do not have good news. The storms in the east continued to swell with no signs of stopping. There is still no news of what is causing this...Endless storm.”

There was a ripple that went through the crowd but Gabriel blinked, confused. Endless...Storm? He wasn’t surprised he didn’t have any memories of something like that but he couldn’t deny that it didn’t sound good at all. He glanced over to Kaida who was staring at the ground, clearly not very happy about the news of the storm. “Kaida?” he said, grabbing her attention. “What is this about an endless storm?”

Surprise flash in the Fennekin's eyes as she stared at him, but the moment her mouth opened to form a response she was cut off as Morris spoke up once more. “Luckily,” he said, putting a bit of emphasis on the first word. “We are still not in danger of it here in Pillan Town - it's still miles off.”

“In better news,” It was Artemis that spoke up and the murmur of surprise that followed told Gabriel that it was a rare thing for her to do. “We have a new member in the Requiem Guild. Gabriel, please step to the front.”

Gabriel froze as all eyes fell onto him, understanding the simple order to move forward but yet couldn’t force his body to take a single step. Luckily, after only a few seconds of him being unable to move did Kaida snap him out of it but gently bumping her head into his side. He blinked, swallowing as he flickered his gaze to the Fennekin as she gave him a soft smile before he forced himself to move forward to Artemis’ side before he turned to look at the crowd.

“This is Gabriel and is one of our new members,” Artemis said, her voice even and without emotion as she went on. “He was found yesterday in the Seda Forest with no memory of who he is other than his name. Because he has no recollection of his past or where he came from, I have decided to allow him to stay under our roof until he remembers. Until then, I expect you all to treat him with respect as he is an honorary Guild member.”

There was a moment of silence before she let out a soft sigh under her breath, barely loud enough for Gabriel to even hear it as he stood at her side. “Speaking of which…” she drifted off as Kaida quickly bounded forward without a warning his eyes glittering as she came to a stop next to Gabriel and spun to face the crowd. “Upon my daughter’s wish, I am proud to present a new Exploration Team made up of Kaida and Gabriel. The name for the team has not been decided, but I am sure they will do good work for the Requiem Guild.”

Wait, what? Gabriel couldn’t help but be surprised at this suddenly turn of events - he was going to be on a team with Kaida?  It was so...Sudden but as he looked down at Kaida he found her beaming up at him with the largest smile she could muster. It wasn’t hard to figure out that this was what she had spoken to her mother about - she had asked to form a team with Gabriel. But why? They hadn’t even known each other for a day yet.

“Kaida, Gabriel,” Artemis’ voice snapped Gabriel out of his thoughts as he flickered his eyes up to her. She stared at them calmly, her expression dull as she tilted her head so slightly. It was weird seeing how active she had been while they had been walking though the Seda Forest, it was almost like she was a completely different Pokemon while in front of the Teams then when she had just been more or less alone with Kaida. “Do you both accept being an honorary member of the Requiem Guild?”

“Yes!” Kaida wasted no time in responding, her whole body quivering as she kept herself from bounding in place from sheer joy. Gabriel however was a bit slower to respond. He just didn’t know what to say about this whole thing. Then, Artemis narrowed her eyes sharply as if daring him to hurt Kaida’s feeling.

He swallowed his fear as he nodded quickly. “O-Of course,” he said. Artemis smiled softly back as if pleased that he had recognized her threat before she turned back to the audience.

“As leader of the Requiem Guild, I give my full support to this team. I expect there to be no problems and for you to treat this team as like any other team - no matter that they are new.”

Upon those words, the crowd broke into cheering and hooting for the new team. Gabriel felt his body locked up, nerve as he stared at the group of Pokemon before a ghostly chill ran down his spine and a hand was placed on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder to see Morris floating behind him, one hand on Gabriel’s shoulder and the other on Kaida’s head. The ghost-type gave Gabriel a soft smile. “Do the Requiem Guild proud you two.”