Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legacy of Hatred

"Shiv, you grab Reversa with your...clamp onto her with your mouth and try to fly her up to the stairs." Evan commanded, "I'm gonna use Bounce to get up there..and then try to get you some air with Razor Wind."

Evan stood up and with a deft, Bounce-assisted leap, he landed on the stairs.

"You ready, Reversa?" Shiva asked. "Try to give me some more air, if you can. Oh Arceus I hope this works..."

"Oh, what a time to not bring an Escape Orb... Alright. Let's go!" - Reversa yells.

She pulls an orb out of her cloak. She crushes it in her hands, creating an afterimage effect to her, Shiva and Evan's movements. The Bisharp clamps onto Shiva's body and hangs on tight.

Thalassa and Nina fly up the stairs and stop before they smash into a weapon cabinet. 

They float out the room and hop back into the garden with the Reshiram statue. The Primarina makes deep breaths as she clutches onto the plaque, with Nina de-transforming into her Aria form. She sits with her friend against the foot of the statue. 

"Are you alright?" - Thalassa asks.

"Yeah... Are you sure you are, though?" - Nina says with a frown.

Thalassa controls her breathing and chuckles.

"It's fine... I just need to rest a bit. I haven't put that much effort into singing since our last concert."

"We nearly get crushed to death and you're still able to laugh it off. You're crazy." - Nina laughs as she stretches her arms over her head.

"Get to know me, sister. So... we lost the Mystic Power to a bunch of bandits." - Thalassa says with a heavy sigh.

"Well... To be honest? If they're just bandits, we can track them down easy. Really, we should be glad the Khamsin guys didn't get it instead." - Nina states.

"True, but it would have been better if we got it ourselves. National security and all that bunk." - Thalassa shrugs.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Ambes and Hall collapse in the middle of a crystal-studded dungeon while Sonia and Menti go on ahead. They stop to look back at the boys.

"Kids, what's wrong?" - She asks.

"Grandma... we're beat." - Ambes says with a frown.

"Yeah, I've never walked this much in my life. We couldn't just use the car to get here?" - Hall says as he pushes up his hat.

Sonia chuckles and pulls up the Pikachu. Menti drags Hall up and nearly flings his hat off his head.

"You guys need to exercise some more." - Menti states.

Hall scoffs at her and properly readjusts his hat.

"Haha, yes. You have to stay in top condition if you're going to be doing this kind of thing for a living. This place should be just about done, though." - Sonia says with a smile.

Barek hung his head low as the three teammates trudged their way back to Allford. The only one who seemed well enough to make the trip without frequent stops was Sorin, though he had his mid-battle nap to thank for that.

Despite that, Sorin asked frequently to stop. Barek was plenty aware it wasn't for him though. Still, Eser found a shady patch by the road and flopped down on his side.

"You seem down," Sorin said as he floated next to Barek.

"I just... wish I was stronger, you know?" Barek sighed. "Like, I wasn't that much help back there."

"You still have a lot of time to grow."

"But..." Barek trailed off, unsure how to express his feelings. "Do you think I'm close to becoming a Luxio? I just wish I could help you guys more!"

Before Sorin could reply, a mechanical clanging sounded off nearby. The two looked over to see Professor Nicual in some hand-crafted locomotive driving their way.

"Well well what an adventure, I do hypothesize that plenty of data was observed yes?"

"Oh good, for a second I worried we were going to have to walk back," Eser grumbled. He picked himself up and walked onto the machine.

"You know we could have just taken the train," Sorin replied.

"Even worse."

"Hey guys!" Vidar greeted, waving. "That walk took a lot outta you, huh?"

"Yeah, you gotta learn how to save your energy!" Vesa chimed in. "So you don't fall asleep in a dungeon."

"That example is from experience." Vidar muttered.

"Hey, it was one of our first missions and I was so excited I couldn't sleep!" Vesa retorted.

Vidar ignored him.

"Yeah, this one time I had to pull him out of a wild Pokemon's reach because he just conked it right in the middle of an attack,"

"I've matured though!" Vesa frantically explained.

"...That was only a week ago."

-------

Shiva thought there'd be more of a struggle with carrying the Bisharp, but it was surprisingly a bit easier than she thought. Though she did feel the Bisharp gradually start to weigh her down.

"Evan, now's the time for that Razor Wind!" Shiva yelled.

"On it!" Evan replied. 

He breathed in and focused. He swung his scythe-like appendage and large gusts of wind started to form.

"Hope this works." he said, nervously.

The air blows Shiva and Reversa up through the stairs and into the armory. Reversa lands on her feet but tumbles over due to her back wound.

"Ugh, looks like I can't do any real acrobatics until we get to the medical chambers." - She grunts.

She puts herself against one of the weapon shelves.

"So the two that took the Mystic Power were a Weavile obsessed with jewelry and a Salazzle... We'll definitely need to deploy some spies to keep track of them."

-

Thalassa and Nina walk back towards the entrance of the cave only to be beset by the crowd of explorers that Evan and Shiva froze before. They bear down on the two women with furious glares.

"What gives?! What happened?!" - A Rhyperior in the crowd yells out.

"I'm sorry to disappoint everyone in the crowd here, but a pair of bandits have already made off with the Mystic Power. You might as well go home now." - Nina chuckles.

"You're kidding!"

"All that prep work for nothing..."

A few of the explorers leave through the entrance, with some throwing up their arms in disappointment. 

"This won't stand! We came here to get some treasure!"

"So did we, but we're not going to be sore about it and cut our losses." - Thalassa shrugs.

"There's a castle down there if that's your thing." - Nina says with a beaming smile.

The remaining crowd curl their hands into fists and make low growls.

"You... you took the treasure, didn't you?!"

"Oh hell, not this again." - Nina says as she rolls her eyes.

"Get them!"

The crowd stampedes towards them while the two women give back bemused glares. The larger Pokemon wind up for a combination attack but stop when a purplish-white light washes over the cavern. A purple crescent-shaped beam zooms across the cave with the crowd barely moving out of its trajectory.

They turn around and spot a blue Gallade with a cape-like extension and red razor-edged elbow blades. He slowly walks over towards the group with an intense look in his eyes.

"Harming a single hair on two beautiful vixens like these... Now that's despicable." - He remarks.

"Louis?! What are you doing here?" - Nina shouts.

"... He's only one person! What are you guys do-" - The Rhyperior yells.

The Gallade slams a decisive punch to the Rhyperior's stomach, flinging his oversized body into the distance. He gives the crowd around him a small, confident grin before swinging one of his elbow blades to the side as a feint. The crowd runs screaming out of the entrance with some falling flat against the dirt as they escape.

He reverts to a normal blue Gallade once the room clears and puts a hand to his hip.

"Heh. It's amazing the lengths some Pokemon would go for treasure..." - He says as he nods his head.

"Nice save, but we could have took them." - Nina says as she crosses her arms.

"Why are you here? We agreed to take the mission by ourselves." - Thalassa asks.

"Well yeah, but... you know, I felt kind of guilty letting you two go alone on a Red level mission... Plus, guildmaster told me to go for security's sake." - Louis remarks with a nervous shrug.

"How... chivalrous of you. All joking aside, a three person ensemble would have helped us a lot more." - Thalassa says with a low chuckle.

"You... kinda missed everything, Louis. We didn't just get here." - Nina states.

"Huh? Wait, what happened?" - He asks.

The Meloetta puts a hand behind her head and gives him a slight frown.

"About that..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ambes and his group make it into a stone chamber filled with red glowing jewels and a tremendous chasm. A squadron of Scizors wearing blue vests latch themselves onto the wall and chop off entire crystal segments. They throw the crystal segments into mine carts, which are pushed away by other Bug Pokemon.

Two Ledians holding spears stand guard and look over the group.

"I'm sorry, but this is an active dig site. Civilians aren't allowed to enter on Queen August's orders."

"W-we're here on official exploration team business. We came to retrieve a red-striped ribbon for our client, you see." - Ambes shakily states.

"Huh. Hey, Rev, didn't one of the workers say they found a ribbon?" - The Ledian remarks to his companion.

"Yeah... They should be deeper in the cave. Okay, you can pass, but be sure to not disturb the work environment." - The other Ledian nods.

The two guards stand by and pull up their spears.

"Thank you." - Sonia nods as she moves on ahead.

Ambes stays close to her while Menti and Hall wave at the guards as they pass by.

"Yeah...y-yeah we will." Evan said, nursing his wounds. "But first we gotta get out of here."

"Jeez, we almost died!" Shiva fumed.

"We're not out of the woods yet, Shiv." Evan said. "We could die before getting outta this place."

"...Thank you for your optimism." Shiva rolled her eyes.

----

"Yeah, we're with them." Vidar explained as he and Vesa followed Team Rodere into the chasm.

"We promise not to break anything!" Vesa promised, dashing to catch up with his brother.

During their ride, Sorin and Barek finally dozed off in the back of Nicual's makeshift automobile. Eser, sitting in the passenger's seat, kept quiet. At least while he could between the professor's pecking for information.

"So," he began, "was our hypothesis correct?"

"Yep. There was a Mystic Power there," Eser replied. "And everyone who's anyone was there to take it."

"And who were the lucky winners?"

"A bandit group from Allford. Not optimal but far from the worst case scenario. There was a group there... Not sure what they wanted, but probably not science and research. Either way, shouldn't be too hard to get back. Although... due to some back alley dealings, I might have promised these bandits that they could keep the Mystic Power. You wouldn't happen to have any contacts who could finish the job, would you?"

"Oh ho Eser, you get your data from the strangest of places. I might have some electrical wiring I can pull... Once we get back though, you'll have to tell me all your observations about the Mystic Power. Leave no detail hidden."

"So if I've got this right, you two had a battle royale with the item guardian and some Khamsin operatives... but the Mystic Power got swiped by two bandits nobody knew were there." - Louis remarks.

"The odds were pretty stacked against us." - Nina shrugs.

The Gallade puts a hand to his forehead.

"This could be a problem. We have to file a report to Guildmaster right away." 

"My thoughts exactly. Although I can't help but feel that those bandits bit off more than they can chew now that they have something so valuable..." - Thalassa remarks.

"At that point it'd just be a race to see who hunts them down first... I'm kinda glad we didn't get it ourselves, to be honest." - Nina states with a nervous smile.

"True. Still, it would have been a hell of a feat to get a treasure as rare as one of the Mystic Powers." - Louis states with a grin.

The hallway quakes, with dirt flying out of cracks in the ceiling. Nina jumps out of fear and clutches her chest.

"... Hey guys, maybe we should continue the small talk in a place that's not bound to collapse from an angry, super-powered Heatran." - She says with a cold sweat.

"Good idea." - Thalassa states.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ambes's group walks into a hallway lit with electric lanterns. A Heracross worker at the end of the room punches the wall at a rapid pace, revealing a crystal underneath.

"Excuse me, sir! We're looking for a red ribbon. Have you seen one here?" - Menti asks.

"Huh? Yeah. Did you folks lose it?"

"Not really. We're getting it back for our client, see..." - Ambes nods.

"Ah, I got you. Here you go." - The Heracross remarks.

He grabs the ribbon from a box behind him and holds it in front of Ambes.

"... Wow, that was fast. Thanks a lot, mister." - He says with a smile.

Ambes reaches to grab the ribbon but kneels over upon touching it. A sharp chill runs up his spine and he runs out of breath.

"Ambes!" - Sonia and the others yell as they scramble over to him.

"Are you alright? What happened, dude?" - Hall remarks.

"I'm fine. But what in the world was that feeling...? It came out of nowhere." - Ambes states.

He gets to his feet and holds the ribbon close to his chest.

"You alright, little fella? You sure nothing's wrong?" - The Heracross remarks with a concerned look on his face.

"... Yeah. Thanks for giving us the ribbon, mister. We'll leave you guys to your work now." - Ambes states.

"Glad I could help, partner." - The Heracross nods.

The group turns around and leaves, with Sonia putting a hand on Ambes's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're not sick, sweetie?" - She asks.

"Positive. It felt more like something ripping their way into my soul... It was the worst cold sweat I've ever felt." - Ambes states.

"What, even worse than Miss Candelabra? You sure it's not a cursed ribbon?" - Hall snickers.

"At this point I don't doubt that. We should get it off our hands quick if that's the case." - Ambes shivers.

Menti looks back at the Heracross and briefly sees him staring at the group with wide eyes and arms to the side. She does a double-take and sees him waving with a warm smile on his face.

"... Weird." - She states as she walks back with the group.

"...Hm..." Vidar mumbled to himself, staring at Ambes. "But who would curse a ribbon?"

"Maybe a Braixen playing around with magic?" Vesa suggested.

"I dunno." Vidar shoved, giving a slight glance to the Heracross, but not noticing anything wrong like Menti did. "I'm sorry if we bothered you, sir. We'll see our way out now."

"So, bandits here in Allford have one of the strongest treasures in the world then?"

The group returned to the professor's lab. Barek and Sorin retired for a nap while Eser gave the walking electrical cord a rundown.

"I wouldnt be too worried about them. Petty thievery is all they'll aspire to do with such a weapon. Could have ended far worse."

"But there will be others wanting it..." The Xurkitree rubbed his... chin, causing sparks to leap between his fingers. "Oh you sly little Espeon, is that why you promised them the prize?"

"Wouldn't want every seedy organization breathing down our backs, now would I?" Eser smiled. "Sorin, Barek, and I can watch these bandits from afar and keep them away from real trouble."

"In the meantime, we should figure out a more permanent solution... I have a friend in high places who I believe would be very interested in that responsibility."

"And I'm sure this friend isn't about to use the Mystic Power for their own selfish ends?"

"Eser Eser... you should have more faith in me."

The Absol collapsed outside the dungeon.

"I can't believe we made it out of there." he gasped.

"Hopefully Blanche isn't mad that we failed to get the Mystic Power..." Shiva sighed.

"We could always steal it back..." Evan said,

"...Not right now. We're hurting bad." Shiva groaned.

[Guild Hideout]

Thalassa, Nina and Louis enter into a circular room with a orange carpet emblazoned with a sun symbol and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room is a large device that emits a holographic map of Monvel, with a pink Ampharos and a Latios staring at it.

"Guildmaster, we're back!" - Thalassa nods.

"Hm? Ah! How did it go, Team Serenade?" - The Latios remarks.

"The actual location was right this time, but..." - Nina says as she taps her hands together.

"... The Mystic Power was stolen by a bandit team." - Thalassa remarks as she angles her head down in shame.

"What?! Don't tell me Khamsin got it?!" - The Latios yells at the top of his lungs.

"No. In fact, we drove the Khamsin operatives away. These were unrelated thugs that took it while we were fighting, you see. They were a Weavile dressed with jewelry and a Salazzle respectively." - Thalassa states.

"Hmm... Interesting. I got a report from the police that they were seen with an Aggron that ruined a jewelry store in Echo City. What else was there?" - The Ampharos remarks with a soft voice.

"We found a tremendous castle that didn't seem to be touched for ages, complete with a statue of a Reshiram. It was beautiful - I wish you could have seen it." - Nina nods with a smile.

"... A Reshiram? If what you're saying is correct, then you must have found a significant piece of Novadran history." - The Ampharos states.

"Yes, there were records that state the castle was originally built as a bunker to protect civilians from the scourge of the Sigils. The fact you found its actual location and a Mystic Power in its walls is amazing, even if you didn't get it." - The Latios says with a hearty laugh.

"But... but I don't... huh?" - Nina states with a confused pout.

"Think about it like this. You proved that it exists and that it's currently in the hands of some no-name bandit team that we were already planning to apprehend anyway. Not only that, you uncovered a valuable piece of history. I'd say that's an accomplishment." - The Ampharos smiles.

"... Well then." - Thalassa chuckles.

"This calls for a celebration. How about we go on a night on the town?" - Louis says with a grin.

"That sounds like a great idea, but... I just remembered I have to go meet my son and mother-in-law in Magnolia. I haven't seen them in forever." - Thalassa remarks.

"Awwww, our first big victory in a while and you're not even going to be there to enjoy it with us? Oh, what am I saying, go be with your family." - Nina says as she hugs the Primarina.

"Don't get too wild, alright? I still need all of you in one piece when I come back." - Thalassa chuckles.

"No guarantees~" - Nina giggles.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ambes and his group get off of a gray cab and walk into the guild center. A small Zigzagoon wearing a yellow bag hops off one of the chairs and waddles over to them.

"Excuse me, are you Team Rodere?" - She asks.

"Yeah. Are you our client?" - Ambes nods.

"Yes. So, how did it go?"

[Mission Reward]

"We got the ribbon back. It wasn't too hard but we did have to go through a construction site to get it." - Ambes states as he holds it out to her.

"Wow! Oh thank you, thank you! You're a lifesaver." - She squeaks as she hops around.

"I'm glad we could help, miss." - Menti says with a smile.

The Zigzagoon grabs onto it with her mouth and puts it inside of her bag. Menti waves at her as she goes out the doors.

A distinct revving noise rings from the Contact Gear, with Hall pulling it out of his backpack. He reads the screen and shows it to the others.

"Well, would you look at that. We only have eighty more points to go before we can become Bronze Rank!" - Hall chuckles.

"Whoa, that's neat. This was kind of easy though..." - Ambes says with a hand behind his head.

"They won't all be like that, but still... I'm so proud of you kids taking your first steps." - Sonia states as she hugs the three of them.

"Awww, grandma..." - Ambes blushes.

As the three explorers slept, Professor Nicual powered up a clunky, thrown together computer that he claimed worked better than anything you could buy. The screen popped to life, revealing a lone Sableye staring back at him.

"It's been too long professor," Denzia said, grinning to show off his teeth. "How may I help you?"

"I assume you've heard about the Mystic Power?"

"Picked up by a group of bandits near you, yes?" Denzia scratched at his chin, eager to see where this was going.

"I think we can come to an arrangement," Nicual continued. "We would like to study the Mystic Power for science, but such a sought after relic would not be safe here. That's where you come in."

Denzia grinned even wider. "You know I've always been a patron of the sciences, professor. Consider it done. I'll send a team to retrieve the Mystic Power, you make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands before then. You can study it all you want once it's deep within the walls of Lapidus."

Nicual nodded in agreement. "I'll have my roommates keep an eye on the bandits then."

"Good. And professor," Denzia leaned in to the camera. "It goes without saying that this deal is completely confidential. Wouldn't want our friends realizing that a Mystic Power is suddenly hiding beneath their own mountain, else you never see your precious Mystic Power again."

-------------

"You figured out how to use this thing?" Hallows asked, watching Rhapsody punch at air wearing the suit of reflective armor granted by the rainbow stone.

"It's like I'm not even wearing it!" Rhapsody grinned, referring to its weight. "Come on, blast me again!"

Hallows rolled his eyes and spat out a Flamethrower at his partner. The flames danced around the Weavile like oil to water. Rhapsody just laughed.

"Come on, we have break out the boss," Hallows said. "Don't you want to show off your new toy?"

"Desperately. He'll be so proud of us!"

"You did great, guys!" Vidar cheered. "I'm so proud of you."

"You're starting to sound like our dad, bro." Vesa laughed.

"I guess I do..." Vidar muttered to himself, "Whenever we get the chance to see him..."

"So what else are we gonna do tonight?" - Hall asks.

"Well... my mom called the other day and said she was going to visit us! She should be coming soon." - Ambes states.

"Oh man, she's going to flip when she learns we're have our own exploration team now." - Hall says as he pumps his fist.

"... I actually didn't think about that! You're right."

"I wonder what Miss Thalassa is going to tell us about!" - Menti says with a sparkle in her eyes.

Ambes glares over to Vidar and Vesa.

"So my mom is coming. I know this is gonna sound crazy, but she's the co-leader of Team Serenade. You know, the famous music group?" - He says with a hand behind his head.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reversa straddles her way into a circular, steamy pool that radiates with a pink light. A Feraligatr wearing a white coat comes into the room and rubs a blue ointment onto her back.

"... I don't care if Madam has to yell at me afterwards - this is long overdue." - She says with a delighted sigh.

-

"You did what!? You let it get away?!" - Blanche yells.

She shoots a Power Gem towards Evan and Shiva but the stones swerve and hit the ground next to them.

"What is the matter with everyone lately?! This is ridiculous!"