Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 48: Scum and Dignity

Perfect, puffy clouds hung in the sky, though just enough that they didn't block the warm orange glow of the coming sunrise. River water lapped gently against the shoreline. A pleasant buzz seemed to hang over Impetus Town as Pokémon gave parting farewells. All in all, it seemed like an wonderfully ideal day for an expedition such as this to begin.

You know, except it wasn't.

As I sat and stared into the river, cool water flowing around my feet, I couldn't help but share a troubled grimace with my reflection. For the first time in about a month and a half, I'd finally heard a word from the one who I guessed had put me here. I could barely even say my own name last time it'd bothered to show up, and what did it have to show for leaving me in the dark? More vague crap. Like, at the very least, I'd have accepted an "oops, my bad, here's your voice back," but "the time's almost here, follow the light?"

To say I was frustrated would be half-right. I was moreso nervous to find out just what the Voice had in store for me here. At least I had a couple days to figure things out before the most likely deadline hit, that was s-

Something suddenly collided with me from behind, sending me tumbling into the river with a yelp. As I resurfaced, coughing water out of my throat, I sent a glare at the two Perrserker and the large crate they seemed to have dropped in their bumping into me.

"Watch where ya sittin', ya sod, we're workin' here!" one of them yelled.

"Ash-hahl!" I barked back as I pulled myself back ashore. I was just about to waddle away without a second thought when I noticed just how much trouble the two seemed to be having in picking their crate back up.

"Wha thah?" I asked curiously, only to receive a glare from the Perrserkers.

"Mindja own business, it's just some food 'n supplies for the trip home," one of them growled as they heaved the crate up.

I cocked my head. The box seemed a little heavy for food, judging by the difficulty with which they hauled it along. As I started warily walking off, I took a quick look back to watch the two headed up a ramp and onto the moored Galahad, their crate letting out an odd metallic jingling all the while. Watching the motionless caravel for a moment, I pushed the suspicions I had to the side and turned to sulk back into town.

As the jovial atmosphere of Impetus Town buzzed around me, I quickly found my teammates where I'd left them, joining them under the pavilion in town square and sitting down hard.

"Beck, hey! W-we're gonna head out soon, where've you been?" Rye asked.

"Ugh," I replied. Rye's face softened in understanding.

"Wh-what happened? Uh, you have been looking pretty down all morning, was it another... y-you know?" he asked. I nodded, prompting Rye to quickly look around at the others. Reassured that no one had heard, he sent a stern look towards Mavy, one that screamed "keep quiet." Getting the message, the Zigzagoon nodded and turned his attention to the bags sitting beside him as Rye leaned in towards me.

"We'll talk about it when we're on the road, alright?" he whispered.

"Yeah, ah-keh," I agreed. Offering a smile, Rye sat back, giving the town a long look as Mavy pilfered through our stock.

"Aight, we got the Stun 'n Warp seeds, the orbs, the money, Beck's instrument thing, our bandannas, yer welcome by the way, and... oh. Still got that disc thing in there, huh?" he observed. "D'ya ever figure if you're gon use it?"

"Nah. Uh, d-dahno," I said. The TM we'd been given the previous night had haunted me all last night, at least until the Voice had showed up. I wasn't sure whether to trust the gift or not, and the dilemma still bugged me. On one hand, the prospect of a new move was enticing. Besides, why couldn't Pike just, say, poison my food if he still wanted me dead? Reprogramming a TM just didn't make sense. But then again, he and his team were pretty well experienced, maybe he could pull off something like that, if only to cover his tracks...