Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 135 - Reconnecting

It had been several days since the battle against Dark Matter had ended. The strange creature known as Nate was starting to recover and gather up the many little wraith-like things that crawled around Kilo Village. Rebuilding efforts were slow and steady. All was well.

And yet, Elder did not know why everything felt so off. Rhys... How was he doing? He hadn't heard any news about him lately, only that he had been sent to the Voidlands. Surely by now he would have been sent back, right?

It seemed that while he was in the Voidlands, he could not even communicate with him in his dreams like he used to. That little, strange psychic link allowed to him by Mystic resonance did not work from Kilo to the Voidlands.

The loneliness was new. Even when they were working opposite sides of the Hunter-Heart conflict, they could speak to one another that way.

His tired eyes finished reading over the last report of the evening. It was starting to blur together, but with Nevren researching, Rhys gone, and James and Anam in the Voidlands, it had somehow landed on him to maintain things at the Guild, along with a few other Elites. Even stranger was this lingering feeling that he was missing something. The feeling had always been there, deep in his mind, and yet only recently had he realized it. A matter of since the end of the day, and no earlier.

He felt a subtle tug to the north, toward Hot Spot. It... bothered him. But, without Waypoints, he had no means of going there in a timely manner. He could only wonder... Could it be Rhys?

Lifting his shell off the ground, he slowly lumbered out of his makeshift office in Anam's quarters. Then came the slow walk out of the office, where Elder began to fantasize about making some dinner and what a good berry salad would be like, and if there would be someone waiting for him in his quarters as a little surprise. Perhaps he would go to the hospital to see how others were doing there, have some conversations with visitors to pass the time. It would be nice to socialize outside of a business setting...

As he emerged from Heart HQ, however, those fantasies were shoved aside when a giant, serpentine wraith flew over the skies, evading several shots from the ground. Elder took a few steps back in an effort to find a place to hide—he was no fighter—when he realized that this serpent in the sky was heading straight for him. In fact, he was almost positive that he'd made eye contact. Glowing, yellowish-white eyes on that thing...

And that tug, that ethereal tug, was pointing not north generally, but specifically toward that serpent. That monster was what had been calling him?

"E-excuse me!" the serpent cried, his voice warped and unpleasantly buzzing in his head.

He had half a mind to fall for his instincts and tuck into his shell. His instincts always were a little strong. "Yes?" he called back, voice hoarse from lack of use all day.

"Elder, correct? My name is Rayquaza, er, oh, this is quite awkward, but... Well, ah, oh, oho, I suppose I forgot my words. How silly of me..."

Seeing this gigantic shadow serpent writhing in the air from awkwardness left Elder fully disarmed. Whatever resonance he felt toward this creature, it wasn't hostilities. Maybe it was some civilized wraith? Nevren had mentioned several of them were innocent spirits corroded by the land...

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rayquaza," Elder finally said.

And then they stood there, awkward and silent. The terrified crowd had died down after seeing that they were only talking, and with hushed voices at that. Between Nate and all the other oddities going around lately, the villagers collectively went about their business, accepting this as yet another strange thing the Elites dealt with. At least, Elder hoped that was their thought process.