Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 146 - Four Teams

It was deep into winter. The world had nearly ended during the harvest season, and there was a massive shortage of supplies for all the refugees. Emily, the Shadow Lugia, was still blindly rampaging throughout the world, but due to her complete aimlessness, she was treated more like a weather phenomenon or natural disaster than something to actively flee.

Thanks to advice from Owen, as well as the Charizard himself leading some of the charge, they learned that Pokémon with gold Protects held a particular advantage when it came to diverting her to harass somewhere else. Due to a silver lining of Dungeons still expanding and Anam in perpetual recovery, Kilo Village had become the last bastion of civilization. Tiny pockets of villages remained to be gathered back, but not many dared leave the mountain. Word from Pyrock confirmed that they would be in need of supplies there as well, but it had fallen into local villages self-ruling.

Wild Pokémon had grown hostile, due either to residual effects of Dungeons becoming more spiritually corrosive than before, or simply from the worsening environment without more intelligent Pokémon controlling the landscape. Civilized Pokémon had, in a way, become their own keystone species to the environment. Now that it was disrupted, wild populations were in danger of outpacing the dwindling winter resources, should that persist into spring.

So many factors led experts to determine one thing: While they would narrowly survive winter, they would not survive the next season without serious losses and an even greater permanent blow to world stability.

To Owen, that was a timer. By his hand, only a few seasons prior, he had grasped the Grass Orb and put the careful stasis set up by the world's Elite Hearts into total upheaval. Now, they had nowhere to go but forward. If they failed, the world would collapse one way or another, and Alexander would rise again to reclaim the ruined lands.

If Kilo degraded too far, Alexander would catch wind of it and try to make his move. South Null and North Null Village were the main strongholds and connections into the living world. They also knew that Cipher Castle held a direct connection through Void Basin for an invasion at any time. Surely, by now, Alexander's forces had discovered the uses of the light crystals to escape the Voidlands, now that the Dungeons were totally unsealed.

Owen wasn't really sure when it happened. But with Anam's general absence, Nevren missing, Rhys united with Dialga, and James tending to Anam, all of the Elite Hearts had suddenly... disappeared. Owen had filled that vacuum with the help of Elder and Rayquaza, still yet to unite, and others who pitched in where they could.

To many who knew Owen, his countenance had changed significantly during his work managing the Hearts. He acted formal; he had a serious but attentive expression any time someone spoke to him. Not once did he stumble over his words or openly second-guess himself. He was like a completely different person.

But really, Owen was one and the same, screaming in his mind about how he was supposed to handle the next hour. He was just scrambling to figure out what it meant, at night, in the quiet with Zena.

This was one such night, back to the ground in a field in Yotta Outskirts. Leo apparently helped take care of his parents here, and Spice visited often, so it seemed like an idea place not too far from Kilo Mountain. Distantly, Leo's parents were shouting over some board game they were playing with their son and Spice's family.

The wind blew, but mercifully it was not snowy. No ice coated the fields, so the two of them were simply enjoying the bare land.

"Stars. I still can't get used to them again," Zena said. No snow and no clouds made a clear night sky.

"Yeah," Owen replied with a relaxed smile. "Not having to worry about all that... even for a little while, is nice." But he always felt a pang of guilt knowing that as they enjoyed this, there were still countless souls suffering in the Voidlands. Every day resting felt like a day wasted, even if he knew, on a practical level, they couldn't feasibly do anything yet.