Pokémon mystery dungeon: Tides of Madness

Chapter 25: 💚Remembered in Spirit💚

Axel sat on the ground fiddling with the thousands of puzzle pieces laid out all over the floor making his bedroom a horrid mess. A victorious smile started forming on his face when he finally found all the side and corner pieces giving him a nice rectangle big enough to sit inside. Outside his window, the sunshine filled the cold dark corners with happiness and glee.  Whispering for any children who stayed locked up indoors to go outside and play. But no matter how much the nice day taunted him, Axel would rather stay inside and finish his puzzle. It wasn't like he had any good friends to play with anyway. He let the warm light warm his scales as he continued filling in the middle of the puzzle when he heard a soft knock on his door frame. 

He turned to see Shift peeking in. "You doing o-. Holy Karp Axel what did you do to your room?!" Shift exclaimed looking at the mess. 

The Axew replied with a bright smile, "I found a puthle," 

"You most certainly did. Look at this mess," 

Axel looked around his room with his finger in his mouth. "What mesth?" 

Shift shook his head but couldn't hide the grin from appearing on the side of his mouth. "Where did you even get that anyway?" 

Axel pointed to the small white box left on his small wooden desk. "The bocs," 

"Yes but where- never mind... Why don't you go outside and play with the other kids?" Shift motioned toward the window. "Socialize you know," 

Axel frowned looking down at his hands, "Dey are too noisy for me... I like quiet nice room," 

"You can't be in here forever Axel. It's not healthy staring at the same four walls every day," 

"I know dat," He turned to his window. 

Shift danced around the little puzzle pieces stepping on a few on his way to the lonely axew, brushing his shoulder with his leaves. "Come on I got something to show you," 

"Huh?" 

"Come on," Shift said making his way back over the minefield of puzzle pieces, "Bring your everstone too," 

He disappeared around the corner as his footsteps faded from the hall. What could he want to show me? Axel wondered grabbing his pouch and racing after his father figure. Shift was already at the door with his large bag by the time he got to the kitchen. 

"You ready?" He asked adjusting the strap around his shoulder. 

Axel nodded racing by Shift's side as he opened the front door. Warm air smelling like fresh grass hit them after the first step. Another step later came the sounds of birds chirping and pokemon chatting to their neighbors about their fresh day at work or hanging out for some fresh Oran Juice. Overall, it seemed like the perfect day to go on a stroll with his favorite 'mon in the whole world. 

The shiftry smiled at Axel, "See this ain't so bad ain't it,"

Shaking his head Axel replied. "So, where we goin?" 

"You'll see. I think you might like it," 

"Iz it better than dee puthle?" 

"Way better!" 

Axel doubted it. Nothing was better than building an image from bits and pieces. Shift led him down several roads leading to different shops that Axel never known had existed until now. So many of them had different kinds of pastries and puffs that made his mouth water. Big juicy apples filled one of the stands calling his name just for a bite of its wonderful sweet taste. 

Shift stopped to talk to the Vanilluxe managing a shop that looked like focused on ice cubes. 

"What flavor do you want?" Shift asked him making him stop staring.