Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Twisted Space

6: Inferno

"You want to join the Alliance?" Auris blinked in confusion. "Kid, you have no idea what you're in for. You haven't been in that body for longer than what, a day? Your sentret friend might be able to hold his own, but you?"

"Well, I'll just have to get used to it then. After all, it'll take a long time before I can return home, wherever home is."

"You're just saying that so we don't send you off to live with a caretaker. Just because you were a human at some point doesn't dismiss the fact that you're still a child."

"Wait a second, Auris," Laurel intervened. "We can't just wave them off because they're children. There are quite a few teams here led by younger pokémon."

"You don't understand, Laurel. I bet you don't even know how to fight, do you Fallen?"

Fallen pursed his lips, unable to retort.

"They're going to get themselves killed if they join the Alliance."

"If you truly believe that, then how about we have a vote," Laurel suggested. "After all, all three leaders are present at the moment."

Auris crossed her arms, "What's the point? You and I obviously don't agree, so just leave the decision up to Azure." The meowstic turned to Azure, who was studying all of them from the doorway. "Well, Azure? What's it going to be?"

After a moment of thought, the lucario gave his answer, "Let them join. But first, I would like to hear what Vigil has to say about this. Fallen appears to be vouching on his behalf, but I refuse to let them become a team unless I get confirmation from both of them."

Auris shrugged indifferently, "You heard him, Vigil. What's it going to be?"

Vigil stood there, completely frozen and unresponsive. He had no words for the situation. His limbs fell still and his breathing was soft and subtle. The sentret's mouth hung open in surprise, but his eyes lacked the sparkle it had when he got excited. They were blank, hiding the stew of emotions writhing inside.

"I-I'm not sure. This is all so sudden. Just...give me a moment to talk about it with Fallen."

"Go right ahead. We will wait for you in my office. Auris? Laurel?" Azure gestured them inside.

As soon as the door shut behind the Alliance leaders, Fallen and Vigil took seats opposite each other. Fallen glared at his sentret friend, perplexed by his hesitance to join the Alliance. Vigil remained trapped by his thoughts, the memories of his home being wiped off the map, and the treecko sitting in front of him.

"Why did you ask to join the Alliance, Fallen?"

Fallen mulled over his words, "I thought that maybe...becoming a team would be much better for you than being left with a caretaker. Earlier, you were talking to Waver about your dream of traveling the continents. Wouldn't you want to—?"

"Maybe I should rephrase my question. How about...why are you helping me? A few hours ago you decided to split up from us and try and get your memory back on your own."

"What!? I told you, I got lost!"

"We were walking down a straight hallway! You'd have to be a complete idiot to get lost like that!"

Fallen lowered his head, unable to look the sentret in the eyes. Vigil didn't want to believe the words coming out of his mouth. He prayed that somehow, Fallen did lose his way while going to the request board. The evidence revealing otherwise, however, was too incriminating to ignore.

"Fallen, you've made it really hard to trust you over the past day. At first, I thought you were insane the moment you said you were a human. Then, Waver tells me that you lied to him about how you broke your leg. And even now you're lying to me."