Mirror Image

The First Mission

We headed out of our room and back to the cave. Chatot was talking with a tall Sunflora.

   “Right, Laura, you can go check the boards. Ask Carl if he needs any help first, though,” Chatot was saying.

“Um, Mister Chatot?” Belle said.

“Oh, you’ve decided to stay? Well, I’ll tell you, our training program is very difficult, so you’ll need this Explorer Kit,” Chatot said.

He handed us a bag, which I slung over my shoulder as best I could.

“You’ll find supplies in there for when you’re on missions. But first, let’s get you a mission,” he said.

We headed up the stairs and to the board on the right. There were flyers announcing ‘Help! My friend is lost in a dungeon!’, and ‘I lost my Scarf! Please help!’. Chatot pulled a flyer off and handed it to us.

“Here, you’ll be doing this,” he told us. “With all the bad Pokémon from what’s happening to time, there’s been an increase in both criminals and Mystery Dungeons.”

“Time? Like hours and minutes?” I asked.

“Sort of. We think it has to do with the Time Gears, which help keep time flowing properly in their respective areas. No-one in their right mind would mess with them, but it seems that someone might have,” Chatot explained.

“Lost pearl… help… seventh floor… dangerous…” Belle read snatches of the plea for help. “Wait, our first mission is getting something somebody lost?! But, what about the exploring, the new places to scout out, the adventure?”

“You’re just starting, so don’t whine!” Chatot snapped.

“Right,” Belle sighed.

We headed outside to the crossroads, where we went along the road marked by a sign that read, ‘Drenched Bluff’.

It was a long walk to get there, but once we did, we saw a huge mountain (which had looked much smaller in the distance), and a bit of a cliff jutting off to one side. The entrance looked a bit ominous, but we headed in anyways.

After seven floors, at least twelve battles, and one quick break, we had made it to the final floor. A pearl was in one corner. I picked it up with my tail and stuck it in the new bag.

We headed back up until we reached the outside world again. Exhausted, we headed back to the guild.

“Oh, thank you so much! I just couldn’t settle down without my wonderful pearl on my head! Thank you again!” Spoink gushed.

“No problem!” Belle said.

“Here, have these in return,” Spoink said.

He handed us a Calcium, and Iron, a Zinc, and 2,000 Poké.

“Are you sure, mister Spoink? That’s quite a lot of stuff,” Belle said.

“Yes, it is nothing compared to my precious pearl!” he said.

“Rachel, can you believe it? We’re rich! One mission and we’re rich!” Belle grinned and started bouncing around almost as much as Spoink.

    “Excuse me, but you’re only keeping ten percent of that,” Chatot interrupted.

“What?!” Belle and I said, shocked.

“Most of the money goes to the guild. You get about ten percent,” Chatot said.

“But- but- but…” Belle sighed.

“Now, off to bed, you two,” Chatot chirped.

“Alright,” I sighed.

We plodded off to our room. Belle kept muttering things under her breath. Eventually, I fell asleep, and Belle’s snores were joined by my slightly quieter ones.