Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 3 - Ceremony of Advancement

With dinner finished and plates cleaned, Rhys dismissed the trio to their rooms. Gahi wobbled into the left, deeper room. Demitri and Mispy head into the left room closer to the kitchen. Owen noticed that Mispy was being quite pushy with Demitri, playfully prodding at his back with her vines. Demitri, meanwhile, meekly bumped against her with his tusks, flicking his tiny tail against her front legs, which earned a giggle in response.

"Bah, get a room," Gahi muttered.

"We are," Mispy countered.

Owen chuckled nostalgically at the three. He decided, for now, to ignore why he had felt like reminiscing on memories he did not have. Seeing the three head into two bedrooms answered the use of part of the house. Figuring one of the remaining two was Rhys' quarters, which left one unaccounted for.

"Uh, Rhys?" Owen pointed down the hall. "What's that room supposed to be? The one there?"

"The furthest, right room? That is for storage of our supplies," Rhys said. "Extra items that aren't supported as easily in the official Heart storage facilities. Spare furniture, and the like."

"Oh, so the glowy room is yours?" Owen asked, leaving no question unasked.

"Yes," Rhys said.

"So," Owen said slowly, "why's it glow?"

"I have a few items in my room that glow," he said. "It is nothing else, really."

"Oh, okay." He wasn't convinced. "Nothing about any ghosts, maybe? Spirits, little," Owen paused, "pink clouds?"

"Pink," Rhys repeated. "Are you sure it was pink?"

The right side of Owen's lips twitched upward. He got him this time. "Yeah, definitely pink."

"Hrmm." Rhys' ears twitched, the aura sensors accompanying them rising just slightly. "What was this pink cloud doing?"

"Kinda, well, bobbing around when I looked at it. And then it went into your room."

"I see." He spoke analytically, but it felt forced. "Thank you, Owen. I will investigate this later, but it's far too late tonight. I will take you home."

Owen relented. It was late, and he was tired, and Alex was going to blow up with worry. A fresh day could help him think straight.

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"So, this is Hot Spot Road," Owen said, walking down the road he'd taken to get to Kilo Village that morning. To the left was a rocky hill with boulders the size of Rhys. To the right was a great field of light green grass that went up to Owen's chest. With the sun already down, it was hard to see much more than a sea of wavy blackness in the fields and jagged darkness in the mountains, though the tops still stood out against the barely-lit sky.

The walk felt so leisurely and casual despite Rhys being an Elite.

Should he say anything? No. He'd look like a complete lunatic. But if he didn't ask, it'd bother him all night, and then the next night. He had to ask. So, he stopped walking.

Rhys stopped, too. Owen wondered if he'd expected that.

"Rhys..." Owen turned to face him. "Do I know you?"

For just a second, it was as if the very wind had stopped between them. For that instant, nothing else mattered but the two of them. The rustling, tall grass quieted. The sunset and twilight ruled the world, save the flame that lit Owen's back.

The Lucario's eyes, which glowed just barely in the darkness, held no expression; that, in itself, was abnormal to Owen. Why would someone not react to such an outlandish statement unless they were prepared for it?