Vanishing Act {Pokemon Mystery Dungeon}

Prologue

Even in the midst of night, the air currents rushed with life and intent; willing to whisk anyone away with its delightful, gentle touch. Without bounds, it raced across fields, mountains, and water alike, akin to dew slipping off a leaf in early morning. Quiet whispers of sounds radiated across the earth in rolling waves, uninterrupted peace, only disturbed by a single being.

His breaths came in ragged puffs that disappeared in milky white clouds due to the chilly air, and his muscles screamed to stop to rest, but he knew he couldn't afford that. Difficulties aside, red eyes scanned the landscape, looking for some place to land. Miles upon miles stretched blow him, dotted generously with trees and lakes; all wound together by a single Dungeon.

A Shaymin should be perfectly capable to fly from the Sand Continent to the far reaches of Heart Lake, but the crimson blood that welled from his neck and flank proved to cause otherwise. Everything burned.

Coming into view, a Great Lake, far greater than the ones before, glittered brilliantly in the moonlight.

"Yes! I just have to-" The cry of triumph and success was almost carried in the invigorated wind, but it was cut off. From the corner of his eye, the Shaymin spotted a blade of air spawn from the wings of a Pokémon shrouded in black. With a deafening hiss, it sliced across his shoulder, leaving a fresh gash in its wake.

Fatigued spots danced in his vision, blinding him. The Shaymin knew his time was up- his power leeched out of him along with his spilled blood. In a blinding flash of light, his Sky Forme retired. In a dire panic, he tried to steady himself in the air and retrieve the small brown bag that accompanied him in his descent, but failed to grasp anything but a small brown book that had spilled from the contents of the bag. Clutching it tightly, he watched as the moon grew smaller and smaller....

He had no recollection of blacking out.

With a gasp, his exhausted eyes popped open at the sudden flush of warmth he felt rushing to his injuries. The sun glowed in the sky, contrasting against the cloudless, pale blue atmosphere. There was grass cushioning his back, and a tree line was visible to the left of his vantage point, and in the distance, there was the soft sound of water lapping upon a soft shore. Perhaps the most confusing was the looming shadow over him, signifying a presence behind him.

The Shaymin scrambled up, spinning then crouching defensively.

"Who are..... wait, Verity?"

Instantaneously his guard dropped as he set eyes upon the levitating figure in front of him. A Mesprit hovered there, smiling with a slight tilt to her head, and her hands were planted upon her hips.

"It would be simpler for me to heal you if you did not squirm around so much, Raze," the pixie mused, dropping her hands from her waist and  flying towards the Shaymin, getting right up close to his face. Verity giggled, poking his nose, then proceeding to hover above him and placed her hands on his back.

Raze felt the warmth radiate from her hands, and he allowed his body to fall to the ground to simply enjoy the pleasant sensation. Millions of questions begged to be asked, but Raze pushed them aside, if only for a moment.

One could not be ignored. "Verity, how did you save me?" His mind wandered back to the night previous, and panic coursed through his veins faster than the welcoming warmth could dispel it. Despite  lying down, he jolted forward in a frenzy, dashing around the small clearing looking for his bag and his book that he had dropped in his fall.

"Verity, Verity, Verity! I can't loose that! On my gosh Kip is going to kill me, he worked really hard on that research and I can't believe I lost it and I was running for so long that I must've forgotten to tighten the strap and..." His eyes widened in pure terror.