Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Special Episode 3 - When the World Was Small

Bright lights lined narrow hallways of concrete and metal. White walls surrounded polished floors of marble tile. Every sound echoed for ages across the labyrinth. A youthful, albeit deep, voice echoed from the inside of one of the many rooms that lined these halls. It was monotone, growing more and more bored with each number said.

"253."

"Next."

"...812."

"Next."

"439."

"Next."

"...Uncle Hecto?"

The Charizard looked up, eyes half-closed. The canid Zygarde in front of him stared in his usual, unblinking expression. Between the big, empty room that surrounded them—a pure white cube that would take a full minute to traverse at a leisurely walk—and the only thing of note being the two individuals and the jars between them, Owen had nothing meaningful to focus on. The lack of anything was overwhelmingly underwhelming to his Perception.

"Are you unable to determine the value of this collection?" he asked.

Owen shook his head. "No, it's... it's just 170 pebbles, but... this is boring, Uncle. I feel my tail-fire dimming. I think I'm actually dying of boredom."

Between them was an assortment of glass jars of varying sizes and contents. Each jar was filled with many tiny objects. Pebbles, seeds, leaves... Owen counted the number of them in seconds.

"Hm. I see. You wish to end this test?"

"Can we just skip to the hardest one and work backward?"

Hecto looked at the many jars—about fifty in total. Then, he looked at Owen's bored, yet pleading eyes. "Very well. Three tests. If you pass them all, we can end the exam prematurely. Do you have any objections, Nevren?"

A voice echoed from the ceiling in response, out of some sort of device that emitted the sound accompanied by a static buzz that obscured the clarity of his tone. "No, that will be just fine."

"Good." The flame on Owen's tail brightened significantly.

Hecto pawed at the largest jar and slid it over. "Next."

Owen stared at the jar, filled with countless little marbles, all of the same indistinguishable color. "Exactly a thousand."

Hecto nodded and then slid the second jar over. "Next," he said. But there was a twist to this one; the jar was completely black. It was impossible to see inside.

Owen didn't take very long. "Fifty, exactly."

Hecto nodded. "Next."

Owen frowned, looking left and right. "You didn't move anything."

"There is a jar outside of this room, where you have never gone. How many items are inside, and what are they?"

Owen blinked, but then he nodded and closed his eyes. He navigated the emptiness around him, trying to focus on the presumed jar outside of the test chamber. He saw something. It felt like a container, certainly had the shape of one, but it seemed emptier than any of the others he'd dealt with. "Two Cheri Berries."

Hecto paused. He and Owen shared stares. When Owen didn't amend his response, Hecto said, "That is... incorrect."

"What? But that's all I see."

"The correct answer was two Cheri Berries, seven Oran Berries, and a Pecha Berry. Ten objects."

"But I only see two Cheri Berries," Owen said firmly. "Go check." He flicked his tail irritably.