Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Chapter Twelve

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"Get UP! Are you READY for Sentry Duty?" I whined loudly, turning away from Loudred and plopped my paws over my ears. "Let me sleep!" Raiden sat up, his fur ruffled and eyes slightly bloodshot from a night of hard sleep. He yawned, rubbing his puffy eyes. "Hurry and wake up! You've got foot checking to do!" Loudred bellowed, stomping out of the room. I stretched in an attempt to wake myself up, "At least he wasn't furious this time..." Raiden murmured something inaudible, rubbing the back of his head, then stretching out his paws, like he was trying to stroke the sky, "I'm going back to sleep..."

"Oh no you don't, get off your ass, Sparks!" I stiffly stumbled to my paws, wincing as I staggered to the side, blood rushing to my legs. Raiden flicked his ears at me, already curled back up in the springy nest of grass. I titled my head, cracking my neck, and shook my feet out, trying to wake my body up. "C'mon Sparks, don't make me drag you!"

"You can try!" He pouted stubbornly, grabbing the nest and sticking his tongue out at me immaturely. "You bet I'll try..." I grumbled, flexing my front paws and grabbing his tail and giving it a sharp yank. "Move!" I whined, tugging at it. He yawned pointedly, "Never." He smirked at me, sharply jerking his lightning bolt shaped yellow tail out of my grasp. I squeaked, falling to the ground. "Oh, you totally brought this upon yourself."

I stormed to my feet, backed up one or two steps, then charged at him, letting out a loud, curling battle cry. Raiden squeaked as I hauled him out of the bed, I felt the strain in my muscles burning but trudged on. "I'm getting you to that morning briefing if it's the last thing I do!" "It will be the last thing you do if you don't get the hell off!"

I collapsed on the ground in the assembly area, panting heavily as Raiden strutted ignorantly to his spot in line. "I'm tired." He whined, stifling a yawn. I rolled my eyes at him crossly, "Lazy..." Chatot cleared his throat, causing us to snap to attention. "If you're through... Loud and clear, our morning chants, one-two-three!"

"One! Don't shirk work!"

"Two! Runaway and pay!"

"Three! Smiles go for miles!"

A stiff smile crossed Chatot's pink beak as he fluttered into the air, scattering his brightly colored feathers, "Alright Pokémon! Time to get to work!"

"HOORAY!"

Raiden smiled, his morning grumpy fit fading. I admit I was still a little ticked off that he'd downright refused to get out of bed, but it was hard to stay mad at him. "HEY! Rookies! Over HERE!" Raiden's ears quivered and his nose twitched slightly as he turned to blink at Loudred curiously. He smirked at the tetchy purple Pokémon, speedily skipping over. I swiftly followed him, my eyes watching Loudred.

"You guys are manning the sentry post, remember?" His voice was at a normal level, which greatly relieved me. "Manning? How sexist! Does Fluffy look like a boy to you?" Loudred crossed his arms, "It's JUST an EXPRESSION." So much for that nice, normal volume, my poor ears were already bleeding. "Okay, okay! Just explain how to do this." I whimpered.

"You'll climb down this hole here, and walk till you're under the grate. You'll inspect the footprint of visiting Pokémon, and tell what species they are. Then I'll decide if they're good or not, and open to the gate if they pass."

Raiden nodded enthusiastically, "Okay!" A grin spread over his face as he stretched his muscles. Then, he backed up a few paces before screwing his face up with intense concentration and then finally lunged forward, leaping boldly into the menacing gap. "Wait, it's not safe to just jump in like that!" I cried, dashing to the edge of the hole and poking my head in trying to make out his familiar figure in the pressing darkness. A muffled cry of pain emitted up from the hole, a small cloud of dust wafting up from the wide, black opening. "I landed on my leg." He whined, "It hurts!" I hung my head hopelessly, not rolling of the eyes, why was it so hard to stop and think? "Imbecile..."