Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 64 - Welcome

From green fields to sandy ground, Gawen was assaulted with the powerful smell of a salty ocean. He stumbled forward, the stress too much for the fusion, and split apart. Owen toppled on top of Gahi, pressing his face into the sand with his weight.

Gahi hissed and rolled out from under him. Owen grunted, plopping onto the sand with a heavy thump.

"R-Rim! Where are—oh." Owen's breathing was still slowing down, but he realized that they were at Quartz HQ. "Just like that..." Owen sat up, holding his chest. His heart hammered against his hands. He could still hear Amia screaming.

Rim was right behind him, looking at his back with concern. Owen grunted, wishing he could turn off his Perception so he could focus. Wait—he could! Owen reached up without thinking, grabbing his horn, giving it a light tug. He had to pull a lot harder than he ever would under normal circumstances—almost to the point where he worried he'd break something—but off it went with a gentle click. He did the same with the other one, and suddenly, he was blind, his senses limited to the simple, relatively flat view his eyes provided.

Owen sighed, setting his horns beside him. He heard Rim's gentle pitter-patter until she was sitting next to him. Gahi grumbled, rubbing his nose with a snort. "This place..." He snorted. "The smell, too. We're kinda close to the ocean, huh?"

"Yeah." Owen opened his eyes, looking at the sandy field in front of him. "We used to fly around here before you ran off like an idiot." The Charizard let out a huffing laugh, blowing a few embers against the sand. Stray blades of grass suddenly went aflame, making Owen yelp and pat it out.

Gahi rolled his eyes, swishing his tail to smother the flame out with ease, though not without getting some sand all over Owen's arms.

"Aw, it's all in my scales," Owen groaned, rubbing his claws along the ridges between them. He turned his arm over, getting most of it out, but he knew a few grains were going to take a bit more work.

"At least y'don't have fur," Gahi said, glancing at Rim.

The Espurr nodded, but the way she moved seemed to catch Gahi's eye; he walked up to her. For Gahi, that was a blurry jog, startling her. "Hey, you—yow!"

Gahi bumped into an invisible barrier. Rubbing his nose, the Flygon growled, "C'mon, what's yer deal?"

"I think she's just shy, Gahi," Owen said.

"What, yer Perceive telling you that?" Gahi crossed his arms and wings, looking at the ground. "I saw her fur looked kinda red."

"What?" Owen inspected Rim, leaning to the left and right, and Gahi was correct. It seemed like parts of her fur had splotches of faded red color. The Espurr looked away, getting back to her feet. She dusted off some of the sand on her body with a weak Psychic wave, wobbling toward a patch of sand.

With a mechanical whirr, a hatch slid open, startling Gahi, but Owen had sensed it before he had taken off his horns. "Th-the entrance is right here?" Gahi said. "How'd we warp so easily?"

Rim looked onward. "Waypoint..."

"From the Badge itself?" Owen said, tilting his head.

"No."

Gahi paused, looking down. "Where?"

Owen stood up and dragged his foot horizontally along the sand. "I think right here." After a few layers were brushed aside, there was indeed a small, colorful tile hidden away beneath the sand, glowing faintly now that a few layers had been pushed away. "But with it covered up like this, I think you can only use it for coming here, not leaving... Rim. Why do you have a Badge?"