Explorers of Origin: A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fanfiction, Volume 1

Chapter 21: Flight of Ambiguity

The heart of any object, be it a powerful soul or a humble card, advises one's path.

"Phew! Finally out of those woods. Thank goodness the only real threats in there were the Amartoloí."

"At least you understand the secrecy of bases like Delta. They need to be set up like that so it would be harder for enemies to locate. Of course, that means nothing to those purple bastards..."

"But we gotta find out how they showed up in the first place. Without that knowledge, we won't fully understand their actual weak points."

"Or the one who created them."

"Yeah. Especially that. What're y'all's guesses?"

"Some retard who's desperate to pull some cringey anime archetype for views and likes."

"Maybe a witch-like Pokémon who distracts us through the Amartoloí in order to construct a much larger ambition?"

"Like revenge or something?"

"Nah, I think it's deeper than that. What's your idea, Mayor?"

"I do not know for certain, but I am sure it must be someone with ill intentions who, for one reason or another, wishes to harm humans and Pokémon. Either way, we might obtain some clues when we arrive to Flussufer."

"They better not be useless."

"They won't be, Pikachu. I know Ampharos and Hydreigon too well; they never fabricate fraudulent information."

Trekking through an open grassland after exiting Delta Base's territory, the group turns their attention towards the route leading to Flussufer Town, a modest community situated next to a freshwater river in the central-east region of the continent. With lingering questions plaguing each Pokémon, they hope to gain valuable information that will help them through their independent yet parallel quests. Noctowl checks their surroundings from above, scanning for any unsuspecting dangers. He detects a flying figure in the distance, coming towards him from the northwest. Upon closer inspection, he constructs the outline of a rounded, single-horn dragon charging towards him.

"Well, well, if it isn't Mayor Noctowl of Açaí Town! Great to see you in good health!"

"Oh! You must be one of the Dragonite mailers from Flussufer! I can see the town sigil on your delivery bag."

The surprised tone of Noctowl's voice forces the grounded Pokémon to look straight up to observe what the commotion was. Mawile recognizes the Flussufer sigil on the Dragonite's bag, pulling over Espeon to join in the analysis.

"Oh! You're right, Mawile! It IS the Flussufer sigil! I wonder what the Dragonite was going to deliver?"

"Letters, smart one."

"Oi. It's not all letters. They ship out online orders, too."

"What? You all can shop on the Internet?"

"You never knew that? Many e-commerce vendors have come and gone for many years now."

Espeon takes a puzzled Pikachu aback through her comment on electronic commerce, forcing the mouse to scratch his head to process it thoroughly. They revert their vision towards Noctowl and the Dragonite, searching for important details about current events.

"I'm sorry for Açaí Town's loss. It must have been a terrible sight to see your fellow townsfolk get wiped out..."