Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Retaliation Corporation

Chapter 5: Recruitment

- Chapter 5: Recruitment -

Everything is…

Everything is so… foggy.

Foggy in looks. Foggy in memory. Why does this have a feel of familiarity to it? There is a feeling of pressure in the air… a presence is somewhere…

"Where…?" Krista can hear her voice echoing through the strange environment. Looking down, she nearly panics. There is no ground. Just an endless space.

How is she standing on a solid ground… if there isn't a ground?

Looking ahead, she hears a strange noise. It is so distant. No… it sounds like a weak whisper.

"Uh… hello?"

The faint noise seems to respond, but before she could try to make out what it could be saying, it all begins to fade.

"Wait… what are you….?" She feels herself being pulled out. "Wait…!" But there is no point in trying to stay. The force is too strong.

Then, she hears something else.

"aaaye…"

"Huh…?"

"Heeeeey..."

Her mind spins before it wanders from the strange dream.

"Hey! Hey!"

A voice? Who's talking?

"Krista!"

The Meowth sits up quickly. She blinks and rubs her eyes, careful not to scratch them. Was Pineno calling her? He looks at him to be sure. Looks like he was.

"Hey. Krista." Pineno asks, concerned with her. "You were moving in your sleep. Are you feeling okay?

She nods. Was it that bad? She didn't want to worry him. All she wanted to do was to take a nap to kill time. They had been waiting for Slowking to return for a while.

"It's okay. You don't have to hide anything. I get nightmares, too. Maybe a lot more than normal." He chuckles. "You learn to get used to them. This place does ease the nerves a bit."

Getting used to nightmares? How often does he have them?

"Aside that, what do you think about this place so far?"

Aside the constant staring and judgments? She gives him her answer. "It's okay, I guess. If everyone would stop staring at me, then it could be better."

Pineno agrees. "Yeah. I don't like how everyone keeps thinking bad things about you. Too bad the world is so quick to judge. We just need to… change the way everyone looks at us."

"You mean, me." Krista corrects him.

"You know… you're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that." Pineno crosses his arms.

"Hurt myself?"

"Your self-esteem." Pineno clarifies. "You already have one major problem. And that is your memory loss. I doubt it's your fault. It's too early to look into ourselves like the way you are. Then again, who am I talk? I had been hard on myself for so long."

Well, he does have a point. Krista did pick up the habit of being so unsure of herself. Maybe that's why they haven't been making much progress.

"If you ever remember anything about yourself being a human… whether you were good or bad… can you make me a promise?"

The question makes the Meowth pause. For some reason, making promises is something she finds herself not very fond of. However… she can't just say no. Maybe if she hears what is to be said…