Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 5: Revelations

"Sha?" I concernedly called to Rye for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

Dusk had fallen over the Guild, and ever since we had returned from registration, Rye had been sitting on his bed, alternating between absentmindedly sifting through the contents of our new bag and staring off into space, deep in thought. In response to my cry, he looked up at me, his eyes still slightly glazed over.

"S-sorry, Beck... it's just I can't believe this is actually happening..." he said. "I asked Team Apex if I could apprentice for them six moons ago. All I wanted was a chance at being on a team, and look at us now..."

Another moment of his contemplation passed before he snapped out of his stupor and put his new badge down, standing up for the first time in hours.

"Alright, Beck, h-how about we keep trying to get talking down?" he offered.

---

"B... shaaak."

"N-no, don't hesitate, uh, make the two sounds as quickly as you can."

"B-b-sheeaak."

"T-try again!"

"B-shak,"

"Again!"

"B-beehak..."

Stressed over my repeated failures and Rye's increasingly persistent method of teaching, I groaned, putting my head on my bed. I was considering burying myself under the bed's straw before I realized something.

'Wait... I did it?'

As if to affirm, a whoop sounded from Rye as he pumped his fist into the air. Grinning, I joined in his enthusiasm with a small dance.

"Y-you did it! We're only gonna get better from here, I think! Let's try something else now, alright?"

With that, he pulled out Team Apex's notebook, handing it over to me.

"J-just draw whatever you want to know about... er, y-you know, if you can, and I can try to explain it! Maybe you'll pick up on a couple words!"

'Something I want explained? About time...'

I decided to start by drawing a crude, bipedal figure that vaguely resembled a human.

"Sha?" I asked, gesturing to the picture. Rye looked slightly confused, but seemed to get what I was going for.

"That's a human, I think...? Y-yeah, they used to rule this continent a long time ago, and the legends say they used to live side-by-side by Pokémon. They could apparently work together to take the world around them and do what a thousand Pokémon working together could only dream of doing. Mr. Arcanine says the ruins we'll be seeing once we start exploring were mostly made by humans. Mr. Pike once told me those legends about them visiting the moon were true, but I don't think..."

He trailed off as I pulled a map out of our bag. The map depicted two large landmasses sticking out from the bottom framing a single large island. Among the sea of writing, I noticed a star, seemingly showing the Guild's location. I gestured to said map, making a questioning cry.

"Are you asking where they live? Uh, humans haven't existed on the Gray Continent for a while. Mr. Arcanine says it's been centuries since the last ones left," Rye asked. "W-why are you asking?"

...

'Might as well tell him now and get it over with...'

As Rye watched, I pointed to my drawing, then at myself, repeating the process a few times for good measure. Around the fifth time, Rye seemed to understand.