Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 7: The Serperior River

It was a hot day on the Serperior River as we glided along on our raft, thankful for the clouds now rolling in. With nothing more to do but listen to Team Apex talk and sing, Rye and I had decided to try and converse. Seeing as I now had time to think about the day's prior events, my dream in particular, I had decided to try to talk about that. However, I had found that trying to communicate via playing charades was easier said than done.

"Uh, you're hitting your head?", Rye asked as I tried to lay my head down. I shook no.

"Y-you're sleeping?"

I nodded before tapping my head.

"You're... uh, having dreams?"

"Shyaah," I affirmed. Rye glanced over at the others before leaning close.

"You think they have anything to do with you being... y'know, a human?" he whispered. I nodded slightly. We sat there in thought for a while, watching the water flow behind the raft.

'Who was that voice? Why did it send me here? Why can't it just explain what is even going on?'

We were pulled out of our collective contemplation by the laughter and singing of Team Apex continuing to pierce our ears. Turning, I found Arden and May engaged in a duet as Pike watched impassively.

"Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever! Noble white, noble white, bless our homeland forever..."

What I could only presume to be an old human song trailed off as May turned to Pike.

"Come on, Pike, what's the matter? You were the one who discovered this song, right? You might as well step up and sing along, you've been like this the whole trip!" the Leafeon laughed. Pike simply huffed in response.

"Not feelin' it today," he mumbled, sending a glare my way. May cocked her head, as it seemed this behavior was uncommon from the Swellow.

"Alright, then, ol' Fuss and Feathers. Guess we'll kick the kids into gear," she said as she turned towards us. The two of us scrambled up as she and Arden looked us over.

"Okay, how are you in a fight, Rye? What was the last technique you learned?" Arden inquired.

"Oh, uh... i-it was when I learned to Quick Attack two weeks ago in Amber Meadow," Rye said, standing as straight as he could.

"Hm, alright. We can work with that. What about you, Beck?" he asked me.

'...techniques? Uh...'

I shook my head confusedly. An awkward moment of silence passed before Rye suddenly perked up.

"H-hey, there's a Wartortle pushing this boat along, right? Maybe he could help?"

May thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, there is. Good thinking, kid," she said, getting a blush from Rye. Arden approached me as I looked on, unsure of where they were going with this.

"Did you know that most water-types with lungs can hold their breath underwater for an hour at a time?" he asked. Still wary but impressed with this factoid, I shook my head.

"Well, now you do. In you go!" he exclaimed.

Before I could even process what he meant, I found myself being thrown over the side of the raft and into the cold water of the river. Panic quickly set in as I remembered how I had nearly drowned not quite a week ago. As such, I began thrashing around, waving my stubby arms in a vain attempt to get to the surface. However, I quickly found myself calming down, my flailing slowly turning into an orderly, methodical beating of my tail propelling me through the clear water. Something about the river's currents flowing around me, the cool feel of the water, and the underwater environment around me felt right somehow.