Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 10: To Behold the Stars

"Alright, let's see... uh, it's a level D through Amber Meadow. We can manage that, I think," Rye said, reading a notice I had picked out from the board.

"Um, a Nidoran wants someone to meet them in Impetus Town, go to Amber Meadow, and find a Pecha scarf they lost in there. It says the reward's five hundred Poké."

"Sha?!" I yelped in surprise.

'That much?! Wow, this might not be so bad...'

Rye sighed. "Don't get too excited, the Guild has a tax for explorers. Eighty percent of the reward goes to them, we'd only get a hundred Poké from this."

Taking notice of my disappointment, he raised his hands.

"Hey, don't worry, it could be worse, I heard the tax changes from time to time. Apparently the rate went up to ninety-five percent when they were building the amphitheater," he reassured me. Reading over the notice again, he narrowed his eyes.

"W-why would a Nidoran need... uh, y-you think we should take it?"

I nodded, prompting Rye to fold up the notice and put it in the bag.

"Well, then, let's head out! We just..."

His enthusiasm waned.

"...need items now."

Looking uncertain, he cleared his throat.

"D-does anyone know where can we get items here?" he asked.

"Gettin' items from the Guild? Hah, if only.", a voice replied. We both paled as the Pokémon around us laughed.

'Crap.'

---

"Hey, look, it's Treecko! How's your pet doing, kid?"

The passing team chuckled as we made our way out of the Guild, sulking from such occurrences. The past five minutes had mostly just been odd looks and quiet jokes about my being feral, which dragged my already down mood just that little bit deeper. Not quite a desirable mood for... whatever we were doing, I'd guess, but I just hoped it'd get better. Grimacing back at the chuckling team behind us, Rye looked at me apologetically as we stepped onto the road heading to the town.

"D-don't mind them, they don't know what they're talking about. Hopefully we'll prove them wrong sooner or later," he said.

'Yeah, here's hoping.'

That in mind, the two of us walked up the dirt path and into Impetus Town. I'd heard mentions of the place here and there, but never had I gotten the chance to venture into the town. As we walked, I took a moment to take in the sights. Impetus Town was a homey if not quaint place, its earthen streets lined with houses and shops of various shapes and sizes, all of which housed Pokémon of equal diversity. As we passed into the circular town square, I found myself weaving between more and more Pokémon as they went about their morning. Laughing children ran about, a pair of Kecleons yelled at one another as they dragged a large cart along, and a Shiftry stood handing out thin wooden slabs of some sort as we stopped to look around. As a Plusle yelped and scurried off at the sight of me, I just let the culture shock I'd found myself with sink in. It was just... weird seeing all these Pokémon doing human things, I don't know. However, here they were, not only running a town like this but somehow making it feel... I don't know, homey somehow. I could almost hear woodwinds playing the town's theme when a loud ahem rang out from behind.

"You two! You look like respectable young Pokémon," the Shiftry I'd seen called over. As Rye gulped and inched back, said Shiftry walked over, looking us over as he continued.