Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 27: A Pleasant, Uneventful Trip

"Right, then, that is everyone, I suppose. Greetings, all."

Xatu's voice rang through the small room as the seven other Pokémon in attendance silently watched him. A hundred and fifty feet below the Vertress Plateau, the executives of the Phoenix League had gathered for their monthly meeting, discussion of statistics and strategy in mind. Standing over them at the head of the table, Xatu paused to listen to their quiet feedback. Waves of distaste and annoyance met him, with one voice bemoaning this as another one of his wastes of time. Unfazed, he continued.

"Seeing as the Director is still absent, I shall be taking his place once again. I would like to discuss our actions over the coming weeks. We have seen a steady rise in interest in our cause over the past moons, as is evident by our membership rising from a hundred twenty to a hundred thirty, and with the assurance that Subject Blue survived the transfer, this rise is-"

A quiet groan sounded from the Gengar at the table, cutting Xatu off. He gave a quiet sigh, though he nodded to let his fellow executive speak.

"How are you so sure about that? It looked to me like you lost the human. What groundbreaking discovery did you make that shows they made it through?" Gengar asked.

"As I have told you before, I encountered them while on a rendezvous in Arid Riverbed. The feral's thought pattern was far too orderly and complex to-" Xatu began.

"Yeah, a feral got taught enough to start thinking straight. Has to be a human, right?" Gengar butted in. "Face it, the human's dead, no one gives two shits about what you have to say otherwise, and you're gonna get demoted to distortion and back for what happened in Bassa Village."

Xatu's face twitched as he stared Gengar down, the small stack of papers before him beginning to levitate.

"I assure you, I am correct in my assumptions. Simply allow me to finish," he said coldly. "You say nobody believes my words, but Executive Archeops has-"

"You've convinced him, now convince the rest of us," Gengar challenged.

A cry of agreement came from five of the six other executives as Archeops shrank into his seat, sending a look around to quietly plead for his reputation. The paper on top of the stack before Xatu began to crumple into a tight ball as he stared daggers into Gengar, who defiantly returned the stare knowing that Xatu was forbidden to even scratch him here. A minute passed before the tightness that had arisen in the air passed, signifying Xatu's return to calm. A piece of paper shot out from within the stack and hovered in the air for the other executives to see as he continued.

"Three days ago, our brothers in Impetus Town reported an anomaly in the local Guild's bureaucracy. They were able to discreetly secure this file from their infirmary and send it here," he explained as the executives squinted to read the messy handwriting. "This file pertains to a feral Oshawott who entered after having been discovered in a mystery dungeon over three weeks ago, and the diagnosis tab claims it appeared to be suffering from a form of schizophrenia, split mind for the uneducated. The additional notes here specify this resulted from apparent delusions of having been human."

Xatu remained still as he felt the executives' emotions shift from doubt to alarm and understanding. All but one, of course.

"So?" Gengar asked, his voice noticeably more hushed.

"The timeline matches up, Executive Gengar. One moon ago, Subject Blue was lost in retrieval. One week later, the documented case began when the Oshawott was brought in. As such, it is most likely that Subject Blue is currently this Oshawott and is serving within Arcanine's Guild," Xatu replied. A murmur arose from the executives as Gengar tried to form a rebuttal.