Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 32: Class in Session

"...interrogative: You say this Xatu was responsible for the attack?" the Magnemite before us asked dubiously.

"Y-yes, sir," Rye stammered. The Magnemite stared at us with its unblinking eye before looking back down to write as we stood there, minding the occasional Magneton floating past. After Arcanine's announcement last night, we'd figured that the best course of action would be to do what we could to help, so with the Guildmaster unavailable, we'd gone to the small police station in town to report what we knew. I watched eagerly as the Magnemite scribbled down our info on a piece of parchment with a pen stuck onto one of its magnets. I had been confused as to how it was doing this with no fingers, though a closer look showed it was wrapped in some sort of metal which I guessed was magnetic, thus sticking to the oversized magnets it called its arms. As the Magnemite finished writing, it looked back up at us.

"Statement: This could be quite useful, though I must ask about the source of this information," it said. Rye and I froze and gave a collective gulp. Surely we weren't about to tell it that-

"Uh, m-my friend here had a vision in his sleep," Rye said.

Damn it.

Magnemite paused for a second, blinking once or twice.

"Interrogative: You mean a dream?" it eventually asked.

"N-no, it, er..." Rye trailed off. Magnemite made a buzzing noise I guessed was its equivalent to a sigh.

"Inquisitive: Your source of this info was a dream?" it demanded. Rye made a weak squeak, prompting Magnemite to let out a monotone groan. We watched helplessly as it dropped its pen and brushed aside the parchment our scoop was on, then levitated up to look at the line behind us.

"Instruction: Next!" it yelled over our heads.

"Wait, please, h-hear us out!" Rye pleaded.

"ZZT! Imperative: Leave," Magnemite demanded, its magnets beginning to spark with annoyance. Yelping at this, Rye stumbled out of line, and as the few Pokémon in the station with us watched curiously, we hurried out onto the town streets. As we panted and looked back at the dingy little police station, I sighed.

"Shaagh," I groaned disappointedly. Rye bit his lip as he led me back towards town square.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot to account for the dream thing. Guess the Mags won't be much help," he mused. "So what now?"

"Uh... d-dunneh, wait?" I suggested.

"What? B-but... ugh, I guess. But what if something goes wrong?" he asked.

"Is okeh," I reassured him. Rye considered before giving a shaky nod.

"S-so you think waiting's a good idea. How long do you think it'll take, though? A moon?" he asked.

"Dunneh," I replied. Rye gave another nod before perking up a bit.

"Hey, uh, that reminds me. It's been a moon since we met today," he said.

"Wha?" I asked.

"I-I found you on the 15th of Rayquaza's Moon, and now it's the 15th of Kyogre's," Rye explained, giving a little grin to himself. "It's weird. Feels like it's been longer, y'know? You learned to speak and... uh, be a Pokémon, and I managed to heal a bit. A lot's changed, who knows where we'll be in another moon."

As Rye pondered, I took to trying to make sense of this calendar.

'Rayquaza's Moon? Kyogre's? What... oh, forget it.'

Pushing this thought back, I followed Rye into the town square, where Pokémon still quickly shuffled past going about their routines, though they seemed quieter and more cautious than usual. I could only guess that the news of the attack on the Dialgite Temple had been broken here, and the idea of the perpetrator being in these lands had clearly gotten the town worried.