Rescuers Side Mission 7: Express delivery to Anana!

PMD-Explorers Mission 7 Prologue

Separation

Their trip back to Tao village was quiet; almost too quiet. Just when everything had seemed to be finally turning for the better, the worst possible thing happened. Peter didn't know where Marston was, or what became of him, or how he was, or if he was still alive…. No, he had to be strong; he had to be positive, for the sake of Marston. He knew that Marston would be strong if he had gone missing instead. If anything, the Mudkip had always been the stronger one of the two. Peter hoped he should be fine. He would be fine.

"It's not your fault, you know?"

The Pikachu's train of thought was interrupted by the question, but more soon popped up in his head. "Huh? What do you mean Ariett?"

The Togetic looked towards the sky, averting his gaze. "Oh, I thought you were blaming yourself for what happened. Well, you did seem to be taking it all on yourself, you know? With the resolved face to find him and all."

Peter didn't reply immediately; he considered the question and tried to understand how he really felt about it. "I certainly intend to find him. It's just that… for the time being, I'm at a lost. I don't know how to proceed. Now that I think about it, you mentioned earlier that Jasmine was a Celebi and I remember having heard about the legendary Pokémon once during my travels. I think she was called the 'Guardian of the Forest' or something like that, which fits with what she was trying to do. It's just that I imagined her to be larger than that."

"Jasmine might not be huge, but she holds great power…."

That, Peter was already aware of. He took mental note to find as much as he could about Jasmine, the Celebi. Maybe, there would be clues about what could have happened to everyone who disappeared, or even definite answers to all this mystery.

Now taking a better look at his surroundings, Peter felt that what remained of the forest was in dire need of Jasmine. The land was still bare, if not for the few saplings emerging from its surface, but he knew that their natural growth would take much more time, too much time in fact for the forest to be saved.

The light sea breeze that came from the coast was dry and cold, almost eerie. The scent of the ocean was mixed with a faint smell of decay. It was as if nature itself had given up on recovering. Their orange illuminated path slowly gave way to the shadows, until the sun disappeared under the horizon.

As they neared Tao Village, they could hear desperate cries from about everywhere. Peter and Ariett stopped and looked down towards the village. Was the entirety of the village hit by the same curse? The moans and cries were the loudest from the tenements and the café.

"I can't believe the disappearances spread this whole way…. Could it have hit everywhere in the world!?"

Peter didn't reply. He simply grabbed the strap of his explorer bag between his paws and walked down with a firm step.

"Hey! Wait for me!" The Togetic left the ground and hovered beside Peter. "I guess I'll be staying with you for some time and make sure you take your medicine. You don't mind, do you?"

Peter almost stopped, but he pressed on, hoping that Ariett didn't see any hesitation from him. "Sure. I… I'll tell the merchants to put another bed in our room."

Ariett creased her brows and seemed to be deep in thoughts for a while. "The merchants work for you?"

Peter heaved a sigh. It would take him a long time to explain how things work in Tao Village. The village square was mostly a desert. The whole village seemed to be grieving the loss of those who disappeared during the rescue mission, and the café was even louder now that they were nearer.

Peter stopped by the merchant hut and, once inside with Ariett, asked Malt for the extra bed. Fortunately, the latter didn't ask for any additional fee and told him they would get it later that night.

The two Pokémon then walked to the tenements and stopped by room number 11. Peter pulled out the room key from his bag, slid it into the keyhole and turned it. With a click, the door swung open.

"So uh… welcome to our room," Peter said walking inside. On the floor, he noticed a white envelope addressed to his team, probably left by Archimedes or his workers, and he bent down to pick it. Flipping it over revealed the rescuer stamp; his next mission. With his other paw, he indicated Ariett his and Marston's bed.

"Hmm… not so terrible, but not that pretty either. I guess I got false hopes when I saw the interior design of the Merchant hut."

"Well… Marston and I were planning to build our own home at some point, but with the sequence of events, this had to be put off later." Peter took off his bag and placed it neatly beside his bed, with the envelope still in his paw. "I'm heading for the café. Are you coming?"

Ariett took one last look around the modest room and nodded.

***

"I can't believe they're telling us to deliver a letter, or help out Pokémon in grief after what happened here. Seriously, I expected some sort of organised search party to be set up!" Peter spat out, the mission letter in front of him.

Ariett was not paying much attention to him; she seemed to be much more afraid of something, or uncomfortable, or maybe alienated with the café. The Togetic looked down at her still half-full plate, unable to eat any further.

"Ariett? Are you okay? You have barely eaten anything and you don't seem…"

"I-It's a bit hard for me to stay in such an atmosphere. The… all the sadness around doesn't go well with me. I-I think I'll head back to the room and rest a bit."

The Pikachu nodded and handed the room key over to her. "Okay, I won't be too long. Hopefully, your bed is already there." He watched her step out and folded the mission letter back into its envelope. For the first time, this evening, Peter noticed that he had not seen Vertigo, but now that he thought more about it, it were some other Pokémon who were taking orders and the payment. Maybe, he was just thinking too much about his current situation….

Something then suddenly landed on the table, latching itself on Ariett's unfinished plate. For a moment, it slurped its contents, and the next, it turned to stare at the remains in Peter's own plate, a pink tongue hanging outside.

The Pikachu leaned back a bit. The eyes of the Koffing were somewhat… intimidating. "Um… you do seem hungry and I don't think I have any appetite left. So if you're—"

Before Peter could finish his sentence, the Koffing bounced onto his plate and swallowed the berries in one go.

"Okay, so you were hungry after all," Peter said with a light chuckle.

A Sandshrew immediately appeared to catch her in mid bounce. It was a Sandshrew Peter was certain he met before, from the goggles he wore. "Jacqueline Ironwing, we do not eat other people's food, is that clear?"

For a moment, the Koffing remained silent, an expression of guilt taking over her face. Peter felt bad for her to be scolded in front of so many Pokémon.

The Sandshrew then put her on the table so that she faced Peter. "Say you're sorry, please."

Jacqueline apologised silently, looking away from Peter, still with that guilty look in the eyes.

Peter leaned forward and rested his chin on his paws. "It's okay really." He then let out a long sigh; the Pikachu realised that it was the first time that he was in the café without his team mate.

"I think I worked with you before." The Sandshrew had taken Ariett's seat and Peter could see Jacqueline bouncing away.

That's when Peter was certain he knew the Sandshrew, and that made him smile. "Yeah, it was for the planting. I'm glad we got to work a bit together, even if it was for a short while." He paused, noticing a certain hesitation from the Sandshrew. The Pikachu reached out a paw to the Sandshrew. "Peter, and you're Rameon, right?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry, I'm not normally so bad with names," Rameon replied, his cheeks turning red a little.

"That, I think was your partner's job."

Rameon and him exchanged looks and shortly after, the two of them laughed together, although it wasn't too long until they turned quiet again.

Peter noticed that something was different with Rameon; the Sandshrew didn't have that feeling of excitement he usually carried around him. Peter guessed that he hadn't been spared of the epidemic of disappearances either. "I miss Marston too."

Jacqueline then appeared in his field of vision, at the other end of the café with a Sneasel and a shiny Nidoran, bouncing and seemingly enjoying herself.

"Is Jacqueline a new member of your team? I don't recall seeing her last time."

"She's my sister's daughter," Rameon answered, looking over to the Koffing as well. "I'm glad she's distracted, in any case. Her father is missing."

It was unbelievable how the disappearances had spread far and wide across the village. The Pikachu leaned back, looking at the wooden ceiling and frowned. "I just wish we could know more about what happened here. Or even a hint to give us an idea! And with the missions we've got, I just don't understand anymore. They expect us to focus on delivering letters or making food and presents when—"

"When it feels like we could be doing more?" Rameon completed the sentence. The Sandshrew nodded, rubbing his weary eyes.

A G note resonated from Jones' piano, previously quiet until then, followed by a series of other notes, hesitant, as if carefully gauging the keys' capabilities. The melody went accel as the player, the shiny Nidoran from before, seemed to get more at ease.

Peter got up from his seat after Rameon had left him and walked out of the café. It wasn't because of the music, he really did enjoy it, but he felt tired following all that happened on this single day and didn't want to make Ariett wait for him too much.

By this time of the night, Tao Village was much more quiet and peaceful. Up in the cloudless and starry sky was a moon crescent, casting its silver light on Tao.

Peter opened the door to his room and found Ariett waiting for him on a new bed.

"The weird Miltank from before left it here while I was waiting. He was quite grumpy if you ask me."

Peter was relieved Ariett got her bed, but he was too tired to listen to anything more than that. He simply dropped in his own bed and closed his eyes.

"You forgot your medicine…."

The Pikachu grunted and pulled out a vial containing some green powder from his bag. He poured the contents in a glass of water and swallowed the mixture in a single gulp, before falling on his bed again.