Rescuers Event 7: A Letter from the Past

PMD-Explorers Event 7 Part 1

The box from the past

From what Peter could see, the Pokémon were rushing to take something from the Merchants hut; it was really wild! It was the first time since he arrived here that he saw the Pokémon of Tao acting as if their lives were at stake, more so than when Sorbet attacked the village.

He raised an eyebrow and plodded through the crowd of Pokémon towards the Merchant hut to see what all the fuss was about.

"I think they are taking something from a box..." Ariett said, trying to get a better sight from where she was hovering. "Those are...letters?"

From where Peter was, he could only see Shoormsworth's head and the Breloom didn't seem pleased by the outburst of Pokémon. Before he could understand what the merchant guild leader was saying, a Larvitar swept past him, causing the Pikachu to stumble.

Ariett spun in the direction of the small rock-type Pokémon. "Hey, can't you—"

"Hey, it's okay, really Ariett," Peter quickly said. "He was carrying a letter and seemed happy for some reason. I don't think he would even listen to you. Let's just see what's it all about."

But the Larvitar did notice Ariett. He was back in front of the two rescuers, letter in hand and staring at them, more looking annoyed than happy then. "What do you want?"

Peter felt that Ariett was about to preachify the Pokémon and immediately spoke up. "We...uh...just wanted to know what is happening here. Everyone seems to be getting letters out of nowhere."

"Well, you'll have to see Shroomsworth for that. I just finally found the letter my partner sent me."

Peter and Ariett exchanged looks. Why would so many Pokémon send letters all at the same time? But Peter thought further and it seemed even more nonsensical that their partners lost in time would be able to send them letters. But what if they really did manage to do it? Peter felt something tickling his mind; he had to find out the truth.

"Wait, I don't know any Malva... why was that addressed to me?" Maxwell said. He was still standing in front of the two but with the contents of the envelope open in his hands. "Darn it, either Elliot fell on his head and can't remember his name, or someone stole my letter, and if that's the case, I'll make sure they're going to have a bad time."

Peter watched the Larvitar crumple the letter and stump back towards the crowd. "I think we have a problem here...." Without losing any more time, Peter scurried through the mass of Pokémon towards the Merchant hut followed by Ariett, only to find Shroomsworth frantically (but without success) keeping everyone away.

It did not last long, however. The foraging Pokémon suddenly stopped altogether and went away, some with sad expressions while others seemed more annoyed or angry.

Seizing that opportunity, Peter walked to the Breloom. "H-hello Mr. Shroomsworth, I was wondering what exactly is happening here. You see I—"

Shroomsworth looked at him with dreary eyes which cut short the Pikachu. "And I thought that the news spread too quickly. This box," he pointed a claw to a rectangular box of steel, which bore a thick red zigzagging line around its central part, "contains letters from the ones who disappeared, well, it contained anyway. There's just..." Shroomsworth proceeded to lift the lid only to show Peter that all that was left was some sort of old cloth.

"Oh my gosh!"

Peter quickly sidestepped to let whoever was coming come closer. From how the ground mildly shook, it was probably a big Pokémon.

"That's... That's my blanky—err, my blanket from when I was just a baby!" Auntie Kanga said. She quickly picked up the blanket and rubbed it against her cheek. "I...I don't even know what to say!"

Peter watched with disbelief. Was that purely a coincidence or was that really Auntie Kanga's?

"Indeed," Shroomsworth said. "Hm, and there's just one last letter in here... Oh, it's... It's from..."

Peter cocked his head. It was the first time he saw Shroomsworth like this. It seemed like he was on the verge of tears and indeed, it wasn't long until a beady drop of water escaped the Breloom's eye to dampen the letter he was holding within his claws.

"Um, Shroomsworth?" Peter asked. But he got no reply from the Merchant Guild Leader. "Hey, don't!"

While Peter was trying to understand the current situation, Ariett had sneaked behind Shroomsworth and was peering over his shoulders at the letter. She ignored Peter and only hovered back to his side after reading the letter.

"From the looks of the paper," Ariett began, "it's definitely been kept for a long time, but I don't quite know who wrote it. The letter isn't signed."

Peter let out an exasperated sigh to keep his calm. If it wasn't for the confirmation of the origins of the letter, he would have long since told Ariett what he thought about disrespecting other's privacy.

"Maybe, we should just look for your letter elsewhere. There isn't any left in the box anyway," Ariett said.

Peter nodded slowly and turned towards the village square. What he was afraid of happening did happen. Someone else must have taken his letter thinking it was theirs and who knew where that someone was right now?

"Did anyone receive my letter?" A Combusken wearing a black scarf shouted among the villagers. "I know that one of you took it and I can guarantee you I'll find it. I have my own means!"

At his feet was a Zorua wearing a white scarf, not any taller than Peter himself, and she was growling at anyone looking at her. it seemed she was scrutinising everyone with her sharp eyes.

It didn't take long for to hear more shouts from everywhere. Pokémon were asking around if they got a letter for 'Riley' or 'Shadow' or 'Rose', but nobody seemed to be finding what they wanted.

Even worse, Peter couldn't hear anyone mention his name, which was even more unnerving. For a brief moment, he wished his name was more common in this village than it was, but he quickly changed his mind, it would have been best if he was the only one with that name; there wouldn't be any confusion that way.

Like the others, the Pikachu began asking around if anyone got his letter, but he either obtained a negative response, or got completely ignored by the ones whom he asked.

"Come on, let's not stay here or both of us will become crazy, or at least me, with all that anger and depression hanging around..." Ariett told Peter. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the crowd.

The two of them were outside the village square soon, where the uproar was much more bearable. There still were Pokémon around though, probably those who obtained their letter easily and sought some tranquillity to read. A thought suddenly struck Peter. He knew that the guilds had a lot of young Pokémon, or otherwise, those that did not know how to read or write. He was lucky to be able to, but he also knew that while Marston could read, he could not write too well since he did not have thumbs. A fear started growing in his chest about whether there was actually a letter from Marston or not in that box.

"Hey, why the long face?" Ariett told him while they were walking.

Peter had forgotten that Ariett had the ability to sense others' feelings to some extent, and well, he didn't have anything to hide now. "I'm just worried that Marston didn't actually write a letter, since you might suspect, he's not too good at writing...."

Ariett didn't reply immediately, maybe she was looking for the right words to say? "Nah, I'm sure Marston had a letter in there. Maybe he put some extra effort to do it, or found someone to help, who knows?"

"Maybe...."

At that moment, a Clefairy came into view, holding a letter between its fingers. He approached them with a curious look on his face. "So, I heard you were talking about some Marston?"

Peter and Ariett exchanged looks. Could it be? "We did! Did you come across his letter? My name's Peter and I'm having some difficulty in finding the letter Marston, my partner, wrote to me."

The Clefairy brought his free hand to his mouth and looked thoughtful.

If Peter's eyes wasn't playing him any tricks, he was certain he noticed the Clefairy smirk the slightest.

"Maybe I did," the normal type answered finally. "I think some coins will jog my memory in the right path."

Ariett quickly turned red. "What!? Do you really live off on each and every service you give?"

"What do you want miss, I've got to live to the merchant's guild reputation," the Clefairy deadpanned with an ever annoying tone. "How much are you ready to spare?"

Ariett crossed her arms and pouted. "We only have around 50 Poke left and all of this is going on our rent for the next few months. We really can't give it to you like that."

But that didn't seem to move the Clefairy the least. "50? I'm not asking so much! 20 Pokes is more than enough."

"Well, if 20 is more than enough, 10 should be enough," Ariett replied. "Can you give him 10 Pokes so—"

"Hey! That's not what I meant! 15 Pokes or you get nothing from me," the Clefairy cut in, suddenly losing his cool.

"Fair enough. Peter?"

The Pikachu opened his messenger bag and pulled out a small leather pouch which chimed as he moved it around. Peter unfastened the knot keeping it close and dug out the golden coins.

"Now, spit it all. Where did you find the letter Marston wrote?" Ariett spat out as soon as Peter handed the Clefairy the money.

"Ahh! I see! I had that letter addressed to me —Well, I thought it was to me at first, since you see, Peter's my name, but when I opened and read it, I was more and more confused about the one who wrote it," he said while doing all sorts of random gestures. "It sure didn't match the handwriting of Molly. I skipped the whole thing to the bottom only to see that the name 'Marston' was signed."

Peter's eyes widened upon hearing this. Marston did write a letter after all!

"Where is it?" Ariett continued unmoved by the dramatic display of the Clefairy.

"Oh, a pity," the Clefairy replied. "You see, I was assaulted by this scary Duskull thing, with one creepy eye looking into your soul, you know? I'm pretty sure he was a rogue by the looks of it. He sneaked behind me and snatched the letter away from me, can you believe this? Who could have hurt such a cute thing? And then he told me that he instead had this letter, which he was sure was for me," he continued, showing the letter he held in his other hand. "Of course, that one isn't either. My name's not 'Pete' after all."

Peter was gradually feeling that it might be impossible for him to get the letter now. If it was with a rogue, it might as well be lost forever....

Ariett didn't appear impressed at all, however. She bent so that she was at eye level with the Clefairy. "So, this means you don't know where it actually is, huh?"

The Clefairy edged backwards trying to avert her eyes. "N-no no! That's not it! Th-that Duskull actually headed back to Tao and I saw him go through the last door on the bottom floor of the tenements behind the law firm. I-I'm sure you'll find your letter there!"

Ariett heaved a sigh and turned her back, grabbing Peter by the arm in the process. "And I wonder why we even had to pay to get that kind of information. Are all the merchants in Tao really like that?"

Peter scratched his head considering it. "No, not really. I've come across some merchants and none of them have been like that before. I guess that his one was just an exception...."

The two thus set off to the tenements with the only clue they had managed to get of Marston's letter.