Team Sol Lazuli: A Concerning Frequency

A thin howl drifted softly on the night breeze, echoing ever so slightly. Two Pokémon – a blue Torchic and a pale Snivy – made their way through Springfield, one of the larger, more well-known parks near Stellar Central Station. At the moment, there were very few others present at the park: mostly nocturnal Pokémon out for a jog or doing yoga.

 

“So it should be here, huh? Kinda nuts how it's just smack in the middle of the city.” The Torchic grunted. He stopped at the edge of the walkway to gesture at the nearby section of grass and trees. Here, there were a few benches and many little flowers poking through the grass.

 

“It's as the client described, Gus.” The Snivy said, nodding.

 

“Under normal circumstances, I'd be telling folks off for wandering too close to mystery dungeon borders.” Gus said. “But lately... it's all these half-formed distortions clogging up the damn place. Nobody – not even the most seasoned exploration teams – can effectively predict where they'll show up.”

 

Gus stared long and hard into the air – to most people, the park would appear as normal: nothing but the usual flora and park structures. However, lying unseen right in front of him was an almost mystery dungeon – a malformed bend in space itself that wasn't quite a complete pocket dimension, but didn't fit in with the normal, physical reality around it.

 

Hell of a place for a kid to lose their toy to. That poor Ralts. Gus thought.

 

“How does it look in there, Overte?” Gus said.

 

“Not like much, actually.” Overte said, gazing into the nothingness. “What concerns me more is how long this distortion has been here for. You'd think a team would have been dispatched to take care of it by now.”

 

“Well, no time like the present. After you, Overte.” Gus said, tensing his stance, talons scratching along the pavement. Overte stepped in front of Gus, putting her arms out and focusing on the ambient energy in the air. A little orb of light formed in front of Overte's hand, elongating in form before solidifying into a gold-tipped staff. Murmuring barely audibly, Overte spun the staff in a loose circle, the staff head tracing golden light in the air – through this ring, an inky portal opened.

 

Without pausing, Overte leaped into the portal, fastening the staff to her back with one of her vines. Gus jumped in after, wincing as the distortion took hold and flung him about. It was weird – it wasn't quite wind, but it wasn't quite a vacuum either. Whatever physics was going on, partial mystery dungeons were just about as bad as the real deal.

 

The two landed in a darkened version of the park – it was as if someone had taken the grass and trees and somehow removed all the color, texture, and even some of the defining shapes. Everything was just a dark shadow of itself and there was very little to distinguish different objects from each other in this void space. Overte had already locked onto something and was moving forward, a little orb of light in her hand. Though partial mystery dungeons and similar distortions rarely had living occupants, it never hurt to be prepared for anything.

 

“D'ye think someone's intentionally keeping this distortion going?” Gus said, voice hushed.

 

“It's not impossible, but I don't sense anyone in here. Other than you.” Overte said. “Wait. Actually...”

 

Overte held up a hand, motioning for Gus to stop. Gus went into a combative stance, ready to unleash flames from his beak if needed. Overte still left her staff holstered at her back but was staring into a cluster of featureless bushes. The leaves rustled and something – no, someone tumbled out.

 

It was a... Mew? A Mew, with Absol features. As the strange Pokémon shook themselves and levitated into a standing position, Overte relaxed her stance and let the orb dissipate into little motes.

 

“Who the hell are you?” Gus said, incredulous.

 

“Oh. Hello, Omen.” Overte said, lifting a hand in greeting.

 

“You know this... guy?” Gus whispered.

 

“Hello, Ms. Olivine-Dubois. The spatial distortions are really getting out of hand lately, aren't they?” Omen said. They turned to look at Gus inquisitively: “Hello, angry-looking bird.”

 

“Har har.” Gus said.

 

“How did you get here?” Overte said. “I thought Echo was out on an expedition.”

 

“They are. I'm doing my own thing lately. You know how it is.” Omen said. “I decided it wouldn't hurt to try my hand at fixing some of these... spatial problems. But it's a lot harder than it looks. Would you believe that I ended up here through a mystery dungeon?”

 

“Oh good gods. That's not a good sign.” Gus said, shaking his head. “We're here for a, uh... lost toy.”

 

“Oh, what a coincidence. I happened to pick this up earlier.” Omen said, summoning a little light into their hands. The light expanded into a large sphere and melted away, depositing a substitute doll into Omen's hands.

 

“Aw. I love those things. Funny little dinosaurs.” Overte said. “Could never figure out which Pokémon they're supposed to be modeled after... thank you, Omen.”

 

“Glad to be of accidental help!” Omen said, floating in a loop in the air. “So I guess that's it for you two, huh? Quest complete.”

 

“Yeah, I guess... we solved a somewhat minor problem, but we have a much bigger one on hand.” Gus said.

 

“We'll report it back to Stellar HQ, and someone more qualified with space-time issues will tend to it.” Overte said. “No need to worry! Though... at this point, I can't help but wonder why someone hasn't tried contacting Palkia. Or getting hold of a Palkia.”

 

“Given their feud with Dialga? Fat chance. Anyway... Omen, wanna come with us? These half-distortion places give me the creeps.” Gus said, shuddering briefly.

 

“Sure thing! I don't have much going on anyway.” Omen said.

 

Later, the three Pokémon had stopped by the client Gallade's house to drop off the missing item. The Ralts had shown up too, despite what time it was and happily accepted the substitute doll from Gus, dancing merrily around the Torchic. The Gallade could only offer a weak smile as he leaned against the entrance of his home.

 

“It's amazing how much energy kids can have.” The Gallade said. “Thank you, truly.”

 

“ 's no problem at all, Sir.” Gus said, dipping his head respectfully. “I hope you and your young'un have a nice rest of your night.”

 

As Gus and Overte parted ways with Omen, the Torchic couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the increase in distortions than the usual fluctuation in mystery dungeon activity. Was there something else afoot, lurking unseen in some fold within reality somewhere? Or was it something that had been lying hidden within the lands, waiting this whole time?