Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Memories

Chapter 4: The Secret Library

The library's main towers punctured the sky, or rather, it only appeared that they did since they towered over the rest of the buildings. The architecture was based on ancient human cathedrals combined with the simplicity of a town hall. Piercing spires rose up from the two front corners of the building. They served as the beginning and ending points of the pillars that lined the north wall. Two identical circular windows were bored into the two spires. Their images? Clocks. Another haunting reminder directly in the center of town reminding us of our doomed predicament.

I walked up the steps and into the main door. No adult paid any mind to me; they were all too busy with their hushed, hurried political talk. The Elders and their wannabes milled around in the foyer. Their stark white robes fell across their bodies—and in most cases, across a fat gut—and seemed to meld with the red floor beneath them. The meeting chamber was on the upper floor of the facility, which was connected to the main floor with twin staircases on either side of the foyer.

Due to the large number of people crowded around near the steps, I assumed that their recess was almost over. Soon, they would retreat upstairs again to continue whatever political nonsense they concerned themselves with. That left me with an opening to do my dirty work.

Politics interested me very little. I would usually zone out during town meetings where the Elders' wannabes would update us on what they discussed during their meetings. It always went something like "Crops this, the school that, the wild Pokémon are acting up again, blah blah blah." Attending these meetings was never my choice; my parents always forced me into it, insisting that it was important to be an active member of the community.

As I strode into the library, I couldn't help but cringe at the book that suddenly jabbed into my spine. "Knock it off," I hissed at Treecko. His limbs flailed around in my bag, forcing another book into my back. People were beginning to cast glares at me.

"I can't help it! There's no room in here," Treecko defended. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, we're literally in the building as we speak. Be quiet," I commanded. This little guy was already beginning to get on my nerves. Oh please, let this book be all he needs from me.

I did my best to ignore the pain. Standing up as straight as possible, I continued walking toward the front desk, hoping that my façade of normal was good enough to convince the other patrons.

I smiled to myself as I noticed who was the head librarian of this shift. "Hey, Elder Emanuel, how's it going?"

He returned my smile as he rose from his crouched position with a stack of books in hand. The balding elder placed the books down on the desk between us with a thud and a sigh before answering, "Well, politics have become more complicated lately; wild Pokémon are beginning to invade town more often, and the world is still in a state of existing outside of time." He paused a moment, then laughed. "In other words, I am excellent as usual. What about you my fair Sophia?"

I shrugged and put my arms up on the desk, one folded under the other with my chin resting in my hand. "I've been okay. Kids are beating me up less and less in school, so that's a plus. I walk home with fewer bruises which makes my parents more inclined to let me go back."

"Excellent," Emanuel said. He grabbed the book on the top of his pile and opened to its front cover. He placed a stamp with his initials on it, proving he received it back from whoever borrowed it last, then placed it to the side and moved on to repeat the same process with the next book. "I'm assuming you're here to return some..." He paused in the middle of his sentence to look right, then left, then back at me. "...sensitive material." He was kind enough to keep my illegal activities a secret.