Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 9 - Lonely Waters

No wild Pokémon went here—unsurprising. There wasn't much food, and it was on a strange offshoot of a Dungeon. Not the easiest place to find, let alone inhabit.

Owen walked the rest of the way through the cave in silence, brooding over the past few hours, dwelling on how his life—roughly half of all he knew—had been turned inside-out. He saw his father evaporate into nothing but a little blue ember, and then be recreated like it was nothing. How old were they? Why did they decide to adopt him? Why did they decide to adopt anyone?

Owen saw something shining. He brought his head up; there was a dim glow coming from an opening in the caves. It was a bit brighter than the rest of the walls; that must've been where the Guardian was waiting for him. He hesitated. He could just turn around. Perhaps they would let him leave.

No. He came too far for that. The Guardian was mere steps away; the Grass-Typed Charmeleon advanced.

It was a large chamber with a rough, rocky floor. There was a circle of water in the middle of this place; if Owen threw hard enough, perhaps he'd be able to toss a rock in the middle of it. He hesitantly walked forward; he couldn't see the bottom. He couldn't find any loose rocks to figure out if it just happened to have a dark bottom. He was left staring into the void that was the lake's bottom.

Where was the Guardian? "Hello...?" Owen called. He sat down at the water's edge. As a Grass Type, he didn't feel as afraid of the water. It would normally sting quite a bit to get the flame on his tail wet—and there had been a few times when he accidentally extinguished it in the rain, though then his tail just emitted steam. But he certainly tried to avoid it—his Fire attacks were hindered horribly in that sort of weather. But Grass.... How would he do with that?

Owen saw the water ripple near the middle, just once. Nothing had gone inside to disturb the surface. What was that? "U-uh... is someone there?" he said.

But that ripple was all there was. The small underground lake was motionless once more.

"...I just wanted to talk to someone in my situation," Owen said softly, looking into the dark water. "I just got this... this job, kinda. I touched an Orb that I shouldn't have, and now I look like this, and I'm being told all these things about being a Guardian, and being involved in this long conspiracy to keep them all protected or whatever.... And I just don't get it. And—and turns out, my Mom is the same way. She's the Fire Guardian... and I dunno what that's gonna mean, either. The way James—he's, um, he's the person who helps run the Thousand Heart Association... and, um, and that's, like, this group of Pokémon that help rescue others around the world... yeah... the way James was looking at me—it was like he wanted to send me away.

"He wanted me to be like my Mom, who lived in that cave with just her spirits.... I... I didn't know that's how it was for her. She's just alone in that cave... I mean... not alone alone, but her spirits, y'know? And just them... forever, maybe. I can't imagine what that'd feel like..." He kicked his feet in the water, making more ripples like the one before. "...I guess you kinda know what that feels like. If you're listening, or your spirits. I... I don't know if I want that kind of life. But wh-what's the alternative...? I... I could get killed! I didn't even get to be a Charizard yet...! B-but maybe I never will..." Owen glanced at the flower on his tail. He wondered if it'd hurt to pluck at the petals. He didn't want to find out.

"...If you're the Water Guardian... that must mean you can become your Type, too, right? I got all grassy because of touching the Orb, so maybe that means... you're all Watery. So... are you listening to me now? Are you in that lake...?" He stared down.