Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 31 - Ancient Tradition

Mispy tumbled through the air and slammed hard against the rocks. "Ugh!" She tumbled and rolled, eventually coming to a stop on her side. Her vines twitched weakly.

Demitri puffed, scratching his tusks with pride. "That's a win for me," he said, walking toward the fallen Chikorita. "Mispy? You alright?"

Mispy didn't move.

"Aw, c'mon, Mispy, it wasn't that bad." The powerful Axew gulped. "R-right? Mispy?"

Still no response.

He quickened his pace, clenching his fists. He didn't hit too hard, did he? "Mispy, I—"

She suddenly jumped to her feet, firing her pent-up Solar Beam. It was so fast and so sudden that Demitri had no time to dodge. He screamed in surprise and covered his face. The white, green-tinged light burned his scales and sent him flying several feet backwards, tumbling to the ground in the same way. The Axew coughed a plume of smoke when he finally stopped.

"That's enough, now!" Zena shouted, slithering toward the dueling pair. "Please—I don't want you two going all-out!"

"What're you talking about?" Demitri asked, staggering to his feet. "If anything goes wrong, our Tiny Reviver Seeds will activate..."

"That's—yes, but—that's quite wasteful!"

"Anam makes tons of them," Demitri said. "They're not like regular Revivers. All they do is help you get enough energy to move again and restore the body a little bit, you know?"

"Did one activate just now?"

"No. Which means we didn't push ourselves hard enough," Demitri said, frowning.

"I—I think you push yourselves just fine!"

Mispy wobbled toward Demitri and wrapped her vines around him, channeling healing energy. She then rubbed along his body, scraping the ash off, exposing new, fresh scales. He smiled and nuzzled her.

"It's just how we fight, Zena," Demitri said calmly. "It's okay. I think... that's just part of how we are, I guess. That's not so bad, right?" He tittered, but caught the Milotic's worried eyes.

Something about her size and shadow cast over them, blocking the dim glow of the mushrooms, made them look more intimidating than she may have intended.

"Look," Demitri went on, "if we can keep it under control, it's okay, right? But we haven't had a good fight in a while, and that sparring match we had with Owen left me feeling antsy."

"Me, too," Mispy lamented, prodding the ground with her right foreleg. She hesitated, but then looked up at Zena—her towering form compared to her Chikorita self was at least slightly intimidating. Her leaf bobbed to express her nervousness, pinned against the back of her neck.

Zena sighed, looking away. "Well, I suppose if you enjoy yourselves. Rhys told me to keep an eye on you two while the others trained, since I know the Suppression Aura, too, just in case..."

"Yeah..."

"Is something bothering you?" asked Zena.

Mispy prodded the rocks again, finding a loose pebble to toy with. "Are we... monsters?"

Zena hesitated for a second too long.

Mispy turned around.

"No, you aren't," Zena quickly amended. "You aren't. You aren't monsters, because creatures like those... wouldn't be worried about something like that in the first place, don't you think?"

Mispy wasn't convinced, but she sighed, conceding. "I guess."

"Hey," Demitri said, patting her on the back. He huddled closer. "Rhys left us alone with Zena who barely knows the Suppression whatever. So..." He gently rubbed her back, just below the buds along her neck. "Don't worry about it. We might've been created, but we're still us."