Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 36 - Team Alloy

Owen squinted at the morning light. After being in the pitch-dark Chasm of the Void, anywhere else in the world was a strain on the eyes. He saw the brightest light in front of him, shining with the last remnants of the black sparks of anti-evolution energy.

"Gahi?"

The Badge had warped them to the outside of the Chasm in an emergency exit, though it was further away and further south than their previous visit. They were in a big, lime-green field of tall grass. He smelled ocean water—they must have also been close to the shore, though he couldn't tell which direction it was.

Owen felt lighter. Reflexively, he clutched at the bag by his side, gasping. While the bag itself came with him, it felt as if the rapid exit had jostled most of his supplies onto the ground when he warped out. What did he even have left?

Even while he was checking his supplies, Gahi said nothing to him. Owen's eyes finally adjusted to the light of the morning sun. Gahi, a mutant Flygon, was similarly slim as Owen was, but had scales with a blinding sheen. Even after the light of evolution completely faded, Gahi's body reflected the sun well enough to make it hard to stare directly at him. It made sense—if Gahi's entire specialty was agility and evasion, being hard to look at would add to the latter.

"Are you... are you okay?" Owen asked. But he knew the answer. He could feel it radiating from the explosively turbulent aura.

Gahi growled, arms shaking. His tail flicked to the left, and then the right. The little fan at the tip of his tail, razor-sharp, cut through the tall grass that surrounded them with ease. He had a crazed look behind the red goggle-like, natural headgear on his face. His wings stretched wide and angled themselves to the light, blinding Owen.

Owen squinted, realizing that Gahi's instincts were taking over. He couldn't let that happen. If he lost himself here, and he ran off, how would he catch him? What sort of havoc would he—no, what if he got mistaken for a mutant? It wouldn't even be mistaken. He is a mutant. They could kill him.

"Gahi, take a breath. Can you do that? Can you... can you meditate, Gahi?"

Gahi huffed, bringing his trembling arms forward to stare at them. He clenched his fists the same way Owen did; the Charizard recognized this stance. He was trying to contain himself. He was still there. There was still a bit of him fighting to stay stable.

"Gahi, it's okay. Everything's okay. Can you talk? Can you hear me?"

He was still trembling, but there was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. The mutated Flygon gave a shaky nod. Breathing. Eyes closed. Breath in, breath out. Owen watched Gahi's aura nervously, but it looked like it wasn't improving. It wasn't completely unstable, but it wasn't calm, either.

"Gahi?"

"Owen..." Gahi grunted, staring at Owen. It was hard to tell what was going through his head, but his eyes had a mixture of fleeting sanity and increasing fear.

But he spoke, so Owen replied. "Gahi! Good! You're still—"

"Kill me..."

It was like the color left his scales. "What?"

Gahi staggered forward, glaring at him. "I can't... think..." he said between breaths. His claws clenched, digging deep into his palms. "Hurry."

"I'm not—I can't—that's—"

Owen saw the desperation in Gahi's eyes. He could barely talk, yet those frantic, slit-pupils said it all. He wasn't ready. Gahi wasn't ready to be fully evolved, was he? It happened in such a stressful environment, by Eon's hands, that he lost himself completely. His consciousness dangled precariously over a void larger than the Chasm itself.