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Sojaveña Wilds Silver Ravine Mystery Dungeon

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Koa shivered. He didn't want anything to do with shadows, or using that kind of power. Yes you do. How could it possibly do any good if it could consume anyone who used it like that?But what if you could master it?

He couldn't stop glancing curiously at Archie. Had he met the Wolf? He had to play along for now, so he nodded, mentally vowing to talk with him later.

"So you work for a.... natural source of shadows? Does that mean someone is making their own shadows, using them and you're trying to stop that?" he asked carefully. "And you're trying to stop whoever is using these 'forces of light'?" Did Alex mean the Covenant? All the details were making his head swim. He wondered if Alex knew anything about that strange voice they'd all heard in their dreams.
 
Alex shook his head again to Archie. "I think I heard the term here and there, but I know as much as you do," he said again. "Forces of light... I don't know too much about what forces are using it. I don't care for it, but my focus has been on the artificial Shadows. Whatever you're doing with the light... Not important to my mission.

"In any case," Alex went on, "tell me... Would you like to train up your powers over darkness? It doesn't have to be intense... but I know for a fact your team will need it soon."
 
Either Alex was lying through his teeth, or the Zweilous and his authority and the Shadow Voice that was speaking to Seth really had nothing to do with one another. To be honest, Archie was leaning much more towards the former; Alex had a clear ability to interfere with Betel, and both he and The Wolf were lucid Shadow Pokemon with a stated goal of opposing whoever it was making the frenzied Shadows like the Charmeleon and Drapion. But, that evidence felt circumstantial at best, and accusing the Zweilous of bullshitting without something ironclad felt worse than useless.

On top of that, Alex pled active disinterest in the power of light and those who used it. But surely if the light was the natural opposite to his own darkness, and presumably a required part of the balance in and of itself, wouldn’t the Zweilous care at least a little? Too much light could be just as big an imbalance as too much darkness, after all. Surely if the light was in danger of growing too powerful, that would be an issue too?

“What’s got you so certain we need your power over darkness, specifically?” Archie asked. The Zweilous almost certainly had an angle here. There was no way in Archie’s mind Alex as here just to play mysterious benefactor. He might claim he didn’t care to work together with them, but nothing in this world came for free. “And why soon? Is something about to happen?”
 
"So there's two sources of shadows, natural and artificial," Koa mused uneasily. So Terminal Two at Blaguarro had to be connected to the artificial ones.

He considered Alex's offer carefully as Archie spoke, mulling it over. He didn't trust Alex. At all. But it was hard to deny that Alex could be useful the same way the Coven was. Dangerous, but with access to information that could help them. "We would have to discuss with our team," he said carefully. "But there could be some of us interested in the knowledge. Knowing how to protect ourselves would be important. But accepting training from a stranger is risky, especially since we don't know the entity you work for. Can you tell us any more about them? What they are? Or at least their name?"
 
Alex hummed, tilting his head. He didn't seem to be scheming--he seemed to be figuring out how to phrase something or map something out.

"I don't know if something will immediately happen," Alex said. "But let me put it this way. This... organization in that strange underground spot you'd tracked the Shadows to. For such a grand organization... do you truly believe your loud entry was undetected? I think not. I think instead they are watching you... waiting for an opportunity to pick you off. One by one, two by two.

"And considering the nature you came with me... that is very easy to pull off. Very... self-evident in you two." Alex nodded. "It's not if they will corrupt you, but when and how quickly. It could very well be tomorrow. Wouldn't you want to get ahead?

"You've already come out alone with me here. And now it's risky?" he pointed out. "You've already been exposed to raw Shadows. It's already seeped into your system for all I know. The best I can do right now... is give you the feeling of how it's harnessed. And... you must recognize the signs of corruption so you may counteract it.

"Now." Alex paced to limber his legs. "I'm not at liberty to give his name just yet. I think when you return, you can ask your guardian about what he is. I imagine you'll get a good guess or two. But... he is someone who is counter to light. Not an evil force, but an opposing force that has been neglected. He is not seeking to take over. He is only seeking to bring things to balance. And I believe you are both in... agreement that once this world is saved, you all will leave, as other unbalanced forces. That is his motive, even if he must be the ugly side of darkness that those bathed in light avoid.

"He even turns up his nose to me, of course," Alex said. "I'm not of this world, either."
 
If Alex was an offworlder like them, that meant there was some other entity summoning them. Annoyance and frustration swirled through Koa at the reminder of their error in judgement. Idiot. He pushed aside the thoughts. There was nothing they could do about that now, and they had tried. He'd just... overestimated Betel. Stupid. And was Alex implying that Bellatrix's expedition to Blaguarro had been what lured the Drapion to them?

"How could we know that this isn't also part of your plan, convince us to let you 'train' us in shadow so you can make the corruption stronger? You've hardly given us any reason to actually trust you." And they had no way of knowing what else Alex had done. Still, even as he said the words he couldn't help but consider it in the back of his mind. What if Alex was right? If they already risked being corrupted wouldn't training now be smart?

He hesitated, the continued. "But if you are telling the truth then yes, training would be good. I'm sure then you'd be willing to return to town and we can set a time to meet with more of us to train?" Or all of us. Could they take him if it came to a fight? At least getting back to civilization would be better. And telling the others. He wished they had opted to meet in public. First he needed to try and talk to Odette or Steven, or maybe Laura. They would probably have an idea on if they should listen to Alex.
 
"I'd love to," Alex said, though he frowned. "But my superior required that I return to a certain location today. If you want more training, it will have to be in a few days. I can only give you some basics." He sighed. "If you're uncomfortable with it, you're free to refuse. But what I tell you will at least confirm if it's already in your systems or not."

He took a few steps back.

"If you're so worried, I won't even apply anything to you. Only instructions on how to tap into what is already there. Is that fair?"
 
Archie glanced at Koa, a bit apprehensively. Just what had gone on in Blaguarro? He mentally kicked himself for not trying harder to get on that mission, the Oshawott felt so badly in the dark now. Plus, what the Zweilous was saying had him worried despite himself. He knew so little about how the Shadow process worked, what if it was transmissible in some way in this world? He shivered at the thought, thinking about his previous run ins with the Drapion and Seth. And then there was Wes, who had experienced both, and the run in with the Charmeleon. If they were being corrupted somehow, they needed to know.

… On the other hand, Koa was right that Alex’s coyness was not inspiring much confidence. He wouldn’t give a straight answer about his master, and telling them to ask Betel about it was rich given he was the one presently cutting them off from communicating with the cloud! No matter how reasonable he was pretending to be, the Zweilous was still in complete control of the flow of information here. They had no way of backing up what he was saying, no option for a second opinion, and conveniently, very little time to consider the offer before Alex had to leave to do… Something!

The Oshawott folded his arms, squeezing his sleeves and pulling his coat tight around himself. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he was starting to feel. If the Zweilous really could provide a method to check for corruption within themselves, at the very least that could be useful, and not all that dangerous. And if what he told them sounded dubious at all, well, they didn’t have to go along with it!

“Alright,” he said after some hesitation, “tell us how to confirm if we’re Shadow tainted or not.”
 
Knots of anxiety tightened in Koa. He wanted to say no. Run away, turn Alex down, stay far away from the shadows. But did they have a choice? He was on the fence, until Archie seemed to agree.

He glanced at the Oshawott, then back at Alex. "Okay," he replied stiffly. "We'll hear out your instructions. After that we'll figure out if there's more to be discussed about what you can show the rest of the team."
 
Alex nodded. "...The very basics, then," he said. "Let's do some training."

The Zweilous took a few more paces back as he talked. "Drawing from the power of darkness has a slightly different feel than drawing from your normal power. You need not only to draw from your aura, but also an emotion tied to that aura. Something negative... both in yourself, and in your target. That will help, until you get a feel for how to do it on command without those handicaps. For now... I want you to focus on an easy target, Xander. And an easy emotion, your distrust of me.

"It will feel... cold. It will also feel like it creeps into your head. Don't allow it to go that far. Only... graze the side of that dark lake. Draw from it, but do not fall into it. And attach it to one of your attacks... I'd recommend the easiest attack you can do, so we aren't struggling with two things at once.

"Go on, then. Draw from that darkness and attach it to your move."
 
That sounded easy enough. A basic electrical attack should be simple enough, he could do those now without really thinking. And between Alex's coy attitude and his earlier behaviour he already disliked him plenty. How he'd manipulated them with the promise of help. How he'd intruded on them in the midst of trying to reach out to Drapion. And how he'd threatened them yet still refused to be truly honest.

Clinging to that feeling, he tried to 'attach' it to the building electricity gathering in his pelt. Then he fired, a weak but precise bolt at Xander.
 
So, Alex wanted them to attack his corrupted head? The Zweilous must have been pretty confident in his own power to invite direct attacks to such an area... Or so contemptuous of Archie and Koa's own abilities for him to think it would matter. Either way, tapping into his growing dislike of the Shadow Pokemon seemed easy enough.

He was in pain, he had wasted valuable time and energy bringing Alex out here. He had been faced with the possibility of dying at the Zweilous's claws. They'd been lead here under false pretenses, cut off from their friends and allies, and the Zweilous was likely brazenly lying to their faces even now. Usually, Archie pushed all that aside when he had to focus on battle. Such negative emotions were a distraction at best, and compartmentalizing had always been his one great skill. Now though, he let himself stew in it, repeating it in his head over and over until he'd managed to work himself up.

Only then did he follow up Koa's electric attack with his own Water Gun.
 
Both attacks had a different appearance, and a cold feeling settled into their hearts the moment the attacks were unleashed. The bolt of electricity was black--the water was murky with a dark haze. Both of them struck Xander squarely but didn't seem to do much -- as Xander himself was of Shadows.

"Ah, I felt the darkness," Alex remarked slowly. "Yes... You're a natural at drawing that power. You must really hate me." Alex offered a playful smile, but something about it... He seemed entertained.

"Well. Now you know the feeling," he said flatly. "If you want nothing to do with me... feel free to return to your team. I have business to take care of elsewhere."
 
See? You're a natural. Koa kept his face impassive. The information would be valuable, at least, to take back to the team. It was something.

"We will. But I have a proposition as well. You wait for our group... three days from now at the Industrial Park. Noon." That should be long enough to tell everyone, right? "To exchange more info. Unless you prefer to end up having your plans potentially derailed." It wasn't a threat so much as it was an observation of sorts. He had no intention of sitting back and watching Alex try to handle things from the sidelines, and he knew the others were already investigating.

Clearly Alex knew a lot about shadows. If Koa could amass enough of their group and still try and learn something maybe this was... salvageable. And the others deserved to make a choice for themselves.
 
Archie took one step back, then another. One paw reached up to clutch at his heart, his lips pulled back to show his teeth. The Oshawott’s face was awash with emotions – terror, primarily, but also shame, surprise, and more than a little pain. His ears and tail drooped, while the paw not currently grabbing at the ice pick currently feeling like it was being driven into his chest shot up to cover his muzzle. So it was true, their run ins with the Shadows had allowed their corruption to seep into them. What would they do now? They… They had to warn the others. So far as Archie knew, at least a third of them were now ticking time bombs.

Koa’s voice brought him back to his senses. He shook his head, and released his chest to pull the brim of his hat down to hide his eyes. He needed to keep it together, he couldn’t give Alex the pleasure of seeing him this way. The Oshawott took a few deep breaths, steadied his expression, stood up straight again, and finally dropped his paws back to his sides. Koa wanted them to meet up with Alex again, this time with more of the group. It probably wasn’t the worst idea, though the Zweilous had no real reason to agree to it. Still, he supposed it was worth a shot...

He opened his mouth once, twice, but found he was having trouble finding his voice. His ribs were aching again, and the Oshawott had to keep reminding himself to take slow, even breaths. When he did speak again, his voice sounded small, defeated.

“That should give us enough time to spread the word,” he said. “Will minimize the odds of us stepping on each other’s toes.”
 
"Hmmm." Alex tilted his head left and right while Xander continued to stare vaguely in the direction where Archie had been talking. "Three days. That should work for us," he said. "I'll meet you there in three days, in noontime. That should be when the day is its hottest."

He turned and seemed to be heading to somewhere north of town. "Well, if that's the case, I'll leave you to it," he said, tail swishing behind him. "Use those Shadows responsibly, now.

"Or they will use you instead."

He left them to stew in their thoughts... looking like he'd somehow come out of that with everything he wanted.
 
The Oshawott brought a paw up to his muzzle again, this time to rest said muzzle against. As soon as the Zweilous was out of eyeshot, the tension he’d been feeling began to dissipate. Then he looked at Koa, and shot the Electrike his best attempt at a reassuring smile. Still, he looked more tired than anything. They needed to think about this rationally.

“Well,” Archie said, hesitating momentarily before he continued, “we just confirmed something very important, right? Now we know that our previous Shadow encounters have invited some of that corruption into us. S-so… Now that we’re not in the dark, we can be better prepared for the future… We have to let the others know. Wes, Steven, and everyone else.”
 
"Right," Koa mumbled. Conversations he didn't really want to have. "A-at least we know there two sources of shadows here supposedly. These 'organic' shadows and artificial ones."

He stared at the ground again, feeling steadily more and more on edge. "So what exactly happened to you?" He noddeed towards the bandages on Archie. "With the Wolf and all?"
 
The Oshawott nodded, “Right! That’s important information. And it explains why some Shadows are mindless while others seem perfectly lucid.”

But then came a question Archie wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to answer. Of course Koa would have noticed him talking about Seth. It was only natural the Electrike would be curious. How best to explain…

“So, after we were discharged from the clinic, Wes and I thought we’d come out to Silver Ravine, and contact the Shadow Voice with Betel’s help,” the Oshawott began. “Instead, we encountered The Wolf. It turns out, The Wolf is a human from another world, like us, and the Shadow Voice has been talking to him for a very long time. He’s also investigating the Shadow Pokemon, and the Shadow Voice convinced him that we were going to get in his way, and that we were a danger to this world.”

He made a vague, circular gesture with a paw, “He tried to convince us to stop pursuing our own investigations, and, when we refused, he… Got violent. The Wolf is a Shadow Pokemon too. A completely lucid one like Alex, but unlike Alex, The Wolf doesn’t have a second head to isolate his infection to. So, the madder he got over the course of our conversation, the more it seemed like he was becoming possessed. He… Ended up messing up Wes pretty bad, and when I tried to get in the way, he kicked me pretty hard, and some of his claws dug in.”

That was probably sufficient, right? He wasn’t revealing that Wes and Seth were the same person or anything like that. That kick to the chest, more than anything the Drapion had done, was probably what had originally allowed some of the shadow corruption to take root in the Oshawott, come to think of it. Maybe if he hadn’t been so stupid, he wouldn’t be in this situation now. But, it was too late to think about what he should’ve done. He was going to have to live with the consequences of his actions.
 
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