Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Recovering Memories

Chapter 17: The Pojoin Problem

Pojoin Town

As the band of explorers continued on the last section of their journey, the snow melted a bit more as the day wore on, allowing them to pick up the pace. Quincy opted to fly overhead, while Terry and Sofia rode on top of Mike, being the only ones small enough to fit on them now that Ryan had evolved.

Absolutely nothing of interest occurred this time around, as there were no more dungeons remaining separating the group from their destination, nor was there a significant distance. Thanks to the path having largely cleared up by midday, although it muddied the paws of the grounded pokemon, they were able to arrive at the gate to Pojoin Town by midday. The gate in question towered over even the tallest of the group.

Even after evolving, I still feel so small, Ryan thought as he knocked on the gate with a forepaw.

"Hello?" the glaceon called out. "Can somebody please let us in?"

From the watchtower on the left side of the gate, a black ovular pokemon seemingly wearing a triangular yellow coat holding what appeared to be a crossbow peeked out over the edge of the balcony.

"W-why do you n-need to come in?" the snorunt asked timidly.

"Aw, you don't need to be nervous," Ryan said gently. "We just need to check up on Pojoin's branch of the Moon Continent's guild." He unclipped his badge from his scarf and held it up. "See, we were assigned by guildmaster Felix from a branch south of here because there hasn't been any word coming out of here."

"...o-oh," the snorunt said. "Just a m-moment..."

Not long after the snorunt guard retreated from the balcony, the gate began to open, allowing the band of travelers to enter the town. It looked about how Ryan had expected it to given the town's Scandinavian sounding name. In fact, given the colorful facades of the houses, he would have thought he was in a Norwegian village if it weren't for the fountain featuring dewgong in the center of the cobbled square. It felt strangely cozy to him despite the chilly air, not that that bothered him anymore.

The guild branch for Pojoin Town had its headquarters situated on top of a mound, and, predictably, it looked like a viking lodge.

Let me guess, Ryan thought, most of the guild members up here are ice types as well?

Upon attempting to enter, he found that he could not definitively answer that question, as, although not locked, the door was too heavy for any of them to open. So, Lena knocked on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" she called.

They waited for a minute before they heard a response.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the voice called.

"Oh, someone is here, that's a relief," Lena said, then cleared her throat. "My name is Lena, and I'm with the guild down in Luneria Village. Me and my team, Team Seekers, along with Team Waterburn, were sent up here to investigate why there hasn't been any word from this branch of the guild."

A slot in the door opened, and a pair of bright blue eyes peeked out the viewport. They noticed that, with the exception of the metang, each pokemon present had a badge.

"Very well, then," the unknown figure said as it began pull open the doors. It revealed itself to be a slender bluish-white fox with nine tails that almost seemed to blur together, a fluffy mane, and a stern, but not overly harsh, look on their face. Terry was confused by its appearance.

"Is that a ninetales?" he asked. "Because it kinda resembles one, but also not really at the same time."

Ryan ignored what the emolga said and spoke himself. "Ignore him; are you guildmaster Ingrid?"