Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 137 - One Hour

"I don't know," Owen said. "It just... happened. I can't even remember how. Maybe Qitlan..." He shook his head. "I just wanted to ask you how this all happened. Why are you working with Alexander of all people? He was the one who... Even when I was working with Dark Matter, he was worse! I expelled him! He—"

"He was the one who ended it, Owen," Mhynt spat. "Alexander saved Kilo when you couldn't. The world owes him a great debt, even if he'd been eroded by the malice he'd been forced to absorb."

Owen flinched. Something about that didn't sound right. "Really?"

Mhynt turned her head away. "I... can't go against him for that reason. I pledged myself to him. That's how things are now. I don't intend to go back. Understood? Is that clear?"

Not even slightly. "Yeah. I won't fight it." Owen's shoulders sagged a little, but he approached anyway. "Well... so much for spending the full hour talking. I... can I still just be here?"

"I can't leave. So, fine. We'll... sit against the wall. In silence. And watch the clock. Maybe I'll get a board game. Qitlan left a few in case we wanted to do something like that."

"Oh. Sure."

Awkwardly, Owen took a seat, and Mhynt grabbed a few boards before noticing that one seemed to be a word game, getting random letters to make words on a grid. "Let's try it as a team building exercise," Mhynt said. "We play from the same set of letters... try to use as many as we can."

"Oh. Not against each other?"

"I'm tired of opposing. Besides, you'd prefer that, wouldn't you?" She scowled at him, looking up. But in her eyes, she saw a pleading glimmer that puzzled him.

"Fine," Owen relented, answering her plea with a puzzled look of his own.

She set the board down and sat next to him.

And the moment their scales touched, Owen felt a warm, electric-like shock run through him. Mhynt didn't say anything when Owen jolted. She was... a lot smaller than him. He shook his head and refocused on the game.

Seven letters. They were engraved, so he already knew what every other random letter was going to be depending on where Mhynt picked.

She scooted a little closer to him again. "Alright," she said. "You'll start. I'll pick the letters, so we don't cheat, hm?"

"Uh, sure. Right..."

Did you know I used to be the Psychic Guardian?

Owen froze. Those were not his thoughts. They were pressed against his head like he'd thought them, but he also recognized them distinctly as not his. He glanced at Mhynt, who glared.

"Come on. There are three vowels. Make something basic."

He steadied his breath. Kept things cool. He made a simple word first, 'bore.'

The voice continued. Necrozma shattered his power across all the elements. But of course, his own element was the strongest. Psychic and Dragon elements were imbued with more inherent strength. And all shards hold that Dragon resilience and Psychic prowess. The strength, telepathy, even that little glow... I have a bit of it, even now, separated from that power. I internalized it from my own blessings.

But do they know? Owen asked worriedly as Mhynt placed another word down. He followed up.

They believe I lost my light, and therefore most of my powers. I've kept it... hidden for a while. I had to. I've... done a lot to keep it hidden until the time came. Sometimes, I think I truly did lose it.