Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Broken Ideals

Chapter 82: Why I Did Not Return

Chapter 82

Why I Did Not Return

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I didn't expect that I would be gone for so long.

So many months ago, I left behind my only friends and promised that I would return. I told them that I would bring them back someone they cared for deeply because I wanted to thank them. They helped me understand why the civil world is able to function with many species working together instead of fighting amongst each other as they did in my old world. I had previously thought that a Cubone and Zorua working alongside one another was not possible. I thought that the Zorua would have killed the Cubone in a moment of distraction and made a meal out of the flesh from the Cubone's corpse. But because of their efforts, they made me realize there is a way for multiple species to work together. They rely on communication and cooperation, making it so that they can combine the best of their abilities together to create the best of outcomes. They complement one another, both in strength and in weakness.

When I discovered that, I had to find Syn after he was stolen from the Plagued Ones. He was a vital part of the group and provided both enthusiasm and unique ideas that could only come from a mind as young as his. His world had not become boring because his imagination remained active. No other member of our group could make the same claim. So I left to retrieve him and bring back that strength. In doing so I knew I would deprive my friends of my own strength, my ability to remain rational in situations due to a lifetime of living in the ruthless feral world, but I knew I would return. Their remaining individual strengths could hold the group together. They would only need to be without my strength for a short while. I knew I could find Syn in a reasonable amount of time. Becoming a Mienshao not long after I made the decision helped.

I followed the Plagued One swarm as it left Aurora Town. I went wherever it went. I got very little sleep as I did so because I only slept when it was dormant. It was only like that for maybe three hours a day. But I still carried on and as I did so, I often pondered how I would retrieve Syn from that massive cloud of Plagued Ones without becoming infected myself. I tried many things, such as flinging objects at it or waiting for the swarm to descend upon another town so I could attempt to find Syn amongst the hundreds of Pokémon. I was always careful to avoid their touch, but I would often notice they wouldn't bother to attack me. They were disinterested in me most of the time for a reason I couldn't explain. Because of that searching the swarm was easier than I thought it would be. But nothing I did helped. I could not find Syn. He was not in the swarm as a regular Snivy or as a Plagued One. He was nowhere to be found.

I began to question my efforts after about a month of chasing after that swarm. I was making no progress and I was only hurting my friends in the process. I did not know how Terron and Novus were doing, but I had a feeling that with what happened last I saw them, it could be nothing good. Their lives had been ruined the Plagued Ones. My decision to leave them behind had probably put them in despair even further.

I decided that it was best to head back to my friends. I did not know if they were still where I last saw them, but I would find them one way or another. My quest to find Syn was going nowhere and my friends did not deserve to have me out of their lives any longer.

But just as I was to solidify my thoughts on abandoning my efforts to find Syn and leave behind that plagued swarm I had been following for roughly a month, I decided I would give one last effort to rescuing Syn before I abandoned my mission. I would try to get him back one more time before I returned to the ones I abandoned.

So the next time a swarm attacked a city, I ran into the swarm and looked for where the most amount of Plagued Ones were gathered. I hadn't gone after the main part of the swarm before because I was worried they would devour me. There were always so many like a cloud and I didn't think I could fight them all in previous times. But I wasn't scared this time. This was going to be my last attempt to find and save Syn and I had to make it count.