Forest of Secrets; A Pokemon Fanfiction

Chapter 1, Part 4

Dasher
Perhaps the creepy-Bright episode was too much for me and I blacked out, because the next thing I know is that I've woken up on the living room couch. Joy-Joy, Roku, Sparkle and Spark are sitting around me expectantly. Though, Sparkle and Joy are staring off into space and lost in their thoughts moreso, while Roku's just kind of shaking. Poor guy. One might label him more as the shy, strong-and-silent type, and I've know him to have sympathetic tendacies. Probably, he's worried about me or something. On the other hand, Spark gives a fierce glare right my way. She seems more ready to torture and interrogate me than anything else.

Sparkle rouses from her thoughts as I stir. Her skirts whisper slightly as she shifts in her seat. Sighing, she gives me a small forced smile. "Good morning Sleeping Beauty. How are you feeling?"
I groan. "Not so hot. You probably won't believe me, but I was right about something being wrong. Take that, Joy."
Spark gives a demonic laugh and tosses her mane. "Oh, we know kid. What happened to you? Did Bright try to kill you or something? It didn't look like it, but we have to check."

Didn't expect that. I blink in confusion a moment before giving the Luxray a skeptical glare right back. "Do I look dead? If Bright wanted me dead, I would be a pulp smashed against a tree."

Spark smiles at the thought. Have I mentioned I think she's a complete lunatic? Actually, a lot of Pokemon I know seem like nutcases. Maybe it comes with Joy-Joy being Champion or something.
Anyways, Spark casually comments, " Oh, I suppose you would be," as she drums a paw against the carpet.
Roku shrugs. "Maybe he would live. I know I wouldn't last two seconds against the guy, and I'm Lvl 73 myself." His two cents put in, Roku then falls silent. His ears are twitching still, as if something's bothering him.
I continue to glare. "Why, thank you for that vote of confidence, good friends." Sarcasm. Best way to deal with shock. It deals eloquently with annoying people too.

Naturally, Sparkle changes topic before I get to use more lovely sarcasm. "Ok, if Bright didn't try to kill you, what happened to you?"
So I explain to everybody the whole story, with Bright acting funny and saying weird stuff before running away. In turn, they explain that Roku got attacked by Psycho during my retrieval, which better explains why he's so jittery.
I could gloat about being right for once, but there are more important things to discuss. No one has any idea why Psycho of all Pokemon would attack anyone, and Bright isn't the sort to hand out riddles like that for fun. They certainly weren't in their right minds at the time. The best bet we have to figuring this out is to solve that riddle.
Joy-Joy takes out a piece of paper and a pencil. "What was that riddle again Dasher?"
"I think it went something like this,
The night has rung,
the lady has sung,
five day of searching have just begun.
On the twenty-fifth year after that fated third twenty-first,
the dark one cries, he is once more cursed." Getting it word for word takes a moment of careful thought.

Joy jots it down and sets the paper on the coffee table for all of us to see. We all puzzle over it. "Does it make sense to any of you?" Joy asks. We all shake our heads.

"Clear as Muk," Spark groans.
The light fixture up above the table makes a funny noise, like it's swinging or something. Then a noise that is definitely not the fixture goes, "Whoa, whoa, WHAAA-!" and Lotus lands with a spectacular SPLAT on the table. Those of us gathered around the table startle a little, and Roku jumps six feet in the air. Ok, not six feet, but you get the point.
Amidst the stares, Lotus peels himself off of the table and dusts himself off. "Oh, hullo everyone. I heard your conversation!"

Now, Lotus is a weird guy, so I'll describe him to you. He's a Roserade, and the only word to effectively sum up his nature is Quirky. His eyes, his most striking feature, stare at us in their usual fashion, wide open as if someone just told him something most surprising. Most annoyingly oblivious to sarcasm, and not particularly observant. At times though, it's eerie what wisedom he works out of even really stupid things... so it didn't surprise me one bit when he next mentioned that he might be able to work out the riddle.

Psycho
You recall how I thought any chance of romance was done for when I said that I was one of the mansion Pokemon, because most forest Pokemon don't particularly like us? Sorry to give you a scare, but lucky me this Queen-Leavanny was one of the fewer the forest Pokemon who don't mind us much. Phew!

I expect her face to fall in a scornful expression, but instead the corners of her mouth pick up and she gives a tinkling laugh. "Oh, so you're one of those funny house Pokemon! That might explain why you were acting so strangely."
For a monarch, she seemed young. My age, I hope? I scratch my head ruefully with my uninjured hand. "Wait, how was I acting weird?" I ask her, puzzled.

Her face puckers a little. "You mean you do not remember? 'Twas dreadful, how you were running about making a racket. I do not know how you hurt your arm. I suppose you were running from something and banged your arm and head up. How funny that you have forgotten it." She slips off of the rock she was perched on, and walks over to me. With an airy sigh, she plops down on the stone at my side. Elegantly, of course.

I quickly consider what I'm supposed to say back to her, when she picks the conversation back up for me. "After a while, you just knocked yourself out I suppose. 'Tisn't a good time to be out, this day in particular, but I couldn't just leave you there, could I? Even though Chancellor Peaseblossom would work himself into a lovely state if he learned I came all the way out here to merely to aid a commoner, though I presume you house Pokemon are none too common yourself." The last bit is added rather hastily, as if she doesn't want to offend me. "The Chancellor doesn't even approve of me going out of the- erm, my home, for my Dialgia-be-darned safety. I wonder if he approves breathing nowadays." She pauses for breath herself.
I didn't understand half of what she said, but I assume it has something to do with politics the forest Pokemon have, I guess. I don't really understand politics, not that I encounter them often. Again, she goes straight on with her talk without letting me comment, but I don't mind to much. By Mew, she's much too nice about it for me to mind. And cute.

"I'm not much more than a figurehead anyways. 'Tis to keep the Bug and Grass types from feuding again. No one even knows how it started, but 'tis only in this little forest and 'tis a silly feud. Don't you think?" No idea what this feud-stuff is about, but I nod anyways. "The only solution to the feud is a reasonable Bug and Grass type Queen (as bugs follow queens, not kings), just to keep both sides content. I did say that I was only a figurehead, did I not? 'Tis the Chancellors Peaseblossom and Beetle that do most of the important work. I suppose I have talked enough about myself though, what of you, loyal Gallade?"
It's quite cute when she just rambles on, I note dreamily to myself. I doubt she'd ever mind if I did the same thing...