Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 44 - Overconfident

"Uhh—y-yeah. Actually, hold on. Let me find Mispy..." He spotted the mutant Meganium in another room and waved her down.

Her many tendrils dragged the rest of her body toward them, squeezing out of the exit by contorting and bending the many vines to fit through.

"Wh-what's that thing?!" Jerry said. "No way! Nu-uh, those tentacles aren't going anywhere near me, you hear?"

"B-but, Jerry, this is how we're gonna heal you!" Owen said. "Trust me. Mispy's a great healer, okay? Just... can you be gentle with him?"

The Meganium inspected Jerry's head curiously, prodding at his cheek just like Willow. He growled and tried to bite at a vine. She flinched away and glared, wrapping a vine around his muzzle. He grunted, but was helpless.

"Hmph." Mispy pulled him close and closed her eyes, channeling her healing energy into him. Owen watched closely, as did the others.

"What... happened to him?" Demitri said. "Why is he a head? That's kinda..."

"We, er..." Alex knocked his arms together in thought. "Had some complications."

Owen nodded. "The Poison Guardian melted him somehow. It didn't work on us—not even Gahi—but it did for him. And so, he, er... that happened. But I was able to stop it with my Pecha Scarf, and... I think some Mystic energy, too. That's why he's not totally melted."

Zena slithered out from Rhys' room next, listening in on the explanation. "How awful," she said. "What a horrible way to...!"

Jerry stretched his jaws enough to get Mispy to let go. She rolled her eyes and gave him the opportunity to speak.

"I don't need your pity," Jerry grumbled, but then glanced at Zena. "But... thank you anyway. I'm just fine. Didn't even hurt."

"So, er, what's going on here, anyway?" Amia asked, addressing how everybody was crammed into Rhys' room, spilling out into the main hallway. "You, um..." She peered inside the next room and saw two new faces. One was Step, the Ice Aggron—quite obvious which Guardian she was—and the other was— "Oh! Are you another Guardian? The... Bug Guardian?"

"Oho, no, not at all," the giant Torkoal replied. "No. My name is Torkoal Elder—I'm glad to meet you, ahh... Gardevoir Amia, yes?"

"Yes!" Amia gave a little bow. She observed that Rhys was sitting close to Elder, practically up against his shell. "Rhys? Do you know him?"

"Y-yes, I'm... familiar," Rhys said. "Elder. He's... he's one of the Hunters—b-but, there's no need to be alarmed! He isn't... a fighter."

"Ahh, yes. That much has not changed," Elder said with a rough laugh. "I was never truly that good at fighting. I just don't have the mindset for it."

"Which one of you is Owen?" Step suddenly rumbled, glaring at the newcomers.

"Oh, er, th-that's me," Owen said, raising a claw.

Step approached Owen, sizing him up. She was a head or two taller than he was, and it looked like she was taking full advantage of it. "...You are the one they trust?"

"Sorry?"

Step huffed a small plume of frost, pointing at Elder. "Do you believe he is friendly?"

"Elder? T-totally! I mean, er, from how I remember him, even if he didn't want to be friendly, I don't think he can actually... do much against us. And Rhys likes him. They're best friends, right?"

Rhys' fur puffed out, aura sensors rising, and then he leaned against Elder again. "A tad more."

Step growled, but then settled back in her corner. "You've convinced me for now, Hunter," she told Elder, who simply bowed his head. She looked between them, but then lowered her head, as if talking to someone in her Orb.