Night Vision? Is that a band?

“This is a sudden and abrupt change of heart, Ren. What inspired that?” Kaia asked, her question coated in suspicion.

“Kaia, my dearest friend, why, nothing more than chasing the pure joy and sense of fulfillment that comes with helping a fellow Pokemon in need.” Zorua maintained his stoicism, despite Rockruff's ability to sense an ulterior motive.

“Pardon, but what is Night Vision?” Von asked shyly.

“It's our old Research team,” Rockruff said hurriedly, her attention still on Zorua “Ren, come on.”

“Salandit isn't from here, Kaia.” Zorua assumed a friendly smile as he faced Von. “You know the Rescue and Exploration networks on other regions? No?” He barely paused long enough for Von to speak, as if he didn't already know his answer. “Well, a long time ago, a group of particularly tasty Pokemon who were all tired of being food banded together to keep themselves safe. The stronger among their numbers would help defend the weak, and in return, the weak build shelters and provide sustenance for their guardians-”

“A symbiotic relationship, sure.”

“Sim-Milotic? Huh?”

Von regretted interrupting the impromptu history lesson. “Symbiotic?” The word clunked out of his throat, obtuse and clumsy, the sounds of his hissing staggered. “It's when different species live and work together for mutual benefit?”

“Quite.”

“You're strangely eloquent for a Salandit,” Rockruff said, impressed.

What is that supposed to mean? “Am I not supposed to be?” Von thought back to his exchange with Cramorant, curious and fearful of the extent of discrepancies between species.

“Perhaps 'clear-headed' is a better term,” Rockruff admitted. “You're all usually crawling all over one another in a pheromone-induced haze.”

I really don't want to hear any more. Von shuddered. “I think we were talking about teams of some kind?” He looked to Zorua, hopeful to change the subject.

The fox's focus was still on Von, eyes filled with curiosity. “Strange. But, yes, guilds formed from these cross-species alliances. Rescue teams formed communication networks that span entire regions, and Exploration teams adopted their system and expanded it to the furthest fringes of the world, hunting wondrous treasures and monstrous predators alike.”

“So a Research team, uh.. researches things?”

“Indeed.” Zorua studied Von a moment before he smiled to Rockruff. “Kaia, it's so dreary out here. I think our new friend would recover more swiftly in our burrow.”

“What? I'm not showing him our home. I'll dig a new hole if you want-”

“No need. We're going back to Halfhenge after all, it doesn't matter if the burrow is compromised now. Unless you changed your mind about the Cay, maybe you do want to spend the rest of your life with the ghosts, until you become one yourself?”

Rockruff's ears swiveled forward, her tail began to wag. “We're... leaving?”

Oh no she's cute. Von knew better than to try and pet her. He pulled his eyes away from the dog to look back at Zorua, concerned and a little bit suspicious.

Zorua must have noticed Von's trepidation. He grinned, showing off his pointed vulpine teeth. “Come, Salandit. Lets get you some rest.”

They skirted the perimeter of Candle Cay, which shone bright in the dark of the night. The town wasn't hiding from the rain. They're all nocturnal. Cords ran from building to building holding candles suspended from them lit with a comforting orange rather than the spectral alien blue of the ghosts in the church. They reminded Von of the fairy lights his college friends decorated their dorms with. It was the lanterns wrought from black iron that housed the uncomfortable blue flames of the church's congregation. He couldn't bear himself to look at them for very long.

Instead, he focused on the townsfolk, now active after the rainstorm. He could recognize a few Pokemon; a Duskull drifted between market stalls, aimless. A Sableye chittered behind a storefront as it gnawed on a crimson gemstone. A Noctowl looked to be lecturing a group of Shuppet; on what subject, Von was too far away to make out. There were shapes he didn't recognize, too; batlike creatures with heart-shaped noses flit through the sky, and Von swore that he could make out jack-o-lanterns that floated of their own accord.

Von followed behind Rockruff, and Zorua trotted behind him in turn. The trio never stepped foot into the town itself, for which he was thankful. Crowds were overwhelming at the best of times, and the locals had already given him a reminder of his own mortality.

The lighthouse loomed tall in the distance before them as they approached the cape, the brazier at its apex spilling aquamarine light on the trees that dotted the trail and the coastal tide that waxed against the rocks. Why is there a lighthouse, but no dock? He kept his question to himself.

They continued on the trail for only a few minutes more, before Rockruff stepped off of the path and into the underbrush. Von followed suit, albeit without much enthusiasm. The sickly blue-green sheen that drenched the area around them made it hard for the lizard to differentiate between dirt, grass, and sand, as he scuttled after the dog, his pace slowed enough that Zorua easily trotted up alongside him from behind.

Rockruff promptly disappeared from view so abruptly that Von froze in place. It took him a second to notice the entrance to the burrow, a hole dug between the roots of what he thought was a magnolia tree, dotted with flowers whose colors became entirely washed out in its proximity to the lighthouse. With trepidation, Von poked his head inside.

The cavern sloped downwards at a gentle angle. The floor felt like packed clay, cool to the touch. The air inside smelled of earth and wood. The tunnel was sized for the Pokemon that dug it, and lucky for Von, he fit right in. The tunnel curved away from the tree's root system that concealed its entrance, though the occasional stray root offshoot spindled from the ceiling and sides. He paused a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The tunnel extended about four feet before it opened into the cavity Rockruff had shaped into the burrow. The circular space stretched about eight feet in diameter, Von estimated. The green light that drifted in from the entrance was faint, but it was enough for him to see by.

Rockruff waited inside the chamber for her companions, standing between two bundles of beachgrass used as bedding. “Feel free to use my bed if you'd like,” she said, her paw on one of the nests. As Von stepped aside to let Zorua through, he made out what looked like alcoves carved into the clay walls of the dome. “It's not much, but no one else has found this place.”

This looks way more comfortable than sleeping in my car. “I really appreciate the help. Sincerely.”

“We won't be needing it after tonight, so feel free to stay as long as you need. It's probably not big enough for more than a couple Salandit, so whenever you decide to amass your harem, I'd advise migrating someplace else.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Von wasn't sure how to respond. He just nodded as Zorua snickered beside him. “Th-thanks.”

“Shall we split watch duties tonight, Kaia? I'll see what medicine we still have in stock while you forage for food for our travel?”

“That works!” She ducked as Zorua looped the strap of their canvas satchel around her head. “Oh, and remember- hold your nose!”

Rockruff's tail disappeeared back up the tunnel. Von let out his held breath, and reexamined himself. What sort of beast is a Salandit, to elicit those remarks from someone?

“Take a seat, Salandit. Ask your questions; no doubt you still have plenty.”

Von flopped onto his side on the grass bedding as Zorua moved to an alcove, gently pawing through a stockpile of dried fruit and berries.

“I don't know where to start.”

“Would you like me to start, then?”

Von looked quizzically at the black fox. “Sure?”

“What were you doing in Litwick's den?”

Litwick? The candles? “Trying to stay dry. It was raining pretty hard.” He swallowed. “I didn't expect the church to be haunted.”

“The church?”

Von was never much of an etymologist. He scrolled through synonyms in his head. “Ah. Like a temple? Or a shrine?” he asked, hopeful the meaning would come through.

“Is that what that structure is? Huh. How do you know that?”

Von fidgeted with his tail. “They're all over, where I'm from. Why? Who built this one?”

“I'm not sure. No ghost I've talked to here seems to know. It just is. ”

“You've talked to ghosts, here? And they didn't steal your soul?”

Zorua stopped counting berries, and smiled. He turned his head to look at Von. “About that.. you see.. I've been dead this whole time.” In a burst of shadow, Zorua's shape melted from reality, and through the cloud of darkness came piercing red eyes, and a wicked grin. Two grasping, sharp hands reached out for him from across the burrow. Haunter's tongue drooled in ectoplasmic hunger. “We've lured you here to feast on your dreams, Salandit. I've never tasted human before.”

Von bolted from the grass bed for the tunnel, but he wasn't able to get far before a furry fox-shaped missile collided with his side. The pair slid and rolled over the clay ground until they came to a stop against the earthen wall of the dome. “Bad joke! Bad joke, I should've known better!” cried Zorua, looking once more like himself. Von stopped thrashing, and simply went limp. Zorua gently removed himself from Von, and sat, looking timid for the first time since they had met. “Sorry. Kaia's used to my illusions, I haven't been able to scare her for years.”

“I think I have enough to be scared about right now,” Von said through his exhaustion.

A long while later, well after Zorua helped Von back to bed, Von was willing to talk again. “There was something else beneath the church. It wasn't just Litwick in there. There was something...” He wracked his brain for a memory, but it all seemed foggy, in hindsight.

“I'm not surprised. There's a dungeon entrance beneath the building.” After reading the puzzlement on Von's features, Ren went on. “Mystery dungeons are a new occurrence to you, I'm sure.” Zorua took a deep breath. “There's an unknown force that warps the land. You'll be in the woods looking for food, and before you know it, the path you were following has twisted back in on itself. When you turn around, the trail you were on has split into countless forks. Maybe you ducked into a cave to find shelter during a storm, and the darkness stretches out behind you, and before you know it, you're lost in an underground maze.”

This world is terrifying.

“Every region of our world plays host to these dungeons forming in odd places. But here, on this land? They're connected to one another. One might venture into a cave by the seaside, descending only deeper into the ground, and yet somehow emerge atop Mt. Brave.”

Nothing here makes sense.

“You remember when I was talking about Rescue teams earlier? This is their primary function, now, is helping those lost inside.”

“And Research teams?”

“”What did you think we were researching?”

Von moved to massage his temples, before he remembered they had become claws. “You've been inside of these places?”

“Of course. Both to save those trapped within it, and to find Labyrinth. There's some sort of core to the dungeons here, a maze that all of the other mazes lead in and out of.”

Labyrinth. Two burning eyes. An icy grip. An ache in his chest. A hole in his mind.

“Right now, Research teams all aim to find the center of Labyrinth, and find out the whys and hows of its formation.” Zorua gingerly picked up a dried fig from the alcove and dropped it beside his guest. “And, if we're lucky, we can find out how to stop dungeons from forming altogether.”

If I had followed those Litwick any further-

A scrabbling sound came from the tunnel, and Rockruff returned, her satchel no longer empty as it swayed with the weight of what Von supposed would be food. She looked between the two. She immediately noticed Von's sullen features and Zorua's residual guilt. “Alright. What happened?”

“Before you scold me, I already learned my lesson; no pranks.” He tacked on an addendum in a quiet whisper. “Until Salandit recovers.”

“We're just talking,” Von sighed as he nibbled halfheartedly at the fig he was given. “Zorua's teaching me about dungeons.”

“What's there to teach? Isn't that how you got here? Came up through the Litwick den?”

Von shook his head. “I don't know how I got here. But I woke up on the beach.”

“Shipwrecked, maybe?” Rockruff mused, while Zorua smirked, knowing better, but not correcting her.

“My current theory? I think I died and got reborn.”

Rockruff's eyes grew wide. “You don't mean...”

“.. I used to be human?” Von finished for her. “Or I still am human, depending on your definition and theology.”

“No way.. Ren, I can't believe..” Her look of awe turned sour when she faced her companion. “Absolutely not.”

“Come, Kaia! This time things will be different. It's never coincidence when a human shows up, is it?” Zorua paced away from Rockruff to put some distance between himself and her apparent anger. “They're resourceful and clever tacticians with a knack for unbound potential-”

“Just look at it!” Rockruff's raised voice echoed from the hilltop as a sharp yap. “Does it look like a fighter to you?”

“Maybe not now, but soon. You humans learn quickly, don't you?”

Put on the spot, Von popped the rest of the fig into his mouth to use chewing as an excuse to buy time. “Some, I guess? It depends? And stop calling me 'it,' please!” A pang of frustration flared before it faded into anxiety. “I'm not an 'it,' I'm-” he stumbled for a moment as he recalled Rockruff's observations.

A female.

“I'm a boy.”

“Regardless of your stance on recruiting him, we can't just leave him here in the Cay, can we?” Zorua moved over to Von and stood beside him. “We'll have a little walk through the moors, just to try things out. Make sure no more ghosts get a nibble out of our new friend. We should take him to Braixen.”

Rockruff sighed. “You might be right about getting him out of the Cay.” She looked to Von with a gentle expression. “How about it, Salandit? Want us to take you somewhere safer?”

“Please.” Von couldn't reply faster even if he tried.

“Excellent. Gather your strength now, and we'll leave tomorrow morning.” Zorua looked so pleased with himself.

Rockruff seemed to stew in annoyance. “Ren, when did you find this out?”

“It came up when you were off digging up the the expedition bag.”

“Which prompted your decision to reform Night Vision-”

I don't want to cause a division. Von stood from the bed. “I don't like the word 'recruiting,' Zorua. I just want to be taken to the nearest human.”

“Of course. But, in the future, you can call me Ren.” The fox smiled to Von. Only a few hours earlier Ren gave him a stern 'names are only for friends,' and now this?

“Ren, can I speak with you? Outside?” Rockruff growled.

Von gave up trying to follow their dynamic. He had plenty on his plate to worry and stress over. His new body. The rules of space bending in 'mystery dungeons.' His lack of a clear path home. He had to distract himself somehow. His two new friends, if that was the right word for them, bickered outside. He had some time to himself, at least.

“Salandit.” The word flowed off of Von's tongue as if it were the most natural word in the world. “Salandit. Sssssalandit.” He experimented enunciating different parts, stretched the hisses that snaked from his mouth into different shapes, which intoned different meanings. He was content to distract himself from his pain by exploring how his newly adopted language worked; not that he could make much sense of it. He doubted he ever would. When the Rockruff that found him growled the word “Salandit,” amazingly he had processed it without any language barrier. It was easier to comprehend the mechanics of a ghost's whisper than it was Cramorant's squawks or Rockruff's barks. The more he tested the limits of his mouth forming words, the more he noticed how dexterous his tongue had become. I could totally lick my own eyeball if I wanted to, Von thought as he stretched his tongue up the side of his face. I know some geckos do that to clean- wait, do I even have eyelids? He consciously blinked. Oh thank goodness.