As Aeon, Liu, and Echo followed Delphox away from the ruins of Treasure Town, their spirits were low. They had come all this way to try and start a new life for themselves, only to find that there was no life to be found at all, save their new guide. As Delphox walked, she sighed, sadly.

"Again, I must apologize. Forgive me for assuming, but you all seem quite young. I didn't want you to dwell too much on the scars of the past; it's not good for you, or anyone." She said wearily.

"Are you the only one left?" Liu asked, a desperate tone to her voice.

"No." Delphox replied shortly, and all three of them perked up.

"There are others?" Aeon pressed.

"Yes. But here is not the place to discuss them. There are... unsavory characters listening." Delphox shook her head. "Forgive me, but please wait until we arrive."

The three looked at each other, but fell silent. After several more minutes of walking, they approached a cave with a barrier of fire in front of the entrance. "We're here." Delphox announced. With a wave of her paw, the barrier dissipated, and as they looked into the cave, they were shocked.

Pokemon of all shapes and sizes were in the cave, either talking to each other, walking around, sleeping, or sitting and resting. There were sorted piles of various items scattered around the cave: a pile for berries, a pile for food, tools, etc. At the back of the cave, there were several different tunnels, each leading off in a different direction. The cave was brightly lit with torches, and several young pokemon chased each other playfully, running past the four of them as they followed behind Delphox. Aeon and Liu looked around, awestruck.

"Treasure Town has been a lost cause for many years. But that doesn't mean there weren't survivors. And those survivors had children, who then had children of their own, and so on. Here is where many of them reside. This isn't all surviving pokemon in the area; just the descendants of those who lived in Treasure Town. In small pockets around the world, usually mystery dungeons, some have managed to establish settlements, and carve out a life for themselves." Delphox explained.

Liu and Echo's eyes lit up with recognition, but Aeon didn't react. "Why is Treasure Town a lost cause, exactly?" He asked.

Delphox turned. "Because when the pokemon of the past tried to rebuild it, their efforts were simply destroyed again. Not only that, but many uncharacteristically turned on each other, ensuring there could be no further cooperation. Since then, no one has tried. And while I believe the unknown threat is mostly gone, for now, we haven't tried since, for fear of history repeating itself."

"You said there were people listening. Who, exactly?" Liu inquired, tilting her head.

Delphox did not answer immediately, but seeing the curiosity in Liu's eyes, she sighed. "We don't know, to be frank. Supposedly the perpetrator was seen in the Treasure Town of old at some point, but any who saw them seemingly had their memories erased. After their first appearance, they didn't return again. However, pokemon around Treasure Town began to act strangely after their arrival, looking blank and empty, sometimes turning violent towards their fellow citizens for no reason. These kinds of behaviors usually only happen as a result of psychic-type pokemon using their abilities. Beyond that, we have nothing else to go on."

"But, what about Wigglytuff's guild?" Echo piped up. "Exploration teams surely must have tried to help people and get control of the situation!"

Delphox nodded. "They did. However, it seems even the old guildmaster, Wigglytuff, was not immune. He was powerful and strong-willed, no doubt about that. But his behavior became so erratic and nonsensical within a few weeks of the culprit's arrival that he was forced to step down. Shortly after, he was committed to an insane asylum. His aide, Chatot, tried to take over, but after hearing of Wigglytuff's fall, confidence in the guild plummeted. Many exploration teams refused to work with the guild anymore, and there was even a schism within the guild at some point, which put the final nail in the coffin. An old law enforcement officer, Magnezone, along with several others, declared the guild unfit to help any longer, and signed a petition to shut the guild down."

She shook her head. "After that... well. I'm sure you can infer the rest. Without exploration teams, and with the police being understaffed since they relied on them so much, crime quickly spiraled out of control."

Aeon stared. "I don't understand. That sounds bad, sure, but Treasure Town looks more like it got carpet-bombed. Surely random thugs and criminals couldn't have done that?"

Delphox's gaze grew dark. "That's... where it gets worse. With so much chaos, the one responsible for all this, the original culprit, started assuming control of the minds of everyone in Treasure Town. The ones with weak-minds fell immediately. The ones who were able to resist were..." She took a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry." Liu said solemnly. "If this is too painful—"

Delphox shook her head again. "I am fine. ...With all of those pokemon under the perpetrator's control, the utter destruction of Treasure Town was assured. The ones who had shops there, were living there, turned around and started mindlessly wrecking their own livelyhoods. By the time Officer Magnezone and the police force showed up, there was little to salvage." She looked at the three sadly. "Magnezone couldn't cope with the utter failure and loss of Treasure Town on his watch, and in an already chaotic world, the police force was dissolved in shame. This—" she gestured around the cave. "—is one of the only safe places left in this region. Only one pokemon dared to stand against the true mastermind, and while his life was taken for it, he left the criminal in a dire state, forcing them to retreat. Where he is now is unknown. Understand, none of the pokemon from that time are still alive today. I have only heard the story from others, who had heard it from the previous generation."

Aeon, Liu, and Echo were silent, the information setting on their shoulders like blocks of lead. Finally, Aeon spoke up. "I say we start it up again." Delphox's eyes widened, and Liu and Echo looked at Aeon strangely.

"Start what up again?" Liu asked incredulously.

"Exploration teams. I say we form one." Aeon insisted. As he caught their gazes, he quickly continued "I mean! I'm not saying we should be big heroes or anything. Like, we're not going to change the world back to what it was, that's for better pokemon than me." He grinned. "But, we could at least do what we can to help keep this place safe. I mean, you two saw that place, same as me. All these good pokemon here, we should at least try to help out. Whether it's running errands, or organizing, or whatever."

Delphox held up a paw. "Please. I could not ask you to—"

"We don't have anywhere else to go." Aeon interrupted. "If this place goes, that's it for civilization, for real. We came here to seek a better life. Or at least, I did." He glanced at Liu and Echo. "I don't know enough about them yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion we're in the same boat, here. It's not the life we wanted, but it looks like it's the one we're getting. This isn't a favor to anyone, or us trying to be knights in shining armor. Protecting and helping out around this place is part of our own survival." He looked at Delphox meaningfully. "Unless you know of anywhere else for us to stay, we have to try and lend a paw."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

For the first time, Delphox smiled. "That's fair enough. I never actually gave you permission to stay, though..."

"This is your cave?" Echo asked.

"Mine, and a few others. I mentioned exploration teams were wiped out, but that's not entirely true. Even without a guild, some have been formed. One of them is mine." She declared.

"You're in an exploration team?!" Liu hurriedly asked. "With who?"

Delphox's smile grew wider, and she put a paw to her mouth, letting out a piercing whistle. From one of the tunnels in the back, two figures began to take shape. As they came closer, their appearance became clear: one was a Ninetales, with sleek golden fur, her tails twitching in amusement. The other was an Absol, with a stern look on her face. They crossed the cave floor in no time, and came to stand next to Delphox.

"Meet the fellow members of my team. Absol—"

"Pleasure to meet you." Absol gave a cordial nod.

"—And Ninetales."

"Hello, young ones." Ninetales greeted them.

Delphox smiled at Ninetales, then back at the three. "We... are Team Rebirth."

Echo's tail wagged furiously as he murmured "So cool..."

Liu rolled her eyes, but she was secretly impressed as well. "So, you guys help keep order and enforce the rules around here?"

"Nothing so grand as that." Ninetales chuckled. "We simply guide and protect. Beyond that, we are just the same as other pokemon. But it's our dream to one day return Treasure Town, and the region, to its former glory."

Aeon turned to Delphox. "That's a very lofty dream. It must be nice to lead such a team of idealists."

Delphox stared blankly, then asked "Me? Oh, haha. No, no. I'm not the leader."

Aeon turned to Absol, who promptly said "Wrong again."

As Aeon's eyes fell upon Ninetales, she smiled. "That'd be me."

"Ninetales has always had a knack for leadership, without really being aware of it." Absol added. "When things get tough, she's the glue that holds this whole thing together."

Ninetales shook her head, still smiling. "Please, that's too noble. I am only the leader because someone had to step up. And Absol and Delphox balked at the idea."

Delphox shot a look at Ninetales, and mumbled "Mentioning that last part was unnecessary..."

Ninetails gave a small laugh, then said "Well, since it seems you'll be joining the community, I suppose I'll help you get settled in. Though, I would advise against entering any of the tunnels at the back of the cave."

"Why, are they dangerous?" Liu asked.

"Some of them, yes. But more than that, there are far more than four tunnels in this cave." Ninetales explained. "Each of those caves splits off into branches, which then split off into further tunnels. Even we have not explored them all, and I doubt we ever will. So, rather than danger, it's you three getting lost I am concerned with. One should only enter them if they know what they're doing, which Rebirth does. As you get more experienced, you'll learn the tunnels as well as we do."

"Experienced?" Aeon asked.

Ninetails tilted her head with a small smile. "You did intend on becoming an exploration team, yes? Exploration teams tend to explore."

Aeon's eyes widened. "Oh, right! Hey, we've gotta come up with a name!" He turned to Liu and Echo.

"EXCUSE me?" Liu retorted. "I never said I'd be in an exploration team with you! This whole idea seems half-baked to me, frankly!"

"I don't like getting lost or going into unknown places; I dunno if I'm up for that." Echo stammered.

Aeon rolled his eyes. "Come on, we traveled this far together! Why not stay together? I don't see anyone else really jumping to join us, do you?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Why don't we name it after Liu?" Aeon suggested. "Adorabuddies? Because Liu's cute." He grinned.

Liu's face reddened slightly, and her tail turned to iron as she smacked him over the head. Aeon crumpled to the floor, his paws holding his head. "S-shut up, Casanova! I never even agreed to this!!"

"Why is it always violence with you?!" He shouted, still in pain. "Fine, we can go with 'Brutalizers' if you're gonna be that way!"

This only made Liu angrier, and she yelled "What, I'm a brute now? You should quit poking your nose where it doesn't belong!"

Echo spoke up. "What about Team Oddity?"

They looked at him in surprise, and Echo squeaked nervously. "What?" Aeon asked in annoyance. "Where'd you get that?"

Echo stuttered "W-well, I mean, we're n-not exactly normal... I mean, I've never seen a furret with a color palette like yours, or a mew who can change color... So, I-I, I just thought—"

"You're not exactly 'normal' either, blue-eyes!" Liu accused. "What's with that snow-white fur, huh?"

Aeon was silent for a moment, then said "I like it."

"Hah?" Liu turned to him in disbelief.

"If we're going to be outcasts, we should at least take some pride in it." Aeon shrugged. "I mean, a mew that changes color? A shiny eevee? Come on. I'm willing to bet you guys haven't had the easiest lives either."

"I mean... That's... t-true, but—" Liu started.

"I think it's a wonderful name." Ninetales interjected with a smile. "Your uniqueness is wonderful, as well. Each of you have something that sets you apart, and makes you stand out. You should take pride in your appearance, regardless of what others say. Team Oddity has a nice ring to it."

At this, Liu blushed slightly. "I-I mean... if you put it like that..." She mumbled, and Aeon grinned.

"Alright then. Team Oddity. It's settled. Now, the real question, is who's gonna be the leader? Obviously, it should be—"

"Me."

"Me."

Aeon and Liu spoke at once, and stared at each other. "Huh? You want to be the leader? You couldn't cut it." Aeon said flatly.

"WHAT?!" Liu shouted in shock. "You? You can't be the leader! You'll lead us headlong into danger, like with that Salamence! It oughta be ME!"

As they continued to go back and forth, Ninetales laughed. "Ahh, I remember those days."

Absol scowled. "You make it sound like we're elderly. It's only been a couple years."

Echo sighed, but on the inside, he had hope. Even though it looked like things would be rocky for a while, he was happy to find potential new friends, and he

"Guess this is where our journey starts." He murmured to himself. "To Team Oddity, and new friends..."