The sun began to peak through the window as the cloud cover dispersed...
Avin finished off one of the apples from the basket that had been given to them by Hope. It was a really kind gift, and despite the traumatic topic of discussion, the food was doing wonders to settle their nerves. Still, they could tell the same could not be said for Kaji. Avin could somewhat understand. The topic had always been more sensitive for Kaji. Avin wished they knew what to say or do to help but at the moment, they were still trying to process it themself and hardly felt equipped to help Kaji with it, beyond being there to support him through it just as he was for them.
"I think I'm going to head back to the guild," Avin said after a moment, "check in with the others and see if they need help with dinner or sentry duty. Is that okay?"
Kaji looked up from his apple and thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Yes, don't let me keep you. I think I'm going to order another drink to finish these apples with," he said with a smile.
Avin smiled and hopped down from their seat. "I'll see you back at the guild then when you get done!" they replied with a quick wave before trotting out of The Gigaton Brew.
A warm sea breeze ruffled their leafy hedge as they made their way through the town. As it was the middle of the day, the townsfolk were bustling about in a hurry. Avin waved as they passed by the bank, a flustered young Sandshrew barely able to return it in between counting out the coins for one of his customers. The Sandshrew flinched a bit as a voice boomed from down on the beach, the local Shellos ferryman making a last call before the boat headed out on the hour. Avin barely stepped out of the way in time as a pair of Tandemaus rushed past them, heading towards the local dojo where a Munchlax and Wormadam were currently conducting their latest lesson.
Avin trotted their way through the town square and approached a tall tent with a Beldum on the top. On the ground in front of it was a small bell with a sign that said “ring for service”. Avin lightly smacked their paw against the bell and sat back on their haunches as they waited. There was a bit of a ruckus inside the tent. The shopkeeper's grumbling was very audible amidst the rustling and shuffling of various items as they made their way to the front of their tent. After a moment, a Beldum poked their head out and surveyed the area before glancing down at Avin. They narrowed their eye at the Shaymin before letting out a low hum. "Can I... help you?" they asked in an uninterested tone.
"Are you Nox?" Avin asked in return.
“Yes, that is me. Who is asking?” Nox paused for a moment before quickly interjecting again to answer their own question. “Ah wait yes, you’re the Shaymin that Prisca was telling me about. Yes yes, come in.” Nox beckoned Avin inside before disappearing into the tent.
Avin tentatively followed, cautiously sticking their head inside before fully committing. The place looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were piles of books, boxes, and baskets all over the places, containing everything from books on lost legends to jars of Cyndaquil hair. It was slightly unnerving, since Avin couldn’t think of a good reason as to why Nox, or anyone really, would have a bowl of Persian claws, but it wasn’t their business. Instead, they focused on what they came here for and followed Nox through the veritable maze within the tent to a section where many maps lay.
“I searched my stock after I spoke with Prisca yesterday,” Nox said, “and unfortunately I do not have any of the Gracidea Flowers that you seek.” The Beldum searched through the shelves before telekinetically lifting up a curled piece of parchment. “However, I did manage to locate this.” Nox floated the map over to Avin and opened it in front of them. “This is a map to an area in between Sky Peak and Cosmos Town. It is said to reside deep within a dungeon known as the Lost Forest.” Nox turned the map back to themself, scanning it quickly as if to affirm the information they were about to give Avin before giving them false hope. “According to this map, at the end of the dungeon, there is a field of Gracidea Flowers. You might be able to find one there.”
Avin sat in silence for a moment, almost in shock. There was another flower field outside of Sky Peak? They had always heard that Gracidea would only grow on the mountain due to the soil composition being so unique. But perhaps this dungeon was close enough to Sky Peak that it had a similar enough composition to support Gracidea Flowers as well. It was nothing short of a miracle to say the least.
“That sounds wonderful!” Avin said as they reached out to take the map. “So how do-”
“However!” Nox interrupted as they rolled the map closed, “This dungeon is no walk in the park, young one.” Nox narrowed their eye at Avin and seemed to almost frown, despite their lack of a mouth. “You are not a trained explorer and though your history as a tour guide on Sky Peak does give you some dungeon crawling experience, you need to be prepared before you walk into this place. I will not have your blood on my hands.”
Nox hovered the map over to Avin, holding it just out of reach as they continued their stern lecture. "Do not get your hopes up. You would be foolish to think a dungeon so close to Cosmos Town wouldn’t have been thoroughly explored already. Ask anyone at that guild you're staying at. They'll confirmed there's nothing there but a bunch of rocks with moss at the end of the dungeon.
“With that said, I have requested that Prisca pack you some supplies for the journey. In it, along with your normal items such as food and water, is an Escape Orb. Should you fail to find the flower field, since you don’t have an exploration badge, you will need to use that to escape instead. Understand?” Avin nodded their head silently. “Good.” Nox offered Avin something akin to a smile. “Then I wish you the best of luck, young Shaymin.”
Avin thanked Nox for their assistance before exiting the tent. Heading back to the main part of town, they spotted Prisca assisting a customer at her storefront. The hybrid began to wave as soon as she spotted Avin. “Hey! Avin! Come here for a second!” Avin quickly trotted over as Prisca fished something out from one of the cabinets in her store. After a moment, she approached the front again and plopped a small bag onto the counter. “It was hard to find a bag that would suit your size so I had to make some alterations but with some Psychic Gem powder, it should be able to hold about twenty items without adding any extra weight. Right now it has a bottle of water, some apples, a couple oran berries, an escape orb, and two heal seeds. Should be enough to get you started.”
Avin stared at Prisca for a moment before asking, “That’s a lot of supplies. A-Are you sure?”
“Of course!” Prisca answered without hesitation. “Sure Nox asked me to do it but I was planning to give you some supplies anyway. It’s dangerous to go into dungeons unprepared and I had a feeling that you were going to be heading into them sooner or later. I can tell we’re a bit of kindred spirits. The adventurer in you isn’t going to stop until you find those flowers.”
Avin sat in shocked silence for a moment before starting to tear up. “Thank you,” they said in a wavering voice, “I… I really appreciate all you and Nox are doing for me.”
Prisca gave Avin a big smile and patted the Shaymin on their head. “Just make us proud, alright? Go get that Gracidea flower for Kaji.”
“Yes ma’am!” Avin quickly scampered off to the crossroads by the guild and began to follow Nox’s map towards the Lost Forest.
[Kaji is temporarily not available for asks. Avin has begun their journey towards the entrance of Lost Forest.]