Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Forest Temple (Epilogue)

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Forest Temple


	Clefairy and Celebi watched as Skitty and Cyndaquil warped out of the Temple. As the light faded away, revealing that the two Pokémon had been successfully teleported out of the Temple, Celebi turned to Clefairy and crossed his arms.

	“So, Watcher Clefairy, it has been some time since you were here last,” Celebi began. “How have you been?”

	“Better than you, it seems,” Clefairy replied. “What happened to you? And what happened to the Temple?”

	“The Abyss happened,” Celebi replied bluntly. “I was minding my own business, just spending time here in the Temple, when a dark portal opened up and that Trevenant stepped out. It struck me down before I could react, and when I awoke, I felt like I was still asleep. I could barely tell what was going on around me. And when I truly woke up, I saw that I was on the altar, with a strange root impaled in my back, restraining me. Luckily, I could control it and force it to retract, just like I could control the one impaling that Cyndaquil. Speaking of that Cyndaquil… Who was he? And who was that Skitty friend of his?”

	“They’re Delvers. They came here to find out what happened to you, since you had gone missing. They also wanted to learn if this place had turned into a mystery dungeon.”

	“Considering what they had to go through, I presume they got answers to both questions. Indeed, this place has been corrupted, and I was apparently captured by that Abyssal Trevenant. But since I was able to use my Heartshard to destroy the Abyssal, this Temple should be better off.”

	“Heartshard? Is that the black crystal thing you used back there?”

	Celebi nodded. “That is its name. I suppose it is unknown to you. It is a rather rare and secret thing, but since you are a Watcher, you are allowed to know about it. This Heartshard, along with many others like it, was created just a few weeks ago by Arceus to aid the Legendary Pokémon, along with a select few Mythical Pokémon—myself included—in the fight against the Abyss. They are based off of a much more powerful and unique stone called the Heartstone, which was created very long ago to combat the Abyss. But it was hidden away soon after its creation, so that only the one destined to stop the Abyss can use it, preventing its abuse. Even I know not where it is located.”

	“Sounds mysterious.”

	“It is. But that is beside the point. You see, the Heartshards are like weaker versions of the Heartstone. They can banish Abyssal Pokémon, but unlike the Heartstone, they cannot absorb Abyssal energies, thus preventing them from eliminating mystery dungeons or preventing the Abyss from intersecting our world. Additionally, they have limited uses.”

	“But, it’s still useful, right? It stopped that Abyssal Trevenant.”

	“Correct. But still, the Heartshards cannot save the world from the Abyss. They can only delay it. The Heartstone alone can stop the Abyss. But its bearer has not yet appeared.” Celebi sighed. “I hope that the true bearer of the Heartstone appears soon. Otherwise… Well, let’s not think about otherwise.”

	The ominous tone of Celebi’s last line hung in the air, until Clefairy awkwardly coughed and spoke up.

	“Well, anyway… I guess I should be on my way, now,” she said. “But before I go, I have a question for you, Celebi. I was wondering: what are you going to do now? The Temple is a mystery dungeon now. It’s dangerous here. Are you going to stay here, or go into hiding?”

	Celebi paused, formulating his response. “This truly is a dangerous place now that the Abyss has infected it. But even so, I feel obligated to remain here. This is my Temple, and I must protect it. I will stay here and do what I can to stop the Abyss from spreading.”

	Clefairy nodded. “Okay. I wish you luck, then. But… come to think of it, before I go, I just thought of one more question: out of curiosity, why didn’t the roots that had been stabbed into you and Cyndaquil vanish with the rest? That confused me, and I still can’t figure out why that happened.”

	“Because they were a different sort than those that simply went into the ground,” Celebi said. “At least, that is my theory. With all the time I spend in forests, I have met many Trevenants, and I have known some of them who used a technique which involved putting some of their own life force into the plants and roots they controlled so that they would persist after their own defeat. It is quite a devious trap, whether it is used offensively or as area denial, as it becomes difficult to remove the roots. As such, it seems likely that this Abyssal Trevenant used that same tactic here.”

	“That explains it,” Clefairy said. “Well, I’m just glad that you and Cyndaquil were both able to survive. I was really worried for Cyndaquil back there…”

	“He’ll survive,” Celebi said, waving a hand. “Don’t worry about him. Now, unless you have any other questions, I think I shall retire to the Shrine again. Seeing this place become corrupted by the Abyss has given me a lot to think about, regarding what the future holds, and what I should do now.”

	Clefairy nodded. “Okay. I’ll be on my way. And, just so you know, it will be my turn to come back and check up on this Temple in about a week. Other Watchers will take the other days up until then. So, I won’t be back until then. Please keep this place safe until then, okay?”

	“I shall do my best,” Celebi said. “Farewell, Watcher.”

	Celebi watched as Clefairy waved goodbye and stepped onto the mosaic in the middle of the room, warping back to her home Steeple at Azure Village. Once the lights of the portal dimmed, and silence fell over the Forest Temple again, Celebi turned and slowly hovered into the Shrine room, heading towards the altar again. He landed atop the altar and grabbed the Heartshard again, examining it. He let out a sigh, pondering how this little shard was part of the only line of defense against the overwhelming darkness threatening to fall upon the world. And even then, the shards could not destroy the Abyss. Only the Heartstone could. And until its destined bearer appeared, the world was in peril.

	“The war against the Abyss… it’s really happening. I’d heard the rumors of some Legendaries losing their Temples to it, but I never thought the Abyss might affect even this little Temple. We’re on the brink of disaster. And we’ll have to struggle with all our might to survive. We can’t afford to lose. If our world falls to the Abyss…”

	Celebi shook his head, clutching the Heartshard tighter. “That can’t be allowed to happen. No matter what it takes, the Abyss must be stopped.”


Shukuba Village
Guild House


	The blue and cloudless morning sky, hanging over the small and tranquil hilltop town of Shukuba Village, was a stark contrast to the ominous clearing in the Fair Forest, the dismal Forest Temple built in it, and the dark mystery dungeon that had spawned within the Temple. The three Pokémon standing in the meeting room on the second floor of the Dungeon Delver Guild House ignored the view of that sky through the big window taking up the west wall, however, as they were focused more on the discussion they had gathered to hold. In the middle of this empty main room, used for the guild’s meetings and discussions, stood a female Meowstic, the second-in-command of the guild. Before her, standing side by side, was a pair of Pokémon, one of whom was a Skitty… and the other, a somewhat irate Cyndaquil.

	Cyndaquil had indeed survived the ordeal of the Forest Temple, and been properly healed by the medics of the guild. However, his wounds still remained as scars, and he wore a bandage wrapped around his torso to cover them. To conceal the bandage and stop people from asking questions about his wound, he also wore a simple brown cloak covering his entire body, save for his head. The cloak was a bit too long, and dragged along the ground behind him, but he liked the way it looked nonetheless. What he liked less was that he had been woken up early and forced out of bed to attend this small meeting and receive new orders, despite still being wounded and desiring rest to recover from the ordeal of the Forest Temple a few days ago.

	“Cyndaquil, Skitty,” the Meowstic began. “I’m glad to see you could both make it. And I can tell that you don’t want to be here, Cyndaquil—even if I couldn’t sense your emotions, your face makes it plain to see—but please understand that this is an important mission.”

	“Important, huh? What’s up, Terra?” Skitty asked, referring to the Meowstic by her guild codename.

	“We need you to go somewhere and do some exploring. Just west of Shukuba Village, across Low Field, is a rather sizeable town called Card Town. But you know that already—you’ve been there before a few times, and it’s clearly visible from Shukuba. Anyway, we need you to go back there, and investigate the forest just west of it.”

	“You mean Card Forest?” asked Skitty, cocking her head to the side. “Why?”

	“It became a mystery dungeon a while ago,” Terra replied, “and it has not yet been properly documented. We only have a few amateur reports to go off of, so we would like you to go and do a more professional job of it. We will give you enough money to rent a room at a hostel there, and stay in the town while you work on this mission.”

	Skitty nodded, while Cyndaquil groaned. “Another mystery dungeon?” he grumbled. “I kind of wish I could take a break from those for a while.”

	“I understand your concern,” Terra said, “but trust me. This dungeon will be easier to traverse than the Corrupted Forest Temple was. No sightings of Abyssal Pokémon have been reported in it, so you should be okay. This will be an easy mission. Don’t worry about it.”

	“Come on, Cyndaquil!” said Skitty to her partner. “We can do this.”

	“But with my injuries, I can’t use my fire attacks,” he said. “I can’t even ignite my back with this cloak and these bandages on.”

	“Oh, fire’s overrated anyway,” Skitty said jokingly. “Come one—we’ll be fine. I’ll cover for you if push comes to shove. Together, we can make it.”

	Cyndaquil looked over at his partner, and despite all his irritation with getting woken up early and being sent off on another mission so soon after his life-threatening injury… he cracked a smile.

	“You know what Skitty?” he said. “You’re right. If we’re together, we can do this. Let’s go.”

	Skitty smiled back at him and turned, heading for the wall opposite the one with the big window, towards the stairwell. Cyndaquil followed her, moving slowly, his cloak dragging along the floor. As he followed his partner, he let out a sigh. The last dungeon had been grueling, with a difficult Monster House encounter and his near-death experience with the Abyssal Pokémon, and he had desperately wished not to have to suffer through another dungeon anytime soon. But considering he had Skitty with him, he felt more confident about this new mission to Card Forest. With his partner’s help, he had survived the Corrupted Forest Temple. He knew that the two of them together were capable of making it through frightful ordeals, and the last mission had demonstrated that fact again.

	“That gives me hope for this next mission,” he said to himself. “Like I said before… hope’s always there, but you’ve just got to find it.”

	Skitty reached the stairs and paused, turning and waiting for her partner reach her side. And as he looked at his partner, with whom he had worked for years, the two of them staying by each other’s side and supporting each other through any troubles they ran into, he couldn’t help but smile.

	“And I know where my hope is. She’s right here.”


[the end]