Joint Expedition: Prologue

Kestro sat at a desk near the entrance to the library, a small pile of notes spread across the desk in front of him while he compiled them all into a single report to submit. His first report, in fact. Notes on various items, Pokemon, and features of Monochrome ruins were scrawled onto the many papers. The Cranidos hummed a small tune as he wrote, finding himself surprisingly enjoying himself as he wrote the report. The experience was definitely the most fun he'd had exploring a dungeon, even if just getting to Monochrome was insane.

The Fossil Pokemon stretched in the chair he was seated in, letting out a yawn as he did so. His crystal-like horns glistened in the light, a stark contrast to the deep green and grey he had himself dyed after returning from monochrome ruins. The colors of the moss and stone appealed to him, and the now blue-tinged horns atop his head that mimicked crystals was something Dandy had suggested. Kestro agreed, and found the end result, at least in his eyes, perfect.

Hmm... Saturn checked the various rumors posted on the bulletin board in the Windrose Library. Most of them were either crossed out, signaling that they had been taken, or were located in areas he had already explored recently. There was one outlier, however. Apparently there were rumors of a hidden spring deep in a place called Serene Cave that had some kind of healing property that normal spring water lacks. This interested him greatly, as it was both located in an area he hadn't explored and had some fairly important implications. It was certainly more interesting than "a mysterious cloud that blocks the sun" or "a mysterious place in Cattail Marsh where you can walk on air". As if I would go back to that empty wasteland any time soon...

After crossing out the Serene Cave rumor, signalling that it had been taken, he went over to the area of the library that chronicled information about the different Mystery Dungeons of this region. As he skimmed over various documents and field notes, it became fairly apparent that this was a task he would definitely need help with tackling. Hmm... Well, Valen doesn't seem to be around at the moment, so I guess I'll have to ask someone else to help me. He scanned the library, looking out for any fellow Scouts that didn't look too busy.

Unfortunately, the library was very sparsely populated at this hour. The only other pokemon that he could see were the library staff, a group of what appeared to be Guild members of some sort preparing for something, and a lone bipedal pokemon in the corner with powerful looking legs, disproportionate arms that seemed too tiny compared to the rest of its body, and a large, domed skull. It was a dull brownish grey with green markings that were very reminiscent of the color of vegetation. Saturn honestly couldn't tell if that was their natural state or if they were simply painted green. The bluish horns and reflective dome were rather intimidating, and had a non-organic look to them, like that of metal or solid rock. Probably a Rock or Steel type.

Saturn approached the creature, seeing as they were probably the most likely to consider helping him. "Um, hello. So, there's this rumor that deep within Serene Cave there exists a water spring that has strange healing properties. I want to investigate it, but there's no way I'd be able to do it alone. Perhaps you would be willing to come with me?"

Hopefully this fellow Scout member would accept. If he didn't, Saturn didn't really know who else he would ask.

Kestro clicked his beak as he read back over his report. No, no, no, this wouldn't do. His draft felt too rambling unlike the other reports he read. He talked too much about his personal experience and not the actual findings, and he still had trouble with his punctuation. Shaking his head to himself, Kestro set the report aside. Time to start it over again, he though as he pulled out a fresh paper and began writing on it. Just as he started, though, a voice chimed up next to him.

The fossil Pokemon looked over towards the direction of the voice, and then down. A cubone? Kestro still wasn't familiar with all of the other members of Windrose, having only joined recently. He blinked at the request. To be fair the rumor did interest him, but the Cubone kind of just suddenly pushed it on Kestro. He didn't even ask his name or how he was doing. He looked over a his incomplete report, clicking his beak a couple of times. The fossil Pokemon then pulled all his papers together, stuffing them into his pack.

"Sure, sounds like it'd be interesting to do. Name's Kestro, by the way," the Cranidos said as he began rifling through his pack to check on his supplies.

Saturn was relieved to find that Kestro was willing to help. "Great! I'm sure we'll find plenty of information worth documenting." The Cubone was having that weird sense of deja vu again, like he was missing something. "Oh! My name is Saturn, by the way. I probably should have mentioned that earlier. And feel free to do whatever you feel is necessary to prepare for something like this." Saturn took Kestro's cue and made sure his restoratives were were they should be. "So I was reading some of the notes about Serene Cave, and apparently there is an entrance near Grassveil, so hopefully it won't be *that* long of a trek there."

Once Saturn felt everything was in order, which didn't take very long since he only had, like, 3 items, he placed the strap back over his left shoulder, with his bone in his left hand. "Thanks for helping me on this mission, Kestro. I'm sure I'll end up needing it."

Once Kestro had finished checking his own provisions he made his way to the collection box. "No problem, though next time maybe start with introducing yourself." With that he started rifling through the collection box, pulling out several Silver Thorns, a few berries, a brown gummi, and a reviver seed. He tossed the food stuff to the Cubone, and placed the thorns in his own pack. After refiling a bit more, Kestro pulled out a Trawl orb, placing it into the box in exchange for the items he took.

"Those'll come in handy, ever been to Serene cave before?" Kestro asked as he trotted over towards the library's collection on dungeons. Sadly there wasn't much information about Serene Cave. Windrose was still fairly new as far as Kestro knew, so perhaps there hadn't been much time to gather all the known information about it. However, that's why Scouts like Kestro and Saturn were here; to go out and gather as much information on a dungeon that the could as quickly and coherently as possible. That's also why there were rumors to research. Whether it was to prove, disprove, or clarify a rumor was important as well.

A healing spring in Serene Cave could be immensely useful to travelers, especially depending on its placement between Grassveil and Raintfront. If it's location were better mapped, then travelers could plan rest stops there. Perhaps even a small community could form there. On the other claw, the rumor could have been started by outlaws looking to ambush curious travelers. That's one of the reasons Kestro grabbed the Silver Thorns. Every little bit counts. The pair also had to consider what sort of impact more Pokemon knowing about the spring could have on the spring itself. If it became too popular, the water might run out, or lose its healing properties. And what of the Pokemon who called the spring home? Their lives would be disrupted regardless if the spring were overused or not. So many things to consider, and Kestro was just starting to consider them all much more seriously.

He wouldn't lie, he felt like he was, and probably still is, a selfish Pokemon. All he wants in the world is to keep his sister and caretaker happy and healthy. Despite how much he tries to forget it, the sight of his other sister's corpse, and the uncaring nature of his parents still gnawed at his mind. The weight of the everstone in his pack seemed to become much more noticeable. He'd stave off evolution as long as possible if need be. Maybe he should ask Russel about it. He was evolved, right? His caretaker was evolved too. And Vulcana at least seemed eager to evolve.

He broke his own train of thought as he found a basic map of Serene Cave. He set it on the desk he was working at earlier and spread it open. His beak clicked in frustration at what was presented. Little more than a map highlighting the quickest route through the dungeon between the two towns. At the very least is showed where the main path branched off, giving the pair an idea of the many, many different places they could break off in search of the spring. Kestro was still learning, but he at least had two ideas.

"We can either brute force our way through each branch, documenting the path of each one until we hit a dead end, or we can focus on the paths closer to Rainfront. It's probably a lot wetter down that way, so more water is probably collecting over there to feed into any spring." Kestro blinked at his own words. They sounded like they made too much sense in his head. Maybe he was actually learning something.

Saturn happily took the free items and put them in his pack. "Oh, thanks! And yeah, you're probably right, Kestro." Saturn honestly wasn't sure why he didn't start with his name, but made note not to do that in the future. As they were heading over to the 'Mystery Dungeons' section of the library, Kestro asked him if he'd been to Serene Cave before. To which Saturn replied; "No, this will be my first time. Are there lots of Water and Grass types there? I have trouble with those." The Cubone then realized how barren his list of known moves was. Perhaps if he could learn some other attacks to help compensate for his weaknesses, then he probably wouldn't have nearly as much trouble as he does now.

Saturn lost his train of thought when Kestro pulled out a map on the table. As Kestro stared down at the map, Saturn could see the gears turning in his head. This definitely isn't Kestro's first mission. This relieved him greatly, considering how inexperienced Saturn was. But that just means I need to pick up the pace and not hold him back. Nobody likes adventuring with dead weight, after all. Hopefully he'd learn a thing or two along the way.

Once Kestro detailed his potential plans concerning how to go about exploring Serene Cave, Saturn took a closer look at the map. It showed a bewildering number of branching pathways, and there were probably even more than what the map showed, too. "Personally I think we should take a brief detour down each pathway we come across, and only search the ones that show some signs that they lead to running water, like slick floors, or the sound of flowing water in the distance. Then, if we somehow make it through to the other side without finding anything of note, then we can either call it quits there or make another pass through the cave and check the paths we neglected the first time."

Saturn took a look at the map again and wondered just how complete (or incomplete) it really was. It would probably be really helpful to the Windrose Scouts to make a more detailed map of the area.

"We should definitely get some paper and a pen or two on our way out. That way we can make a map of our own as we go through and compare it with others to see if there are any discrepancies with this one. Perhaps we can determine how often its layout changes if it gets periodically remapped." Saturn stopped his train of thought as he, once again, realized he was getting ahead of himself.

"Have you ever made a map, Kestro?"

"I'm not sure myself, and the library doesn't seem to have a lot of information about it..." he said before finding the map. "Though I wouldn't worry too much. Type advantage is important, but not necessarily the key to winning a battle." As if to emphasize this, a purple energy washed over Kestro's skull, the Cranidos showing off his Zen Headbutt move. "A fighting type might be strong against me, but I know a counter to them. I also know steel type moves to combat other rock types, Rock Polish to make up for my lacking speed, and Pursuit in order to keep enemies from regrouping." If anything, Kestro's knowledge on battling far exceeded his knowledge on exploring, mapping, and the other skills Windrose nurtured.

So why didn't he go and become something like a policemon, or a guard or even a part of a rescue team? His thought was that exploring dungeons, mapping them, and making them safer for travelers was a more useful profession. Again, he was selfish in that he only truly cared for Adela, Mullein, and himself. He'd help others when he could-hell he gave Vulcana a joy seed right after meeting her-but if push came to shove, he'd probably abandon them. Windrose offered him a way to make the world less mysterious, and in his mind, safer. Maps and reports on dungeons made it easier to prepare for them, and perhaps down the line would help show patterns in their ever-changing layouts. He knew that his sister would eventually seek out her own path, and even his elderly caretaker might venture out. To better protect them, he'd use Windrose and the skills it would teach him to make their lives, and his own, better.

After finding the map, and listening to Saturn's suggestion, Kestro nodded a bit. "Well I was working on a map I made for Monochrome Ruins just a minute ago. I'm not experienced in it, but at the very least we can see that there's a clear main path through Serene Cave between the towns. Everything else appears to be smaller branches if this map is to be trusted. If we use it as a base, we can probably tell which branch is which, and if anything new or unusual appears, we can make a note. The closer we get to Rainfront, though, the more likely I think we'll find branches with traces of water. If we go with your idea, we might end up spending several days simply exploring that end. We could live off the cave's resources for a while, but it normally takes three days just to cross through it. It might be risky, but we should try and ask anyone who won't attack us immediately if they know about the spring, and try and base our search for it there. Properly mapping Serene Cave might have to come later, when we're better prepared for staying there for weeks or even months."

Saturn took his advice in type matchups to heart. "Huh. You make a good point." Either way, Saturn still desperately needed to learn some more attacks. Ancient Power on its own simply wasn't going to cut it. With any luck, he would find some TMs in the near future. I'd probably just find a bunch of TMs that I can't even use, anyway. Which makes me wonder how you even know what move it contains or if it's compatible. I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later.

Once Saturn detailed his idea to help map Serene Cave, Kestro let him know just how massive of an undertaking that would be. "Months?!" Saturn recoiled at this, realizing that Serene Cave is much more expansive than he initially thought. "Yeah, I think asking around and hoping some of the more, uh, 'sane' inhabitants help us out is probably the best course of action here. Either way, I'd like to at least try my hand at map making. It seems like a rather useful skill. Once they had their game plan outlined, Saturn figured it was high time to get going, seeing as it would be quite the trip just to get to the entrance.

"Now that we have everything in order, I'm ready to leave when you are."

Kestro nodded, rolling the map up before sliding it into one of the side pockets of his bag. "Let's not rush it. We still need to get through Fallen Leaf Copse. It'll be good training anyways. Once we're out, we can follow the path towards Grassveil. The entrance to Serene Cave should be on the way there. It might actually be a good idea to practice mapmaking and recording for reports while in Fallen Leaf Copse," Kestro suggested. Another check on his pack and the Cranidos made his way towards the Library's entrance. "Besides, the forest has a lot of supplies, which can help us with exploring the cave later on."

"Hmm. Good idea." Saturn walked over to where the group of pokemon were earlier and grabbed some leftover scrap paper they left behind after leaving. He was going to need it if he wanted to practice making maps and such. Then, he went over to the receptionist. "Could you spare a pen, please?" The pokemon looked up from whatever they were doing and sighed, clearly annoyed. They opened a drawer and pulled out a small pen and handed it over, before promptly going back to their work. Saturn thanked them and placed the pen in with the rolled up paper.

"Ok, I'm ready to go, Kestro. And yeah, It's definitely in our best interest to forage for berries and such as we go. Let me know which ones we should be looking for."