A light in the night

It's been a while since the sun has set on the horizon, a night veil whose sparkling stars and moon were hidden from view due to the endless shroud of dark clouds threatening to scare off the citizens of Rainfront from gathering at the pleasant beach. Now that there's no sunset to attract bystanders, a lonely young sandshrew decided to return to his makeshift shelter. It was nothing fancy, just a hole in the sand, but it reminded him of his time in the desert far from where he is right now, where his family used to live.

His pace was slow, enjoying the simple pleasure of leaving footprints in the now cold sand before bidding farewell to another day. During the day, Yigo had encountered some trustworthy pokemon that he may call friends but they had to carry on with their lives, leaving the sandshrew alone in that rainy town. The ground type wondered for a moment what he should do yet his options were fairly limited. He used to have an objective, gathering power to protect those whom he loved and took care of him. However, reality proved to be harsher than a cold shower, teaching the inexperienced ground type that other pokemon would not slow down so he could come along with them. Yigo took off his belt and placed it on the ground in front of him, went for the satchel hanging from the side of it and took a crystal out of it. With a bit of focus, he was able to make it glow intensely enough for Yigo to see in the dark and find his way back to the burrow.

That crystal was the key to achieve his goal, to stop being a burden to those who had put trust on him yet there were none anymore. Team Friendship Alliance had disbanded and stopped showing up at the front door of the guild to play with Yigo. Tempo, an Oshawott around his age and good friend of his, had disappeared, probably in the middle of some of his wild adventures and the mysterious purple lady who had been taking care of him as his mum would had vanished the same way it came to his life. That crystal, the item that would awaken his powers and make him truly an ally worth having around had no longer a purpose: Groundium Z. Now it was nothing but a repurposed torch meant to light the way.

The sun had long set over the horizon of what had been, for Synd'r at least, a rather busy day of exploring Rainfront Town. With her being fairly new to Grassveil Town and it's surrounding areas as of only a few months ago, the Vulpix had yet to explore Rainfront. Having nothing in particular to do for the next few days, and the members of the Phantom Thieves all working on their own tasks, she had opted to make the journey over to scout around.

Rainfront Town had things that Grassveil didn't, despite the latter being the larger of the two when it came to a bustling marketplace. Synd'r had briefly explored the bar, figuring its distance from Grassveil might make it an interesting place to celebrate when they pulled off a successful heist.

With the day of exploring coming to a close, Synd'r had decided to head down to the beach to watch the sunset. It seemed many who visited Rainfront had the same idea, with a small number having been scattered across the sands as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

Now though, it was night time. Synd'r had remained on the beach hoping to catch a glimpse of the moon as it grew later. Alas, the cloud cover had rendered that impossible, instead enveloping the beach in a curtain of darkness that would make it easier for the Vulpix to hide from view.

Finally growing bored of the dim beach, Synd'r stood intending to head back to the town for the night. However, she was distracted by the soft crunch sound that indicated someone moving on the sand. Glancing around, she identified the area of movement and deftly hid her own presence behind a rockpool.

Synd'r watched the stranger for a moment, quickly losing interest before something seemed to light up in their paws. It looked to be an almost strangely shaped crystal. She hadn't seen anything like it before!

Immensely curious, the Vulpix remained where she was, wondering where the Sandshrew would go next.

The journey was almost over. Yigo was starting to feel cold as his thicker hide trembled and shivered due to the cold air. The last steps lead him to the edge of the beach where sand and dirt collided and where a suspiciously placed bush hid a tunnel to Yigo's refuge. The cold of the air and the smell of salt added to Yigo's lack of sleep was enough to isolate him from any warning his sense might bring. It was obvious that Sandshrew were not meant to live next to water even though there was sand to roam around on and Yigo would make sure to leave Rainfront's beach... next morning.

Upon seeing the cover of his hideout, Yigo stopped channelling energy to the crystal and got it inside the bag hanging from his belt once again. Before entering the bush, Yigo took his pink Pecha scarf and used it to get rid of the moisture gathering on his snout and nose  -as it was terribly annoying- before entering the bush and crawling through the tunnel to a somewhat open chamber made of stone and gravel. There was a small ditch on the side of it that dug out of the rock chamber and onto the sea. It was obvious that an underground river used to run its course but not anymore. Taking his gear off -his satchel with the Z-crystal, his bag containing berries and the few poke he owned and his belt - and leaving it on a nearby spot, Yigo used his scarf as a blanket to cover over him as he tried to curl into himself so he became small enough for the piece of clothing to veil. Unfortunately, it was not big enough.

The Vulpix's gaze followed the Sandshrew along the beach, up until they reached the edge of the sand. They paused near a specific bush and Synd'r crept out from behind the rock formations, padding gently across the beach but remaining low and close to the sand so as to spread her weight and make less noise, almost like a cat hunting for its prey.

She kept her distance, watching curiously. The crystal object in the pokemon's paws had stopped glowing, no longer giving off any light and making it easier for Synd'r to begin to close the distance. If she were cautious enough, she might be able to see what the crystal was. The sandshrew hadn't seemed to notice her creeping after them, perhaps because of how late at night it was.

As the Sandshrew seemed to disappear near the bush, Synd'r paused for a few moments, waiting to see if they would reappear. When they did not, She crept right up to the small spot of greenery, keeping her eyes peeled for the reappearance of the other pokemon. Another few moments passed, and with the silence continuing, Synd'r poked her head through the bush, discovering that it was, in fact, an entrance to some sort of tunnel system.

The Vulpix pulled her head from the leaves and paused. Was this really worth it? If she got caught, she might ruin everything for those who had opted to join her. Then again, if she were caught, she could always feign ignorance. The tunnel itself didn't look like an actual home. Perhaps she could pass it off as her looking for a place to stay the night and accidentally discovering the tunnels?

Cursing her own curiosity, she opted to take the risk. She had confidence that she'd be able to talk her way out of an odd situation, and if things got too hairy too quickly, she had useful moves that should keep her out of trouble.

Synd'r gently made her way into the tunnels, taking care to pad slowly and quietly, her ears swivelling to take in any sounds she might hear. As she got further down the tunnel she could see what looked like a wide chamber of some sort, and could hear the soft rustling of some sort of fabric. She froze at the sound of the fabric, waiting for it to settle before she moved any further.

Peering into the open stone chamber, she spotted the Sadnshrew from before, swaddled in the fabric of some sort of scarf. It didn't really work though, the scarf clearly not big enough to cover the other pokemon. Nevertheless, the Sandshrew seemed to still after covering themselves, and a with a quick glance around, Synd'r spotted a satchel.

The bag was a safer target than the pokemon themselves, so she padded near to it, pausing next to it for a moment to see if the Sandshrew would react to her prescence.

It was difficult to catch some rest in that freezing room. Yes, it was warmer than the outside but it was still colder than a regular house. Maybe Yigo should just press on and move in the middle of the night to somewhere warmer or else he'll catch a cold.

*sneeze*

Well... that wasn't an option anymore. That simple sneeze had opened Yigo's eyes and force him into bringing his paws to his face, trying to shake any mucus off of his snout. With a whine, Yigo kicked the scarf that was not doing much off of his body and uncurled until he was on his fours. He was feeling dizzy just by standing up, his feet unable to bring balance to the body as he swung in place. It was then when he thought that he had heard something yet his vision was full of tiny small dots that clouded his already limited vision in the dark. His nose was freezing and the small breeze that came out of the opening made by that long gone river forced it to face away from the yet unspotted figure. The only thing he could trust was his hearing and touch. He could feel a small change of pressure on the rock he was standing on, like if something else was stepping on but there was no other sound but the one he himself was making with all of the whinings.

Yigo sneezed for the second time and squeaked in desperation after it. he needed to find a warmer spot somehow. With that in mind, he tried to retrieve his goods, clumsily walking to where he thought he had left his gear until he stumbled due to the lack of strength of his limbs. Fortunately, he had fallen right onto his bag, just what he wanted to get. Now he only needed to take his scarf...

The bundled Sandshrew seemed as if he wouldn't move and so Synd'r turned back towards the satchel on the ground. She opened it and began to rifle through it, finding the crystal object that had caught her attention. It was diamond shaped and a deep brown in colour, but in her paws it looked like nothing more than a shiny crystal. She wondered how the Sandshrew had managed to make it light up earlier.

*sneeze*

The sudden sound caught her off guard, and she shot to her feet, hackles raised and fur on end. She nearly dropped the crystal in the process, but managed to recover it and quickly shove it back into the bag. Honestly, she'd rather be caught snooping than stealing and deftly closed the satchel again, staggering backwards as the Sandshrew stumbled around.

Somehow, the other pokemon seemed not to have noticed her. Or at least hadn't acknowledged her presence. Synd'r watched as the Sandshrew sneezed again, before tripping over, straight onto the bag that she had recently rifled through.

With the Sandshrew this close, Synd'r realised how small he was. He must still be rather young... and ill, by the sounds of it.

Honestly, Synd'r could have probably just upped and left, but seeing youngsters like this reminded her of her early years with the Black Quill Thieves; the times where she felt almost like she wasn't fitting in there. It was members of the group like Roka and Brooke that had helped her when she'd felt alone, being the only child in the group.

With a small sigh, she parted her jaws and released three small puffs of flame. Using her innate ability to manipulate fire, she caused them to hover nearby to the Sandshrew, although not close enough for him to get burned.

Something you're taught not to do when underground on in dim light is flashing a light in front of someone who has its vision accustomed to a dark environment. The spark had caused Yigo to flinch and squeak, quickly curling into himself, to the size of a ball, and rolling backwards until he had reached one of the edges of the rocky cave. A loud impact made the ground tremble slightly, Yigo returning to his usual mouse shape squeaking out a moan of complaint.

The light, fortunately enough, made the whole area easier to see. Yigo no longer needed to send pulses of force down the ground and risk collapsing the entire chamber if he wanted to sense how big was the place or how it was shaped. Now he could just use his eyes!

*sneeze*

...buuut not much else. The small fire puffs were hovering towards where he was as if they were following him but they looked harmless in nature. Yigo was sure that he could snuff them out just by having them enter contact with his thicker hide, no sand needed. Aside from the obvious balls of flame, there was a pokemon that had caught his attention. Yigo stood on his two feet and stood straight, head tilted upwards to check his entrance. It was still hidden from view so it was probably someone who had followed him. It would be pretty easy to judge it with malicious intents but, if she had wanted to do any harm to him she could've just done that before lighting them room up. Yigo looked at the Vulpix with a confused gaze, somewhat annoyed after the flash of light that caused him to blink a few times to get accustomed to the new brightness, and tilted his head to the side. He reached a paw to his chin, obviously judging her by what she was wearing: a scarf around her neck as most pokemon yet something was sticking out of her head with contrasting colours. Were those... Wingull feathers? He couldn't tell.

"W-Who are you?" Yigo said in a bit of a sore throat pain before coughing to the side. He returned to her as if nothing had happened, sitting on his haunches and with front paws on the ground to support the rest of the body. The lady looked way more resourceful or rich to be where Yigo was. Did she need him? "Were you looking for me? Was that why you've followed me?" He asked before looking at his stuff. It was all around where he had once laid. His scarf was made a ball of and kicked to a corner near where Yigo was and his bag was all squeezed after falling on it. His belt and bag didn't see any changes, still in their original position. He'd pick them all up after clearing the situation and leaving that freezing trap.

For all her smarts, Synd'r had never lived underground without lights, and so hadn't the knowledge of how a Sandshrew might react to a sudden burst of light in front of them. The Vulpix flinched as the Sandshrew had rolled backwards and impacted the ground, causing a tremor in the underground chamber. She braced herself, glancing up at the roof of the chamber to keep an eye out for falling debris. Luckily, the tremor passed without any actual damage, and Synd'r let out a small breath of relief.

She'd mostly been hoping to provide the Sandshrew with some form of warmth, since the most likely cause for sneezing would be a cold. Alas, she would think more carefully in future about lighting a flame in such a dark room if it were going to startle the pokemon so much.

When the Sandshrew seemed to calm, it looked her up and down, asking who she was and why she'd followed him. Well... it looked like a story of stumbling upon the tunnel system wouldn't fly with this pokemon, and she opted to instead tell a somewhat truth.

"I was curious. I saw a light on the beach that disappeared," She replied simply, watching the other cautiously. She didn't want to get trapped in this chamber if the Sandshrew decided to cause more tremors. The entrance wasn't that far away, she might be able to get out before the roof caved in."I didn't mean to scare you with the fire." she added, noting his glances towards his belongings. She was glad that she hadn't actually taken anything yet. "I was intending to provide some warmth, since you were sneezing."

The answer was somewhat reasonable yet somewhat disappointing. She was just seeking a light in the dark, not Yigo specifically. Yigo sighed and just looked down at his stuff. He got back on all fours and hopped into the ditch were his scarf ended, picked it up and started to wear it around his neck (Of course, being a sandshrew, the only way Yigo could tie a knot was by getting the scarf around his neck, lying on his side and picking one of the scarf's corners between his paws and the other between his teeth. The paws would work the cloth around into a knot and the mouth would yank its end, fastening the seal). After a brief whole body-shake, he approached Synd'r with a very curious look as if he was mistrusting her. Now that he thought of it, there should be a lot of lights in the dark more than his own.

"Don't worry about the fire. I really appreciate it. The weather of this place is not very kind to us..." he paused and looked at the entrance. There was a chilling current, air shuffling from chamber to outside and draining the heat produced by the flames. The Vulpix must've followed him into a tunnel and that was something that a proper adventurer shouldn't do. There might be traps, dugtrio and much much worse at the end of an already dug out tunnel. It was obvious that this well dressed fire type didn't know much about "Anyway... I guess that you've found me! I'm sorry I'm not that much of a discovery myself. You have probably just wasted your time" his voice was a bit apologetic, but in that last sentence, some rejection could be felt. He couldn't pinpoint it at the time but Yigo was feeling envy of that vulpix. She was wearing all that expensive stuff and had probably never suffered while he was alone and had to do with all the issues himself. His belt was soon picked up and around Yigo's chest sideways, wrapping above the shoulder and next to his hip. The only thing that was left was his satchel which he picked up seconds later and was now hanging from the side of the belt and his bag containing most of Yigo's supplies, now on his back.

"I don't know about you but I'm getting out of here. There's no way I'll survive down here without a fire and I've got no sticks or Blast Seeds to spare. You should return home. This is no place for you" He concluded, his words still with the slightest intention to harm. It was a tactic to make Yigo feel better with himself. Like the surrounded prey that barks and threatens to bite or straightens up to look bigger in front of a potential predator, a subtle assault like that was Yigo's best way to shield his ego.