You know where my Papa is

It was another day, the sun beating down on the many teams that gathered around in Tao Village. Recent troubles with several members vanishing to what the Guild Leaders have confirmed as "the past" has left many teams distraught, but gradually recovering. Letters from those in the past, kept in a safe for centuries until that old eccentric fox decided it was time to reveal its contents, made their way around the village, informing those in the present of their whereabouts and assuring them that everything will be okay.

Many Pokemon felt a glimmer of hope, others felt pessimistic and impatient. But no team was affected more so than the members of Team WIKIFIGY. Mali, a calm and Docile adult Flaaffy hadn't received a letter, unlike most others, but instead had a disturbing nightmare about the second member of their team. Regalis, who she knew as a Quiet (though sometimes rather arrogant) Ralts, was suspended by a stringy noose, surrounded in cryptic living letters. Unown, she knew the species to be, had spelled themselves out around the lifeless Pokemon, informing her that he had died. Accepting this as a fact for herself was tough enough, but attempting to tell her adopted daughter, Oishi, a stubborn Gothorita, was an entirely different story. Eventually, Mali found herself moving on, and before she knew it she was becoming intimate with another Pokemon... She met him while working at Spinda's Cafe. It had been a long time since the Flaaffy had laughed or smiled, it felt good to be happy again.

Oishi was less than pleased. The Gothic child felt that her mother had given up much too quickly, and swore up and down that she knew that her father was alive. She trained herself each day, throwing a Slide of kunai-shaped Rocks at imaginary targets within trees, focusing her Psychic abilities to carry objects, crush objects, whatever it took to strengthen her Extrasensory. She spent much of her time alone, thinking of her father and how stupid the idea was that he could actually be dead. She released her anger through her training, and Mali was thankful that she hadn't fought any other Pokemon recently to feel the girl's wrath.

A rare occasion, this day was, as the commotion near the center of town caught the two travelling around the village. Oishi held onto a large, purple egg that she had obtained a few days ago, sheltering it from any Pokemon who might bump into her. Mali recognized most as Rescuers that she had worked with before, scuttling towards the crowd, curious as to what was going on.

"Is that Chill?" Some Pokemon asked, heading towards the crowd of Rescuers.

"Chill's back!? Oh my god!" Another Pokemon shouted, adding to the commotion.

"Hey! HEY GUYS! Any rescuers out there!?" This shout came from the center of the crowd. It sounded familiar somehow... "We got a big undertaking on our hands! Guys! It's urgent as hell!" All of the crowding Pokemon kept exclaiming that so-and-so was back, but the louder shouts were being ignored. "COME ON! Stop gawking and let's get going!" Despite his pleas, the crowd kept yammering and gossiping over this new arrival. "Stop, stop! We need to just get going! Gunpowder's in trouble, come on!" Gunpowder? The Rogue leader? Why are we helping a Rogue? Someone else must have asked the same thing, because the mystery voice yammered something about it not being cool to discriminate against the guilds. A large Drifblim hovered down from above, scooping up whoever was in the center. "Time to haul tail, guys. Now!" Was his last shout, before the voice finally took an owner: a small grey rodent emerged from the crowd in the blimp's arms. Many other Rescuers were climbing on and grabbing hold of a flurry of Drifloons that followed the Drifblim's lead. They all had these aviator hats on, wasn't that the icon of Barty's Bluff?

Oishi watched the large Drifblim and herd of Drifloons carry the Rescuers into the sky, flying north of Monochrome Tower. Her sight locked on a certain Drifloon lagging behind the pack, holding onto a Treecko and Sneasel. Oishi heard the muffled voices of her father as her cyan eyes stared at the Rescuer team. They must know the whereabouts of Regalis, her visions were never wrong! The Gothorita ran after the group with her mother in tow, shouting at the Treecko. "Artemis!"

A growl emerged from the vibrating throat of the small raptor. Chrysstal, the foreign Sneasel who bore pale blue feathers rather than red looked to her shoulder, addressing the dinosauric Treecko that perched like a parrot. "Artemis? Is something wrong?"

The gecko looked down, letting out soft, chilling growls as he scanned the crowd. Quickly, his pupils dilated, having little serrated edges along the slit, causing him to fall unconscious for a split second, before returning to a thin line again. "NYRAARR," He cried, spotting a short, black Pokemon in a small dress, adorned with several white bows. Had she just called out his name? Somehow, the voice sounded familiar to him, but from where...? He had been asleep for so long, the events in the era of the Zoroarks were beginning to fade from him already.

"Hey, Clark, hold on a second." The Sneasel beckoned the Drifloon, the very same that brought her to Tao so many months ago, and slid off his back and plopped her claws on the dirt.

"Don't do anything rash." Clark called, adjusting his aviator hat with his small heart-shaped feet.

The ferret smiled. "How can I resist? It's in my nature." She punned, winking. She turned back to the crowd, which was lessening now, and allowed Artemis to guide her to where he was drawn. He slowly pushed his head forward, followed soon by his body, perching low on Chrysstal's arm in order to get a good look at the Pokemon around him.

"Oishi, what's going on?" The wide-eyed Flaaffy asked as the two suddenly stopped in the middle of the crowd leaving Tao Village, still being held onto by the Gothorita tightly. Something had to be wrong if the Rescuers just up and left with Chill, the Minncino Rescuer Mali heard so many stories about. Oishi was completely quiet now as her pupils narrowed as she focused on a Pokemon Mali couldn't see through the crowd, it frightened her how determined her daughter looked now. What did Oishi see that Mali couldn't?

Parting the frantic Pokemon was the fierce Treecko Oishi had seen in her vision, accompanied by his curvy looking Sneasel teammate. She didn't want this overgrown weasel ruining her day, so Oishi ran up to the team and shoved the Sneasel out the way, separating the raptor from the older girl's arms. Oishi stared deep into the lizard's wide orange eyes. "Where's my Papa?"

"Whoa, hey, what the hell man!" The ferret shouted, tumbling over and landing on her tail feathers when the black-dressed Pokemon shoved her. "Who do you think you are!" She growled, pushing herself back to a stand.

"Kryaah!" The raptor vocalized. Chrysstal halted, was that directed at her, or the rude little damsel in front of him? Artemis turned his head slowly, tilting it a bit, his thin slit pupils finally coming into contact with the child.

Chrysstal looked back and forth between the two. "I hope you know that he can't talk." She spat, quite rudely. She was still bitter from how this bratty little girl treated her.

Oishi snorted at Chryss' direction, explicitly showing her dislike for the Sneasel. "You talk lots of trash for a furry harlot. This conversation is between Oishi and Artemis so keep your furry butt out of it." The Gothorita pointed to herself and the wild Treecko, then flicked the back of her hand towards Chryss to dismiss her from her sight.

"Oishi!" Mali shouted, surprised to hear such language come from the girl's mouth. "Why are you acting like this? This is very unlike you at all."

Ignoring her adopted mother's scolding, the Gothorita slowly shifted the purple egg she was grasping in her left arm behind her back. She remembered that the Sneasel kind ate poor Pokemon eggs, Oishi would keep a close eye on her. She turned back to Artemis. "You know where my Papa is, you saw him last..." The tone of her voice was rough and demanding towards the little raptor.

"Excuse me?" Chrysstal hissed, "Did you just call me a harlot?" Her sharp fangs were displayed through her Snarl. Who did this stupid child think she was?

"Krah!" Artemis croaked at the ferret. She backed up, calming down a tad.

"Besides, didn't you hear me before? He doesn't talk. Even if he did know anything about your dad, how is he going to tell you when he can't even say one fu-" She bit her tongue, cautious of the fact that the older Flaaffy was near. "-freaking word?" She corrected.

Artemis calmly continued to stare at the child, a soft, unnoticeable growl emerging from his throat. Yes, something was familiar about her, despite him never seeing a Pokemon like this in his life. Her father? Must have been in those ancient days... Visions slowly began to swell back to him. He went through so much trauma in the past that it was difficult to piece the fragments together. But... what was it? What was it about this child that just seemed so awfully familiar to him, and what did it have to do with the days long behind him? He loathed to remember those days, to relive those experiences...

Mali frowned, she didn't want to make enemies right now nor have a fight break out. "S-so sorry about Oishi. She is quite determined to find Regalis as of lately even though he has died." The sheep took Oishi by her free hand and faced her in the opposite direction. "Come on, Oishi. You shouldn't dwell on the past."

"No!" Oishi forcefully snatched her hand away from her mother, and her wide eyes began to glow a haunting cyan as the earth surrounding the four trembled uncontrollably. A smooth stone broke away from the ground and levitated in the air, chipping away at itself quickly to form a single sharp kunai. The knife dropped into Oishi's hand and the young child pointed her weapon towards the Sneasel, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Regalis is not dead! Artemis knows it but this wicked witch keeps stalling with her nonsense!"

"Are you fucking..." Chrysstal muttered, her face scrunching up once more. "FINE!" She shouted. "Ask him. Ask him to speak for you! Ask him to tell you about this Regallimimus dude! I don't care!" She shouted, throwing her hands up to emphasize her apathy.

Artemis continued his low growl, watching the stone knife in the girl's hand. If she had made any implication that she actually was going to attack his partner, he would be forced to knock the weapon from her hand. But for now, he quelled his emotions and focused his thoughts on his memories.

Memories... So much had happened back then, it was much too difficult for him to bring it all back. His hibernation skewed most of it, but gradually some more fragments surfaced. Silva Praesus... The Forest's Guardian. Artemis remembered his Overgrowth, reverting to a feral berserk stasis in which he only focused on killing the Guardian however he could. As the legend tells, Silva Praesus will do all it can to block the path to Silva Virgo, even if the Forest's Virgin is near death. To save the Virgo, a hero would have to slay the Praesus. He... became that "hero," though he felt like a villain. He shivered. All of the sudden he felt wrong, tainted, dirty. He had murdered when he was in the past... It's not something he hasn't done before, but before it was only insects that didn't know the difference between a rock and a gravestone.

Artemis began stepping backwards, his head lowering between his paws. What did any of this have to do with the girl's father? There had to be more. He felt it, the grotesque thoughts and instincts that had overcome him. The disgusting acts in which he took part of. His mind pushed it away from him, but he had to force it to surface. It was difficult, like trying to remember a dream from a month ago.

"He's not dead... he's not dead..." Oishi repeatedly muttered to herself with tears rolling down her cheeks, before suddenly wailing loudly. She sunk to her knees, dropping her weapon into grass. "I just want my papa back." She sniffed, her words broken up by small sobs. "I want to hear him reading stories to me at bedtime again." She felt defeated, similar to how she felt when she was defeated by a snake Pokemon during her last Rescuer mission, a broken shell of what she was before. It hurt her so much, the heartbreak of losing her father and knowing the answer is so close, yet so far. Mali didn't care, the girl thought, she was too wrapped up in a stupid relationship with a Ghost to care about her or Papa. Oishi's world was falling apart, crumbling into nothingness.

"Please Oishi," Mali pleaded, grabbing the Gothorita's shoulders softly. "Just forget about your father. He left us, it was his decision." Oishi only replied with quiet sobs as held her purple egg closer to her chest, her head lowered in shame.

Chrysstal sighed. "Look, I'm sorry... but I don't really feel too sorry for you?" She admitted. She turned to the Pokemon she recognized to be a Flaaffy; she knew the species was related to the kangaroo-giraffe thing that Fresnel was, but his species always seemed to skip her. "I don't really know what all this is about, but Artemis just got back from wherever it was everyone has been. He doesn't speak, so of course I know nothing about it. It's obvious that your..." She trailed, hoping to use the correct term, "daughter?" she guessed, "here has a really strong sixth sense that he's alive... I don't know. And I'm not entirely sure if Artemis would know either." She shrugged.

"Nyraah!" Artemis suddenly screeched. He held a growl, a bit louder than his previous growls, staring at and approaching the dressed child. He rubbed the edge of his snout affectionately against her hands, and tried to lick her tears away.

"Hey..." Chrysstal thought, "You're a Psychic type, right? Can't you like, you know, read minds and stuff?" She guessed. "If Artemis did know anything about it, I'm sure you could see it through his mind, right?"

Oishi couldn't help but to crack a gentle smile as the reptile's rough tongue glided across her cheek, licking the salty tears from underneath her red mask. Her smile turned to laughter as Artemis leapt on top of the Gothorita, smothering her in slobbery, lizard kisses. It was plain to see the Treecko didn't want Oishi to be sad anymore, even if he was unable to speak. Their eyes locked again into a frozen stare as Artemis stood over Oishi quietly with his short arms folded across his chest, the finger pads of his spiny hands softly touching, and bumping his snout against her face. Oishi's vision began to blur as the staring contest continued, the world around her distorted, but her and Artemis remained the same. She could hear voices chanting in the distance; could it be Artemis's voice? She couldn't tell, the voice was too muffled to be recognized. Artemis's pupils widened into those serrated edges as the lizard felt the girl burrowing deep inside his head, as if an ice pick had shoved its way into his head, swirling itself around those memories he kept locked for the past century. It flashed a vivid image before his eyes; a Kirlia wearing a Misdreavus's necklace, fighting off a gang of those rabid Zoroarks. Was that... this girl's father?

His question remained unanswered as the world returned back to normal; the young girl gave Artemis a playful shove off her and wrapped her lanky arms around his long neck in a sweet embrace.

Chrysstal threw her arms up and made some incoherent gestures, attempting to make a sentence out but not really having any thoughts to express. "I don't know what's going on." She finally admitted.

Artemis let out a soft growl, nuzzling his snout near the girl's neck as she hugged him. But these images... He tried not to shiver, to make sure he didn't scare the girl. Scenes replayed in the back of his mind, haunting him, lingering behind him, showing him again and again the terrible crimes he committed back then. Foxes, their bodies scattered across the field, their blood gushing, pouring, from their severed limbs... And at the heart of it all, Artemis saw a raptor, drenched in the red juices, rushing on to dismember even more of the Zoroarks. Why, why was he doing this? What purpose did this mindless murder serve? What did these foxes do to deserve such a fate?

Artemis backed up and looked at the Gothorita. He let out a sighing growl, but something twanged him. His pupils, once again, fell unconscious for a split second... what was that? The child, he didn't see the child, he instead saw Chrysstal, but not the Sneasel he knows to be his partner... No, this was a different Chrysstal, this was an illusory Chrysstal, the one that plagued him in the past, the Nightmare that had Taunted him so arrogantly. This Chrysstal was as dead as the foxes in his memories, slaughtered by the Tormenting of the visions and dreams. He started shaking his head, trying to rid the images from his brain. Of course. In his skewered thought process, Chrysstal was being murdered by the Zoroarks, so he repaid the favor. He couldn't bear that idea, and it drove him mad... Well, more mad than he already was.

He turned to Chrysstal, who was looking upon him with suspicion. "You alright, Arty? You look kinda wobbly there..." She coaxed, kneeling down to comfort him. She didn't mean to sound hostile, but the question that she ended up asking was a rude "What did you do to him?"

Oishi fumed with anger. How dare this Dark type accuse her of hurting Artemis! She was going to make that Sneasel eat her words. "I did nothing to him! Maybe it was you who hurt him, corrupting him with your Dark powers, you soul stealing she-demon!" She shouted, tackling the older girl to the ground and began slapping her across the face with her hand. Mali intervened by pulling the Gothorita off the Sneasel by holding tightly onto her arms. Oishi flailed and kicked her feet in protest, shouting obscure statements at the Sneasel in a foreign, exotic language. Certainly not one that Chryss has ever heard before.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Chrysstal scurried to her feet, rubbing her cheeks where the arrogant child had smacked her. "Look," She said, rather angrily, before taking in a breath to calm herself, "Look... I know it sounded it, but I didn't mean it rude. I've just never seen Artemis act like this before. I didn't mean to imply that you hurt him in any way, it just struck me as odd." She tried to explain, her irritation clearly shown through her scrunched face. She was trying her best to keep a level head, but after just being beat by this kid, it was incredibly difficult.

The ferret let out a long breath, her feathers simultaneously falling. "Flaaffy, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name, but what is your kid blabbering about?" Her cheeks still stung from the kid's Outrage, but she tried to ignore it. "What I've picked up on is Regimus, the girl's dad? He's dead, right? But Artemis apparently knows where he is, I guess since he, like the other entire half of the village, was gone in the past or whatever? And you want to know where he's at because, naturally, what child wouldn't want to know where their father's at?" Something suddenly stung Chrysstal. She almost felt a connection to this kid, since she, too, has no idea who her real father is or if he's even still alive. She wasn't really brought up to have the mentality to "search" for him, though. Her head lowered a bit, feeling a tad sorry for the girl.

"My name is Mali, and this is Oishi. We are Rescue Team WIKIFIGY," Mali answered, lifting Oishi to her feet and handing the child her purple egg. "I am sorry for my daughter's actions, please forgive us for causing you two trouble..." Mali bowed her head to the Treecko and Sneasel. "Oishi just gets so worked up about her father...." The Flaaffy's voice trailed off into silence, as if she was hold back her thoughts.

"Hello, Mali," The feathered ferret greeted, nodding a head at the tall sheep, "Osushi," She turned to the kid, deliberately messing up her name. "I'm sorry, my name's Chrysstal, but you can just call me Chryss, and this, of course, is Artemis." She gestured towards the trembling gecko. "But I'm still not quite understanding what's going on here? So Regalligus is dead, but Artemis knows where he's at because Arty was in the past? That implies that Regalega was in the past as well, right? And, since many members from the past are turning up all over the place, I assume he'll be back as well, right?" She reasoned.

"I hate to interrupt," The small, purple balloon Pokemon suddenly spoke, "but we must get going. We're already falling far behind from the flock!" Clark pointed his stringed feet towards the cluster of floating bubbles in the sky.

~

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG AUGH
BUT WOW I'M SUPER PROUD OF HOW THIS TURNED OUT
LOOK AT THAT
LOOK

ps I hope you don't mind NDF but I edited some parts a bit so that it could make a little bit more sense. They're just very small changes you probably won't notice

Mission 8: "Hieroglyphic Wraith" Part 1 of 8 I think
Collab with =NightingDayFlaaffy
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Team Epsilon
Team WIKIFIGY