Definitions of Treasure - Fragile Dreams 15th Anniversary Collab (Theme: Maps)
Hello hello! This is my part of the Fragile Dreams collab hosted by @lunarhillfunland. I got the theme "maps" and decided to focus on the Merchant! Working on this was a lot of fun, I hope you guys enjoy!
Read it on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53130829
The fireflies danced restlessly among the blades of grass, anxious as the Merchant stepped around them. Ahead, a campfire flickered. He had every reason to assume Seto was there.
Fate was just; indeed, Seto sat, warming his hands against the fire. The Merchant bowed slightly in greeting, which Seto returned with a kind wave. The typical small talk began. Seto purchased some candy and sold an old slingshot in return. “Have you anything exciting this evening?” the Merchant asked eagerly.
Seto shook his head, then paused. “Well, it’s not a shiny thing, but- hold on,” he said. He dug through the many pockets of his coat before pulling out a yellowed sheet of paper. “I found this. I think it’s a map of some kind? I was wondering if you could decipher it.”
The Merchant took the paper and unfolded it. “Ho-ho!” he exclaimed jubilantly. “This isn’t just a regular map, it’s a treasure map!”
“Treasure map?” Seto echoed.
“Do you see this ‘X’ here?” he said, pointing to the spot. “It marks a key location. Someone, perhaps several someones, had a great treasure they wanted to hide away for safekeeping. But to prevent forgetting where it was, they created this map as a guide. If you can find the spot the ‘X’ marks, the treasure is yours!”
Seto smiled. “That’s great, but… I really should focus on finding that silver-haired girl. I don’t want to delay any further. You can have it.”
“Are you certain?” Seto nodded. The Merchant clutched the paper to his chest as if it might disappear. “Thank you, kind sir! No doubt a treasure of this magnitude will be enough to wake my Princess!”
Seto’s smile turned tight-lipped and strained. “I, uh, I wish you luck.” The Merchant bid him farewell and returned into the misty night.
The Merchant opted to wait for the morning before beginning his search. The first step would be locating where exactly the map depicted. It was a rough sketch, with little in the way of definitive landmarks. The illustration was faded; the writing needed to be legible. It would be daunting to interpret.
Nevertheless, the Merchant was not deterred. Even before his Princess entered her long sleep, he had traveled the streets of the city frequently. He had errands to run. Not once had he gotten lost.
The map still offered a few clues. The winding lines could be paths. If true, they indicated it wasn't for an urban area. There were some circles of varying sizes outside of the paths. "Perhaps the amusement park," the Merchant mused aloud. "What do you think, dear?"
The Princess did not stir. The Merchant was undaunted.
The gate to Lunar Hill Funland creaked in the breeze. While he was loath to leave his Princess alone, the Merchant didn't want to spoil the surprise. He stowed her away by an abandoned food cart. The foliage disguised her pram and protected her from the sun.
The Merchant studied the map as he wandered through the park. The circles seemed to be in similar locations to former attractions- the carousel and the Ferris wheel. The "X" was near what the Merchant assumed to be the broken-down remains of the teacup ride. He searched for a patch of grass or unturned earth; any sign that the dirt had been disturbed. He lamented not bringing a shovel.
He got to his knees and looked under the ride. All he saw were the rusted mechanical parts. "Hey!" a stranger's voice called out to him. "What are you doing?" The Merchant stood and looked at the strangely-dressed figure. "Oh, I've seen you before."
"As have I," the Merchant replied. "You live around this park, don't you?"
"Yeah," the stranger confirmed. He tipped his hat in salutation. "Did you lose something?"
"No. I'm actually trying to find- well. Before I say anything more, would you mind looking at something?"
"I guess," the stranger said slowly. The Merchant handed him the map. "Huh. Is this for a scavenger hunt or something?"
The Merchant nodded. "Indeed. Seeing as this is your home, I was wondering if you could determine if this is a map of the park."
The stranger studied it for a moment before shaking his head. "Don't think so. I know this place too well. And if there was anything buried or hidden here, I would've found it by now." He handed the map back. "Good luck, though."
The Merchant thanked him, folding and tucking the map back into his coat. The stranger tipped his hat again before backflipping away. What a curious individual.
So the treasure was not at Lunar Hill. At least this narrowed the possible locations down. The Merchant found his Princess and began his search anew.
He decided the next location to search should be Azabudai Station. The circles on the map might represent the domed ceilings. It would be a bit of a hike, but the Merchant did not fear the journey. He had made it before.
Taking the Princess in her pram down the stairs was difficult. Still, he maneuvered them down without incident. He left her secured in a rusted-out ticket booth.
Light shimmered down from the dome, casting shadows over the broken turnstiles and benches. Not far from the entrance stood twin pillars. The Merchant regarded the map. The circles aligned.
With a quiet cheer, he dashed towards the spot marked on the map. He bent down, searching for anything out of the ordinary. With the limited light, it was hard to see anything strange. He ran his hands over the tile floor. One shifted under his palm. A loose tile! He dug his fingers underneath and heaved it upwards. Pushing it to the side, he revealed-
"Treasure!" he exclaimed, pulling the box out. It was coated in a thick layer of dust. He brushed it off. Scribbled writing on top read Property of Suki.
A pang of guilt wracked the Merchant. This was someone else's property. Somebody else's treasure. He shouldn't take it. Yet nobody else was around, and his Princess was so sick… surely they wouldn't mind.
He opened the box.
The Princess did not stir as the Merchant unveiled the first of his spoils: a plastic ring, won from a gachapon machine. The crude drawing of two smiling girls similarly resulted in no response. He elected not to show her the rotting food. But the silence at a sparkly hairpin worried him. It wasn't too different from the usual baubles he brought, though, so perhaps she just didn't care for them.
He dug out the last treasure. "What do you think, Princess?" he asked quietly. The silver pendant dangled from his fingers. It caught the fading sunset light and glimmered.
The Princess stayed silent.
The Merchant wanted to weep but simply sighed. He put the box's contents back inside and placed it back under the loose tile. "We'll find the right treasure soon, I'm sure of it," he reassured her. He stood straight and took her pram. "Soon, I'll see you smile once more, my Princess. I promise."
He guided them back upstairs and into the setting sun.
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A new Message from the Masters Team is out!
New Mysterious Stones Chapter (A Fateful Reunion) coming on May 1, 2024! You'll need to have collected a total of 600 Mysterious Stones to unlock this story's area. Volo and Rei finally meet face-to-face on Pasio. What will Rei do in response to Volo's intentions?
In addition, they've made improvements that will allow you to easily check successful teams when you are unable to win a battle, and also revamped each 5⭐-Guaranteed Sync Pair Scout found in the General tab of the Ticket Scout menu so that you can scout either x5 or x10. (It sounds to me like you would need to have collected 150 to 300 5⭐ Scout Tickets.)
Rika will star in Story Event Good Ol' Rika Here beginning on Apr26, and by teaming up with Rika & Clodsire from their Poké Fair Scout that will be available at the same time as the event, you'll be able to invite Rika as a Guest to the Trainer Lodge! You can also get a Clodsire photo frame for the Photo Creator by teaming up with them. Rika can be invited as a Guest to the Trainer Lodge starting May1.
Rika & Clodsire are a Ground-type Support Sync Pair. Their EX Role is Field. Their Rampant Mud Slap Buddy Move can lower all opponents' accuracy by two stat ranks and leave them poisoned. It can also create a Ground Zone and increase all allies' Physical Moves ↑ Next and Special Moves ↑ Next effects by two ranks each. They can also use their Think Fast! Trainer move to raise all allies' Attack and Sp. Atk by two stat ranks. Plus, they have a Passive Skill that restores all allies' HP when Rika & Clodsire get hit by an attack move, and another Passive Skill that lowers one of the following stats of an opponent that attacked them by two stat ranks at random when hit by an attack move: Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, or Speed.
Three different Triple Feature Poké Fair Scouts will begin on Apr27, featuring Sync Pairs such as Skyla (Anniversary 2022) & Tornadus, Palmer & Regigigas, and Gloria (Dojo Uniform) & Urshifu! For each lineup, there will be a regular Triple Feature Poké Fair Scout, as well as a paid-gems-only Triple Feature Poké Fair Scout that comes with a Roll Cake present. Each featured Fair-Exclusive Sync Pair will have an EX Role added, so we hope you look forward to it. (Note: Palmer & Regigigas already have an EX Role.) Also, looking forward to being able to boost Lysandre 👀
The sequel to the ongoing Costume Event New Heroes Are Born will start on Apr30. Two figures have appeared before our heroes as villains! (Cool how we're getting the PokeStar Studios alts as villains, but pretty predictable. Would have been cool to see some actual villains getting in on the fun, add that sense of urgency/seriousness, but was thinking it might be too much of an ask lol)
The next High Score Event "Water and Fairy Conqueror" will begin on May 7, 2024. This High Score Event will have two recommended types. Taking into account the difference in battle difficulty based on the available Sync Pairs of the recommended types for this High Score Event, the maximum number of points needed to obtain the featured reward will be changed from 180,000 to 200,000. They plan to make more adjustments to this point total based on the difficulty of future events as well.
Also scheduled are returns of Solo Event Pasio Gold Rush, Daily Battle The Golden Magikarp, and Story Event A Golden Future, as well as the addition of an Ultimate Battle and a new Trainer Files.
The next message is scheduled for late May.
Edit, here's the event schedule from Reddit:
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