Eventually, the partners began to trust each other more. Or rather, Gunpowder began to trust Devonshire. He began to tell Devonshire all about his past, but the conversation mostly steered towards Gunpowder's brother and his gang. Devonshire didn't seem to care. At all. Nothing seemed to turn Devonshire away, but nothing really pulled him in, either. As far as Devonshire was concerned, they were just business partners.

Devonshire must have trusted Gunpowder, in his own special way, as the tasks he asked of Gunpowder became less mundane and more dangerous as time went on. It felt as if the outcome of the jobs was actually important to Devonshire. He also insisted Gunpowder do them alone. Gunpowder respected that, and stopped taking his cronies with him on any jobs. At the time, he didn't trust any of the guild members. He still didn't, and probably never would. It was just the nature of the business.

The way in which they were dangerous eventually lead to its own job. Contacts were found dead before arriving, and seemingly random dangers were befalling Gunpowder as he was out working. Weird things, like rocks falling on him, freezing temperatures, and intense headaches. Sometimes they were bad enough to send him home. Devonshire was rather suspicious of these events and investigated further, and found a real lead on the source.

Gunpowder should have made the connection at the time and been more prepared, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty. They had tracked it to “a small operation” not far outside the village. In fact, Devonshire found it was only one Pokemon behind it all, and he was hiring out all the 'work' against Gunpowder to keep himself hidden. Nothing hides from Devonshire, though, especially around the village. Gunpowder made a mental note to never get on Devonshire's bad side. Lying also seemed like a safe thing to avoid.

Devonshire decided it would be up to Gunpowder to solve it. “After all, this mess is your fault,” he said. Or something like that. Gunpowder was unsure how it was his fault, but he didn't argue with Devonshire. Not like help was needed anyway. It was only one Pokemon, and Gunpowder was considerably larger than any of the residents of Tao Village. Thus, preparations for his 'infiltration' were nonexistent. His plan was to storm in and apprehend the suspect. To him, it was a perfect scheme.

The location Gunpowder had been sent to was actually not unfamiliar. Since he had been living in the guild itself, invading Devonshire's privacy, the pair had been on the lookout for a place to put Gunpowder more permanently. Gunpowder insisted on it being a cave, and they had narrowed it down to one not far from the village. By coincidence, it was the very same cave Gunpowder stood in front of. A wiser Pokemon would have asked more questions, but Gunpowder was not that type. He walked right in.

The only light was from the entrance. There was no way to tell how deep the cave went. Gunpowder's eyes were trained to see in minimal light, not absence of light. If it went deep enough, it might have even connected to Devonshire's cave system, he suspected. It would explain how Devonshire pinpointed the location.

Gunpowder made a few more steps in. He sniffed the air, trying to pick up on the scent of whatever had been troubling him. It smelled.. familiar. He couldn't quite put his claw on it, but whatever it was, it made him feel uncomfortable. The smell was getting stronger, too. Gunpowder stopped moving. The scent was still intensifying. It could only mean the beast was approaching him. A fight was sure to follow.

Gunpowder tried to assess the creature based on his limited knowledge as quickly as he could, hoping to gain an advantage. Familiar scent, hires others to attack, never getting his or her own hands dirty, stays in a cave, and specifically targets Gunpowder. Connecting the dots, it would had to have been...

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Part 11 of "Well of Memories" by
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