Mission Failed Successfully

“Hah.. ACK—!”

With a yelp, I gracelessly tumbled down a steep hill of rocks and tree roots, causing the strap on my explorer’s bag to tear and spill its contents all over the ground of the mystery dungeon. Spitting a mouthful of dirt and ignoring the searing pain building in my left forepaw, I quickly gathered the spilled jar of nectar and a couple oran berries before taking the bag in my mouth and continuing to flee from the angry and quickly approaching swarm of wild combees and vespiquen.

“Look, I’m sorry, ok?? I promise I’m gonna use this for good, I didn’t mean to stea— oof -!”

I dodged just in time to narrowly avoid an air slash from a very pissed off vespiquen. I jumped over some shrubs and thistle, and continued darting along, right back the way I had entered the mystery dungeon. Ducking as another air slash wooshed by my head, I quickened my pace, however still limping from the tumble I’d taken moments ago. It didn’t matter though, as I was running on pure adrenaline. I wanted to shout out for help, but my panicked breathing and rapidly decreasing stamina forced me to focus solely on the path in front of me and dodging the constant string of attacks from the wild Pokémon. My mind raced with a hundred conflicting thoughts. I need to rest I need to run I need to fight I need to hide I need to find—

BOOM

I gasped as stray Air Slash knocked a large dead tree onto the path in front of me, forcing me to take a hard right into the wild and untamed thicket and woods. The woods became denser and sharper, and I collected various scratches from various twigs as I continued along this twisted maze of a mystery dungeon. At least the foliage offered me some cover from the mostly flying and bug type attacks. The swarm was still hot on my tail and gaining on me, seemingly more adept at navigating this terrain than I was. At last, I spotted sunlight peeking out from the leaves ahead. With a rush of hope, I burst through the woods to find..!

“No no no, MUCK IT ALL —”

Dead end. Steep cliffs surrounded me, leaving me with only one way out: the way that was currently blocked by the combees and vespiquen. This dungeon really wants me dead, huh? Dread sunk in as the buzzing and angry humming grew louder and clearer behind me. Facing the Pokémon behind me, I let out a nervous laugh, awkwardly holding out my bag as a peace offering, though it did little to ameliorate the situation. Officially out of ideas, I decided it was time for her to unleash my secret weapon as the wild Pokémon closed the distance. I got into a low stance—still nursing a wounded left forepaw—and gritted my teeth before executing my plan. I inhaled sharply, and…

“SOMEONEHELPMETHESEPOKEMONARECRAZYAND THEIRGONNNAKILLMEHELPHELPHELP AAAAAAAAA—!”

The bee Pokémon actually hesitated for a split second, confusion written on their otherwise expressionless faces. Luckily that was all the time I needed before I heard…

“CHLOE!!!”

Simultaneously, a Moon Blast scattered the combees, and a Leaf Blade hit the lead vespiquen, thus quickly dispersing my attackers. I ducked and kept my paws protectively over my head as my body protected the vials of the nectar I had almost died for. Once the commotion died down, I hesitantly looked up.

“Chloe, are you ok??”

“What were you thinking running off like that, you could’ve died !!”

“Oh gosh, you’re limping! Lemme see your paw, sweetie..”

“The guildmaster’s gonna kill us… I knew this was too dangerous for her, Lune!!”

I looked back and forth between the two as they fussed over me; the sylveon currently examining my injured left paw, and the leafeon wrapping my scrapes in medicinal leaves. I hated the attention, though I supposed if I had to get roughed up like this in a mystery dungeon, it was best to be with two certified guild medics. As the two continued to argue, I finally spoke up, immediately grabbing the attention of the quarreling lovers.

“Hey..! I got the combee nectar, that’s all that matters, right? Mission accomplished~!” I proclaimed with strained optimism.

“No!!” “You were great, sweetie!” The sylveon and leafeon mates answered at the same time. Lune, the sylveon, beamed at me while Parsley, the leafeon, let out an exasperated sigh.

“No, that’s not ‘all that matters,’ Chloe! You were reckless and you put your life in danger for a medicinal ingredient we could’ve just bought at the market ! We can’t keep taking you on missions like this if you won’t just—” They both must’ve noticed my darkening expression as my ears folded back in embarrassment.

“Parse…” Lune started in a hushed voice.

Parsley winced, evidently feeling guilty for his worried outburst. “Chloe, I’m sorry, it’s just… with your.. smaller stature and lack of battle training, you need to be very careful. We can’t have you darting off without backup like that. Ok?”

I simply nodded as I took my ripped explorer’s bag in my mouth once more, but Parsley decided to carry it for me. Parsley examined the small pint of combee nectar with a glint in his eye. It was a shimmery substance that seemed to glow in the warm setting sunlight.

“Heh, y’know we’d have gotten seriously upcharged if we had gone to the market for this. The breakthroughs we’ve made with this stuff are amazing . We’ll be able to treat injuries from poisonous attacks so much more efficiently!” Parsley continued nerding out about all the anti-inflammatory and anti-venomous properties of the nectar as he carefully tucked the vial away in his guild medic bag. As much as I loved learning about medicine and healing, many of the words he was using simply went over my head. Still though, he and Lune both seemed very excited about the prize I had retrieved, and that left me with a warm feeling of pride… despite my paw injury and the burning sensation of the medicinal leaves reminding me of the trainwreck I’d just survived.

As we walked, Lune wrapped one of their ribbons around me for support and gave me a warm smile.

“Hehe, you remind me of me, Chlo! Back when me and Parse did daily dungeon runs, I can’t tell you how many times he saved my tail. You’ll make a great explorer~” they said in a sing-songy voice that made me giggle lightly. “Ooh, next time we’ll take you to Phantom Cove to fetch us some ghost aloe!”

“ Luuuune! ”

“Kidding, kidding!”

The older eeveelutions kept on chatting with a much more casual vibe thanks to Lune’s teasing. After the day I’d had, though, my battery was quite drained. I receded into my thoughts as we walked along Main Street heading back to the guild, and occasionally needed to lean a bit more on Lune for support thanks to my wounded paw. I winced more in embarrassment than in pain. Some explorers and guild workers take pride in their injuries, like a show of resilience or something. But this was just.. embarrassing. I heard Parsley’s words from earlier echo in my head. “Smaller stature…” Not that he was wrong; I’d always been smaller than the average ‘vee, and considerably weaker too. I didn’t even learn my first real move until I was twelve. And no matter how much my guild family tried to boost me up, it was never real. 

They’ll never trust me with anything real. I’ll never help anyone.

I heard Parsley giggle over something Lune had said, and I feigned a smirk. Those Arceus-damned recurring thoughts again, which I never seem to disprove… My ears folded back involuntarily.

…

“Are you ok—” “AAUGH—!” “Wah—!”

I yelped, startled by the snow vulpix who seemingly appeared at my side, who then yelped at my yelp.

“C-Casey! Where the heck did you come from?!”

“He’s been walking with us for like two minutes, Chlo!” Lune giggled and nudged me with a feeler. “But you were too busy daydreaming to notice~”

“I was out stargazing.” The snowpix cocked his head at me. “But as I was saying, where did you go just now?”

I studied my friend’s face for a bit, and I could tell he was leaving something out. Apparently when you know someone as long as we’ve known each other, you learn to read them well. I made a mental note to follow up about it during after-dinner cleanup.

“The mystery dungeon south of the plains. We were getting combee honey for.. something? It got a little messy.” I responded, suddenly becoming self-conscious of my disheveled state. I looked down and noticed cream-colored neck fluff was muddied and tangled.

“It has wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. It’s great for treating poison attack wounds, for instance,” Parsley explained matter-of-factfully.

“Heh, I meant more like, where did you go in your head? You looked a bit downtrodden.”

And evidently he knows me just as well, I thought as a genuine smirk crept onto my face.

“Oh!! Yeah, I’m fine! Well, just a bit banged up, but nothing Lune can’t fix, haha!” My response may have been a tad too quick and upbeat for believability. “And starved. Let’s not be late to dinner!” I added in to alleviate the pressure I felt as my three guildmates gazed upon me.

“I second that~!” I heard Lune exclaim in that sing-songy voice as they scooped me up with their ribbons, eliciting a yelp of surprise from me and several glances from nearby shopkeepers closing their market stalls for the day.

“L-Luuuune! Careful!” Parsley called out, running to keep up with his partner and me. I heard Casey giggling with amusement as he sprinted to keep up with the longer strides of the larger eeveelutions.

As the sunlight waned, the four of us made our way back to the place that had been my home for my whole life, or at least as long as I can remember: the lively, warm, and green town of Cloverstead.

A minccino, with slightly purple-tinted fur covered with a gray cape and hood, splashed her way through a creek, her paw sinking deeper into the mud than she anticipated. Her heart began racing quicker and she began running faster as the gravity of the situation dawned on her.

It’s getting dark… It’s getting dark and I’m stuck in a mystery dungeon with no badge, no food, and no way to escape. Arceus damn my impulsivity.

The original plan to get to Cloverstead before dark was going down the drain, and was quickly being replaced with the simple goal to get out of this labyrinth alive. Yuna knew she wasn’t a good fighter on her own. The only attacking move she knew was Pound, and despite priding herself on her “specialty” of Helping Hand, in reality that was the only move she knew well. And without her friends here to save her…

CRACK

“Eep—!” Wild Pokémon! Crap! Tightening the straps on her bag which simply contained a blanket and a canteen of water, and a photo, she continued down the ill-defined path of the dungeon, growing more and more desperate as the sun continued to set. She had no idea if she was being followed or not. She simply continued until she found a small cave with an opening just large enough for her small form to enter. She knew she couldn’t stay here long. She’s heard all her life about how Pokémon lose their minds the longer they stay in a mystery dungeon… but for now, at least she’s safe… 

Thunder boomed in the near distance, and she could smell rain approaching. The small cave she was in was protected enough, but she’d most likely have to brave this storm.

“Well.. safe-ish” she said softly aloud to herself, as she wrapped herself snugly in the soft blanket and pulled her hood over her head and large ears. She opened her bag and took out the photograph, a small crack running down the glass of the frame. Seeing the snow vulpix and small eevee gave her a feeling of warmth as the rain began to come down harder outside her cold, hard shelter.

I’ll be home soon, guys… I promise.