Chapter -20: Once upon a Generation

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Many Years Ago..

How could I forget the day this whole mess began? The first thing Zarude and I did in the morning was a short sparring match. This was only a small portion of the Dark-Type’s rigorous training plan.

The morning light may have only started to shine in the garden, but I was already feeling heated up with sweat. Across the sparring grounds stood Zarude who remained unfazed by the constant activity. He was in that casual defensive stance, expecting me to break through it.

Try as I might to break through with a quick strike, Zarude kept on besting me. Always knocked back or tossed aside into a tumble.

He always encouraged a tricky style of fighting. A strike from the shadows, a swift passing strike, never letting a foe see you. To most legends, it’s dishonorable, but when it comes to a young and much smaller legend in training, like myself at the time, you can never take chances.

After my latest failed attempt, Zarude sighed before stating, “Again, but this time actually try to use trickery.” I knew what he meant. He was referring to the Dark-Type attack he taught me.

I charged forward toward the simian and Zarude was ready to grab me once more. Not this time. I quickly slipped away in a different direction before screaming at him with a loud Snarl attack.

The blow sent Zarude backwards a short ways, but he didn’t fall. He could never fall from something like that. The baboon smiled a little before announcing, “All right, I believe we’ve had enough for now.”

And that was only the morning training. Training and spars were considered my playtime. No hide and seek, no tag, not even drawing, just exchanging blows, just like ancient days of old when words were but a new concept for Pokemon kind. Diaries? Ha! Like that would ever be allowed for the younglings.

 

Normally, it would just be training, meal, training, meal, maybe a trip into the dungeon but otherwise training, dinner, training, talking, and then sleeping. Repeat again and again, and that’s my life every day.

That day on the other hand, Zarude had a different idea, words that nearly made me drop food mid-bite. “Time for your first solo scavenging trip.” Sure, I asked Zarude several times over, but I was young, rash, and too curious for my own good at the time. Deep down however, even I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

The sudden announcement honestly made me hesitate. Zarude however, held up a confident tone and even laughed a bit. He too was a tad nervous about his own training, his first solo trip. That was what he told me…alongside getting lost in a dungeon for five days? Something like that. Telling me that story hardly set my mind at ease.

Again, I asked why so soon.

To that, he told me, “I saw a little of myself in you; your eagerness to explore the world, learn new things, the works for any bold adventurer. I want to let you explore…before it’s too late to.” That last part was said with a frown and maybe a little bitterness too.

 

Regardless, Zarude escorted me to the dungeon entrance with only a small bag of supplies and a few words of encouragement given beforehand. This however was no ordinary trip.

I had one objective; search for a lightning-marked tree in the eastern garden, find a golden emblem with a lightning bolt, and bring it back by sundown. It was a simple task when stated, but having no one to help me would be a true test of my independent thinking.

I peered into the void of darkness that settled beyond the corridor of trees before me. Anxiety washed over me, so I tried my best to recall the words of Zarude’s teachings.

A much longer time ago, Zarude and I stood near this same entrance. The analogy he used to explain dungeons was well…peculiar. Then again, when was it ever easy to explain mystery dungeons to a child?

“What was that analogy?” one may ask.

Simply put, dungeons are like houses, houses whose builders are never satisfied with the interior. Every time the owner would leave, the interior is just rebuilt again and again, all without changing the exterior appearance.

Yes, I never said the example made logical sense, but mystery dungeons are just that, mysterious.

What about the builders? Who are they? Zarude never said. Instead, he just said, “Only Arceus and the space-time deities know.”

Though to be honest, I still do not know if that is true. The statement seemed more like a broad stroke, the kind of words that a teacher would say if they were trying to answer a question so that a student wouldn’t ask further. In other words, it was more of an uncertain “I don’t know.”

The most I’ve ever gotten out of a legendary was the presence of some unknown force and even that answer left more questions. However, I learned something else in my research, I was not the only one that asked. Even Zarude asked questions. Unfortunately, no one bothered, no one significant anyways. We just treat it as they are like the rest of the world. Beyond all of the oddities and nonsensical details, they just exist and nothing more.

“Find the stairs,” I repeated to myself, “Use your instincts…carefully.” I steeled myself for the trial ahead and proceeded to step into the blackened entrance.

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Mystery Jungle Central Valley:

I experienced total darkness and weightlessness before I found myself in the dungeon.

It’s a different feeling when you’re alone in a dungeon. Rather than the pleasant and sometimes uncertain strolls with nature, dungeons were always accompanied with illogical dread.

The empty rooms, the cluttered hallways, the stench of moss that permeated the whole area, the endless walls made of nigh impenetrable trees and cliffs? All of it is accompanied by the distant battle cries of Bug-Types.

The saying, “It’s hard to forget your first run”, most certainly applies to us legendaries. Of course, memory can fade without writing to back it up. So pardon me for any broad strokes and errors you may see here. It’s hard enough to remember these things, let alone write them efficiently on this paper with little prior experience.

The first notable event in this run was a typical encounter with a wild pokemon. My first solo foe was a Bulbasuar. It tried to ambush me with a basic Tackle attack from behind when I entered a room.

Of course, my ears picked up on the charging steps, allowing me to step aside and strike back with an equally basic Scratch attack.

Tactics were not a wild pokemon’s strong suit. I was told that many times, and the several Tackle attempts most certainly proved that. It missed and then I struck, and then it missed and I struck. Not a lick of damage was taken on my side of the board.

Well, that was until the Grass-Type got the idea to restrain my arm with a Vine Whip. The action woke me up. I was kind of impressed for a moment.

After that, I simply pulled the wild pokemon toward me using the very vine they tried to use on me.

I then clocked it with a Power-Up Punch to finish the job.

The attack knocked the feral into a short tumble, which ended in it fainting.

Admittedly, I was a little rattled by the encounter, but there was a rush from the victory that allowed me to shrug the feelings away. There was no reason to be afraid or feel bad.

 

Now knowing the feral was down for the count, I continued on my way.

Even I knew wild pokemon were creations of Mystery Dungeons. However, I didn’t know all of the story back then. The reality is, Pokemon dwelling in these places are both creations and prisoners. As tragic as it was, this was a fact of life to us. Pokemon in Mystery Dungeons are hardly conscious of their actions save for their beastly and extremely territorial instincts. Pokemon, both common and legendary, called these creations Wild Pokemon; sometimes, the more casual folks tend to call them ferals, a term I shall use out of convenience from now on.

After traveling through another few corridors, I was lucky enough to find stairs.

The stairs were made of stone and stood tall on the flat ground. Sure, there was moss on it, but it definitely stuck out from the rest of the environment. At the same time, the flight looked like it stood in that spot for a long time. The stairs also stretched themselves upward toward the branch-covered ceiling.

After a moment’s breath, I ran up the stairs. Once I touched the ceiling, the dungeon lifted me from the ground. My vision blacked out afterwards.

 

Not much else could be said about the rest of my dungeon crawling experience, I could barely remember the details anyway. I battled a few ferals and did a lot of running. When one explores mystery dungeons for a long time, a lot of the details tend to blend in with one another. Only the most significant moments, such as finding a Blast Seed on a later floor, are remembered for a long time. Everything else…ehhh, not important.

Oh right, I just remembered. How could I forget? I did find a Blast Seed, red fireball shape and all. I just chuckled to myself a bit. It’s embarrassing to think that I once called this find a “boom chip” and then celebrated to a nonexistent audience without any worry of annoying correction.

…………….

I shall move on now…

 

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Mystery Jungle Eastern Garden:

Regardless of the other insignificant moments, I managed to make it to the jungle’s eastern garden before Mid-Day. To think Zarude expected this to take all day. I practically thought the task to be too easy at that point.

The eastern garden consisted of a large lake, surrounded by cliffs. The waters sparkled, flowed and divided itself into large rivers that permeated the jungle, even reaching areas near where I lived. How these rivers managed to flow past the many mazes of a mystery dungeon was and still is beyond me. The sound of the flowing lake water deafened the small chirps of Bug-Types. At the center of the lake, connected via several long paths of rocks, laid a large island. The island housed a massive tree aged around 600 years, whose branches spread from the base to even beyond the shores.

Any explorer would probably say it’s a wonderful sight that is older than recorded history, which it is I suppose. Why was it here of all places? Nobody, but highest on the hierarchy, knew for certain.

The air here was clean and had virtually no trace of poison muck from the jungle labyrinth I navigated. But enough about that!

There was the matter of getting to the island. Sure, I could have swam straight across the lake, but swimming was exhausting. Furthermore, the flowing waters would have caused compilations. Besides, Zarude’s teaching method was a little…iffy.

I know he was trying his best at the time, but what gave him the bright idea to toss me into waist height water? Never mind…mistakes. Yes, never mind mistakes made. He probably took some dumb suggestions too far.

Despite some stumbling initially, I did eventually learn. I could guess Zarude learned something too because he taught in a more delicate manner since then.

Nevertheless, I headed over to the island by using one of the rock paths. None of them were good for walking, but leaping from rock to rock was more than an easy enough feat thanks to my fast running speed. It wasn’t lightning fast or anything, but I liked to think I could outrun most Electric-Types at my age.

 

After reaching the island, I searched around the tree for the emblem, but didn’t have much luck at the trunk. I figured as much since Zarude liked to push my abilities. My search continued until I climbed half-way up the tree. That was when I found a marked opening. A lightning bolt, just as Zarude said

So I climbed to the place. I should have found the object I was looking for at that point, but fate apparently had other plans.

Looking inside, there was nothing but a small bit of flattened hay. I checked the mark once more and sure enough it was something Zarude would make. “What the heck?” I mumbled while scratching my head, “The mark’s there, but there’s nothing here?”

I dismissed it as the wrong hole to search through. So, I continued to search. I found a few more marked holes, but none of them were lightning bolt shaped. Again, no emblem.

Eventually I just proceeded to search the rest of the tree, every opening I could find in a short time. But none of them surrendered the emblem. I was left alone, scratching my ear in confusion. “What in the world? An emblem like this cannot be this hard to find here.”

I pulled out the drawing from my bag and sure enough, it depicted a golden and round emblem with a lightning bolt as Zarude stated.

Afterwards, I put away the reference with a long sigh and looked up…

…And of course the direction showed a dreadful sight. It was a Combee hive, and a golden shiny one at that. Just seeing it made me wince. Honey season, of course it would be honey season.

I gulped nervously, mentally begging Zarude to tell me he didn’t put the medal there.

Of course, I had no way of using telepathy to ask, not that it would have mattered anyways. But that’s a subject for another time.

In any case, I reluctantly took a deep breath before climbing my way up toward the hive. I muttered to myself as I climbed, “Go there, search, get out. Go there, search, get the heck out!”

Finally reaching the outer edge of the hive, I could tell it was recently-made. Zarude told me Combee hives started small before expanding. While that fact was somewhat relieving…about twelve Combees guards were still nearby. Their buzzing wings made my fingers and toes curl tightly. My nerves weren’t helped by the sticky and gooey walls either. I held my teeth together as I slowly climbed over to the nest’s entrance.

The opening was filled to the brim with Combees, who were most likely making honey. Either way, there didn’t seem to be any sign of a medal inside. Not that I had much time to look before all of the bees gave me deathly glares.

Despite the very distinct possibility these Bug-Types wouldn’t understand me, I somehow had the gall to ask questions with clenched teeth, “Uh-um…have any of you seen a g-golden emblem around here?”

Combees silently buzzed in unison, still giving me those nasty glares. Some of these bees were already surrounding me, other closer than necessary. My fur stood on end at this point, as if the progressively aggressive buzzing wasn’t enough already.

And not picking up on the very clear hints, I asked again. “Okay, Uhh what about a big monkey type-”

Just after that, the guards charged in first and began to buzz around me. From what I could see, many more bees flew out of the opening.

I screamed with my teeth shut. The Combee horde stung me several times before I dropped off of the tree wall as a means to get away. I used a nearby vine to swing away to a lower part of the tree’s trunk. By the time I reached the shore, the Combees were all over me once more, stinging furiously. I took my chances and leaped into the water of the lake. I might have been a terrible swimmer, but at least the bugs wouldn’t be able to follow me.

 

I swam forward as far as my breath would allow. After probably a minute or two, my head inevitably rose from the waters in need for air. I caught my breath by grabbing onto a nearby rock. One look allowed me to see I was only a short ways away from the tree and there were still some Combees nearby.

Most of the horde left, but a few larger ones just flew still, glaring harshly at me. Though after a while, they probably saw that I learned my lesson and then flew away.

Alone in the lake now, I heeded their warning and rushed for the next shore.

 

A lot of my body felt numb by the time I got there. I pulled off the vines on my wrist and placed them haphazardly in the bag. I glanced at my arms and saw several swelling marks. My vine-covered wrists were spared, but other parts had a few stingers stuck in them. There were also a couple of marks on my upper back. I was lucky there weren’t more. I thought to myself, (“Too bad I can’t burn them all off. If only I knew how to shock”).

I used my claws to painfully dig out all of the solid stingers. By the time I was done, I was a mess, a mess with bleeding arms and sore shoulders. It was a good thing I had bandage material and Pechas ready in the bag. I might have needed to return empty-handed if I didn’t. After bandaging my arms and munching on a few Pecha berries, I decided to rest a while on my back.

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With the next page turn, the words became even more jumbled and crowded together in a stew-like cluster. So many words pressed against one another that made a simple reading nigh impossible…well, not without unintended interpretation.

I wouldn’t let this go unsaid. I wanted to- No, I needed to know. What was his perspective? What were his thoughts? What led him to this?

So I steeled myself with a simple breath. This was not going to be easy, that much I knew. But this was the only way I could think to fully understand. With that in mind, I proceeded to stare at the pages and recollect what was lost.

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I rested for a couple of minutes, letting the weariness overtake me. But this blessing wouldn’t last long.

In time, I heard footsteps nearby. I promptly turned over and saw a pokemon I didn’t recognize for a few seconds. It was a Shinx, definitely a pokemon that did not normally live in any jungle environment…at least from what I remember. It wore a red scarf wrapped around its neck and a small bag hanging off her side. I could only guess it was a traveler. It’s not impossible to see such things.

Either way, the kitten let out a gasp and dropped something onto the ground; a small golden emblem with a lightning bolt.

I sat up to get a better look, but then the Shinx hastily bagged the emblem and ran.

I muttered, “That sneaky little-” and then dashed after them. With relative ease, I sprinted straight to the unsuspecting kitten and pinned them down after a tumble or two.

The little Shinx squirmed viciously. Quite a bit of fight, but definitely nothing compared to what I can handle. Though she started to glow a bit.

That glow was familiar to me, but I forgot in what way until the words came back.

“The body of a Shinx glows brightly upon sensing danger.”

As if on cue, the blue kitten’s fur shined in a display of blinding light.

I yelped and cried from the blinding light for a moment, allowing the Shinx to slip away.

“Agh! Get back here, you jerk!” I called out, trying to pursue.

But when I could finally see, I got greeted with a very angry glare accompanied by a Tackle attack to the belly.

I wheezed my breath away thanks to the dirty blow.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Shinx spoke with a girl-like tone. “Take this!” they said as they proceeded to kick me twice over. More than enough to send my back to the ground.

After that, the kitten dashed away again without another moment of hesitation.

 

I wasn’t knocked out thankfully. That would have been embarrassing. I wheezed and coughed as I picked myself up.

After a wince, I shook my head to focus. I needed to catch that cat! Now!

So I pursued from the higher height of the trees, using my vines and speed to gain back some lost ground.

 

After some more dashing and leaps, I found them. They were on the verge of entering another tunnel of darkened trees. I landed on a tree to stop, but the noise of my landing startled the kitten.

They quickly made a hasty retreat toward the entrance soon after.

I looked ahead and recognized the pattern. It was just like Uncle Zarude’s abode almost, but the vines…they were bigger.

I called out. “Stop! Don’t go in there!” But my words fell on deaf ears as the Shinx ran into the dungeon.

I approached the entrance and stared into it. “Darn it!” I said. “That’s probably a dangerous part too! Shoot!” I didn’t like the idea of going in, but if I didn’t do something right away, then who would?

I gritted my teeth and steeled myself before running into the dungeon myself. I could only hope luck was on my side.

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Mystery Jungle Eastern Swamp:

Now outside of the garden, the normal stench of poison types made its way into my nose once more. The room was a night and day contrast to the garden’s brighter environment; sunlight was greatly obscured by the trees. Even more unsettling was the size of the vines here, far larger than those found prior. The ground also felt moist despite being covered in grass, probably mud.

These sense-based facts made me nervous. They fit far too closely to Zarude’s warnings. The words rang out in my head, (“The larger the vines are, the more dangerous Grass-Types are in that area.”)

While it didn’t matter as much for me, I knew the Shinx I was pursuing wouldn’t be able to use Electric-Type attacks very well. What I was more worried about was the strength of the pokemon; if I got trapped, I would have been a goner.

I shook my head and dashed through the rooms, hoping to find the little sneak as fast as possible.

 

As I rushed through the dungeon, I searched every room carefully, but there was no sign. It was good that I refrained from fighting more ferals since some of them looked strong enough to scare me. I remember running away often and sneaking around the edges of some rooms.

On one of the floors, as if luck didn’t hate me enough, I walked right into a Monster House. Most of the pokemon in that group were fully evolved and everything. I promptly dashed back in the direction I came from, tail between my legs so to speak.

After a few floors, I finally found the Shinx. The good news was that I found them alive. The bad news was that this same Shinx was in the clutches of a feral Venusaur. The room they were in was large and had plenty of grassy hills.

Every detail remained the same aside from the alluring aroma. It smelled way too sweet to be from the grass and flowers alone. In fact, I almost drooled at the scent. The first thing that popped in my mind was the move Sweet Scent, a technique typically used by Grass-Types. The move can loosen the guards of any unsuspecting pokemon and even attract ferals. It seemed pretty likely that the Shinx was lured into this wild pokemon’s domain.

 

It didn’t matter how it happened, I had to do something. Throwing caution to the wind, I rushed toward Venusaur, who was holding the Shinx with one of its vines. I tossed the Blast Seed at the Grass-Type’s eye. The explosion caused the giant to stumble back and growl in pain, flinging the kitten upward in the process.

It was time to make my first ever dramatic save. I was told stories of the other legendaries performing dramatic saves at the last second. So naturally, I assumed this was my time to do the same.

With no time to lose, I leaped toward the Shinx and caught them mid-fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a landing strategy. I landed on my back as the kitten’s weight crushed my gut, winding me in the process once more.

I moaned and struggled to get a breath.

The Shinx jumped off of me as I coughed.

I saw that the Venusaur was stumbling toward us with a vengeful look in its unharmed eye. Several other Grass-Types appeared, surrounding us.

The kitten gritted their teeth as their legs trembled. I heard a quiet statement from the Shinx, “I wish I had an Escape Orb.”

Two things were clear in my mind. I couldn’t stand up very quickly and we didn’t have a chance against this many Grass-Types.

So I dug into my bag and pulled out the Escape Orb Zarude packed in.

When the Shinx saw the orb, they knew what to do. They grabbed onto my arm as I used the orb.

Within moments, the orb shined as we vanished from the floor.

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Northern Outskirts of the Mystery Jungle:

The two of us landed on a soft grassy path. We simply both breathed out of a sense of relief.

After a few moments, I needed to figure out where we were and more importantly, how to get that Shinx out of harm’s way without Uncle Zarude knowing.

Though a bit disoriented, I got up and looked around.

At first I thought I was at my home spot, but then I regained my balance and awareness. There were fewer trees around than usual. In fact, we were on an open pathway leading toward some plains in the north.

This…shouldn’t have happened. I should have ended up near Uncle Zarude’s abode to the south after using the Orb. So then… “Why are we outside of the jungle?” I wondered. “It was my Escape Orb…wasn’t it?”

The Shinx got up and stretched. “Whew! That was close!” they said. “Good thing you had that orb.”

I turned to the kitten and frowned, “You’re…welcome…”

The kitten squinted. “Hmmph, I could have just left you alone back there you know.”

As right as the Shinx was, the whole situation was still their fault.

I frowned and pointed at the little one before rambling, “You listen here, sir!”

“No, you listen here, dude!” the Shinx shot back with a pointing paw. “One! Have you never seen a girl before? Two! I’ve never been in that jungle before! And three! I never saw you before! How was I supposed to know you weren’t some monster, huh?”

The first question stunned me for a moment, but it did explain a few things. Even still, I shook my head in defiance. “Arg! I might have been mistaken, but you’re the one who ran into the mystery dungeon like an idiot! Shouldn’t you be the one thanking me for saving your life?”

“Saving my life, hah!” she said before turning away. The kitten smirked before continuing, “All you did was wack the eye of a monster and be my landing cushion. Some ‘hero’ you turned out to be. Besides, I could have gotten out of that easily.”

With a confused expression, I pushed digits onto my forehead in vain attempt to understand. Inevitably, I couldn’t understand the logic before exclaiming, “What?!? What do you mean by that?!? You were wrapped up in vines! How could you possibly get out of that?!?”

The Shinx sighed and muttered quietly to herself. I couldn’t hear her words at all. She just pawed at the dirt road, mouthing off something.

After a few moments, she looked up at me and said, “Fine, thank you…uh, you…” I blinked as the kitten repeatedly gestured to me. “Your name, or whatever you are!”

I straightened up at once. “Oh right, uh. I never said that um, which name?”

The Shinx facepawed as she groaned, “I don’t care which one just give me something, anything.”

“Uhh nickname then, Galvan” I stammered.

The kitten tilted her head, “Galvan? Odd name for an Electric-Type if you ask me.”

“Yeah it’s not the- Wait a sec. How do you know I’m an Electric-Type.”

“Because you just told me,” the girl replied with a deadpan expression.

My eyes widened. “Wh-What if I told you I’m a…Normal-Type?”

The Shinx chuckled and shook her head, “What kind of “Normal-Type” is covered in yellow fur?…Yeah, you’re definitely an Electric-Type.”

I groaned as I dropped my arms. “Okay, you got me there. Care to tell me your name now?”

 

The kitten made a smug grin as she leaped onto a nearby rock. “Patra! Patra the greatest explorer ever!”

I squinted at her with a hefty amount of doubt in response.

Her smug demeanor quickly broke down upon glancing at my doubtful expression. “Err I mean, soon-to-be the best explorer ever hehe,” Patra admitted before jumping off. “All right, you can run on back to wherever you live in this patch of nowhere.”

The kitten began to walk away before I stated, “Ummm…I live in there?”

“Huh? What? Come again?” Patra asked as she turned around.

I silently gestured to the jungle behind me with my left thumb.

“You’re kidding.” The kitten approached me once more with very evident disbelief. She then glanced at the dungeon entrance and pointed. “You live in that?!?”

“Not alone of course!” I said in a fluster, “I have uncle Zarude!”

“S-Same difference. How can you live in a mystery dungeon?!? And talk?!?” Patra scratched her head as she tried to understand.

I nervously pressed a couple of digits together. “I don’t live in the mystery dungeon. I just live very close to it. Like, uh, just a place that isn’t a part of it.” Patra only stared at me with a lack of understanding. “I guess that’s a bit much huh…”

“A bit?” the Shinx spat back harshly.

I smiled a little. “Okay a lot! I guess commoners are less smart.”

“What?!?” the kitten hissed fiercely. “What do you mean less smart?”

I flinched at Patra’s cut-throat tone. “I guess because you didn’t get what I was saying.” As I said this, the Shinx tackled me to the ground, firmly pinning me down.

“Who’s less smart now?” the kitten asked angrily. “I don’t know you, but let me tell you something. You’re the one who’s less smart here.”

“Me?” I questioned cluelessly.

“Yes you.” Patra jumped off of me and paced around. “I can’t believe this! How do you live with yourself? How has nobody punished you?”

I sat up and scratched my head. “I don’t understand.”

Patra stopped and turned to me. “Didn’t your mommy ever tell you it’s rude to call other folks stupid.”

I stood back up, feeling offended. “Hey! I-”

But Patra cut me off. “I might be daring, but even I know that calling folks less smart is the same thing as calling someone stupid, stupid.” With that, the girl walked away in a huff.

 

Her words rang in my head for a few seconds before I finally understood. I said something bad and that was shameful. I gritted my teeth afterwards. “Oh!…oooohhhhhh…” I realized my mistake right then and there. I ran around and stood in front of the Shinx’s path. “I…I am sorry.”

Patra growled and shook her head. “You can’t just up and say sorry after-” 

I raised my right hand. 

This caused Patra to raise a brow. “Uhhhhhhhhh.”

I begged. “I’m sorry! I just didn’t know, honest! My mom’s not…here now, but it was still very rude. I’m sorry, honest!” 

The Shinx just stood there with an awkward stare.

Thinking my deed wasn’t forgiven, I decided to do the most humble thing I knew. I dropped on my knees and bowed.

“Wha-…What…are you doing?” Patra asked with a perplexed tone.

“I’m begging for your forgiveness, duh,” I replied.

“By…burying your head in the dirt?”

“Huh?”

I heard the Shinx mumble to herself before demanding, “G-Get up already! You embarrassed yourself enough. Like…seriously…”

I obliged. “A-Are…you still mad?”

Patra shook her head in a short fit of disgust. “N-No, now I’m more confused than mad. The heck was that dog business about?”

I tried to answer, but she quickly stopped me with a raised paw.

“On second thought, don’t answer that. Geez! I guess you really are a bit out of it. I’ll let it slide this one time.” 

I made a sigh of relief once I heard her words. 

“I think I’ll just be going home now,” she said, still slowly backing away

 

A thought popped into my head as the kitten began to walk away again. The emblem.

“What now?” the Shinx groaned as she lazily turned around.

I pointed at her. “That gold emblem you have, I was asked to grab that.”

“That thing…” Patra scoffed before muttering, “So this all happened because of that…”

The Shinx then sighed and dug into her bag. She pulled out the emblem and then bluntly tossed it to the ground in front of me. “Fine, then just take it. It stinks, like your talking skills.”

I swiftly bagged the emblem and replied, “How can skills stink? And if that’s what you thought, then why did you grab it from the garden?”

Patra rolled her eyes. “Well excuuuuuse me for trying to find some nice treasure. I thought I found something, but noooooo! Just some bad luck.”

I stared at the kitten with a somewhat aggravated frown.

Seeing this, the Shinx adjusted her scarf before declaring once more. “Now if you excuse me, I’m going home now. Bye!”

 

With that more firmly said than ever before, Patra began walking away with a much more hasty pace.

Meanwhile I just kept standing there, dumbstruck at how rude she was. I scoffed in thought, wondering if all commoners were that rude, or if my talking skills were really that bad.

I glanced at my bag for a moment before sighing. Why should I care? I got the emblem. I completed my objective and Patra was departing. There was no reason to stay in place.

I started walking back toward the dungeon in a huff as well, except my pace abruptly slowed to a stop after a short moment.

An intrusive thought forced itself into my mind. It was a simple question I remember distinctly. Was Patra going to be okay? I stared at the blackened entrance of the jungle with that thought in mind. For some reason, the thought alone was more than enough to freeze me in place.

I glanced back toward the Shinx, who was speeding up her pace. Thinking about it now, she probably glanced back while I wasn’t looking and tried to hide it, like those strange stories Uncle Zarude told me. Maybe there was concern. Yeah, perhaps. Though, she still kept moving, like she was supposed to do.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t bring myself to keep moving though. A plethora of thoughts filled my head. These conflicting feelings forced me to stop. I knew I had to ditch Patra as soon as possible. It was what we were supposed to do. But this worrying is still here. Why?

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Deep down though, I knew it was my curiosity at work. Questions. What else does she know? It was tempting, oh so tempting. I had to bury this feeling. Bury it and move on.

But in the end, against all forms of better judgment, I appeased it.

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 “Hey!” I shouted as I ran over to Patra. 

She turned around once more, looking a lot more worn out.

Once the distance closed, I simply asked, “Why don’t I come with you? Just in case something else happens.”

The Shinx stuttered in an attempt to decline, but just couldn’t find the words or will for it.

Regardless, I interrupted with some assurance. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way and I can run back before it’s even nightfall.”

But Patra only held up a paw, “C-Can you give me a moment…and some distance.” 

I moved several large steps back and watched the Shinx. She turned around and then pondered to herself.

I waited for what seemed like too long. I didn’t see what was wrong with the idea.

 

Luckily, Patra came back to me and hesitantly replied, “…Uh…Okay, fine. You can come with me. But I’m not sure how the village will react if they saw you though. They’re rather particular with…strange folks like you.”

I assured her with raised paws, “Don’t worry, I’ll just join until we reach the place, and then I’ll just head straight home.”

I reached out to the Shinx, blushing. “So uh, want a ride? I should be able to carry you there?”

For whatever reason, Patra’s cheeks turned pink in embarrassment before hastily and harshly saying, “Ah no.”

I blinked a few times in disbelief. “No?!? Why?”

“Because no!” she spat back, still continuing her pace.

I wanted to protest the response further, but…I couldn’t bring myself to. I just sighed instead. I already showed enough disrespect as it was. Even more would mean I broke the rules for nothing. So, I followed Patra down the road…her painfully slow pace and all.

 

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Fragment of Knowledge:

Mystery Jungle:

Location: North-Eastern Grass Continent

Main Types of Terrain: Jungle, Swamp, and Valley

This jungle landscape is home to numerous Poison-Type Pokemon. From the smallest Wurmple to the most fearsome Dragalge, the local wild Pokemon can pose a threat to any unprepared travelers. Additionally, wild Pokemon, especially the larger ones, are virtually immune to the effects of team badges; this makes recruitment highly unlikely.  

As if the wild Pokemon weren’t enough alone, the mazes are also littered with traps. Toxic Spike Traps seem especially common in the swamps. As a result of all of these hazards, all adventurers are strongly advised to avoid this area no matter how enticing “rumors” or “legends” may be.