Chapter 18 - Swaying Swamp

"Are we there yet?" I asked slightly annoyed at how long it is to find this damn place.

"No for the fourth time, Ace," replied Vulpix who was walking next to me.

"How can finding this stupid dungeon be such a chore? We literally have a map to it!"

"You tell me. When you were in charge of reading the map, we were literally walking in the opposite direction towards the dungeon."

"Well, sorry, but I can't read those stupid symbols."

"You could if you let me teach you. It's a bit stupid trying to lead us to a location on a map you can't read." I just grumbled to myself as we continued walking since I had no real comeback.

It had been three days since our first mission's success, and since then we have completed a whopping two additional quests for a grand total of three. I was actually very excited for this quest, because the first three were either retrieving a number of items or assisting around town. So this is our first actual venture out into a Mystery Dungeon!

It was explained that this dungeon was a two way entrance and acted more like a twisted and windy path then a normal dungeon. You see, most dungeons have you going further down and down levels until you reach your destination, whereas some are mazes that randomize every day at midnight. No clue as to why midnight, guess for that fantasy trope.

When we went for our mission selection today I had asked Vulpix to pick out a good juicy quest since I was sick of playing Mr. Handyman. So Vulpix chose a missing Pokémon quest. We had a couple of Oran berries and had received our bonus prize of a map and an all-you-can-camp gift card from Mudkip for our bonus prize, so you bet I'm ready to lay the smack down of a boss character. If there was one, anyway. Maybe we might find some loot along the way.

At first I was so confident about finding the entrance for this dungeon, but man was I wrong. It seems being able to use a GPS doesn't translate that well to being able to navigate with a map. Doesn't help that we don't have a compass. After Vulpix figured out that I had led us the wrong direction, she quickly assumed the role of navigator.

Bored, I pulled out the quest notice from my backpack. I glossed over it, I know I can't read it, but pretending to helps me focus.

"So, correct me if I'm wrong, our quest for today is to search the Swaying Swamp for a missing Pokémon—a Cyndaquil—who decided to venture into it for some reason," I asked.

"Yep, that's what it says. I do hope we find the poor Cyndaquil soon. The parents were definitely worried. They said something about Cyndaquil liking to play explorer, so maybe she ventured into the swamp in search of treasure?"

"Hmm, you know, that actually makes a lot of sense. For a stupid kid, a randomized maze with random violent Pokémon would make it easy to get lost inside it. Also, this world has terrible names. Like Swaying Swamp? What does that even mean? The swamp sways?"

"Yes, actually." I gave Vulpix a 'really?' look with an eyebrow raised for good measure. "You see, some of the travellers when they first ventured into that dungeon said that they swear the trees were unnaturally swaying around. And since it was a swamp, every Pokémon decided Swaying Swamp was a good name for it."

"Still a stupid name."

"At least they could get to the place."

"Hey it's not my faul-"

"We are here!" Vulpix said, cut me off. "It's literally just ahead of us."

"Finally!"

I placed the mission notice back into my backpack and with renewed vigour, I sped up my walk. If I had my old legs, I would be moving my hips while power walking so hard right now.

"Hey, Ace? Can we talk for a second?"

"Can't, I have a power walk like no other right now." I had such a grove that Vulpix had to lightly jog to keep up.

"Please? A-Ace! Slow down!"

I let out a frustrated sigh and slowed down so we were walking again.

"Argh, what? Can't it wait until after we explore this dungeon?"

"I suppose it could…"

"Great! Time for talk is later, now is the time for questing!"

I felt slightly bad for making Vulpix upset, she pouted as I sped up again. But to be honest, a good quest away from everyone in that village sounded magical to me and anything that wasn't questing could wait. The villagers and guilders are a nice bunch, but when too many group up, or ask me questions, or just talk to me in general, I feel overwhelmed. I never used to feel like this. Maybe I'm just wiser to the old life lesson of never trusting a stranger.

I took a deep breath, really appreciating the freshness of an untainted forest, free from pollution. With a nice breeze, the sound of nature, and Vulpix's and my footsteps filling the air, we continued until we reached the dungeon.

"And here we are. I believe- yep, this is the entrance to the Bogus Bog," said Vulpix. I broke off my impromptu staring contest with a random Pidgey who was perched on a nearby tree branch. I turned forwards to see what Vulpix was talking about.

"How can you tell?" I asked her. "Wait, don't tell me, it's the sign next to the really out of place dirt tunnel?"

"Yep! It sure is." Vulpix replied.

"Okay, it's official, you are our team's map reader." Vulpix smiled at the praise as we continued walking towards the dirt mound.

The entrance to the Mystery Dungeon was a large dirt mound that stuck out very high from the ground. A truck could easily pass through. It was about the same in diameter all the way around. With the smoothness of the textures, it looked like something had made the entrance, maybe an Onix? The entrance down into the earth was blocked off by some shimmering veil.

The entrance was surrounded by a small island of barren dirt- well more like mud, really. The only thing that I could spy was a couple of hairs of long grass that poked out from random spots.

Surrounding the whole entrance was a moat with thick brown water that threatened to ruin one's clothes with a stain so horrible, no amount of washing could get it off. There was only one way to the other side of the moat without getting muddy, and that was a small bridge that was ridden with mud and the wear and tear of neglect.

We stopped at the wooden sign that was placed next to the bridge.

"I gotta say, this place really sticks out like a sore thumb. Like, why is it only swampy here?" I asked. This entrance was like someone had grabbed a bit of a swamp and just dumped it here in the forest.

"I'm not entirely sure, but when a Mystery Dungeon is formed, it can sometimes leak over to the other side. It doesn't happen all the time, like the one under the village, but this is what it looks like when it does."

"Weird."

Would the other side be nice and grassy then? Oooh, I can feel my curiosity being tickled. "Alright, let's go and find this idiot."

"She's a child, Ace."

"Same thing."

Not waiting for a response, I headed over to the bridge. It was weirdly smooth. You could totally slide all the way along if you didn't mind the risk of splinters. One bit was a tad too smooth and I nearly lost my footing.

Reaching the other side really made me wish I didn't, for when I put my feet down into the mud, I recalled the horrible feeling of getting mud in between all four of my feet. If you think it's a terrible feeling getting mud in between your toes, then try it with clawed feet. If you happen to like that feeling, then this would be magical for you, then.

Examining the entrance to the dungeon to get my mind off the sludgy feeling in my toes, I poked the doorway's veil with my vine. Like poking a pond, the veil rippled until it settled again. It wasn't completely blocking the other side's view; if you tried, you could see through. The best way to think about it is as a tinted window. You just have to find that sweet spot for the light.

The other side looked like more of what I'm currently in, I couldn't make out anything besides mud and maybe trees.

"Alright, Vulpix. I'll take the lead, then you come in after." I turned to Vulpix, who wasn't here and was instead at the other side of the bridge. "Vulpix?" I called out. She was currently eyeing the muddy moat. "Are you serious…" I walked closer so I wasn't yelling out. "Come on, let's get moving on."

"But what if my fur gets muddy? It takes hours to get clean from mud," Vulpix complained.

I started to get frustrated, I started to smile sinisterly, and I started to pull out my vines, which quickly made their way towards Vulpix. So like the good friend that I am, I wrapped her in my vines and lifted her over, taking the burden of making the trip herself. She yelled at me to let her go, but I don't think she really meant that when she was directly over the moat. So I ignored her request.

I placed a sulking Vulpix down on the mud next to me.

"How about, I'll fix your fur up if you get dirty today, and you don't complain at me? Sounds good?" I offered.

She looked away in thought. She moved her feet up, clearly not liking the mud in her feet either. She examined the little bit of fur that was already muddy on her feet. She placed it back down then looked at me.

"Fine, I won't complain about you lifting me like that without my permission. You better hope I don't get muddy," Vulpix huffed.

"Eh, I like brushing your fur anyway, so win-win." I replied.

"You are impossible, Ace."

"You mean 'you are improbable, Ace'. Nothing is truly impossible, after all." We walked up to the doorway. "Ladies first?" Vulpix hit me with the biggest, 'really?' look. "Just kidding, sheesh. Okay, you know the drill: I'll distract and you smash. Let's go!"

Jumping through the veil was an experience, I tell you. It was basically that feeling when you suddenly get up and get massively light headed from the lack of iron. The thing is though, even if these two places are connected with a veil acting as a doorway, it isn't a portal. So when I jumped through and with a sudden wave of dizziness distracting me, I didn't account for my landing.

So I landed face first into some dirt.

Vulpix walked through the entrance behind me. "Not a word," I sternly said. Vulpix tried as best she could to contain the laugh she was holding back. She walked up to me as I sulked and helped clean up my dirtied face the best she could.

With my good looks restored, I took a look at this supposed dungeon. Unlike other Mystery Dungeons, this was one of the rare double way ones. The entrance doesn't disappear when you enter. It still randomizes, just that you can bail if you can get back here.

Unlike a dirt mound, this entrance was more mystical: It was two folded over trees that ended up wrapping around themselves to form a tree-archway. There was also another veil that acted as a door like the other side. The surrounding ground directly around the exit was a large patch of grass with some flowers scattered about.

The land around us, however, was a completely different land. Instead of a lush, rich forest, it was a darkened swamp with large, dark trees that tried as best they could to completely cover the sky. Any cracks that were present, were covered up by a thick grey blanket of clouds, blocking any chance of sunlight getting through. There was still enough light to see where you were going, so at least there's that.

The layout of the trees were interesting, it was like they were creating a room with them acting as a wall to keep us from leaving. They would get too thick and dense with trees at a certain point, that it was basically a wall of trees.

The trees did part way at a certain point, allowing for a doorway of sorts. There was one said doorway straight ahead of us, and one to the right.

"Alright! Let's commence the mission 'search and destroy!'" I said.

"Search and rescue, you mean?" Vulpix countered with concern.

"Semantics, let's find our target and rescue her," Vulpix smiled and nodded at my correction. "Unless it resists," I whispered.

"What?"

"Nothing!" I darted towards the forward clearing and thus commenced the dungeon crawl.

"You know, we would find our prey a lot quicker if you would move faster, Vulpix," I called out to her with impatience. We had searched a couple of rooms so far and nothing, no signs of someone passing through. Geez, I would even take a battle at this point.

"I-I-I-I know," replied Vulpix with a very shaky voice. She was slowly walking towards me while nervously checking her surroundings. "How can you walk around so casually? This place is terrifying!"

"Not really. Sure, there are some tall spooky trees and the swamp-like aesthetics does add a horror story element to it, like someone jumping from the trees suddenly to attack us-"

"Ace!"

"Well, think about the poor lost Pokémon. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her, would you?"

"No…"

"Exactly, so just think brave thoughts of trying to rescue a poor lost idiot and remember that I will literally bash the face in of anything that would try to hurt you."

"Well, I guess I feel a little better."

"That's it. Oh, we are coming to another clearing. Maybe this will be our lucky break?"

As we walked into another clearing, there was no sign of our target. There was instead a small purple Pokémon curled up in a ball in the middle of the room: a Stunky. I started to sneak towards the small, unaware Pokémon.

"Ace?" Vulpix loudly whispered, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to give it a good smack on the head so it doesn't wake up anytime soon." I replied in the same manner.

"Can't we just sneak around it? It looks so peaceful all asleep, and I would hate to hurt the poor thing for no reason."

"Ah, I get ya. You don't want to waste resources in case it wakes up from my attack instead. Smart. Okay then, let's sneak around it."

"What? No, that's not- hey, wait up." She quickly caught up to me with her fox-like movements. We started to sneak around the outside of the room. It was going rather well.

"We are almost there, Vulpix," I whispered.

Snap! Went a very loud twig from under my feet. I stopped moving and quickly looked over to the sleeping Pokémon: still asleep. Vulpix and I both released the held breath we both had.

"Phew, good thing it's a heavy sleeper," I whispered. I turned back around to continue sneaking towards the exit of this room, only to bump into something small. Well, small for my size.

The small being was a light purple Pokémon with small feet with yellow tips, small- basically stubs for hands and rabbit ears with yellow tips. The Pokémon, being a Whismur, looked like someone had thrown its ice cream to the floor, meaning its eyes were watering, a pout was building, and it was starting to take a deep breath. This little bugger was clearly terrified by my pure awesomeness and was about to cry because of it.

"Boo," I said on the spur of the moment. The small Pokémon jumped slightly and put its loudness level to eleven and screamed with all its might. I tried to use my vines to cover my ears, but it didn't help at all. So, I did the next best thing and decided to break the loud noise. I raised it as high as I could and dropped my head straight down on top of its head. I felt a thud and the loud noise stopped.

The Whismur stumbled around, then fell on its back with 'Xs' for eyes. Guess it was all bark and no bite. One hell of a bark though, my ears are still ringing and I can't hear anything else.

Turning back around, I could spy Vulpix trying to say something. She wasn't hit by that sonic boom of a voice, by the seem of it. I'd imagine those fox ears would have been blown completely if she was directly hit.

"Whaaat!" I shouted. Vulpix tried again to say something by putting more energy into her movements. Nope, still no clue what she is saying. She then gestured toward the middle of the room.

A purple, viscous goo suddenly flew past my head. I turned to the source—oh, right, there was a sleeping Pokémon here. Since I was still dazed and very much in pain from my headache, I wasn't able to dodge the second ball of goo. It flew straight and true and hit me square in the face.

Panic filled my being as I tried to get this poison blob off my face. I did not want to get poisoned! Then it hit me: I'm a poison type too, so I'm immune to poison debuffs. The poison that resided on my face wasn't completely painless, mind you. It had a very slight burn to it. I calmed down and cleaned it out of my eyes so I could see again

The bright light of exploding embers assaulted my vision. Vulpix was spitting embers at Stunky, who was in return shooting back with more poison blobs.

Vulpix, seemingly getting nowhere with this fight, changed her action. Her eyes glowed white towards Stunky. Stunky tried to gather more poison for its attack, but it was in complete shock when nothing happened.

Taking advantage of its confused state, Vulpix charged up a quick attack and delivered it straight to the Stunky's face, knocking it off its feet. The Stunky, still not done, tried to get up, but I put an end to it by picking it up and throwing it towards a tree. It plopped against the tree and was down for the count.

I took a couple of deep breaths as I tried to calm down this headache. Vulpix suddenly appeared by my side. She was asking me something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

"What?!" I asked. Vulpix took a deep breath and tried to shout something to me. "Mice twerk?! Why would you want to watch mice twerking now?!" Vulpix tried to say more, but gave up and started to walk towards the next room. "Hey, I'm not judging!" I called out to her.

Vulpix just screamed out in frustration. Was it something I said?

My hearing slowly returned to me. The ringing was still there, but hey, at least I can understand what Vulpix is saying again. I started to realize I was mishearing things when she said she wanted to go on a caravan cruise. Like caravan cruise? What even is that?

So, room after room we cleared out in search of this elusive Pokémon- Cyndaquil. There were more encounters along the way, but Vulpix and I took care of them quickly. The thing I have noticed is the lack of larger Pokémon. All were about my size, so it was going rather smoothly.

"Hello?! Cyndaquil?! Are you there?! We are here to rescue you! We promise we aren't here to eat you!" I shouted out.

"Ace, why would you say that? Are you trying to scare this poor Cyndaquil?"

"But, it's true. We aren't planning on eating it. Wait, you aren't planning on eating it, are you?"

"No!"

"Phew, that's good. I'd imagine Cyndaquil's parents would be quite upset if you did that."

A loud scream erupted from the next room from us, making both Vulpix and I stop in our tracks. It didn't sound young, but it was oddly familiar. I'm sure I'm just imagining it.

"W-what was that?" Vulpix asked. "Was that a scream?"

"Sure was. Let's get moving." I sped up my walk to a near sprint.

"I hope there isn't something big over there," Vulpix said, keeping up with me.

The path we followed opened up to what I could only describe as someone exploding a camp with a bomb. There are shredded bits of tents, boxes, and various other items scattered about.

"What happened here?" Vulpix asked. We started to search through the scattered remains.

My search led me towards the entrance to the next room. A couple of small sets of footprints were heading towards it. There was a large, singularly long track that seemed to be following them. It was curvy, so maybe a snake?

"It seems something big came and attacked this group, then chased them out of here. I want to say a snake, but I ain't no tracker," I replied. Looking over the tracks provided me with no more information. "Alright, we are done here, let's find out what made those tracks and screams."

"O-okay," Vulpix replied.

I started to make my way towards the entrance when the bit of blanket I stepped on riggled from under my feet, making me shuffle back in alarm. "What do we have here?"

"What was that?" Vulpix asked. I lifted the blanket up, and underneath it was a bound-up Ekans and a Cyndaquil. "What are you- Cyndaquil?! And an Ekans? What happened here? Why are they tied up here?"

"Poachers, that's why." I had almost completely forgotten about them. They had been so quiet, with barely any notices of missing Pokémon. Until now, it seems. "Well, no point in having them sit here all day; let's get them up."

"Sounds good. Where are the poachers, though?" The bound Ekans started to squirm around like it was trying to say something.

"Yeah, I can't understand you. Let me get you untied, and then you can explain what happened."

Before I could release the bounded pair, a loud cracking noise came from a nearby tree that quickly turned into a loud crashing noise that stole my attention away. Not too far in front of me was a huge Arbok. Its eyes were glaring down towards Vulpix and I with nothing but anger in them. Well, guess that's mama.

"Uh, greetings! I'm Ace, and this is Vulpix; we are from the-"

"Get away from my child!" the Arbok screamed at me.

"Hey, we didn't do this," I tried to reason. Her glare only intensified.

"You think I will listen to you? Your other three friends have run off, so I'll have to make an example out of you two about stealing others' young."

"Ma'am, please! You are mistaken!"

Wasting no time, the giant snake came charging at us. It swung its tail in a large arc towards Vulpix and myself. We dodged backwards, just avoiding the hit.

"It's no use; she isn't listening to reason," I said to Vulpix.

"What do we do then?" Vulpix asked.

"We knock some sense into her, that's what. Now, let's show this mama what happens when you refuse to listen to reason."

"You know, Ace, sometimes you really sound like a villain."

A downward swipe came down towards us. Vulpix and I both split apart from each other. I retaliated with a vine whip that connected at Arbok's mid-section. Arbok gave a tsk from the hit. I was feeling good from having the first blow, but that feeling was quickly squashed when I was hit by Arbok's tail across my face.

Dazed, I had no clue where I was for a second. Arbok bared her fangs at me then coiled like a spring, getting ready to pounce. Vulpix had my back, however, and hit her square on her side with a quick attack, making her miss me completely when she lunged.

With a downed Arbok just shy of me, I let loose some stun spore that seeped into the giant snake. Vulpix took advantage of the situation with some embers.

"Sorry, sorry," Vulpix apologized after her attack. All embers connected since Arbok was too stunned- literally- to move. Arbok was down, it seems. That was… easy. Too easy.

Vulpix walked up to the downed mama and asked, "Ma'am? Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you," Vulpix said just shyly from the Arbok.

Arbok shifted. Ah crap!

"Vulpix! Get back!" I shouted.

"What?" Arbok, like a true snake, bit down on Vulpix's shoulder, making her scream out in pain. Blood spurted from the bitten area. Anger and fear filled my being, and without even thinking about it, my vines shot straight for the large snake.

Arbok let go of Vulpix and deflected my vines away using her tail. Using stored energy to fuel my vines, I continuously tried to strike at Arbok. A merciless assault of vine whips followed shortly after, to the point where even I had trouble seeing them. Arbok tried to deflect then, but she wasn't fast enough, and some were landing and landing well. So with nothing else to do, she dashed off to the side away from Vulpix.

I quickly ran over towards Vulpix and fished out an Oran Berry. I winced when I spied Vulpix's deep gash in her shoulder. Shaking off any feelings, I handed the Oran berry to Vulpix and stood between her and Arbok.

Arbok, with way more marks on her, stood defiantly against me. I started to walk in closer towards Arbok, keeping an eye on her twitching tail. She sent it towards me when I was close. I easily dodged to the side, but I failed to read her intentions since it changed its trajectory and it swiped against me.

It hurt like hell, but I wasn't going to take it sitting down, so I grabbed a hold of her tail with a vine. With my other vine, I threw some leech seed seedlings towards Arbok, hoping they would land. Only the ones that were closer to Arbok's tail actually landed, they immediately sprouted and started to feed me her energy. A delicious wave of energy washed over me.

"AAAH! Get off!" Arbok shouted. She lunged towards me, fangs flaring, ready to munch on me.

With a new energy boost, I jumped up instead of away, shocking the Arbok who missed her attack. On my way back down, I reeled my head back and really gave her a hell of a headbutt.

Arbok screamed in pain from the near concussion I gave her and started to flail around, both breaking free of my vine and smacking me with her tail. I was sent backwards, but I was able to keep on my feet when I felt something wrap around my person.

Arbok's tail, true to its nature, had me in a traditional snake vice-grip. I tried to summon my vines to attack, but the near bone-snapping grip she had forced me to stop any attempt to defend myself.

"Haa, haa, I'll admit: You both have some fight in you." She said in between removing the small amount of bulbs I had on her, "But you both made one fatal mistake: you tried to steal my child!" Arbok, having finished removing the last of my energy source, leveled me with an intense glare. Venom quite literally leaking from her mouth.

"Wait, please, we aren't- Gah!" I shouted. I tried in vain again to explain things, but I was constricted again. A ripping sound was heard as well as a loud popping noise. Those usually aren't good if you are being wrapped up. My breathing got harder and harder as this snake mother from hell continued to squeeze tighter and tighter. Those poachers really chose one hell of a parent to anger. She has the second-angriest pair of eyes I have seen in my life, Machoke being the first.

Tighter and tighter I was squeezed. My visions started to blur when-

"Stop! Mum!" A child's voice shouted. The snake's grip loosened a tiny bit, allowing me to take in what little breath I could. With faded vision, I was able to make out Vulpix standing next to the captured Pokémon, with bits of charred ropes on the floor around them. Ekans quickly slithered over towards his mother. "They didn't capture me! Please stop!" he shouted.

"What do you mean? Then why else would they be here?" Arbok asked.

"Ma'am, please, we are from the guild! We were sent here to rescue Cyndaquil, who went missing!" Vulpix explained.

"Then where are your badges?"

"In Ace's bag!"

"What's an Ace?"

"M-me…" I was able to get out. Arbok was in thought for a second before she came up with an idea.

"Ekans, honey, I want you to check his bag for these badges;" Arbok ordered.

"Yes, mum!"

Ekans, as told, went through my bag when I was lowered down to his level and produced two badges and our quest notice. He showed them to the murder mother, who looked them over very carefully. Satisfied, she finally let me loose, allowing me to take in a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I quite like that guild," Arbok asked.

All I could do in reply was huff in frustration since catching my breath was still my number one mission at the moment. Vulpix, who was currently tending to me, showed me a face I have yet to see on her: pure anger.

"Why didn't he? He tried to, but you wouldn't listen to him! If you had only had listened to him earlier, none of this would've happened! I understand that you were concerned for your young, but that is not an excuse to nearly go and kill my friend! I'm not sure what I'd do if you had-"

"Hey, Vulpix, it's okay. I'm okay now." I was completely shocked when Vulpix yelled. To see such a kind and gentle soul all angry just didn't sit well with me.

"No, it's not!"

"No, she's right," Arbok said, making both Vulpix and Ekans look up at the larger snake in shock. "If I had only been a bit more understanding, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. I am ashamed. Could you both please forgive me?" Arbok asked, with guilt laden in her eyes.

"Well, normally I would be the angry one, but Vulpix has that mantel for today. So, If she forgives, then I'll forgive. Vulpix?" I asked. Vulpix thought for a moment, then just sighed.

"If you take responsibility for today, then I'll forgive you," Vulpix said.

"Thank you, both of you," Arbok thanked me. It felt weird to push for forgiveness. Well, first time for everything. I just really hated seeing Vulpix all angry like that.

Arbok took responsibility like promised and at first tried to heal me up with a replacement Oran berry for the spare one that was squished in my bag from when Arbok tried to pop me. I explained to her that I was not allowed to use Oran berries for a while since I was still recovering from an Oran overdose, so she volunteered to bring us back to the guild.

So, since I wasn't able to get healed up and there was little sunlight to feed my rapid healing, Arbok let me ride atop her head.

"Are you sure this is okay? I feel kinda dumb up here," I asked.

"Of course, I let my little one ride up there all the time. Plus, it's the least I could do for nearly, well, you know. Splat," Arbok reassured.

"Hmm," I just grumbled to myself. I like the idea of a free ride, but I hated that I basically needed to rely on her. From that squeeze earlier, I'm pretty sure something inside me is broken since it hurts when I try to walk. Man, I wish I could just heal up with an Oran berry.

"So, why were you in this Mystery Dungeon, Cyndaquil?" Vulpix asked.

"I was told by some strangers that if I went into this dungeon with them, that there would be treasure here. I thought about the smile it would've put on my parents' faces since they have been arguing a lot recently," Cyndaquil replied.

"Now, mister, you should know better than that, then to follow strangers anywhere!" Arbok replied. "If both these two adventurers and myself weren't around, then who knows where you would've ended up."

"Psh, I know where," I spat.

"Oh? Where?"

"Most likely to an enslavement camp where they make you harvest some weird crystal things all day. Fun times," I sarcastically ended on.

"Well, I'm glad you both found me when you did. I would've hated to be away from my parents," Cyndaquil started to sniffle up.

"Hey, cheer up!" Vulpix said it in an upbeat tone. "You will be back with your parents in no time. You have both guild members and a fierce mum to make sure you do!" Vulpix smiled.

Ekans sniffled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Miss Vulpix? What is your team called?" Vulpix smiled warmly before speaking.

"The Heart of Adventure," she said, with pride evident in her voice.

"The Heart of Adventure… Cool!"

The rest of the trip was actually quite smooth, since riding on Arbok was like riding in a car with the best suspension installed. Cyndaquil was asking non-stop questions about our adventures, little as they may be. I think the fight between Arbok and our team lit a fire in the young fire type's eyes. She mentioned something about wanting to join the guild to fight the big bad guys, but I wasn't really listening.

After a long walk back to the guild, Vulpix explained that we had completed our quest to Ambipom at the front desk. He nodded and went off to fetch someone to fetch the parents.

It wasn't that long of a wait for Cyndaquil's parents to arrive, but the constant questions made it seem so. I was placed neatly on a nice, comfy bench in the meantime.

I'm glad whoever made the doors did so with the idea of them being able to withstand a bull running through them, because when Mister and Miss Typhlosion came bursting through the main doors, it really showed you just how tough they were.

"My son! You are back!" Mister Typhlosion said.

"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!" Miss Typhlosion added. They both ran up to their child and embraced in a good old, family hug.

"Please, you are both embarrassing me in front of the adventurers," Cyndaquil said.

"Well, that's what you get for making us worry so much. What were you thinking? If Miss Diglett didn't spot you going into that dungeon, then who knows how we would've been able to find you!"

"Your mother is right; why did you go in there?"

"I…" Cyndaquil started with watering eyes, "I wanted to find some treasure for you both. You both have been arguing a lot, and I- I hoped it would've helped. I'm so sorry for scaring you both."

Mister and Miss Typhlosion embraced their child once more. "We're sorry too. Things have been tough lately, and we're sorry for arguing so much. We will try to talk it out so we don't argue. How does that sound?" Miss Typhlosion asked.

"I'd like that," Cyndaquil replied. They went in for one more hug before finally breaking off.

"Just so you know, young man, you are grounded for a month," Mister Typhlosion added, earning a pair of watery eyes from Cyndaquil.

Mister and Miss Typhlosion both looked towards Vulpix and myself. "Thank you both for saving our child. I have no clue what I would've done if anything had happened to him."

"Yes, thank you." They both then bowed at the same time to us. Vulpix was waving her paws around, not knowing what to do about the thanks.

"I-It was nothing. Any good-natured team would've done the same thing," Vulpix replied. I couldn't help but spy a small smile on her face. I liked seeing her smile.

"Yeah, no worries. Just make sure you teach your child the importance of not following strangers into dungeons," I said.

"What!?" Mister and Miss Typhlosion shouted. They both turned to a guilty smiling Cyndaquil. "We will talk about this later. Come on, for now, let's go home. I will prepare your favourite dish while your dad scolds you," Miss Typhlosion said.

"Okay…" Cyndaquil said in a near whisper.

With the Typhlosions gone, Arbok and Ekans said their farewells. Arbok apologized one more time and offered to have us over for dinner if we were ever around her home. Vulpix collected our pay, and I attempted to put it in my backpack, but that thing was torn up. It barely held our badges inside it. Out of everything today, that was the thing that annoyed me the most. I liked that backpack.

We sat together for a while in the lobby. I had told Vulpix I needed a short rest, but when Vulpix realized I was actually in pain, she insisted that I be checked into the hospital. Normally, a good old Oran Berry would be all I would need, but I don't get that privilege.

I was checked up by the perverted Lilligant, who was breathing heavily the whole time. If it wasn't for Vulpix promising to ember if Lilligant got too weird, I would've ran, well as well as I could've. I doubt Vulpix would've actually done it, but it did help.

So, there wasn't anything seriously wrong with me besides some cracked bones, torn muscles, intense bruising… okay, a lot was seriously wrong, so I was told I had to check in for the night, just to be safe. Vulpix stayed with me the whole time she was allowed too, so we spent it talking. I tried to bring up the thing Vulpix wanted to talk about before our dungeon exploring, but she said it could wait until another day. So, I left it like that.

Eventually she had to leave, much to my dismay, since visiting hours were over. So since I was alone, I was left to my thoughts. They mainly rested on Cyndaquil and her family. Even though she got grounded, they seemed like one big, loving family. One that actually cares about their child's safety.

I started to delve deeper into my thoughts before I could hear a soft breathing noise at my side. Turning to see what was making such a noise, I was greeted by a pair of orange eyes.

"Time for examination! He, hehe, don't worry, this won't hurt. I promise," Doctor Lilligant creepily said.

"Aaaah! Help!"

Luckily for me, Lilligant doing things like this was the norm, so Espeon was quick to save me. I offered her a kiss for saving me from the monster that was the mad doctor, but she declined. How rude. That did earn a slight giggle from her, though.

I got little sleep that night.

POV Nidoran

How humiliating, having to hide in a random bush from a foe we should've been able to handle. We should have been on our way with our captures by now.

"Wow, that was one angry mama," said Machop from my right. I shot him a glare, making him shrink down.

"Yep, you really blew it, Machoke," remarked Pansage from my left.

"Well, It would've worked if you two covered your tracks! No wonder that plan-ruiner was able to find us."

"Well, If you were able to find the exit sooner, it wouldn't have mattered!"

Pansage and Machop started to argue with each other about who messed up more when I was able to hear something from afar coming closer towards us.

"Shut up! I think she's coming back." I ordered. The two stooges stopped their bickering and quieted up.

We stayed perfectly still and quiet, not wanting to take on angry mama for the second time. The pair of bite marks on my flank were a prize I wish not to receive again. The noises came into view: Arbok was there with our rightful prizes of Ekans and Cyndaquil- which by the way was brilliantly planned by myself to bring the little squirt into this Dungeon, by the way- were two others. Two familiar faces.

Vulpix and Bulbasaur. The gears in my head started to work as we watched them pass us by.

Once they all were gone, all three of us let out a long breath. We exited the bush we were hiding in.

"Was that- from the mine?" asked Pansage.

"What are they doing here?" replied Machop.

"Probably being super lame and- Nidoran? Are you okay? Do you need to poop?"

"What? No, you idiot! I'm planning," I said.

"Planning what? To poop? I do that too."

"No! I'm planning our next target, you idiot! I bet we will be forgiven for our mistake today, if we can bring in that Bulbasaur, I guarantee we'll get a massive reward."

"Really? Well then, how will we capture them?"

"For now, we wait and watch. A moment will show itself and by gosh, we will take it."

Rest easy, Bulbasaur, for I will capture you and earn my rightful place by her side.

End chapter 18