It was a clear Autumn afternoon in the village of Paralias. The wind was blowing through the trees as Tomba hopped down the path to Steelthorn Forest. Following him was a young Riolu named Cobalt. The fallen leaves crinkled and crunched beneath their feet as they walked along the path. Tomba lifted up his head, staring at the dark clouds looming above them. After a while, they stopped dead in their tracks. Standing before them was the Entrance to Steelthorn Forest.
"D-Do I really have to do this..?" Tomba reluctantly sighed, turning his head to look at Cobalt.
"C'mon Tomba, this'll be easy! All that Venus dared you to do is head into Steelthorn forest and come back out with some grey flower. Honestly, I don't see what you're getting so worked up about," The Riolu exclaimed.
"You know exactly why I'm so nervous about this, Cobalt... It's because we shouldn't be going in there. H-Heck, we shouldn't even be doing this at all!" Tomba replied, A feeling of dread hanging over him as he looked back at the forest's entrance. He knew it was forbidden for anyone, especially children to enter the forest. "I-I really don't want to do this... I-I'm heading home," He said, sighing as he began to turn back and walk away from the entrance to the dungeon.
"Are you sure? If you go back into town without that flower, You'll never hear the end of Mawile calling you a coward for backing out on this dare ya know." Cobalt chimed in as Tomba continued to walk away, "And you know how much she loves tormenting you about that."
Tomba froze where he stood. Those words stung like a hug from an overzealous Cacnea. He knew he wanted to do this dare just to prove that he wasn't the scrawny little coward his peers knew he was. He turned to look at Cobalt again, asking, "Y-You did say you'd go with me, r-right?"
Cobalt nodded, already walking into the dungeon. "Yep! I promised that I'd go with you into this dungeon, remember? So if you're going in, hurry up before I leave you behind!"
The buneary hesitantly took a couple steps towards the entrance. He adjusted his scarlet red scarf, using it to hide the bottom portion of his face behind it. "Yeah... I remember... Let's just get this over with, okay? And wait for me!" Tomba stammered as he hesitantly scampered through the entrance, unbeknownst of what dangers that lurk within the forest.