Ten More Floors.
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True story (sort of.) Me 'n' Doka the Torchic…we've had some fun adventures. And yes, Ex, I named her after another character of mine.
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I don't own Pokemon.
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"Don't give up! We only have ten more floors!"
I wasn't quite sure how Doka managed to be so chirpy. We had run out of food twenty floors ago, and both of us were struggling to move.
The Buried Relic had been a bad idea. Not only did we fail to recruit any of the Regis, we hadn't seen any special Pokemon (which Shiftry had said we would find, though he did not specify a species) at all - and we were on the eighty-ninth floor! Plus, we didn't have any Reviver Seeds left, and both Sandy and Ilke had left the team at least fifty floors ago.
Both I and my cheery Fire-type partner had encountered at least six Monster Houses full of Shedinja and Machoke since we had left the last Regi behind.
The Music Box we were so carefully protecting was battered and looked ready to break, the pretty tune it played warbling faintly. I closed my eyes to hide the tears.
We were so close to Lucario Rank, I could almost see it, but if we didn't make it out of this with our Music Box, we would never be able to show our faces in the square again.
If only I had not accidentally used the Escape Orb whilst in Regirock's chamber! I had been so glad to defeat the golem that I forgot Orbs cannot be used on the special floors, and our last safe way out of this horrible place shattered, useless, before our eyes. I'd never seen Doka so upset since I nearly got transported back to the human world.
I wondered if that Gardevoir knew that I was lost. Probably not.
The sight of Doka, putting one clawed foot in front of the other even though she had almost no energy left, spurred me on.
In front of us, the stairs! In delight, we raced for them, finding ourselves on the ninetieth floor at their end.
"This is a record for us, huh?" Doka breathed, but I wasn't listening. I was a little preoccupied by the fact we had appeared right in front of the next steps. Silently, I climbed them, pulling us both onto the ninety-first floor.
"Seven floors to go-oh," Doka chanted, over and over. Like it would make a difference. All I could do was stare at the ground as she followed me, knowing that it would take an insane amount of luck to get us out of here.
So, I was…surprised, to say the least, when I found a One-Room Orb. I stared in disbelief at the shimmering blue object. Still, I saved it, Doka having spotted the stairs. And so, we proceeded.
Floor Ninety-Two.
"Six more floors to go!" Doka yelled, fresh excitement evident in the way she walked. I admired the little Pokemon's strength - little in comparison to me, having decided to evolve before we came here. Smiling, I fell behind her, conserving my energy and allowing her to lead.
Maybe I should let her lead more often. As we stood beside the next flight of stairs, I marvelled at the sight of not one, but two Apples! Doka had found them on the way there, and before we went on, we devoured one each. With renewed strength, we moved on.
Floor Ninety-Three.
A Haunter greeted us on the ninety-third floor - "Five floors to go-oh!" - with a regular tackle. It only took one Bite from me to knock it out, and we proceeded, only hindered by another Golem, which I again took care of with a well-timed Water Gun. And once again, we found the exit.
Floor Ninety-Four.
With a song from Doka, we made it through an oddly empty Floor Ninety-Four. The X-Ray Specs I picked up showed that there were indeed Pokemon on this floor, but we did not stop to fight, choosing to go to the next level.
Floor Ninety-Five.
The effect of the Apple I had eaten on floor Ninety-Two was wearing off, though as I looked over at Doka, she did not seem to be tiring yet. However, she did take over the leading again, for which I was grateful. No more items of worth did we find, but we fought a number of enemies, but still no mysterious Pokemon. I was beginning to wonder if it was real, or whether it was just some mirage - a trick of the mind.
Whatever it was, it certainly hadn't seen us yet, as we moved onto the next floor.
Floor Ninety-Six.
"Yes! Two more floors to go!"
Doka's counting was a bit off, I noticed. Wasn't the dungeon ninety-nine floors long? Or was there something I was missing? I sighed, and paid it no heed, choosing instead to focus on the ground. Once again, there were no Apples on this floor, but I did gain a level, fighting off a pack of Golem that were blocking off the exit. So, with slightly more strength, we moved on.
Floor Ninety-Seven.
"…"
That was odd. Doka was almost never silent. I turned and stared at my partner, and then it hit me. She was starving. I told her to Wait There, and rushed off, desperate to find food. I used the One-Room Orb, causing the walls to crumble.
All I could find was a Confusion Seed. I fed it to her, watched as her vision slid out of focus, and dashed off again, knowing that she would appear on the next floor, if I could make it that far.
Floor Ninety-Eight.
Doka stood still. I looked at her, concerned, then saw something in her eyes. It was pure terror. I followed her gaze, to see that she had a very good reason to be afraid.
We had appeared in a Monster House.
Full of Golem.
Suffice to say, Doka didn't stand a chance. Desperate once more, I grabbed an Apple and tried to shove it down her throat, but she refused the food, and allowed herself to be hit. Protecting me. Telling me to Get Away.
Tears streaming down my face, I ran, knowing that in a few moments, she would return to the Scorched Plains. And so, starving, panicking, despairing, I threw myself onto the ground, unable to walk a single step further. I had left the Apple behind, and there was nothing else I could eat.
A noise. It sounded like a Golem, but there was an odd ring to it.
I looked up, to see what was indeed a Golem. I murmured, begging it to let me go. It did nothing, just looking at me. Full of misery, I opened my mouth, a jet of water blasting out from my mouth. It was a direct hit, and critical too. The Golem disappeared, just as my last reserves of strength gave out. I prepared to faint…
Something stopped me.
I looked up again.
The Golem was gone.
Replaced by a shimmering pink mirage.
It blinked at me, and asked if I was alright, in a decidedly female, childlike voice. On the verge of fainting, I shook my head wearily. She giggled, and asked if she could help me, and join my Rescue team. Barely able to move, I nodded slowly - I'm sure the pain I was in showed. With an innocent smile, she somersaulted in midair, then glowed blue.
The next thing I knew, I was back in my base. Doka fussed over me, telling me it wasn't my fault that I had fainted.
So she nearly fell over when I showed her the still-intact Music Box. It still played its odd, sweet tune, relaxing me. Telling Doka to return to the volcano she lived in, I stood and walked out of my little hut. Gengar stood in front of me, apparently taking no notice of the fact a Torchic had walked straight through him.
"Hey, Torrie," he said, arrogant as always. I muttered darkly, attempting to shove him out of the way. He laughed as my paws slid straight through him.
"Want to know something good?" he asked, grinning. Rolling my eyes, I nodded. Still smiling like an idiot, he leaned in, and whispered, "Rumour has it someone's recruited the mirage. Lombre says he saw it floating towards that weird island you bought, and the Kecleon brothers backed him up. Since you've just come back from the Buried Relic and all, I thought you might have seen who did it."
I didn't respond, instead rushing through him and toward the Friend Areas. It wasn't long before I found myself on that odd island that sometimes appeared on the western horizon, which I had been instantly drawn to.
Hovering on a stone platform in the middle was the same pink Pokemon that had appeared before me in the Buried Relic. Giggling, she floated over to me, sapphire eyes inquisitive. Transfixed, I could only manage to ask a single question, though there were at least a million in my mind.
"Who are you?" I whispered, awed by the sight. The Pokemon was so small, but seemed so…powerful. It was just like the feeling I got when I saw Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza…any of the various legendaries I had recruited. She smiled, paused as though unsure how to answer it, then pirouetted daintily.
"Mew, of course!" she said, laughing to herself. "Who else would I be?"
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It's all true…except, I didn't recruit Mew the first time. Or the second. I haven't gotten around to trying a third time.