Emerging into natural light, you're greeted once again by a lazy drawl.
"How did it go...?"
Jen frowns. "Things should be looking up, since the carpenter accepted our offer and all. But, I don't know."
"What's wrong...?"
"I'm not sure just yet, so I don't want to theorize. But, see, he asked us to go to Stony Cave and get him these gems he wants. He says that he'll trade them for materials at the lumberyard and build us a house."
"Well... it sounds peachy to me..."
Jen sighs. "I guess."
"You know how to get to Stony Cave...?" Quagsire says.
"Yes, just off to the eastern highway, correct?"
"Indeed..."
A new voice appears from behind. It's the stocky Timburr, an anxious look in his eyes. His buddy has the same expression. "Um, hey."
"What is it?" asks Jen, obviously still doubtful.
Neither of the Timburr speak. They don't exchange meaningful glances or employ body language. Neither moves a muscle, just stares into your eyes, pleading.
"Was there something you needed to tell us?" Eyes narrowed, suspicion growing. You'd be scared to face Jen like this too.
"No. It's nothing."
You bite back a retort of 'lies, obviously lies!' and watch.
"Yeah, forget it," mumbles the lanky Timburr. "Just go on and get those gems already."
"Alright." Curt, minimal. A reply with just enough substance to count as one. "Come on, Ned, we should get going."
"Okay." Giving the Timburr one last glance, you follow her out of the town, past the gate, and to the crossroads. You don't know what to think. It's obvious to anyone with half a mind that they're up to something, but whether it's good or bad, you can't tell. The Timburr seem to be remorseful, almost, and Gurdurr... well, who knows? You'll just have to assume if they're up to something, it's something bad, like you always have to when out in the wilds.
"Just down this road now..." Quagsire pauses for longer than usual. "There's only one thing to remember... I'm sure you already know, but... Stony Cave is a Mystery Dungeon..."
Okay, if you're knowingly walking straight into a trap, you want to at least know what that means. So, you ask.
"Oh, I suppose I forgot to tell you," Jen says. "Mystery Dungeons are, well, mysteries. Mysterious things are always happening in Mystery Dungeons. For example, every time you go into one, the layout changes. Sometimes, an underground passage will lead to someplace you'd never expect. But there are sure to be adventures there."
"That's why you bought land here?"
"Well, mostly, yes," she says.
"Sure sounds fun when you put it like that..." Quagsire sighs. "Sometimes, you can find rare treasures, and then eveything's coming up roses..." He sighs, again. "And then, out of nowhere, you get viciously attacked by wild Pokemon... they're very dangerous, so be careful..."
You groan. "We're risking our lives to build this house?"
"There's no other way around it, Gurdurr and his apprentices are the only carpenters around, I think." Jen looks to Quagsire.
"Indeed..." Quagsire says, but his tiny black pinpricks of eyes are darting back and forth between the two of you.
"Jen, you know what we're walking into, right?" you mutter.
A resolute huff. "Sure do. Might as well make the most of it."
"Yes, you might as well try your best..."
You facepalm. "Honestly, you two. You're supposed to be wise! You do fully understand the danger that we're about to face, right?! For a house? And Quagsire, we could never be coming back! Aren't you at least a little bit concerned? Even about the land Jen bought? Won't there be legal troubles concerning it if she kicks the bucket?!"
Quagsire hums, and you start to feel apprehensive of him, too. "Nope, never bothered to be concerned about anything in my life..." He chuckles. "Why start now...? And besides..."
"What?" you say.
Quagsire closes his eyes pensively. "I somehow get the feeling that you two can make it through anything together, even if it's based on absolutely nothing at all..."
You don't know what to say to that.
Jen claps her hands together resolutely. "Alright, then, I guess we'll heading out soon. Quagsire, are you coming?"
He shakes his head. "Go ahead, kids..."
"Alright, then, Ned. First, however, we should make sure we know what we're doing."
"Okay."
"Gurdurr wants us to go all the way into Stony Cave and get five blue gems."
"Right."
"To do that, we need to go through Stony Cave, a Mystery Dungeon."
"Yeah."
"So, we should prepare ourselves first."
"Okay."
"Lead the way."
"Wait, me?!"
She nods. "Aboslutely- variety is the essence of the soul! Change it up a little."
You sigh. "Fine, whatever, leader."
"Just go."
"Yeah, yeah. So, do we have anything we need to wrap up? Oh, what about that thing in Paradise?"
"The red mailbox?"
"Let's go take a look!"
"Okay. Go ahead." She grins as she waits for you to start walking. This isn't fair! She's taken charge this whole way, speaking enough for two, and now she makes you leader by abusing her own leader powers! Left with one option, you follow Her Majesty's orders and head back to Paradise.
Once there, you see something sticking out of the mailbox. You got mail? "Was this here before?"
"I don't recall," Jen says, narrowing her eyes. She takes it out carefully. It's a letter with no return address nor addressee. It must've been put here by hand. Or paw. Or whatever. Who could've been here in the short time you were gone?
"Can I read it?" you say.
- Notice -
Welcome to the Passerby Post!
The Passerby Post can be used to help others when they faint in a dungeon!
Many Pokemon are out there even now, adventuring in the dungeons of this world.
But some adventurers faint before finishing their journey through a dungeon...
But when that happens-!
If you have put a Reviver Seed in the Passerby Post...
You may save someone who fainted with StreetPass!
If you do manage to save someone, your good deed will be rewarded!
Life is all about give-and-take!
So how about placing a Reviver Seed in your Passerby Post?
- End of Message -
You try and decipher what the point of this letter is. An ad campaign? For what?
"Probably rubbish," Jen affirms. "Toss it."
"Where?" Before you can ask any further, she takes it out of your hands with a nimble vine and throws it into the stream. It floats away before you can snatch it back up.
"Honestly?" you say, but Jen's already started looking further in the mailbox. You waddle over. "See anything?"
Her vines are inside, reaching for something. "Got it! Look!" They snake back into her body and she holds a little golden seed in her hands. "A Reviver Seed!"
"What's that?"
"If you faint in a Mystery Dungeon, it'll revive you instantly!" She sure looks exuberant about this.
"Like smelling salts?"
"Something like that. You don't even have to do anything, if you just keep it with you, it'll activate automatically. It's only one-use though, so we need to safeguard this one preciously."
"Do we have a bag?"
"No. I'll keep it with me. I can fight with just vines, anyways," Jen says, not without a hint of pride.
You stare at the new addition to inventory. You're not dubious about its potential, but, "Such a dinky little thing?"
"It saves lives, you know! If we both faint out there, it's over for us!"
You huff. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
Jen hesitates.
"What?" you say.
"What exactly do you think that Gurdurr and his apprentices are up to?"
"I don't know. We'll just have to walk right into their trap."
"Hopefully we'll be strong enough," Jen says quietly.
"You think it'll come to that?"
"It's entirely possible," Jen says, and it's nothing either of you want to admit. "You heard what Quagsire said. The tensions between Pokemon are growing."
"I don't know about Quagsire anymore. What he says isn't false, but there's something off about him. He shows no concern for our lives. Why did he come visit us this morning? Where does he live? Who is he? How old is he? What is his goal by helping us?"
Jen looks down at the ground. "I actually don't know, Ned, I really don't. But you remember what he said, right? 'I somehow get the feeling that you two can make it through anything together. Even if it's based on absolutely nothing at all.' No matter what happens, we need to stick by each other."
"Meeting you here first was no coincidence, was it?"
"Maybe. We don't have answers, but we have means to attain them. And we need to start off slow."
You take a deep breath. "Baby steps."
"Let's go."