-:-

Chapter 9: Blind Run

"Wake up."

With a displeased groan, Ven slowly opened his eyes and found a pair of blood-red orbs glaring down at him. He rolled onto his side and looked outside the barred window.

"Five more minutes…" he moaned and buried his head back into his scarf. "The sun's not even up yet."

Just when Ven was getting comfortable again, he felt a sharp pain as he was yanked out of the nest. The Eevee gave a strangled cry as Reviak held him over his head by his tail. "Exactly. First rule of the desert; unless you happen to be a Fire, Rock, or Ground-type, finish travelling before the sun comes up. Unless you want to die of thirst or suffer heat stroke, that is."

The Lucario loosened his grip on his tail and Ven dropped back down to floor. The Eevee shook his head, trying to clear his sleep-addled brain, but this only succeeded in making himself dizzier. Evidently not satisfied with Ven's current level of alertness, Reviak lightly kicked him from behind, forcing him out of the room with barely enough time to make sure his scarf was secured around his neck.

"Since it's your first day on the job, I let you sleep a little longer than I'd usually allow. Now let's go, your friend is already waiting downstairs."

Ven stumbled down the stairs to the first floor, where Zack and Luna were lounging about on the leather sofas. A teapot was placed on the table between them and it looked like the two were sipping tea from stone cups. The Dedenne looked far more awake and prepared than Ven felt, his leather bag already hung over his shoulder and bulging with supplies.

Zack placed his cup down and jumped off the couch, rushing over to the Eevee. "Morning Ven!" he greeted cheerily. "How're you feeling? Ready for our first mission?"

Ven tried and failed to contain a massive yawn. "Couldn't be better," he said as he wiped his eyes. Ven really was excited for their first mission, there was no denying that, but he still felt dissatisfied that they were stuck doing low-leveled jobs. His manic determination had calmed a bit after the previous night's dinner and rest, but the fact remained that the sooner he could bring outlaws to justice the better…

Ven was abruptly startled out of his thoughts by a familiar raspy voice.

"Attention Amber Guild," Legion announced. "Today is Wednesday, September 2nd, 326 H.P. The time is 5:07 A.M. Firstly, the Base Security Division would like to remind all civilians to avoid making graffiti on the outer walls, as it can be very distracting for the sentries. Please limit such acts of vandalism to the inner walls –"

"Hang on, what's Legion doing here?" Zack asked. "I thought he does the announcements at 8 o'clock?"

"The announcements repeat," Reviak answered. "Once at 5, for the benefit of the higher ranked members who get up earlier, and again at 8, for the apprentices. The Guildmaster is… very accommodating."

The Lucario glared at nothing in particular, as though letting the apprentices sleep until sunrise was some kind of heinous crime.

The four Pokémon then had a quick breakfast of dried apples, accompanied by the not at all soothing baritone of Legion's voice. After an energetic farewell from Luna who, to Reviak's chagrin, had gone into great detail about how she'd be spending her break relaxing in the lounge, the trio left the Diamond-Rank quarters and into the common grounds.

Ven shivered slightly as his face was met with a cool breeze. With the sun still below the horizon, the desert air was uncomfortably cold and dry, which wasn't a pleasant combination. Even the sand beneath his paws felt cold, and Ven wrapped his scarf tighter across his face.

"Brrr… it's chilly out here," Zack said, shivering violently beside him. "How do you guys get used to this? Searing hot in the day, freezing cold in the night…"

Ven took a look around the grounds and saw that numerous tents were still set up, their flaps tightly closed. "I can't understand why we have to leave so early. There's literally no one awake out here!"

"The only Pokémon still sleeping are the apprentices and civilians," Reviak growled. "Anyone else in the Guild has already departed for their missions. All things considered, we're running late."

Not looking the least bit bothered by the temperature, Reviak briskly led them over to the main building, and Team Seekers soon found themselves back at the corridor of bulletin boards leading to the front desk.

"What're we doing here again?" asked Ven, not looking forward to the prospect of seeing a certain Ninetales first thing in the morning.

"There's some last-minute administrative work for you to complete. I'll be waiting outside," Reviak explained. "I've already taken the liberty of packing the necessary supplies for you. Keep in mind that you won't have that luxury in the future and you'll be expected to prepare for all subsequent missions on your own."

"Speaking of, what're we actually doing for our mission?" Ven asked eagerly, the question having troubled him all morning.

"Provided to you stick to the Level-E or D jobs, it's up to you. I'd like to see what you're capable of."

"Whoa, seriously?!" Zack exclaimed with shining eyes. He dashed over to the bronze-rimmed bulletin board and immediately started scrutinizing over every piece of parchment posted there. It wasn't until Ven joined him that Zack gave him a sheepish grin, scratching at his ear. "So, uh… care to read all this Ven?"

Reviak stopped on his way to the exit and stared at the Dedenne. "You can't read?"

"Uh, no, I can't," Zack replied, sounding a little embarrassed. "I can read Unown though…"

"Ah yes, the forgotten script of the humans," Reviak sighed. "I had a talk with the Guildmaster this morning about your… background. Unfortunately, you'll find that the Alliance doesn't cater to the needs of humans. Sooner or later, you'll have to learn how to read footprint runes."

With that, the Lucario left the room, leaving behind a further annoyed Eevee and a slightly miffed Dedenne. After quickly scanning over the board, Ven pointed at a piece of parchment and read it out loud for this partner.

Job Summary

Standard food gathering mission. We've noticed a significant shortage of pecha berries; re-supply needed.

Client: Amber Base Dining Facility Staff

Objective: Collect a minimum of 60 pecha berries.

Place: Pecha Grove (Mystery Dungeon)

Difficulty: D

Reward: 3000 Poké

"Ooh, a mystery dungeon," said Zack, cheering up considerably. "I wonder what that is. Sounds exciting!"

"Yeah, that's actually why I picked it," Ven admitted. "Every other job on this board looks like a waste of time. Seriously, how does 'fix blockage in bathhouse pipes' even qualify as a mission?"

"So I guess we just take this up to the front desk?" Zack said, snatching the job request off the wall. Ven hadn't noticed before, but there was another identical piece of parchment pinned behind the original, which Zack also picked up.

The two walked up to the front desk, which looked noticeably messier today. To their surprise, it was not a Ninetales, but a familiar Fletchinder that popped out from behind the desk. "Yo, it's Team Seekers! What brings you guys here?"

Ven struggled to remember the bird's name, and was relieved when Zack happily answered for him. "Hi Fledge. We're here to sign up for a mission… I guess. We're not completely sure how things work around here yet."

"Well you came to the right place! You guys have two copies of the job request, right?" Fledge said. Zack nodded. "Awesome! So one copy is for you guys to keep as reference, and the other copy goes to administration to file away on record and all that official stuff. "

Zack passed the Fletchinder one of the pieces of parchment, and Fledge dipped his talon in an inkwell and scribbled something onto it. "Ooh, a Level-D mission… I didn't realize you guys were already that skilled," Fledge whistled as he looked over the parchment.

"We can handle it," Ven assured defensively.

"So you two will be heading out of the base…"

"Well, we're not exactly skilled," Zack said modestly. "Reviak's actually supervising us."

"Really now?" Fledge said absentmindedly, apparently searching for something behind desk.

"Yup! We're his apprentices!"

Ven smacked the Dedenne upside the head "Hey, I thought we weren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves Zappy," he said irritably. Not that he was quite sure why they needed to do so, but Ven had to assume there was a reason Gamma had told them that. "How many times do I have to remind you?"

"Ah, sorry about tha-"

"Ouch!" Ven yelped as he felt something red-hot suddenly sting his left ear. He spun around to see Fledge grinning apologetically, wings held up in surrender.

"Sorry about that Ven," he said. "I normally do the piercing when the Pokémon's not expecting it, just to make things easier for the both of us."

The Eevee gingerly rubbed at the punctured area, which now felt sore and warm. His paw brushed over something small and hard. Zack looked at him with concern and asked, "You do the wha-?"

There was another pained yelp as Fledge leaned over the desk and pecked the Dedenne's ear before he could so much as blink. Just like his partner, Zack clutched at his wound while Ven angrily glared at the bird. "And just why did you have to stab us like that?"

"Take a look," the Fletchinder said simply.

The Eevee pulled his ears down to eye-level and found what looked like a tiny gemstone imbedded in the rim of the left ear. It was barely bigger than a grain of sand and had a dull silver gleam.

"That right there is an Aura Crystal," Fledge chirped when the fox gave him a confused look.

"Aura?" Ven repeated. "Like that hokey spiritual crap that Lucario can control?"

"Yup! You should feel honoured; these crystals are rare, so we only give them out to members we know are gonna be heading out regularly. You guys are probably the first ever apprentices to get them."

"Wow, really?" Zack happily batted at his piercing. "I guess we should feel pretty honoured then."

"So if you didn't know, Aura Crystals are special gems that act as a sort of natural reservoir for aura," said Fledge. "And if the crystal is close enough to a Pokémon, it'll actually change colour to match that individual's aura. That's super useful since Legion memorizes each member's corresponding colour so he can verify that you aren't an imposter or something every time you come back to the base. Of course, we try to make the crystals as inconspicuous as possible, since we don't want to make it super obvious that someone is affiliated to the Alliance…"

As if on cue, there was another shriek from Ven as said Spiritomb popped out of the keystone on the desk. The Eevee had been hoping he'd have gotten used to the Ghost-type's sudden appearances by now, but it seemed like he still had a long way to go.

"Greetings apprentices," the Spiritomb rasped. Zack gave him a friendly wave while Ven tried to calm himself. "Now stay still, this will not take long."

The swirling mass of purple energy floated over to Zack, still attached to the keystone, and gazed unblinkingly at the mouse's ear.

"Zack, your crystal is… an overbearing pink."

Ven couldn't help but snicker a little at that, and the Dedenne pouted unhappily. "Pink? I was hoping for something a little manlier…" He didn't say it out loud, but Ven thought the colour was rather appropriate for a…sensitive Pokémon like Zack.

Legion studied the crystal at length, presumably engraining its hue to memory, while Zack waited patiently for him to finish. "Hey, that reminds me," the mouse said. "I remember Chip held up his talon in front of a Keystone to open the front doors, back when he first brought us here..."

"Yeah, you're on the right track," said Fledge's muffled voice; the bird was currently buried underneath a pile of papers. "Chip was showing Legion his Aura Crystal to let 'im know he was really Chip."

Apparently finished with Zack, Legion's unsettling gaze settled on Ven's ear. The Eevee tried to stay still, incredibly unnerved by how close the hideous ghost was to his face.

"Interesting…" the Spiritomb said to himself. "Your crystal is… a stormy grey."

"Grey?" Ven shakily repeated. "Not the most exciting colour in the world, but... at least it's not pink." He gave Zack a mocking grin, and his partner stuck his tongue out at him.

"So you work at the front desk?" Zack waddled over to the Fletchinder, having already been free from Legion's attention.

"Uh-huh," said Fledge, his head popping out from the pile of documents. "I have some, uh, health problems so to speak, so the Guild needed to find a job for me that wasn't too exhausting, and so I assist Kyon here from time to time. Not the most glamorous role, but hey, at least I'm helping!"

Ven took a brief look at the ridiculously cluttered desk and humbly felt that the Ninetales must have been completely out of her mind to let Fledge help her. Eagerly looking for anything else to keep his mind off of Legion, Ven caught sight of something odd past the main entrance.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ven could see Reviak talking with a trio of Pokémon outside. There was a Tyrogue, Growlithe, and Larvitar, and none of them looked very old. But perhaps the strangest thing was the Lucario's expression.

For the first time since he had met him, the perpetual scowl Ven had grown accustomed to seeing on Reviak's face was gone. If he squinted, Ven could've even sworn the Lucario was actually smiling a little; Reviak actually looked happy. Not pissed off, at the very least.

"Looks like Reviak's enjoying himself," Ven snorted. "Wonder why he's so happy."

"Hm?" Fledge looked up from his papers and followed Ven's gaze over to the Lucario. "Oh yeah, word is that the old dog has a soft spot for apprentices."

Ven did a double take, and Zack seemed rather surprised as well. "Him? Soft spot?" Ven scoffed. "We've only known him for a day, and he's been nothing but a jerk to us."

"Really? That's weird. I always heard that Reviak was great with kids." Ven got impression that the Fletchinder wasn't really paying attention.

"Tch. Looks like we're the exception, for whatever reason," Ven grumbled. "So we can go now, right?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, you're free to go." Fledge looked up briefly from the papers and tossed them a pair of leather pouches. "You can use these to collect the pecha berries."

Ven and Zack each hung one of the small pouches over their necks, and Fledge absentmindedly waved a wing in farewell. "We'll be sure to send a search party if you're not back by dinner! Now where the heck did I put that report…"

"He's kidding, right?" Zack nervously chuckled, struggling to keep his balance now that he had two bags hanging over his shoulders.

The two children quickly left the room and Ven could practically feel Legion's prying eyes following their departure. The Eevee didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until they stepped outside, where their new teacher was waiting for them; the trio of apprentices had already left and it looked like Reviak's hint of a smile had gone with them.

"You're mission?" Reviak asked promptly. Zack fumbled with the paper and handed it over to the Lucario, who quickly scanned its contents. "Pecha Grove, eh? The entrance isn't far from here."

Without a second glance, the Lucario started walking and the two apprentices hurried after him. Reviak led them west of the main gates and up a few sand dunes until they reached an odd pathway; on the ground was a long strip of black stone that stretched out far into the distance, with perfectly symmetrical strips of faded yellow running down the middle. Parts of the path were cracked or completely missing, and some parts were simply buried underneath mounds of sand.

"Pathways like this were left by the humans," Reviak explained. "Pokémon still use them to navigate around the desert to this day. This one's known as the West Banded Path. Come on, our destination is just a ways down from here."

-:-

Once the Amber Guild base was far behind and featureless desert surrounded them, the dull glow of twilight was visible over the horizon. No longer numb from heat, the piercing in Ven's ear was starting to feel annoyingly itchy. The Eevee was lagging behind, periodically stopping to scratch at the itch with his hind leg.

After pausing for the umpteenth time, Reviak called out from ahead. "If you stop to scratch your ear one more time, I'll bite your leg off!"

The Eevee's paw immediately bolted back to the ground, and Ven rushed along the stone path to catch up. Arceus, someone's testy today, he thought anxiously. "So are you gonna explain what a mystery dungeon is? Sir?" Ven added sarcastically, earning him a displeased glare from Reviak.

"Glad you asked. Sometimes, when a location's grip on reality weakens it becomes corrupted by… a curse of sorts, and a Mystery Dungeon is created; mazes that don't follow the usual rules of space and time. Essentially, a special anomaly. Make sense?"

To be honest, Ven did not understand a single word that had come out of Reviak's mouth, but he sure as hell wasn't going to admit it. "Right…"

"What does that all even mean?" Zack asked, completely unabashed with his confusion. "So if we're in a Mystery Dungeon, we'll be able to… like, walk on walls, or go back in time?"

"Not quite," Reviak said. "This particular dungeon, Pecha Grove, has been trapped in a perpetual state of growth. Though rain never falls, the trees produce an abundance of pecha berries."

"Hang on, what?" Ven sputtered. "So trees can somehow just magically grow in these dungeons, even though we're in the middle of the desert?" The Lucario nodded.

"That doesn't make any sense." The Eevee shook his head, processing the idea. "That's just…insane."

"You'll find no better word to describe Mystery Dungeons," Reviak remarked with disinterest. "And as you've hopefully figured out by now, this is how the Alliance is able to feed hundreds of Pokémon on a daily basis. Dungeons are both a curse and a blessing; incredibly dangerous to explore if you don't know what you're doing, but an invaluable source of resources."

So that's where all that food must have come from. I always did wonder how Mama and Papa got us fresh fruit in the desert. Was there a Mystery Dungeon somewhere near Lucidia Town all this time?

Ven mulled over a bitter memory, the first time he'd asked his parents where they found berries. Don't ask questions, they'd snapped. You don't need to know darling, they'd insisted. What a joke. Not without some guilt, Ven felt a rather rebellious, vindictive sense of satisfaction in his new discovery; his parents' attempts to coddle him had failed this time.

And while the lesson itself was admittedly fascinating, Ven was extremely irked by the Lucario's tone. He talked like a monotone machine, as if teaching them was the most unpleasant and boring job in the world. The Eevee was contemplating the possible consequences of overtly insulting Reviak, when the Lucario called out from ahead. "We're here."

The two children hurriedly ran up to the Lucario, who was standing before the collapsed, concrete remains of a house a ways left from the pathway. If it weren't for the structure's perfectly square shape and the rotting door frame, Ven wouldn't have even guessed the pile of rubble was once some poor human's humble abode. Reviak ducked under the door frame and beckoned him and Zack to follow. The Dedenne was happy to rush in, gung-ho as always, but Ven eyed the ruins apprehensively; it looked like it would collapse at the slightest touch.

"Is it safe to go in?" Ven asked.

No answer.

The Eevee stood in place, trying to build up his confidence. The sun was rising slowly but surely, and the harsh heat was starting to pound against the back of his head. At least it'll be cool inside, Ven reasoned. Taking a deep breath, the Eevee made his way towards the ruins.

-:-

"How much farther?" Ven asked, wheezing. He'd never been in the best of shape, and the stuffy, dank subterranean air wasn't helping. Reviak didn't seem to think his question was worth answering and continued down the winding tunnel in silence. Despite the lack of light, it looked like the Lucario knew exactly where he was going.

As they edged their way down the sloping passage, Ven was puzzled to find that the cold stone of the floor was being replaced by a soft, green material. The Eevee nervously tried to walk around the bizarre patches of emerald, before realizing that the material looked oddly familiar.

Not one to give up so easily, Ven had gone to great lengths to research berries on his own when his parents had refused to tell him anything. Fortunately, he'd managed to find some botany textbooks in Goro's extensive collection, but the books had been extremely outdated, clearly written before Chiora's desertification; there had been a wealth of interesting information on plants, but nothing that told him where one would find berries in an arid desert.

"This is grass, isn't it?" Ven wondered aloud, rather proud of his knowledge.

"Grass?" Zack repeated and looked down. "How is there grass growing down here? In the desert, no less…"

"As I said, such is the curse of this Mystery Dungeon," Reviak reprimanded. "Pay attention."

The Dedenne bowed his head in apology, and Ven felt oddly defensive of his partner. Seriously, the mouse had done nothing wrong, so where did their so-called teacher get off snapping at –

"Woah."

Ven's current thoughts popped like an overinflated Drifloon; finally emerging from the tunnel, the Eevee found himself standing in the middle of a dense forest. Ven and Zack gazed at their surroundings, utterly dumbfounded; they were surrounded by huge, winding trees that bent and twisted into impossible shapes, and intense beams of sunlight were shining through the thick canopy above.

"This is so bizarre. I thought we were underground, but I can see sunlight…" Zack shook his head bemusedly. "And why do all these trees look so creepy?" Upon closer inspection, said trees were much more crooked and misshapen than the trees Ven had seen in the textbooks; they almost looked more like giant hands clawing their way out of the earth, trying to grab them with their jagged branches.

The forest had an incredibly oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere, and Ven nearly screamed when Reviak gave him an unexpected kick from behind.

The Eevee looked at the Lucario with exasperation. "What?!"

"Go on."

Ven blinked stupidly at first, not quite understanding the order. "Huh? You're not going to lead us?" he asked worriedly.

Reviak raised a brow. "Now where's the fun in that?" There was no humour in his voice. "I thought you were the leader of Team Seekers. I'm simply your supervisor, no?"

What an admirably competent mentor, Ven thought to himself. You'd think he'd teach us and then send us into the super dangerous dungeon, not the other way around.

Feeling like he'd been thrown into the deep end, the Eevee surveyed his surroundings and found several openings in the dense pack of trees, natural corridors of sorts. He randomly picked a corridor and walked on, Zack by his side and Reviak behind them. "So all we have to do is collect some berries and find the exit, right?" Ven said, trying to sound like a confident leader. "Doesn't seem too tough."

"Yeah, sounds like a walk in the park compared to fighting bandits!" Zack added encouragingly.

Just when Ven was beginning to feel confident, Reviak piped up. "Oh, one more word of warning. Quite unusually, large numbers of feral Pokémon make their homes in Mystery Dungeons. You'll find that these particular ferals are appropriately hostile and territorial, and will most likely try to kill you without provocation. "

Ven audibly gulped. "Thanks for the heads up…"

-:-

"Piercing bothering you?" Ven asked the mouse after catching him scratching at his ear again.

"Hm? Ah, no!" The Dedenne gave a hesitant smile. "I-I think I just do this whenever I'm nervous…"

Ven couldn't blame him. The Eevee was feeling more and more unsettled the further they went into the forest, jumping every time he heard the snap of a branch, or the rustling of leaves. Thankfully, they hadn't run into any hostile Pokémon yet.

"So… w-what are we supposed to do if we run into any feral Pokémon?" Zack eventually asked.

"I don't know, battle them I guess," Ven replied, as their mentor clearly wasn't willing to answer him. "Like I said, ferals aren't sentient so we won't be able to reason with them or anything."

""F-fight them!?" Zack stammered. "But I don't have any experience with fighting! Ven, I-I don't think I'm ready for this…"

"Calm down Zappy. We can handle it," Ven insisted. He already felt nervous and the Dedenne's whimpering wasn't helping at all. The Eevee looked back and saw Reviak nonchalantly strolling down the path. "Besides, I'm sure the dog will step in if things get too hairy," he added quietly.

Seemingly reassured, the Dedenne quieted down and continued without complaint. The corridor kept narrowing down until Ven felt like the trees were closing in on him, and he sighed with relief when the suffocating passage burst into a spacious clearing. Even better was when Ven looked up towards the canopy, and found dozens of small pink fruit growing from the branches.

"Pecha berries!" Zack happily exclaimed. "Now that wasn't too hard."

At first, Ven had been apprehensive to pluck the fruit. "Are these definitely safe to eat?" he asked, eyeing the berries suspiciously. "Because these trees still look really freaky…"

Reviak gave him an incredibly reassuring answer. "We haven't died yet, have we?"

The Eevee was also worried about how he and his partner, both rather short Pokémon, were going to collect the high-hanging berries; thankfully, they managed to figure out a system. Zack proved to be quite the proficient climber, so the Dedenne would scurry up the trees and knock berries down from the branches, while Ven would gather up the fallen fruit into their bags.

Soon enough, the two harvested all the berries they could find in the clearing. The Eevee did a quick count. "Not bad. We have forty-two pecha berries so far."

"The job request said we needed sixty, right?" Zack reminded him, climbing back down from the branches. "So I guess we have to head deeper into the dungeon to find more…"

"Yeah," Ven agreed, not looking forward traversing the cramped corridors of trees again.

At least things haven't been very difficult so far.

Don't jinx it, idiot.

-:-

As the trio wandered further into to the forest, Ven decided that exploring Mystery Dungeons was incredibly annoying. All the passages looked exactly the same, twisting and turning into countless side passages, dark and cramped and surrounded by unnatural trees. Worst still, it seemed like pecha berries simply refused to spawn in the corridors; the trees making up the makeshift walls were all fallow and fruitless, not a single berry in sight. Ven was grateful that they hadn't run into any hostile ferals yet, since he was feeling too disoriented to fight effectively.

Finally, they managed to reach the end of the corridor, entering a similarly large clearing. They weren't so fortuitous this time, as none of the trees here held any fruit. Strangely, the grassy earth was littered with large clumps of fallen leaves, but Ven was too busy mourning the lack of fruit to notice.

"No fruit…" he sighed simply.

"On the plus side, we've managed to reach the exit," Reviak said, pointing at the largest tree they'd come across so far, its roots slightly uplifted from the earth and making a small passage underground. There was an odd symbol carved into the bark, a large, wonky circle.

"I've been through this dungeon before, and the one constant of Mystery Dungeons is that their entrances always stay in the same place. You can see that someone's marked the tree already."

"So we keep exploring," Ven sighed again, wondering which nearly identical passage to follow this time. "We still need to get more berries before leaving –"

The Eevee suddenly heard a quiet rustling. He narrowed his eyes, spotting a dark shape hiding beneath a pile of leaves.

"What is that?" Zack tilted his head.

Without warning, the figure popped out from its hiding place waddled towards them, briefly going under a beam of light shining through the canopy, revealing a stubby, larval Pokémon about the same size as Zack. It had dark grey skin and a strange, coiled antennae on top of its head.

"Oh, it's just a Burmy!" Zack chuckled as the bagworm crawled closer, now standing between them and the other paths. "The Bagworm Pokémon, average height of 0.2 meters, average weight of 3.4 kilograms. And to think I was scared for a second."

"It still looks pretty mad," Ven noted. The Burmy was growling at them, baring a viciously sharp beak as if to threaten them. "This clearing must be its territory. I think we'll have to fight it if we want to get past it to the other corridors."

Zack's smile disappeared within seconds. "Er… we have to f-fight it?"

"You can't just zap it with your amazing lightning powers, can you?" Ven suggested.

"N-no, sorry. I told you, I don't know how to control my powers," Zack said. "I think that first time I was just acting on instinct…"

"Damn it," Ven sighed. There went the easy way. Thankfully, the Burmy wasn't making any moves to attack them yet, staring at them with twitching amber eyes, which gave Ven time to think. "Alright, since you don't want to fight and you're probably faster than me, how's this? You go in there first –"

"W-what!?"

"–You go in there first and run around the Burmy so it's looking away from me, and then I'll attack it from behind!"

"Oh, so I'll distract it!" Zack said with much more enthusiasm. "I can do that."

"Anything to avoid fighting, huh?" Ven remarked.

Zack gave him an embarrassed grin. "All right, I'm off!"

Ven realized his mistake too late; up until now, he hadn't given much thought to the fact that Zack insisted on walking on his hind legs, chalking it up to his human habits. While the Dedenne had managed this far on two feet, running proved nearly impossible for the natural quadruped. The mouse barely made it three steps before he tripped on nothing in particular, vaulting forward and crashing into the grass directly in front of their opponent. The Burmy gave a shrill cry and Ven noticed that the piles of leaves were rustling. Are there more Burmy hiding there?

Ven's suspicions were confirmed when three more identical bugs jumped out of the leaves, surrounding Zack before he could even get up and circle around the first bagworm.

"V-Ven? What do I do now?" Zack whimpered. "What's the plan?!" Ven felt much less confident about their situation now. No big deal, he told himself. So what if there're four of them? They're still just weak-ass worms, right?

"Never mind planning!" Ven ordered. "Just attack, okay?!"

With the bugs' attention on Zack, the Eevee ran forward unnoticed and managed to headbutt the Burmy nearest to him. "Byaaah!" The bug squealed as it went flying, crashing into a tree with a dull thud.

"O-okay, I'll fight!" Zack declared, apparently inspired by his partner's successful attack. The Dedenne attempted to run towards the first Burmy on his hind legs again, forelegs outstretched in front of him. "Tackle attack!"

Unsurprisingly, the slow-moving bug easily waddled out of Zack's way, and the mouse tripped and landed face first on the ground.

"Zappy, what the hell are you doing?!" Ven cried as the Dedenne spit grass out of his mouth. "Are you trying to attack them or hug them?! And don't go announcing your attacks like that! Why would you want to warn your opponents that you're attacking them?!"

"S-sorry!" The Dedenne apologized frantically, clumsily jumping out of the way as the Burmy tried to snap back at him with its beak.

Can't rely on him to do anything! Ven muttered to himself, running towards a second Burmy.

With speed Ven hadn't expected from a plump worm, the Burmy grabbed an armful of foliage with its multiple appendages and wrapped the material around itself, creating a cocoon of twigs and leaves. The Eevee crashed into the bug and sent it reeling, but the Burmy got back up and brushed itself off immediately, barely fazed by the impact.

"Ven, Burmy use materials from their surroundings to create makeshift cloaks!" Zack yelled, clearly panicking by now. "They're using the leaves to protect themselves, and they'll just make a new cloak as soon as one breaks!"

"Yeah, I figured that out myself already, thanks!" Ven yelled back, frustrated. Defeating these little bugs was proving to be more troublesome than he'd first anticipated. And of course their teacher was doing absolutely nothing to help, leisurely leaning against a tree and watching the show… The Eevee quickly scanned his surroundings and locked on to the Burmy to his left, the only one without a protective cloak. "Gotcha!"

Ignoring the other two bugs, Ven ran towards his target, head poised for another tackle.

Suddenly, the Burmy jumped to the side into another pile of leaves, flailing wildly and kicking up a storm of foliage that quickly obscured the Eevee's vision.

"H-hey!" Ven cried out, trying to shove the leaves away. "Stay still, damn it!"

The Eevee angrily brushed the debris off his face when he felt a searing pain on his right foreleg; another Burmy had latched onto him and was viciously biting into his flesh with its beak. "Ow, ow, ow! Get the hell of me you stupid bug!"

"Ven! Are you okay?!" Zack dashed over and smacked the persistent bug off of him with his tail. The bagworm plopped down onto the soft grass unharmed, its plump face splattered with blood. "Oh my gosh, there's so much blood!"

Ven made the mistake of looking at his foreleg. He almost vomited on the spot once he saw the wound, deep and gushing blood, and he really hoped that wasn't bone peaking through and why was his head spinning so much and –?

The Eevee collapsed onto the damp grass, and the last thing Ven saw before closing his eyes was a Burmy desperately waddling away with his bag of pecha berries in tow. Perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him, but Ven swore the bug actually turned and laughed at him before following its companions into the woods.

…

"Wake up."

Was that Reviak's voice? Frankly, Ven felt too exhausted to care what the Lucario wanted, and was all too happy to let the hazy darkness of unconsciousness wash over him… until he felt something painfully yanking at his tail. Ven's eyes shot open and the Eevee found himself dangling above the ground, Reviak's fist closed around his tail. "Okay, okay, I'm awake! No need to throw a hissy fit!"

The Lucario unceremoniously dropped him down onto the damp grass. "Is this gonna be a regular thing with you, sir?" Ven growled, gingerly licking the large gash on his foreleg. "And why were you so desperate to wake me up? Not like I was going to die."

Reviak reached into Zack's bag of supplies, pulling out an oran berry, a bottle of lime green liquid, and a roll of bandages. "First of rule of exploring Mystery Dungeons. Never lose consciousness within their boundaries." Trying to ignore the pain, Ven watched as the Lucario opened the bottle and dampened the bandages with the liquid. "Lum juice," he explained. "To prevent infection."

"O-ow!" Ven hissed and fought back tears as Reviak wrapped the bandages around his wound, and Zack looked at him with concern.

"You okay?"

"I'm f-fine," the Eevee answered through clenched teeth as Reviak finished his work. The Eevee eagerly ate the oran berry Reviak handed him, which thankfully dulled the pain and cleared his head. "So what's the big deal with losing consciousness here?"

"For whatever reason, Pokémon who lose consciousness inside a dungeon… disappear without a trace. Forever."

"W-what? Seriously?" Zack whimpered. Ven didn't understand why the mouse felt the need to ask when it was clear that Reviak was indeed being serious.

"Occasionally, you'll find unusual objects in dungeons. Wonder orbs, scraps of cloth… All that remains of lost Pokémon."

Maybe it was just the idea of Pokémon disappearing without a trace that disturbed him, but at that moment the Eevee felt a chilling wind that sent shivers down his spine. Ven didn't know why, but the sudden gust put his fur on end. It felt weird; harsh and cold compared to the gentle breezes he'd felt before in the forest. And he clearly wasn't the only one who noticed, as Zack visibly flinched as well.

"Um, so… that fight didn't go so well." The Dedenne sheepishly scratched his ear. "I can't believe we lost to a bunch of Burmy…"

"It was a fluke," Ven said, more to reassure himself than his partner. "It won't happen again."

Reviak quietly snorted.

"What, is there something you want to say, sir?" Ven growled. "And why are you complaining? I thought you were supposed to be teaching us, but you just stood back and did nothing while we got our asses handed to us!"

"I didn't assist you because I thought you would be capable enough to defeat a measly pack of Burmy. Clearly, I was mistaken." The Lucario looked at him coldly. "If you hadn't rushed into the clearing headfirst, you would have noticed that the piles of leaves were nests; it was obvious that there was a swarm waiting to ambush and surround you. It was also obvious that the Burmy were extremely slow, and thus relied on the fallen leaves for camouflage and protection. You had plenty of opportunities to get between them and their supply of leaves, which would have left them defenceless. Instead, you panicked and tried to attack them directly. You were uncoordinated and impulsive. If you can't even defeat a couple of pathetic bagworms your own, how do expect to move up in rank?"

"S-so we lost once! We already told you, we beat a bandit before we even joined the Amber Guild! So that proves we are capable!" Ven tried to ignore how petty and childish his argument sounded.

"Really? Then correct me if I'm wrong in assuming you survived purely thanks to dumb luck.

The words stung like the wound on his foreleg. Ven tried and failed to retort, grudgingly realizing that the Lucario's words, as much as he didn't want to accept them, were true. He and Zack got out of the desert alive thanks to dumb luck, not any sort of skill on his part. Zack's defeating the Tyranitar had been a total fluke, and they would've been Ariados-chow if Chip hadn't save them. But it had been easier on Ven to accredit their survival to himself… it had simply felt better.

"And that's beside the point. You've already failed your job."

"What're you talking about?" Ven grumbled. "Look, we'll just head back into the forest and get some more berries."

"But Ven, we lost the bag…" Zack nervously reminded him. "That Burmy stole it, along with at least dozens of our berries… How would we carry back the pecha berries without it? I mean, you don't even have hands and… Ven, come on, so we failed once, it's not the end of the world or anything…"

The Eevee fought the urge to raise his voice. I thought you were supposed to be on my side! Ven thought bitterly. "Well, we can't just give up like that! We told Fledge that we could handle this mission, right? We'll figure something out. We could dump out the supplies in your other bag and use that, or… or…"

"That wouldn't change anything,"

"And why the hell not?" The Eevee glared up at the Lucario.

"I'm sure both of you felt it, that unnatural breeze," said Reviak. "Something's stirring."

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Ven asked, his anger deflating and making way for fear.

"The second rule of exploring Mystery Dungeons," Reviak said as he got back to his feet, heading for the exit. "Never stay inside one for too long."

"W-why?" Zack stammered as he and Ven followed. "What'll happen then?"

"You'll suffer the same fate as those who lose consciousness. You'll disappear, never to return."

"…What kind of freaking teacher are you!?" Ven angrily exclaimed as he tried to catch up with the swift Lucario, the realization that they'd truly failed their job driving him back over the edge. "You didn't think to teach us any of this before you sent us into the dungeon? How can you complain that we're incompetent when you aren't doing anything to help us improve!?"

Fledge must have mistaken Reviak for some other Lucario, because for the life of him Ven just could not imagine that this stubborn, irascible dog could ever be good with children. The Eevee was too angry to think clearly and was almost hoping that the Lucario, regardless of how bigger or stronger he was, would react to his ranting. He was sorely disappointed, as Reviak just kept walking ahead of them without a word.

"I mean, okay, I get that you're not happy that you were forced to teach us, but that doesn't mean you can just –!"

The Lucario suddenly held up a paw. "Quiet," he ordered. Ven was about to complain further when he noticed Reviak's expression. It was deathly serious, more so than usual, and his face was furrowed with… worry? Unnerved by the uncharacteristic look, the Eevee complied and shut his mouth.

"What's the matter?" Zack whispered.

"There's something wrong," the Lucario muttered. His eyes closed and the appendages dangling from his head shivered. "I can't sense them…"

"H-huh?"

"As I said, the one constant with Mystery Dungeons is that their entrances always stay in the same place. By extension, these entrances always take you to the same location in the outside world. Pecha Grove's exit happens to lead out to a small village."

"So what's the problem?" Zack asked, trembling slightly.

"By now, I should be able to sense the auras of the villagers… Seklar Village has a population of over fifty Pokemon, and yet I can't sense a single soul…" Visibly troubled, the Lucario ran ahead of them and into the opening between the tree roots.

"Hey! Wait up, Reviak!" Zack cried as he ran after Reviak, and Ven struggled to keep up with his injured leg.

-:-

After an exhausting climb through a stuffy, stone tunnel, Ven and Zack found themselves exiting a large stone cavern. The two children blinked at the sight of the blinding sun, and coughed as the familiar dry, heated air of the desert blew sand into their mouths.

"Aw man, back in the desert," Zack said through coughs. "I really didn't miss this place…"

"There's Reviak," Ven said, limping ahead of Zack. "Hey, what's the big idea leaving us behind like th –!"

The Eevee and Dedenne stopped in their tracks as they joined their teacher in front of what must have been Seklar Village.

When Ven agreed to leave Lucidia and join the Alliance, he'd hoped that would be the last time he'd ever have to think about his ruined hometown. But now, days later, the images of smoldering homes and crumbling ruins that were burned into his mind came back to him, clear as crystal.

Seklar Village clearly hadn't been a nice place even before its destruction. The houses were built with unattractive grey stone, and the pathways around town were plain and made of rough cobblestone. But now it looked a hundred times worse; huge chunks of the stone walls were blasted off and the streets were splattered with dry blood. A flock of wild Spearow were pecking about the ruins, scavenging for food. Aside from the arid winds and the birds' twittering, Ven couldn't hear a thing. A once bustling town now completely devoid of life, just like Lucidia…

"What… happened here?" Zack asked anxiously.

"Alliance members pass through this village all the time," Reviak said, talking to himself. "No one reported this incident, so this must have occurred recently."

"And here I thought it was the Alliance's job to protect free Pokémon," Ven muttered under his breath. "Good freaking job with that…"

Abruptly, the Lucario unflinchingly grabbed Ven and Zack, jumping behind the cracked wall of the nearest building. Ven was about to protest when Reviak put a paw up to his mouth, silently telling him to be quiet. The Lucario peeked past the corner, and though he tried to nudge him further back behind the wall, Ven pushed forward to find whatever Reviak was looking at.

Casually strolling through the remains of the town was a completely unfamiliar Pokémon. Tall and slender, with soft green hair and a long flowing cloak trailing behind it. The Pokémon seemed completely unperturbed by town's state of destruction, acting as though it was enjoying a peaceful afternoon walk. Whatever it was, it looked beautiful, and its natural grace immediately reminded Ven of Kyon.

"Who is that?" Zack whispered.

"A Luminary," Reviak answered. "I don't recognize the species, but you can see their disgusting insignia on her arm." Ven assumed he was referring to the ornate gold band wrapped around the Pokémon's right arm, which had a symbol of an eye carved into it. So that Pokémon was a member of the fabled Luminaries? After hearing so many horrible stories about the tyrants, Ven was finally seeing one with his own eyes. Perhaps it was just his injury, but Ven's legs were shaking, and he willed himself to keep still.

"What in the name of Arceus is a Luminary doing here?" Reviak quietly growled.

"Hang on, that Pokémon's a Pyschic-type, isn't she?" Ven whispered nervously. "Can't she just sense where we are, like you can with aura?"

"Mind-reading is not the same as aura-reading," Reviak answered, keeping his eyes on the newcomer. "For the most part, I can sense a Pokémon's aura and emotions over long distances. A psychic needs to be in close proximity to another Pokémon to enter their mind, and eye-contact is essential. Keep quiet and she won't notice us…"

"But that's a Gardevoir!" Zack urgently whispered. "The Embrace Pokémon! It can emulate the abilities of an aura user and sense the emotions of other Pokémon. Not as precisely as you can, Reviak, but she should still be able to sense us!"

"The rodent is correct. I know you are there." Ven jumped as the Gardevoir directly referred to them. She spoke in a stilted and awkward manner unbefitting her elegant appearance, almost like she wasn't used to speaking. Reviak cursed under his breath. "Come out with any and all appendages capable of bodily harm raised in the air, and I will avoid killing you on the spot."