It was a quiet place, even up from here. With such a high vantage point, I could point out many features of the village. I was able to see the housing district in the northwest part, which was connected by a pathway to the square. Kangaskan Cafe, Kecleon Shop, the Serene School, Hawlucha's Slam School, and the pier. I could also catch that one ominous tree stump that led to where that Solosis was. It appeared to be cracked open slightly.
Carefully, I make my way down the large hill, following the yellow dirt path. I walked past the large tree that overlooked the hill, and continued down the pathway. I held my stick in a deathgrip, and tucked my earbuds into my pocket along with my MP3. I turned my phone flashlight off, and tucked it away in my bag in the storage pocket. With each step, I come closer to the south entrance of the village-which was one of two, anyway.
And then, I see them.
I duck behind a bush as to not be seen, even if I was still quite far away. I was on that hill with the tree where you and your partner always meet in the game, and I had a view of the whole town. But that wasn't what got me. The door to the Solosis stump thing was wide open, and four figures were standing in front of it.
First was Deerling-the friend of the protagonist. She was in her spring form, and was standing bravely with a slightly wavered expression.
Next was Goomy-friend of the protagonist and-I think-had the hots for Deerling. The two were good friends and always hung out together, and Deerling even went to rescue Goomy when he was lost in the school's forest.
Thirdly was Espurr-the odd ball. She was friends with the protagonist and the partner Pokemon, and was used mostly for communication purposes.
Fourthly-and oddly-was a Vulpix. Not normally available as a partner or selectable character in this universe, I did wonder why she was here. But, I guess it was only her since I was the human already. Yet, still, some things must have had to change for things to come to this-a human being stuck in the Mystery Dungeon world as a fucking human. Not much else to work with.
There was no fifth Pokemon-which I guessed was supposed to be me. The four seemed to converse for a second, before descending into the stump. All fell silent, and I stood back up and backed out of the bush I was hiding in. I played around with the situation in my head: Down there, a Solosis and his Litwick friends had Pancham and Shelmet hostage. Yet, the Solosis was disguised as a Giratina, and was pretty tough. And without a fifth member, who the hell knew what was going to happen. Yet, if I did go, what could I do? All I had was a stick to fight with, and that wouldn't be much help against a beast like that. But...
...an odd feeling in my soul pulled me towards the location. It was as if something was telling me to go in and fight, to assist the school kids. So, I complied. I trotted down the hill, and approached the hollowed stump wearily. I reached the bottom of the hill and to the entrance of town, and crossed the bridge that led to the small island. I stood strong in front of the now opened purple door, gripping my stick with a grip so hard my entire hand turned white. I took a small breath, adjusted my backpack straps, and stepped foot into the stump.
Upon spawning into the dungeon known as the Ancient Barrow, I took it upon myself to draw my stick in an offensive position, and prepared myself for the worst. The walls were made of a strange dark yellow rock, with black layering on top of it. The floor was of a solid rock with the same coloration, only there was some swirl patterns and patches of flowers growing among the cracks. The room itself was lit by these strange, luminescent flowers, sparkling as bright as the light on a fan. I completely forgot what Pokemon ran rampant in this dungeon, but I did know that any Pokemon encounter was a sign of trouble. But I didn't worry, and simply ran into the nearest room. They would fall to my stick, and I wouldn't let them persevere.
The first encounter was a Koffing, which saw me and spat out a ball of purple acid towards my general direction, fizzling and hissing as soon as it touched the ground. At the speed I was running, it was easy for me to fall into the puddle since it was so close to my position-and in a panic, I took a staggering leap with twisted feet, falling to the ground with a small 'oof!'. But, I pushed myself back up and slashed violently at the Koffing, dealing a solid 32 points of damage. I then followed up by switching my stick to my left hand and decking the poisonous Pokemon across the face with my right, knocking it out without a second to spare. Thankfully, no other enemies were in this room, so I was able to move on without bothering to recuperate. Gotta just speed through. Works in the games, should work here.
"I need some music to make my way through this." I mutter, pulling out my MP3 and scrolling through the options. I slip my earbuds into my ears and cycle through the list of songs I have saved, eventually coming to a stop at a remix of the Ho-Oh theme from Pokemon HGSS. With a shrug, I turn the track on and slip my MP3 back into my pocket, adjusting my backpack straps before moving on to the next room as the beats flowed into my ears. Lucky for me, the next room I came across held the stairs, and it only took for me to brush my fingertips along the smooth wooden texture for me to be warped up to the next floor. The same tactic was repeated for me over and over-rush into a room and bash my way through, just use brute force. And for now, it seemed to be working-barely any Pokemon was able to lay an ounce of damage upon me, but I did get scratched along the arm by a Zubat's Wing Attack.
Eventually, my wanders have taken me up to floor number 6, where I instantly heard action in another room from where I spawned. Letting my ears guide me, after pausing my tunes, I found that the room in question was around a corner, and the culprits? Goomy, Vulpix, Deerling, and Espurr were in a tough fight against another Pokemon I couldn't see.
"Shit." I curse, ducking behind a curve in the wall so I could peek out while not being seen. I watch as Goomy was flung into a wall, his slimy body splatting onto the wall from a vicious attack from a Garbodor. They're in this dungeon? I thought with curiosity, not recalling encountering one in my playthrough. Looking closer, Deerling didn't look to good either, while Espurr and Vulpix were fighting back with vigor. The Garbodor finally fell to the ground with a loud thump, not being able to withstand Espurr's Confusion attack.
"Goomy!" Deerling said, running with a slight limp over to her fallen friend. "Do we have any more reviver seeds?" Her expression was one of panic, concern, and a special kind of protection, glimmering in her amber orbs. If I didn't know better, I would think that Deerling and Goomy caught feelings for one another.
Vulpix searched through her bag, before sighing. "No. He is defeated. We'll have to carry him out or use an Escape Orb." Her voice was like a female teenager, giving me the hint that it was a female. Deerling let out a small sniffle. It broke my heart to see them like this, all worn down. Then, I remembered. Being as quiet as I can, I reached a hand into the water bottle pocket and grabbed my seed. Maybe... I thought, just praying this was a reviver seed. Taking a small breath, I throw the seed as hard as I could towards the group before ducking back around my rocky protection, hoping that I was fast enough and threw far enough.
Pak-pak-pak.
Vulpix, Deerling, and Espurr snapped around, ready to fight, until they saw a seed slide over to them. Taking caution, Vulpix took small steps towards the seed, before brightening. "It's a reviver seed."
Deerling and Espurr were surprised. "Where did it come from?" Espurr asked, her voice slightly echoey. Vulpix shrugged. "I don't know, but just be glad whoever got it-or whatever got it-managed to get it to us. Unless it just fell out of the sky." Vulpix joked, before picking up the seed in her mouth. She walked over to Goomy, and dropped the seed on the ground before using a paw to slide it into Goomy's mouth. At first, nothing happened. Then, his body began to twitch, before his eyes opened slightly.
"Ow, my head..." Goomy drawled. His voice was slightly garbled, kinda like he had a mouthful of water, and seemed to be pretty young. Deerling brightened, and nuzzled the pile of goo happily.
"Goomy, you're okay. Don't scare me like that." Deerling scolded slightly. Goomy chuckled, and rose his form back up.
"Thanks guys." Goomy said. "Now let's keep going." The four nodded, and decided to go down a path left. Vulpix paused, before looking around. Probably for who gave them the seed. "Thank you..." She whispered, before hurrying after the others. I took the time to stand up and head into the same room the four were just at. I took a spare glance at the fallen Garbodor, but didn't give it much initiative and followed after the group. Turns out, the same path led to another room with no other exits, and that room hosted the stairs. I reached over, and brushed my thumb across the wooden structure, teleporting to the next floor.