Chapter -19: Captivating Curiosity

Some Time Later on the Road...

The slow pace of our traveling became boring to me after a while. Sometimes, I slowed down on purpose so that I could "catch up" with a short burst of speed. Sadly, even those moments became too boring for me.

I asked Patra, "You sure you don't want me to just carry you to the village?"

"Yes I'm sure. VERY sure!" she growled through her teeth.

"But it wouldn't last too long and it would be way faster," I explained.

"I said no! What part of that word do you not understand?"

"All this walking is so boring!" I groaned while looking up, "Why can't we run or swing on the trees at least?"

The Shinx only made a sarcastic laugh, "Ha ha aha ha, ha, HA!" We stopped as the kitten continued. "First, not everybody wants to run all the time." She then waved her front paws, "Secondly jungle boy, I have no hands."

I pointed at said paws, "Those are hands!"

"They're paws genius," Patra elaborated while returning to a normal stance, "I can't grab vines very well."

Once more I tried to persuade. "You could just ride on my back you know."

"No!" she said adamantly.

I looked up at the sky, it was late-daylight now. "It's gonna get dark soon."

"Not much we can do about that, but keep moving," Patra said, "Of course, you could just go home."

The Shinx began to walk away as I explained, "I said I would come with you. To think a mystery dungeon is nearby and we're taking a boring road."

The kitten stopped after hearing this and turned back to me. "Hold up. What did you say?"

"We're taking a boring road," I repeated

The Shinx shook her head. "No, before that."

I blinked. "...There's a mystery dungeon nearby."

Patra then smiled to herself before asking, "Where is that dungeon?"

In response, I pointed in the south-eastern direction toward a small set of mountains.

- o - o -

Seeing the mountains, the Shinx pondered for a second before saying, "That's...in the direction of the village."

I was a bit shocked to hear that.

She turned towards me, "I don't remember anyone mentioning a dungeon. Not there."

I scratched my head. "Well, it's kind of hidden…"

"How do you know about it?" Patra asked.

"Uncle Zarude and I occasionally went there when I was younger."

"You sure about it?"

I turned to the kitten. "I remember using this road plenty of times; I wouldn't forget it."

The Shinx then smiled before spouting some unexpected words, "Take me to this mystery dungeon."

"Huh?"

"Let's go to the mystery dungeon," she declared confidently.

I stuttered for a bit before Patra pressed further. "It's not dangerous, is it?"

"Uhh I don't think so. Just a few Rock and Ground-Types we can avoid."

Patra shurgged. "Good enough. Let's go." She began to walk toward the mountains.

"I guess you're right-...hold on, what?" I turned to the Shinx, who was hardly listening at this point.

Patra glanced at me with a bold smirk. "We'll be fine! You're bored, aren't you?"

I shrugged.

"Then let's go already," the Shinx said, "You seem well-equipped for the job anyways. Plus, it can serve as a nice shortcut to the village."

After a few moments, I smirked and nodded. And so, we then ventured to the mountain range where our shortcut awaited us.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Northern Freedom Mountain Range

Old Entrance:

Using an old road, we reached a small shaded entrance area that led to the mountains. The plant life on both sides of the road were untrimmed and thus greatly obscured much of the path. The dirt was barely visible as a result. Despite the hot and humid air, the wind roared through the range, whistling in our ears in the process.

"A bit of an ugly road," Patra commented, "You sure this leads to a mystery dungeon?"

While things changed quite a bit, I still recognized the area. The two of us faced a wall of rock with a narrow and shaded corridor. The dungeon entrance itself had an intact, albeit broken, stone archway that bridged the gap between the walls.

I replied, "Yeah, this is definitely the place. Sure, the place got a bit messy, but it's just been a little while that's all."

Patra peered at one of the nearby stone pillars as a piece of it fell to the ground. "A little while huh."

I chuckled nervously. "Hehe, I guess some cleanup is in order. But that's for another time."

Patra sighed before approaching me with a question, "Say, you mentioned this Uncle Zarude of yours. Who's that?"

I turned to the Shinx. I was about to gladly answer when a thought popped into my head, ("Wait, she can't know legendaries exist, but she already knows I exist. What do I do? I can't just tell her. Then again, I'm not quite a mythical yet and she doesn't know what a Zarude is. Soooo...I'll just say we're rare. Yeah, that'll work. That way, it's not saying Zarude and I are legendary kind of...I hope.")

The Shinx gave me an impatient look as she waited for an answer.

I smiled awkwardly before replying, "Well, he's Zarude. We're kind of our own species. Rare ones you don't really see in these parts." I chuckled while scratching my head, hoping that my response would satisfy her.

Patra bit her lip and raised a brow. She stared me down with honest suspicion. After moments of silence, the kitten finally asked, "Is your 'uncle' by chance another yellow cat?"

Relief came over me as I laughed, "Ha! Haha! N-No! He's a...more like uh…" I decided to imitate his posture; I slouched over into a crouching stance with my hands on the ground. "...Uh Like this?" Maintaining the posture was something my legs hated to do.

Patra's uneasy stare only added to my embarrassment. "So...like umm, an Infernape?"

I had no idea what an Infernape was at the time, but I played along. I pointed at her, "Yes! Like that...whatever that is." My legs began to shake.

Patra sighed before noticing I was still holding the pose. "Ummm, you can stop now."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed as my knees gave out. I wasn't sure if she understood, but she didn't press any further.

After that short exchange, we entered the corridor.

Northern Freedom Mountain Range:

Lower Canyon

We both experienced a brief feeling of weightlessness before landing in the maze. The floor was rocky, but also a tad slippery with moss in some spots. The air remained relatively the same as outside, though perhaps a bit more dusty. The air still whistled from the mountains and cliffs that towered over the entire maze. The area around also featured plenty of shaded spots as a result of the massive walls.

It was clear to the both of us that it would be bad news if we stuck around for too long. And so began our speedy trek through the area.

For this first floor, we got a bit lucky to find the stairs after a couple of hallways. We even found a few berries along the way too.

A Couple Floors Later...

We stumbled across a few items in one of the rooms we entered. Patra dashed for the items in excitement only to trip onto a Pokemon trap. In an instant, the items transformed into dungeon ferals. Two Pidgeys and a Geodude were ready to attack us.

"Not again," I groaned as I ran to aid the Shinx.

I offered my hand to Patra before she pushed it away. She then got up herself. "Okay, that's new to me."

"Gotta watch out for traps," I said.

The Shinx scowled. "Could have said that earlier."

I scratched my head while staring at the Geodude. "Well, I did now. Uhhh I'll go get the Geodude."

The kitten turned toward me as I ran, "Wait, wha-"

The noise of the Shinx's other words never reached my ears as I prepared one of my vines. I jumped and twirled my arm, allowing the vine on it to release itself. With one swing of my arm, energy channeled through the vine as it whacked the Geodude, creating a super effective hit that sent it to a nearby wall.

Turning my head, I checked on Patra, who was dodging the attacks of a feral Pidgey. ("Wait, where's the other-") My thoughts were cut off by a Gust attack. The miniature vortex spun me as it lifted me off the ground. I felt the weight of the bird on my back as it sent me into the wall with a Tackle.

- o - o -

I heard Patra shouting, "Just use an Electric-Type attack!" as I got up. The Pidgey pecked mockingly at the back of my head as I took a glance at Patra's situation.

The Shinx jumped onto the other Pidgey with her spark-covered body, most likely a standard Spark attack. With crackling thud, she basically crushed the wild pokemon with ease. She then stood over the knocked-out Pidgey and stared at me. She didn't take action to help me. Instead, she just gave a judgemental look. She might as well have been saying, "Why are you making this harder on yourself?"

While giving an unamused stare back at the Shinx, I Power-Up Punched the Pidgey out of the air before it could peck me again. Patra flinched from the sound of my attack, but still stood her ground, wondering what I was going to do next. I peered over at the Geodude that was now picking itself up. I ran away from the wall before charging a vine up.

Giving no chance to the Geodude, I quickly wrapped the vine around it from a distamce. With all my strength, I pulled the Rock-Type around in a circle until the rock lifted from the ground. Before long, I slammed the feral onto the ground before spinning again. And then again and again and again, slowly making my ways toward the downed Pidgey until the Rock-Type's hard shell began to crack.

Once in position, I spun several times before finally slamming the Geodude into the Pidgey, knocking both them out with the force of the impact. Afterwards, I took a moment to catch my breath. My arms were a bit shaky.

"Th-That's...one way to do it," Patra stammered with a hint of surprise.

- o - o -

I crossed my arms and glared at her with an irritated expression.

Patra rolled her eyes. "I'm just asking, why didn't you use your electricity?"

I pouted and groaned. I begrudgingly spoke through my gritted teeth, "I don't have any." My answer baffled the Shinx. "If I did, you would be seeing a lot more sparks from me."

Patra's mouth remained open as she squinted her eyes. "I...can't believe what I'm hearing! Ahahaha!" The Shinx laughed for a short bit before continuing. "Ha ha...and how old are you?"

I turned away and answered, "...Nine...Uncle Zarude says I'm basically nine."

My response only made the kitten laugh harder.

I dropped my arms knowing I apparently embarrassed myself more.

Patra indulged in her sense of humor for a long while. Until I had enough. "Are you done yet? If so, can we leave?" I pointed to the fallen ferals. "Preferably before those guys wake up?"

The Electric-Type finally calmed down after a few moments, "Ah hah...okay okay..."

With that, we ventured on.

Northern Freedom Mountain Range:

Eastern Cliffs

After a couple of uneventful floors, we found ourselves on the ridge of a canyon wall. A glance in the southern direction showed us Lime Mountain in its unimpressive splendor, complete with its forest covered peak. Now that we were out of the canyon forests, the dust-coated wind was more pronounced than ever. The whistling was even louder now that we were well above the area's trees.

I thought to myself as I hiked, ("Freedom Mountain Range huh...Well, I'm kind of free, but not from this annoying wind here.")

Patra on the other hand, wasn't distracted by the wind at all. Rather, she was taking in all of the sights around us with excitement.

The look on her face had this...joy that made me smile a bit.

The Shinx jumped with glee. "This. is. Awesome!" She proceeded to point her paw around. "Those trees look so small from here! A-and look at those mountains there! Haha! They look ripe with adventure just waiting to happen! They look like interesting places, don't you think?" She then turned to me eagerly.

I was a bit stunned by how fast Patra changed her attitude toward me. "I-I guess." I replied.

The Shinx's head drooped.

In a panic, I clarified, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to be that uh, expressive around me."

Patra gritted her teeth. "Uhhh, d-don't think this changes much, but know that even I have a heart. If you can't take the time to appreciate the sights, there's something very wrong with you. It's uh...one of the best treasures of adventuring"

I didn't know what to think at the time. The peer pressure was too much, so I made an attempt to "appreciate the sights." I pointed toward the big mountain, "Uhh that one! That mountain! What was it...uh Lee...no, Lime! Lime Mountain looks good!"

Patra shot a confused look toward me with the following comment, "For your sake, I'd keep the comments to yourself if I were you."

Dejected, I bent over and let my arms hang limply. "...ohh...But-"

"Hey...uh no need to be sad," the Shinx stated in a fluster, "You just need some practice. Umm why don't we get going now?"

With that, we continued on the path. I was enjoying my time with Patra, but it was pretty hard to tell what her deal was. I mean one minute she's a reckless, cocky go-getter with no real sense of self-preservation and brutal honesty. And then in the next moment, she's all of a sudden encouraging and awkward. It made me wonder if commoners were always this inconsistent.

At the time, there wasn't much of a wonder why Zarude didn't want me around these folk. They had a very confusing way of making friends if this Shix was anything to go by.

After a while, we entered a nearby cave and the next part of the dungeon.

Northern Freedom Mountain Range:

Eastern Cave System

The darkness in those caves made it difficult to see each other from a distance, not to mention the cold and stale air. I didn't know how to describe it at the time, but I can say it felt like a cold empty tomb, save for the occasional Noibat.

I thought we could use Patra's glowing ability to light the way, but when I asked she just gave me a frown before saying, "I'm sorry. Last I checked, I'm me! Not your personal lantern!"

So we had to make due with the dim light reflected from...well anything our eyes could see. Eventually, we came across a lucky find on the second floor.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

In one of the smaller rooms were two small gems, an orange one and a yellow one.

The gems immediately caught Patra's greedy little eyes as she rushed in and grabbed both of them. Thankfully, nothing else was around, so I let the Shinx celebrate for a bit.

"Jewels, I'm rich!" she declared, "What a find! Hahaha!"

"Lucky is right," I commented, "...but what do you mean by rich?"

My question caused the kitten's jaw to drop in disbelief. "Oh my gosh…'What do you mean by rich?' I mean lots of money! Haven't you ever heard of that?!"

My silence and side glances answered for me.

Patra sighed, "Wow, just wow."

- o - o -

To change the subject, I casually strolled toward her while shrugging. "I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds good. Either way, you found two Emeras."

Patra held the jewels close to herself with a serious expression. "Oh no no no no nonononono no! Knowing your clumsy butt, you'll probably break them."

She wasn't wrong in a way. I scratched my cheek. "Well I mean-"

The Shinx interrogated me. "So, what are these...Emeras?"

I scratched my head. "That's something a little complicated."

"Just spill it," she demanded.

She asked for it, so I indulged her curiosity. "Okay, Emeras are these jewels you can find in dungeons. And yeah, they're pretty. But, you can use them to power yourself up for a little while, as long as you're in the dungeon anyways."

Patra made a brief glance at the gems before asking, "Cooool, so these look great and power you up? How do they work?"

I crossed my arms. "Well ummm…"

"What?" she said, tilting her head.

"Maybe it's better to show you, can you hand the yellow one over?" I held my hand up expectantly.

"...Suuuure," Patra said reluctantly, handing over the yellow Emera and bagging the other one.

I held out the emera in front of the Shinx. "Okay, in order to access the power…" I then clapped my hands together and crushed the jewel. Within seconds, the jewel's energy invigorated me; I felt physically stronger. "You crush it against yourself! Just don't inhale the dust."

I glanced at Patra, who was now giving a shocked and disturbed look. Noticing this, I checked on the Shinx, "Uhhh, Patra?"

- o - o -

The Shinx's expression contorted into a glare of wrath, complete with an unnerving hiss and grinding teeth.

In blinking moments, Patra pulled out a set of rocks before shouting, "You idiot!" She then started tossing rocks in rapid succession at me. As I got pelted, the kitten furiously rambled, "That right there! That is exactly why I didn't want to trust you with those jewels! Do you have no concept of value?!"

I stumbled backwards. "H-Hey! Can you let me finish- Ouch!" I dropped onto the ground after getting hit on the head; the rocks stopped coming after that.

I noticed Patra had put away the rocks in a huff. "You better have a good reason for doing that. Tell me right now or so help me, I'll feed you to the next Onix we see!"

I picked myself up. "I...don't think there were any Onix the last time I came here."

Patra's face was red with fury. "Hah! That didn't stop the changes back at the gate now did it? I'll find one! And I'll drag you to it if I have to! Now tell me!"

I dusted myself off before continuing. "As I was saying, crushing an Emera with your body allows the power within to flow through you."

The Shinx rubbed her head in disbelief. "That seems like such a waste though."

"Well they can't be taken out of dungeons, " I stated while shaking my head, "It's use them or lose them."

Patra shook her head and laughed. "Ha haha ha! That makes no sense."

"But it's true though. I tried taking a few out once and they all turned to regular old dust when I left the dungeon. Left me sneezing for weeks when it happened." I pointed to her. "If we find another, I'll prove it to you."

"If we find another one," Patra scoffed.

I turned away and sighed. "Ehhh, you might prove it to yourself at this rate." The back of my head got hit by yet another rock.

"Ha ha! Like that's going to happen, come on!" The Shinx then walked out of the room ahead of me.

I shrugged and muttered to myself, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

A Couple of Floors Later…

After several corridors, we came across a room of treasure. I instinctively held my arm in front of Patra, expecting her to make a run for the treasure. Her head touched my arm, which pretty much confirmed my assumption.

"Ha ha, no. We're aren't making that mistake again," I stated. I placed myself in a ready stance while looking around the room. There were no visible ferals from what I could tell. With this in mind, I boldly said to Patra, "Watch and learn."

I took several steps to the left with moderate success. No traps were triggered. I made a small smirk before going further into the room. The next step made a click. "Uh oh" were my last words before I was suddenly hurled into the air by a Catapult Trap. After soaring for a short distance toward the items, I landed on my gut. To Patra's shock, the impact triggered yet another trap, a Pokemon Trap.

- o - o -

The five items surrounding me became a pack of Rockruffs. "Seriously?" I groaned.

I then heard Patra's voice sound out in a mocking tone, "Watch and learn, he says!"

There was no time to think as a couple of the pups tried to bite me. After quickly rolling away, I frantically peered over and saw Patra tossing some more rocks at a couple of the Rockruffs. "Come on mutts! You know you want some. You eat cats like me for breakfast."

I appreciated the effort for making my fight a little easier, but I still doubted her ability to fight the ferals. "Quick! Use your Emera Patra!" I shouted to her.

"Seriously? Now of all times?!" she snapped back while tossing another rock.

A bark sounded out.

I promptly rolled to the side and back onto my feet. A quick glance was all it took to know that one of the pups tried to tackle me.

"Your jewel is orange!" I shouted before jumping over another Tackle attack. "Using it will increase your defenses!"

I then yelped in pain after sharp pain struck my tail. A strong force tugged on my back, forcing me off my feet.

Two of the pups were biting on my tail and dragging me backwards.

Another Rockruff hopped a bit before eagerly charging at me with a bite.

Out of fear for my neck, I kicked my right foot at the mutt's mouth. The blow sent it back a fair amount of yelping distance.

It was at that moment, I remembered, ("Oh right I used that emera. Yellow boost strength!") I planted my left foot into the dirt and pulled on my tail.

The two pups growled before pulling and biting even harder.

Much to my pain, I spun around and lifted both mutts in the air. Those two biters were flailing their legs just before I slammed them onto the Rockruff I kicked earlier. I didn't knock them out, but I did deal some damage.

Catching my breath, I briefly glanced toward Patra, who was having some trouble of her own.

Her Thundershocks were barely working at all against the two pups she was facing. The sparks only made them flinch as they bounced off.

Patra was out of rocks to throw by the look of things. And just when the situation couldn't get any worse, she ran toward the corner.

"Darn it!" I shouted to Patra, "Just use the Emera!"

"Hah hah...F-Fight your own battle!" the Shinx shouted back.

- o - o -

Growls and grunts made by the Rockruff trio nearby forced an abrupt end to the argument.

I readied the vines on my wrists just as the pack began to rush toward me. Though a bit roughed up, I had to strike fast. So I inhaled a deep breath just as the mutts all leaped toward me.

In response to the trio's attempt to pile on top of me, I used a Snarl to blow them all into the air.

The energy expelled charged my vines and I felt time slow down a bit. Maybe it was the sensation of battle-time, where blink-moment decisions and actions seem to occur in slow motion. Regardless, I struck one pup with a crack from one of my vines and then did the same for another.

Time began to speed up again as I ran toward the last mutt and gave a Power-Up Punch to its jaw. With an audible crack, the little guy tumbled a short distance.

All three of the ferals seemed to be knocked out, that much was a relief. However, the other two were still on my mind. I then heard the sound of glass breaking followed by a wind-like whistle. Only one type of action I knew was associated with that series of sounds. Patra used the Emera at last.

Without another moment of hesitation, I ran toward where Patra was to find one of the pups on the ground. The other one was in the middle of tumbling Patra like a rough boulder.

One of my Quick Attacks were enough to close in and kick the blasted Rock-Type away.

I briefly glanced at Patra, who didn't seem too bruised from the attacks she suffered. With that, I then stepped toward the pup and lashed out with a flurry of strikes with my vines.

Sure, I wasn't exactly well-practiced with vines when it came to multiple strikes. So, the vine-whipping was basically me waving my arms erratically without any real technique.

Regardless of the multiple whiffs, I managed to deal enough damage to knockout the pup. After a moment of waiting, I heard a whimper from behind.

- o - o

A Rockruff, the one I thought Patra knocked out, managed to stand up.

In my heavy-breathing state of fear, I ran toward the limping Rock-Type and tossed it into the air with one of my vines. I lashed the vines at it as much as I could, despite the yowling.

The numerous blows hardly did much as I could barely feel my arms. So, I opted to at least push it away with another Power-Up Punch, but...there wasn't enough energy to even pull that off.

Even in my weary state, I couldn't forget the expression that pup gave to me just before I struck, a look of genuine fear. It left me bewildered.

Regardless, the expression was enough to make me pull my punch even more.

The blow to its belly sent the Rockruff a much shorter distance than intended.

I was exhausted and confused. I couldn't move and honestly thought I was done for.

Yet, the pup didn't do anything. It just stared back for a moment before sprinting into the corridor behind it.

Reflecting on it years later, I think some seeds of consciousness were planted into that feral. It's hard to really guess for sure though. After all, it was a blinking-moment for me.

- o - o -

Seeing the pup leave, I placed my hands onto my knees. My breathing was heavy and my arms felt more sore than ever that day. "Th-...Thank goodness that's over," I muttered. My knees buckled afterwards. My arms drooped, rendering me basically defenseless.

I heard Patra's voice, which had a hint of genuine concern, "Hey! Are you okay?"

I weakly asked her, "C-Can you give me an Oran...please?"

The Shinx nodded without a word of hesitation and pulled an Oran from her bag. There was no indication of sarcasm or anything consistent from that bravado of hers. Maybe it was because of the way I looked at her, but I was glad that even she knew I was in a rough condition and needed help.

I shakily lifted my arm and she dropped the berry onto my hand. I found myself unable to close my fist as quickly as I wanted; as a result, I ended up dropping the berry onto the ground. I groaned, "Aww nooo."

"Hold up," Patra said, "Just open your mouth okay?" She picked up the berry and shoved it into my mouth.

As I chewed the Oran, feeling in my limbs returned. My breathing steadied itself as I stood up, now slightly refreshed. "Thanks. I really needed that."

"What happened?" Patra asked.

In an attempt to change the topic, I responded, "I got a little tuckered out, but are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks to the emera," she replied.

I took a brief look at my now-roughed up tail before asking the kitten, "So, how was it? Did you like that surge of power you got?"

The Shinx shrugged. "Ehhh, it felt weird and not like electric power. Probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't too busy being that mutt's chew toy."

I dropped my tail and grabbed my wrist. "Could have been worse, that's why I let you have the orange emera. Those increase the body's defenses against the tackle after all."

Patra sighed, "I guess you're right and-" The Shinx stopped herself before glaring at me once more. "Don't you distract me, what happened? You were super exhausted a moment ago."

I began winding up my vines as I replied, "It's as I said, I got tired out that's all." Once I finished, I stated to her, "It happens when...when I use Techs?"

Patra shook her head in disbelief, "Techs? Like moves? I don't get it?"

I noticed that the other pups were stirring as Patra rambled on about her concerns. I interjected, "Stop now!"

"No! not until-"

I pointed toward ferals. "Can we move now before those ferals wake up?"

"Grrr...fine!" the kitten stated, "but talk now!"

We promptly entered a nearby corridor and continued our trek.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

As I led Patra through the hall, she asked me, "Well? Are we talking or what?"

I begrudgingly replied, "I told you. It was my Techs that ended up draining me."

The kitten stammered in confusion for a moment. "Gh! I Wha-...What Techs? What even is a Tech?"

In annoyance, I held my right wrist and pointed at the vine. "This is what I'm talking about."

"Ummm...are you saying those vines are doing something to you?" Patra guessed.

I couldn't believe she was actually asking such a ridiculous question; she probably didn't either to be honest. I started backpedaling in order to explain to her. "No! Techs are like moves, but not. Think of it like using those rocks, only without an item."

"You sure it's not just a move you're bad at using?" the kitten sneered skeptically.

"Look," I explained, "I have four moves and you've seen three of them at least. The fourth is Fake Out."

"That seems redundant," Patra remarked.

"Not the point." I said as I pouted. I then unwound the vine and showed it the Shinx. "These vines here are just regular vines I found in the Jungle. See?"

"I can see that, just get on with it" Patra said while waving the vine away.

After rewinding the vine, I finally said to her, "These vines are not part of me or any of my moves. I just use them to basically...use Vine Whip."

"That's impossible," Patra scoffed, "Electric-Types can't use Vine Whip. That's a...Grass-Type thing."

I stopped and stomped my foot. "But you saw it! What do you call those strikes?"

The Shinx stopped before saying. "Simple, using an item."

I looked up and rasped. ("Seriously?! Is it really that hard to understand Techs are completely different?") "Fine! Think of the 'item' as a Tech," I explained with a scowl, "By charging it with energy, I can use an attack that is kind of Grass-Type." I looked down and sighed. "...but, whenever I use them, I tire out faster, even faster than moves I can actually use. You saw that at least. So..."

- o - o -

Patra held up a puzzled and confused stare. I could tell she was having a difficult time processing this. Eventually, she shook her head before saying, "Wait a moment, Galvan. You're telling me that you found a way to break the rules...and you don't even know how to make a spark?"

My eyes darted left and right before I replied with an awkward smile and shrug, "It's not just me, but...yeah?"

Patra paced across the hall while stammering in disbelief. This went on for a few short moments until finally, "I- I can't believe what I'm hearing! You have to be a Grass-Type. There's no other way to explain it."

"Grrr! What in 'I can use vines' don't you understand?" I interrogated, "Uncle Zarude-"

"Everything!" the Shinx hissed, " You're not explaining everything! It's always 'I just do it' and Uncle Zarude this. Uncle Zarude that."

"Look, why don't we just agree to talk more about it after we get out?" I suggested.

The Shinx remained silent with a distrusting scowl.

I took a deep breath and exhaled for several long moments. Finally, I said to her, "Let's just get out of here now, okay?"

Patra rolled her eyes and walked past me. We continued on our way through the floor.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

We eventually came across the stairs as well as a purple Emera.

I gestured toward the jewel. "Hey look! Another Emera and right on time too." Both of us saw a light shining from the set of stairs. "Well, might as well show this while I'm at it."

I went over and grabbed the Emera. I then waved the jewel in front of Patra. "Watch this once we're out, okay?"

The Shinx grumbled. "J-Just, fine! Whatever, just… go already!" She pushed her way past me.

With those instructions said, we climbed up the stairs.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Northern Freedom Mountain Range:

North-Eastern Trails

After a moment, we found ourselves in a dark cave with only a light-covered exit ahead. Upon using this exit, we were greeted with the sight of a large forest. Just after, a whistling suddenly sounded out from the Emera I still held in my hand.

The two of us watched as the Emera crumbled into dust in my hands. The whistle lowered its pitch as the remains lost their color. Eventually, the whistle could no longer be heard by either of us and the remains looked no different than the dust of the earth.

Patra spoke up, "The Emera, it-"

"Ashed itself," I explained, "Happens when an Emera leaves its home. Becomes no different than...well, dirty dust." I dropped the ashes from my hand and the wind blew it all off into the distance.

After cleaning my hand, I made a comment. "I sure hope we're in the right place. I'm guessing your little village should be somewhere forward, right?"

The Shinx gazed at the area around us with a hint of uncertainty. "I guess so. I know it's deep in a forest." Those facts didn't help much since there was forest everywhere. We both needed more information.

I said to the Shinx, "There's forest everywhere down there. Is there anything else that can give us a hint?"

Patra hummed for a while before she had an epiphany. "I remember my papa telling me that the village is pretty close to a pair of mountains."

"Which ones?" I asked, shrugging.

Patra patted her forehead with the back of her paw. "..errrr… south of the most eastern mountain I think..."

I sighed before spotting a nearby boulder several paces south of the entrance. I turned to Patra before pointing toward the rock. "Stay near that boulder, I'll be right back."

After the kitten nodded to me in confirmation, I jogged toward the forest.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

Once in the forest, I wanted to get a tree-line view of the range. I glanced upward to get an idea of the time.

It was Early-Dusk at that point. The sky was darkening, so it was easy to conclude that the sun was almost behind the mountains. After a short ways, I climbed the tallest tree to get a nice view. I glanced in the northern direction to find that we came out of the most eastern mountain Patra mentioned earlier. I also saw a couple of roads that bent themselves around the mountain. One of them was close. I could easily guess Patra took one of these roads to reach the Mystery Jungle.

With that guess, several bothersome questions plagued my thoughts. ("If she wandered so far around the mountains to reach the jungle, how did no one notice? Did she leave without a note? Or did she lie? Aren't her parents worried?")

I shook my head. There was no time to think about this. Making her wait would only make it worse. Besides, I had the information we needed.

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

I climbed down and retraced my steps back to the dungeon's entrance, which was as pitch-black as a predator's throat.

I glanced over to the boulder to find that Patra wasn't there. My breathing hastened again. ("Oh no! Did I take too long? No! I couldn't have. Where did she go?!")

I looked around hoping maybe she was just pacing around. No Shinx to be found.

My mind ran through another possibility. ("Could a bad guy have...maybe? I...No! Yes! Argh! This is bad.")

It was then when I noticed a small space near the boulder. ("Oh no...")

I ran over to the area with concern. That's when a figure leaped at me from behind the rock with a hiss.

I fell to the ground and yelped in a high-pitch, causing the mystery figure to laugh uncontrollably.

In that moment, I realized all too quickly who it was. Patra and she did what the older kids called a prank. Understandably, I was seething with anger. "Th-That wasn't funny!" I fumed. "Don't do that!"

"I- I'm sorry," she stammered, "b-but what was that, that-" she continued to laugh more. After what seemed like several minutes too long for embarrassment, the kitten finally calmed down. "Hah hah, okay, did, did you find anything?"
I rolled my eyes before giving an irritated response, "Okay prankster, we're on the most eastern mountain you mentioned. Oh, and I saw the road you probably used too. Can we go now?"

She wiped a tear from her eyes. "Hehe right, so we just need to find that road and follow it. Shouldn't be too hard."

- o - o - o - o - o - o -

Afterwards, we hiked down the mountain and eventually found the road from earlier.

The Shinx glanced around before saying, "I think I used this road. Yeah, it does look familiar." The kitten then pointed to the north. "Yeah I think I went that way. So, let's go the other way."

With that, we ventured south on the road.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

North Arboris Road

During the walk, we finally began our promised conversation.

"So..." I said to Patra, "I guess we can start talking I guess?"

"Oh? Well that's a surprise." She stated.

I turned my head toward the Shinx. "What do you mean?"

She looked up to my eyes. "I didn't expect you to bring it up first because of how you wouldn't budge when I asked you something."

I pointed a digit upward. "If there's one thing Uncle Zarude told me that I must always remember, it's never make a promise you can't keep."

"That brings up my first question," the Shinx said, "Who's Zarude?"

I squinted. "Didn't I already answer that?"

"Not really," the kitten scoffed, "You only answered what he is, sort of. Is he like a relative or…"

I scratched my head while replying, "Uh...He just raised me. It's complicated."

Patra turned her face further away from me. "Ohh…"

I continued. "He's actually the one who taught me how to fight. He might not be an Electric-Type, but he knows the jungle better than anyone really. Got my tree climbing skills from him and everything."

"That explains a lot. Does that also include the whole 'Tech' thing?"

- o - o -

After all the denial I heard all day, I had enough. I decided to stop and show what some would call irrefutable evidence. I gripped my right wrist and charged a vine with a small amount of energy. Once done, I released my wrist and started my demonstration. I twirled my wrist and pointed my hand toward Patra's front-right leg. The vine unraveled itself and slid over my hand in a coil shape. It then wrapped itself around the Shinx's right leg.

I raised my arm to lift Patra's leg, stopping her pace in the process. She turned toward me in surprise. Though I had a grip on the vine, I wasn't pulling at all. In fact, the line was bent in a way where it was pulling the kitten's leg up.

Patra's eyes widened as she gazed at the vine. The line wasn't wrapped around anything, not even an overhanging branch. Regardless, the Shinx's eyes showed something I wouldn't really understand until years later, a sense of revelation.

Sometimes I wonder if it was right for me to do that to her. Sure, I had something to prove, but for what? A childish sense of being right? Just to say, I told you so? Regardless of why, I don't regret my action now. I can't let the guilt hinder my resolve to tell my story.

Anyways, My arm was beginning to shake, so I slowly lowered the vine until Patra's leg touched the ground again.

The Shinx stared at her leg, speechless. She even poked the vine once or twice. Thinking she got her answers, I made the vine unwrap itself before retracting it with another twirl of the wrist. The whole vine spun around my wrist until it locked itself in place with a soft slap.

After some much needed breaths, I stared back at Patra. She was amazed by the feat. "Do you believe me now?" I calmly asked her.

- o - o -

Patra was at a loss for words. "J-Just how? Did he-"

"Teach me that?...No, not initially," I interjected, gripping my right wrist, "I taught myself at first. I wanted to...imitate him, copy his technique. He said he couldn't teach me even if he wanted to. That didn't stop me from trying."

I rubbed my wrist. "I wrap my vines up this way because that's how Uncle Zarude does it with his. He can manipulate vines. I decided to watch him closely as he trained for a lot of nights. The way he moved, how he used his energy, all of it, I tried to learn as much as I could. One day, I saw Zarude create a massive splash of water while I was following him. Sure that sounds weird, but the splash came from only a small empty pond, like one of those pools you find when a lot of rain pours down in a hole. It had to be an attack, there was no way a splash like that could come from a large feral falling in. So, I watched him more closely. I noticed he charged his energy before his strikes, but by the time I realized that fact, he caught me. After that, he stopped practicing, knowing I would probably watch him. In fact, I guess that was why he started training me that summer. I think he was trying to make me forget I saw him do those splashes."

I glanced at Patra. "Long story short, I couldn't forget. I tried to copy the technique, but I couldn't do it. I ran all around the jungle, just trying to find space to practice. Eventually, I got the idea to use vines and charge them with energy, just like my uncle when he uses his vine attacks. It started with a simple strike and then wrapping. In my excitement to finally control vines a little, I tired myself out completely and collapsed on the ground. That was when Zarude found out about my antics. He had me stuck in bed for like a whole week after that."

Patra looked down. "I guess he punished you for defying him huh."

I crossed my arms and looked up. "I wouldn't say that," I said to her. I heard a breath of disbelief from Patra. I faced the Shinx while nervously waving my arms. "I mean he did give me a scolding," I then anxiously scratched my left cheek. "...but then he decided to teach how his techniques worked."

The Shinx tilted her head. "...why?"

"I don't know to be honest. Maybe he thought I'd do something reckless again...or get myself hurt. So we began practicing and eventually called these moves Techs since they require some 'technical prowess' to wield properly. Don't ask what that means because I don't know. Either way, the rest is history. I learned a lot of the basics and the importance of keeping my stamina up."

Patra raised a paw. "I don't know about that last part, but you certainly have that stuff down in your head."

I shrugged. "I have to, otherwise I'd get into trouble. He'd keep a real close eye on me during those practice sessions and make sure I fully understood that stuff. But please, pleeease don't tell anyone. He really doesn't want me to."

The Shinx noticed my genuine tone before giving a serious nod.

- o - o -

We started to walk again at that point.

"Alright, so if that's the case, then why didn't he stop me when I beat you up?" Patra asked, "You'd think he'd catch me before I even reached that dungeon."

"Oh...right," I said, scratching my head, "He was testing me today. Seeing if I could be trusted to go out on my own." I took out the medal. "That's why I tried to get this from you."

Patra took a quick look at it before staring straight ahead. "So that's why you were so obsessed with that bad luck charm."

"Care to explain why you went back?" I asked, bagging the medal.

"Huh?" the kitten exclaimed, "What do you mean?"

"You could have just left," I clarified, "Could have just grabbed the medal and left. And I wouldn't have ever seen you at all. Did you see me or something? Because by the time I got there, the medal was gone."

- o - o -

The Shinx's eyes glanced at the ground. She then sighed. "...No, I didn't see you in that garden at first. I made my way to the island pretty slowly, you know, didn't want to get wet and all. Once I got to that tree, the marked hole there was pretty easy to find. So I grabbed it and climbed back down."

I thought to myself as I heard Patra's story, ("So the medal was in that hole after all.")

The Shinx continued. "After that, I just searched around the tree. You know, looking for treasure."

I blinked for a moment before asking. "...Why would you want to find gifts? How many folks need gifts from you?"

Patra glared at me. "Shut up and listen," she grumbled. "So I was searching on the ground. While I was in one of those holes, I heard sparks. Wasn't sure if it was in the cave or what. Maybe you ran by?"

I shrugged.

"Whatever, the point is, I ran out of the cave and then I got a glimpse of you at the tree. I had no idea what to think. I never saw feral like that before, that's what I thought."

"Pfft" I snickered, "You got scared because of me?"

Patra hissed at me, promptly shutting me up. "As. I. Was. Saying. Yes, I got a little scared. So, I got out of there as quick as I could, same path and everything. I was basically about to leave when I heard a loud scream. I ran back and that's when I saw you in the water with a bunch of Combees. At first, I was a bit freaked out at all those buzzers. But I...I sort of froze in place. When you got to the shore...I wasn't sure what you were. My curiosity wanted to know. You looked like you were asleep at one point. Sooo...I went over to you and...well, you know what happened after that."

So all in all, this whole medal mess happened because of one thing: Gengar-branded bad luck. I was still puzzled about something though. "But why?" I asked the Shinx.

"Even explorers have to help each other out," Patra answered, "I wasn't sure if you were a feral or not. You certainly didn't look like the others."

"Umm, thanks for the compliment?" I said to her. The kitten chuckled a bit.

"Huh? What's so funny?" I asked.

"Heh. Nothing," She replied.

I asked Patra, "I...how is that nothing? You were chuckling." The Shinx didn't answer. "No, seriously, how is that nothing?"

We continued down for a while. She never did answer my question.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Village Outskirts:

After a while, I could see some buildings over the horizons. As much as I would have loved going further, I knew I had to stay hidden. So I promptly ran off the road and into some nearby brush. Patra stared at me with confusion.

She then asked, "Now what? We're almost there"

"Being a part of a rare species means I have to be hidden," I answered from the bushes.

The Shinx squinted with skepticism. "I don't see that as a really good reason."

"Grrr! Just trust me on this!" I exclaimed quietly, "Your folks can't know I exist. Got it?"

- o - o -

Patra glanced at the road before joining me in the forest wall. We then forged a most inconvenient route to the village that kept Patra and I hidden.

Eventually, we saw the settlement in full from the edge of the forest wall.

Patra piped up. "Galvan, Meet Altern Village."

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Altern Village:

I gazed at the town for a long while. A small river from the western mountains ran through the area. Bordering the river were rows of berry gardens that covered the hills. Off of the river area were roads that connected the town square to several other areas, including the entrance Patra and I avoided. There were a plethora of houses near these long lines of dirt too; some laid on top of the hills, while others seemed like they were built inside of them. The whole town was a wondrous sight.

Even the air nearby had a distinct floral aroma thanks to the flowers peppered throughout. Thinking about it now, I could imagine Combees flying through the area often, considering the honey scent as well.

The wind was quiet, probably deafened by the sound of the river near Patra and I. Although, it wasn't nearly as windy as the mountain range.

All in all, Altern Village in the Late-Dusk light had an almost violet color. It was practically night-time, except it wasn't. Glancing the area beyond the village, there was a faint orange color to the lighting. I assumed the mountains were blocking the sun at the time. Either way, I just stared in amazement.

- o - o -

Patra noticed the silence and commented, "Don't think of it as a wonderland mister. It's not much really, but it is home." She poked me with her paw to get my attention. "Hey!" I turned to her. "So that's it. You're done, right?"

My eyes pointed toward the village for a brief moment. "Yeah, I guess so," I said as my sight refocused itself on Patra.

Patra said to me, "I think you might want to get home soon. Unless…"

"Oh shoot, the test!" I interjected while looking up at the sky, "Aw crud. I'm late."

Patra raised a paw. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get going! I can take it from here."

The kitten began to leave when I said to her. "Y-Yeah thanks. By the way, I really had fun today."

Patra glanced back. "Heh. Yeah. Just take care of yourself on the way back."

I gave a thumbs up as I assured her. "Will do. And you too, alright?" The Shinx nodded and ran toward the village.

- o - o -

After a moment and one last glance at the town, I made my way back to the road.

Afterwards, I used said road as a guide as I ran back to the jungle with a refreshing amount of speed.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Mystery Jungle:

Northern Labyrinth

The road was clear as I rushed back into the jungle. I was a little worried since it was rather dark. The dungeon was thankfully merciful in terms of finding the stairs quickly. To be honest, I was very lucky things turned out that way, otherwise I would have found myself in worse trouble than Patra could ever find.

Without the worry of protecting someone else, I could dash through and not give a second thought. Even with the aid of going above the tree-line, the ever-increasing darkness of the night was starting to hinder my navigation abilities.

Nevertheless, I made it to a familiar spot in the jungle, a small empty pit where a pond used to be. With that spark of familiarity, I sighed in relief and began to navigate with ease again.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

Zarude's Domain:

By the time I returned to Zarude's domain, it was Mid-Evening. I entered the garden, I ran into the big baboon himself, startling each other in the process.

I noticed he had a bag of his own.

He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing me. Zarude commented, "You sure know how to worry someone, but..." He sighed before hugging me tightly. "I'm just glad you're safe."

I cringed in embarrassment as I got squished. "G-Good to know. C-Can you, let me go now?"

The Dark-Type obliged and released me. "I was about to go looking for you," he stated as I dusted myself off, "I was starting to get worried."

I looked back at Zarude. "Yeah. I was too when it got dark."

"Oh! I just remembered!" I exclaimed, digging the medal out of my bag, "Here, just as you asked." I handed the medal over to the Dark-Type.

Zarude examined the medal carefully before saying to me, "Yeah, that's the one."

I made a fists-on-hips pose and gave a bold smile. "Sooo, does that mean I pass?"

Zarude crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. It was a look I was all too familiar with, a critical stare. He was trying to get information out of me, that much was clear. I could never blame him for it though. I was gone all day after all.

"Hmmmm...maybe, by the skin of your teeth," the baboon stated, "Your punctual timing on the other hand needs some serious work. I honestly expected you to be back by Late-Daylight at the latest. What happened out there? What took you so long?"

Zarude was always pretty intimidating when it came to getting the information. I later heard he could get pretty ruthless when it came scaring the information out of folks. He was and still is, the most intimidating legendary I know, and there are plenty of frightening faces out there, even among us mythicals.

My hands were shaking at the thought of answering, but I had to. At the same time, I couldn't bring myself to tell him honestly. Sure, Patra was a bit self-centered and rather annoying, but she was just a kid like me. She wasn't the only youngling I met in my life, but at the same time, I couldn't help having this fearful thought. If I mentioned her, who knows what he would do. Mentioning this experience could have gotten both Patra and I in serious trouble. With this thought, I began my explanation. "Well, I might have gotten a bit side-tracked."

"I'd say you were more than 'a bit side-tracked' today," Zarude said with air quotes. The words made me flinch.

I corrected myself, "Okay, side-tracked. Big-time side-tracked."

The baboon noticed my wounds as well as the dirty bandages on my arms at that moment. He raised one of my arms up and examined the gauze on it. He then ushered me to the central tree of the garden.

- o - o -

At the tree, he began removing the vines from my wrists. "Ah, you used Techs I see."

I gritted my teeth. "Y-Yeah, but I'm fine."

He sighed. "I understand that it's fun to you, but you can't use the energy recklessly. It's meant for your natural talents."

"I know that, but it's not like I'm doing it all the time. I'm only doing it in small bursts and stuff."

Zarude shook his head after fully removing the vines. "Galvan, you know I taught you about Techs to make sure you didn't hurt yourself and if I didn't, ...your Mudbray-like stubbornness would have taught ya the hard way. I don't want that on my conscience and neither do you."

I looked away and sighed. "Sorry Uncle."

The Dark-Type closed his eyes for a moment. "It's okay. I am too." He then started removing the bandages. "Yeesh! Quite the scuffle you found yourself in," he commented, "Feral horde?"

"You can blame the Combee hive there," I replied.

The Dark-Type's eyes widened for a brief moment. "C-Combee Hive? I mean, ohh. Oh dear. How high was that hive?"

"Ummm...Close to the upper branches," I said, "Pretty high up there. It was small."

Zarude was processing my words as he examined the scratches I made on my arm, which was partially healed. He sighed before commenting, "Maybe, but still. I'd be scared to the wasting point."

I chuckled at the thought. "You? Scared? No way!"

Zarude's eyes locked with mine "I'm serious. If I got poked by those stingers, I would have puffed up worse than a Quilfish. Yyyyggghh! No!" I saw his fur stand on end for a short moment before he continued. "I'm glad you got out of there."

Zarude examined me more, including my back. For minutes, the Dark-Type just hummed on occasion. It was always hard to tell if he was trying to make me relax or...if he was trying to figure something out. After a while, he finished his examination. "It's good to know you'll at least be able to save yourself in an emergency. A bit crude with the excessive scratching, but at least there aren't any stingers I can see. You got lucky, mister."

- o - o -

He treated my wounds. I don't exactly remember all of the details, but the treatment did hurt with a small stinging sensation on my arms and back. Before long, he wrapped me with clean bandages.

As I glanced at my new bandages, I noticed Zarude grabbing items from my item bag. "Looks like you used fewer items than I thought," he commented, "You used the Pecha Berries, right call. Some of the bandages were used, which makes sense."

The Dark-Type raised a brow. "Hmm?...you used the Escape Orb. Got caught in a Monster House? It would explain the bruises on your head."

"Well more like caught by a Venusuar, but yeah?" I answered.

Zarude hoisted the bag over his shoulder and stared at me once more. "Really now? When did that happen?"

At that moment I realized, he was in the domain the whole time. He would've heard a commotion if I suddenly appeared, but then again there was that odd incident with Patra to consider.

"I didn't appear on this side of the jungle when I used it," I blurted out.

The baboon squinted before he showed the medal to my face. "I highly doubt that. Even if you did not use the orb yourself, this little guy would have sent you right back to where you first entered the dungeon." He then leaned in and looked into my eyes. "From what you're telling me, you ran into someone, didn't you?"

He read beyond my words. The corner of my mouth lowered itself. I stuttered for a few moments before I tried to change the subject. "Wh-What do you mean? What is that medal exactly?"

The Dark-Type knelt down on one knee and sighed. "I hoped that I would teach you about this in a more positive mood, but you're not helping much."

He held up the medal. "This here is made of what we call Mystery Metal. Just having one of these makes mystery dungeons a lot more safe to travel through. When the wearer is defeated, they get sent back to the entrance they came through...under most circumstances. Why do I bring this up? Well as you know, Escape Orbs send the user back to the entrance. Anyone that grabs onto the user when the orb is used is also taken. However, if someone were to use an Orb and someone with Mystery Metal like this were to...grab a hold of the user, then both would be sent to where the wearer entered the dungeon instead."

Zarude's words made me realize what happened. Patra had the medal in her bag back then, so when I used the Orb, I got sent to where Patra entered the jungle instead of where I entered.

"Ah, that fact opened your eyes to something," Zarude commented, "You were wondering why that happened. Explains a lot, huh."

I cringed and hummed. "Funny story," I said to him, I kind of dropped the medal while swinging and a feral kind of...ate it."

The baboon's eye twitched. "...uhhh...really?" He then facepalmed and groaned. "That's the kind of lie you're going with? Seriously? Anyone with a thinking mind could see through that."

After saying this, Zarude crossed his arms and glared at me. "Now please, stop lying to me and tell the truth. I'm serious about this. What. Happened?"

- o - o -

My palms began to sweat as I gritted my teeth. I didn't want to spill my guts to him, not after what Patra went through. I had no idea what he would do if he found out I spent the day adventuring with a commoner. Sad as it was, I had to say something truthful.

"The truth…" I said to him, "I might have...ran into…" I winced while shutting my eyes for the next two words. "...a commoner?"

Zarude took some deep breaths the moment I uttered the words. I heard his moans of disbelief, "Oh my-...you can't be-, How in-, Why would you-" After a few moments of his stammering, I opened my eyes to see him pacing around.

After a while of muttering to himself, Zarude turned his head toward me in silence. He was telling me to continue.

Desperate to make my explanation vague, I blurted, "You see they ended up snagging the medal before I got to it. Hence the-"

Zarude interrupted, "They? You mean there was more than one?"

I flinched at first, but then a thought came into my head. He misunderstood my words. It was an opportunity to save myself from mentioning Patra. All in all, it was a thought I readily decided to indulge on. From there, the words came out naturally...perhaps a little too naturally.

"Y-Yeah," I said, "It was after the stinging incident. I couldn't find the medal in the tree, that's why I went to the hive. After scratching out the stingers, I noticed a small group. They were climbing on a nearby cliff. I was curious and followed them around. I thought, I'll just follow them. Who cares when I get the medal? And that's what I did."

I went on to tell how I discovered that one member of this so-called "group" managed to snag the medal first. I described what species each of them were to the best of my "knowledge," even using a mention of an Infernape. I told Zarude I followed them into another part of the dungeon. We encountered a giant Venusaur, just like what Patra and I encountered. Like in the true story, I mentioned how I used an Escape Orb to save one of them. After stealing back the coin from the member's bag, the member's friends came along, probably by their own Escape Orb.

Once they found me, they chased me throughout the jungle until I lost them around Mid-Sunset. By then, I was deep in the Northern Labyrinth. Those were half-truths and lies I told to Zarude.

"...Once I was in the labyrinth, I had to be very careful getting out." I explained, "From there, the rest is history. I got out and eventually found you at the entrance."

- o - o -

Zarude's expression remained stern as he processed my words. Finally after an eternity of silent judging, he sighed and asked, "Is this all true?"

"Y-Yeah!" I replied.

The baboon put up a hand. "No. Look into my eyes." He knelt on one knee and stared at me. "Believe when I say this, I want to trust your word. I really do. You swear this isn't just a lie, this really happened? Tell me the truth, please."

I stared back. "I swear," I said with a firm expression.

The Dark-Type backed off for a moment and thought to himself. He then placed a hand on my shoulder. "Very well. You've been through quite a day. Dinner's in the storage." He stood up and walked away. No wait. Actually, he stopped for a brief moment and looked over his own shoulder. After that moment, he shook his head and continued on his way.

I sat in silence and disbelief. I couldn't believe I lied to Zarude and got away with it...or at least I thought I did. Thoughts still crept in my mind. ("There's no way he would believe that story, right?...no...I don't know what to think anymore.") My stomach growled.

- o - o -

With that, I stood up and headed into our food storage area. There wasn't much at the time, just a small, dimly-lit, and dirt covered underground room with a hole for a vault. There wasn't much food in the storage itself, we ate most of it during the Winter season.

On top of the middle table were the leftovers. It was Fried-Feral Scyther meat, one of the very few edible meats in this jungle. Poison-Types were bad for the both of us. Despite the meat no longer looking like a Scyther's remains, it still had the odor of a burnt exoskeleton.

"So...leftover bug?" I asked, shouting from the room. I wasn't old enough to know that it was pokemon at the time. I really hope a child isn't reading this right now…

Anyways, Zarude shouted back, "Yeah, would have been fresh if you were here earlier."

I sighed before taking a few chunks of the meat out of the room.

- o - o -

I heated up the feral meat using the fire Zarude set up. I wasn't a fan of the leftovers. Thinking back, I might have burnt it a little. It had a rather bitter crunch to it.

After I finished eating, I remained where I was for a while.

Eventually, Zarude sat near the fire. "Still here?"

I nodded. "What brings you here?"

"I just came over to talk to you a little," he replied.

"Is it about what I said?" I asked.

"A little, considering what you said, I think it would be best if you stayed here for a little while. Those outsiders you mentioned have me worried."

I sighed and stared at the fire. "I take it that I'm not ready yet."

I heard the Dark-Type stammer for a few moments before saying to me, "Well, I- I wouldn't say you failed. You did what any legendary worth their merit would do."

"You mean it?" I asked, glancing at him.

"I do. Sure your execution was a bit sloppy, but-" He stopped as I looked back at the fire. "It was your first time and not everyone's going to be perfect on their first attempt. I mean my first dramatic save was your mother. It didn't turn out well. When we landed, she kind of stepped on some Nutpea berries I had at the time and it was...very painful."

My right eye narrowed itself. "I...I don't see how that would work." I really couldn't follow the logic of that statement. "Still, you getting stepped on? I can't believe it."

Zarude turned his head away in embarrassment, "N-Nor can I to this day…"

Hearing about that "painful" experience made me feel a little better about that botched save. However, a feeling of longing soon followed that laughter.

Zarude noticed my smile fade and lowered his own smile as well.

- o - o -

We sat in silence for a little while before he slid over to me. He wrapped his left arm around me before saying, "Sorry, shouldn't have brought your mother up like that...Do you think I'm a bad guy?"

"What?" I blurted.

The Dark-Type stared at the fire. "I heard of kids growing up fast, but I wasn't sure. I...I just hope I'm not being too hard on you."

I hugged Zarude with my right arm. "N-No. You're here now. You're the best dad I could ask for."

Zarude tensed up a little before giving a noticeable smile. "Thank you. That means a lot," He said, "At least I know you can take care of yourself. That's something not many younglings can do."

Remembering what Patra did before I met her, she did get through a rather dangerous mystery dungeon alone after all. "I don't know about that," I said to him.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?"

I smirked a little. "No reason really, just a gut feeling."

- o - o -

We spent the rest of the night relaxing. It got our minds off of all the stress. Unfortunately, I cannot say the night was completely free of anxiety, at least on my end.

On one hand, I lied. On the other, I knew I was protecting Patra from worse trouble than coming home late. I wondered what happened after she left me. That curiosity wouldn't leave my head. However, that wonder is nothing compared to the guilty feeling that ate at my heart.

That was supposed to be a day where I gained Zarude's trust. Instead, I lied to his face and got away with it. After checking the doorway from the hay bed I rested on, I turned over. At that moment, I quietly muttered under my breath, "You owe me for this Patra. I hope you understand that someday."

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -

And that's how it all began, with a day that derailed itself. One would think it would be a one time occurrence. Some might even consider Patra's experience to be a literally once-in-a-life opportunity. Not me, this was but the start, the start of a very twisted downward spiral I was now riding from that day forward.

- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -

Fragment of Knowledge:

Mystery Metal:

This incredibly rare and unique ore can interact with Mystery Dungeons, allowing those that hold it to return where they entered a dungeon, similar to Escape Orbs. Unlike Escape Orbs, the metal does not disappear upon use; this makes the metal invaluable for dungeon explorers.

The ore is named this because nobody knows why it behaves this way. In some ways, it is just as mysterious as the dungeons themselves.

Many groups or guilds tend to use mystery metal as a key component in the creation of team badges, allowing the conducting of rescue missions or any business regarding mystery dungeons. The substance is also capable of restoring consciousness to a dungeon's victims. It could even help the wearer give consciousness to ferals born within the dungeon. The exact reasoning and mechanics behind this occurrence are still unknown to this day.

Despite the ore's usefulness, legendary pokemon typically refuse to use mystery metal. The reason is unknown aside from speculative rumors, the most notable example being "a risk to breaking their life-time oaths." Harsher and more ill-spoken rumors tend to mention something that supposedly plagues every legendary pokemon, "nonsensical pride in their power and standing."

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Author's Notes:
 Thank you very much for sticking around for this small continuation. The present time will return to focus...

-Special thanks to TheSnapDragon for beta reading this chapter.