Two weeks have passed since your first venture into a Mystery Dungeon. The events in OakWood Forest are slowly beginning to become nothing more than a distant memory. The wound you had sustained from that Manectric bite has long closed up. There is only a scar, one that you can hardly see beneath your dense white fur.
You have not been through another dungeon, but you no longer feel so unnerved by them. Whenever you think of a dungeon now, you no longer feel your fur stand up or a chill run down your spine. You think venturing through a dungeon might actually be rather peaceful, so long as you don't encounter the vicious residents again. You told your team this a while ago, but Meteora still felt sorry after what happened in OakWood. She wanted to give you time to recover in case you had been traumatized from the incident.
You intend to let Meteora know that the team really should go back to scouting dungeons as soon as possible, as they are the highest paying jobs in the guild. You can only survive off escorting children to neighboring cities and construction work for so long. But you will do that in the morning.
Tonight is a special night. Every new moon, Meteora's former team comes to visit for a game night. From what you've been told, the Tyrunt used to belong to another team before she founded Team Invictus. She had been with them for a good three years before meeting Grey and splintering off from her old team. You have never met Meteora's original team, so you have no idea what to expect. You only know that they're known as Team Rapture.
You sit in your straw bed as you wait with your teammates for Team Rapture to arrive. Meteora is by the door and pacing impatiently, her heavy feet causing the door to rattle softly. Grey is also by the door, though waiting attentively. You look at his tail for signs of how he feels and see it wagging to the right. You still haven't figured out all of his wags and their meanings, but you think that means he's feeling content. It would at least match his relaxed posture.
Camellia is sitting beside you, nibbling on an apple placidly. She even seems to be struggling to stay awake, occasionally leaning into you before jolting awake at your sudden touch. You blame it on all of the pecha berries she just devoured. They've undoubtedly made her rather sleepy.
"What is everyone like on Team Rapture?" you ask, deciding to help wake her up.
"Oh, that's right. You've never met them before, have you?" she asks.
She takes what remains of her apple and pouches it into her cheeks, causing them to bulge comically.
"They're great," she tells you. "First there's Nettle. He might look a little intimidating when you first meet him, but he's pretty cool when you get to know him. Then there's Wisp. She's pretty smart if you ask me. When I first joined Team Invictus, I had a hard time switching over my sleep schedule until Wisp heard about it. When she did, she really helped me turn diurnal. Like, she taught me to take it an easy and not fly around right before I'd wanna go to bed and not to eat anything sugary before I sleep. And well, her using Hypnosis on days I really struggle helps too…"
Just then, Grey's tail shot straight up and wagged rigidly. A couple of seconds later, there was a knock at the door. Meteora hurried over, smiling eagerly as she pushed the door open with her massive head.
A Roserade, Drifloon, and Absol enter the bedroom, all of them wearing matching red and white scarves around their necks. There is a particular power to their walk (or drifting in the Drifloon's case), one that radiates utmost unwavering competence. The Roserade, most likely Nettle, smiles at the Tyrunt.
"Good evening, Meteora," he greets warmly. "I must say, I'm surprised you're still a Tyrunt. I thought last time we spoke, you felt pre-evolution pains."
"I did!" she insists. "I've been feeling sore all over every morning and I swear I feel some more fangs growing in! It's just taking a while! It's what happens when you suddenly quadruple in size, just like that."
"Hmmhmm if you say so. Personally, I'm rather glad you haven't evolved yet. I must admit I don't quite look forward to the day you can easily crush me with your foot. I quite like you as a petite beast of destruction. You're the only one here that doesn't tower over me."
Meteora giggles as she softly headbutts the Roserade in the chest. You anticipate that she'll knock the Roserade over, considering her large head, but Nettle doesn't even flinch. He only chuckles as the Tyrunt nuzzles him affectionately.
As the two share the tender moment, you turn your gaze to the other members of Team Rapture. The Drifloon and Absol are both waiting by the door behind their leader. The Drifloon was swooning over the affectionate scene with her heart-like appendages pressed against her face. She probably saw this as a scene ripped straight from a romance novel and couldn't help but gush over it. You don't think Meteora and Nettle are romantically attracted to each other, but you also know you never asked what kind of relationship they have with one another.
Then there's the Absol. She is staring straight at you. Her red eyes watch you, study you, bore deep into your mind and silently examine each and every thought you ever had and ever will have. When you stare back, she abruptly looks to the side. You narrow your eyes at her, waiting to see if she'll dare try glancing back your way.
"I see you have a new team member."
You bring your gaze back over to Nettle to find he and Meteora have separated and are now looking your way. Meteora nods her head as she gestures towards you.
"That's right!" she says. "This is Lyssa! She just joined a couple of weeks ago!"
The Roserade approaches you. As he grows closer, a sweet, floral smell fills the air, one that reminds you of roses. You stand up as he nears you and hope he isn't intimidated by your size. You easily dwarf him and are much taller than anyone else in this room when you stand on your hind legs.
"Hello Lyssa," he says to you while he bows cordially. "My name is Nettle. I used to be Meteora's leader back in the day. It's a pleasure to meet you. I take it that Meteora has been treating you well?"
"She is," you answer. "She's hard working and always looks out for me."
"That's Meteora for you. She was like that even when she was my teammate. I'm glad to know she's still as reliable as she always was. If she does give you any trouble though, don't hesitate to tell me. I'll be sure to give her a good lashing for her trouble."
A thorny vine then sprouts from one of his flowery hands and settles onto the floor as he shoots the Tyrunt a mischievous grin. Meteora grimaces and looks away bashfully. Nettle snickers as he withdraws the vine into his bouquet before motioning to the Drifloon. She immediately drops her hands and straightens herself up so she's floating with a more dignified stance.
"This here is Wisp," Nettle then says. "She's our resident ghoul, but rest assured, she isn't nearly as much of a creep as some other ghosts you might know."
"Please Nettle, I've met way more ghosts than you ever have, and not a single one is a creep," she says while she crosses her arms. "Just because you met one Dusclops that thought it would be real funny to pull you halfway into a wall and leave you there doesn't mean the rest of us-."
"A-Anyway," Nettle cuts in. "That's Wisp."
"Pleasure to metcha!" the Drifloon says, her bulbous body swelling up giddily. "And don't worry, I'm not gonna ever whisk you away to the afterlife. I know a loooooot of Pokémon think that when they see me, but rest assured, I couldn't even lift an Eevee if I wanted to!"
"I didn't think you could," you say plainly. "You don't look very strong, no offense."
Wisp giggles in response, holding her heart-like hands to her mouth.
"Now, last but not least," Nettle then says as he motions to the Absol. "This is Gallows."
You once again lock eyes with the Absol across the room. She stares back, not saying a word.
"Gallows? You there?" Nettle asks.
Again, the Absol says nothing. You now notice she's not actually staring at you; she's staring into you.
A chill runs down your spine. There is something off about this Absol, something that makes your fur stand up. It's something in her eyes. There is a sinisterness that you rationally cannot comprehend, but your instincts scream to stay far away from it.
Camellia, who still sits besides you, rubs your arm reassuringly. She must see your raised hackles.
"It's alright," she says softly, just quietly enough so that only you can hear her. "Don't worry, Gallows scared me a little too when I first met her. She's a nice Pokémon though, I promise. The only scary thing about her is her name."
You know that Gallows is harmless. You know you have no reason to fear her. You know any of the bad rumors you've heard about Absol have been proven false years ago. Yet as you stare into Gallows's crimson eyes, you can't help but put your guard up.
Gallows blinks and clarity returns to her gaze. She smiles softly, though you can still see her impressive fangs that could easily tear you to bits.
"Sorry, I was having a moment," she says. "I promise, I'm not a creepy weirdo. I just start seeing things and space out sometimes. Comes with having the horn and all."
Right, the horn. That disaster-sensing horn all Absol are known for.
"You sensing something bad coming our way?" Nettle asks with a smirk.
"Yeah, that you're going to lose all of tonight's games and pay a heavy penalty," she chuckles. "I sense a deep dent in your savings after tonight…"
Nettles tries to laugh off the remark, but you can see his uncomfortable grimace as he turns away from Gallows. Wisp tsks as she reaches for the bag slung around Nettle's shoulder and brings it to the center of the room. She turns the bag over, dumping many crocheted balls stuffed with rice grains onto the floor. She picks up a purple one with a white cloud etched into the side and tosses it up and down in the air.
"I say we get this game started!" she announces. "Everyone, get your ball!"
Everyone gathers around the pile and reaches for a ball with either their paw or mouth. Everyone seems to have a sack that belongs just to them, because the ball everyone chooses matches their colors. By the time everyone except you takes a bag from the pile, there's only one left, one green with yellow stripes.
Wisp notices that you're not making a grab for the ball and drifts toward you.
"Oh right, you've never played before," she realizes. "Don't worry, the game's real easy to understand. For now, just take the green ball. Next time we come over, I'll make you your own ball. How does a white one with red jagged lines running across it sound?"
"Sounds fine to me," you say.
You reach down and pick up the green ball. Your nose twitches. There's a familiar scent on this sack. The scent is vague and rapidly fading away, but you have definitely smelt this scent somewhere before You bring the ball closer to your nose and give it a few more whiffs, trying to jog your memory.
"Did this used to belong to someone?" you ask.
"Well… it did, yeah," Wisp says. "That ball belonged to one of our old teammates. But he left a while ago."
Wisp visibly deflates at the mention of her old teammate. You don't know anything about whoever this teammate was, but you know not to push for information. Clearly the Drifloon misses him and doesn't want to talk about him. You are still curious about whose scent is on the ball, but you won't ask Wisp about it. You'll ask one of your own teammates when game night is over. Maybe they'll be more willing to talk about it.
So you leave the subject alone and join the others. Gallows has drawn a vertical column of circles into the ground with her claws and everyone is excitedly waiting behind a long line drawn a few footsteps behind the circles. You take your place beside Grey, who grasps his ball tight in his mouth. He drops the sack by his feet when he notices your presence.
"I overheard Wisp talking to you," he says. "Did she tell you how to play Ball Toss?"
"No, but she said it was easy to understand," you answer.
"She's right. See the circles drawn into the ground? Your goal is to toss your ball into any of them. If your ball lands in the circles, you'll get points. However, the higher circles are worth more than the lower ones. Aim for the higher circles and you'll inevitably win. If you get the most points in a round, then you're entitled to fifty Poke from the one who got the least amount of points."
"I see. And am I allowed to use my claws to throw the ball? Or is that considered cheating considering how many of us lack arms?"
"You can do whatever you want. You shouldn't be prohibited for using the hands Arceus blessed your kind with. Though, you'll soon realize that having dextrous claws doesn't give you much of an advantage here."
As if to prove his point, the Furfrou reaches down and grabs the ball with his mouth. He rears his head back, then throws it forward, releasing his hold on the sack as he does so. A moment later, the sack lands in the middle of the second highest circle. Grey holds his head and tail high, taking on an elegant pose that fits the magnificent stature of his species.
"That was just a lucky shot!" Wisp cries as she swoops up to the line. "Here, watch this!"
The Drifloon grasps her ball in both heart-hands before tossing it toward the circles. She lands in the closest one, much to her dismay. Her round body deflates as she grumbles to herself.
"W-Well! This is just a practice round anyway!" she then says. "I swear, when the real games start, I'll be the one coming out on top!"
Grey snorts before lowering his head.
"You go next, Lyssa," he then says. "Let's see what you've got."
You nod and step up closer to the line. Everyone around you gives you space as you eye the circles, trying to calculate what angle you should throw the ball at and how much strength you should use. Though, you tell yourself not to be too stressed out. This game will undoubtedly have many rounds considering you only get one ball at a time.
You chuck the ball and it lands in between the two middle-most circles. You straighten up and marvel over your small victory. It's not too impressive, but you'll do better the next round. You now know how much power you need to put in your throws.
A sudden sharp pain hits your head. You grimace as you put a paw to your temple. You feel your head throb and rubbing your scalp doesn't dull the pain. You see flashes of teeth and blue fur rip across your vision.
You stumble away from the group and hurry to your bed. You collapse into the hay and press your head to the straw. You see Camellia run up to you on all fours and stop before you, concern spread across her face. Everyone else has stopped playing and is watching you from afar, but let Camellia talk to you first. You appreciate that. Too much noise and attention would make your headache worse.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"Yeah, just got a headache is all," you assure her.
"Oh… another one?"
"Yeah. Another one."
This is the seventh headache you've had in the past two weeks. You don't know what provokes them, as they seemingly happen at random. One woke you up in the middle of the night, while another struck you while eating dinner. Thankfully they never happen while you're on missions, as they'd make you a liability to the team.
You frown harder as the pain grows stronger. You see lightning bolts flashing in your eyes. You lay back in your bed, breathing in and out of your mouth.
"I'll be okay," you tell Camellia. "Tell everyone I just need to take a breather and they can keep playing without me. I'll come back as soon as I feel better."
"Are you sure?" she asks quietly.
"I'm sure. Go on, enjoy your game night. Go win tons of Poke for me and we can spend it all at the Bizarre Bazaar tomorrow."
She smiles at the nice thought before scurrying back to the group. She repeats what you just said back at the others and after a few moments, everyone is back to playing Ball Toss. You're about to turn your back to the group when you notice Gallows is staring at you again. However, she's not staring out of concern like Camellia had been. No, she's watching you. Her hackles are raised, like she's seconds away from lunging and tearing out your throat.
Claws shoot out of your paws. Gallows sees this and immediately turns away before taking her turn at Ball Toss.
You turn away from the teams as you retract your claws. You close your eyes and try not to think about what happened as the migraine rages on.
After about ten rounds of Ball Toss, Team Rapture departed for the night. Just as Gallows had predicted, Nettle had been the one in dead last for a majority of the games. Though he was hesitant to say it, he promised to give everyone their rewards in the morning when he had access to the bank.
When the three left, your teammates gather around your bed. Your headache has lessened considerably and you no longer have fuzzy lights filling your vision. You sit up as Meteora frowns glumly at you.
"Sorry about your headache," she says. "I really think you would have won a couple of rounds. You've got a good throwing arm. Maybe next time things will be better?"
"Maybe," you say with a shrug.
"You sure you don't want to see Nurse Remedy about your headaches? You've been getting an awful lot of them and they look pretty painful."
"They go away after a while, so I don't even know if it's worth it. It'd be another story if they lasted all day, though."
"I still say you should go. She might be able to see what's wrong."
You sigh. You really don't want to see the nurse over something so trivial. Your parents always taught you to be self-reliant and to treat your own injuries. You only ask for treatment when you're bleeding out everyone or are borderline dying. You don't know anyone that's ever died of a headache that lasts only an hour at most.
However, you know Meteora won't let this go until you get help. She cares too much about even the tiniest of scratches. You find that rather funny she would be that way when her species were known for being amongst the toughest and invulnerable Pokémon in all the world.
"Fine," you concede. "I'll go see the nurse in the morning."
The Tyrunt smiles and wags her tail giddily. You sigh as you look at the circles still drawn along the ground. It's upon seeing them that you remember you have an important question for your teammates.
"Did Team Rapture used to have another teammate?" you ask.
Meteora stiffens as her smile gives way to a long frown. Camellia stares at the ground. Grey seems unaffected by the question and keeps a blank gaze, but he keeps licking his nose to the point of obsession.
"They did, yeah," Meteora answers, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "His name was Thunder. He was one of their oldest members, but he had to leave a couple of months ago because of something that happened with his family."
"What happened?" you ask.
"His parents both died in a freak accident and no one could look after his little sister," Meteora answers. "The moment he got the news, he raced back home before Nettle could even talk to him."
"I see."
So that was why Wisp didn't want to talk about Thunder; she must have missed him terribly. Though you have no idea how old Thunder's sister might be, you know he'll be caring for her for many years. He wouldn't have left his team so abruptly if she had some capability of caring for herself.
"Why do you ask?" Grey asks.
"The ball I had tonight smelt familiar," you answer." I thought maybe I knew who it belonged to. However, I don't know anyone named Thunder. What species was he?"
"Electrike," Grey says plainly.
That would explain the green and yellow colorings of the sack. You think back to any Electrike you might have met over the years and draw a blank. You still don't know why Thunder's scent is so familiar though. You consider that maybe it smells similar to someone else you know, someone else that has fur similar to an Electrike.
"Well I don't know why you'd know Thunder, but I can talk to Nettle about him more, if you want," Meteora offers.
"If you'd like to, go ahead," you say.
You don't really think this is that important, but it wouldn't hurt to ask for more information. Besides, some small part of you is still curious about why your nose recognizes Thunder.
For now, you will get some rest. You have a busy day of work tomorrow. But first…
"Metoera, let's go to a Mystery Dungeon tomorrow," you tell her.
"Oh! Oh um… I don't know," she says as she drags her feet into the ground. "You sure you're okay? I mean, I still feel bad about what happened in Oakwood…"
"It's fine, really. I want to go back into a dungeon. I'm ready," you assure.
"I know you're ready, but-"
"She says she's ready. You should listen to her," Grey states. "We could use a scouting mission anyway."
"Y-Yeah," Camellia adds. "We haven't been into a dungeon in a while… these construction jobs really aren't for me. I don't feel too useful when I'm so small. At least in dungeons I can crawl up trees and glide around everywhere."
"Alright alright, fine," she sighs. "We'll pick out something tomorrow after Lyssa visits Nurse Remedy."
Everyone smiles, even Meteora does despite her smile being more forced. With this decided, you all get ready for bed. Everyone settles into their piles of hay and turn off the glow orb, instantly casting the room in darkness.
As you settle into your bed, you feel a certain kind of giddiness at the thought of entering another mystery dungeon. Though they can be dangerous, there is a certain excitement in venturing through the strange labyrinths, never knowing what was just around the corner. It certainly helped that no one could actually die in them and were only thrown out after being beaten badly enough by the denizens. You don't know why it works that way, but like all things with mystery dungeons, you know not to question the logic. They are simply unfathomable places, unsolvable mysteries.
Your headache suddenly stops as you think about this, and you immediately fall asleep.
You dream of prowling Oakwood Forest on all fours. The eerie quiet no longer disturbs you. It is now calming, placating, peaceful.
The dungeon feels just like a second home.