Calico Town wasn't far off from its neighbor, maybe a few days travel by foot - faster by boat or surfing pokemon. They had come prepared in the food department, still this an expedition. An expedition without all the dungeon delving, the chasm crossing, the mad pokemon to fight and treasures to discover. Still, if Leon or the others were with their salt they'd have the foresight to bring more than a bag of snacks.

A Braviary missing their wing, a kid with a map, and a caravanner who let his guards get ransacked. What happens when this investigation leads these three buffoons straight into the palm of a dangerous criminal? Would their slapped-together squad even stand against the horrors of a Dungeon?

Thinking about their chances didn't help. This was an investigation, a far cry from a dungeon dive or a bounty hunt. But as they trekked the highway out of Scoria Town, over the continent's moss-covered valleys and bumpy foothills, the thought stayed with Leon. As dusk eventually crept across the land, they stopped in their tracks. A moment to catch their breaths while Leon fumbled with his long tail.

"Aromatisse left before us, didn't she? Right in the morning? What makes you think we can beat her to her destination, because I don't see it happening."

"She has a whole cart to slow her down, Leon." Prinn answers, "We ought to be faster than her on foot."

"The cart doesn't matter. There's always a caravan guard - big fellows who travel with traders. I was one." Leon grabs the end of his tail, flicking it several times. "She wouldn't be dragging the cart herself."

"At the same time I watched little old Eileen can lug barrels around fine enough to get a job doing it." Braviary interjects at this point. "Maybe she couldn't handle it.""

"But Eileen's a fighting type." Prinn squeaks, "Aromatisse is something else, I think."

"Aight well, I should've guessed earlier. Do you reckon these folks we were talking to would've said something if she were headed this way with another fellow? Leon?"

"Okay, let's say she did hire a caravan to bring to Calico, then it wouldn't be with those traveling merchants in Scoria Town. If you'd decided to ask around about it would've been a complete dead end. Assuming she didn't want to be found, she picked the best time to leave."

Finally, a yellow spark ignites from his tail and the night is abated by a brilliant glow. "Finally," Leon mutters, "should really stop using it for reading."

"If you need something to pick you up," Braviary motions to Prinn, "kid's holding onto an elixir."

"No, sleep will do me better. You should hold onto that anyways, better in a pinch and you won't find many of those near Scoria."

"Yeah we can take a break later.." Prinn laments. "Sorry we couldn't get more stuff in Scoria beforehand. You'd think traders in a guild town would have all sorts of useful gear, not today."

Leon mouths something, then stops himself. They'll talk about the trade another time.

He looks at Braviary. "So what are your plans?"

"We reckoned if we traveled by night with you we could make up for some of the lost time the little Lady has by going early." Braviary waves at Leon, he looks dejected. "As you said though, we ain't got a way of knowing if she went alone. For all we know she might have taken the risk anyway, or she hired someone else who can do your light-tricks."

Only if they had asked if she left with anyone they may have crafted a real plan to beat her there, alas if they had there was no chance they'd get a straight answer given the general anonymity of the Aromatisse Family's employees. Who knows how long it'd have taken them to get a merchant to spit out those details, by time they'd get an answer she'd probably be done for. This was the right call; Prinn's wasn't.

"We could take a detour…"

The lid of his carrying tube comes off with a pop as a long sheet of paper rolls out. Prinn examines his map under Leon's light, then flips it around to his companions.

"See, this is where we were." Prinn's flipper points to a big X scribbled in with ink then drags it west down a snaking road, up the coastline, around a big mountain, finally to another X in red. "And that's where we gotta go. I don't know much about traveling, I do know distances though. It's like three full days away, maybe half the way the Murkrow flies."

"Aight, so what are you gettin' at?" Braviary squints at charcoal roads and doodled in mountains.

"Look again at the mountain."

Their current route would have easily gone straight to Calico Town were it not for Basalt Peak sitting in its path. The road is forced to go the long way around it, snaking across the continent's evergreen forests to the port town some ways behind the mountain-shaped wall. There seemed to be no reason why the road couldn't have gone the other way. Maybe it was unfit for wagons, or maybe there were more bandits there, or perhaps…

"We could always go off the road!" Prinn exclaims. "Maybe we'll have to climb a bit, but we can pull through, right?"

"Right." Braviary nods. "What's your opinion, Leon?"

"If a road goes in all sorts of stupid directions there's usually a reason why. Could be the mountain's rife with hazards." Leon shrugs. "I'm not against giving it a look. There's worse things to find out in the wild than bandits, I'll say that much."

"Like what?" Prinn's eyes glow with foolish discovery.

"I shouldn't have to say it, Prinn." He motions to the path ahead, his tail lighting the road. "Let's go already."

The path ahead is dark, shrouded by a dense forest. The trunks of gnarl trees stand like figures in the darkness, watching three travelers meander down the winding road. What's here was by no means worse than the forest between the Scholar's Guild and Scoria Town, for one the road was a road - beaten into the earth by the countless caravans which have traveled it. They're still better off than any sorry sod who may be delivering goods. Going through here must be a nightmare: there's nearly an infinite number of hiding spots and the recent rumors of bandits can't possibly help with the anxiety. Maybe it was wise for them to travel light after all, but it's not like they had a choice.

At some point in their travels they reached a crossroads. They took a left deeper into the forest, further into the mountain's gnarl shadow.

Prinn looks up. The leafless branches weave over the sky like silk, and he can barely see Basalt Peak. He takes a deep breath, and exhales a white plume. It's cold, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Braviary on the other hand. He's practically shivering when he speaks.

"Any clue as to why it suddenly jumped to winter?"

"Winds from the mountain," Leon conjectures, "that's my guess. It's not too late for us to turn back and head the other way.".

"If going this way means we need to walk a whole night in this weather, I'm all for leaving."

"If you guys say so.." Prinn is the only one who seems worried. "You'll be okay, right? Should we get a fire started?"

They stare at Braviary.

"Don't y'all worry, we can roast Oran Berries when we're done walking for the night. " Braviary squints at the sky above. "It's barely midnight, I think we can go for like four more before we camp. How about y'all?"

The others nod.

Leon goes to lead them to the crossroads, where they could go the right way this time, and not to a place where the air is unforgivably cold. It would take them little time to get back there, then they'd have a clean walk from then on to Calico Town. Then he hits a wall.

Where there was once a road, there was now an impassable wall of bramble. It went as high as the forest's ceiling, going through it without being pricked by hundreds of thorns seemed impossible. He tried to look past the branches for a way out only to see nothing, not even a road. He feels something behind the wall; something cold and unforgiving, vast and endless. He's so small, so insignificant.

He can hear the others around him: Braviary prying at the branches with his talons, Prinn looking for a hole his size. They're doing what they can.

"You try just going around it, stupid?"

"It just gets colder on the sides." Prinn speaks. "I can't even see behind it, it's all dark back there! I could maybe go around, but you'd freeze up!"

It's a matter of time before they see Leon staring hopelessly beyond the wall, ice-cold sweat dripping down his brow. The air, the lack of discernible exits. It pains him to say what's happened to them, but it's the first step to figuring out how they're going to get out of this mess.

"We're not going to get around it, we just have to find the way out." Leon sighs. "Articuno's Winds, I never imagined I'd end up in one of these places by accident."

"Wh-what place?"

"What do you think, Prinn?" Leon throws out his arms, "We're on an otherwise ordinary trade route which zig-zags through some very specific areas, what do you think they were trying to avoid out here? Just bandits?"

No, bandits wouldn't make sense to Prinn. A bandit hideout wouldn't last this close to Calico Town because the guild would be all over them like venomoth to a flame. The road isn't dangerous either, it's no more rough than any other path through the Continent's forests. There's a reason why a trader would want to avoid this path around the mountains at any cost. The answer is all around them, especially in the cold, cold air. Perhaps there are some who could acclimatize themselves to this place and call it their home, but to these guildies who've gotten over their heads they would know this place as a Mystery Dungeon.

If one of them doesn't make it through this maze, no one may ever find them. And all of this could have been avoided if Prinn hadn't said a thing. There had to be a silver lining to all of this, Prinn thinks, just say the first thing on our tongue.

"We're in a dungeon, this is fine okay." Prinn stutters, "I-I think we can get out of this, so long as we've got you, Braviary."

"Me?" He spits.

"Yeah, you with the badge!" Leon points to the trinket. "Dungeon traversal should be up your alley. You can get us through no problem, right?"

Braviary blinks. He looks confused.

"Normally, yes. I reckon I could get us through one of these "Dungeon" places no problem, but back then I probably had both my wings, and I could fly right over out of these dens of misery." He motions at his left shoulder, the one hidden under his poncho. "We'd have gone to Calico town the way the Mukrow flies weren't it not for this thing; avoided this altogether."

"But you're still experienced?" Leon folds his arms, his tail glow briefly sputters when it drops to the ground. "One injury can't take all that time away from you, maybe you can take charge - tell us what to look out for."

"I could do that, but we've established we need your light tonight. Without you, we ain't gonna see what's coming till it's too late. You'll be taking point."

"You're serious?" Leon laughs, "I just read books on expeditions and guarded caravans all my life."

"All the more reason to apply yourself, friend. What's so good about knowing everything when you refuse to use it out in the field?"

Leon points to the road ahead, a dungeon entrenched in shadow with any number of things waiting for them deep inside. He didn't want to know what might happen should they run into madmen, unusual ferals all too prone to attacking any pokemon on sight. If they were quick enough, they'll never even see them.

"There could be any sort of pokemon in there, and we won't know until we go in. You look like you've seen some fights before, so if we're to make it with what we have then I'd prefer to have you at the front."

"Is it because of my wing?"

Braviary steps towards him

"No, your badge. You have it for a reason."

Prinn is nodding his head in agreement. Two on one, he doesn't have a choice anymore. Braviary is going to be taking charge because there's no way he'll let the kid bumble headfirst in there.

What should he have to fear, anyways? Hasn't he done this before? Is he not experienced? If he doesn't put on a show there's no way they'll believe a single word he says, he may even be booted out of the guild, tossed aside like the thief they may well believe him to be. He has to do this, he has to bring these people through one of these dreaded "dungeons", or else the guild will see him for what he is: a helpless amnesiac.

"Fine, I ain't gotta like it." Braviary backs away. "Leon, I want y'all right behind me with your light, and Prinn's gonna our eyes in the back."

He moves toward the path ahead, Leon follows four paces behind him while Prinn waddles in last. Ahead the ceiling gets denser, the air thicker, none of them are prepared to see where this road goes.

"Anything you geniuses have to say before we go?"

"Keep an eye out for any equipment. One elixir's not going to cut it if I have to keep my light up the whole way through, and these places tend to have stuff lying around."

"Yeah, what Leon said. I'll do some mapping too...just in case we need to double back!"

Just a few seconds ago they were outside of this dungeon twiddling their thumbs, a couple steps forwards and they're somewhere else entirely. It was as if they had walked through an invisible door.

The canopy was like a ceiling at this point, tree limbs clasping over each other like grotesque fingers. There was an overcast sky above it, yet the light still shines down upon the forest through the branches and the clouds. Braviary wouldn't describe what he saw as partially dark although the light was of much help.

Visibility was never going to be a problem with Leon at their side, but one look into this strange place it feels like they didn't need him. Tail Glow, for all the help it did on his rounds or in trade caravans, had no ability to penetrate the walls of trees. They couldn't even climb over for a vantage point because the trees bent towards the top to form a ceiling with their twisted hands. Something about this forest has warped into a veritable labyrinth of passageways and large open chambers like what they found themselves in. Four walls had them boxed into a rectangle, and three narrow passageways - barely enough room to squeeze a braviary through them - branched off into several directions. Where they went from this chamber was up to the bird leading the flock, but it wasn't going to make much difference. There was still no telling what was deeply wrong about this place.

It just didn't make sense. It feels like a dream, a nightmare at that. Maybe they've all fallen under a mysterious spell without knowing it, but it's all very real. The cold air breezing through this place served as their constant reminder.

The labyrinthine structures, a distinct entrance in the form of the forked road and an end somewhere deep within the walls. No number of books could have prepared Leon for stepping into a dungeon themselves..

"Where's the snow?"

"Are you gonna be okay?" Prinn whispers from the back. "We can make a fire if you get cold, there's plenty of tinde-"

"I said I was gonna be fine, Prinn. I also said we were going to breeze though this place, so don't you worry about me until I start turning into an ice-type." Braviary glances back. "What should we be looking for, Leon?"

"Should you know?"

"Here I thought you were educated." He groans. "How about you assume I don't know anything, and just fill me when applicable or whenever I happen to ask? We can get a flow going here."

Leon scrapes the cold sweat off his forehead with one hand, the other holds his tail.

"Okay, so where are we, Braviary?"

"A dungeon, I reckon it's the start of one." Braviary glances around. "A big rectangular room, one passageway on the far wall, two more on the left and right. Ground's the same dirt as the road we rolled in on. I ain't got more to add beyond that."

He hears some paper move in the back, Prinn's writing this down. The back of the coastline map is probably covered in all sorts of scribbles at this point, not unless the kid brought more paper with him.

"See water anywhere?"

"We probably just haven't seen it yet. I reckon no, this place doesn't feel like a swamp."

"Alright, alright, this is good." Leon takes a deep breath. "No pools of water means we'll have to follow the corridors. It's recommended from room to room and look for something resembling either a hole in the ground, a ladder or staircase of sorts."

"A staircase?" Braviary snorts. "Aren't we supposed to be getting out of here, not going deeper? Are you suggesting we go spelunking?"

"The only place to go in these dungeons is deeper, okay, and it's not always a staircase. I don't know why this is the case, Braviary, we'll have to trust the countless words of dozens of explorers who wrote this down for us." Leon taps the ground to a nervous beat. "There's an end to it, pokemon who either end up here alone or unprepared don't often make it. We may be unprepared, untrained even...at least none of us are here alone."

He sighs.

"These are why Guilds usually exist: to get people out of these sorts of situations."

Prinn keeps his map close to him, rolled up, ready to be strewn out any time he needs to draw where they've passed. Holding it made him feel important, like he was a newly-installed gear in the guild machine which kept them running. It's better than thinking he's at fault. Now is not a time to acknowledge the fact that if he hadn't brought Braviary to the guild they wouldn't be lost in a Mystery Dungeon

"But if we wait for the scholars to come save us…" Prinn's mind was racing. "H-How long would it take?"

"They aren't coming to save us," says Leon. "because we're not going to get ourselves lost here. The trader needs us."

He nods to the supposed veteran, who tilts his head.

Please, Leon begs, please say something so the boy doesn't lose cool right of the gate. Just say we'll make do, you two are in it together.

Three agonizing seconds tick past before Braviary's beak opens.

"We have a much better chance than any fellow on their lonesome" Braviary clears his throat. "You have an idea of how these places work, Leon. We know how we'll get out of here, we have a plan, and we ain't going to fight anyone. So Leon, out of these three completely identical passageways, which of these do you reckon would take us closer to our magic stairwell?"

"We don't have the equipment, flip a coin if you need to."

Not wasting another moment, Braviary leads them to the rightmost corridor. As he shimmies through the passageway he's barraged by thin branches swatting as his shoulders. They had no plan on walking side by side through these passageways, there simply wasn't enough room for two pokemon to squeeze through at once, so whatever was at the end of the hallway Braviary had to face it.

The tail glow didn't go far, however with it they could at least see what was coming. Which as he stumbled through the tree-lined hallway turned out to be a second chamber much like the last. A wide, open square with a curious sight waiting for them: a large dark pit in the ground. They had not seen any leaves anywhere through this dungeon, yet around this fissure they swarm like bug-types. In circles and circles they go until they tire on the ground around it.

When Braviary peeks his head out, he sees the fissure to his right. Where can it go? Deeper? Was it safe to leap down? It's a strong draft from near it, enough for a flying pokemon to easily glide down provided they weren't missing a limb. He was about to ask his buddies for a way of getting down, but then...

Next to the hole he saw a small lump, a stack of leaves as though a pokemon had raked the dungeon floor. As Leon edges into the chamber his glowing tail shines out and the lump moves.

Braviary whips around him, covers the lantern tail with his wing, and looks Leon in the eyes. He listens for another rustle, it doesn't come.

"There's a fella in the leaves next to this pit." Braviary silently exhales, "Big pit, lots of wind around it, looks like it leads deeper but I don't know if the fella's awake."

"Can't we just get past it, tread quietly?" Leon covers his light, Bravairy takes his wing away and stares at their leafy predicament. "I can't be too hard if it's sleeping. How big is it?"

"It's a big lump, assuming it's snoozing on its belly I'd say it's your size."

"Any idea what type it is? Can you get a better look?"

The old bird squints his eyes. He stares directly at the leaf-colored thing. He can see it breathing, the leaves shifting slightly, a plume of warm air leaving the other side. It's not facing them, this is good. It's so deeply covered in leaves he cannot see what it is.

"It's lookin' straight at the hole in the ground. If you keep the torch of yours going when we head over there, it'll surely get up." Braviary sighs. "No idea on the typing. Bug-types we can handle, grass on the other hand…"

He sees the kid behind them shiver. It wasn't from the cold.

"The three of us right?" Prinn warbles, "We might make a lot of noise, right? Maybe we can cut down on the noise, like one of you could carry me?"

"What are you, a hatchling? With this wing, it'll be risky business."

"No, Prinn has a point. If there's enough leaves for someone to make a bed with in there, the ground's probably covered with them. They won't hear us, they'll hear the leaves crunching under our feet."

"You're right. I'll scoop the kid up as soon as we step in but I can't promise I can hold him for long. What about you, Leon?"

There's a pause. Leon takes a moment.

"I'll go last. If it leaps at me I can throw up a Protect shield, but I'll have to throw myself in right afterwards."

Wait a minute. Why isn't he the frontliner? Why did Braviary need to take charge in the fir4st palace when there's someone with the ability to project a shield in front of them which is otherwise impervious to everything!

Why was he, the old man who lost a wing and all subsequent ability to battle or do any of the work he says he used to do, in charge? Was it because he was old, was it all Leon's way of calling his bluff? Because doing this accomplished only one thing: it made him mad, and he should have no reason to be mad at his supposed partners in the middle of a dungeon infested with dangerous pokemon.

Why did they do this? Why not tell him in the first place?

Because you're expendable. The answer's always been there.

"Braviary?" Prinn peeps.

"Yes, I know the plan." Braviary's feathers bristle. "I know the plan."

Braviary steps in, Leon slides to the left, and Prinn waddles straight next to the Braviary. He sweeps the boy up like a fifty-ish pound sack of berries, holding him close like a sniveling hatchling, but otherwise keeping his flippers off the floor. They all stare across the room at the breathing thing, watching its steady, repetitive movement. The leaves are gathered all around the pit where it's sleeping, possibly from being swept up from deep below. They wait for some idiot to come stepping all over them.

He could've avoided this whole mess if this were him from a time long gone, both the dungeon itself, and the very clear trap laid in front of them. Whatever this pokemon actually is, feral or mad - doesn't matter, he knew it probably wouldn't be smart enough to devise a real trap. It's just convenient for the pokemon who sleeps light to have bundled up here. One loud brushing of leaves around the pit would surely wake them, they likely have tuned out the winds at this point.

Leon still holds his tail tightly with both hands clasped around it, the tail itself stuffed under his thick green rain cloak. Does he not have full control of it? If there's a time limit they could wait out it wasn't worth bringing up, they all knew they had to move. No matter if the pokemon in front wanted to tie his dumb tail in a knot.

As light as he can be, Braviary begins to creep towards the slumbering creature. He makes a wide berth around it, goes a few paces, then he stares at the mound waiting for it to move. It doesn't, so he moves closer. He does this all the while trying to balance the weight of a prinplup who clings to him like a chimchar, dangling uncomfortably from the larger pokemon's neck with his flippers gripping on for his life. There are far heavier pokemon in this vast world than Prinn, but his additional weight did not help in a situation which required more finesse than a piggybacked bird can pull off.

The weight of Prinn gripping him down causes the inevitable to happen. One wrong step causes Braviary's feet to be swept up. He feels light, then he's pulled forward. He catches Prinn in his wing as he swings his weight back. Braviary hears his heartbeat over the wind, and his eyes are wide, waiting for the mound to move. It doesn't move.

He's close to the creature now, and between it and him is the crevice. Now, he only needs to make it another couple careful paces across a field of crinkly leaves to be one more step towards being home free. Prinn is shivering like mad, he can't hold on anymore, so it's entirely Braviary keeping the fellow's feet above the ground. The distance of leaf-covered ground is deceptively short, five paces at most. He could sprint right into the pit of freedom if he weren't carrying this kid.

He looks over the shoulder, Leon's still there. He's followed the plan. It's Braviary's move again.

Braviary keeps his head low. His crummy hat hides eyes which glare at the thing in the leaves. The first sign of this creature getting onto its feet, he's going to throw them down into the pit and hope the winds catch their fall. It's better than them finding out what this pokemon's deal is.

Crunch, crunch. It's so loud, it sounds like ice being broken beneath his feet. The leaves are a menace trying to wake the beast, but it's still deep with its dream. His steps are like a hurricane compared to the wind below. They're so out of place, why isn't this pokemon getting up? One more step takes him close enough to the abyss where a straight leap into is feasible, and when he takes it, the beast finally answers.

He sees a light, yellow-green snout peek from out of the leaves. It sniffs the air, it's awake, or at least aware of its surroundings. The head of this thing begins slagging off the leaves like it was snow. It's then the trios sees the long distinct leaf of a Bayleef, and hear a new sound echo from outside the chamber.

Something is moving through the corridors, through the dense branches. They start counting seconds now. One, two. Something is coming for them, the Bayleef is awake; why wasn't Braviary moving?

Better yet, why does a bayleef who has been lost deep within a Mystery Dungeon - one constructed from a forested road far from the black shore - smell like seawater? He smells the acrid stench off of them. The miasma of salt torches the nostrils, and his mind whisks elsewhere.

Braviary is at a shore again, no, he's on the waters. The seas around him are dark. They're of an infinite deepness so vast no one person could ever see the ends of it, who's waves are constant, churning and uncaring. In the endless dream of grey skies and black waters he drifts without purpose, forever, never to find what he's looking for. How did he end here? What led him to these careless waters? What did he hope to find? All questions whose answers had become lost in its waves. Compelled by a desire he can no longer explain, he chooses to drift on its waters, to float towards the end of time - wherever these cruel waves will take him.

The water acts strange. The constant rise and dip of its waves has been disturbed. The unspeakable something is here, to take him from this place to somewhere else - away from who he was. Or did he take himself away? Did he finally close his eyes, and let himself sink to the depths? How did this other one fair, could they have left of their own accord too?

Did you wake up on a beach too? He wants to ask them; there's no time.

"Braviary!"

Leon shouts. Braviary's eyes open wide in time to see the Bayleef, now its feet, hurl an Energy Ball his way. Prinn, it can't hit Prinn. He swings his back to the towards incoming attack instantly, hearing the pipsqueak scream as the Energy Ball shatters into globs of light where it feels like he sprained a muscle, pulling something very, very heavy.

For a split moment Braviary was face to face with Leon. The Smeargle's eyes stare away from him towards the corridor, and a new sound hits their ears: pokemon rapidly ripping through the overgrown hallway to get into their chamber. There is enough time for Braviary to nod, then he moves backward.

With the help of a strong push from Leon he tosses himself backwards into the crevice. The harsh winds from below drag him and the petrified boy in his wing. Leon won't follow yet, he can't let these ferals follow them.

Bewildered that two pokemon would rather toss themselves into the pit than face it, the Bayleef veers its gaze to the remaining traveler. The bayleef opens its jaw again, Leon plants his feet as he holds out his tail.

A second Energy Ball is launched. Before it reaches its destination it clashes against an invisible wall, dispersing across it in shimmering droplets. Okay, an attack blocked, now onto step two. His glowing tail extinguishes as a dark paint-like glob congeals at its end, and he whips it at his foe.

Before it could realize what caused its attack to be ineffective, a Shadow Ball hits square on the Bayleef's side. The attack was enough to knock it over, possibly rendering it unconscious. He saw it collapse back into the leaves, and that's good enough for him because had learned two very important things.

One: Froslass' trick actually worked. Two: he could defend himself after all.

Before these incoming pokemon could see the explorers he already dashed to the ledge, took a deep breath, and surrendered to its wind. Let's not come back here.