(...Well, hello there! It's me, the writer! I... let's be honest, I kinda neglected this fic. When I started posting i began doing a ton of things at the same time, so writing became the last thing I was doing. Although, it doesn't mean I have chapters to upload, and I'm also working on something different as well, very different to what I'm trying with this one. In any case, here's the next chapter! Expect the quality to rise from now on, since chapter 1 is really, really old.)

…

A small breeze stirs my eyes, the soft grass beneath inviting me back to slumber.

Clear skies, warm air, all appropriate for an evening nap.

And yet…

"…no, no, she's really smart, I tell you."

…the soft voices of chit-chat reverberate through the air.

"So, she's like a scholar?"

"You could say so."

One of these voices I recognize from a distant dream.

Axel. Even without knowing how his voice sounds, I know it would be him.

Loud, yet soft. Sharp, yet warm.

"Is she still deep asleep?"

The other, not one I knew.

Young, like me, like Axel. A bit too quick to speak, a bit too curious.

While it was warm as well, it did not have the same sharpness of Axel's voice.

His voice was…

…

…come to think of it, how come I know what Axel's voice sounds like?

It's as if I heard it in a dream.

It's as if he saved me many times in that dream.

It's as if I was a pókemon in that dream.

Hold on, didn't I—

And just like that, I was awake.

The fur itching in my skin. My ears mildly ringing. My legs oddly twisted And strangers talking to Axel.

I turn, maybe—

A typhlosion.

"Oh, she's awake!" A talking typhlosion.

"Hey, are you ok?" A talking Axel.

And I was still a dewott.

I raise my hands, staring at them. "Liz?" Axel's soft whisper shook me off of my stupor.

"Ah— Hm?" Act normal.

He hugs me again. And in his embrace, I take a deep breath.

He whispers, "I'll take the lead for a bit." Huh? "You're fine."

He lets go, turning to speak to the stranger "She tends to have nightmares."

"Oh…," the typhlosion's ears drop, "It's fine. I used to have a lot of nightmares when I evolved." A second later, he opens his maw, but closes it again, awkward silence rising.

Someone else calls, voice distant and almost lost in the wind. Far in the distance, a green, scaly lone figure beckons.

"Oh, that's Sceptile, he's with me. I'll… I'll leave you two to… sort things out, ok?" He makes a tiny bow, and runs off. My head hangs, following him.

Axel breaks the silence. "Awake yet?"

…what?

"It takes you a bit to wake up."

"…yeah?" I almost slurred my voice "I… what happened?"

"Ok, hear me out." He takes a deep breath, "Some time after you fell asleep, maybe half an hour, those two appeared." Ok…? "They asked what I was doing, because the two kids looked kinda hurt." Kids?

OH! "Are-Are they ok?!" I stand up "Oh, gosh, are they—"

"Fine! Fine! They're fine!" Oh, thank Arceus "The typhlosion helped with their wounds."

I sat back down.

…the grass feels weird on my fur.

The mustelid pokemon chats with his partner in the distance, both wearing a red patterned scarf on their neck, for some reason. A small badge is pinned to the scarf, glistening to the sun's rays, an oval with a pink top and a white bottom, wings adorning its sides.

The typhlosion himself also has... an earring pierced on his left ear, a glint of red from the decently sized gem. Bands and bracelets adorn his foreleg, and a messenger's bag firmly lays strapped to his back.

Some of his fur is dirtied up, green stains on his legs, and some visible dirt and mud on all of his paws. Though, this also applies to his grass-typed friend, brown mud mostly on their hind legs. Hell, their scarves weren't safe from the dirt either.

"The typhlosion..." Axel pulls my eyes off of the pokemon in question.

"Ye— Yeah?

His face serious, he continues. "When he was done with helping the kids, he asked me where I was from, I said that we're from Hoenn." Ok? "I asked what place this was, and they said a name I didn't recognize." Hold on—

"What name did they say?" It could be that this is Kalos, somehow, since Axel doesn't know that place—

"The Upper Fangs," The typhlosion was back, "and neither of us recognize your land's name."

What? The upper— What?

"It's true, we've been talking with your friend here, and we've come to the conclusion that you're, uh…." He hesitated.

"Well, for my part, I'll say we're lost." Axel, what?

"Yeah, and we… really, really don't know where you're from."

What?

"We've never heard of this Hoenn of yours, we've never seen bags like yours, and we've, uh, never heard of these… gyms of yours."

…what?

He takes a map off of his bag, not like the two kid's map. It was big, sturdy, and of a better, clearer material.

And it made sense, since when I took a look. It was much, much more terrain than what the other map showed,

And it was definitely not Hoenn, nor Unova.

I could feel my heart sink. Just, what is this place?

"Elbia's a big continent, but… yeah, sorry if I can't recognize your land."

I…

I step closer to Axel, hugging his leg.

Axel sighed. "It's alright, but I'm worried that, uh, do you- do you know what a faller is, by any chance?"

"I… think I know what you're talking about…?"

"He implies that they've fallen from the other side of the region."

The sceptile finally approaches us. Fierce and cold eyes firmly on us, and standing several meters away, he continues, "But those are merely tales that the elders tell the young."

"But you've seen the dozens of books in the library talking about stuff like that!" Typhlosion inched closer, "Maybe they can be real! Or- Or maybe they happened a long, long time ago!"

"Are you really going to believe that two strangers, according to them, saved two beginner scouts?" his raspy voice, while not vile, was growing harsher.

"Awwww, do you not trust them, Lavvy?" the typhlosion stepped closer to him, pinching and pulling at the sceptile's cheeks with his paws! "There's not a good reason not to!"

"You know very well," he swatted at his friend's paws, "why we shouldn't trust strangers such as these! We already have enough problems with the newly emerging Mystery Dungeons!" the sceptile's message finally getting across.

The typhlosion hangs his head, turning around and pacing in circles. After a few seconds, he stops, paws pointing at the sky, "I know! We can bring them to the city!" Oh!

"Are you out of your mind?!" Is it really that bad of an idea? "Two strangers from Arceus-knows-where, who will do who-knows-what, to the place where most people can—"

"And we bring them to the elder! That way, he can decide if they're telling the truth, or send them on their way! And if they try anything funny, I can just burn them! It's not gonna kill them, right?" Uh…

"That's…" The sceptile just huffs, "Sure. Sure." He sounds… mildly unconvinced.

"Even then, you could just ask the kids, if you don't believe they saved them."

"Why did you not say that before!?"

"Hey, you didn't think of it either!"

He huffs once more, and starts to walk towards the two sleeping children. "But" he turns around, "you make sure they don't do anything funny."

The typhlosion just salutes, if poorly so. Man, does that look scuffed when done with paws.

Once the sceptile's far enough, he goes, "The name's Scorch! The moody one's called—"

"Don't give them my name! It's none of their business!" He turns from checking on the two unconscious pokémon for a brief second.

"Well, you can call him Lavvy, if you want."

From the distance, Lavvy groans audibly.

Axel chuckles, "Well, my name's—", he stops himself. "Is it… not common to tell one's name to others?"

Scorch just… dirty maw hanging for a second, he continues after composing himself, "Aha, well, yeah, I'm not really supposed to, but- you seem like a trustworthy duo! I don't really mind you two knowing my name."

Axel sighs. "Well, I'm not really against giving you my name—"

I tug at one of his feathers.

"Er," he hesitates, "well, I'm Blaziken, and she's… Dewott."

I don't like the way that sounds.

"Alright!" he beams, puppy-eyes lighting up, "It'll be at least a three day trip to the big city, soooo me and the moody guy over there will make a plan to go through. Between the six of us, it's gonna be a bit rough, so we might have to make multiple stops, though."

A three day— "Will we have to travel on foot?"

"Yeah, there's no way the badges can teleport all of us at once, sorry about that." He scratches the back of his neck, messing his fur in doing so.

Badges? Teleport?

"We… don't know what those are." Axel is just as confused as I am.

Scorch lets go of his neck, brows slightly furrowing. "You… don't have those where you're from?" I shake my head, and so does Axel. "Do you know what the guilds are?" We shake our heads again.

He looks to the side, eyes on the horizon.

"I think we have a small conversation to have, heh." His laugh was… appreciated, I guess.

"Alright, where do we begin…?"

The sun would soon set. It was much later in the day than we realized.

The small fire we had set up cracks, small embers rising and lighting up our faces.

Scorch takes a deep breath. "Ok, the first thing I think you should know about is the Mystery Dungeons. It's… odd, having to explain these to someone, since almost all of us have at least a vague idea of what they are."

He tilts his head, pensive for a little. "They're… floors, one on top of eachother, that take the shape of the place in which the dungeon has taken place. Floors made of rooms, connected by hallways. It's a… space anomaly, I've heard some call them. They don't make much sense."

He turns to look at Lavvy. "They're dangerous. They're filled by dungeon-made feral pokémon. They're sturdier, and more aggressive than ordinary feral pokémon. We think it's the dungeon, see, since those unlucky to get lost in a dungeon for several days, well…"

His maw snarls at the edges, vile fangs showing, "They lose their mind."

Silence hangs for a few seconds, grim as it was. Axel pulls his arms around me, as I lay sit in front of him. His hands' grip tighten, though not enough to cause pain.

"Some go back to normal," He continues, "but not everyone's lucky. And it's not like you can ignore dungeons all the time, anyways. Sometimes, the feral pokemon escape, and wreak havoc in the nearby sites. Sometimes, the dungeons are in the middle of a path. And, sometimes, you can find treasures inside these dungeons, almost as if it was… asking for you to go in."

His frown softens, a smile breaking the sour mood, "And that's what the guilds are for! There are many in the region, Elbia is pretty big after all, and they keep the nearby dungeons in check, but they also help with other 'mon that have problems that come from the dungeons!"

The grass crunches under footsteps, Sceptile approaches from behind Scorch. "You speak of the Dungeons as if they were only malice upon these lands."

Scorch turns, his smile turning lopsided. "Well…"

"Not all of us see them as a menace." He turns towards the two kids, both laying down next to their bags, now awake, chatting to each other, unbothered by the cold of the night or the grass on their fur and feathers. "Some train and seek the treasures they hold, strength to match the ferals that inhabit the dungeons. Some merely seek the more subtle resources in the lower floors, in the smaller dungeons. Some enjoy the thrills of battle against less subdued and reserved pokémon."

He sits next to Scorch, before continuing. His eyes light up, and not just because of the fire. "I joined Scorch many years ago, with the intent of growing strong so that no dungeon could stop me from reaching the places I yearn to go, so that nothing impedes me from taking the treasures they hold."

Scorch chuckles, his foreleg reaching for Lavvy's shoulder. "You're awfully enthusiastic about that last part, aren't ya? You usually don't boast about it. Maybe it's because you've found someone new to talk to?"

Sceptile staggers, coughing before continuing, "We—well, it's true that there's few who don't know about our team. We have reached far and wide."

Scorch's chuckle grows into a giddy laugh, enough to irritate his friend. Sceptile stares at his friend for a few seconds, and he stands up, moving to meet the two children, their voices growing louder with his approach.

"They look up to him. And he likes them too, even if he doesn't show it. See, we're super strong, as far as others know, and we've recently begun to take some of the smaller guild requests— missions issued by the guild to… assess the problems the dungeons bring. Pokémon getting lost in the dungeons, ferals escaping, outlaws hiding, sometimes 'mon would lose items in the passing from one side to another. The smaller teams definitely appreciate the help."

I look up to try and meet Axel's face, but the bottom of his beak is in the way. I hate the fact that I'm smaller than him now.

I mean, he is taller than me, but not by much, usually.

"Other than that, well… we have towns, cities, markets… I'm not sure if there was anything else you found weird?"

I open my mouth, but words fail to leave.

We're far from home.

We're far from home.

Not Unova, not Hoenn.

He sighs, but then his face lights up, "I know! Why don't you tell me what your home was like? It would be pretty fun to talk about, right?"

"Oh, uh, well, I don't see how there's anything more interesting than some space-anomalous dungeons, haha." Axel speaks over me, drowning my whisper of a response.

I meet the Typhlosion's gaze, but he's looking at Axel.

"Well, what do you guys do, most of the time?"

"I… battle, I'd say."

Scorch's eyes frown, but Axel resumes "It's not like fighting ferals, I think. We met some of those on our way out of the dungeon over there," he flicks his beak towards the maze of a forest we came out of earlier.

He chuckles, "It's more regulated; if you faint, you're out. One at a time, with a team of usually four pokémon." Scorch inches closer, but Axel continues. "The battle only stops to switch out the members of the team, whether it's in the middle of the fight, or because one faints— though you're not often allowed to switch pokemon around. You wouldn't believe how popular the battles can be— there's entire stadiums made just for that."

Our new friend gasps at the last part, "How does that work? Is there a guild you apply to with a team to find matches?"

I open my mouth to speak, but Axel puts a claw on top of my head. He goes to respond, but stops. A beat later, he speaks "Well, I guess. There's usually one member who takes care of the battling pokémon. They're called trainers."

He goes to speak again, but stumbles a little bit. "They… seek out other pokémon to join the team. They take care of them, and train them to be in top shape. They make strategies and tactics to follow. They find… other teams to fight against. Some of these trainers… learn so much that they fund a… place we call a gym, to teach newer trainers and have them grow, and they'd even fight some of them to see if they've grown strong…"

Even if it took him a bit to find the right words, he explained things well enough, so I didn't find a need to stop him for now.

It was enough to make Scorch excited, it seemed. "Do you fight in a team?"

"Yeah! I— uhm,"

He lowers his gaze at me.

I stare for a bit. "We," I continue for him, and look towards Scorch, "are a team ourselves! I'm his trainer, and train him so that he becomes the strongest Blaziken out there!"

I can't help but giggle a bit. I said it the way I used to say it as a kid.

It did sound a little childish. "In the region, there's eight gyms, and if you beat the gym leader, they give you the badge of the gym! Once you get all of them, you get to battle the elite four, and then enter a tournament to face off against the Champion, the strongest trainer in the region!" I pump both my fists, the mere idea just riles me up a bit. "I managed to get four badges in four months! Some can take a whole year just to get one or two!"

He chuckles, "It's pretty strange, pokemon learning about other pokemon. But it's pretty cool! You must be really smart when it comes to pokemon!"

"We—"

"Yeah, it is weird, when you put it like that, haha." Axel didn't even let me get a word in.

What's the big idea? "W-well," I stammer, "most of what I know about is what Ax— Blaziken can do, his moves, his strengths, his weaknesses, what he can eat, how to take care of him, there's a lot that can happen, and it only got more complicated as he evolved!"

He gasps, "Do you know things about Typhlosion that I could use?"

Hah, now that's a question. "Hmmm, I don't know much about your species, but I've seen a couple fight. Let's see, uhm. They often use… Do you know how to use Sunny Day?"

"Sunny— wha—? "He stutters." Well…" he rests his head on his hand, "an old… friend of mine gifted me one TM, as a prank."

Huh? How can gifting a TM be considered a prank?

"It's, well, I don't really use it."

"Why not? It boosts the power of—"

"Fire-type moves, yeah, but, uh, it– do you know how it feels to be under it, right?"

"Oh." I scratch the back of my neck, "Yeah, no need to tell me, I've seen it used in a pretty harsh way."

It's… well, strong, duh. The unnatural sun on your back can be a little bit unnerving, but mostly so is the odd heat that does not show in the ground or the air.

"I'm not exactly sure that Sceptile would appreciate that." He waves his hand a little bit.

Huh. "But he probably knows Solar Beam, right?"

He smirks, singular eyebrow raised, "Yeah, he bought the TM when he was just a grovyle."

"Then he can charge it quickly if Sunny Day's up!"

"Wait, it can do that?!" He sat up a little.

"Yeah! And both Synthesis and Growth will be even stronger! Though, I'm not sure how that last one can help…"

He gasps, no doubt new strategies opening up for the grass-type.

"What else do you know? Any strategies that could work for us?"

I smile. "Well, you could—"

"I'm not sure all our tactics could work well here." Axel butts in. He's not wrong.

"Then I can tell you some of the things we do!" Scorch begs, "C'mon! I want to know cool moves to fight with!"

My smile grows. We might not have all night.

By now, the sun has definitely set, stars begging to shine in the clear night sky.

And I haven't stopped with some of the strategies you could use for fire-type pokémon.

"Heat Wave is usually a good move. Ooh, but Flamethrower is more accurate."

"Yeah, but I could hit Sceptile if I'm not careful."

"Hm, I guess that's true. But if you ever find yourself alone, you know what to do." I seriously doubt you could find me smiling more than I am now.

He chuckles, and after a beat passes, he continues, "I still can't get over the fact that Lavvy can make use of Sunny Day."

"Oh, you have no idea, it was all the craze some time back."

"Ooo, what happened then?"

"Well, Pokémon with Intimidate became popular, so setting up was getting harder and harder…"

"Ah, I see."

Axel, in the distance, could be seen practicing a few of his kicks, while the two kids watched in awe.

It's… refreshing. "Reminds me of my earlier days…"

"Hm?" Scorch was chewing a piece of an oran berry, "Why's that?"

"Oh, well, I'm going through some rough times now… training's not the same as it used to be…"

He stopped eating for a bit, nodding as I went off.

"Some say that you can fall in love with training again by finding a new teammate, but training more than three Pokémon is pretty hard… I'm not sure it's worth it."

He nods, looking at the sky. "I remember one time we almost dissolved our team."

Whoah, really?

"Yeah!" I haven't said a thing yet. "We were trying to think of ways to face different threats— back then, we'd just smack everything down. But then, as we were shouting at each other over this, I used Flamethrower for the first time! I felt soo good, I almost went to the dungeon all on my own! And, as I was scorching down things," not funny, "Lavvy started to drive the ferals into my flames! We just found something new to do, just by learning a single move!"

Huh. Guess it must feel like that for a Pokémon.

I remember back when Axel learned blaze kick. He was ecstatic about it.

"But it's not just about learning a new move."

He was looking directly at me now. His smile reached his eyes, I could never have known that a Typhlosion could smile this much.

"I guess it's… going about things in a different way, with different eyes. Sure, I could go back to the dungeons Tackling and hitting ferals all the way. But after learning how we could work that well off of one move, any move, even if we just used Tackle it would feel like a whole different thing."

In a different way, with different eyes…

I could… try.

Hm. How would that work, though?

Axel as a special attacker.

Pff. Haha, as if.

Though, maybe…

I move my hand to my bag–

Which is near Axel, not on me. Ugh.

"W—well, I guess I could try that once I get back. Maybe buying a couple of TMs could help."

"Oh, you buy TMs too!? You sounded so weirded out by everything, I thought you wouldn't have them!"

Uh— "Yeah, why…?"

"As in, you can buy them anywhere?"

"... pretty much."

He gasps, handson his face, and starts kicking his feet madly. "No way! Do you know how to make them?"

"No, sadly, but why—"

"Ah, dang it," he lets his head hang, "Well, they're a bit of a mystery to us here, we don't really have a way to make them, but they appear in the dungeons as, apparently, replications of the real things!"

Huh… "Replications of… what, exactly?"

He shudders. He looks around, clasping his hands. "Well, they made them."

"…who?"

"Oh, huh, well, my ba— my bad."

He inches closer, hand closing around his maw.

His eyes dart for a bit before gaining resolve.

He whispers. "Humans."

Humans— What? They have humans in—?

I notice Sceptile turn his head over our direction— He was chatting with Axel. He rolls his eyes, and he steps back a little bit, putting him and my friend in between the two kids and us, even as they were sleeping.

"You… you don't have those?"

Turning back to Scorch— whoa!

His gaze was weak, set towards the ground, his eyes not meeting mine. Hands holding one another, posture hunched over a little bit.

"Well, you're, uh…" He swallows, "My grandpa has told me stories about them. They were more common in word of mouth back then— they, uhm…"

He stutters a bit, before continuing.

"There are dungeons, they're like the others, but… the ground is of white, flat stone, walls of steel. They are filled with TMs and Elixirs, more than you'd ever see in any dungeon. They're ancient, tales of them kept for generations. Supposedly, it all began from those ones."

"Huh, that doesn't– uh, doesn't sound so bad." Gotta tread carefully here.

"Well, it's not, but… there are other things."

…?

"Grandpa saw one, he says. They're small, like, uhm, twice the size of a berry. They're polished, and usually have different colors. And they have this, uh, button…? Yeah, a button in the middle."

...I think I know where this is going.

"Usually, the tiny ones are fine, but these balls can also be bigger… about twice their regular size. Grandpa said…"

His voice grows weaker every sentence.

Uh...

"He also said that, if you touch it, then they make you disappear."

Oh, so, they do have pokeballs.

Why's he making such a fuss about it?

"Grandpa's team cleared that dungeon, even if half their team got… dissolved… He and his teammate found some scriptures on the last floor. His teammate says they were written in... human tongue."

"The scriptures said that the whole place was made by the humans."

Well, yeah, we could make buildings, computers, and pokeballs, and— why's he— why's he making such a fuss about pokeballs? You can easily open them if you click the—

Button. The same one that catches a Pokémon.

…and weren't the old models made it hard for most Pokémon to open them? No wonder this kid is so scared of them! His grandpa practically lost half his friends!

Or— or maybe not! They're probably still alive! Stuck in those pokeballs for—

For decades. Completely on their own.

Oh.

"I… don't know what to say."

He shakes his head. "It's alright. I just wanted to tell you how TMs were found, but I…" he hesitates, "it always sours my mood."

He lays down, eyes focused on the campfire. "Grampa said that place was filled with information. I just wish they had a way to make dungeons disappear. They made dungeons after all."

Wha—? What kind of jump of logic is that? Humans here just made a building that—

Became an incredibly ancient dungeon.

The very first one.

My face went cold, a chill running up my spine.

The humans here made a building that would go on to become the first ancient dungeon.

Scorch believes that humans made the dungeon.

This pokemon blames humans for the appearance of dungeons.

Rummaging in my bag, I search for something to sleep on, because I am not going to sleep in the ground if I can help it.

"Let's not use the sleeping bag."

Wh— excuse me? Axel? "What, why?"

He merely points his beak towards Scorch and Sceptile. There's nothing between the ground and them.

"Oh. Uhm, but won't it be cold in the night?"

He looks at me. Not… my face, but my body—

Oh. I see. "Is the fur really gonna be enough?"

He chuckles, "I don't see why not."

Sceptile's laying down next to Scorch, stretched out on his belly.

Scorch himself is curled up like most furred pokémon do.

Like most, oh, you've got to be—

Nope, no, I'm not doing that.

I lay down on my back, and stretch out like I usually do, my arms not reaching as far as I'm used to, and my legs refusing to un-bend.

It's not as comfortable as I'm used to, but, hey, beats curling up.

I hear shuffling next to me, Axel laying down. — Hey, uhm, you shouldn't sleep on your back.

…Mhm.

"Hey. Liz."

"Hmm?"

"You should lay down on your belly."

"…Why should I? — I can't help but grumble."

"Your back's going to hurt a lot in the morning."

"Why? I'm not—"

"Remember that you're not a human anymore."

Remember that you're not a human anymore.

Axel's words feel like a brick to the face.

I try to retort.

But fail to really think of anything.

I am a dewott now, aren't I.

I'm stuck like this. Small. Weird.

Sniff sniff.

And kind of smelly. Ugh, I need a bath, I smell like magikarp.

I'm an ugly, smelly, dirty and—

The breeze picks up, sending chills down my spine. How am I supposed to sleep like this? Can't I use a blanket at least?

I look over to the kids, but they're both snuggly sleeping with each other, the fletchling halfway into the mareep's wool.

Ugh. I wish I had my mareep wool coat. It was summer in Unova, but not here. Elbia, was the name of the place?

My spine shivers a little. Yeah, I'm not really supposed to sleep in the open. Maybe I can convince Axel that I can—

He puts his arm over me.

And I feel his feathery chest in my back. "Hey, what are you—?"

"You're going to need warmth. Not too much, but enough to fight the wind's chill."

I… "Thanks, I guess."

"You should curl up, too"

"Wait, what?"

"You curled up when you fell asleep earlier. Keeps you warm, too."

Tch, what does he think he is? My mom? I can sleep well enough like this, thank you.

…

…

…alright, maybe it is comfortable.