Location: Fire Island Volcano Base

So, Dedenne and Jirachi stayed behind since their jobs require constant attendance. Lyra was a little sad to see them stay behind, and I don't blame her. I was expecting this outing to include the whole Society...

Well, what can ya do? We all went to Lapras for our ride to...wherever. He was uh...a little apprehensive about carrying everyone, but ultimately decided it should be fine so long as he swam carefully. After a not-so-smooth ride, Ampharos announced our arrival. Lyra asked where we were, and...Fire Island. We're on Fire Island.

Ahaha...good one, Ampharos. Funny prank. Seriously though, where's our real destination?

...

Oh Arceus, he's being serious.

Dude. Fire Island. Fire Island. Did he forget what I'm made of? Here's a hint: It's one of the most FLAMMABLE materials in the Pokémon universe!

Lyra had the same reaction, saying this place looked far more dangerous and harsh than she anticipated. Like, seriously. Did Ampharos not think this through?

Ugh. Well, apparently, our concerns didn't matter because he started separating us into groups. Kinda similar to how we were separated into groups during field trips back in school.

First group consisted of Bunnelby, Archen and Swirlix. Second consisted of Buizel, Lyra, and myself. That left Mawile and Ampharos as the last group. Our goal: reach the summit.

Well...I was actually worried for a moment since I'm a grass-type and Lyra can't do much to cover me here. I mean it's no secret that of the first three elemental types (grass, fire, water) fire is the biggest weakness of the Evergreens. But with Buizel covering for us, things shouldn't be too bad.

Anyway, no sense in delaying the inevitable. Into the Fire Island Volcano!

Location: Fire Island Volcano 6F

Okay, y'know what? I'm liking this less and less the higher we climb. Not the exploration itself, that's actually been pretty fun. Lyra and I even got to use our new techniques in a few places to get some additional items and surprise Buizel. Luckily, the path to the summit only went up slightly-steep slopes instead of vertical sections, so I didn't have to do a lot of climbing.

However, the higher we climb the heavier the air feels. Wait...maybe heavy isn't the right word. Uh...humid? Humid. Let's go with humid. The air feels more humid. There's also this sense of dread hanging in the air. I can tell Lyra's feeling it, but Buizel seems to be stubbornly fighting against it.

Don't get me wrong. Traveling with Buizel has been infinitely more fun than traveling with Archen. He's very laid back and strong, and he complimented Lyra on her form while using her moves. That put an adorable spark in her eye and a pep in her step, so Buizel's okay in my book. I really oughta compliment her more. I'm so used to traveling with her that I forget to mention when she impresses me.

Buizel kinda gave me the stink eye when I pulled out more Reviver Seeds than normal at the rest stop deposit box. Whatever this pressure is, I wanted to make sure we were ready for anything. Something's waiting for us at the top, and I don't want to be unprepared when we face...

Oh. Oh.

Ampharos, you sneaky, sneaky Pokémon.

But why? Why would he want to come here and fight him in his home turf? If my hunch is correct, we have one hell of a fight before us.

Lyra hasn't picked up on why we're here, but...there's a pattern to these things. Similar to how I knew Pancham was gonna want us to sneak into the school at night to confirm the presence of ghosts. It took me a bit to pick up on it, but it seems so obvious now.

Of course, that's why we're on Fire Island. But what's Ampharos's objective? What's he hoping to accomplish by confronting him?

Well, we're about to find out.

Location: Fire Island Volcano...room before the summit?

So, we ran into a Magmortar and his Magmar lackeys and they were saying something about approaching the lair of the master of Fire Island. It's possible my hunch is correct, but we wouldn't know unless we pummeled those goons into the ground.

And the fight...wasn't too bad, actually. Certainly challenging in its own way, but we only ate through two Reviver Seeds.

Afterwards, Lyra complimented Buizel on his strength. But...she admitted that this wasn't really the type of outing she had in mind when we departed. We've defeated enemy after enemy and have traversed this rugged, insanely dangerous territory. We were expecting something a little more laid back.

When questioned about it, Buizel did a poor job of hiding the fact that he knows what's going on. He said we should trust that the chief knows what he's doing.

I...don't like this. Something's clearly up that the others aren't telling us, but for now we simply have to trust that we aren't walking into a deadly trap?

Okay, look. I know we're about to fight Entei. That's the master of Fire Island, and that's whose territory we're about to enter. Ampharos wants us to fight Entei. For what purpose, I don't know. We already kinda provoked him in the Mystical Forest, so he certainly won't be happy to see us again.

Like I said, there's a pattern to these things. We just saw Entei a few days ago, he's a fire-based legendary Pokemon, we're at a volcano where an overwhelming pressure is being exuded...it wasn't hard to put two and two together. I don't think he's the one behind the stone incidents, so...why are we here?

Well, it's too late to turn tail now. We're already here, and if blindly trusting Ampharos is the only way to get through this, I don't see what choice I have. In further we go.

Location: Lapras's back (return trip)

Once we arrived at the summit, Lyra started celebrating our victory and saying how awesome we are and all that. Since uh...Buizel didn't wanna rain on her parade, I decided to break the news to her.

"Hey, Lyra, listen I shoulda mentioned this earlier when it occurred to me, but I think we're about to be confronted by Ent-"

"Who goes there?! Who dares enter my domain?!"

...Of course. Big man himself made his dramatic fireball entry and everything.

He started shouting at us about how we were foolish to enter his domain. Buizel stepped in and challenged the legendary to a fight.

Oh wait. Did he think he could...because he's water-type...oh no. Nononono, Buizel, you poor, poor fool. Type advantages mean nothing to a legendary Pokémon. Lyra and I could both be water-types and we'd still be trembling because of the pressure he exudes. We're like droplets on a frying pan. A little sizzle, then nothing. The flame remains while the water doesn't.

Well, Buizel got his tail whipped. Entei taunted him, saying he shouldn't have overestimated his type matchup against him. Carelessness and overzealousness are Buizel's weakness. However, given the amount of spineless Pokémon in the world, he respected Buizel's foolish bravery. It's with that great respect that he was prepared to finish him off.

Bruh.

There's literally no need to do that. He said he's from the Expedition Society. He challenged you to a fight. He lost. Why go the extra mile to kill him? All that would do is piss off the Expedition Society and turn them all against you. If our greatest enemy is the one turning folks to stone, and it's already been made clear we're not the ones doing that, why turn on each other?

Eh, Entei doesn't care who he fights or kills. So long as he has a thing to take his anger out on, the consequences don't matter. Let the streets run red with blood if it means he gets to kill anyone who enters his territory.

Lyra and I stepped in to protect Buizel. Poor guy tried telling us there's absolutely no way for us to beat him, as if we didn't know that already. Even so, we couldn't let this hotheaded beast kill one of our own. Hasn't there been enough death already?

We fought Entei as hard as we could, but a powerful roar attack sent us both flying back. Since I landed closest to him, Entei decided to come at me first. I was far too weak to move...jeez, we really landed ourselves in some hot water. He was about to kill me before...before...

Something really damn freaky and completely awesome happened!

Our harmony scarves reacted and resonated, and before either of us could understand what was happening...Lyra and I were...fully evolved! Seriously! She was a Blaziken and I was a Meganium!

And...Lyra looked so cool! Seriously, it took no time at all for her to adjust to having arms now. We began fighting Entei again, and she had no issues pulling her moves off.

Uh...I will say, the fight was a little awkward because of how far out my neck stuck. When Entei was right in front of us, I had to keep my head right next to his and we just stayed there awkwardly while he waited for me to take my turn. We both refused to make eye contact.

Lyra and I kept using our alliance tactics and made short work of the legendary Pokémon! We beat him! We absolutely rocked his world!

Oh, and shortly after his defeat, we reverted to our normal forms. It was incredibly strange...I kinda miss having all that extra health and power.

Yet, somehow the exhausted Pokémon still had energy to get up and come at us again! However, this time Ampharos stepped in and intercepted. He reasoned that Entei was, in fact, not the one turning Pokémon into stone.

I...what...that is...

I was so confused when he said that because I COULD HAVE TOLD HIM THAT! Of course, Entei's not the one doing this! He wanted to attack us back at the Mystical Forest because he thought we were the ones doing it! Did Archen not tell him the full story!?

Apparently, Lyra had the same thought because she shouted that at Ampharos. Along with a few other...choice...words. She was really not happy with him, and he kinda shrunk under her merciless scolding. Funny enough, Entei was impressed with her temper.

Could anyone blame us for being angry, though? We came all the way out to this island and battled a legendary and his goons on their home turf...because of a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that could've easily been rectified had Ampharos talked to us. He endangered us unnecessarily!

Well, with Ampharos's suspicions satisfied, Entei demanded that we leave. Ampharos reassured him that we will, shortly. Entei asked Ampharos if he truly thought he could stop the culprit behind the stone incidents. As mysterious as they are, Ampharos said we won't know until we try, right?

With that hotheaded blowhard off our backs, we turned our attention back to Buizel. He said he'll be okay and that we were awesome. Lyra admitted we don't know what that power was, just that something happened after our scarves glowed and we looked different. Mawile chipped in, saying that's what we look like when we evolve.

...Yeah. I got that, sister.

Ampharos said that usually once we evolve, there's no going back. The fact that we reverted to our normal selves was yet another mystery he intended to solve. No doubt our scarves had their own secrets to unveil.

Uh...sure? I guess? I don't really know how to feel about all this.

Bunnelby, Swirlix and Archen arrived and so Ampharos had to take some time to catch them up to speed. Hey uh, how long did we promise Entei we'd stay in his domain for? Let's not anger the giant ferocious fire Pokémon by loitering in his territory, yeah? Can't we have this conversation on Lapras's back on our way home?

Ah, I guess the others wanted to fuel up before we made the return trip. Entei gave us permission to eat before we descended, but he...he did so by saying, "Do what thou wilst." ...What? That's certainly new. He never spoke like that before.

Well, whatever. We ate our lunches and chatted among ourselves and had a jolly ol' time. On our way back, my mind kept racing as I looked down at my scarf. Lyra was quiet and thoughtful as well.

What kinda secret did they hold? What power enabled us to evolve temporarily like that? Carracosta found Lyra wrapped in them when she was a baby, so...maybe they have something to do with her biological parents?

I wanted to run an idea by her, so I wrote something on a blank page in my journal and showed it to her. I asked if the biological parent of Eris's childhood friend could be the same as Lyra's biological parent, and she wrote down no. From the way I described the abandoned shack in Citruse Village, it belonged to a grass-type. Not a fire-type. Besides, she wasn't Eris's childhood friend, so it obviously wasn't her biological parent's shack she was investigating.

Ah dang. Thought I was onto something. I decided to tear that page out and throw it in the ocean, so my entries weren't stained by our speculative scribbles.

Maybe someday we'll get some answers.

A/N: So, when I was doing the fully-evolved Entei fight, Irau's elongated Meganium neck made her face kinda merge with Entei's if he stood right in front of her. Bit of a design oversight, but it was hilarious x3