Author's Note: There we go; much longer chapter this time, and it involves one of my favorite dungeons in Gates. Plus some jokes at Heath's expense, because I can.

Chapter Four: Exploration

Hannah rubbed her eyes and mumbled sleepily as she woke up the next morning. She hadn't slept particularly well the night before… She'd had a couple of weird dreams, kind of similar to the one she'd had before arriving here.

They'd been…much less clear, though, and she hadn't been able to see anything. But the fragmented voice she'd heard had sounded just like the one in her last weird dream. Did they still need her help? Was it a sign that her previous one had been accurate? Hannah wasn't sure. Maybe she was just thinking too hard, but…

Hannah shook her head. Whatever it was, she'd need more details to figure things out. Maybe she could go home if she knew what the dreams meant, but…she needed more time.

She sighed as she glanced down at herself. Hannah was still a Pansage, even after some time and rest. That had to mean this was real… Before she went home, she'd have to fix this, too.

(Then again, Hannah didn't know how the transformation had even happened. She'd just woken up like this, after all. Did that mean she'd just automatically turn back into a human later, too? Maybe she didn't need to do anything for that part.)

Well…hopefully she'd find out soon. Hannah glanced over at the two beds to her right. Heath was already awake, and Mia was starting to stir. The Gothorita yawned as she sat up, and Heath looked over at both of them.

"Oh, are you two up now? We better get going, then," he said. "I wanna go out to Stony Cave today."

"Let…let Hannah get some more rest first," Mia said through another yawn. "She's never done this before."

"Um, I'm fine." Hannah shook her head; she was awake now, at least. "What's Stony Cave?"

"It's a cave not too far from here," Heath explained as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "I heard they've got some nice gems out there that I really wanna check out."

"It's always shiny stuff with you," Mia sighed as she climbed out of bed. "Are all Dragon-Types like that, or is it just you?"

"Hey, you haven't even been here that long, Mia! You don't know how much I like shiny things—I mean…" Heath groaned. "Whatever. Let's just go."

Hannah giggled as she got out bed; that was actually kind of funny. Before following them downstairs, Hannah glanced over at the room's other occupant. She was surprised their conversation hadn't woken Umbreon up… He must've been in pretty bad shape. While Hannah almost wanted to find out what his deal was, she didn't want to hold up her new teammates, either.

At least Hannah had a little more energy than usual; she usually wasn't an early riser, either. Plus, she wasn't that hungry. Maybe that was just a Pokémon thing, too… Obviously, they needed rest and food, but maybe they just needed less than humans did?

Honestly, it sounded kind of convenient in some ways. Still, that didn't mean Hannah wanted to stay a Pansage, she thought with a frown. She hoped she didn't get too used to this, but it was handy for now, anyway.

At any rate, Mia waved to Swanna as they headed out of the inn. "We'll be back later!" she called, and Hannah absently nodded in the Flying-Type's direction. She'd probably end up coming back with them, after all. Hannah shrugged as they headed towards the edge of Post Town. She'd just have to see how this went.

Soon, they arrived at the crossroads—Hannah remembered going through there yesterday. There was a signpost facing the path they'd come from before, and Heath nodded as he double-checked his map. He tucked it back into his bag before glancing at Mia and Hannah.

"It's this way," he said, gesturing in the appropriate direction. "Not too far, but those gems aren't gonna find themselves! Let's go."

"I swear, Heath…" Mia sighed. "Maybe we could go somewhere fun next time, since you're dragging us around like this."

"Oh, come on! You agreed to help. But, fine, whatever. Let's just decide later."

His tone was…a bit snappier than normal. Mia just shrugged and rolled her eyes in response. The situation contrasted with the friendlier teasing they'd done the night before, making the whole thing feel rather sudden and weird.

"Okay," Hannah said, blinking. "It's not like I know better, but…"

Well, she didn't have much of a choice either way. Heath normally seemed more impatient than controlling, and Mia probably just wanted Hannah to have an easy time of it. Still, she couldn't help wondering if this…unease or whatever it was they'd mentioned yesterday had affected them, too.

Oh, well. Hannah shook her head and followed after them. She was apprehensive about this dungeon exploring thing, but…she couldn't make any judgments until she tried it. Until they got there, Hannah would try not to worry.

It only took about an hour of walking to reach the right place—Stony Cave, they'd called it. Hannah hesitantly followed Mia, and the Psychic-Type gave her an encouraging look as they headed inside. Heath was immediately preoccupied with looking around, though his navigating skills seemed good enough. They'd entered into a large chamber with a few different paths branching off it, and the tunnel he chose led to a room with a couple of items scattered across the floor.

"Well, not what I was looking for, but…" he muttered as he looked around. "…some of these could be useful…"

"I'll hold onto some of these for now," Mia offered, picking up a couple of blue berries nearby. "The Oran Berries should be good…" She paused, glancing over at Hannah. "They heal you, in case you didn't know. We'll have to get you a treasure bag when we get back, depending on how long you stay."

"I think most Pokémon know that, Mia." Heath frowned as he picked up a couple of coins. "But…yeah. Guess if she wants to stick around, we better make it easy for her to help out. I mean, it'll help her anyway, too, but, you know…"

Hannah nodded. She hadn't really taken offense to the phrasing, but it was nice that he was making an effort again. Still…that sounded like something most Pokémon would know, Hannah thought as she glanced at Mia. It was definitely helpful to her, but why had she felt the need to explain it?

She shook her head. "Thanks. That'd be nice, yeah."

"Okay, then," Mia started. "We'll do that first thing—"

They'd just rounded another corner, and the next room housed a couple of wild Pokémon. A round, fluffy flier and a small yellow bug—uh, Woobat and—Sewaddle? No, Joltik—

Hannah stumbled backwards as she tried to process the situation. What moves did Pansage know? She hoped Heath and Mia weren't paying too much attention to her. Then they'd notice she had no idea what she was doing, and…

Mia had already shot a Psybeam at the Joltik, and Heath finished her off with a Dragon Breath. In her panic, Hannah somehow managed to launch a couple of seeds out of the bush on her head. They landed on the Woobat, and a few small buds sprouted out of them. Woobat screeched and flapped around awkwardly as the seeds dug into him, trying to brush them away. Heath took advantage of his panic to lunge forward and use Bite.

Fortunately, that did the trick. Woobat crumpled to the ground, and Heath sighed as he brushed a bit of fur off his muzzle. Then, he looked over his shoulder and nodded at Hannah.

"Not bad," he commented. "Would've liked to see you fight a bit more, but that distraction with the Leech Seed helped."

"Uh…thanks, I guess?"

"He means that as a compliment," Mia snorted. "Anyway, let's keep going."

Hannah just nodded and kept following them. Heath's navigation skills really were pretty good; he managed to pick out quick paths to the following floors of the dungeon. They didn't hit a single dead-end; Hannah would have to figure out how he did that.

Mia managed to pick up a good deal of items along the way, too. Well, paying attention to the ground was something Hannah could do well enough. She snorted as well and shook her head, pausing when she noticed an oddly sparkly area on the ground nearby.

"Hey, what's that?" she said, pointing at the shiny spot.

"What's…ooh," Heath muttered as he plodded over to it. "Looks like there's something down here…"

He brushed the dirt and rocks away, eventually revealing a small golden bar. His eyes sparkled as he picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

"Ooh, this is nice," he murmured. "Bet Cofagrigus would give me a bunch of money for it back in town—"

"Hey, Hannah noticed that first," Mia pointed out. "I think you should let her hold onto it."

"Oh, right, uh…sorry about that. Just be careful not to drop it, all right?"

Hannah nodded as she took the bar. It really was pretty, she thought as she looked it over. She'd definitely have to be careful, since she had nowhere to store it right now… Hopefully the cave didn't go on for much longer.

"Who's Cofagrigus?" she asked as they started walking again.

"Oh, he runs a shop behind Swanna's inn," Mia explained. "He'll trade you a whole lot of things for gold bars. We'll have to take you over there once we get back."

"Money, too," Heath added. "It's what most Pokémon go for. That's what I'd suggest… Then you can buy yourself some stuff."

They rounded another corner and ran into another Pokémon. Hannah nearly dropped her gold bar in surprise, but she thankfully managed to catch it in time. This one was…a Drilbur, she noted. Luckily, Mia dispatched him easily enough with a single Shadow Ball. Heath grinned and nodded at her as they all stepped around the unconscious Ground-Type.

Finally, they found an uneven set of steps carved into the opposite wall of a chamber. Once they all filed up the staircase, they arrived in a large room full of glittering blue stones. Some were scattered across the floor while others were embedded in the wall, and Heath's eyes started shining again as he looked around.

"I knew these would be out here! Wish I could take all of them, but…I don't know how I'm gonna get those ones stuck in the wall…"

Eventually, Heath settled on picking up three larger stones and two smaller ones. He gently tucked them into his bag and made sure it was latched securely as he straightened up. Then, he nodded to Mia and Hannah and turned back towards the stairs.

"All right, I think that'll do for now," he said. "I can always come back and get some more later if I feel like it."

Hannah blinked. "After you sell them, you mean? Yeah, you'd probably need to clear some space in your bag, and…"

Heath laughed and waved dismissively at the notion. "No, to keep, of course! I was gonna explore around Post Town for a couple of days, but I'm gonna take these back to my den once we're done. Gotta store them up somewhere safe with all my other stuff, you know?"

"I told you he likes shiny stuff." Mia shook her head. "He really is such a stereotypical dragon!"

"Excuse you; I can't help it!" Heath retorted. "Anyway, let's just hurry up and get out of here before we run into trouble."

Hannah giggled as she followed them out of the chamber. Now their bickering was fully back to entertaining, and she couldn't help being glad she'd tagged along. At least she'd run into an amusing group; she could've done far worse for complete chance.

Yeah, Hannah decided. This was still weird, but…she'd take what she could get for now.