Hello, everyone! Ta-Ni here, bringing you the first part of the Fugitive Arc of The Mystery Makes Scents! I wanted to upload this on my birthday earlier this week, but then I realized you shouldn't do work on your birthday. So, I've waited until now to get this out. Enjoy!
We eventually had to stop to catch our breath, and also to reacquire the scent. It heads deep into the wilderness, bypassing a few of the dungeons we've already visited, like Sinister Woods and Mt. Thunder. As we briskly walk along, evidence of natural disasters surrounds us: wildfires still burning in the fields, swamps overflowing into nearby woodlands, rockslides and fissures among the hills and valleys. We also ran into our share of wandering wild Pokémon, though most gave us a wide berth. Sooner or later, they'll wander into a mystery dungeon and become trapped, but at least then they'll have shelter…of a sort.
One morning, I catch Sparky looking out at another wildfire, seeing refugees fleeing the flames. I can see the pained expression on his face because it mirrors my own. I want so badly to run down there, brandishing my badge and teleporting those who listen to safety, and yet…
"This is wrong," I hear him whisper. "We should be helping; it's what we became rescuers to do, but…"
He trails off, but I finish for him. "We'd be caught as soon as we teleport back with them. That's why we left all but my badge behind: so we wouldn't be tempted to play the hero." I butt up against him in silent support. "Once we clear my name, we can come back and help those who are left, all right?"
"All right," he sighs and turns back to our camp. I gaze out at the fire, trying to burn the image into my memory before doing the same. We have to hurry; at the rate things seem to be escalating, we may not have much time left.
About a day and a half later, we reach the edge of our map. Sparky explained before that it updates whenever we find a new dungeon, but we've never been this far out; it's uncharted for us now. A short way off, I notice a cave full of crystals. Next to the cave entrance is a Kangaskhan Statue, which marks it as a possible mystery dungeon. However, the scent doesn't lead to it, so we can pass it by-
"There they are!" A shout rings out behind us, bringing us both up short. "It's Lauren; get her!"
"What?! They caught up already?" Sparky exclaims. "We gotta lose 'em. Quick, head for the dungeon!"
"But the trail leads-" I try to object, but he pulls me into the entrance anyway. After it closes up behind us, I turn to confront him. "How does running into an unknown dungeon help us evade pursuers? They can just come in themselves."
"Not necessarily," he answers. "Remember when we were looking for Metapod, back in Sinister Woods? Despite entering long after Team Meanies did, we still got to the end before they did, and never visibly passed them along the way. It seems individual teams cannot meet up inside a mystery dungeon; the dungeon itself keeps them apart. As long as we reach the end quickly, we can put a fair bit of distance between us and them."
"And what of the scent?" I remind him. "She didn't come in here or passed the area by before it had formed. There's no telling if we can find it again at the other end!"
He pauses, then blanches. "Shoot. That's right, I forgot we were doing that. I'm so used to you following scents inside the dungeon that I wasn't thinking. Sorry."
I sigh but smile anyway. "Well, what's done is done. Let's try to make this quick, then." I cast about for scents, building a mental map of the area before we delve deeper into the dungeon. (We later learn that it's called Lapis Cave.)
The crystals lining the walls give us a fair bit of light within the rooms, but the passageways are quite dark at times. Most of the wild Pokémon are standard variants for a cave: zubats and nincada for the first floors, nidorinos and nidorinas later on. There are the occasional illumise trying to brighten up the place with their own lights, and grasping tangela on the higher floors is annoying to avoid. The worst were the zubats and their bigger cousins, golbats; the walls echo their supersonic voices so well, it quickly made both our ears ring. This was also the first time we encountered traps: some of the floors had hidden switches or triggers which cause various things or events to happen. I cannot count how many times I had mud dumped on me from nowhere, or goo mucking up some of our items. Thankfully, there aren't any Strong Pokémon present in this cave, and a couple of hours later, we stumble into the bright sunlight outside.
…Or at least, we thought it was sunlight. Looking up, we see a massive volcano standing in our way. Lava pours down its side, and flickering firelight illuminates the surroundings like a second sun. Even from afar, we can feel the heat emanating from it…and there appears to be no path around it. My ear twitches as I hear heavy breathing behind us; our detour didn't get us as much time as we hoped. I lock eyes with Sparky, and we both nod. With a heavy heart, we head for the base of the volcano.
There we go! I know it's short, but there wasn't much to cover in Lapis Cave. The next chapter is much longer, as we climb Mt. Blaze. I'm doing another double upload, so tat should be coming out shortly after this one.
Please read and review, and may your Ember never fade!