Hello, everyone! It's time for another chapter of The Mystery Makes Scents. This time, our intrepid heroes scale the formidable Mt. Blaze. What awaits them at the top, I wonder? Let's find out!

"They're headed for Mt. Blaze? They must be crazy!"

"If we hurry, we might be able to head them off…"

"There's no way I'm going there! I'll burn to a crisp!"

"Then stay behind; I don't care! I'm getting that reward from Gengar whether you like it or not!"

"CHARGE!" *tromp, tromp, tromp*

We wait until the footsteps recede into the distance before Sparky peeks out from behind the Kangaskhan Statue. "I think…we're safe."

Panting, we come around to the front, our fur already gleaming with sweat from the heat. I lean up against it, surprised at how cool it is compared to the air around us, and clumsily reach for my water bottle. Sparky hands out his, and I greedily drink up.

"So, he's got a reward out for us, huh?" he comments. "I should have known it wasn't about 'saving the world', was it?"

"Why does he hate me so?" I whine. "This goes far beyond being competitive; I swear he wants me dead."

"Who knows," Sparky admits. "Maybe he's afraid you know something, something he's trying to keep quiet about. I mean, did you see how pale he got when you accused him of being human? Could that be it: he sees you as a rival or something?"

"I don't know…" I answer. "I doubt he'll tell me, even if I ask nicely."

We both chuckle at that, then I stand and face the volcano. Gazing up at the immense face, I feel a tingle of apprehension shiver down my spine. "Mt. Blaze, huh?" I comment. "Think we can take it?"

Sparky looks at me, slightly stunned. "Probably? I mean, if we restocked on supplies, we might stand a chance…"

"Can't we restock right here?" I say, pointing at the Statue giving us shelter.

"Yeah, if we use your badge," he retorts, "which will alert everyone in town as to where we are!"

"We don't have much of a choice, though," I try to reason with him. "The lava flows block any route around the base, and besides, we need to sort out some of the mess in our bag. That last dungeon did a number on our resources…"

"Fine," he sighs. "Give it here."

I unclip my badge from my scarf and hand it to Sparky, and he hesitantly places it against the Statue. There's a brief pause, then a whisper emanates from the mouth. "Team Scent, what are you doing?"

"We need supplies, Junior," Sparky mutters back. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in the back, out of earshot of Mom," Junior replies shortly. "You realize I might have to report you calling me, right?"

"I know, but we have no choice. Please?"

There's a brief sigh, then, "All right, but make it quick. What do you need?"

Sparky motions to me, so I unsling the bag from my back and he opens the drawer in the statue. Taking out all our gummed-up items, he jots down a few things we need on a slip of paper and places everything into the drawer. Closing it, he waits a few moments before a small chime rings out and he opens it again, revealing exactly what he asked for, as well as several bottles of water.

"I'll get the items cleaned after we close up shop," Junior comments from the statue's mouth. "And remember: nothing happened here, okay? I won't tell Mom, and neither will you."

"Understood, thank you," Sparky replies and removes the badge, ending the link. "Phew, that was close. Let's try not to do that again; I don't want to get on Junior's bad side."

"Agreed," I nod, repack the bag, and put it back on my back. We walk up to the entrance to the dungeon, and that's when I notice something odd. "Wait, there are two paths here. One looks to be slightly darker than the other; does it not lead up the volcano?"

"I don't know," he admits. "Let's ignore it for now; we don't have time or resources for a detour."

I agree, so we head into the entrance glowing cherry red, and step into the furnace. The heat is barely tolerable, quickly drying my mouth out in seconds; I have to fight the urge to drain my water bottle right then and there. Once the entrance seals behind us, I quickly inhale the steaming air to find what scents there are for navigation. Naturally, this place is heavy with fire-type scents, but there are still a couple of normal ones mixed in. The rooms are massive, and several have actual pools of lava with narrow paths winding through them. Worse, some of the wild Pokémon ambush us from the lava, forcing us to either risk getting singed fur or retreating back to stable ground. All the while, we're fighting off heat exhaustion and curing any burns we suffer from attacks.

Finally, after a brutal 12 floors, we reach another Safe Room. Part of me wants badly to access the Kangaskhan Statue there, but I didn't want to anger Junior with another call. However, near the Statue itself was an interesting surprise: the remains of a path back down the volcano. I say remains since it's blocked off by rocks, but it must have been open in the past because lingering near the opening was Ninetales's scent! At some point, she must have come here (which makes sense, given all the fire types), but eventually left via this passage. Unfortunately, we couldn't do the same, so we must ascend to the very top before we can go back down.

The climb to the summit is short, thankfully, but the wild Pokémon living there are super strong: full-grown fearows and arcanines. Climbing the second staircase, we come out to a large plateau, with an open crater along one side. Thankfully, our path out lies on the far side of the plateau, so we head straight for it. Suddenly, the sky darkens, and plumes of flame spurt up from the magma next to us.

"Halt, intruders!" A deep voice echoes from within the crater. "I can hear the mountain's screams…It is shrieking in pain…Someone is causing my mountain to writhe in agony! Is it you?"

"Wh-what?" Sparky stutters. "No, we're just passing through; we don't want any trouble. Who are you?"

A loud cry answers him, accompanied by more gouts of lava. "The mountain's rage is my rage! There is no forgiveness for those trespassing on my mountain!" From the lava itself, a giant flaming bird erupts into the sky, hovering in front of the pair and blocking the exit. "I am Moltres, the warrior of fire! Prepare for battle!"

It opens with a flamethrower, forcing the two of us apart. Once again, I mentally curse my inability to use helping hand on my partner, but then again we weren't expecting a battle, were we? As I watch Sparky launch thunderbolts at Moltres, I nose into the bag on my back and hold a sleep seed in my mouth in preparation. Once Sparky manages to ground Moltres, I spit the seed into the Legendary's face, where it explodes into white mist and immediately knocks him out. Then the two of us lay into him with iron tails until he wakes up and flies away again. We repeat this cycle a couple of times, eating oran berries if we get too weak, until he finally falls to the ground and the lava spires calm.

"Urrghh…I'm not finished yet!" he coughs, struggling to his feet.

"Please stop!" Sparky pleads desperately. "We don't need to fight. We're not here to cause trouble; in truth, we were chased here. There are other places in danger as well; natural calamities are happening everywhere, not just on your mountain. We want to help those in need, but first, we need to prove my partner Lauren's innocence. And to do that, we must pass!"

Moltres lower their wings as if contemplating his words. He looks at me and asks, "Is this true?"

I nod. "Yes. We are a rescue team; it's our duty to help those in trouble. If you don't believe me…look me in the eyes."

Moltres and I stare deeply into each other's eyes for several long minutes, trying my hardest not to blink in the ashen air. Then, with a sudden screech, he closes his eyes and smiles.

"Very well, I shall believe you," he commands. "You may pass; go and find your proof. But promise me this: you will find the cause of these calamities that wrack our world, and stop the disaster from sowing more destruction and suffering."

"I shall," I promise. "Thank you, Moltres."

"You are a very brave eevee, Lauren," he states before raising his wings in preparation to take off. "One day, once everything has calmed down, come back to see me. I would like to test your strength again." With a whoosh of hot air, he soars into the sky and disappears into the smoke of the volcano.

With a shuddering gasp, I release the breath I'd been holding for a while now. "That…was close," I comment dryly. "For a moment, I didn't think that would work…"

Sparky doesn't reply. Instead, he points to the exit. "Let's get out of here before he comes back."

We climb down the far side of the fire mountain, thankful to be out of the dungeon part of Mt. Blaze. Once we're a fair distance away, we make camp for the night. Looking back at the volcano, glowing in the darkness, Sparky asks me, "Do you think we're safe? I mean, given how hard we had it climbing that dungeon, I'm sure the other teams had it even worse…"

I shook my head. "No, there are others. I know for certain Team ACT is on our tails, and they won't be waylaid by this. Besides, this is more than just getting away, remember? Ninetales is still out there, and she can clear my name."

"But we lost the scent, right?" he responds. "Where do we go from here?"

I cast about, trying to catch that elusive scent from before, but get nothing. However, a chill breeze blows down from the north, welcome against my fur after the heat of Mt. Blaze, and something about it seems to beckon to me. "I'm not sure," I admit. "But, I think that way's our best bet. Call it a hunch."

"Very well," he quips. "If you're sure…then let's head that way tomorrow. Let's get some shuteye. Good night, Lauren." With that, we curl up next to each other and fall asleep.

And there you have it. One thing I noticed in the games is whenever you take missions on any of the two-part dungeons, like Mt. Blaze, they don't let you climb to the peak until postgame. Therefore, there must be a way out of the dungeon from the Safe Room, right? So I came up with my own interpretation of this. Hope it makes sense.

Next time, Team Scent delves deep into the north., hoping to find Ninetales's scent once again. What...or who...will they find? Find out soon!

Please read and review, and may your Ember never fade!