Mana wakes up suddenly, reality coming back to her. She catches a breath of air, hoping it can comfort her fearful heart. What was that dream? She tries to recall, but instead she is visited by a headache. Whatever the dream was has now vanished, but Mana still feels like it was something she needed to remember. Instead, she gets up and wanders around. Riolu and Bidoof are still asleep and the moon is only beginning to set, allowing a little light to shine through its cloak of darkness.
By the time Riolu and Bidoof wake up, Mana is already laying out their meal. They eat and Riolu discusses the plans for today. His paw moves from a location with snow covered mountains on it, to where the highlands are located. As he explains the plan, Mana can't help but notice a few things. She smiles a little, remembering the past. It was then that her friend had openly admitted he was a coward, but his growth had continued to blossom as they went on so many missions. Sure, he's always afraid in the beginning but now he gets excited. It used to be me who was playing leader, but now he has become so self-assured and confident that the role of leadership seems to come from him naturally. The groups packs up and heads off, with Riolu in front and Bidoof trailing a few inches behind him.
Mana walks behind the two, her mind elsewhere. They finally come across the entrance to the cave and Riolu is the first to notice something odd. He turns to Mana and asks, "Which way should we go, Mana?" It is then the other two notice that the cave has two entrances. Mana takes a minute to think and then points.
"Let's take the side path." Maybe he's not so self-assured... Riolu nods happily and heads right in while Mana and Bidoof run to catch up. Mana and Riolu battle through wingull and gastrodon while Bidoof cowers behind them. They make their way up the stairs, their excitement getting the better of the two. Finally, they see the exit to the cave and Bidoof runs past them, yelling. His own happiness falls apart when he and the other two realize they are back where they had originally started.
"All right, then Craggy Coast it is!" Riolu races back inside, Mana and Bidoof following closely behind. This time, the pokemon let nothing deter them from their destination. The team avoids the huge puddles of water and the pokemon who use it for travel. On some occasions, Riolu jumps in front of Mana when an oncoming water attack aims straight for her. That horrible memory flashes each time he sees a water pokemon make their way towards Mana and it frightens him that she could get injured at any moment. Bidoof hangs back and Mana chucks rocks from a distance, but they don't go as far as hunting these pokemon down.
As Mana makes her way towards the stairs, the ground beneath her shakes and opens up. Riolu tries to catch her before she falls, but the darkness swallows her up. She lands in a room full of bright colors and pokemon. Unlike the ones she's faced, these pokemon are somewhat more relaxed. A kirlia twirls towards her and bows politely.
"Welcome, newcomer! Congratulations on discovering this Hidden Bazaar," Kirlia pauses as Riolu and Bidoof crash down behind Mana. Kirlia nods and bows again. "Please, feel free to ask me anything. Enjoy your visit here and take a look at the shops, we have plenty of things for your eyes only," The pokemon giggles and twirls away. Riolu dusts himself off and comes to stand next to Mana.
"Wh-what do you think? Should we head back or...?" Riolu stops, watching his friend's eyes sparkling. Bidoof also looks at Mana. "B-by golly, is she okay?"
"Awww, but we should've used that money to find a way to escape the dungeon! Instead, we went to healing spa and bought some bags with useless yhings inside," Riolu mumbles, staring at the ground. They had just come out of the hidden shop, Mana and Riolu arguing. Bidoof watches the two, his head moving back and forth. He was a little disappointed that Mana refused the shop owner's advice on finding an easier way to get out of the dungeon, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. Instead, he listened to the friends' bickering.
"Do you really think we can't get out of this dungeon by ourselves?" "Look, all I'm saying is it would've made things easier-" "How?! How could it possibly make things easier? What if we have to go that way again and there's no secret shop keeper there to tell us how to get out? Not only that, but how do you know if he'll actually give us real information?" Mana turns away from Riolu and heads off by herself, fuming. Bidoof walks slowly, gulping. Sometimes, he's happy not talking. Riolu follows after Bidoof, still mumbling about his argument. It's not like the shop keeper was going to sell us wrong information... And besides, buying a little grab bag full of useless items was dumber than-
Riolu feels something unpleasant and when he looks up, he finds Mana glaring straight at him. He gulps, looking at Bidoof but he shakes his head. Did he say his thoughts out loud? Or did she hear him mumbling? No, he was too quiet for Bidoof to hear so how could she have known what Riolu was thinking or saying? Mana turns her head back to the front and sighs. If only Riolu wasn't so open about his disagreements. I can practically hear his thoughts from over here.
After simmering down, Mana slows down a little and waits as the rest of her team catch up to her. They don't run into any problems and after what seems like a whole day, they finally exit the dungeon. The pokemon pause for a small break and Riolu takes out the map.
"We've already reached our goal, but it looks like we have a lot of ground to cover. This is where we are now... And this is the location of the base camp. The distance doesn't seem to be that far, but if it's anything like the dungeon we just exited, then it'll be awhile until we finally make it to camp," Riolu puts the map away and looks at Mana.
"Hmm... Well, when you put it that way, then we shouldn't take too long of a break. After we eat, we'll start again and hopefully, we'll be there before night hits." Bidoof and Riolu nod their heads in agreement. Mana opens bag that Riolu is carrying, distributing some big apples to her teammates. They eat quietly, their thoughts elsewhere. When they finish, they pack up. Riolu takes and deep breath and walks in first, with Mana and Bidoof following close behind. Choosing the rocky path, the group makes their way out of the dungeon. They leave no room for talking as they climb the stairs, battling through shroomish, natu, and bonsly.
Riolu runs out of the exit, skipping happily. Mana and Bidoof walk out, looking at the familiar place. "Looks like we took the wrong path again. By golly, luck doesn't seem to be on my side..." Bidoof says, looking down dejectedly. Riolu stomps his foot, rambling about his lack of decision making. The cyndaquil looks at both of the pokemon, shaking her head.
"Guys, that's enough! We made a mistake but that doesn't mean we stomp our feet like children or blame luck like it's their fault," Mana glares at both males before she continues. "Look, we came back right where we first started and now we know to take the other path instead. That's all we have to do and if you guys can get back up and stop moping, we'll still be able to make to the camp before nightfall. Now let's not waste time," Mana walks past the males and walks to the entrance. She turns around and smiles at her friends before walking back in. Riolu smiles back, having calmed down immediately. He catches up to Mana and Bidoof follows, huffing away. This was the power of teamwork. Riolu is impatient and easily gives up just as I do, while Mana gets him back on his feet. I'm happy she joined our guild.