Calico Town is not far off from its neighbour, maybe a few days travel by foot - faster by boat or surfing pokemon. It should not take a couple pokemon on foot long to reach it.

So a Braviary missing their wing, a kid with a map, and a caravaner who let his guards get ransacked journey off. What happens when this investigation leads these three buffoons straight into the palm of a dangerous criminal? Would their slapped-together squad even stand against the horrors of one of these dungeon-things Prinn is going on about?

Probably not, and that's Braviary being optimistic.

Thinking about their chances didn't help. This is an investigation, a far cry from a dungeon dive or a bounty hunt. But as they trek the highway out of Scoria Town, over the continent's moss-covered valleys and bumpy foothills, the thought lingers with him.

"Aromatisse left before us, didn't she?" Leon speaks. "Right in the morning? What makes you think we can beat her to her destination? because I don't see it happening."

"She has a whole cart to slow her down, Leon." Prinn answers. "We ought to be faster than her on foot."

"The cart doesn't matter. There's always a caravan guard - big fellows who travel with traders. I was one." Leon points to his chest. "She wouldn't be dragging the cart herself."

"Well little old Eileen can lug barrels around fine enough to get a job doing it." Braviary interjects at this point. "I don't think size is a factor."

"But Eileen's a fighting type." Prinn squeaks. "Aromatisse is something else, I think."

"Aight well, I should've guessed earlier." Braviary groans. "Do you reckon these folks we were talking to would've said something if she were headed this way with another fellow? Leon?"

"Okay, let's say she did hire a caravan to bring to Calico. It wouldn't be with those travelling merchants in Scoria Town, they tend to hire in advance." Leon holds his tail, shaking it like some little creature. "Assuming she didn't want to be found, she picked the best time to leave."

Finally, a yellow spark ignites from his tail and the night is abated by a brilliant glow.

"About time." Leon sighs in relief. "I should really stop using it for reading."

"If you need something to pick you up," Braviary motions to Prinn, "kid's holding onto an elixir."

"No, a good night's sleep will do me better. You should hold onto that anyways, better in a pinch and you won't find many of those near Scoria."

"W-we can take a break later." The pipsqueak laments. "Sorry we couldn't get more stuff in Scoria beforehand. You'd think traders in a guild town would have all sorts of useful gear, not today."

Leon looks like he's about to say something, then just doesn't. Instead, he looks at Braviary.

"So what are your plans?"

"We reckoned if we travelled by night with you we could make up for some of the lost time the little Lady has by going early. As you said though, we ain't got a way of knowing if she went alone. For all we know she might have taken the risk anyway, or she hired someone else who can do your light-tricks."

Prinn speaks up.

"We could take a detour…"

In his flipper is the carrying tube which he pops open with a flick. A long sheet of paper rolls out into his hands, he examines it under Leon's light and then flips it around to his companions.

"See, this is where we were." Prinn points to a big X scribbled in with ink then drags it west down a snaking road, up the coastline, around a big mountain, finally to another X in red. "And that's where we gotta go. I don't know much about travelling, I do know distances though. It's like three full days away, maybe half the way the Murkrow flies."

"Aight, so what are you gettin' at?" Braviary squints at charcoal roads and doodled-in mountains.

"Look again at the mountain."

Their current route would have easily gone straight to Calico Town were it not for Basalt Peak sitting in its path. The road is forced to go the long way around it, slithering through the continent's evergreen forests to the port town some ways behind the mountain-shaped wall. There seemed to be no reason why the road couldn't have gone the other way.

"We could always go off the road!" Prinn exclaims. "Maybe we'll have to climb a bit, but we can pull through, right?"

"Right." Braviary nods. "What's your opinion, Leon?"

"If a road goes in all sorts of stupid directions there's usually a reason why. Could be the mountain's rife with hazards." Leon shrugs. "I'm not against giving it a look. There's worse things to find out in the wild than bandits."

"Like what?" Prinn's eyes glow with foolish discovery.

"I shouldn't have to say it, Prinn. Let's go already."

The path ahead is shroud in the dark of the forest. The trunks of gnarl trees stand like figures in the darkness, watching three travellers meander down the winding road. Going through here as a merchant has got to be a nightmare: there's nearly an infinite number of hiding spots and the recent rumours of bandits does not help with the anxiety.

At some point in their travels they reach crossroads. They take a left deeper into the forest, further into the mountain's gnarl shadow.

The leafless branches weave over the sky like silk, and peaking above it is the pillar-shaped shadow of Basalt Peak. Prinn sighs after seeing the sight, and breathes a white plume. It's cold, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Braviary on the other hand is shivering as he speaks.

"A-anyone else feelin this?"

"Winds from the mountain," Leon conjectures, "that's my guess. It's not too late for us to turn back and head the other way.".

"If going this way means we need to walk a whole night in this weather, I'm all for leaving."

"If you guys say so." Prinn laments. "You'll be okay, right? Should we get a fire started?"

Everyone turns to the big bird.

"I'll be fine for a bit, we can roast Oran Berries when we're done walking for the night." Braviary squints at the sky above. "It's barely midnight, I think we can go for like three hours before we camp. How about y'all?"

The others nod.

Leon's the one to turn around, and begin leading them back to a place where the air is unforgivably cold. Just go back, take the right path. Then, Leon hits an actual wall..

Braviary couldn't believe his eyes. Where there was once a road there's now an impassable wall of bramble. It went as high as the forest's ceiling, going through it without being pricked by hundreds of thorns is impossible. Leon's there trying to shine his tail through the branches, but no one can see through them. Behind the wall is something vast, cold and unforgiving. They're all so insignificant.

Braviary tries prying apart the branches, Prinn looks for a hole his size - nothing they do works.

"You try just going around it, stupid?" Braviary shouts.

"It just gets colder on the sides." Prinn speaks. "I can't even see behind it, it's all dark back there! I could maybe go around, but you'd freeze up!"

And Leon's still standing there, ice cold sweat falling off his brow like little droplets of hail. He's shivering in place.

"We're not going to get around it, we just have to find the way out." Leon sighs. "Articuno's Winds, I never imagined I'd end up in one of these places by accident."

"Wh-what place?"

"What do you think, Prinn?" Leon throws out his arms in defeat. "We're on an otherwise ordinary trade route which avoids this path in particular, what do you think is out here? Just bandits?"

Bandits don't make sense. A bandit hideout wouldn't last this close to Calico Town because the guild would be all over them like venomoth to a flame. The road isn't dangerous either, it's no more rough than any other path through the Dusk Continent's forests. There's a reason why a trader would want to avoid this path around the mountains at any cost. The answer is all around them, especially in the cold, cold air.

"A mystery Dungeon." Prinn stutters.

The silence is as spine chilling as the wind.

"We're in a dungeon, this is fine." The boy puts on a faux smile. "I-I think we can get out of this so long as we've got you, Braviary."

"Me?" Braviary spits.

"Yeah, you with the badge!" Leon points to the trinket. "Dungeon traversal should be up your alley. You can get us through no problem, right?"

Braviary blinks

"Normally, yes. I reckon I could get us through one of these "Dungeon" places no problem, but back then I probably had both my wings, and I could fly right over out of these dens of misery." He motions at his left shoulder, the one hidden under his poncho. "We'd have gone to Calico town the way the Mukrow flies weren't it not for this missing thing.. We'd have avoided this altogether."

"But you're still experienced?" Leon folds his arms, his tail briefly sputters when it drops to the frozen ground. "One injury can't take all that time away from you, maybe you can take charge - tell us what to look out for."

"I could do that, but we've established we need your light tonight. Without you going first we ain't gonna see what's coming till it's too late"

"You're serious?" Leon laughs. "I just read books on expeditions and guarded caravans all my life."

"All the more reason to apply yourself, Leon. What's so good about knowing everything when you refuse to use it out in the field?"

Leon points to the road ahead, a dungeon entrenched in shadow with any number of things waiting for them deep inside. What's in there? Bandits? Madmen? Who knows what they'll come across.

"There could be any sort of pokemon in there," the Smeargle remarks, "and we won't know until we go in. You look like you've seen some fights before, so if we're gonna chance this I'd prefer to have you at the front."

"Is it because of my wing?"

Braviary steps towards him

"No, your badge. You have it for a reason."

Prinn is nodding his head in agreement. Two on one, Braviary can't worm his way out of this.

What should Braviary have to fear, anyways? He has to have done this before? Is he not experienced? If he doesn't put on a show there's no way they'll believe a single word he says, he may even be booted out of the guild, thrown aside like the thief they may well believe him to be. He needs to bring these people through one of these dreaded "dungeons", or else the guild will see him for what he actually is: a helpless amnesiac.

"Fine, I ain't gotta like it." Braviary resigns. "Leon, I want y'all right behind me with your light, and Prinn's gonna our eyes in the back."

He moves toward the path ahead, Leon follows four paces behind him while Prinn waddles in last. Ahead the ceiling gets denser, the air thicker, the road ahead is pitch-black.

"Anything you geniuses have to say before we go?"

"Keep an eye out for any equipment. One elixir's not going to cut it if I have to keep my light up the whole way through, and these places tend to have stuff lying around."

"Yeah, what Leon said. I'll do some mapping too...just in case we need to double back!"

Just a few seconds ago they were outside of this dungeon twiddling their thumbs, a couple steps forwards and they're somewhere else entirely.

The canopy is like a ceiling at this point, tree limbs clasping over each other like grotesque fingers. There was an overcast sky above it, whose light shines through the roof to the frosty earthen floor.

Visibility was never going to be a problem with Leon at their side, but one look into this strange place it feels like Braviary didn't need him. Tail Glow, for all the help it did on his rounds or in trade caravans, has no ability to penetrate the walls of trees. This forest is now a veritable labyrinth of passageways and large open chambers like the one they find themselves. Four walls had them boxed into a rectangle, and three narrow passageways - barely enough room to squeeze a braviary through them - branch off into several directions. Where they went from this chamber was up to the bird leading the flock, but it isn't going to make much difference. There is no telling where the exit was.

It just didn't make sense to Braviary. It feels like a dream, a nightmare at that, but it's all too really. The cold air breezing through this place served as a constant reminder of reality.

No number of books in the nerds' library could prepare them for setting foot in one of these places. Braviary sniffs the cold air.

"Where's all the snow?"

"Are you gonna be okay?" Prinn whispers from the back. "We can make a fire if you get cold, there's plenty of tinde-"

"I said I was gonna be fine, Prinn." Braviary snaps. "I also said we were going to breeze though this place, so don't you worry about me until I start turning into an ice-type. What should we be looking for, Leon?"

"Should you know?"

"Here I thought you were educated. How about you assume I don't know anything, and just fill me when applicable or whenever I happen to ask? We can get a flow going here."

Leon scrapes the cold sweat off his forehead with one hand, the other holds his tail.

"Okay, so where are we, Braviary?"

"A dungeon-thing, I reckon it's the start of one." Braviary glances around. "A big rectangular room, one passageway on the far wall, two more on the left and right. Ground's the same dirt as the road we rolled in on. I ain't got more to add beyond that."

He hears some paper move in the back, Prinn's writing this down. The back of the coastline map is probably covered in all sorts of scribbles at this point, not unless the kid brought more paper with him.

"See water anywhere?" Leon asks.

"We probably just haven't seen it yet. I reckon no, this place doesn't feel like a swamp."

"Alright, alright, this is good." Leon steadies his voice. "No pools of water means we'll have to follow the corridors. It's recommended that we search for something resembling either a hole in the ground, a ladder or staircase of sorts."

"A staircase?" Braviary snorts. "Aren't we supposed to be getting out of here, not going deeper? Are you suggesting we go spelunking?"

"The only place to go in these dungeons is deeper; it's not always a staircase, it's a way up or down. I don't know why this is the case, Braviary, we'll have to trust the countless words of dozens of explorers who wrote this down for us." Leon taps the ground to a nervous beat. "There's an end to it, pokemon who either end up here alone or unprepared don't often make it. We may be unprepared, untrained even...at least none of us are here alone."

The Smeargle sighs.

"But if we wait for the scholars to come save us…" Prinn speaks up, seemingly to lighten the mood. "H-How long would it take?"

"They aren't coming to save us because we're not going to get ourselves lost here." Leon states. "The trader needs us."

He nods to the supposed veteran, who tilts his head. The look he gives Braviary is desperate, practically begging him to speak..

"We have a much better chance than any fellow on their lonesome" Braviary clears his throat. "You have an idea of how these places work, Leon. So out of these three completely identical passageways, which of these do you reckon would take us closer to our magic stairwell?"

"We don't have a Luminous Orb, so just flip a coin if you need to."

Not wasting another moment, Braviary leads them to the rightmost he waddles through the passageway thin branches barrage his shoulders. There's not enough room in these passages for two pokemon to squeeze through at once, so whatever was at the end of the hallway Braviary has to face it first.

The tail glow didn't go far, however with it they could at least see what was coming. As Braviary stumbles through the tree-lined hallway, it ends in a second chamber much like the last. A wide, open square with a curious sight waiting for them: a large dark pit in the ground. They haven't seen any leaves anywhere through this dungeon, yet around this fissure they swarm like bug-types. A tornado of leaves circling around the hole in the world.

Braviary sees the fissure. Where can it go? Deeper? Was it safe to leap down? He senses a strong draft around it, enough for a flying pokemon to easily glide down provided they weren't missing a limb. He is about to ask his buddies for a way of getting down, but then...

Next to the hole he saw a small lump, a stack of leaves as though a pokemon had raked the dungeon floor. The second Leon's light peeks into the room from behind Braviary, the lump moves.

Braviary whips around, covering the lantern tail with his wing, and looks Leon in the eyes. He listens for another rustle, it doesn't come.

"There's a fella in the leaves next to this pit." Braviary silently exhales. "Big pit, lots of wind around it, looks like it leads deeper but I don't know if the fella's awake."

"Can't we just get past it, tread quietly?" Leon covers his light, Bravairy takes his wing away. "I can't be too hard if it's sleeping. How big is it?"

"It's a big lump, assuming it's snoozing on its belly I'd say it's your size."

"Any idea what type it is? Can you get a better look?"

The old bird squints his eyes. He can see it breathing, the leaves shifting slightly, a plume of warm air leaving the other side. It's not facing them, this is good. But it's got too much cover for him to tell what it is.

"It's lookin' straight at the hole in the ground. If you keep the torch of yours going when we head over there, it'll surely get up." Braviary sighs. "No idea on the typing. Bug-types we can handle, grass on the other hand…"

He sees the kid behind them shiver. It isn't from the cold.

"The three of us right?" Prinn warbles. "We might make a lot of noise, right? Maybe we can cut down on the noise, like one of you could carry me?"

"What are you, a hatchling?" Braviary nearly laughs.

"No, Prinn has a point." Leon points to the area around the pit. "We can't go at once, they will hear us coming and crunching."

"You're right. I'll scoop the kid up as soon as we step in but I can't promise I can hold him for long. What about you, Leon?"

There's a pause. Leon takes a moment.

"I'll go last. If it leaps at me I can throw up a Protect shield, but I'll have to throw myself in right afterwards."

Wait a minute. Why isn't he the frontliner? Why did Braviary need to take charge in the first palace when there's someone with the ability to project an impervious shield?

Why was he - the old man who lost a wing and all subsequent ability to battle or do any of the work he says he used to do - leading the charge? Was it because he was old, was it all Leon's way of calling his bluff? Because doing this accomplished only one thing: it made him mad.

Why did they do this? Why not tell him in the first place?

Because you're expendable.

"Braviary?" Prinn peeps.

"Yes, I know the plan." Braviary's feathers bristle. "I know the plan."

Braviary steps in, Leon slides to the left, and Prinn waddles straight next to the Braviary. He sweeps the boy up like a fifty-ish pound sack of berries, holding him close like a snivelling hatchling - keeping his webbed toes off the floor. They all stare across the room at the breathing thing, watching its steady repetitive movement. The leaves all around the pit are waiting for an idiot to step all over them.

Whoever this pokemon actually is, feral or mad - doesn't matter. It's probably not smart enough to devise a trap. It's just conveniently sleeping next to an area of the floor where one loud brushing of leaves around the pit would surely wake them.

Leon still holds his tail tightly with both hands clasped around it, the tail itself stuffed under his thick green rain cloak. Does this guy not have full control of it?

Braviary creeps towards the slumbering beast, making a wide berth around it, going a few paces then staring at the mound to see if it moves. When it stops breathing he inches closer. He does this all the while trying to balance the weight of a Prinplup who clings to him like a chimchar, dangling uncomfortably from the larger pokemon's neck with his flippers gripping on for his life. There are far heavier pokemon in this vast world than Prinn, but his additional weight did not help in this situation.

And the weight of Prinn gripping him down causes the inevitable to happen. One wrong step causes Braviary's feet to be swept up. He feels light, then he's pulled forward. He catches Prinn in his wing as he swings his weight back.

The mound in front of them does not move. It did not hear them.

He's close to the creature now. Between it and him is the crevice - freedom. He only needs to make it another couple careful paces across a field of crinkly leaves to be one more step towards being home free. Prinn's shivering like mad, gripping his neck in a vice. The distance of leaf-covered ground is deceptively short, five paces at most. He could sprint right into the pit of freedom if he weren't carrying this kid.

He looks over the shoulder, Leon's waiting for him to move.

Braviary keeps his head low, his hat hiding his glare. The first sign of this creature getting onto its feet, he's going to throw them down into the pit and hope the winds catch their fall. It's better than them finding out what this pokemon's deal is.

Crunch, crunch. It's so loud, it sounds like ice cracking beneath his feet. The leaves are a menace trying to wake the beast, but it's still deep with its dream. His steps are like a hurricane compared to the wind below. They're so out of place, why isn't this pokemon getting up?

One more step takes him close enough to the abyss where a straight leap into is feasible, and when he's about to take it, the thing finally gets up.

Braviary sees a light, yellow-green snout peek from out of the leaves. It sniffs the air, it's awake, or at least aware of its surroundings. The head of this thing begins slagging off the leaves like it was snow. It's then the trios sees the long distinct leaf of a Bayleef, and hear a new sound echo from outside the chamber.

Something begins moving down the corridor, shambling the dense branches. They start counting seconds now. A new foe is coming for them, the Bayleef is awake; why could he not move?

Better yet, why does a bayleef who has been lost deep within a Mystery Dungeon - one constructed from a forested road far from the black shore - smell like seawater? The miasma of salt torches the nostrils, and the bird's mind is put elsewhere.

Braviary is at a shore again, no, he's on the waters. The seas around him are dark. They're of an infinite deepness so vast no one person could ever see the ends of it, who's waves are constant, churning and uncaring. In the endless dream of grey skies and black waters he drifts without purpose, forever, never to find what he's looking for. How did he end up here? What led him to these careless waters? What did he hope to find? Compelled by a forgotten desire he chooses to drift wherever these cruel waves will take him.

The water acts strange. The constant rise and dip of its waves has been disturbed. The unspeakable something is here, to take him from this place to somewhere else - away from where he was.

Did you wake up on a beach too, green guy?

"Braviary!"

Leon shouts. Braviary's eyes open wide in time to see Bayleef, now fully on its feet, hurl an Energy Ball his way. Prinn, it can't hit Prinn!

Braivary swings his back towards the incoming attack instantly, hearing the pipsqueak scream as the Energy Ball shatters into globs of light across Braviary's old spine. It hurts.

For a split moment Braviary was face to face with Leon, having turned to absorb the hit. The Smeargle's eyes stare away from him towards the corridor, and a new sound hits their ears: pokemon rapidly ripping through the overgrown hallway to get into their chamber.

The two pokemon exchange a nod.

With the help of a strong push from Leon, Braviary tosses himself backwards into the crevice. The harsh winds from below drag him and the petrified boy in his wing. Leon won't follow yet, he can't allow these ferals to chase them.

Bewildered that two pokemon would rather toss themselves into the pit than face it, the Bayleef veers its gaze to the remaining traveller. It opens its jaw again, Leon plants his feet as he holds out his tail.

A second Energy Ball flies Leon's way. Before it reaches him it clashes against an invisible wall, dispersing across it in shimmering droplets An attack blocked, now onto step two. His glowing tail extinguishes as a dark paint-like glob congeals at its end, and he whips it at his foe.

Before it could realise what caused its attack to be ineffective, a Shadow Ball hits square on the Bayleef's side. The attack was enough to knock it over, possibly rendering it unconscious. He saw it collapse back into the leaves, and that's good enough for him because had learned two very important things.

One: Froslass' trick actually worked. Two: he could defend himself after all.

He dashes towards the ledge, takes in a deep breath, and surrenders to the wind.