Tanner awoke the next morning, feeling more relaxed than he had in weeks. Probably because he didn't have to sleep in a hospital. Or maybe it was the comfortable dog bed. Maybe it was that he had a roommate who was a cool shadow dog.

He almost wouldn't have gotten out of bed, if the smell of Tony's glaze covered cinnamon rolls hadn't been so tempting.

From the main room, Landon yawned widely, showing a full set of teeth behind his jowls. He glanced over at Tanner as he entered the room.

"Morning. I got us breakfast." The Mightyena grumbled with a groggy morning voice. "Your fur looks good by the way. It's different from most Zorua, but that's not a bad thing."

"Thanks." Tanner said as he pulled at a warm, creamy cinnamon roll. "It's called a mohawk."

"Mohawk, huh? It's like a Scrafty's hair."

Scrafty… Tanner had to check to see what they looked like. He wanted to see if the mohawk that a pokemon had was any good. In between bites, Tanner flipped through the pages of his pokemon book until he found a Scrafty. They were weird, punk looking things with a full mohawk.

"What was the other one you said? Last night?"

"Toxtricity." Landon answered with his mouth half full.

Tanner searched for Toxtricity as well until he found it. He wasn't sure which he liked more- dark Zorua or Toxtricity. They had spikes on their body and electric energy shooting out of their head. "Woah. Toxtricity are metal..."

"Poison-electric, actually."

Tanner's ears flicked curiously.

"Oh, um… It's a saying. When something is cool and hardcore, it's metal." Tanner explained.

"Huh." Landon shrugged and continued eating.

The morning light crept through the half-closed blinds while they ate, illuminating flecks of dust in the air and warming the seat where Tanner was sitting.

Tanner took a moment to relax. Though he was starting to feel more comfortable, he still wanted to get home. Tessa and Landon said that the legendary who brought him here would be able to send him back. Despite that, some small part of him had begun considering the possibility of not going back. Tanner didn't have many friends back home, and going home meant that he wouldn't be able to see Landon and Tessa again.

He couldn't do that though. He couldn't do that to his mom.

Trying to get his mind off that thought, Tanner looked around the room. The morning shed light on a rather colorfully decorated room. Red, purple, and yellow goggles sat next to glowing crystal balls of blue and green. Some swirled with mist, others looked like they had storms inside. One that glowed with a gentle blue light looked familiar…

"Are these all dungeon items?" Tanner asked.

"Yep. I've told you about those, right?"

"A little. What are the glass balls?"

"Orbs. They do different things- Turn you invisible, blow up, or create rain. That kind of stuff." Landon looked up at his collection as he spoke.

"Can they make a pokemon disappear?"

Landon paused contemplatively. "Sure, depends on the orb. Why do you ask?"

"I found one when I first appeared here. I threw it at the Ariados and it disappeared."

Landon looked up at the wall of orbs, as if thinking through which could make a feral vanish.

"Warp orb, maybe. There are a few possibilities. Whatever it was, it was a lucky find. Someone up there is looking out for you." The Mightyena smirked.

Tanner nodded solemnly. That someone was probably the legendary he was going to meet soon. "I guess... So, you guys found this stuff in dungeons?"

"Yeah. We usually sell them. A lot of pokemon will pay good money for an Invisify orb or a Reviver seed." Landon scratched his ear with his back paw as he spoke.

Suddenly, it made more sense how Tessa and Landon found him the first time. They were looking for items and found him.

"What are dungeons? How do you find items in them?" It seemed odd that dungeon items would form into glasses and ribbons, but he wasn't going to question it. There was a lot about this world that didn't make sense.

"Ah. Well... basically, Mystery Dungeons are distortions in space and time that form rooms and corridors, like a maze. There are usually a series of floors, and one set of stairs on each floor. Inside there are feral pokemon who usually attack on sight. They aren't intelligent, and some think that... Well, they aren't normal pokemon. Come in, Tess!" Landon yelled. A few seconds later, Tanner heard footsteps from outside. Tanner turned his head towards the door expectantly, which opened to the Lucario.

As he predicted, Tessa walked in the door with a smile. "Mmm. How was the night? Any notable dreams?"

Tanner nodded at the Lucario in greeting, then quickly shook his head no, not wanting to be misinterpreted.

"Nope. Morning, sunshine. We were just talking about dungeons. Care to tell Tanner your theories?" Landon wagged his tail.

"Oh." She grabbed a cinnamon roll, then flopped down in a beanbag comfortably. "They're alive."

"...What?" Tanner asked, bewildered. That was quite a statement, saying that mazes were alive.

"Mystery dungeons respond to how often you enter them, they get stressed out, and try to protect themselves. I think the Shadow grove has grown fond of us." Tessa mused.

Tanner looked over to Landon for confirmation. The Mightyena was specifically avoiding his gaze.

"How do you know?" Tanner asked.

"Well, it led us to you, for one." The Lucario said reverently as she looked at Tanner. Her eyes were filled with trust and admiration.

Tanner wasn't sure if that was a coincidence or not, but if what Landon was saying was true, dungeons were connected to legendary pokemon. Tanner was probably put there on purpose, at that moment, so he could be found by Tessa and Landon who were looking for items.

They might have been chosen for this mission just as much as he was.

As far as Dungeons being alive… well, he would have to see for himself.

"How hard is the Shadow grove?" He asked.

"It's usually kind to us. I've been thinking we should go back, if that's what you're asking." Tessa spoke up.

"It would be good experience. Though we should practice your scratch first." Landon hopped off his chair and shook himself out.

"I'm ready." Using the move was actually kind of exhilarating. He found himself looking for things to scratch, and being around so much furniture wasn't helping.

"After breakfast." Tessa said with her mouth full. "One must nourish the body before mastering the self."


After nourishing their bodies, the group headed to their training hill to practice moves. It mostly consisted of a few hours of slashing grass, rocks, and dummies. Between rounds of slashing, Tessa lectured Tanner with the theoretical elements of creating move energy, and controlling one's aura. Landon followed up with practical advice- his body language, tips to fight larger pokemon, or what to do when fighting a dark type.

He was picking up on scratch quickly. Harnessing the aura of the world was more of a challenge.

He understood the principles of using moves though. There was an energy that varied types and it could be used in moves.

"What's the difference between different types of moves?" Tanner tossed an Oran berry into his mouth while listening to Tessa's lecture.

"Different manifestations of move energy, reflecting in standard means through the body." Tessa instructed nonchalantly.

"I mean… What does dark energy feel like compared to normal?" Tanner asked.

Landon sat up on his haunches, and furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "It's not what you expect. It's not cold or lonely or frightening, at least not for me. It is for some. The darkness is like your shadow. It's always there, though you sometimes can't see it. It won't hurt you, and it will go if you want it to. It's always there when you ask it to be though.

Tanner nodded contemplatively. Scratch was cool, but he wanted to learn other moves too. He wanted to know how to use the darkness inside of him. Based on Tessa's descriptions, all move energy came from the same place, he just needed to know how to use it.

Focusing, Tanner took a deep breath, and snarled. He felt nothing.

"You still want to learn Snarl?" Landon whimpered sympathetically. "Don't push it too hard, kid. Focus on scratch first, Snarl will come in time.

Tanner furrowed his brow, and stood up, then looked up at the sky. Maybe he was fighting it too hard. He only really figured scratch out when he was thinking about being himself. That, and when Landon tried to bite him. Maybe he should just embrace who he was.

"I want to try something." Tanner said.

Feeling confident, or at least persistent, Tanner closed his eyes, imagining that he wasn't here. He sent his mind back away from all of the magic and pokemon and fantasy. He imagined that he was back in his home, in his room, back with his stereo system. He thought back to his music.

Landon and Tessa watched on curiously as Tanner began to whisper to himself. His wispy mohawk bobbed with his head to an unheard beat.

Tanner thought back to the music that drove the blood through his veins - drums like a machine gun, electric guitars screaming through heavy riffs. Vocalists sounding out anthems of conquest and glory in falsetto choruses. Rapid drum beats in a constant stream that led guitarists ripping through wild rhythms. Powerful amps, power chords, and power metal.

He thought back, and whispered the lyrics of the songs he had memorized by heart.

"Give me the night! Let me be me for one last time…"

Though no music accompanied the lyrics, Tanner sang passionately. Quietly at first, then more confidently. Something about using moves relied on the power of himself, and there wasn't any time he felt more himself than when he was listening to his music. Soon darkness began to evaporate slowly from the edges of Tanner's fur, spurned on by his singing. Landon stood up quickly, wide eyed. The Mightyena grinned and glanced at Tessa, who looked perplexed.

Tanner continued, singing through the chorus.

"A prisoner of myself lost in disguise, just give me the night! Still living in a twisted dream, there's no tomorrow for right now will be, the best time of my life!" More shadows bled from Tanner's fur, lingering just long enough to twist and swirl in the wind. Tanner felt strange. The music reminded him of home, and the words made him feel alive. More than that, he felt a power…

Tanner opened his eyes, and saw the darkness emanating from him. The shadows deep inside. He couldn't believe it.

"What was that!?" Landon had his head and front paws lowered excitedly.

"Your aura was unlike anything I've seen. Melancholy and inspired and… beautiful" Tessa trailed off, still peering through Tanner's aura.

"It was my music. It's a little hard to explain." There was so much that was hard to explain about his life back home, but his music was the hardest. It was something that was so important to him, and so intense and cool, but he couldn't really put it into words.

"It worked." Landon beamed down on Tanner proudly. "Do you think you could do it again? It's no snarl, but it's a start."

"Probably." All it took was remembering his music that he had memorized.

"Do you think you can sing louder?" Tessa followed up.

Tanner hesitated for a moment. It really wasn't the same without the acoustic backup, but…

"Yeah. Yeah, I can try."