The sky was clear with a few clouds in sight. A steady breeze flew through the leaves and grass of the forest in front of the three Pokemon. Lucy looked at the map in curiosity and looked at the entrance to the forest.

"This should be the place. Purifying Forest" Lucy said looking at the entrance with Stacy and Max beside her. The two of them looked determined since this was a whole new place, yet Stacy was confused with the wonder map out as she examined it.

"That's strange…. There is no indication of a dungeon or forest called like this on the wonder map…and supposedly were going to find Sparky here?" Stacy asked as Lucy nodded.

"Were gonna have to talk to Chatot about this…Maybe he has an idea on why this is the case. But for now, let's stay together so we don't get lo- "Lucy said before they saw Max running into the dungeon.

"We're coming treasure!" He exclaimed excitedly as he ventured inside before the two females sighed and followed in pursuit.

PURIFYING FOREST

As they ventured inside the forest, the air and vibe of the place changed. The air got a little thicker as a light mist covered the floor. Light orbs started to emanate from their surroundings before disappearing, almost like something was coming out of the ground. This set them on edge as they had no idea what they were getting into. This didn't seem like an ordinary dungeon either…it felt…. different.

The trio encountered Pokemon in the floors and like normal enemies, they fended them off. The excitement Max had was almost gone, replaced by curiosity and nervousness. Stacy felt her steps be lighter, as if the ground was soft even though she knew it was grass. As for Lucy, there was a smell…. a smell that sends her to moments in her past that reminded her of that smell. Moments with Sparky but…it was slightly off.

"What is this place?" Lucy spoke curious after what seemed to be too long while walking.

Stacy looked at Max and shivers. "This place is giving me the creeps. I don't want to stay here for much longer" She remarked to which Max agreed.

"I agree…I don't think this place is natural" He replied.

"Natural or not, it was in the map…Sparky wanted us to be here…We need to keep going" Lucy said taking the lead in this whole exploration. The shinx and vulpix nodded at that and kept on going.

However, Max whispered to Stacy making sure Lucy didn't hear him.

"Hey…Do you think its ok to be doing this? I think it was best if we let Magnezone do this" Max said showing his concerns.

The vulpix shook her head and whispered back. "And leave Lucy alone? Considering the state she is in; I don't think that's a good idea Max. Lets keep following her. If Sparky isn't here, she needs someone to support her" she said before catching up to Lucy, Leaving Max to think about that for a few seconds before catching up to them as well.

It wasn't long before they reached a small clearing, the sun shined into it through the leaves making them glow and a kangaskhan statue resided in the middle signifying the middle point of the dungeon. They took this chance to take a small break and eat some of the apples they brought with them. Max and Stacy chatted a little bit while Lucy sat down and looked at the map.

Deep down, she felt like she was doing the correct thing. Her mind was on finding Sparky and bringing him back to her and the team. She needed him. She looked at the shinx and vulpix on the other side of the clearing and looked at the map again and held it close. Sighing shakily, she stood up and stored the map in the bag. This was NOT the time to think of giving up nor to believe this would go to waste. After signaling the others to continue, they ventured deeper into the dungeon.

The dungeon floors were getting longer the deeper into the forest they went. Stairs became less common to see, pokemon became scarce, and the forest felt like a maze. However, after what seemed like 20 minutes, they reached the end of the forest.

_
?

"FINALLY!" Max said as they reached the end of the dungeon the number of trees began to lessen, and they reached a bigger clearing.

This one was different though. A small, abandoned house resided in the middle as a lake resided beside it. As they got closer, they saw how abandoned it seemed. On the outside, the sides were overrun with vines and debris and some of the windows seemed cracked. The wood looked gray and decayed. It was surprising that the house was still standing.

"Wow…. How long has this place been standing?" Max said as he got closer to it and examined the surroundings

"It has to have been a long time…it looks ancient if this is called the ruins…What do you think Lucy?" Stacy said exploring as well.

Lucy was looking into the window to look at the insides. The house seemed empty as if there was no living thing inside it. There seemed to be beams of light shining into the house and she tried to look up but couldn't.

"We need to look inside" she said as she got to the door and opened it.

Max and Stacy immediately followed her inside and looked around.

The house seemed…weirdly decorated…there seemed to be Light coming to the ceiling and upon looking upwards, they noticed holes in the ceiling. Man, this place WAS old. Lucy began to investigate, looking around what seemed to be a place to write near a window while Stacy and Max focused on an area where there were books.

Max opened a book and coughed as dust came out of it.

"Ugh! Its dusty!" He said as he put the book down.

"Well of course Silly. Were in an old house. Of course, it's gonna be dusty!" Stacy said with an unimpressed face. She looked at the book he dropped and began to look at it. It was filled with symbols she couldn't understand, and she looked confused.

"What am I supposed to be looking at? This seems like runes of sort" She said

"Hey guys? You might wanna come up here" Lucy called from where she was.

Max and Stacy, upon hearing this, left the book and climbed the chairs to reach Lucy to which she pointed to a small open book.

"I don't understand these symbols but look! It has drawings in it" Lucy said pointing at what seemed like a drawing of Dialga and other legendaries.

"Whoever lived here must have seen Dialga and other legendaries it seems like" Stacy determined as Max closed it and put it in their bag

"We're taking this to Chatot then. He IS the Guild's walking encyclopedia after all. Maybe he could tell us something" Max remarked quoting Chatot himself. Oh, how he loves to boast about his never-ending intelligence.

"Alright…Let's go!" Stacy said as she began to leave but Lucy kept looking around, her moves were desperate. She knew what she was doing, and she sighs "Lucy…" She called out

"There has to be something more…There HAS to be!" The eevee said desperately as she started to look over any nook and cranny. "Any sign that Sparky was here..." She said as her ears flattened.

"Lucy…we can come back later…We will find him so- " Max said before Lucy took a book off the bookcase in the house and the place started to rumble.

Lucy backed away as the bookcase moved away revealing a stair going downwards. Max and Stacy were impressed and got to be beside Lucy. The bottom couldn't be seen…could this be another mystery dungeon?

"OK…This was unexpected" Max said impressed.

"Lucy…Should we…" Stacy said looking at Lucy, who looked at her and nodded as she went down the stairs.

Stacy sighs as she followed, and Max followed behind into the depths of the stairs.

THE RUINS

As they ventured down and reached the first floor, already they noticed how the atmosphere of the house was completely gone. Instead, the walls looked different. More ancient as unintelligible runes were on the walls. They guessed that this must be the fabled ruins that the map talked about.

Already they noticed that this dungeon was different than the forest. There were no pokemon here. Cobwebs and burnt torches decorated the walls as light coming from an unknown source illuminated the walls and floor. The place felt more like a maze rather than a mystery dungeon, seeing how they got into dead ends more often than they could find the stairs.

"OK…now THIS feels like an exploration" Max said as he took in the surroundings.

"I agree" Stacy said as she stayed beside him and Lucy

Lucy looked more at the walls, trying to see if the runes meant anything.

She noticed there were also drawings on some of the walls depicting legendaries. It reminded her of the walls that were in the Hidden land. In those walls, they depicted the creation of the land and water as well as our very existence. However, these walls had different images. pokemon that seemed to be in battle… and a different creature standing beside them. They looked very strange…bipedal…taller yet skinnier…the eevee tilted her head before realizing she was away from her team and went beside the shinx and vulpix.

THE RUIN DEPTHS

Soon they reached the end where at the center resided a pedestal containing a white pearl like orb. Lucy got closer to the pedestal as Max and Stacy looked around.

"A battle took place here…there are claw marks everywhere" Stacy stated as she rubbed the marks with her paw.

Max looked at the pillars surrounding the pedestal. "Was this place important in the past?" Max said. "I'm more concerned as to why we didn't encounter any pokemon…All mystery dungeons have had some…why not this one?" He said confused at them.

Lucy stepped into the center and looked at the orb with her head close to it. It was so shiny she could see her reflection. She felt like it was something important…. Something she needed to take. She looked around it making sure there weren't any traps. She looks at them, her tail swaying slightly.

"Guys check for traps. We're taking this orb" Lucy said as she watched them go to each corner of the room and looked around.

"Nothing on my end" Stacy said

"Same here" Max replied

Lucy looked at the orb and inhaled deeply before she tried to grab the orb before a mighty roar could be heard. Her ears flattened as she jumped out of the pedestal to be reunited with her friends.

The ruins shook as a Dragonite came out of the hole in the ceiling and stood in front of the pedestal. Its eyes were furious, and it roared again shaking the ruins once more before it spoke.

"THIEVES! I will not let you come out of this place with that orb! Your thievery ends here!" It said in an angry tone

"W-wait a moment. We're explorers…we were simply exploring this place. We were here looking for one of our members" Lucy tried to reason but to no avail

"LIES! I know your true purpose. Don't deny it! You're not leaving this place alive!" The dragonite said as he got into and was getting ready to attack

"Brace yourself!" Stacy called out to them as the fight began.

-BOSS FIGHT-

The dragonite roared as it flew into the sky again and began to use its wings to dive into the team using wing attack. Before it had the chance to hit the ground, though, the team managed to barely avoid the attack as it left a crater on the ground.

"Woah this guy is strong!" Max said as he fired thunder waves at it hoping to make the fight easier

The dragonite was unfazed by it as it looked at Max as it started to do Dragon Dance before being interrupted by a Shadow ball to the side. It growled at the owner of said attack who was none other than Lucy.

"We have gone through worse! Don't lose focus" the eevee exclaimed as it began to use swift while the vulpix began to use her Nasty Plot strategy.

"Max work on paralyzing it. I will try to destabilize them" she said before getting hit by an Extreme Speed Dragonite. Luckily, she came back from it.

"I will NOT let you out with that orb. You have no idea what you will bring out if you do" the dragonite said before he roared in pain as he felt someone on his back as a biting sensation started.

Max used charge, then thunder fang once he was on the dragonite as he electrified the dragon.

"If it helps us find out friend, we are taking the damn thing!" He exclaimed angrily as he jumped out of the now petrified dragon as it struggled to move.

The dragonite while petrified began to perform a dragon dance once more as he got enveloped in blue and red energy. Stacy ran towards the dragonite and fired a flamethrower to the front of it, adding more damage due to the Nasty Plot. The dragonite tried to fly away and tried the best he could to get the flames off and once he did, he went down and hit the vulpix with a dragon claw, sending her to a wall. Stacy yelped in pain as the hit made her stagger and slightly collapse.

"Stacy!" Lucy ran up to her and gave her an oran berry to recover her health. "I got a plan" Lucy said and began to whisper to the vulpix's ear.

Meanwhile, the dragonite was going after the Shinx who was running around it and biting him using crunch and the linked Charge + Thunder Fang. Eventually it caught him using extreme speed and threw him to the ground eliciting a scream of pain from Max. The dragonite panted as he was in low health and was getting tired.

"Now!" Lucy said as she used helping hand on Stacy and began to prepare a Shadow Ball.

Said vulpix's eyes glowed pink as she begins to use Extrasensory on the dragonite who roared in pain. While it was distracted, Lucy got on top of it and fired a direct hit of a Shadow ball to the face. The dragonite roared weakly before he collapsed onto the floor. He was defeated as Max collapsed on the floor and panted.

"Oh…that's done with…" Max said panting

-END OF BOSS FIGHT-

Max ate the oran berries that Stacy gave him as Lucy went to the pedestal and grabbed the orb. She looked at the dragonite and then at the orb as she put it in her bag. She walked back down and goes to the two pokemon.

"Are you two, ok? That dragonite hit you guys hard" Lucy said worried.

Max nodded as Stacy smiled slightly. "Just a couple bruises and scratches. Nothing deadly" she said as she got up.

Max stretched and nodded. "Yeaaah im doing ok. But what was that dragonite's deal though?! It's just an orb!" Max said.

Lucy looks at the orb that was in the bag. It was still glowing even though no light was shining on it. She was confused by that…Why was it glowing still? Oh, she needed to show chatot this.

"Let's leave before we must fight that guy again. Please Lucy!" Stacy said.

Lucy sighs and nods. They didn't find Sparky once more in the ruins.

"Alright…Maybe in the book we found we can find a clue or something" she said as she left the room alongside her friends.

Soon after they reach the entrance of the house and step into the clearing again. The sky was beginning to turn into a bright orange as dusk began to approach. Max looked at the sky in surprise.

"Wow we were in there for that long!?" Max said shocked.

Stacy stretched and exhaled. "I want to go home so badly" she said with her eyes closed.

Lucy nodded. "Alright. Let's go back to town and go our separate ways. I will let you guys know what Chatot tells me tomorrow" Lucy said.

They all nodded at that and began the journey back home. They had a big road ahead of them after all.