"Hey, did you hear about Yaga Woods? It-"
"- Grigor said a big hole open up underneath one of the trees and he almost fell-"
"-it's a Mystery Dungeon, but the grown ups can't get-"
"- it's really dark and no one knows how deep-"
"- I heard some scary voices were coming from inside, saying they were going to take bad hatchlings-"
Ivan heard these whispers all throughout the school night. No matter where he went, his classmates were whispering about the supposed Mystery Dungeon that had opened up not too far from their little town. How could it not be the topic on everyone's minds when a Mystery Dungeon hadn't appeared anywhere near Opana? He didn't really care much for it if he was being honest, but at least no one was directly talking to him about it.
The little Phanpy continued through his night, dutifully listening to his teachers and scribbling down notes with his trunk. Winter was coming soon enough, which meant the first exams of the school year would be upon him before he knew it. He knew he'd be fine, but he couldn't say the same about some of his friends. He'd probably have to spend a few dawns helping them, but it wasn't like he would be having much fun around exam time anyway. The ice and snow and windchill felt like needles against his skin.
It was midmeal now, and Ivan was enjoying his berries in the playground connected to the school. The black sky and bright stars watched over him as he sat beside the artificial pond the water-types liked to use. No one was using it at the moment, though Ivan imagined a lot of daywalker hatchlings flocked here during their lunch.
Ivan curled his trunk around a pecha berry before shoving it into his mouth. He could feel the chill of winter slowly creeping into the air as he laid outside amidst the orange and red leaves blanketing the playground. He could smell it in his snout, that creeping, cold dying that would seize the land. School and his parents had taught him what seasons were in the eyes of scientists only last year, but his body had always understood on a primal level for years and years.
He heard them approaching before they even spoke. The crunch of the leaves gave it away, even if there was a good fifty paces of distance between them. Ivan turned his head to see a Venonat, Applin, and brown Zigzagoon approaching him. They were certainly an odd bunch of boys to be together, especially with the way they moved. The Venonat hopped along, the Zigzagoon moved back and forth as if literally incapable of moving in a straight line, and the Applin just rolled atop the dead leaves, trying not to crush his eyes as he moved.
Ivan waved with his trunk as the three of them made their way over, settling around him one at a time.
"We were looking everywhere for you," the Venonat said, a very audible buzz resounding in each of his words. "Why you gotta be so hard to find, Ivan?"
"I always come out here at midmeal," Ivan tittered.
"Yeah, that's what I said!" the Zigzagoon barked at the Venonat. "You should have listened to me and we would have found Ivan right away instead of checking the library and the classroom and the bathrooms and-"
"Because you're always getting everything mixed up!," the Venonat snapped, suddenly smelling foul. Ivan curled his snout inward a bit, not that the Venonat seemed to notice. "Like last week you told me that tangas were okay to eat because they only hurt psychics and I threw up right in front of Sophia-"
"I told you payapa were safe, not tangas!" the Zigzagoon shot back. "Ask Vlad, he was there when I said that to you!"
"Don't drag me into this," the Applin sighed dejectedly, retreating a bit into his apple. "Just tell Ivan what you guys told me."
"Fine," the Venonat huffed, the foul stench slowly disappearing. "Boris, go on and say it."
The Zigzagoon seemed to perk up as he looked over at Ivan, a big smile on his face. His body wiggled a little bit, as if he were fighting off the urge to romp then and there.
"You heard about what happened in Yaga Woods this morning, right?" Boris asked.
"Yeah," Ivan said with a slow nod. "Some kind of Mystery Dungeon that none of the grown-ups can get into?"
"Yeah! But that's not all!" Boris went on. "The grown-ups can't get into it because the way in is too small! It's like a Buneary burrow under a tree."
"Okay… and?" Ivan asked.
"We should all go there right after school and be the first to explore the first ever dungeon in Opana!"
Ivan stared at each of his friends, taking in their reactions. Boris was obviously quite giddy and it would take the apocalypse to wipe that cheery look off his face. Vlad was peering out of his apple again and didn't look as excited as the Zigzagoon, but Ivan picked up on the way his eyes moved back and forth, which he only did when pleased. Then there was Leshy, the hardest of them all to really get a read on with his giant red eyes and inflexible mandibles. The only sign of his excitement was that his antennae were raised quite high and that he was rather eager to find Ivan in the first place.
"Aren't Mystery Dungeons like, really scary?" Ivan asked cautiously.
"Well yeah, but only if you're alone," Boris said. "If all four of us go in, it won't be scary at all!"
"Do we know how big the dungeon is?" Ivan asked. "I heard some of them can be really, really big. Like it takes nights to get through…"
"It's not that big," Leshy said with an irritable little buzz. "Teacher Chansey said you can tell how big a dungeon is by how big the way in is. If the grown-ups can't get inside because they're too big, then it's gotta be small."
Ivan nodded slowly. That correlated with some things he had learned in class. He heard the biggest Mystery Dungeon in the world was somewhere west, and it swallowed up a whole city. The only way in was through this city gate that got warped by the dungeon, but that gate was bigger than an Onix.
It was tempting to say no, that he still didn't want to risk exploring this scary place that no one knew anything about, but then he smelt the dying cold in the air again. Winter was coming, and soon he'd be hiding away and avoiding the snow that would blanket the town. Soon, he'd no longer be able to enjoy the outdoors again.
"Okay," Ivan said with a smile. "But what about the grown-ups? They'll try to stop us if they see us try to go in."
"That's why we'll go soon as school ends," Vlad said, rolling back and forth a bit. "We can move fast enough to get there before the grown-ups see us, yeah?"
"You gonna roll at super Jolteon speed?" Boris snickered at Vlad.
"I'll roll so fast, you won't even see me," Vlad huffed.
Ivan doubted it, but he knew that any of them could easily pick him up and carry him along. It'd be humiliating for the Applin, but it was much better than getting caught by the grown-ups. Especially his parents. He was allowed to stay out until dawn without issue, but if he didn't return home by then…
"You really think we'll get out of there by sunrise?" Ivan asked. "I don't want to get in trouble."
"Totally. It ain't gonna be that big," Leshy assured. "We'll get out before the sun's up and we'll all get home before our parents get mad."
"Plus, your Mom and Dad aren't going to be mad at you if you discover some awesome treasure down there and bring it back!" Boris added. "You'd be like, a hero or a legend and they can't stay mad at you if you're that!"
Ivan still felt a little nervous and wasn't sure if they'd return home before curfew, but he pushed the anxiety down where he couldn't feel it. His friends wanted to go on an adventure and see something literally no one else had, and how could he possibly pass that up?
The moment school ended, Ivan hurried out into the Yaga Woods. Not with the others of course, as that would have been suspicious, but they each wasted no time leaving their individual classes and rushing off school grounds. Ivan got a couple of odd stares from the grown-ups and some of his classmates, but none of them stopped him or asked what the matter was.
Yaga Woods was a bit of a trek away from the school. The little Phanpy had to travel through town, past the diner Mom liked to take him to every so often, past the coffee shop his older sister always hung out in with her friends, and past the bank that Dad said he'd take Ivan to next spring to open an account of his own. His legs were small and not meant for hurrying for so long, but he pushed forward through the cool night, his nose serving as his guide instead of the dim street lights lining the roads.
He met the others at a big oak tree at the outskirts of the woods. All three of them were already there, even Vlad. He couldn't see them very well, not in the darkness of the night, but he could smell them. He smelt their anxiousness, their eagerness. He could hear Boris digging around in some pine needles and Vlad munching on parts of his apple.
"I'm here!" Ivan called out as he joined them, resisting the urge to trumpet.
"Oh finally, we were starting to think you were gonna flake," Boris said as he stopped digging around.
"I'm not as fast as you guys," Ivan pouted.
"You couldn't roll? I've seen how fast you go when you roll!" Boris countered.
Well, he could have, yes. He didn't know if he could have sustained it all the way from school to the woods, but he could have tried.
"He's here, it doesn't matter," Vlad cut in as the munching sounds from his apple stopped. "Leshy, you see where the dungeon is?"
Ivan saw a dim red light from the Venonat's compound eyes just then. A quiet, slightly irritating chirping sound resounded from the bug as he peered into the woods. As they all waited for Leshy, Ivan stared into Yaga Woods himself, taking in the sights best he could in the pale moonlight. Perhaps during the day the forest was quite green and vibrant and full of birdsong and chittering rodents, but in the dead of night, it was an entirely different place. The noble trees of the day were now the outlines of leering giants and the canopies were now even hazier outlines of swaying arms and grasping fingers shifted in the breeze. He heard the occasional flutter of wings, maybe from nocturnal bug-types or Hoothoot, but he couldn't see the creatures. They were deep within the woods that became more and more like the back of a predator's maw.
It was scary standing here, and even scarier knowing that he would venture deeper at any moment. But he didn't run and he didn't cry. Ivan had his friends with him and as long as they stayed together, they'd be unstoppable. They'd even be heroes once they got back home, the very first explorers of the Yaga Woods Mystery Dungeon.
"I see it!" Leshy suddenly said, eyes flashing. "Come on!"
He bounded into the woods without warning.
"Hey! Wait up!" Boris cried.
Ivan heard him snag Vlad in his mouth, his fangs digging into the apple's flesh before he darted after the Venonat. Vlad was yelling something, but Ivan couldn't really hear it too well. He only hurried after Boris and Leshy, relying mostly on Leshy's glowing eyes to guide him.
The four boys scurried through the woods, careful not to trip over roots or rocks as they raced for the dungeon. Within moments, Leshy came to a stop in front of what Ivan thought looked like the largest oak tree in the entire woods. Boris and Ivan gathered next to Leshy as they followed his gaze. There, resting before them at the base of the tree, was a burrow. Ivan felt around it with his trunk and got a good sense that it was quite small, definitely something that was just big enough to let a Raticate squeeze through. The dirt felt cold, unnaturally cold even for this time of the year, and the burrow had an odd, rotting smell.
"Alright Leshy!" Boris cheered, dropping Vlad as he did so with a soft thump.
Ivan heard Vlad groaning as the Applin adjusted himself in his apple. Leshy made a satisfied buzzing sound as he crept closer to the hole and peered inside.
"This is real small alright," he remarked. "Can see why the grown-ups couldn't get in here…"
"You going to be able to fit?" Ivan asked.
As if he took that as a challenge, Leshy crouched down, and then crept forward into the burrow. His fluffy body scraped against the dirt and he made some decent progress for a while, but then there came a point where the lower half of his body was stuck outside the hole. Ivan could smelt a noxious scent from him just then as the sounds of kicking and digging resounded around him.
"Hahah, you're too big!" Boris guffawed.
"Shut up!" came Leshy's muffled voice. "I can fit just fine! I'm just at a tight spot! It's weird in here!"
Boris kept laughing while Leshy thrashed around. Despite the Venonat's claim, he wasn't making any progress at all. Ivan watched all of this with a grimace for a few more seconds before moving over to behind the big bug. He took a couple of steps back, and then charged forward, ramming his head into Leshy.
"Hey hey, watch it!" Leshy cried.
But he did move forward a few inches and when Leshy squirmed around more, he moved even further ahead by his own efforts. Ivan moved back again and once more tackled Leshy, driving him even further into the dungeon.
"Come on, help me out guys!" Ivan urged.
He heard Boris snickering, but the Zigzagoon helped nonetheless. The two of them took turns headbutting Leshy, all the while the Venonat did his best to dig himself deeper into the dungeon. Vlad rolled over and also did his best to help, though Ivan didn't know how much he was actually helping considering his tiny size and pitiful strength.
What he did know though was that at that point, Boris must have hit Leshy too hard, because suddenly there was a scream and the two of them went tumbling into the burrow. Leshy stuck his nose into the hole and felt around for them, but both of their scents were gone.
"Guys? Guys!" he called out to them.
There was no response.
"Oh come on guys, this isn't funny!"
"Maybe they fell a long way down," Vlad said, rolling over softly to the entrance of the burrow. "This looks very deep…"
That really didn't make Ivan feel any better and he was starting to wonder if this was all a bad idea. However, two of his friends were inside a Mystery Dungeon now, so there was no backing out now. Ivan reached over with his trunk and wrapped Vlad up in it.
"H-Hey!" Vlad protested.
"We're coming guys!" Ivan called.
And then he plunged into the burrow, leaving behind the real world as he and Vlad descended into the dungeon.
The first thing Ivan noticed was the smell.
He had already got a whiff of the stench from back in the woods and thought it to be quite strong. However, it was absolutely potent here, like a Skuntank had doused him with noxious fumes for a solid five seconds. The stench crawled up his trunk and attacked his tongue, making his eyes water. He had to start breathing through his mouth.
Then he broke through what felt like a sticky, wet web and tumbled into the dungeon itself.
In some ways, it was like he never left Yaga Woods. The same trees, the same dirt, the same sky all greeted him. However, there was one significant detail that made all the difference; the fibrous, ropey vines covering every inch of the land. He could see them, somehow, even in the darkness. They were silvery and glistening and as thick as his trunk. They sprawled across the forest like a network of nerves or veins. Gray, fuzzy particles floated idly in the air around these vines, dim and dull, showing no signs of light.
Ivan grimaced. He expected the crunch of leaves or the soft thud of the apple hitting the ground, but there was nothing. Silence ruled this realm and suffocated everything that threatened otherwise.
"Don't pick me up like that!"
The abrupt yell spooked Ivan and caused him to drop the Applin. However, it also soothed him knowing that their voices couldn't be silenced. He had heard that dungeons were uncanny and unsettling places, but taking away his voice would have been too much. Or his eyes, or his ears, or his nose…
"S-Sorry," Ivan said quietly. "I panicked."
"Just don't do it again," Vlad said dismissively as he rolled himself upright.
The Applin grumbled something and then rolled on ahead, grunting as he strained his muscles to push his apple ahead. Ivan slowly followed behind, taking care not to go ahead and possibly separate from his only companion at the moment. He lowered his trunk to the ground and smelt for anything resembling Leshy and Boris. He only smelt more of that awful rot.
"How big do you think this place is?" Ivan asked.
"Don't know, never really looked into Mystery Dungeons," Vlad said distractedly. "I only know that the things inside dungeons aren't real. They're like ghosts, but they can still hurt us pretty bad if they want to."
"Are they like the ferals that live in Yaga Woods? Or are they monsters?"
"I don't know. I don't care about that kind of stuff."
"Then why do you come here with us if you don't care about dungeons?"
"Bored. Boris and Leshy both wanted to. And maybe if I got coin for all this, I could get a Sweet Apple."
Ivan nodded slowly even though he doubted Vlad could see. He had thought Vlad would want to turn into a Dipplin so he could be a scary wyrm one day, but being an Appletun wasn't a bad choice. He'd be able to walk around on his own and he'd always smell nice, so no one would feel sick around him.
"You'd be a good Appletun," Ivan said kindly.
Vlad didn't say anything to that, though Ivan suspected the Applin was feeling bashful. The two continued traversing in silence, searching for their friends. The silvery vines stretched on and on through the forest and the two took great care to avoid it if they could, stepping or bouncing over them. It didn't look dangerous, but it gave Ivan a bad feeling and his parents had always told him that if he had a bad feeling about something, he shouldn't second-guess himself.
They had traveled quite far into the dungeon and they still hadn't found Leshy or Boris. They hadn't encountered much of anything, to be honest. The trees seemed to stretch on and on and on, as though they were in a vast ocean made entirely of oaks. The scenery never seemed to change, no matter what turns they made. Ivan looked up for a hint from the stars, but a gray fog had rolled in and covered their only hope of a map.
"I'm getting kind of hungry…" Ivan muttered.
"You're not eating my apple," Vlad countered swiftly. "I don't care how hungry you are, you're not eating my home."
"Even if it's the only thing we've got?"
"You can go a few hours without eating. If I go for a few hours without my apple, I'll shrivel up and die."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, it's what my mom told me. She said I have to stay inside my apple unless it's raining outside. Can't ever leave my apple."
"That sounds awful…"
"Yeah well, that's why I'm going to get a Sweet Apple as soon as I get coin from all of this and be an Appletun. I saw Spinsilk selling them at her market last night."
Sweet Apples were a little pricy, about five hundred coin if Ivan remembered right. They were really sweet, as their name suggested, and supposedly quite good for some desserts. They weren't as bad as some other apples, like Golden Apples, but they were still quite expensive compared to regular apples like the one Vlad was occupying at the moment. However, Ivan had also heard that dungeon explorers made quite a bit of money from their trips into the labyrinths and that wasn't even counting how much money Pokemon made for being the first to explore them and share their knowledge with the world. Maybe Vlad would even get the Sweet Apple itself as a reward for his bravery.
Ivan was so caught up in this happy daydream of his that he didn't notice Vlad had stopped until he bumped into him. Ivan looked down to see the faint outline of the Applin's eyes staring up from the top of the apple, glaring at something in the distance. Ivan tried to follow his gaze, but he saw nothing. He strained his ears, thinking maybe Vlad had spotted their friends, and what he heard made his heart stop dead in his chest.
He heard a cacophony of squealing and chittering not far from where they were.
"What is that?" Ivan whispered to Vlad, wrapping his trunk snugly around the Applin.
"I… don't know," Vlad said slowly. "I can't see them too well. All I see is a bunch of… things moving around each other."
Ivan immediately pictured a cluster of bugs squirming on and off each other in a disgusting, writhing pile. He shuddered and dragged Vlad a little closer to him. He expected the Applin to protest, but Vlad remained silent.
"Maybe if we're really quiet, they won't notice us," Ivan whispered. "We don't make noise when we move here anyway."
"Worth a try. I'm not too good at fighting."
Ivan carefully moved forward, stepping lightly on his four feet as Vlad softly rolled behind him. Ivan was a bit heavy compared to other Pokemon his size, but the silent spell upon the dungeon quieted his footsteps so that he might as well have been a ghost. He was sure to hold his breath though, just in case his breathing was too loud, as he went forward. He strained his ears as he moved along, listening for sounds of new movement. He only heard the sounds of the chittering, which didn't grow louder or quieter than earlier.
He was starting to think all would be well when he suddenly heard familiar voices ahead.
"Wait up!"
"Then stop being slow! I smell them this way!"
Leshy and Boris's yells boomed loudly in the dead silence of the dungeon. Ivan instinctively yelped from the sudden loudness.
There was a horrible screeching and for a brief moment, Ivan thought he caught the outline of what resembled twenty feet skittering through the dungeon toward Boris's barking. There was a rancid scent to whatever it was, as though it had been decaying for several days.
"Watch out, guys!" Ivan cried.
The Phanpy heard someone yelp. Shrill screeching and claw scratching quickly followed. Ivan shot after the source of the sound, running as fast as he could on his short legs while keeping Vlad in tow.
"Get off of him!"
Something prismatic shot through the air, momentarily illuminating a small part of the dungeon. Where the light had struck, Ivan could now see Boris rushing to all fours, parts of his fur torn out with lines of blood trailing down his limbs. Lying on the ground beside him, knocked over by whatever that light had been, was something that Ivan would see in his nightmares for the days to come.
It was a group of five Rattata, their tails entwined in one another's so that it made a messy knot. No matter how much either pulled away from the others, the knot refused to budge, and they'd remain trapped amongst their brethren. Their fur was matted and dirty and Ivan could see bits of their flesh had been torn away to reveal sickly scabs. Some of their ears had been gnawed at, leaving bite marks and holes in what should have been rounded ears.
The light vanished, and the dungeon was cast in darkness once again. Ivan suddenly felt very afraid as he heard that squealing again, that horrible sound from almost half a dozen rats scurrying back to their feet and charging Boris.
His legs locked up and he found he couldn't move at all. He thought he heard Vlad saying something from his trunk, but he didn't know what.
"Get its face, get the face!" Boris growled.
"Which one?!" cried Leshy.
"The big one, the big one!"
They needed his help. He didn't know what was happening, but Ivan needed to help his friends. If it was just one Rattata, two on one would have been fine, but this was five Rattata-
Something bit Ivan on the leg. The surprise pain shocked him and he went charging forward. He ran full speed, the brawl becoming clearer and clearer in his eyes as he drew closer to it. He saw Boris running around the cluster of rats in his signature zig-zag pattern, keeping it distracted as Leshy kept firing rays of shimmering light at the heads of the Rattata. Either the rats were moving too quickly or Leshy had terrible aim, but not a single shot ever hit one of the rats as they darted about the dungeon, trying to catch the Zigzagoon.
One of the Rattata made a leap for Boris, but because the other Rattata hadn't done the same, it only went flying forward a few inches before getting pulled back into the mass of rats. The mass stumbled a moment from the sudden shift, and that gave Ivan an opportunity. He leapt into the air and curled into the ball before spinning rapidly. He felt his body hit the ground, but because of his spinning, he charged forward a second after impact at a startling speed. He didn't know where he was going or what was happening to his body as he undoubtedly ran over a few glistening tree roots, but that didn't matter right now. He only rolled forward until he slammed into something furry.
The sudden impact broke him out of his ball. He tumbled to a stop, flopping ungracefully onto the ground. He pulled himself up just in time to see the wad of entangled rats careening deeper into the forest. He couldn't help but bawk at his own strength. They hadn't been sent flying into the stratosphere or anything like that, but having Pokemon rocket off like that…
He couldn't think about it more because just then, another light filled the area. He thought that it was Leshy firing another one of those beams again, but saw that Leshy was standing nearby, compound eyes unlit. He was gawking at something, and when Ivan followed his gaze, he quickly realized why.
Where Boris had once stood was now a larger creature with a more streamlined body. It had similar fur colors to a Zigzagoon, but the brown ran down the body instead of across it, not to mention three claws short claws were now two very lengthy ones.
"No way! No way do you get to evolve before I do!" Leshy hissed, mandibles clacking as he thumped a foot furiously. "You didn't even do anything with that weird Rattata thing!"
"I helped and that's all I needed to do," the newly evolved Linoone said smugly.
His voice was weasley now, lacking the slightly endearing soft pitch he used to have. The change perplexed Ivan. Though, from the way Boris himself seemed to pause after speaking, he wasn't the only one bothered by the vocal shift. The Linoone made his way forward to the group, though Ivan couldn't help but notice that his walk was a little strange. Instead of moving from side to side like he always did or in a straight line like everyone else, Boris did an in-between sort of walk. His feet seemed to shuffle around like they wanted to go in several directions at once and sometimes he'd stumble, as if tripping over invisible roots. From the way he lifted up his paws higher than he used to, Ivan suspected the longer claws had something to do with it.
"Why you walkin' like that?" Leshy asked.
"I'm fine," Boris growled. "What are we doing now?"
"We should find the treasure and get out of here," Ivan suggested. "Before that Rattata monster comes back…"
"It wasn't that scary," Leshy scoffed. "Didn't even hurt any of us."
"Unless it evolves like Boris did…" Ivan said quietly.
He couldn't see Leshy's face very well in the darkness of the dungeon, but he could hear him shifting on his feet and shuddering a little. He heard the Venonat make a slight pinging noise as Vlad rolled up against Ivan's leg.
"Sorry about biting you," he heard the Applin say. "It was all I could think of to get you moving."
"Oh… it's okay. It didn't hurt that much…" Ivan said with an awkward chuckle.
"I'm just glad those Rattata didn't go after me. I hear they eat anything. Don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my apple."
Ivan knew exactly what would happen considering the two of them had just discussed it, but something told him Vlad didn't want reminders.
"I could carry you and the Rattata wouldn't get to you if they come back," Ivan offered instead.
"I'll take my chances."
Ivan was about to protest, saying it was for the Applin's safety, but was interrupted by Leshy hopping up and down. His mandibles clicked excitedly together as he bounded forward like an eager Buneary.
"I see something, I see something shiny!" he hollered as he ran off. "Come on, guys!"
The Linoone bolted after the Venonant, and just like before, Boris's movements were strange. He looked like he wanted to run in a zig-zag, but was forced to instead move in a straight line. He tripped over something, several somethings, but kept moving before Ivan could call out to him.
"Waiiiiiit!" Ivan called.
He reached over to grab Vlad, but the Applin rolled out of the way and went underneath a thick, exposed root. Ivan remembered Vlad's request just then and felt a spike of guilt in his chest. Reluctantly, the Phanpy chased after his other departing friends, keeping his trunk low to the ground to help feel out potential obstacles. Several times his foot caught on something, whether it be a rock or an exposed root, but his footing was more sure than Boris's and he never fell over. Maybe the single nail protruding from each of his feet had something to do with it.
Ivan followed after his friends' scent through the dungeon. Several times he heard Boris growling and groaning up ahead, frustrated by something Ivan couldn't see. Leshy was too far ahead to listen in on, though Ivan did see the faint outlines of glowing red eyes further ahead of where he could hear Boris. Ivan couldn't see whatever Leshy supposedly could, but it wasn't as though he could get Leshy to stop. All he could do was trust that Leshy's eyes weren't deceiving him.
He must have ran for five minutes straight before Leshy finally stopped. Ivan didn't know where they were, but he did know that the rotting smell was the strongest it had ever been wherever the Venonat had led them. A coughing fit seized him for a moment. He finally slowed down, panting and gasping as he collected his breath and resisted the urge to cough again.
Leshy repeatedly clacked his antennae together as Ivan settled down, seemingly oblivious to Ivan's distress.
"We're gonna be rich! We're gonna be so rich!" Leshy cried joyously. "You guys gotta see this!"
Ivan looked around, making sure Boris and Vlad had caught up. Boris, somehow, had lagged behind Ivan and just now came hurrying over to the group. Ivan could smell the fatigue on his fur and hear the exhaustion on his breath. Maybe it was a trick of the light from Leshy's eyes, but Ivan also thought the Linoone looked a little bit roughed up, like he had taken many more tumbles.
"This treasure had better be worth it," Boris grumbled.
"Oh, like you wouldn't believe it!" Leshy insisted. "We'll be the richest hatchlings in the whole wide world!"
Boris and Ivan gathered around Leshy and soon found themselves looking upon this so-called treasure. There, tangled up in a thick knot of conjoining vine-like growth that lined the entire dungeon, was what resembled golden seeds. They were small, no bigger than one of Ivan's nails, and there were sixteen total. Ivan had no idea what they were, but the sheen of the gold mesmerized him and reminded him of wondrous imagery in storybooks his mother had read to him.
"They're so shiny," Boris awed. "How much do you think they're worth?"
"I bet they're worth like, a billion coin," Leshy said.
"That's a lotta coin," Boris whistled.
"And it's all ours!"
Leshy went forward and started prying the seeds out of the sticky substance with his short claws. Ivan half expected for him to get stuck, but he easily pulled out each and every last seed from the dungeon's clutches and set them beside Ivan and Boris. It should have been a victorious, happy moment, but something felt off to Ivan. Something felt missing.
It didn't take him long to realize what it was.
"Guys, I don't see Vlad anywhere."
Leshy stopped. Ivan smelt around and lifted his ears to see if he could sense the Applin, but he picked up nothing.
"You weren't carrying Vlad with you?" Leshy asked.
"No, he said he didn't like being picked up, so I left him alone."
Leshy made an irritable buzzing noise that made Ivan wince. The Venonat muttered something that Ivan couldn't quite make out before bounding past the Phanpy. The treasure he had just collected remained amongst the dirt, completely forgotten.
"Let's go find him," Leshy groaned. "Before he gets eaten or something."
"Maybe we should give the guy a bit," Boris suggested. Ivan could see him slumping down, giving his probably aching feet a rest. "Vlad's lived his whole life in that apple and he ain't gonna get left behind that easily. He kept up with us on the field trip to Bald Mountain, yeah?"
"We had grown-ups with us there," Ivan argued meekly. "And we had light and a trail and we could all see each other."
"And there wasn't a bunch of killer Rattata," Leshy added. "Come on, the treasure ain't going anywhere. We're the only ones that got in here."
Boris sighed loudly, but still pushed himself to his feet. He followed behind Ivan as Ivan himself kept close to Leshy. Unlike before, Leshy was slower and took his time, allowing all of them to walk at a pace that was more like a casual stroll. It might have felt nice if it weren't for the fact that all three of them were in dark, oppressive woods that they knew literally nothing about.
"I can't believe you didn't pick him up," Leshy grumbled to Ivan. "You know he's terrible at moving around."
"I didn't want to make him mad," Ivan said quietly, ears flapping uncomfortably.
"And what was he gonna do? Run you over with his apple?"
"I just wanted to be nice. I didn't think he'd fall behind."
Ivan could smell that noxious scent coming off Leshy again. The Venonat clicked his mandibles and probably had something to say, but then there was a groan and a grumble behind the two of them. Ivan looked back to see Boris's vague outline flat on the ground.
"You okay?" Ivan asked, extending his trunk toward his downed friend.
"I'm fine," Boris muttered distastefully. "Just tripped."
"You've been tripping a lot though…"
"Yeah, well it's hard to get around with all these stupid roots and everything. You try getting through all this when your claws are way bigger and your legs are longer!"
The growl in his voice frightened Ivan enough to make him shirk back and draw closer to Leshy. He couldn't see Boris's face too well, but he could vaguely see him hurrying to his feet a little more quickly. He followed behind Ivan and Leshy once again, even if Ivan could hear the Linoone stumbling and cursing under his breath what felt like every few seconds. Ivan, this time, was smart enough to not reach out to Boris and kept his mouth shut.
"I think I see Vlad moving around," Leshy said after a while.
"You think?" Boris asked.
"I don't see the same way you guys do," Leshy scoffed. "I just see something that looks round and is breathing real close by."
"It better be him…"
There was another groan from Boris. Ivan ignored it even if he couldn't help but cringe, but the same couldn't be said for Leshy. The Venonat stopped in his tracks and turned around, his large, red eyes glowing softly as he faced the prone Linoone.
"Dude, stop," Leshy warned.
"It's not like I'm trying to fall over everything!" Boris barked back. "You think I'm doing this on purpose?"
"You're real lucky that there isn't any sound here or else you'd be telling that Rattata thing where we are."
"Gee, thanks."
"Maybe we could carry you, at least until we get out of here?" Ivan offered.
He knew it was a bad idea to say that. Vlad had hated it and Boris was even more rowdy than the Applin was. Still, he couldn't help but offer when he could smell the fresh cuts on the Linoone and the droplets of blood dampening his fur.
"It's… it's just that you're getting hurt," Ivan said before Boris could swiftly cut down the offer. "Maybe you're just tripping, but it's hurting you and I don't like seeing you like this."
"I'm fine," Boris insisted. "This body's tougher than my Zigzagoon was. Things don't hurt as much."
"Yeah, but you're hurting because of your new body. It's… it's okay, Boris! It's hard evolving, I know. My sister told me that when she evolved, she couldn't even walk right for a day because-"
"I said I'M FINE!"
A horrid squeaking noise ran up Ivan's ears and rippled down his spine. Boris screamed and shot to his feet, bolting from the sight. His footing continued to be poor, but his Linoone body's new speed let him race past his friends in the blink of an eye.
"Boris! Boris, get back here, you idiot!" Leshy screamed, the buzzing that was his voice sounding more like the hum of a thousand Combee.
The Venonat bounded after the Linoone in a flurry of hops. Ivan hastily followed, though was far less fleet-footed. He held out his trunk in front of him to feel for upcoming roots, and sometimes he even had to smash the roots apart with a swing. His instincts told him not to touch the silvery substance clinging to the plants, but his panic drowned it out. He could still hear the squeaking near him, stalking him in the dark. It was the tangled nest of Rattata again and somehow, he thought it sounded worse this time, like there were more mouths making those awful noises…
They were just Rattata, Ivan knew this. They were just stupid Rattata with their tails stuck together. So why did he think it sounded like there were hundreds of Rattata skittering after him from every corner of the forest?
"We need to find Vlad and Boris!" Ivan yelled to Leshy.
"Boris is gonna be on his own for a while!" Leshy cried back.
"We can't just ditch Boris, Leshy! He needs us!"
"We're not ditching him, we're getting Vlad first! Come on, I think I see him!"
Ivan couldn't see anything, but he did smell the faint scent of apple close by. He kept near to the Venonat as they hurried toward where Vlad supposedly was. The squealing now had the sounds of hungry gnawing echoing within it. The gnawing of soft, chewy matter, to be specific.
"VLAD!" Ivan screamed.
He trumpeted and the loud noise pierced through the chewing and the skittering. It silenced the woods and what felt like a hundred thousand beady eyes pulled toward the little Phanpy. Terror entangled his heart and demanded he run the other way. Death from a million teeth and a thousand claws awaited him if he didn't flee.
A beam of prismatic light shot through the air. A few shrill cries followed suit, and then Leshy abruptly turned around and bounded past Ivan. Ivan barely saw it in the light of the flash, but sticking out of Leshy's fur was a tiny, green worm with huge eyes.
"Vlad! You're okay!" Ivan cried.
"Those Rattata ate my apple!" he growled bitterly. "Nasty little freaks-"
"Shut up! We'll get you a new apple later!" Leshy shot back at the Applin. "We need to find Boris and get out of here!"
"He's not with you guys?!"
Either Leshy was too distracted with running or didn't care to answer, but he didn't elaborate. Thankfully, Vlad didn't push for answers and even tolerated staying inside Leshy's fur. All he had to do was hang on as Leshy bounded faster than Ivan had ever seen him go.
"Boris! Boris, if you can hear us, meet us by the treasure!" Leshy called out.
"I thought we were trying to get out of here!" Ivan cried.
"We are! It's an easy place to meet up!"
"And how do we get out of here after that?" Vlad asked.
"We'll figure it out! Just get to the treasure!"
Ivan sensed something wasn't right in Leshy's tone when he said that, but didn't push him on it. They needed to save their breath and keep running.
Ivan felt something scratch at one of his back legs and he made the poor decision to look behind him. It was the Rattata cluster again, but it was bigger now. When there had been five Rattata before, there were now twenty. Twenty ravenous, beastly Rattata that were right on his tail.
The Phanpy screamed shrilly and immediately tripped over a root in his moment of distraction. He hit the ground hard, but it was nothing compared to the horde of Rattata that then descended upon him. A dozen shivering, furry bodies pressed against him as teeth punctured his skin. They clamped onto his ears, his flanks, his snout, just below his eyes, and they scrapped against his bones-
"Hold your breath, Ivan!"
The gnawing slowed. The grip became weak. Something grabbed Ivan's snout and yanked him free from the furred mass and pulled him back into the forest. Green, fuzzy powder filled the air around him, lingering like pollen. Ivan felt his eyes drooping as he stood there amongst the particles, barely able to register the bite marks that covered his body.
"What did I say about not breathing, Ivan?!"
The Phanpy startled awake to see Leshy in front of him, grasping his trunk in his small claw. Ivan nodded hastily as he held his breath. Leshy bolted after the treasure again, dragging the Phanpy with him. Ivan still felt groggy and the world seemed just as fuzzy as whatever was in the air, but he could still move his legs at least. He no longer heard the Rattata behind him, but he didn't know how long it would stay that way.
Within a few hasty moments, Leshy brought Vlad and Ivan to the pile of golden seeds. They still lay there amongst the grass, untouched and unbothered. Leshy released his grip on Ivan and quickly gathered them up in his claws before shoving them inside his thick fur.
"Boris! Boris, you better be here!" Leshy buzzed into the woods surrounding them. "We gotta go!"
"Maybe he left already?" Ivan asked, trying to rub the tired out of his eyes with his trunk.
"He better not have!" Leshy spat.
"Well maybe he found the way out by accident," Ivan tried again. "How do you get out of dungeons?"
"Boris! Boris, you get over here right now, buddy!" Leshy screamed, blatantly ignoring Ivan.
"You… don't know how to get out of here, do you?" Ivan asked timidly.
"Boris! I'm gonna beat you up if you don't show up! I'm gonna shred all over your comics! I'm gonna- AUUUGH!"
Leshy squirmed around and ripped Vlad off of him. The little wyrm went tumbling to the ground, some strands of Leshy's fur sticking out of his mouth.
"Leshy, how do we get out of here?" the Applin demanded as he spat out the fur. "Stop being dumb."
"... I don't know," Leshy said, turning away from his friends. "Boris is the one who knows about that kind of stuff, not me."
An unsettling dread gathered around the three. So they were stuck in the dungeon. Unless they could find Boris (presuming he hadn't left), they were doomed to remain here for the rest of their lives.
Ivan thought of his mom, dad, and older sister and how much they'd mourn his death. He thought of his bedroom and what his parents would think every time they saw it. He thought about how he'd never get to be a big, strong Donphan that could knock a house down.
He realized, when imagining his family's misery at seeing his grave, that he couldn't let that happen. He needed to get out; they all did. With this conviction burning bright in his chest, he looked to his friends. The drowsiness that had been threatening to pull him under had subsided.
"Then we'll find the way we came in," Ivan said. "That's gotta be a way out."
"I don't know if we can get out that way," Leshy said quietly. "I heard-"
"It's better than doing nothing," Ivan cut off. "Come on, I think I remember the way back."
He actually didn't, but he did remember that the smell of the dungeon got less and less potent the closer you got to the entrance. If he could use his nose as a guide, then maybe that was enough. Leshy sighed in understanding as he let Vlad crawl back into his fur. Then, with his trunk held high, Ivan led the way through the woods. Leshy kept peering about, eyes glowing softly as he presumably kept a lookout for Boris and the Rattata. Ivan hoped they wouldn't have another confrontation again, but he also knew that they were the only ones in the woods. Hopefully Leshy could make that drowsy powder again.
They crept through the woods in utter silence, none of them saying a word as they focused on their mission. It was eerie and he was tempted to chatter amongst his friends, but they needed to stay focused. Besides, the silence and the terror trying to pull him under would remind him why he needed to leave. Fear was his ally here.
It took longer than Ivan would have liked, but eventually the scent of the dungeon grew fainter, and he followed the trail of diminishing decay. Within a few minutes, he found himself at the end of the trail, and staring into the burrow that he had tumbled out of earlier. That thick, glistening substance was covering the entrance, but it looked flimsy like a cobweb. He could easily break it if he wanted to.
"Let's go," Ivan said, moving forward.
"What about Boris?" Leshy asked hesitantly. "We still didn't find him."
Ivan grimaced. He had hoped they would have spotted the Linoone before they got here, but perhaps he had been too optimistic.
"We'll get some grown-ups to come down here and save him," Ivan decided. "Like my Dad could fit down here. Or Vlad's Mom. Or-"
There was the sound of a hundred chittering heads from within the burrow. Ivan backed up near Leshy as they all watched in horror as a massive, squirming pile of Rattata spewed out of the tunnel and leaked into the woods.
"I guess we're not leaving!" Vlad yelled as he buried himself deeper inside Leshy's fuzzy body.
"It's the only way out!" Ivan insisted.
But even he was too scared to charge forward through the sea of rodents, all of them rushing at the three of them as a colossal wave of yellowed teeth and matted fur. Those green particles flew out of Leshy's fur and gathered around the mouths of the Rattata. Some of them did stumble and drop fast asleep, but they were quickly replaced and trampled by more Rattata.
Within seconds, the boys met the same fate.
All they could see and feel were Rattata. Squirming, writhing, biting Rattata with frenzied claws. Leshy kept releasing more and more powder and though it downed so many Rattata, it never seemed to decrease their numbers. He grasped Ivan's tail and held on for dear life as to not get swept up in the current of rats. Ivan held his ground even as the Rattata gnawed and gnawed and gnawed. He yelled as he dared to move forward, pushing against the flood and making his way toward the tunnel.
"We gotta break through!" Ivan ordered. "It's the only way out!"
"We're going to die!" Vlad screeched.
"We're going to die if we don't do something!" Ivan yelled back.
He heaved forward, dragging his friends with him. The Rattata dug and bit into him harder, threatening to tear him apart if he dared move further. Ivan screamed through the pain and charged anyway, blowing his trunk loudly as though it were a battlecry.
"Let us OUUUUUUTTTTT!"
He didn't know what happened next. He thought he saw the Rattata cower back from the sudden noise. He thought he saw something brown and white cutting through the thick mass of sickly purple and making an opening.
All he knew was that he ran up that burrow screaming like a mad mon.
The boys burst into Yaga Woods huffing and puffing, bleeding everywhere before toppling to the ground. The air smelled like oaks again and the chittering was gone. Dawn was beginning to creep over the trees, offering warm light to the boys.
They were in the real world again. They were safe.
"Everyone here?" Ivan groaned out, too tired to rise to his feet.
"I need to see Nurse Audino. I don't feel so good…" Leshy moaned.
"I need an apple…" Vlad grumbled.
Just then, something sweet filled the air. Ivan peered over to see a red apple rolling toward the Applin. Vlad wasted no time crawling toward it, digging into it and devouring it before worming his way inside.
"Huh?" Ivan asked faintly.
"You guys are crazy, running through all those Rattata," came a familiar voice. "I'm surprised you guys are still alive!"
Ivan and Leshy both looked over to see a familiar Linoone laying nearby, munching on another apple. Ivan had to blink a few times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.
"You were out of the dungeon this whole time?" Ivan asked with a cough.
"Well, I panicked when I heard the Rattata thing and this body moves pretty fast," Boris said with a shrug. "I was gonna get some grown-ups to get you guys out, but then I heard all of you guys screaming at the bottom and then you guys were trying to run through all those Rattata…"
"We were down there because of you!" Leshy spat. "We were looking for you!"
"Oh well… sorry guys," Boris said with a sheepish chuckle. "But hey, I helped you guys out when it mattered, right? I don't think you would have made it if I hadn't gone back in and-"
He never got to finish, because Leshy abruptly got to his feet and tackled Boris to the ground. Despite how undoubtedly tired the Venonat was, he put up a good tussle, smacking the Linoone with his claws and giving him a few good kicks, all while they both rolled around in the grass like a couple of Whirlipede. The golden seeds that Leshy had picked up went flying all over the place, scattering amongst the dirt.
Vlad kept eating his apple, unbothered by it all. Ivan was too tired to stop their fight, instead resigning himself to lay there as daybreak approached.
He had no idea what they had even found and if it was worth the near death experience of it all. However, he could at least say one thing:
An entire winter's worth of staying inside and relaxing didn't sound so bad anymore.