"I have no right to ask, but I'm begging you. Please. Help us."

Before she even awoke, the human wanted to help.

The voice that had drifted into her ears sounded utterly miserable. Like every good thing that had happened to him had been by pure chance, and the crushing weight of reality was finally sinking in. Even the battered hope that clung to his words was a façade, an old habit that would soon break. He didn't believe himself to be worthy of the help he asked for, but nothing was going to stop the human from giving it to him.

The need flickered inside her, and slowly but surely, the rest of her was drawn to it, pulling her from slumber.

Her senses returned. She felt warmth, heard the peaceful crackling of fire and smudges of blue began to dot her vision as her eyes finally began to open.

Something tugged at her from where she'd been sleeping. It was small, more so trying to get her attention rather than keep her there.

"You don't have to go," it whispered. "What is left of you is tired. You deserve your rest."

The human was tired. Even with what little of herself had awoken, she could feel a weight pressing down on it. Did she really have to wake up?

"I have to. Someone needs me," is what she wanted to say, but her tongue, still heavy and dull, couldn't quite find the words. Her mouth felt odd, ill fitting. The two clumsily came together to produce an unintelligible mumble. But it was enough.

That something withdrew, and lifted the weight from her. Shaking herself awake took hardly any effort once it was gone. In fact, waking up took absolutely no effort once the human saw that everything was on fire.

Yet, it didn't bother her. She was so unbothered by waking up surrounded by flames that she could calmly correct herself; everything wasn't on fire. There was only fire.

An azure inferno burned as far as the eye could see. Streams of blue flame swam through the air, weaving and diving into one another to form colossal walls of fire that span through the air. There was no scorching roar, no wild fury to the inferno. Only a warm crackling.

It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and on top of the sight, being within it felt amazing, as if she'd been wrapped in a hand-stitched blanket and plopped down in front of a fireplace. There was nothing to fear. It would've been so easy to go right back to sleep.

She hadn't been about to, of course, but the voice's return still felt like a smack to the back of the head.

"I'm so, so sorry, but I need this. If there's a chance that we could save everyone, anyone, then I have to do this. Even if it means…using you."

The voice came at her from every angle, but it was distant. A shame. It sounded like it needed the flame's comfort a lot more than she did. Still, the last of its words managed to bother her.

"Use me?" The human frowned at the idea. "Don't like the sound of that. Maybe we could-"

"YOU CAN HEAR ME?!"

The human flinched at the roar. "Of course I can! Who else would you have been talking to?" The words had certainly felt meant for her.

"A-Ah! M-My apologies it's just…wow," a sliver of joy had snuck into its tone. "It's been so long since I've spoken to another Pokémon. Oh, if only it weren't for these flames. Do you think you could do something about them? Maybe then we could speak face to face?"

The human smiled at its rising mood, but was left puzzled. What was she supposed to do about the fire? It seemed a shame to get rid of it. There was something else too. Something it said had managed to make it through the lovely haze the flames had made in her mind.

"I'll see what I can do," even as she tried to focus, the word danced about her brain, poking at it. It couldn't hurt to ask. "What was that you just called me? A Pokenmom?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, you're a human of course!" There was a pause. "You…are human, yes?"

The HUMAN still wanted to help, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling oddly offended. Neither could the flames, seemingly, as they glowed a tad brighter on her behalf. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well. Do you…look human?"

"Well I certainly hope so," she scoffed, mockingly looking down at her body as if to check. "What else would I-"

Whatever spell the azure inferno had cast on her shattered. The haze that surrounded her mind was blown away by panic and bewilderment. When she looked down, she saw a body that wasn't hers and it certainly wasn't a human's. There was red and yellow fur, paws where her hands should've been and her form was too short, too stubby to be hers.

The human screamed, the flames surged, and the voice cried out. "Wh-What's happening? Human?"

Human was the only word that reached her. It felt like a jab. Her mind, now free of the flames, was rushed by the hundreds of questions they'd been keeping from her. The sheer horror of her situation finally reached her. "Wh-Wh-What am I? How did I get here? WHAT'S GOING ON?"

"P-Please, calm down, I can-AGH!"

The flames turned on her. Wave after wave of colossal blue smashed into her. They were urging her to go, to flee, to escape from whatever was happening. Escape, frankly, sounded fantastic. But she couldn't trust the flames, could she? Hadn't they been…hypnotizing her?

The question joined the others, sinking into her mind like a needle.

Not that her doubts mattered. There was little she could do as the tsunami of flame crashed into her, pushing her away from the voice.

It was growing quieter. "W-Wait, don't go. You can't leave yet, I haven't told you about-" Something tried to break through the flames, a long, black tendril tipped with a red spike, but it withdrew, writhing. "Stop, please!"

"I'm not doing this!" She called back. Realization had set in, and amongst the thousand other things stabbing her mind, was a heavy guilt. She'd ruined it. Whatever moment of hope the voice had found was gone now. "J-Just tell me what you need and-!"

She felt reality before it came. It was so much more than the flames, so much more than the voice, and only an inch away.

Its last words barely reached her, a confusing shout-whisper. "Save the Legendaries! Please!"

It was a short request. Simple to understand, even if the human didn't. She had no idea what a Legendary was. But she was going to help them. That, she knew for certain.

"I promise I'll-"

The flames vanished, she crashed into reality, and everything went cold.

Founder's Town was said to be the pride and joy of the Memento Continent. She'd heard so many stories that when Vivid finally laid eyes on the place, she wondered if she'd taken a wrong turn somewhere.

The town that snaked around Firststep Lake couldn't seem to settle on a look. You had your classic Pokémon-shaped tents, then some simple wooden huts, both of which were utterly overshadowed by taller, more complex stone buildings. Then there were the tall, crystalline structures that stretched higher than any of them could reach.

Vivid did her best to ignore those. Instead, she tried to find something she liked about the town's design. Something that wouldn't remind her of home.

She settled on the lights. Though most of it was cloaked in shadow, there were specks of light scattered throughout Founder's Town. It showed there was still life, even at…whatever ludicrous hour it was. Vivid had long since stopped paying attention to time's passage. The purrloin was determined to finish their journey today. When all that stood between her and a proper bed was a few fields, it made little difference whether it was the sun or moon in the sky.

…well, a few fields and her companion's miserable stamina. Vivid pretended not to notice as the Espurr collapsed beside her, panting for air. She was already carrying both of their travel bags. He could deal with his fatigue by himself.

She gave him a few moments to mumble an unneeded apology, pick himself off the floor, and let out a gasp of excitement as he finally spotted the dimly-lit town. But Espurr's gasp didn't sound right. It was a tad too sharp, and not even a second later, Vivid could feel a nervousness fizzling through the air.

The purrloin's tail curled. He needed a distraction. Letting out the loudest, haughtiest scoff she could muster, Vivid spoke, "Well, this is a let down. I can't believe some Pokémon think that a hodgepodge like that could be compared to Lantern Town. What a joke."

Espurr gave her a comically horrified look. It was impressive he could make such a face, given his exhaustion. "Wh-What? F-Founder's Town isn't a joke, it-it's the most important settlement in the history of the Memento Continent! It was the first-"

"If it's so important, why does it look weird?" Vivid countered with an innocent smile.

"It does NOT look WEIRD! The design of its buildings comes from each of the Legendaries' tastes, which ended up being reflected in the architecture of their individual regions. It's like…like…cultural foreshadowing!" Espurr's exhaustion had vanished and he was back to sounding like a textbook.

"Cultural foreshadowing," Vivid tasted the words, nodding in false understanding. "Oh, I get it. They tried out some ideas here, then they took what worked and left the garbage behind."

"That's not-"

Vivid had planned to let Espurr win the argument. Having her admit that Founder's Town was cool and good and whatever would surely give him the energy he needed for the last leg of their journey. But she never got the chance to admit defeat. Before Espurr even got to finish his sentence, the world shivered.

The night grew a shade too dark. The few lights that had lit the distant Founder's Town were snuffed out. The air around the town rippled and wavered, the new shadows outlining the invisible struggle. A chill crept through the air, and Vivid shivered from tail to toe just as a distant rumbling reached their lone hilltop.

Colossal spikes of ice burst from Founder's Town, scattering earth and water into the air, yet, impossibly, the town changed to dodge the attack. Buildings stretched and twisted to avoid the gigantic icicles, wood, stone, cloth and crystal expanding unnaturally, to avoid impalement. Quickly, the ice too began to warp, expanding to hide the town from view, replacing it with a gigantic wall of spotless white.

Then, just as soon as it had started, the rumbling stopped. The world settled back into itself. An iceberg had taken the place of the Founder's Town and the fields that surrounded it were none the wiser.

Espurr looked about ready to throw up. "A-A Mystery Dungeon? But- that's- how- it doesn't-"

As he fumbled with his words, Vivid found herself frozen. He was right. The pride and joy of the continent had been turned into a Mystery Dungeon. Vivid couldn't believe it…

"B-B-But the mending stones, they-they're supposed to stop something like this from happening, how could-"

A joke. It was a complete and utter joke. She couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"V-Vivid?"

Her giggles graduated to full on laughter. The weight of the sight as well as the two travel bags nearly brought her to the ground. "Ohhhh sorry, it's just-" she waved a paw at the iceberg. "I can tell you this, Lantern Town never did THAT," she turned back towards the frozen monolith and shouted. "You hear that FLOUNDER'S Town? Lantern Town, NUMBER ONE!"

With her own anxiety expelled Vivid found herself proper again, ready to deal with this very serious situation in a very serious manner. Mind clear, she realised that, in an awful sort of way, this was perfect. True, they were looking at a tragedy that no one would be able to shut up about for weeks, but there was a bright side.

Which Espurr clearly hadn't seen yet. "V-Vivid this is serious! A-All those Pokémon, a-and in the middle of the night, they're-"

"In trouble? Oh, yeah, heaps of it. A whole town of Pokémon have just been dropped into a murder maze. Isn't it perfect?" She could see from his once again horrified expression that an explanation was needed, "Hello? Espy? Mr. Lets-Trek-From-One-Region-To-The-Other? You wanna join the Restoration Society? Then what better way to prove ourselves than saving a town from disaster?"

She knew the idea was a good one, but if she let him think about it too much Espurr would worry himself to a standstill. Before he could argue she happily chirped, "Race ya," and threw herself off the hill. With distraught squeaking behind her, the purrloin's paws hit the ground, and she was off.

And so, Espurr began to chase her, hopping walls and dashing through fields, all while the iceberg slowly smothered the night in a cold mist. Given the situation Vivid was sure no farmer would blame them for taking a shortcut, even if it did come with trampling the occasional berry here and there. She stopped and glanced back every so often to make sure Espurr was following. His abysmal pace would at least keep him from collapsing again.

Eventually she led him onto one of the many dirt paths that snaked between the fields, and from there it was a straight line to the base of the iceberg. Vivid would have loved to finish their race with one last wild sprint, but even on the road she had to stop and wait for Espurr to catch up…only to streak ahead the moment he got close.

Vivid spotted a small crowd gathering and steered the two of them towards it, sliding to a stop just a few feet short of joining the rabble. Her ears flickered, picking up snippets of panicked chatter.

"-appeared out of nowhere, almost got trapped myself-" A granbull carrying a massive merchant's sack was sharing his story with a captive audience.

"-kids woke me up. Don't know how I'm gonna explain to 'em that the whole town just-" An arboliva meekly explained to a cacnea, who nodded empathetically.

"-I-I was supposed to meet him tonight, what if-" A minun whimpered to a heatran, seeking comfort in place of whoever was missing.

Turning her gaze upward, Vivid took in the iceberg from up close. There was the odd hint of building sticking out here and there, but otherwise it was perfectly cut. She could just barely make out twisted shapes lurking within the ice, no doubt the buildings that had warped into nonsensical shapes.

The once chilly night was turning into a properly cold one. Watching her breath spiral up into the air, Vivid heard a familiar gasping approach her from behind, proud to see that Espurr wasn't quite as far behind as she'd been expecting. He hadn't fallen over this time. Progress.

"Why…run…off?" Espurr managed to gasp.

"Um, hello? Mystery Dungeon? Pokémon in peril? Honestly Espy, we were just talking about this. I'd bet top poké that the entrance to the dungeon is on the other side of these spectators. They've got to be gawking at something." Taking his paw, Vivid led Espurr into the crowd, slithering through without so much as touching another Pokémon. A Heatran nearly squashed him, but she managed to save him with a well timed tug.

Not that Espurr noticed. "The entrance? But…" he shook his paw free from her grasp, but kept following. "Vivid, I don't know if this is a good idea. I-Its dangerous in there."

"Every mystery dungeon is dangerous. Never stopped us before," she said, hopping over the family of joltik who went scrambling past.

"This is different!" Espurr insisted. "Those dungeons were out in the wild, but this one is centred on a town, n-not to mention the size of it. Besides…" As he stopped to let the joltik pass a hint of admiration entered his voice. "The Restoration's headquarters is in Founder's Town, so it must be part of the dungeon too. Th-There might even be a warden in there! We don't want to get in their way."

"So we won't! Think of it like this-" the two emerged at the front of the mob, still a respectable distance from the dungeon. "When The Society find out that we were in there helping Pokémon, they'll have to let us join. Imagine how embarrassing it'd be for two random Pokémon to be doing their oh-so important work for them."

Before Espurr could respond, the dungeon's entrance caught his eyes. Vivid couldn't blame him. The lone hole in the wall of ice was an unnaturally perfect triangle, a dark, flowing fog hiding whatever lay beyond. Shadows crept out, fading to nothing just as they crossed the bounds of the dungeon. Vivid always thought that it looked like the fog was trying to reach out to them.

The chatter of the crowd around her went uninterrupted long enough that she spared Espurr a glance. He looked like he was somewhere else entirely. It was the same look he wore whenever they came across a dungeon.

Vivid brought him back to reality with a sharp elbow to the ribs. "Cmon. Doesn't that look fun?"

To the psychic-type, it clearly didn't. "I dunno. I-It's probably total chaos in there, wh-what if we end up needing to be saved too? That would just make more trouble-"

Vivid only managed to look offended at the idea that she'd ever need to be saved, before a sudden, rhythmic thumping echoed from the dungeon's entrance, saving Espurr an earful. A Pokémon burst out of the darkness, sliding to a stop just before he could crash into the suddenly quiet crowd. Recovering, he stood proud and tall before them, radiating confidence.

Vivid's stomach dropped. The crowd began to cheer.

"That's-"

"Lord Cobalion!"

"See, I told you everything was going to be alright!"

"Lord, please, my son's taken to sneaking off to the town in the middle of the night, he-"

Vivid did her best to look small, watching as the Legend's eyes swept over the fawning crowd. His gaze flipped from one Pokémon to the next, scanning them for less than a second before moving on. She buried the urge to dive back into the mob. Instead, she tried to look relieved, like anyone would when seeing a world renowned hero.

Said hero's golden eyes met her own….and passed without comment. Vivid allowed herself a low breath, and her mind to race. What was he searching for? Glancing about, the thing that immediately caught her attention was that Espurr was hopping in place, pointing to the Legend as words utterly failed him.

She felt herself relax a bit and warned him, "Get any more excited and you're gonna hurt yourself."

Just as Cobalion finished surveying the group, more Pokémon exited the dungeon behind him, a pyroar, a carracosta, and more spilling out. Espurr finally managed to squeak, "Th-That's Team Dire! A-And Team Nightwatch!"

"Benevolence too," Vivid added, crossing her arms. "That's some serious star power leaving the dungeon. Shouldn't they be in there saving Pokémon?"

Before Espurr could come up with an excuse for the legion of highly trained teams, Cobalion himself stomped his hoof, "SILENCE!"

The crowd obeyed, the last of the murmurs coming from Pokémon shushing each other. Once the cold of the iceberg could practically be heard, a polite, if grim smile formed on Cobalion's face. "Thank you."

"I will not spend time explaining the catastrophe you see before you," he placed a hoof against his chest as he spoke, voice somber, yet stern. "But know that every Restoration Team available is currently inside this dungeon, helping every Pokémon that they can. As they work to safeguard the lives of Founder's Town citizens, their bravery allows me and these teams to turn our attention to where it is needed. Bringing the villain responsible for all of this to justice."

"We are searching for a mismagius."

As soon as the species name left his mouth, some of the mob began to look about, as if they'd find something that Cobalion had missed. Vivid didn't take her eyes off of him.

"She is the one responsible for the creation of this dungeon, and the chaos that comes with it. If any of you saw her fleeing, please step forward. You will be rewarded with whatever you wish."

It was a hefty promise. Vivid was surprised that no one stepped forward with a bluff to try and claim the prize. If not for a keen sense of self preservation, she may have done so herself.

Like a disappointed parent, Cobalion brought his gaze low. The sigh that accompanied it was a bit much. "Unfortunate. Then there is no time to lose." He stepped forward with his gaggle of minions, the crowd parting for them. "Shortly, Restoration Teams will be bringing victims of this crime through that exit. Prepare a temporary camp for yourselves and them. In times like these, we must all do what we can."

Some Pokémon seemed to stand taller with every word, Espurr included. Satisfied they'd taken his order to heart, Cobalion spared a quick, "With me," to the teams behind him, before the troop galloped off into the night.

The mob watched as the group departed before breaking into a properly fruitful discussion. An arboliva was gathering volunteers to help her fetch some food from her farm, while a rather loud quilladin began questioning the "out-of-town-ers" on which of them could give up a tent or two.

"I can't believe it!"

Vivid's ears folded against her head as Espurr's squeals assaulted her senses. "That was THE Cobalion! Th-The leader of the Quartet, founder of the Restoration Society, of-of Founder's Town, of-"

"I'm aware," Vivid assured him, tail finally feeling comfortable enough to resume its swaying. "So is everyone else, clearly. Look at them. Two minutes ago they were all just standing around panicking. But two words from him and everyone gets to work," she waved away the beginnings of a disapproving splutter. "Don't give me that. I didn't say it was a bad thing."

Clearly stifling another lecture, Espurr turned his attention back in the direction that Cobalion had run off in. He was so entranced by the sight of nothing that he didn't even catch Vivid glaring in the same direction. Just where was the Centremost Legend running off too? Obviously the mismagius was dangerous, but enough to need three first class teams AND Cobalion? The folks in the dungeon could've used their help. And if an old, dredged up memory was correct, Vivid was sure there was a Warden or two among-

"Aren't we going inside?"

Vivid whipped back around to Espurr as most of the crowd began seeing to their own business. "Excuse you? What's with the change in attitude?'"

"Well, I'm still a little worried about…everything, but like Cobalion said, we have to do what we can! I suppose we could help carry some things but…well…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head with a paw. "We'll probably be more useful in the dungeon than out here. You can fight your way through, and I…I-I can help you navigate? With everyone else setting things up, it wouldn't hurt to-"

He was just like the rest. Jumping at the chance to follow a Legend's command. It made Vivid want to puke, but she smiled instead.

"Hey, no need to convince me. I was surprised you changed your mind, never said anything about changing mine," she purred, moving towards the dungeon's entrance. The crowd were busy with their own tasks now. Would anyone have even tried to stop them? "Stick close, do what I say and we'll be big heroes by morning. The Society will be begging us to join."

For some reason her approval only seemed to make Espurr doubt himself. He trailed behind her, haphazardly unloading one of his many notebooks from her pack. So, he'd be focused on his research, as usual. Fair enough. His offer to navigate had seemed half-hearted, and to be honest, his attempts to do so had never been particularly helpful in the past.

Even if they had been, Vivid already knew everything she needed about skulking through mystery dungeons. She didn't need help.

With a spring in her step, the purrloin entered the dungeon and left the world behind.

Author's Note:

The beginning! Hopefully gonna have another chapter out in a week-ish. Writing is hard.

Regardless, thanks for reading my silly 'lil story. Comments are appreciated.