Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Chaotic Times Together

Chapter 7 - Terror in the Dungeon

"Y'ready?" Vylet asked eagerly.

Anrey laughed and said, "Well sure, but I don't think I could ever be as ready as you seem to be."

Vylet gave him a toothy grin. "I'm just so excited because this is my first job for the guild without an asterisk tied to it!"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm sure I'll be an asterisk before long."

The Eevee and Sneasel pair, now a brand new official team at the Eclipse Guild, were double-checking their packed items and provisions. It was finally time for their first guild mission together, and Anrey's first mission ever. Vylet had already picked out a D-Rank mission from the board that they would be tackling together.

"'Diamond Cave', huh?" Anrey remarked, "You think we'll find diamonds there?"

"Sadly, I'm fairly certain it's just a name. Maybe the walls are covered in quartz or something and Pokémon thought they were diamonds?" Vylet shrugged.

Anrey glanced at the piece of paper nearby with their mission written on it. "So, someone really lost their necklace somewhere inside here? And we gotta go find it?"

"That's the mission, yup!"

"How did they lose it there? What were they doing in there?"

Vylet paused her preparations and looked over at her companion. "Anrey, let's be real. I'm sure you've seen it plenty on your travels. Some Pokémon out there just aren't very smart. We here as members of the Eclipse Guild know that entering a Mystery Dungeon requires skills and training, because we're the smart ones." She shrugged again and added, "Some Pokémon just think, 'Oh hey, that's a neat cave!'"

"Oof…" Anrey said with a small laugh.

"This Pokémon's lucky they didn't get lost or trapped in the dungeon," Vylet continued, "Although that's probably because this isn't a dungeon where 'bad' Pokémon hang out. No gangs or ruffians. That's why this mission's D-Rank."

"So you don't think we'll encounter anybody we'll have to fight?" Anrey asked.

"You never know 100%, but yeah I don't think so."

Anrey chuckled softly. "Good…" he remarked, mostly to himself.

The two spent a few more minutes within the entry hall of the guild, finishing up their packing, and before long they were ready to go. Vylet could barely contain her excitement from bubbling over.

"I just thought of something," Anrey spoke up, "and I dunno why I never thought about this before."

"Hm?" Vylet glanced at him questioningly.

"How do we get to the dungeon?"

She gave him an odd look. "We walk," she remarked flatly.

Anrey was quiet for a moment. "We have to get to the dungeons…by walking?"

"Thaaaat's the way," she said, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Oh joy…" Anrey remarked, and Vylet gave him a sympathetic smile. She could imagine the idea of walking such a long distance was daunting, especially to someone who had been unable to walk only a week or so prior.

"It's less than an hour away," she said, trying to be encouraging, "We'll be there before you know it."

"So, wait," Anrey cut in, "When you rescued me from that dungeon, you walked me all the way back to town?"

Vylet couldn't help but guffaw at that. "What do you think I am, a Machoke? No, an aerial transport took you back."

"Is there a reason we can't use aerial transport here?"

She raised an eyebrow and replied, "Because you're broke and I'm not made of money?"

Anrey chuckled. "I'm just messin' with you. Although, how did you pay for transporting me back?"

"Because it was a Mystery Dungeon emergency. If you can justify it, it's free."

"So you're telling me there's a way to get a free ride back every time and all I have to do is keep breaking my legs each time?"

The two new partners continued to laugh and make banter with one another until finally they were all packed and ready to go.

"Should I write my last will?" Anrey asked sardonically.

"Eh, probably," Vylet replied and then laughed again. That was just one of the things she liked about Anrey. The two of them had very witty personalities that allowed them to quickly trade humourous barbs with each other, and it was always a laugh riot. It was a great way for them to keep their spirits up and make light of less ideal situations. Vylet just knew that kind of moral support would be a great help while in dungeons.

And as the two crested the guild's ladder and stepped out into the sunshine, Vylet reflected on the fact that a dungeon was exactly where they were headed to. In less than an hour, their first mission together would begin. Vylet really hoped that the two of them would make a great first impression after this, though she definitely wouldn't fault him for any beginner's sloppiness.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him.

"Absolutely," he replied, though he did so with a smile.

"Ah, well, of course. Who wouldn't be before their very first mission? I sure was."

Anrey shrugged and said, "All we gotta do is find a necklace and we'll be given money, love and appreciation. Right?"

"Haha! Right!"

"Well…" Anrey then said in a slightly more subdued voice, "No time like the present, yeah? Let's head off."

"You got it!" Vylet said, and then after a pause she pointedly added, "…Partner!"

"So this is it?" Anrey asked.

"This is Diamond Cave, the Mystery Dungeon."

Anrey gave her a sidelong glance with his ears askew. "After a hike like that I was expecting the entrance to be studded with diamonds and for there to be a celebrity waiting to give me tons of money and a free mansion."

Vylet snickered. "You know that there's plenty of dungeons that are a farther walk than this one, right?"

"I quit," Anrey said, sticking out his tongue to show he was joking.

"Well anyway…" Vylet then remarked, turning to face the otherwise unremarkable entrance of the Mystery Dungeon. She frowned a little as she found herself hit by a wave of déjà vu. She had stood in this exact same position many times before, alongside Lev the Quagsire and plenty other disastrous potential partner candidates. In spite of the present circumstances, she couldn't help still feeling that same sense of dread and worry. It was just an association in her mind at this point.

Vylet then started her typical final check of their supplies before entering the dungeon, talking to Anrey as she did. "Thankfully, the walls of this place are luminous so we won't need fire crystal headlamps. We're only going down to the 4th level, because that's where the client last reported having the necklace."

"Weird that these places have 'levels'," Anrey remarked.

Vylet gave him a funny look. "'Weird' just about describes everything about Mystery Dungeons. They should be called 'Weird Dungeons' instead." She then zipped up her adventure pouch and stood back up, "Ready?"

Anrey gulped. "I sure hope so."

"You'll be fine. I know it. Before long we'll be done and then we'll be back in the apartment sipping hot cocoa or something."

"Heh…" Anrey said with a bit of a shrug, "Lead the way, then."

Vylet nodded, took a deep breath to psyche herself up, and walked towards the cave entrance with Anrey in tow. She stepped past the invisible threshold and suppressed a little shiver. Then, curiosity got the better of her and she looked over her shoulder to watch Anrey step through.

The Eevee's fur stood on end the moment he stepped past the cave entrance. "Yaugh!" he cried out, "What the…?"

She couldn't help but giggle. "Feels weird, huh? Just kind feels 'wrong', right?"

Anrey cautiously stepped the rest of his paws through and into the cave. "That's like…walking into air that's 10% thicker. It's basically the same, but it's not. What was that?"

Vylet shrugged. "That's just how Mystery Dungeons are. They're, well, mysterious."

Anrey gave his surroundings an unsure look. "Hmmm…"

With a little more encouragement, the two were off on their journey. The trip through Diamond Caves was simple, and even a bit boring. Though Vylet did her due diligence to cautiously watch and listen for unexpected foes, no other Pokémon seemed to be inhabiting this cave. Before long, the pair had already made their way down to the third level. The most interesting moment thus far had been how fascinated Anrey had been at the stairs leading from one level to another. Rather, perhaps 'flabbergasted' would have been a better term.

Vylet smiled to herself as she led the way. Sure, this was an incredibly simple mission with little possibility of needing to use any sort of violence, but she still felt proud of the work they were accomplishing. Given her experience in trying to find a partner before, it would be so refreshing to come back to the guild with both a partner and a success.

"See? We're almost already there," Vylet remarked as they explored the third level.

"Yeah," Anrey called out from behind her, "I'm fine. I'm just worried about if we have to fight someone, as unlikely as that is. I'm sure I'll get better, but right now I'm…"

Vylet stopped for a moment and faced him. "Hey," she said, "Even at your most inexperienced, you've still got our trump card. If things do get really bad, then your Last Resort will turn the tide and keep us safe!"

"Heh, I hope so," Anrey replied, "Though I gotta bash my skull into enemies a lot before I can even use that."

"Pokémon powers are weird sometimes, aren't they?"

"They absolutely are, like for real!" Anrey exclaimed.

Vylet gave him a playful pat on the head and then turned back around. She led Anrey around the next corner, and then excitedly proclaimed that she could see the stairs. Once they had made their way down, having now reached their destination floor, she announced, "We're here!"

"I guess now's the hard part, huh?" Anrey remarked, "Finding a little necklace somewhere in all these caves."

A quick glance of their surroundings revealed that they weren't lucky enough for the necklace to be immediately nearby. "Maybe the luminous walls of this place will make it sparkle…" Vylet mused for a moment. She then turned to Anrey and said, "Pick a direction."

"Huh? Why me?"

"'Cus I think you're lucky!"

Anrey arched an eyebrow. "Uhh, okay…" He lifted a paw to point. "This way."

Vylet marched ahead proudly in the indicated direction, already starting to scour the ground as she went. The sooner they found this lost necklace, the sooner they would have their first official success as a team together. She just couldn't wait. The anticipation was so exciting.

And what a successful mission it had been, however small it may have been. They had made great time through the dungeon, hadn't made any mistakes, and hadn't encountered any foes. It was a textbook example of a quick in-and-out mission; the perfect way to start for a brand new team.

"How big are the floors?" Anrey asked from behind her, "Should we split up?"

"Ehhhh, maybe when we're a little more experienced," she replied, "We should stick together for now. The floors are big, but not that big. We'll find it sooner or later."

"Makes sense," Anrey replied. After a pause, he added, "I'm glad you're the leader."

"Aw, thank you!"

"By the way," Anrey continued, "About that Escape Orb that we use to get out of here when we're done… Wouldn't we just use that to get out of trouble if we're attacked by really strong Pokémon?"

Vylet glanced back at him an explained. "Escape Orbs don't work when there's hostile Pokémon around. Don't ask why, nobody really knows. Other orbs work whenever you want, but Escape Orbs can only work if nobody's tryin' to kill you."

"Weeeeeird…" Anrey remarked.

A few more fruitless minutes passed by as the pair explored the dungeon but were unable to locate the missing necklace. They still had quite a lot of ground on this floor to cover, so Vylet wasn't feeling the least bit pessimistic yet. At worst, she was feeling a little bit bored.

As they rounded the next corner, however, that boredom disappeared in a flash. Unfortunately, it wasn't because Vylet had spotted the necklace.

The corner turned directly into a large open room. Vylet immediately stopped once she entered the room, holding out a claw to her side to stop Anrey as well. To his credit, Anrey seemed to pick up on her body language and didn't make a sound when he had to stop so suddenly, but she saw him give her a questioning look out the corner of her eye. She used her other claw to point into the room.

There was a single Pokémon standing at the far side of the room. It was facing away from them and standing completely still, but there was no way to sneak past it without being seen. Vylet subconsciously held her breath and quickly took stock of the situation. She was about to turn around, planning to make a silent escape in the opposite direction before they were noticed. However, she briefly caught a glimpse of something sparkling on the ground. Vylet remained silent and squinted, then her heart dropped when she realized what she was looking at.

The necklace was in the room. It was laying on the ground, and the other Pokémon was standing between it and the two of them.

Vylet signaled with a wave of her claw for Anrey to back up. She carefully turned and followed him, keeping an eye on the Pokémon for as long as she could, and then followed Anrey back around the corner and a few metres down the corridor.

"Well, crap…" she whispered to him once she figured they were far enough away.

Anrey gave her a concerned look. "What do we do?"

Vylet quietly groaned in irritation. "Well, we don't know for sure if it's a hostile Pokémon, so we can't just sneak up and score a knockout. Although, the fact that this Pokémon is here, alone, inside of a Mystery Dungeon, is a pretty good indication…"

"Can we lure it away somehow?" Anrey asked, "Like, throw a rock or something?"

"Risky…" Vylet commented. She thought about the dilemma for a few more seconds, then shook her head and looked at Anrey resolutely. "It's just one Pokémon, and not much bigger than we are. Even if things turn hostile, we can handle it."

Anrey bit his lip and glanced away, appearing nervous about the whole situation. "Did you see what kind of Pokémon it was?"

"Something with fur was all I could gather," she replied, frowning at her own unhelpfulness.

"So we don't even know what type it is. Oy…" Anrey then sighed, grimaced for a moment, and finally shrugged. "Guess we don't really have much choice."

Vylet nodded. "There's no chance we'll be able to sneak by, so I'm just gonna announce ourselves while we're still at a distance. Maybe, just maybe, it's a friendly Pokémon."

Anrey sighed again, but nodded and put on a determined expression. The two then turned around and made their way back past the corner and into the room.

Once there, Vylet saw that nothing had changed. The Pokémon was still standing across the room, facing away from them and not moving. Vylet briefly wondered if the other Pokémon was asleep, despite standing up. They could bank a risk on that, but she figured it would become disadvantageous for them if the other Pokémon was, in fact, wide awake.

Vylet took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. She glanced back at Anrey, who nodded at her. Then finally, she summoned her courage and stepped into the room followed by the sound of Anrey's pawsteps following behind her. "Excuse me!" she called out.

The other Pokémon perked up, but only slightly.

"We're sorry to intrude on you," she continued, "We're just here to retrieve that lost item over there. We don't mean to cause any trouble, and we'll leave right after we've got it."

For fifteen full seconds, there was no movement from the other party. During this time, Vylet tried and failed to identify the other Pokémon's species. All she could tell was that it had black or dark grey fur. Vylet was about to call out again when the Pokémon finally moved some more.

The Pokémon stood up to its full height, revealing that it had been crouched down before, revealing a pair of thick pointed ears. The Pokémon's head then tilted suddenly to the side, as if its head were too heavy to hold up. Slowly, with shuffling movements, the Pokémon turned around on the spot until it was facing the newcomers.

Vylet stared in confusion at the opposing Pokémon. For a moment, she was unable to comprehend exactly what she was looking at. It took her a couple of seconds for it to register in her brain that was looking at a Munchlax. However, it was unlike any Munchlax she had ever seen before.

Munchlax had teal fur, shiny ones had blue fur, and both had spots of cream fur on their chest. This one was coloured grey from head to paw. The main coat of fur was a dark grey, while the cream sections were a lighter grey. It was as if someone had sucked the colour right out of this Munchlax with a straw. It was completely monochromatic from top to bottom.

Vylet then gasped when she noticed the Munchlax's eyes. They were staring straight at her, wide open and solid white. Inexplicably, this Munchlax lacked any pupils or irises. Its eyes were just two large white circles.

"What…?" Vylet whispered. A shiver ran up her spine. The appearance of this Munchlax was downright creepy. The lack of colour coupled with the absence of eyes gave it an off-putting, otherworldly appearance. For a moment she just stood there, trying to figure out what she was looking at. Was this Munchlax sick with some kind of disease, or was this fur dye and some kind of contact lenses? Vylet shivered again. Something about this Pokémon made her feel uneasy just from looking at it.

The Munchlax remained standing there, unmoving, with its head tilted slightly and its unblinking eyes. It hadn't said anything or acknowledged them in any way besides turning to stare at them.

"Vylet…?" Anrey whispered from behind her.

The Sneasel wasn't sure why, but she was reluctant to look away from the other Pokémon. After a moment, she forced herself to turn and look back at her companion.

Anrey looked about as nervous as he had before, but now a look of confusion was prominent in his expression. "What…What is that?" he asked in a soft, cautious tone.

Vylet looked back across the room, seeing that the other Pokémon still hadn't moved. "It's a Munchlax," she explained, "…I think."

"You 'think'?" Anrey whispered in disbelief.

"I don't know… I've never seen anything like this before. I mean, obviously it looks like a Munchlax, but the colour is all wrong and…" Vylet gulped before adding, "Those eyes…"

There was a pregnant pause. "So you're saying," Anrey eventually replied, "that this is not normal? This isn't a thing that happens in these crazy caves?"

"No!" she whispered back harshly, "Mystery Dungeons are sometimes filled with criminals or gangs, but they're still just…Pokémon." She glanced back at Anrey for a moment and saw he had a dubious look on his face. She then regarded the Munchlax once more and cleared her throat. "Uh… Hello? Munchlax?"

The Munchlax's head tilted about half an inch more to the side, but there was no other response.

Vylet fidgeted with her claws for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "Um…I hope this isn't rude to ask, but…Are you okay?" She waited for a response, but still received none. "Can you talk?" Still silence. "Do, um… Do you need help, or…?"

When there was still no response whatsoever, Anrey finally moved forward and stood beside her. "Vylet, I dunno what this dude's issue is, but he doesn't seem to care that we're here. Why don't we just go get the necklace, slowly and carefully, and then bounce."

"Bounce?" she asked, giving him an odd look.

"Split. Vamoose. Get the heck out of here."

Vylet skewed her lips and looked back at the Munchlax. "I…guess that's our best course of action. This is just so strange, though. I… don't know what to make of it."

Anrey sighed softly, but then said, "We won't know unless we go. Either he attacks us, or just creepily stares at us the entire time."

"All right…" Vylet cleared her throat and addressed the other Pokémon once again. "Okay, uh…We're just gonna go grab that necklace now, okay? Then we'll be out of your fur, and you can get back to…doing…whatever…"

Of course, the Munchlax said nothing in response to this. So Vylet started to slowly walk into the room, trying her best to appear nonthreatening. She grumbled a bit under her breath as she did so. This was her first official mission with Anrey, a fresh and impressionable new recruit to the guild. Why did this have to be the mission where something weird and completely inexplicable happened?

The pair crossed the room and started to approach the Munchlax, and Vylet started deviating to the side to give the other Pokémon a wide berth. The Munchlax just slowly turned and tilted its head so that it kept them in view the entire time. As weird as this all seemed, it appeared as if the Munchlax was going to just leave them alone.

Vylet should have figured she wouldn't have been so lucky.

It happened in a split second. Vylet had been taking steady steps forward, but one step was apparently too many. The Munchlax's neck made a sudden and violent twitch and one of its eyes closed halfway. Then it turned fully towards them at a blindingly fast speed, adopting a more aggressive posture. Before Vylet could even open her mouth to react, the Munchlax opened its mouth and bared a row of very sharp-looking teeth. It then dashed right towards them, moving at an unnatural speed that was much faster than the speed of a typical Munchlax, and was upon them in an instant.

Vylet barely had enough time to raise up her limb in defense. She cringed a bit from the pain of the sudden Bite attack, but retaliated quickly with a kick to the Munchlax's stomach. It fell haphazardly to the ground, but somehow stood right back up a second later. It dashed towards her again and flung itself at her. She blocked the strike again, but the Munchlax was quite heavy and the Body Slam attack overpowered her.

She quickly rolled away and stood back up, adopting a battle-ready stance of her own. "Okay!" she exclaimed, "Guess we're fighting!" She clenched her claws and focused in on her opponent, quickly switching her mind over to 'battle mode'.

The Munchlax was already lumbering towards her. Even now, the way it moved was weird and unnatural. Its forelimbs flopped about and its head was still kept askew for the most part. Yet in spite of this, the Munchlax could move at a shockingly fast pace. She dodged the next attack, but it was able to swiftly change course and attempt to hit her. Most unnerving, perhaps, was that the Munchlax didn't make a single sound while attacking.

As weird as this all was, Vylet wasn't worried. The Munchlax looked and acted strangely, but it was still a Munchlax. A Normal-type Pokémon. She grinned almost eagerly, ready to give it a Low Kick or a Brick Break.

However, that's when Vylet realized she had forgotten something. The Munchlax was leaping forward with another savage Bite attack, but it wasn't jumping towards her. Like a ton of bricks hitting her over the head, Vylet suddenly remembered that she wasn't the only one fighting against this opponent. "Anrey!" she called out in a panic.

She caught sight of the Munchlax just as its jaws clenched down. Anrey had evidently tried to run to the side but hadn't been fast enough. The Eevee yelped in pain as the Munchlax bit down onto his shoulder, drawing trickles of blood. He stumbled and fell onto his side.

Vylet dashed over and shoved the Munchlax off of him. She quickly checked to see if Anrey was seriously hurt and then dashed over to the Munchlax, who was somehow already back on its paws. She barreled into it with a Quick Attack before it could even retaliate, sending it tumbling a few metres back along the ground.

The Munchlax stood up instantly. It ran towards her again, still in a completely soundless manner. Vylet grumbled softly, but focused herself. When the Munchlax was close enough and it tried to reach out with what looked like a Chip Away attack, Vylet instead grappled its forelimbs and held it in place. A shiver inexplicably ran up her spine upon touching the Munchlax, but she ignored it. With the Munchlax held exactly where she wanted it, Vylet pulled back her leg and delivered a Low Kick right to the side of the Munchlax's stomach. It was sent flying off to the side, and this time landed in a crumpled heap without standing up immediately.

Vylet cringed slightly when she caught sight of Anrey again, belatedly noticing she had flung the Munchlax right past him. She quickly dashed over and stood next to him protectively just in case.

Anrey was on his paws, but Vylet could see that he was getting overwhelmed by his first real battle and seemed shaky on his legs.

"Hey," she said to him, "Calm down. It's just one opponent, we'll be fine."

"I-I…" Anrey muttered, but no more words came out.

Vylet's Fighting-Type move seemed to have had an effect on the Munchlax. It was only just now standing back up after writhing on the ground for a moment. To her dismay, though, the brief delay was the only outcome. It was now lumbering towards them again, looking no worse for wear.

"Okay…" Vylet muttered, mostly to herself, "This dude's gonna get his brick broken…"

She was about to dash forward, but stumbled and nearly fell over when she had to stop herself suddenly. Anrey had taken a quick step in front of her and sent a Sand Attack at the approaching Munchlax.

Vylet winced. The thick plume of sand hit the Munchlax straight in the face, but its blank eyes remained wide open and unblinking the entire time. It continued forwards, completely undaunted by the sand. Anrey let out a surprised sound, and Vylet had no choice but to somewhat roughly shove him to the side. She had to act quickly, as the Munchlax would strike her in less than a second, so she grit her teeth and thrust out her claw.

Thankfully, her Brick Break attack struck the Munchlax in the torso. It reeled back violently from the blow, still eerily maintaining that expressionless look on its face, and crumbled to the ground again.

"Ah! Vylet! You-" Anrey shouted.

The Sneasel immediately dashed over to where the Munchlax had landed and delivered another Low Kick to its stomach before it could stand. This sent the Munchlax careening back to the edge of the room, where it tumbled violently against the wall. She got flashbacks of her first meeting with Anrey and figured that an impact against the wall like that had to mean the end of the battle.

She stood there panting for a moment, but then frowned in dismay when the Munchlax once again pulled itself together and stood up. Without wasting a second, it started towards them again, still looking like it wasn't weakened in the slightest.

"You're…relentless…" she stammered.

Vylet tried to think quickly, but she didn't know what to make of this. This Munchlax didn't behave like a normal Pokémon. This battle opponent didn't behave like an opponent in battle. The only thing she knew for sure was this Munchlax wasn't going to give up, so she had to knock it out.

She decided to try a Quick Attack to catch it off guard, tackling it to the ground and ending up on top of it. Before she could get bitten, she jutted her claw out and gave it a Poison Jab. She then rolled off of it and backed off. The Munchlax stood up right away. It didn't seem the least bit fazed by the poisonous attack.

She dashed towards it again, raising her claw for another poison jab. However, Anrey came out of nowhere and slammed it to the side with a Quick Attack. Vylet had to quickly stop herself from accidentally poisoning the Eevee instead. She quickly shifted focus though and hopped over to the Munchlax, which was laying on its stomach. Vylet, growling in determination, reared back and delivered a Brick Break right to the back of the Munchlax's head while it was still face-down.

It lay still on the floor for a moment, but then moved its limbs to stand up again. Vylet, in disbelief, panicked a little and delivered a second Brick Break to the back of its head. This time its head was raised slightly, as it was in the process of getting up, so her Brick Break caused the Munchlax's head to slam into the ground.

Vylet cringed and reeled back. She wasn't sure, but she thought she'd heard a cracking sound.

Finally, mercifully, a quiet stillness started to settle within the room. Vylet backed away and stood there panting, a few paces away from the Munchlax. She waited anxiously. Fifteen seconds passed, but this time the Munchlax did not stand up. It didn't stir in the least. From the looks of things, Vylet had finally knocked it out.

She glanced over at Anrey, who was also panting. The two shared a look and a quick smile, silent acknowledgement of their victory, and then they both turned their heads back towards the Munchlax.

A moment later, just as Vylet was reflecting on the weird events that had just transpired, something even stranger began to happen. Vylet could only stare in abject disbelief as the grey Munchlax started to disappear before her very eyes.

There was no other way to explain it. The Munchlax simply started to fade away. Rather, 'dissolved' may have been a better way to describe it. It was as if the Munchlax was suddenly made of sand or ashes, and bit by bit they dispersed into the air. Like a breeze had picked up and carried the particles away, until they too faded away and nothing was left behind.

Now the silence in the room was deafening. Vylet must have stood there for at least a minute. She blinked, she rubbed her eyes, she shook her head, but nothing changed and no answers revealed themselves. The Munchlax was just gone completely.

Vylet finally forced herself to accept the fact that staring at the ground wasn't going to accomplish anything, so she turned to look at Anrey. She found the Eevee was staring at the spot as well. She gulped, almost afraid to speak for reasons she did not know. "A…Anrey…?"

Anrey managed to tear his eyes away as well and looked at her. His expression was more befuddled than anything else. "What…What happened?" he asked.

She was unable to answer at first. How could she answer? Nothing about this made sense. Nothing about it had made sense from the moment they'd first spotted this Munchlax. She slowly strode over towards him until she was standing right next to him, but still she couldn't find her voice.

"Where…did the Munchlax go?" Anrey asked, his voice quiet.

"I…" Vylet mumbled, "…I don't know."

"It…That Pokémon just…like…evaporated."

"Yeah, I…saw…"

Anrey's expression shifted to a serious one. "Vylet, what was that?"

"I don't know!" she retorted, perhaps a bit too hotly, "I…I've never seen anything like that before. It's like…It was a Munchlax, except it…wasn't."

Silence pervaded the room for a moment as the two tried to figure out what they had just seen, but clearly neither were coming up with any answers.

Finally, Vylet shook her head and forced her mind to get back on track. "Right," she announced, "You grab the necklace, I'll get the Escape Orb. Let's just…get out of here."

"All right…Sounds good…"

The Eevee dashed off to the other side of the room, where the necklace was laying, while Vylet reached into her pouch and pulled out the black orb with the glowing white centre. She looked all around her, making sure that there were no other Pokémon in the room besides herself and Anrey. Otherwise, the orb wouldn't work and would be wasted.

Anrey came walking back over a moment later, the necklace held very awkwardly between two of his teeth. Vylet thanked the heavens for the millionth time that she wasn't a quadruped and held up the Escape Orb. "Ready?" she asked. When Anrey nodded, Vylet smashed the orb to the ground between them.

As the two Pokémon made the somewhat long walk back to Clover Town, a poignant silence hung in the air between them. For a while, neither said a word to one another. Vylet was just bursting with questions about the strange Munchlax they had encountered, but she knew that Anrey had about as many answers as she did and asking would just be pointless. She figured he felt the same way.

Unfortunately, she had to resign herself to simply reporting it to the guild once they got back and seeing if anybody knew anything about it.

Anrey was the one who finally broke the silence. "Nice moves back there," he commented.

Vylet glanced at him for a moment, then went back to looking at the path ahead. She wanted to say 'You too,' but found herself hesitating. "Yeah, uh…That was a weird battle to have been your first real battle. Really not…typical."

"Yeah, but still…" Anrey murmured, but then fell silent.

Vylet waited for a moment, then glanced at him again and prodded. "Still what?"

"Nothing."

"What, Anrey? Tell me. Whatever it is, you can say it. I promise."

A little sigh slipped past his lips, and then he simply said, "Our teamwork. It was lacking."

Vylet winced slightly and looked ahead again. "Y…Yeah, kinda. This was your first time in a real battle, and our first time fighting against someone together, but…"

"We weren't fighting together."

This time when Vylet turned to look at him, she also stopped walking. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Anrey paused and glanced back at her. "Sorry, I just… I feel like you kept forgetting I was even there."

His words felt like a punch to the gut. Just a light punch, but still something she could feel. "You're right…" she said, frowning, "I did."

Anrey was frowning as well. "I…I don't mean to insult you, or-"

"No, no, no," Vylet interrupted, quickly catching up to him, "You're right, Anrey, and I'm glad you said it. This is an important part of being a team, right? Talking about things that could be better, and then we work together to fix them."

There was a moment of awkward silence, and eventually the two wordlessly decided to continue walking.

"I did sometimes forget you were there," Vylet spoke up, "and I'm sorry. I've spent a lot of time practicing my fighting moves alone, so I'm not used to fighting on a team with someone. The only other time I've had to battle someone in a Mystery Dungeon was when I rescued you, and I was alone then too."

"It's okay, Vylet. I'm not mad at you. I just felt like it was important to bring up."

The Sneasel nodded. "By all means, keep giving me the critical reviews. If it can help me be a better teammate, I'm all ears."

Anrey didn't reply right away. When she glanced at him, it looked like he was trying to choose his words.

"I think…" he finally spoke, "you were too impulsive. And I mean that strictly in a battling sense. I don't think you're an impulsive…y'know, I'm not calling you impulsive. But in the battle…maybe you acted too quickly?"

"Sort of a 'look before you leap' critique?" Vylet offered.

"Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's probably not a good idea to run ahead at the very first second. You don't wanna just smash without thinking first. Definitely at least need to figure out where I am in the room, 'cus I think you almost ran into me once." He fell silent for a moment. "I feel like I'm just complaining. Sorry…"

Vylet actually snickered at this. "Anrey," she said in a playfully condescending tone, "Don't you remember the day I asked you to be my teammate? After I sat in the cafeteria for like five hours or whatever listening to you come up with those crazy insightful ideas. That's what I wanted on this team. You're doing what I expected you to do!"

Anrey glanced at her for a minute, then looked away with a touch of bashfulness. "I dunno, I guess I just have…a mind for tactics."

"And that's a very, very helpful quality. I sure don't have a mind for tactics."

"Yeah?"

Vylet flashed him a grin. "I don't take a single little bit of offense to anything you said. I am definitely going to take everything you said to heart and keep it in mind for every future battle."

"Uh… Okay, great!" Anrey replied with a smile, though it faltered a moment later. "And, y'know, it goes both ways too. I can already guess what your critique of me is."

She gave him a knowing look. "You froze."

"I froze," he reaffirmed.

Vylet stepped closer to him and gave the Eevee a comforting pat on the back. "It was your first real battle, Anrey. No offense, but… I kind of expected it."

"Oof…"

"Those jitters will go away and soon it'll be like second nature to you. And remember, you can always rely on me when we're in battle."

Anrey smiled warmly at her. "I wish I could say the same."

"You will, one day soon. You will."

"She's not gonna believe us…"

Anrey's words from about an hour ago resounded loudly in Vylet's head as she approached the door leading to the guildmaster's office. The Eevee in question was following behind her. The pair had returned to the guild a few hours ago, having happily marked their mission as successful and storing away the necklace so it could be later delivered to the client.

They had also written up a report of what they had encountered. Per guild regulations, it was standard to compose a short written report to detail anything highly unusual or particularly noteworthy that was encountered on missions, and these reports were delivered directly to the guildmaster. It wasn't a common occurrence, and there was usually no word back from the guildmaster afterwards. She just dealt with whatever it was behind the scenes.

So Vylet felt rather nervous that Zarah had summoned them both to her office. She had already stood inside of this particular room far too many times for someone of her tenure at the guild. There were probably some Ultra Class members who hadn't been her room that many times before. Vylet sighed, steadied her nerves, and knocked on the door.

About five seconds passed, but it felt like five minutes of agonizing anxiety. Finally, the guildmaster's voice called from within. "Enter."

Vylet pulled open the door and stepped through, letting Anrey in as well before closing it behind her. She then turned and faced the Floragato sitting behind the desk. As she had expected, Zarah was holding their report in her paws, reading it over without making eye contact with either of them. A few moments of silence passed, and Vylet was about to speak up when Zarah slapped the papers onto the desk with a loud thwap.

"Vylet, what is this?"

The Sneasel frowned, inwardly wincing under Zarah's harsh, almost condescending tone. "Our, uh… Our report," she replied.

Zarah said nothing.

"Our report for what we saw while inside of the dungeon. Inside of Diamond Cav-"

"I know what it is," Zarah interrupted harshly.

Vylet had to bite her tongue. It was such an annoying habit that the guildmaster had and it drove her crazy. The way she would ask a question and then interrupt afterwards to say she already knew the answer. It took all of her effort to keep from retorting, 'Then why'd you ask?'

The guildmaster leveled a disapproving stare at them for a few more moments, but then she sighed and her features drooped. She held a paw up to her face and rubbed her forehead. "Vylet…" she said in a tired, exasperated tone of voice, "I just…What are you doing Vylet?"

"What do you m-?"

"Do you enjoy giving me a headache? Does it give you a kick to mess with me? Is it entertaining to you, for some Arceus-forsaken reason, to try my patience? Do you find it funny?"

Vylet frowned. "Guildmaster, I… There's no 'messing around' or anything. It's not a joke. What's written in that report is accurate."

"Is it now?" Zarah replied dubiously, "You expect me to believe such an outlandish tale, and one to have occurred on your very first mission together as a team?"

"Guildmaster, we didn-"

"I can't possibly fathom why you would make something up like this for a simple, effortless D-Rank mission that you actually succeeded at. It's not even a cockamamie excuse for failure; you succeeded!"

"Guildmaster!" Vylet cut in as boldly as she dared, "It's not fake! We both saw it, and we both fought it!"

"How exactly did you describe it again?" Zarah asked as she picked up the report once more. She peered closely at the writing and recited what was written there. "'A shambling and seemingly mindless Munchlax with fully monochromatic fur, no eyes and a blank, expressionless gaze that attacked without ever uttering a single sound and appeared to have unusually high resilience to pain and bodily injury.'"

Vylet raised a pointed claw. "Yes, w-"

"'And it dissolved into thin air after it was defeated.'"

For a moment, Vylet just stood there unsure of how to reply. She slowly lowered her claw and ended up just breathing a quiet sigh of resignation. She knew it was hard to believe, and hearing the guildmaster say it out loud just reinforced that fact tenfold. She was starting to doubt if she herself had actually seen it or if she had somehow hallucinated the whole thing.

"And you, Anrey?" Zarah cut in, "Do you have anything to add?"

Vylet perked up slightly and turned to regard the Eevee standing just behind her. She realized Anrey hadn't said a word since they had entered the room.

Anrey wore a completely neutral expression, his face not betraying a single emotion, and he looked up at the guildmaster now that he had been addressed. His eyes glanced away for a short moment before looking back at the guildmaster and simply stating, "The report is accurate."

Vylet looked back at the Floragato. Zarah didn't say anything, but her eyebrow was hiked so high that she thought it was going to fly right off the top of her face.

"I have nothing to add," Anrey continued in a calm tone, "The report is accurate and complete."

A tense silence filled the room. Vylet nervously wrung her claws as she waited for Zarah to say something else. The guildmaster wore an odd expression that was a mix of frustration, skepticism and disappointment. However one chose to describe it, it was not a chipper look.

Finally, Zarah let out a heavy sigh and slumped back into her chair. She tossed the report onto her desk haphazardly, which made a loud fwump as it hit the surface. "Dismissed," she stated plainly.

Vylet glanced up at her in confusion. "G-guildmaster?"

"I said 'Dismissed'," she repeated, though without raising her voice, "No I don't believe your report and nothing you say will convince me of its validity, but I have no concrete reason to believe you're lying so I will make a note of it and do nothing more. Should I find out you actually are lying and making up crazy stories, you will both be expelled with extreme prejudice. Dismissed."

Anrey bumped her side gently, giving her a little start, and he indicated with his head towards the door. Vylet hesitated for a moment, but then nodded and started to head towards the door with Anrey in tow. "Thank you, guildmaster," she said as they exited.

Zarah didn't say a single word in response.

The door closed behind them with an echoing sound that brought to mind a feeling of finality. Vylet let out the breath she had been holding and held a claw to her forehead.

"Toldja," Anrey quipped.

She gave him a sidelong glance. "Well, what were we gonna do? Keep it a secret? I can tell you now, that will only led to bad things down the line. I don't even know what bad things, but I know that for certain."

"Mhm…" Anrey said with a soft nod, "Y'know it's not just her. Nobody is going to believe us."

The two wandered over to the main area of the guild and sat down on one of the nearby benches. Vylet slumped forward and leaned on her upturned claws, while Anrey sat next to her on all fours. There was a bit of hustle and bustle in the guild, as this was the time of day that most guildmembers would be returning from their missions, but nobody paid the two of them any mind.

"So…what do we do now?" Vylet asked.

"About what, exactly?"

"That…That Mun- That…thing we ran into! What was that?"

Anrey gazed off in thought for a moment. "Yeah, I've got no clue. Shiny Munchlax are bright blue, so it certainly wasn't that."

"Was it even a Munchlax, or did it just look like one?"

"I hadn't considered that…"

Vylet sighed in frustration. "I can't just…ignore that. I can't just go on and forget about it. I gotta know what that was. I need to know. I need to figure it out!" She turned and gave Anrey a poignant look. "I need answers…"

Anrey responded with a meaningful look of his own. "I want to figure it out too, but we might not be able to. It's gone without a trace now…"

"Which is why," Vylet grumbled, "it'd be nice for the guildmaster, or anybody, to believe us. That way it's not just us trying to figure it out, there'd be others. Eventually someone will figure it out."

"I understand, Vylet. It's frustrating."

"So, what do we do?" she asked again.

Anrey shook his head. "Unfortunately, I think the answer right now is 'nothing'. What course of action could we possibly take? Really, there's just nothing we can do about it right now. We'll certainly not dismiss it. We'll keep it in mind as we move along, and maybe we'll see it or another one like it later. Or someone else will. But right now, the ball's out of our court."

Vylet hung her head. "You're right. I hate it, but you're right."

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out one way or another."

"I just…can't stop thinking about it. That Munchlax is gonna be in my dreams for like a week. It was so…creepy."

A moment of quiet passed between them before Anrey spoke up again. "Well, right now it's gone. There's no use stewing over it, and we've got other stuff to think about."

Vylet finally lifted her head. "Fair point, Anrey." She then chuckled and added, "Sorry your very first mission was a weird one."

"I'm not surprised," he replied glibly, "Weird tends to follow me sometimes."

"Present company excluded?"

"You heard what I said."

The two shared a laugh, finally able to smile for the first time since the incident in the Mystery Dungeon. Vylet still had about a thousand questions rattling around inside of her head, but Anrey's words had lifted her spirits and set her mind straight. There was nothing they could do at the moment, and she didn't need to worry about it right now.

Would the mystery return and grow, or would this turn out to be a one-time event that would drive her mad in the long run? Only time would tell…