Again?

This viridescent place… again?!

A little different this time though.

Maybe more translucent?

It might be the colours…they’re more washed out now.

Olive green?

…

…?!

It’s that Pokemon again?!

...What was its name?

…

Its hair nicely chopped into green apple-sized pieces, carefully covering its eyes.

Skin mixed in a green and white… dress?!

Isn’t that painful?

To have your skin cut in the form of a dress.

….

…

Maybe the Pokemon is…

It could possibly be…

This Pokemon is…

…

*URGFF*

…

*URGFF*

IT’S GARDEVOIR!!!

*URGFF*

No time to properly awaken, loud waves crashing into the cave’s floor. I wished there could have been time to embrace the cave’s notion of solitude, just a little longer. I slammed into the waterfall, the feeling of déjà vu all too familiar. The dungeon had trouble in spades, not even 5 minutes passed before another Pokemon assaulted me. A flush of water pulled its attention to my stomach and the cylindrical whirlpool pushed my body as far as it could until…

*Thud*. Again, I slammed straight into the wall, an earth-shattering blow to my spine.

Experiencing the full extent of deja vu would have been welcomed if my chest didn’t burn with an indescribable sensation of pain. Despite being greatly abused by the water cylinder my eyes still hadn’t grown accustomed to the surrounding, not giving me a chance to properly awaken from my slumber. My eyelids opened the slightest bit, I had hoped that my eyes were just greeted with some fantastical illusion. One you’d only find conjured up in dreams, expelled by your brains when the day was done, and your lids shut asleep. If only, but…

“Poli? Poliwag?” … there was no time to question it. Suddenly, this strange Pokemon promptly invaded my personal space. At the time, I assumed that this was the creature that blasted me into the waterfall so nonchalantly, its little feet jumping towards what appeared to be my deceased body.

“Poli? Poli? Poliwag~!” It took pleasure sniffing my drenched body from varying different angles. Starting from the base of my skull, it sniffed around and poked at it a bit. It did not keep this up for long since it immediately backed off, implying that it was likely disgusted at the smell looming from my body, my skull especially. A skull that endured the most bitter of tears; a skull that had been dragged through the depths of mud and water. Its last bit of dignity stripped away by the Poliwag that dotted around my feet. a dangerous water technique for sure. The foul odour from my skull only seemed to bolster in strength, the Poliwag started to distance itself, implying that the smell would only continue to diffuse throughout the cave. I thought this would encourage it to leave but the Poliwag was courageous; a sensation filled my joints, bringing great pleasure to my body, the water particles spreading throughout my fur.

I tried… I really did…

Playing dead a little longer would have been to my benefit, but…

My body simply ignored my wished and I scummed to my joint’s enthusiasm,

“-Ahhh!”

“Poli!”

The Poliwag writhed with fear, jumping at the sight of me. A temporary relief overcame me, taking away all my stress momentarily. The one moment of bli-

“Poliiiiwagg!” The Poliwag made its exit and dashed towards the inner depths of the Mystery Dungeon taking my toolbox in its stride, “Hey! Give that argghh…” I involuntarily clutched my stomach hard foolishly hoping that squeezing it would ease the pain, so much for stress relief. “-I need to chase after that thing, but…how can I?” My heart told me to ignore the dangers ahead and follow it regardless, my life is an expendable resource after all. My brain told me to rest and recover, a self-sacrifice might have seemed noble but ultimately stupid if nothing came of it. And…Charmander. He told me that living was the only option I had since we made a deal; I already made my decision to bet my life on his foolhardy plans, which is why I’m here in the first place.

I outnumbered the negative thoughts with logic that conveniently had some positivity attached to it, “I-I…need to rest. No point throwing my life away now. W-wait a second? Do I have to sleep on the floor? In the goddamn open?! D-dammit I knew I should have kept a firmer hold on that toolbox! *Argh*! It is going to be tough sleeping tonight. Or day? Who the hell even knows…” With my anger dissolving abruptly I made my peace with my thoughts and decided to get some rest.

I rested my rear to the back where the waterfall laid. Still pelting bullets of rain. I eased myself onto the waterfall prison, it stung a little and I could feel my back turn to ice, running a chill down my spine. Eventually, as I got used to it everything faded a little, my eyes shut at my command and I basked in the dungeon’s solitude once more, only for a little longer this time.

…

…

Some time past and finally resting for a little bit mellowed my heart. The bliss still came in conflict with the fact that sleeping now (fully at least) would be suicide. Learning to listen out for predators was something I had to do because in the state I was in I would have died if that Croconaw suddenly kicked me in my sleep. The shock from the kick would be enough to stop my heart. Being aware of my surroundings while getting some rest might have been difficult, but it was all I could do at the time, something I simply just had to get used to. The other thing that bothered me was that dream. I unconsciously just said the Pokemon’s name. I just somehow knew it?! But why? And how? I do remember having a dream like this, sometime after I met Charmander. I was crying, tears streaming down my skull. I was crying because…

*URFGG*

“Do you remember?”

*URFGG*

“It’s me, how can you not remember?!”

“No! Stop! You… I don’t know you.”

“How can you not? You don’t have amnesia, do you? Of course not, all of us remember.”

“All of us? Who is all of us?”

“If you don’t know, then I’m afraid I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll keep appearing to you every so often, but please, remember us.”

“Tell me who you are at least.”

“I am Gardevoir. Although my real name is…”

…

“…?!”

If you wanted to know what happened to me after that I honestly don’t remember. I assure you though that for the rest of the night I snivelled on the ground like a toddler. The one thing I did remember pertained to something everyone experienced. Something most people believe is important for a human’s growth and development, and something we never have the heart to face.

Pain.

…

…

A month passed since then, a lot changed, I started to understand why Makuhita sent us down here. Makuhita made me and Charmander go on this mission so we could learn how to fight and get navigate the Mystery Dungeons. They aren’t just places, they’re habitats with unnatural phenomena happening within them, in fact, maybe I already knew this, be that as it may, I had every right to be suspicious of a Pokemon that lives in a shady dojo on the outskirts of a town. After the dream flooded my conscious that night, the languid fluid poisoning my muscles were no more; ambition struck my core. My answer to why I became wreathed with fear that night never came to me. At least not at the time but later it did.

During my month in the cave, I learnt a lot, a month that should be treasured (due to the vast amount of experience I gained in that time) and a month that nearly broke my spirit.

When sleeping in a Mystery Dungeon it’s important to be alert since you don’t want to be attacked in your sleep. Although, it does require you to immediately react no matter the distance of your foe. When you sense something, attack! I learnt this lesson the hard way as a Mudkip attacked me awhile back. At the time I sensed its present almost immediately, yet I was still blasted by a concentrated pool of water that suspiciously aimed at my stomach in a familiar cylindrical shape. My reaction time was too slow; no… it would be more accurate to say that my reaction time was delayed. My plan was to catch it off guard and then strike when it least expected it, though this would present two problems. Since I was on the ground, I had no way of defending myself, in comparison to a Pokemon who’s already on their feet, that Pokemon would have a better opportunity to react appropriately to any given situation. If they needed to dodge, there’s time to react, if they needed to attack, they could do it any way they saw fit. Compared with me who can’t defend when slumped on the ground. The whole purpose of leaving yourself open for an attack was so you could ambush an enemy, your enemy believing you’re incapacitated. But you can’t ambush an enemy if you don’t know when they’ll strike, and it’ll be hard to know when they’ll strike if you can’t see where they are. The other issue was simple, if a long-ranged foe like a Mudkip attacked me from afar with its water attack the ambush plan would also fail, there might have been a chance to possibly dodge the attack but even then, the chances of that were slim when you only have your ears to rely on. My solution? Increase my reaction time and speed through trial and error, not something I looked forward to doing but I got over that rather quickly.

I took hit after hit from the same cylindrical whirlpool of water, I learnt that it was best to stay on your feet if possible. When you fall, all the energy your body built up before has nowhere to go so you’ll feel even more sluggish than if you had simply stayed standing up.

It did take some time, but eventually my battle speed drastically improved and my reaction time was much better. Don’t get me wrong it didn’t make sleeping any easier, being half-awake at all times was something I just had to get used to. The same as when you’d get used to exercising, most people hate the thought of exerting pressure on their joints on an almost daily basis, but you do it because it’s to your own benefit.

Later in the month, a small group of Pokemon with beached bald frames, painted blue, attacked me on a regular basis. Their legs being their main assets in battle; it lightly skidded through the floors of the cave. The level of water within the dungeon was low, but it was levelled enough to where the Pokemon had a home advantage and could easily knock me on my back if I wasn’t careful. The name of this Pokemon was Surskit. As a result of my battle speed improving, I mustered up the courage to take on the ice-skater. Even if my eyes could keep track of the Pokemon, it was still difficult to determine when it would attack. Would it attack head-on? Did it opt for a long-range approach, lowering my speed with a move like string shot? While it did have the upper hand, I had my own advantage, my brain; the beached balled frame and thin legs weren’t all this Surskit had to offer. A yellow antenna protruded from its head, a birth defect maybe. Didn’t matter, I focused less on Surskit and focused solely on its head. Just had to grab it and…and…

*Blop*

Down it went slamming into the dungeon’s floor assuring my victory. It did get a little boring after I found an easy way to win, but there was this odd satisfaction to fighting an enemy and coming up with a winning tactic in the heat of battle.

What aggravated me the most however were these little bat-like demons. Not very strong on their own, their cries of echoes or some shots of mild poison doing very little damage; their wings felt very reminiscent of a vampire, exaggerated to an extreme with shades of purple between their wings, likely where some of the poison flowed. Its ears were by far the most normal thing about this creature as its mouth wide yet brittle holding only 4 fanged teeth, two at the top and two at the bottom. Albeit the strangest thing about this creature was the fact it had no eyes, that didn’t hold them back mind you, frankly, I’d be terrified to see how dangerous they would be with eyes. Because they were flying, reading their movements was much harder so it was hard to do much of anything, they were impressive, nonetheless. Their attacks on their own were weak and feeble, but when taking into consideration the speed and precision for how they attacked, they became deadly. For the first time, I was left stumped. I didn’t have time to react, nor did I have much time to think. I did try to throw my bone like a boomerang, but that too was useless. Not only did my precision suck but on the off chance that I correctly aimed at my targets, the Zubats, they’d still dodge it with ease. I ran away from all the Zubats that attempted to fight me and when I should have been cooking up a strategy to beat them down, I simply buried my worries to the back of my mind and chalked the whole thing up to bad luck.

Thankfully falling towards the lower floors of the dungeon after fighting that Croconaw only turned out to be a minor setback.

Eventually, I ran into the Poliwag that stole my toolbox, it still had it around its neck even after a whole month. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give chase.

*Plop*. The Poliwag continuously hopped; its palm-like feet splashing in the shallow bed of water, being the only source of sound besides the cave’s waterfall. I foolishly believed that the Poliwag would have been more cautious with its actions, it never bothered to take the time to look around in the event of danger. It simply splashed in the water without a care, sometimes spreading its feet playfully as if it were having the time of its life. It was important to remember that the Pokemon that came from the Mystery Dungeons aren’t too bright, they rely on instinct to survive. The Croconaw from the other day had plenty of chances to kill me, but the Croconaw became too overwhelmed with its own hunger to notice my plans. In fact, if that Croconaw were any smarter I would be dead.

Exploring the waterfall cave made one thing quite apparent, every floor was the same as each other. The pools of water seemed to have been around the same size for all of them. The roof of the cave was rough and rectangular. The main differences between each floor of the dungeons seemed to be the order in which things were placed. Thinking back to when the Poliwag smashed me into the waterfall was placed on the southernmost wall. The waterfall on this floor however was placed on the eastern wall near where the stairs were located. Furthermore, the waterfall was not as loud compared to the one on the floor above. The one above loudly heaving bullets of sweat causing the dungeon’s floor to spill with water that raised foot length. Luckily the waterfall on this floor was much lighter, resulting in the amount of water being shallow on this lower floor. Although there was still a large volume of water regardless. From what I gathered, taking into consideration everything I learnt up to that point, I concluded that the ‘Mystery’ in every Mystery Dungeons came from every experience you had inside the dungeon. The Dungeons changed in a randomised fashion. Like a randomly generated dungeon? I wanted to banish the thought and see it as somewhat foolhardy, however, the possibility seemed more and more likely, the idea spine-chilling.

The past month had been a none-stop rush of battle after battle.

The Poliwag took its time, not in any rush, when bouncing through the cave, giving me an opportune amount of time to rest. Whether the Poliwag intended to do so or not, it never changed the gratitude I felt in that moment, especially since the past month has been non-stop battles. I found it refreshing.

If another Pokemon happened to be nearby the Poliwag also made a splendid decoy. Hypothetically the Pokemon would engage in a fight with Poliwag before me, especially since I was trying to hide my presence, so it put me in a good position for an ambush, depending on the circumstances.

Looking at the Poliwag gave me a few chills and as my brain registered the thought, I felt my spine deteriorate from the thought of being slammed into a wall again. While I reminisced, I noticed something a little odd. It was very slight but on the Poliwag’s back, there was an open cut of blood. The thought of the Pokemon being a balloon dashed away as the flesh wound the size of a plaster posed a bit of danger to the Poliwag’s health. Bits of bacteria could easily enter and infect the Poliwag’s wound and in the worst-case scenario it might die, “I feel kinda bad for it, makes you wonder if Pokemon doctors are a thing.”

Unconsciously, I spoke my mind aloud and the Poliwag jumped shaking its head ruefully. Its hops became just the tiniest more unsteady. A heavy sigh built up in my chest begging to be expelled. The Poliwag didn’t bother checking its surroundings, so I was in the clear.

…

After following it for a few more minutes the cycle of monotone broke at last.

*KRRGTTT*

I heard what sounded like something collapsing from the cave’s roof, for only that sound’s life to be blissfully stripped away by nothingness? I had so many questions for what exactly that actually meant, it was just the feeling I got. Still, my mind was more distracted by the type of room the Poliwag had entered. If Mystery Dungeons really were randomly generated, then how come this was the only open space within the dungeon. Did this disprove my theory? Regardless, I wasn’t able to see much of anything since it was dark. From what I could make out, the surrounding space seemed somewhat open, though I had doubt with this assessment because I was sure I heard something collapsing from the cave’s roof. If something did collapse, then wouldn’t there have been and even larger sound produced due to the rubble hitting the ground? If no sound were present then the only conclusion that you’d naturally come to is,

“There’s a cliff up ahead.” I was more than a bit suspicious of the surrounding area especially because it was an open space, making it a lot trickier to follow the Poliwag inside compared to moving around a compact cave with plenty of rocks to cover for shelter. Even with the dangers clearly laid out before me I snuck around the entrance to this mysterious world to get a grasp of the situation. What I saw only left me with a question that I struggled to answer,” How could I be such a poor judge of one’s character?”

There were three of them: The Poliwag that I followed who was bigger than all the others present, one a little smaller than the bigger one but not by much and another that was smaller than the rest who rolled around the compact cave bumping into the walls on occasion.

“They seem like a family. D-Did that Poliwag, did it steal my toolbox to provide for its family? Just to survive huh, somethings never change even if you’re in an entirely different world.” I attempted to repress my shock, but the thoughts continued to bubble in my head one after the other. The Pokemon in the Mystery Dungeons must be like the Pokemon outside the Mystery Dungeons, there can’t be a difference in genetics so what’s with the discrimination, how did this war between the Pokemon even start, will I ever be able to get back home? I overloaded my brain circuit with questions I just didn’t have the answer to, leaving my mind flooded in heat. Pre-emptively leading to my decision to bite my lip hard to distract from the pain. The pain killed all my thoughts instantly and I hugged the dungeon’s walls again praying that the pain would soon dissipate.

…

Some time past and it must have been the Poliwags’ bedtime since they all were sound asleep.

“I’ll just take it back. That toolbox belongs to me anyway.” Again, like always, I banished the thoughts from my mind for the moment, when I reconvened with Charmander and Makuhita there’d be plenty of time to vent my thoughts. I had to believe that just so the guilt wouldn’t continue to paralyze me. Despite my sympathy for these creatures, sometimes it’s best to put your own feelings aside. A tireless endeavour for sure but eventually I took my newfound courage and snuck into the Poliwags’ retreat.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

I hung to the walls mostly, since I still had every right to believe there was a cliff only a few metres away; The Poliwags were all snuggled together, their backs turned. Since they were wild creatures, I expected them to want to eat all of the resources I had, nevertheless conserving your strength by sleeping is a good survival tactic, or maybe they were just too tired to eat.

As I got closer, I started to get a clearer frame of the group. Three of them all combined to make one massive beach ball, even bigger than the frame produced by the Surskits that lived within the cave.

I crept towards them silently. The cave’s vast walls echoing my footsteps like a ripple. My feet blended into the air, turning into the wind. No longer existing, just the gentle breeze that strolls on by and tickles the nostrils when all are in the depths of slumber. Your guardian(air) only passes by striding itself in and out, losing itself to the Mystery Dungeon that same night. My pact with the air soon came to an end as I saw the toolbox splayed sloppily on the mattress of rock. At last, I grabbed it and took my leave…

*Plip*

Drunk in my egotism and happiness I tripped over one of the Poliwag and the unison of their stacked form crumbled spectacularly. All the Poliwag rolling, each, their separate ways bumping into the cave’s walls. A humorous site for sure seeing those three Pokemon roll into the cave only to then jump at the pain, I chuckled internally. The spectacle was only humourous in hindsight though,

“Oh, Crap.” The Poliwag each dashed towards me hot with fury. The first Poliwag to lead the assault was the biggest one, likely the one I had been following beforehand since this one’s wounds were much deeper than the others, presumably the leader of the pack. It released its frustrations in a flurry of water that blistered with smoke. Luckily with a keen battle sense, I took flight towards the sky escaping the rush of fluid; I answered with my own attack pulling my body weight towards it, pioneering my skull straight for its head.

“Headbutt!”

The words escaped my lips, and I backflipped skilfully skidding my hands through the rocky terrain to decelerate my speed. My hands drenched in blood. “-I can’t be too reckless; guess I got a little too excited with this new skill I learnt.” No further time to think was given to me, the two Poliwag attacked in a frenzy, howling for vengeance for their fallen comrade. This time I backed away and pressed my left foot forward, splaying my feet behind me, then, with my bone still in hand, I turned 180 degrees away from the Pokemon letting my hands release my bone for flight.

“No. No. No! I didn’t mean to do that, I was going wait for them to come to me, can’t back out now though might as well charge in. That thing better comes back this way.”

I charged, again, to attack the second smalled Poliwag on my left and it, too, tried to splay a voluminous amount of water at me. Thankfully, I learnt my lesson for all those times water assaulted my conscious before, victory was mine if I timed my dodge exactly right. You don’t dodge when the Poliwag’s cheeks fill with water but, you dodge right before the water spills from its cheeks. If you dodge too soon the enemy could reposition its attack. Obviously, if you attacked too late, you’d be sent flying by the dense amount of fluid. The last month gave me a history of slaughters, the fact that I learnt a way to better endure an enemy’s attack, left me greatly confounded.

Finally, the Poliwag puffed its cheeked and then…

Three.

Two.

One.

I dodged.

Me an elegant swan finally allowed to take flight, finally synchronising my frame into a well-timed kick. I could feel my paw-like feet connect to the Poliwag’s face, the warmth of its cheeks incredible, a modest size of water being thrown out. The Poliwag swirled in agony crying at the pain brought to its stomach. The smalled Poliwag saw this as a chance to attack me its cheeks filling to an insurmountable degree. All the same, in a twist of fate I was given my first dose of luck, that bone that I threw so recklessly, came flying back towards me in a vengeance, smacking the Poliwag silly, sending the beach ball flying.

“Maybe the Gods don’t hate me after all, but man that hurts so much!” Me, the proud victor through it all, only losing some blood through the whole fiasco, and for the first time, the joy of accomplishing something made something well up inside my heart.

*SCREECH*

*BRIIKKKK*

Above me a loud chattering noise continuously screamed into my ears. It sounded similar to when the music at a concert would loudly burst through the audience’s eardrums. Obviously, the singers and everyone involved would bow their heads neatly, their voices panicked at the thought that they possibly ruined their careers. Remorse wasn’t programmed into the code for this lot. Somehow it started to make sense why the cave-compared to the rest of the dungeon-was so dark. The same blue vampire demons, shades of purple between their wings, poison probably flowing through the veins of their wings. The colours blue and purple flashed away from the opaque darkness of the room, the Zubats spreading their wings in preparation for flight.

“Dammit, not these things, how did they get in here? No, I was a fool for asking, they were here the whole time I just didn’t notice because they were camouflaged.”

With these creatures, no shred of forgiveness in sight, not even the thought of hesitating, no breaks as they continued to screech louder in unison. Each one ear-piercing, simply put it was a chorus gone wrong.

My body began to break down and hug the floor. The sound struck at my core so much that it made my blood shake, my insides possibly a disgusting mess of liquid. The Poliwag around me must have shared this thought, they too unwillingly hugged the floor, however for them it was a little different. My body relied on my hand stubbornly clenching my stomach hard somehow distracting my brain from the pain of it all. The Poliwag had it rougher since -unlike me- they had no arms or legs to speak of, they were simply over puffed water balloons; they twisted their puffed frames through the dirt bumping back and forth like they were trying to get something off them. Of course, this couldn’t be farther from the truth as all it did was smother rocks and dirt all over them. If they were balloons, they’d have popped long ago. The smell of blood leaking into the cave’s air. This was starting to become a pain because the scent grew so strong that even I began to drool a little at the thought of having a taste of the Poliwags’ blood. Not a surprise really considering I mostly relied on stealing simple berries from other Pokemon or trying to conserve as much energy as possible. Up to that point I never considered munching on another Pokemon’s flesh.

The Poliwags started to look less like rounded balloons and now looked like perfectly stuffed meat awaiting to be gobbled up. The Zubats must have shared this same sentiment, their gazes fixated on the Poliwags, my ears assaulted by another set of sounds as the swarm of Zubats flew overhead to capture their prey.

*Swarmm*

“Zu, Zu, Zubat!”

The echoes of their wings flapping. The echoes as their teeth chattered. The echoes when the Poliwags splattered. They showered the Poliwags in a frenzy huddling as one, all trying to dig in the greatest of bites they could. I could only assume though as the Zubats’ saliva started to dye the colour of red.

“POLIWAG!”

I shouted…No, I screamed! The Zubats produced a synthetic melody, voices in unison, for sure created by the devil; the Zubats taking large bites into their meal. The Poliwags’ voices started out loud, loud shrieks for life. But the bloodcurdling shrieks only died away with time, greatly correlating with the amount of blood spilling away from the horde of Zubats. Blood dropping away at the cliff that was now clear as day. The newfound light shone the spectacle into my eyes the blood now a crimson red. At this site, my eyes grew dull, my imagination driving me insane, brain overclocking, my heart aching and my voice...

“No…

…

You can’t… Don’t you dare kill them…why…?”

The last bit of that sentence shrivelled my voice away to the void of the dungeon, the only thing I had left was my conscious.

What do I do…

What do I do?

What do I do?!

Omg…

What the hell do I do?!

The Poliwags, they’re dying, in front of me. I mean it is survival of the fittest, but would I be classed as a monster if I let them die?

I want to live too, if I fight, I’ll die… It’s not cowardly to live, right?

Or, maybe I am a coward. Nothing has changed, I always was a sham who never had the guts to fight.

Yeah…it has always been like this. I’m a coward that’s all there is to it. A coward. A coward. A loser. A disgusting person. I’m

“I’m his friend…”

The moment those words escaped prised lips; my hoarse voice killed my conscious as well. Why was I becoming so fixated on him? Why was he the one I kept imagining, why him…

Why…

…

…

“Hey, Nison! Stop daydreaming and answer the question.” I had a friend once, I thought of him as my best friend. “What are you picking for A levels?”

How did I respond? What did I say again? I think I might have said... “Uh, well I um, I was going to go for: Art, English language and maybe Computer Science?”

“Hmmm,” I remember it now! His face, twisted with disgust, “you got to be joking right? You might as well of picked BTECs or apprenticeships, you looking to live off chump change your whole life?” His voice was eerily condescending. His stature much larger than mine, shoulders broad and wide a semi-muscular frame. Silk black hair and silk black skin never did I ever remember a smile peaking onto his frame. He always would look down, intentional or not my words would stumble at the sight of him.

“Um, well, I um.” My hands… were shaking. My shoulders… were aching. My eyes… were fading.

“Hey, you really need to stop with the whole ‘I shut my eyes when I’m scared crap’, I’m also getting sick of all the optimistic bullsh*t. Look, it’s time for you to realise that in this world no one gives a sh*t about your dreams.” Yeah, I always was a cry baby, my eyes heaving with water. That day, his face twisted with its usual look of disgust, expressing the deepest look of deceitfulness. Shoving his twig for hands straight round my neck.

“I know your parents want you to be a doctor, come on don’t overthink it so much, it’s only our A levels you’ll have plenty of time to think about it.” Tears started streaming down my cheek. “ I bet even she might be in some of your classes.” No matter what he said the tears only amplified at each of his statements, not even a blush caressed my face. “Lucky bastard.” That playful scorn of his voice never ceased to change. He’d always been the same. He was always like that. What a jerk…

My best friend, yeah, he’s always right. Just got to survive in this world, because no one out their cares about you anyway. The clearest memory to me was at the end when I felt my cold tears dripping down my face when the days of summer were hottest.

….

….

“When cascades of waterfalls flood our ocean!”

“Noooooo, not like that Nison! You need to put some more oomph into it.”

“What do you mean? I’m saying the whole line right, what else should be I doing?!”

Outside the Dojo that time before we properly chatted with Makuhita, Charmander insisted that me and spend some time reciting something important. I remembered clearly, He declared it earnestly,

“There’s this special code we have to recite, or we’ll die in the Mystery Dungeons for sure!” The fool always wanted things to go his way.

“I don’t see how that'll help.” I folded my arms obstinately, refusing to adhere to his wishes.

“You really going to go back on the promise we just made? You said you’d bet your life on me, meaning your life is in my hands and I can tell you what to do, right?” A truth I had no means of defending, especially since I out of the two of us got the most emotional over the whole ordeal.

“You’re gonna make me look like a scam artist at this rate;” Then a question quickly came to mind “makes me wonder when did you even come up with this?” A cold sweat formed on his brow, he thought so long and hard about the question, that the sweat had enough time to make its full journey from his face all towards the soil.

“I um, that information, is classified?”

“Classified my ass you can’t jus-”

“Come on don’t fuss over the details so much. Just do it, ok?”

“….Fine, you’re such a pain the ass.”

And like that we sang the melody just the same, each taking turns as each line slipped.

“When cascades of waterfalls flood our ocean.”

The shower of sounds berating our existence.

When summer’s blazing burns our fever.

A scorching image of Charmander’s struggles.

“He's there,”

Yet he’s the one to pick me back up.

“I'm there,”

Always the first one to stand.

“If the lizard's delusions were to drown and falter,”

So many ways he could fail and still…

If my treasure's fallacy be clear as day,

His smile always brightest when the risks are highest.

“He'll die,”

He’s already accepted the strong possibility of death.

I'll die,

And he’d say those words with a straight face.

“His frozen fever cooled by its outpouring ice,”

I’m always thinking of different ways his little flame will be snuffed out.

His frozen hand in summer's heat,

And he’ll always push me into danger when I least expect it.

“We'll die,”

I already knew I set myself up to die with a clown.

We'll live,

Stubborn as hell, even if it costs him his life.

“Even as he drowns in the waterfall's sands,”

Someone who smiles when the corridors of death draw near.

Even as he hesitates to dive into hell,

For then he’ll drag me down those same corridors.

“We will...”

Still and all, he’s a friend to the end.

We will...

Someone I’ll be relying on more often than usual.

“Fade...”

I expected to disappear on my own not too long ago.

Together...”

Now though, I wouldn’t mind both of us dying as a team.

…

…

“I really am pathetic. It took a guy with half a brain to snap me out of it. I really don’t know how that lizard does it.” I finally found something I could latch to, my newfound resolve. Not letting go of the memories good or bad. They were mine to keep, my life and my experiences. The scariest thing for me was having people look down on me for not following the ‘right’ path. The thing that scares me most now is dying without my friend next to me!

“H-Hey! Zubats! Um…D-Don’t make this difficult, I um. I need you to pay attention!”

It took a while for the words to slip from my mouth, overcoming the hoarseness of my voice, which had gone completely dry. To make extra sure they paid me their full attention I positioned my feet parallel to one another and swung my bone a full 360 degrees. Complete confidence in my ability to hit at least one of them.

Sure enough, I didn’t just hit one or two, but four at once and the bone crushed into all four of their faces nearly ripping their heads clean off. This didn’t sit too well with the Zubats and they twisted their heads towards me, changing their menu item.

I shouted aloud with all my might and just like that the Zubats diverted their attention to me and again they came in a swarm. My main method of attack was gone since I threw my bone to divert the Zubats’ attention away from the Poliwags. If they had eyes, I’d be terrified to see what they’d look like bloodshot.

Still and all, I had to find some way of taking them down. The ideal outcome would be getting my bone back. If I did start to do this rescue team work with Charmander I’d need to be versatile with my attacks and my bone gave me the element of surprise. It could be used as a sword in hand-to-hand combat like a knight. If I became overwhelmed during a sword fight by a more skilled opponent using my bone to surprise enemies by throwing my bone from a distance and you couldn’t throw a sword like that.

This only left me with one option, charge towards the swarm of Zubats and when I got my bone back then I’d take a chance with that plan. Adjusting myself through the hordes of Zubats as they attacked was most definitely suicide; but worst-case scenario, the Zubats latch on to me and beat me down into the floor until nothing was left of me beside the last pieces of my own skull, there was a chance I’d survive. Possibly.

I considered my skull an iron maiden, my own variation of chainmail. Even that wouldn’t likely last.

Without my bone, every other plan would become too risky. In my head the plan was foolish but in a situation like this trusting my gut seemed like the only option whereas before I had time to think about my every move carefully. Croconaw might have been strong but because of the thick amount of blubber centred in its stomach, its speed was atrocious. Giving me all the time in the world to think up a strategy. These Zubats were in a horde so if they surrounded me, I wouldn’t be able to dodge or properly defend. I’d be slaughtered before a strategy even came to mind.

After settling on a strategy for getting my bone back now came thinking up a strategy for when I did have it. I had two plans in mind, neither was ideal. The first one was relatively sensible but also one I refused to go with. The plan would be to simply abandon the Poliwag and run. I was initially planning to go with this one but that would betray everything I stood for. I did want to live, that was a fact, but I couldn’t see myself living with that guilt weighing in on my heart. Eventually, I’m sure I’d die not long after too, I’d die because mentally my mind would have already died. I wanted to live, going into every battle with the thought that I could die. I wanted that to be what fuelled me to victory.

My internal monologue dissipated at last the Zubats still charged for me, it was as if the world had paused in that moment to give me the opportunity to take in the last bits of my thoughts. They say things like this usually only happen just before death, but at that point, my heart shook vigorously shuttering my arms and legs. A grin surfaced through my skull.

The Zubats raised their voices at the highest pitch possible, showcasing that now I was next on the menu.

“They’re probably using echolocation, that’s how they know where I am.” I thought to myself since the Zubats had no eyes to speak of. Their echolocation must have been precise.

So, we butted heads. The heads of what seemed like thousands of a solider challenging a lonesome warrior on the battlefield whose strength feeble compared to the masses. All I had to do was push away from their grasp but, but I failed. The Zubats all flew to my face and I tumbled to the floor as they all bit at my skull. They bit at my face, crunching bits of blood spilling, feeling helpless. One Zubat left its mark, biting into my shoulders. They claimed me as their property and attempted to devour me. By that point, I was almost certain my life would end. They gathered towards my feet, planning to eat me starting with my feet. I never took pleasure in eating food although I knew some who’d brag about how much their days had been made better by savouring the meatiest and chunky part of the pizza.

*PLOORRRT*

Just as a Zubat prepared to take the chunkiest bite it could of the soles of my feet in a twist of fate, the Poliwag stood…? the hidden figure that came to protect me was, Poliwag?!

Standing its ground at the swarm of Zubats, even when blood dripped from the lid of its eye. Its puff frame nearly drained of the colour blue. The dirt particles spread all throughout its face, this Poliwag had been the second biggest out of the three. Even when blood continued to deflate its frame it still stood with courage.

Did it, protect me? Or maybe I was overthinking the whole scenario and it attempted to defend itself, “No, stop! What the hell are you doing?!” The Poliwag twisted its face in confusion at the question I posed. The Zubats had no patience for it anymore deciding to twist the Poliwag’s next together before it was able to understand the situation. The Zubats formed a massive hand that ripped the Poliwag’s neck in two. The Zubats started feasting on the creature, a surmountable quantity of blood gushing from the beach ball. Internal organs splashing away onto the floors of the cave.

“Pol! Poli, Poli!” Every screamed more detailed than the last. My stomach was already twisted beyond repair, a gush of fluid escaping my mouth. I wanted to cry at the Zubats and shout for them to let it go. I wanted to go up to the Poliwag and comfort it and tell it everything would be ok. I wanted to show kindness to a Pokemon that really deserved it at that moment. I chose to be selfish. If I wasn’t selfish, we’d all die. If being selfish meant I could save at least one of them, then I had to be selfish. Something welled up inside me as I gained access to my bone once again and prepared to take a gamble. I made sure to keep my eyes away from the PoIiwag, forcefully echoing the sentiment that it might have been possible to save this creature.

I got near the edge of the cliff taking a gulp in case some liquid tried to escape my lips.

“Over here!” I hollered to the Zubats grabbing their attention again. They must have thought they had me cornered, but they could never predict what would come next. They came in one final rush, this sprint faster than their previous ones and I saw it, a hand. A hand that would take my future. A deciding factor of whether I lived in this world of talking Pokemon any longer. The road ahead would be much tougher than this, the exhaustion I would feel when this was all over. And still, somehow, thinking about the pain gave me courage. Just before the Zubats snagged a bite, I jumped. Dashing away from the cliff feeling my wings take flight. My mind stopped almost instantly to concentrate on my next attack.

“Boomerang!” I up thrusted the bone above me and the spiked corner of the wall began to crumble. The rocks rumbling and the swarm of Zubats below began to fall. I ran straight across them before I too fell along with them.

Come on.

Come on! I got to make it!

When I jumped to the other side, I barely managed to hug the edges of the cliff. Clinging for dear life. Barely managing to drag myself back onto solid ground. The pillar dragged all the Zubats into the soundless void of the dungeon, never to be heard from again.

“I actually came out of that fiasco alive.” Usually, this would call for a victory dance or an uplifting cheer for finally overcoming a tough fight; who knew negative emotions could have so much control over the mood.

Two of the three Poliwags were all slaughtered. The biggest of them unrecognisable, the Zubats butchered its body with their fanged teeth. Organs I’d never even seen before just casually splashed on the floor in a pool of red. The organs didn’t have the decency to just lay still, they splashed and moved at times, and some even slipped away from its body, mocking the Pokemon. The other already losing consciousness not losing the same quantity of blood as the other but a big whole gapped at its side. The Zubats definitely had a hefty meal for their execution it made me wonder who really were the victors that day.

The two things left being me and the smaller Poliwag. “Here take this, you need it more than me.”

“Poli…wag? Poli…” It was so afraid, overcome with fear. Terrified to even look at me with a straight face. From my perspective it didn’t seem like the Pokemon just lost its companions, it was like the Poliwag was a lost child.

“Take this. I can’t, I can’t do anything for you beyond this, I’m sorry that they're gone. I-I’m sorry I couldn’t save them. Please fulfil this last selfish wish of mine. Survive. Survive any way you must. Survive so I can be able to say that, today, I saved someone.”

I shoved it my toolbox onto it. Putting it around the Pokemon’s neck. Fear still showering its figure, fear writhing away at the Poliwag’s very core. Those Poliwags were probably its parents. I knew I was being selfish by walking away from the Poliwag. I hoped at the least that it would be able to move on from this and survive. Unfortunately, I would never know, what happens in the Mystery Dungeons stay in the Mystery Dungeons.

The rest of my time in the cave being the same old same old. The one thing at the back of my mind was the image of a lonesome that lonesome child. I couldn’t save them. Shame coated every fibre of my being the rest of the way through.

…

…

A few days later I made it out and there I saw Makuhita and Charmander. They stood there on the bench basking in the greens of the night, solitude washing over the scene.

“Yo.” Makuhita was the first to holler for me and Charmander simply laid by the slump already fast to sleep.

“How was it, as exhilarating as expected?” The same question was imposed on me the day he threw us into the Mystery Dungeon. He had posed the same question too: the Scyther, Pikachu and Wartortle that time.

“I hate to admit this, but you were right. That experience, I can’t speak on behalf of Charmander, but…I really needed it.” I thought back at the event that transpired just a few days ago, that Poliwag, by himself all alone. My mouth jittered too much; my eagerness got the better of me. “Makuhita, is It true? Are the Pokemon from the Mystery Dungeons really as bad as they say?”

Makuhita shut his mouth silent, a brief pause making rooms for the sounds of the crickets chirping that night.

“I can’t answer a question like dat squirt. I won’t give my opinion on the matter either. Just ask me about the facts from now on, I’m not one to get hung up on details and the like.” His head drooped as he said it. He likely avoided his opinion on the matter entirely, I wondered why though. I nodded respectfully as his wishes and asked my further questions in line with his conditions, “When did Charmander get here?”

“A few hours ago. I expected you two to take longer, but it only took ya like a month and two weeks, colour me impressed.” Makuhita regained some of that lost enthusiasm and he seemed to have been back to his old self.

“The sudden enthusiasm makes me think you expected us to never come back.” To continue the spiral of the good mood we had built up I cracked a joke, “Well, you uh. You don’t have to call me out like that.” He started scratching the back of his head in embarrassment and the colour drained from my face. “You douc- *sigh* you’re not worth it. Not worth getting angry over, we should be expected to lay down our lives as a Rescue Team so expecting you to go easy on us would only make us less prepared.” Makuhita shook his head satisfied with my assessment, “Thanks for understanding pal!” He thrusted his sausage for a thumb at my face.

“I’d say mission accomplished. Come on, I need you to get to sleep like the other lad it’s a big day for you lot tomorrow.”

“Big day?”

“Oh, you’ll see~”

Makuhita jumped off the slump and gathered the same blanket of leaves covering Charmander. He offered me some and I accepted them without exchanging words and instead of nodding deeply. I would have never done that before though, maybe I was starting to respect Makuhita a bit more.

I laid myself left next to Charmander. I had wondered what his journeys through the Mystery Dungeons must have been like. He only came a few hours ago so it must have been a rough trip like mine. One so grand that he didn’t fight sleep not enough to wait and greet me.

“Charmander.” My voice only spoke his name. and I turned to look upwards to the stars. My body dreary, the cliff filled with rocks felt like a cushion. The constellations of the stars and the moonlight of an opaque sky flashing brightly. Someday, I hoped that the stars that were so feeble and tiny would overshadow the abundance of darkness.

(To be continued)