{"sf1_id":977755,"sf2_id":null,"title":"PMD: Wildfire - Chapter 2","author":"ZiraDakota","words":8312,"posted_at":"2016-03-20T08:08:00.000Z","tags":["PMD","Pokemon","Team dakota","mystery dungeon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/977755-pmd-wildfire-chapter-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/977755","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=977755\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"Finally, here's chapter two.\nSorry for the long wait. I'm not sure why I had such a hard time writing this. Writer's block really hit me hard for some reason.\nGiven the trouble I had writing this chapter, there's probably lots of issues with it, but at some point, I need to just post it and let the readers decide what they think of it.\nPokémon © 2016 Nintendo\nPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Wildfire © 2016 Zira Dakota\nThis work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.","content":"\nChapter\n2\nCyril awoke just as\nthe morning sun began to filter through the windows. He rubbed his\neyes as he sat up in his hammock, giving himself a moment to wake up\na bit more. After nearly a minute had passed, Cyril carefully slid\nout of the hammock, stumbling slightly as he landed on his feet. He\nlet out a yawn before glancing at the other two Pokémon in the room.\nLance was still asleep, as was Zira, the odd Charmeleon they'd\nrescued the day before. Cyril walked over to Zira's hammock and\ngazed at the sleeping Charmeleon.\nZira was lying on\nher back with her hands resting on her chest. Cyril's eyes ran over\nher entire body, from her peaceful face to her bright white belly,\ndown her long red legs to the tip of her tail, where her flame burned\ncalmly. Her majestic body was outmatched only by the shroud of\nmystery surrounding her. What brought her to the Pokémon world? Was\nshe destined to fill an important role?\nCyril sighed as he\nturned away from Zira, knowing that he wasn't likely to find\nanswers to those questions any time soon, if ever. He walked over to\nLance's hammock and began to shake the sleeping Golduck. \"Hey,\"\nhe whispered. \"Wake up.\"\nLance opened his\neyes and lifted his head. He stared bleary-eyed at Cyril for a few\nseconds before putting his head back down. \"Oh gods...\" he said,\nrubbing his eyes.\n\"It's nice to\nsee you too, Sunshine,\" Cyril said. \"Come on. It's time to face\nthe music.\"\nLance nodded before\nquietly sliding out of the hammock. As Cyril and Lance walked past\nZira's hammock, Zira suddenly turned onto her side, her tail\nlashing upward. Cyril jumped away, eliciting a stifled laugh from\nLance. Slightly embarrassed, Cyril looked wide-eyed at the grinning\nGolduck for a moment before grabbing his bag off of the desk and\nstepping outside. Lance grabbed his bag as well and quietly closed\nthe door on his way out.\n\"Do you think we\nhave time for breakfast?\" Lance asked.\n\"I don't think I\ncould eat anything right now,\" Cyril replied. \"Let's just hear\nwhat Cale has to say.\"\n\"Try not to worry,\nCyril,\" Lance said, placing a hand on the Grovyle's shoulder. \"I\ndon't think Cale will shut us down. We may have strayed from our\npatrol, but we made a discovery and saved a life. He'll take that\ninto consideration.\"\n\"I hope you're\nright,\" Cyril said quietly. I'd hate to go back home and tell\neveryone that we're failures.\nFailure. It was the\nword that often kept Cyril awake at night. Leading his own rescue\nteam was his lifelong dream. The thought that he would fail to keep\nhis dream alive terrified him to no end. Just the other day, before\nsetting out on their patrol, he'd broken down into tears in the\ntown square after realizing that they wouldn't even be able to pay\nthe month's rent for the cabin. At least he still had his friend\nLance. It was only because of Lance's unwavering support that he\nhadn't given up yet.\nAs Cyril and Lance\nwalked into the square, the wonderful aroma of food filled Cyril's\nnose. The surrounding restaurants had just opened and many of the\nPokémon in the square were streaming into them for a quick meal\nbefore either heading to work or out of town. The scent of the food\nand the beautiful morning sky, however, did little to put Cyril's\nmind at ease. He let out a sigh as they passed by the fountain in the\ncenter of the square. The Federation building was not much further\naway.\n\"What do you think\nof Zira?\" Lance suddenly asked, shaking Cyril out of his thoughts.\n\"Huh? Oh... she\nseems like a nice person,\" Cyril replied.\nLance gave Cyril a\nsly grin. \"You're just interested in that nice ass of hers,\naren't you?\"\n\"What? No!\"\nCyril glanced at the Golduck, seeing that he was not entirely\nconvinced. \"Okay, fine, I think she's cute, but that's not the\nonly reason I offered her a place to stay.\" Cyril returned his gaze\nto the looming Federation building. \"There something about her that\nI find... I don't know... fascinating.\"\n\"Aye, she's\ncertainly unique in many respects,\" Lance said. \"You don't see\ntoo many Charmeleons with a bright white belly, certainly not with a\nHuman mind as well. And with that slender body and long legs, I bet\nshe'd be a speed demon in combat.\"\n\"Ha-ha! Yeah...\"\nNow standing before the entrance to the Federation building, Cyril\ntook in a deep breath. \"All right,\" he said, taking a step\nforward. \"Here we go.\"\nAs they entered the\nlobby, Cyril looked around for Commander Cale, the Nidoking who was\nin charge of the facility. The scene was chaotic as the night shift\nwas being replaced with a bleary-eyed day shift. Commander Cale,\nhowever, was nowhere in sight.\n\"Maybe he's in\nhis office,\" Cyril said as he started walking towards the hallway\nin the back of the lobby. As he and Lance made their way through the\ncrowded room, Lance looked at the job board.\n\"Damn... no E or D\nrank jobs,\" Lance said. \"Looks like we're volunteering for\nanother patrol.\"\n\"Assuming this\nmeeting goes well,\" Cyril reminded him as they continued walking.\nCale's office was at the end of the hallway to the right. Reaching\nthe door, Cyril tried to turn the door handle, but the door was\nlocked. He turned to Lance. \"I guess he's not in yet.\"\n\"He'll be here\nshortly,\" a male voice from behind said.\nCyril turned around\nto see Shar exiting the office across from Cale's, closing the door\nbehind him. Even through the Flygon's red lenses, Cyril could see\nthe fatigue in Shar's eyes. Cyril then noticed that Shar was\nholding a file in his left hand. As Shar locked the door leading into\nhis office, Cyril caught a glimpse of part of the file's label,\nwhich ended with the letters OTA.\nIt's our file,\nCyril thought, his heart sinking.\n\"I saw Cale and\nJake having breakfast at the Starlight Café,\" Shar said. \"It\nshouldn't be much longer--oh, there they are.\"\nCyril and Lance both\nturned towards the lobby entrance. Jake the Ampharos, Cale's other\nlieutenant, walked in first, carrying his signature coffee mug with\nthe phrase \"I hate mornings\" printed on the side of it. Cale\nhimself walked in next, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Cyril and\nLance. Cyril began to tremble slightly as Cale and Jake made their\nway through the crowded lobby towards them. He hoped that he would\nnot have a panic attack.\n\"Commander!\"\nShar yelled over the commotion in the lobby. He held the file up in\nthe air as he walked towards Cale. \"I need to talk to you.\" He\nhanded the file to Cale, who immediately began to browse its contents\nwhile Shar spoke.\nCyril sighed heavily\nas he watched the exchange. He began to fidget with his hands as he\nwaited for them to finish their discussion. Lance placed a hand on\nhis shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. After a few minutes, the\nconversation ended and Cale and Jake walked over to meet them.\n\"How are you\nholding up, Cyril?\" Cale asked. \"You seemed rather distressed the\nother day after you were given your assignment.\"\nCyril's eyes\nwidened. \"Uh... you saw that?\"\n\"The whole square\nsaw it,\" Jake said before taking a sip from his coffee mug.\nLance looked at\nCyril. \"Saw what?\"\nCyril's face\nflushed in embarrassment. \"Oh gods. I can explain...\"\nCale held up a hand.\n\"We'll talk about it in a bit.\" Cale reached into his bag and\npulled out a set of keys. He opened the door and walked into his\noffice. \"Come on in,\" he said, holding the door open. As soon as\nCyril and Lance walked into the sparsely decorated office, Cale\nclosed the door behind them.\n\"Shar told me\nabout what happened regarding your patrol,\" Cale said as he walked\npast Cyril and Lance. Taking a seat behind his desk, he opened the\nfile that Shar had given him and again browsed through its contents.\n\"That was a risky move on your part, straying so far from your\npatrol route, but I understand why you did it. A strange rift and a\nlegendary Pokémon's sudden interest in it are certainly worthy of\ninvestigation, so I'll let this incident slide.\" He put down the\nfile and looked directly at Cyril. \"But next time, ask for\nauthorization first. Your badges still should've been able to\ncommunicate with us from that distance.\"\n\"Y-yes sir,\"\nCyril replied, hanging his head. He wanted to smack himself for\nforgetting such an important detail.\n\"Sorry, Cyril, I\nshould've thought of that too,\" Lance said, looking at the\nembarrassed Grovyle.\n\"And the\nHuman-turned-Charmeleon you rescued...\" Cale skimmed over Cyril's\nreport. \"Zira... what's her status?\"\n\"She's resting\nat our base right now,\" Lance answered. \"She has gaps in her\nmemory regarding who she is, but she's otherwise all right. We've\noffered to help her out any way we can.\"\n\"Thank you for\nthat,\" Cale said. \"It takes some weight off my shoulders. Now,\ngoing back to what I was saying earlier...\" Cale locked eyes with\nCyril \"What was that breakdown about the other day?\"\nCyril started\nfidgeting with his hands again. \"Well sir, we've been having a\nhard time finding enough work. We're almost out of money and we're\nabout to lose our cabin.\" Cyril sighed in resignation and looked\ndown at the ground, too ashamed to look at Cale in the eyes. \"Our\nteam will be defunct by the end of the month.\"\n\"I'm sorry to\nhear that,\" Cale said. \"You're one of the few rescue teams here\nin Seneca that shows any promise. The other so-called rescue teams\ncame here just because they thought they'd get rich or make a name\nfor themselves. They don't actually care about the rescuing part.\nAnd don't even get me started on the Explorers Guild. Greedy lot.\"\nIt was no secret\nthat Cale wasn't a fan of the Explorers Guild. Cyril had heard that\nCale had a really bad run-in with an exploration team before his\ntransfer to the Seneca outpost. Exploration teams going bad wasn't\nan unusual occurrence on the continent of Andara and Cale watched the\nlocal explorers like a Staraptor.\n\"I can't promise\nanything,\" Cale said, \"but I'll see if I can find some special\nassignments for you.\"\nCyril lifted his\nhead upon hearing Cale's words. Finally, a glimmer of hope!\n\"Really? You'd really do that for us, sir?\"\n\"Really, Cyril,\"\nCale answered. \"As I said, your team is one of the few here that\nshows any promise, and I don't want to see it fail before it has a\nchance to get off the ground.\" He stood up. \"Now, I need to\nattend to my duties. Good luck to both of you. I'll be keeping an\neye on your progress.\"\n\"Thank you, sir,\"\nCyril and Lance said in unison, smiling brightly. For Cyril, this was\na huge confidence boost. He may have made a mistake starting a rescue\nteam in the frontier, but there was still a chance that he and Lance\ncould recover from that mistake. Team Dakota wasn't finished yet.\nCyril and Lance were\nstill smiling as they left the office and made their way through the\nlobby, which had calmed considerably with the departure of the night\nshift. As Team Dakota walked out into the square, Lance nudged\nCyril's arm with his elbow.\n\"See? I told you\nhe wouldn't shut us down,\" Lance said jubilantly as he walked\nbeside Cyril.\n\"Well, we're not\nout of the woods yet,\" Cyril noted, heading straight for the\nfountain. \"Hopefully, Cale will find us some of those special\nmissions he was talking about. In the meantime, we need to keep\nlooking for work.\"\n\"There's also\nthe matter of Zira,\" Lance noted. \"We offered to help her decide\nwhat to do, but to be honest, I don't have a clue where to start.\"\nCyril remained quiet\nas he considered Lance's words. He wanted to help Zira, but like\nLance, he wasn't sure how to go about doing it. As Cyril and Lance\napproached the fountain, they sat on the fountain's stone edge,\ngazing at nothing in particular as the Pokémon around them went\nabout their business. The sun was rising higher in the clear sky,\nbathing the small frontier town in its warm light. Cyril closed his\neyes and slowly breathed in and out. As he relaxed, an idea occurred\nto him. Opening his eyes, Cyril turned to face Lance.\n\"Maybe we should\nask Zira to join our team,\" Cyril said.\nLance look at Cyril\nwith a curious expression on his face. \"Are you serious? Being a\nrescuer is a dangerous job and she doesn't know a damn thing. She\ndoesn't even know any moves aside from an unreliable flamethrower.\"\n\"She can be\ntaught,\" Cyril said, looking straight ahead again. \"This is a\ndangerous world and she needs to learn how to defend herself. As a\nmember of our team, we can teach her how to fight while at the same\ntime giving her a home and a purpose in life. Given some time, I\nthink she'd make a great rescuer. Maybe we'll discover what\nbrought her to our world along the way.\"\nLance sighed. \"Well,\nassuming she's willing to give it a try. After what happened to her\nthe other day, she might not be interested.\"\nCyril stood up and\nlooked at Lance. \"Let's ask her.\"\nZira awoke on her\nside in her hammock. The morning sun filled the interior of the\ncabin. After a few moments, Zira rolled onto her back and placed her\nhands over her belly as she tried to make herself more comfortable.\nJust a few more\nminutes...\nAs Zira tried to get\nback to sleep, she brought one hand up to her chest to scratch an\nitch. She yawned as her fingers ran over her pectoral muscles on her\notherwise flat chest.\nFlat chest?\nZira's eyes\nsnapped open. Alarmed, she lifted her head and looked over her body.\nThough initially shocked by what she saw, Zira quickly relaxed with a\nsigh as she recalled the events of the previous day. Her thoughts\nthen shifted to her two rescuers. From the way that they had spoken\nthe other night, they seemed to be in dire straits. Zira glanced at\nthe other two hammocks in the room, seeing that they were empty.\nThey must be at\nthat meeting they spoke of. I hope it turns out all right for them.\nZira didn't think\nthat she'd be able to get back to sleep, so she turned over and\nslowly got out of the hammock, being careful not to brush her flaming\ntail against the wooden floor. Zira yawned again before performing a\nfew stretches, during which her tail's flame caught her attention.\nShe grabbed the tip of her tail and cradled it in front of her,\nstaring into the flame.\n\"You're not so\nbad,\" Zira said softly. She found herself mesmerized by the flame,\nher beautiful flame. Despite her shock upon first seeing it the other\nday, Zira was already starting to warm up to the idea of the flame\nbeing an ever present part of her. She lightly blew on the flame,\ncausing it to flicker. Zira chucked before releasing her grip on her\ntail and allowing it to move around behind her.\nI could be\nwaiting a while till Cyril and Lance get back, Zira thought. She\nlooked around the cabin for something to occupy her. It appeared the\nonly items of any interest in the rather empty cabin sat on the worn\ndesk, where Zira spotted several books standing between a pair of\nbookends and what appeared to be a newspaper. She walked over to the\ndesk and looked at the spines of the books, spotting a number of\ninteresting titles such as Team Apex and the Falling Star, The\nTime Crisis, Rescue Team Essentials, and History of the\nPokémon Federation. As interesting as the books were, it was the\nnewspaper, the Seneca Weekly News, that grabbed her attention,\nspecifically the headline at the top in large print.\nPRESIDENT\nSURVIVESASSASSINATION ATTEMPT\nZira picked up the\nnewspaper and sat in the worn chair in front of the desk, curling the\nend of her tail upward to keep the flame off of the floor. As she\nread the article, Zira learned a number of things about the world she\nnow found herself in.\nThe continent of\nAndara was home to a nation known as the Pokémon Federation, a\nrepublic that spread across the western two-thirds of Andara. The\npresident, a female Blaziken named Kara, had narrowly escaped death\nafter a bomb composed of about twenty blast seeds detonated near her\nwhile she was on her way to speak with the Federation Council, the\ngoverning body of the Pokémon Federation. Though Kara survived with\nonly minor injuries, several security officers and civilians lost\ntheir lives in the blast. The attack was blamed on the independent\nterritories on the eastern side of the continent, who denied any\ninvolvement.\nAfter Zira finished\nreading the article, she looked at the remaining headlines in the\npaper, most of which were bad. It would seem that things were not\ngoing well on Andara. As Zira began to read another article, the\ncabin door suddenly opened and Cyril and Lance walked in. Zira stood\nup with the newspaper still in her hands.\n\"Hey, you're\nfinally awake,\" Cyril said, smiling. \"How are you?\"\n\"I'm all right,\"\nZira said, folding the newspaper. \"I've just been doing some\nreading.\"\nThe smile\ndisappeared from Cyril's face as he eyed the newspaper. \"Ah... I\nwish there was some better news in there. It's not exactly the best\nintroduction to our world.\"\n\"Are things really\nso bad right now?\" Zira asked.\nCyril sighed. \"I'm\nnot going to hide anything from you. Things are bad on this continent\nright now, and I don't see it getting any better in the foreseeable\nfuture. At least, not unless something miraculous happens.\"\n\"I'm sorry to\nhear that,\" Zira said, still holding on to the newspaper. Her gaze\nshifted to the floor for a moment before laying the newspaper on the\ndesk.\n\"At least we're\nrelatively isolated from current events out here in the frontier,\"\nLance chimed in. \"Life here in Seneca is still somewhat normal.\"\nAs Zira turned to\nface her rescuers, she noticed that Cyril was holding something in\nhis right hand. \"What's that?\"\n\"Oh!\" Cyril held\nup a loaf of bread with both hands. \"Here's breakfast.\" He\nbroke off a third of the loaf and handed it to Zira. \"It's\nmulti-berry bread. You'll love it.\"\n\"It has healing\nproperties as well,\" Lance said. \"Not as much as the raw berries\nit's made of, but it'll still leave you feeling full of energy.\"\nZira accepted the\npiece of bread and quickly devoured it. As it turned out, Lance\nwasn't exaggerating the effects of the berry bread. Zira felt like\nshe was ready for any challenge the day might throw at her. Cyril\ndivided what remained of the loaf between himself and Lance and they\ntoo quickly finished their meals.\n\"By the way,\nZira,\" Cyril said. \"I've been thinking about what you said the\nother day about wishing you could repay us. There might be a way that\nwe could help each other.\"\n\"Really?\" Zira\nasked. \"How?\"\nCyril fidgeted with\nhis hands. \"Well, I was wondering...\" Cyril took a deep breath.\n\"How'd you like to join our rescue team?\"\nZira's jaw dropped\nas she stared at the Grovyle. This was totally unexpected. As much as\nshe wanted to repay Cyril and Lance for saving her life, joining\ntheir team wasn't exactly what she had in mind. What could she\npossibly contribute to Team Dakota when she couldn't even defend\nherself? She didn't want to be a burden on them.\n\"Uh, that means\nno,\" Cyril said nervously after a few seconds. \"I-I totally\nunderstand. It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable\nor anything. I just... oh gods...\"\nLance placed a hand\non Cyril's shoulder. \"Why don't you let me handle this.\"\nReleasing Cyril's shoulder, he took a step towards Zira. \"What\nCyril means to say is that we feel you have a lot of potential. We\ncan teach you about our world and how to fight. Admittedly, being a\nrescuer is a dangerous job, but it's also very fulfilling. And\nmaybe, with a little luck, we'll discover what brought you to our\nworld. If you're interested,\" he held out his hand, \"we'd be\nhonored if you would join us.\"\nZira pondered\nLance's words for a moment. She'd already had a taste of just how\ndangerous this world was, so perhaps it was in her best interest to\naccept their offer. She had nowhere to go and she could certainly use\ntheir help. Her only alternative was to venture out on her own, which\nwas likely to end badly. With her mind made up, Zira reached out and\nshook the Golduck's hand. \"I accept.\"\nCyril shook Zira's\nhand next. \"Thank you. And I'm sorry if I was a little awkward a\nmoment ago.\"\n\"There's no need\nto apologize,\" Zira said. \"I was just surprised.\"\n\"Well, let's get\nyou a bandana,\" Cyril said, releasing his grip on Zira's hand. He\nwalked around Zira and opened one of the top desk drawers, pulling\nout a blue bandana just like the one that he and Lance wore. Cyril\npositioned himself behind Zira, being careful to avoid the\nCharmeleon's tail flame, and tied the bandana around Zira's neck.\n\"It looks good on\nyou,\" Lance said.\n\"It sure does,\"\nCyril said. He pulled a hand mirror out of another desk drawer and\nhanded it to Zira. \"Have a look.\"\nZira held the mirror\nout as far as her arm could reach so that she could get a good look\nat herself. She had to agree with her new teammates; the bandana\nlooked great on her. Zira smiled brightly as she brought up a hand\nand ran her fingers over the embroidered, light blue hexagon and claw\nthat served as the team's logo. \"I love it!\"\n\"Welcome to the\nteam, Zira,\" Cyril said. He and Lance both smiled as Zira gazed\ninto the mirror.\n\"So what's\nnext?\" Zira asked, placing the mirror on the desk.\n\"First we need to\nget you registered with the Rescuers Guild at the Federation\nbuilding,\" Cyril replied. \"After that, we'll take a look at the\njob board and see if there's any work available.\"\nZira, however, had a\nmore basic need on her mind at the moment. \"Um, before we head out...\nis there a toilet or something around here? I really have to pee.\"\nLance chuckled and\nthen pointed towards a small shack outside. \"There's an outhouse\nright over there.\"\n\"Th-thank you,\"\nZira said as she embarrassedly excused herself.\nOnce Zira was ready\nto depart, the team left their cabin and headed towards the square.\nWith the sun rising higher in the morning sky, Zira was getting a\nmuch better look at the village than she had the night before.\nWalking behind her new teammates, Zira took in the sights, the\nsounds, and the scents of the village that she would now call home.\nAs Team Dakota\nentered the square, Zira scanned her surroundings. The square was\nbustling with activity as the various Pokémon went about their\nroutines. It still felt strange to her to walk around nude in public,\nbut it was something she could get used to. After all, everyone else\nwas nude too. Zira was reminded of her conversation with Athena the\nday before regarding the topic, as well as her subsequent\nabandonment.\nShe wouldn't\neven give me a ride, Zira thought. She couldn't make any sense\nof the Lugia's motives. Athena seemed so willing to help her at\nfirst. Why did Athena just abandon her like that? It was a question\nthat Zira intended to ask if she ever saw the Lugia again. For now,\nshe resolved to assist her new team any way she could. There was\nreally nothing else she could do at this time. Zira sighed as she and\nher teammates walked up to the large stone building where her\ninjuries had been treated the night before. Stepping into the busy\nlobby, Cyril and Lance led Zira to the right towards a desk near a\nlarge bulletin board staffed by a Nidoqueen.\n\"Hey, Anna,\"\nCyril said, waving to the Nidoqueen. \"We're Team Dakota.\" He\ngestured towards Zira. \"We've just added a new member to our\nteam.\"\n\"That's good to\nhear,\" Anna replied cheerfully. She handed Cyril a clipboard and a\nfountain pen. \"Just fill out this form while I grab a badge and a\ntravel bag for her.\" She glanced at a list she had sitting on her\ndesk, then she walked into the storage room behind her.\nZira watched as\nCyril filled out the form. Most of it was basic information that\nshe'd expect to see on such a form. She couldn't help but notice\nCyril's honesty on some of the fields, such as Species and\nBirthplace. He had written \"Charmeleon, formerly Human\"\nand \"Human world\" respectively for those two fields.\n\"That won't\nraise any red flags?\" Zira asked.\n\"Nah,\" Cyril\nreplied. \"You're not the first Human to come to our world and a\nlot of them tend to find homes in the Rescuers Guild or similar. In\nfact, the Charizard on Team Apex is a Human. We've got a book about\nthem at the cabin. You should read it when you've got a chance.\"\nHe finished filling in the final field just as Anne walked back into\nthe room. Cyril placed the clipboard and pen back on the desk. \"All\ndone.\"\n\"All right, let's\nhave a look,\" Anna said, picking up the clipboard. It didn't take\nlong before she raised her eyebrows and gazed towards Zira. \"Well,\nthis certainly is a surprise. I never imagined I'd actually get to\nmeet a Human all the way out here.\" She leaned over the desk and\nheld out a hand. \"It's an honor to meet you, Zira.\"\n\"It's nice to\nmeet you too,\" Zira replied, shaking the Nidoqueen's hand.\nAnne handed a travel\nbag and a badge across the desk to Zira. \"I wish you the best of\nluck, Zira. Take care.\"\n\"Thank you,\"\nZira replied as she swung the strap of the travel bag over her head\nand onto her shoulder. Her attention then shifted to the badge.\nHolding the rescue team badge in both hands, her eyes ran over its\nfeatures, from the circular center to the pair of golden wings on\neach side. The center of the circle was occupied by a pink crystal,\nwhich glowed slightly as she rubbed her fingers over it.\n\"That crystal will\nallow you to communicate with the Rescuers Guild,\" Cyril noted. \"It\nalso acts as a tracking beacon, which is nice when a rescue team\nneeds to be rescued themselves. Now, let's see if there's any\njobs available.\" Cyril turned around and looked at the job board.\nHe let out a sigh almost immediately. \"Still no jobs.\"\nZira stepped up\nbeside Cyril and examined the board. It seemed to be organized into\nfour categories, baring labels such as E and D rank on the left side\nto star rank on the right side. The E and D rank category was totally\nempty, while the C and B rank category next to it only had a few\npapers pinned to it. Most of the papers on the board were\nconcentrated in the A and S rank and the star rank categories. A\nFraxure wearing a purple armband stood nearby with his arms crossed,\ngazing briefly at Team Dakota before shifting his attention back to\nthe board. Zira figured that he was part of another rescue team\nlooking for work.\nCyril's comment a\nmoment ago about there being no jobs had Zira confused. It appeared\nto her that there were plenty of jobs to choose from, yet neither\nCyril nor the Fraxure appeared to be considering them. Were those\njobs not available to them?\n\"Hey, what about\nthose jobs there?\" Zira asked, pointing towards the star rank\nsection.\n\"Those are way\noutside of our league,\" Cyril replied. \"As a normal rank rescue\nteam, we're only permitted to take E and D rank jobs, but there's\nnone available.\" He sighed once more. \"We'll talk to one of the\nsecurity personnel and see if we can take on a patrol instead. It\ndoesn't pay worth a damn, but beggars can't be choosers.\"\nJust as Cyril\nstopped talking, Anna left her desk and walked towards the left side\nof the board where she then pinned a single job posting. As Anna\nwalked back to her desk, Cyril and the Fraxure immediately sprinted\ntowards the far end of the job board. Despite the Fraxure's head\nstart, Cyril easily overtook him and, with a mighty leap, he snagged\nthe job posting, rebounding off the board before landing on his feet,\nfacing the Fraxure. This annoyed the Fraxure considerably.\n\"Aw, son of a\nbitch!\" the Fraxure yelled, slamming the side of his fist into the\njob board before glaring at Cyril. \"Fine! Take the damn mission! It\nprobably doesn't pay shit anyway!\" He turned away from Cyril and\nstomped towards the exit. Zira and Lance stepped aside, giving the\nangry Fraxure a wide berth.\nThe room went silent\nat the Fraxure's outburst. After the Fraxure walked outside, all\neyes shifted towards Cyril, who was still standing by the board with\nthe job posting in his hand. Cyril glanced uneasily at the onlookers\nbefore walking quickly towards Zira and Lance.\n\"Let's head\noutside,\" Cyril said, walking past his teammates.\nZira and Lance\nfollowed Cyril out of the Federation building just in time to see the\nFraxure flip over a wooden bench near the fountain, attracting the\nattention of several bystanders. The Fraxure gazed briefly at the\nonlookers before looking back at the Federation building, where Team\nDakota was still standing. The Fraxure glared at them for a moment\nbefore turning around and walking out of the square.\n\"Wow, he's\nreally pissed,\" Zira said.\n\"He's just\nfrustrated,\" Cyril said with a note of sympathy in his voice.\n\"There's a lot of low ranking teams around here and not enough\nentry level jobs to go around.\"\nLance turned to face\nCyril. \"So what's the mission?\"\nCyril looked at the\njob posting. \"It's a standard item recovery mission. Someone lost\ntheir journal in the Howling Woods dungeon. They're paying 200 poké\nfor its return.\"\n\"Is that good?\"\nZira asked.\n\"It's not bad\nfor an E rank job,\" Cyril replied, placing the paper in his bag.\n\"In any case, this'll be a good starter mission for you. Howling\nWoods is a three hour walk from here, so we'd better get moving.\"\nCyril took a step forwards, then stopped and turned to face Zira.\n\"Uh, I should mention... Howling Woods is the dungeon that you\nescaped from yesterday.\"\nZira hesitated for a\nfew seconds as Cyril's words sank in. \"You're taking me back to\nthe place where those outlaws tried to capture me?\"\nCyril nervously\nrubbed the back of his neck, the expression on his face revealing his\ndiscomfort with the idea as well. \"Y-yeah, I'm afraid so.\" He\nstepped towards Zira and placed his hands on her shoulders. Looking\ninto her eyes, he said, \"Don't worry. You're not alone this\ntime. Lance and I will be with you all the way.\"\nZira stared back\ninto the Grovyle's eyes. She was still uncertain about going back\nto that place, but Zira believed that Cyril and Lance had her\nwell-being at heart. Besides, she wanted to learn how to fight and\nshe desperately wanted to pay her rescuers back for everything\nthey've done for her. It was time to face her fears. \"All right,\"\nshe said, giving Cyril a nod. \"Let's do this.\"\nAnd so, Team Dakota\nleft the square along the main road leading west out of Seneca. As\nthey walked into the nearby forest, Zira took a moment to look back\nat Seneca, admiring the view of the small frontier town against the\nbackground of the trees, the mountains, and the nearby river. It was\nas though the scene came straight out of a dream. Zira smiled as she\nturned around and jogged to catch up with her teammates.\nWhile the three\nPokémon walked through the forest, they talked occasionally to pass\nthe time. Most of the conversation was casual, covering a wide range\nof topics, though Cyril and Lance briefly covered some of the basics\nof being a rescuer. Zira couldn't help but notice that her\nteammates seemed to be steering clear of the subject regarding the\npolitical situation on Andara. Maybe they just didn't want her to\nworry about it. Or perhaps Lance was right about the isolation of\nSeneca and the locals simply weren't affected much by events so far\naway.\nAfter a few hours,\nthe scenery began to look familiar to Zira. She and her teammates had\njust crossed a river near the base of a waterfall, reminding Zira of\nher close encounter with death the previous day. She shuddered as she\nrecalled the feelings of fear and helplessness that she felt after\nher tail's flame had been extinguished.\nThat's not\ngoing to happen this time, Zira thought. There's no\nway I can be that unlucky. Right?\nAfter climbing up a\nhill and passing through more forested area, Zira and her teammates\nstepped into a clearing. Not far from where they were standing, Zira\nspotted a familiar patch of dense vegetation, along with its\nshimmering entrance.\n\"That's the\nplace,\" Zira mentioned, pointing towards the dungeon entrance.\n\"Yep, it certainly\nis,\" Cyril said. He turned to face Zira. \"Before we head in, try\nusing your flamethrower attack.\"\n\"Um... I'll give\nit a shot,\" Zira said. She took in a deep breath as she pulled her\nhead back, and then she blew all of the air out of her lungs as she\nlunged her head forward. But like the day before against Galen, only\nair came out. Zira stomped the ground in frustration. \"Damn it!\n\"Hey, don't\nworry,\" Cyril said, holding the palms of his hands outward to calm\nher down. \"We were all new to this once. Give it another try, but\nthis time, imagine a fire burning in your chest trying to get out.\"\nZira nodded and then\nclosed her eyes. She tried to imagine flames burning within her as\nshe took in another deep breath. Then, opening her eyes, she blew the\nair out of her lungs once more. This time, however, she erupted into\na coughing fit, with each cough emitting a thick plume of dark smoke.\nLance placed his\nhands on his hips. \"Hmm... perhaps we should try a normal type move\ninstead. Even scratch would suffice.\"\n\"Agreed,\" Cyril\nsaid. He looked around for a moment before his eyes came to rest on a\nnearby tree. \"Zira, try attacking that tree with your claws, but\nimagine that you're channeling all of your strength through your\nclaws while you're doing it.\"\nZira stepped toward\nthe tree and began swinging her claws at it. She felt silly attacking\na tree, especially while being watched, but if it helped her learn a\nnew move, then she was willing to do it. After a short time, she\nnoticed that her claws had grown in length and were now glowing. With\nher newfound power, Zira was now doing major damage to the tree,\nleaving deep gashes in its trunk.\n\"That's good,\"\nCyril finally said. \"It appears you know slash, and better yet, you\ncan sustain it.\"\nZira turned to face\nCyril, panting from the exertion, but smiling. Even if her\nflamethrower turned out to be a dud, at least now she had something\nto defend herself with. \"Awesome!\" she said. \"Sorry about the\nflamethrower though.\"\n\"It's no\nproblem,\" Cyril said, smiling in return. \"We'll work on that\nflamethrower another time. Now, let's go find that journal.\"\nZira followed her\nteammates to the dungeon entrance. Cyril passed through first,\nfollowed immediately by Lance. Zira watched as the entrance shimmered\nwildly as it reacted to her teammates passing through. Before\nstepping through herself, Zira took in a deep breath and exhaled. As\nready as she was going to be, Zira stepped into the dungeon entrance,\nfeeling the frigid wind of the threshold that was now very familiar\nto her. After appearing on the other side, Zira noticed that her\nteammates had concerned expressions on their faces.\n\"Is everything all\nright?\" Zira asked.\n\"I forgot to\nmention something,\" Cyril said. \"Don't take too long to enter a\ndungeon after your teammates have entered, or the threshold will send\nyou to another part of the floor. The same rule applies to the stairs\nas well.\"\n\"Got it,\" Zira\nsaid. \"By the way, do you think we'll find Galen here?\"\n\"I doubt it,\"\nCyril answered. \"After I gave my report to Shar yesterday, he\nissued an arrest order for Galen, so I'm pretty sure he's long\ngone. With his flightless teammates dead, he has much greater range\nnow.\"\nWhat a relief,\nZira thought. She wasn't too eager to deal with that Charizard\nagain.\n\"Cyril, do we know\nwhat floor the journal is located on?\" Lance asked. He seemed to be\neager to get on with the mission.\n\"The job posting\ndidn't say, but this dungeon only has three floors,\" Cyril\nreplied. \"We shouldn't have too much trouble finding it.\"\nZira and her\nteammates spread out and carefully searched the entire room for the\nlost journal. There wasn't much to the room, being rather devoid of\nany distinguishing features other than the short grass that covered\nthe floor. A brief walk around the room's perimeter was all it took\nto confirm that the journal wasn't there.\nAs the group moved\non to the other rooms, Zira noticed that the layout of the dungeon\nhad changed since her last visit, which left her wondering just how\nmuch stranger these dungeons could possibly get. Cyril and Lance had\ntold her about some of the quirks of mystery dungeons along the way\nto Howling Woods, but seeing these quirks in person was still a\nshock.\nThe team searched\nroom after room, but it would seem that the journal was not on the\nfirst floor. Walking towards the room where the stairs were located,\nZira wondered about the name of the dungeon, which made absolutely no\nsense to her, given the oppressive silence.\n\"Why is this\ndungeon called Howling Woods?\" Zira asked. \"It's totally quiet\nhere.\"\nCyril chuckled. \"It\nwas probably someone's idea of a joke. Honestly though, I have no\nidea where people come up with some of these dungeon names.\"\nUpon entering the\nroom with the stairs, Team Dakota was spotted by two Nidorinos, who\nimmediately charged at Zira and her teammates. Cyril ran towards one\nof the Nidorinos, the leaves on his arms extending into deadly\nscythes, while Lance stood his ground, waiting for the other Nidorino\nto come closer.\nZira readied her\nslash attack as she stood by Lance. She wasn't confident in her\ncombat abilities yet, but she would do what she could to help out if\none of her teammates got into trouble. Fortunately, her help didn't\nseem to be required. Zira watched in amazement as her teammates dealt\nwith the Nidorinos.\nLance's eyes began\nto glow blue as he made a lifting motion with his hands. The closing\nNidorino's body became enveloped in a blue aura as it was lifted\noff of the ground. Lance then spun around towards a nearby tree and\nmade an overhead throwing motion, causing the Nidorino to sail\nthrough the air and smack into the tree, breaking its neck. Cyril\nflipped around the other Nidorino several times before jumping up and\nbringing his leaf blade down onto the Nidorino's neck, killing it.\n\"You're such a\nshowoff, Cyril,\" Lance teased.\nCyril, walking over\nto his teammates, looked up at the taller Golduck and stuck out his\ntongue. \"You're just jealous that you don't have my jumping\nprowess.\"\n\"You two were\namazing!\" Zira exclaimed. \"I wish I could fight like that.\"\nCyril smiled at\nZira. \"You will, Zira.\"\nTeam Dakota headed\nup the stairs, one by one, to the second floor. Zira followed closely\nbehind Lance, heeding Cyril's advice from earlier about not waiting\ntoo long to follow her teammates. Though she knew an attack move now,\nshe was nowhere near ready to traverse a dungeon on her own and\ndidn't want to risk being separated from her teammates. After\npassing through the cold, windy threshold separating the floors, Zira\nwas relieved to see her teammates waiting for her.\nAs before, Team\nDakota began by spreading out and searching the room that they were\nin. Zira looked within patches of tall grass, in hollowed out tree\ntrunks, and even within the dense vegetation that made up the dungeon\nwalls--at least, as much as was possible. When Zira attempted to\nsearch within the \"walls,\" some kind of unseen force pushed back\nagainst her. It served as a further reminder that the laws of nature\ndidn't apply in mystery dungeons.\nFinding nothing in\nthe room they were in, Team Dakota headed for a nearby corridor to\nsearch the other rooms. As they traversed the seemingly endless\ncorridors, Zira looked up at the blue sky beyond the dungeon canopy,\nwondering if it was even a real sky. She estimated they they were\nalready in the dungeon a couple of hours, yet the position of the sun\nnever changed. After fruitlessly searching the remainder of the\nfloor, Team Dakota headed up the stairs to the next floor without\nencountering a single feral Pokémon.\n\"Do you think we\nmissed it?\" Zira asked as she joined her teammates on the third\nfloor.\n\"It's possible,\nbut I don't think we did,\" Lance answered. \"We've been pretty\nthorough.\"\n\"Even if we did,\"\nCyril said, \"we can just enter the dungeon again and start over. At\nleast this isn't a 50 floor dungeon... or worse.\"\nLance chuckled.\n\"Yeah, that would really suck.\"\nAs Cyril and Lance\nturned away to explore the room, Zira stood still for a moment.\nLooking down at the ground, Zira wondered if she overlooked the\njournal on one of the previous floors. It wouldn't look good to her\nnew teammates if that turned out to be the case. Zira sighed as she\nturned around and walked towards a tree near the center of the room.\nShe looked up at the sky beyond the dungeon canopy, hoping to purge\nthe doubt from her mind, when she tripped and fell face first onto\nthe ground, letting out a yelp as she did so. Cyril and Lance rushed\nover to her.\n\"Are you all\nright?\" Cyril asked, crouching by her side.\n\"Ugh... yeah, I'm\nall right,\" Zira replied. As she turned herself over and sat up,\nshe got a look at the object that she tripped over. Picking up the\nobject, Zira realized that she'd found what they were searching\nfor. \"Hey, I found the journal!\"\nCyril and Lance both\ngiggled as they helped Zira get back onto her feet. Zira brushed the\ndirt off of the journal's leather cover before handing it to Cyril.\n\"Yep, that's the\njournal all right,\" Cyril said. He placed the journal in his bag.\n\"Good job finding it, even if it was an accident.\" Cyril grinned\nat Zira.\n\"Today must be my\nlucky day,\" Zira said, returning Cyril's grin with one of her\nown.\n\nAn explosion\nsuddenly reverberated throughout the dungeon, making all three\nPokémon jump.\n\"Me and my big\nmouth,\" Zira lamented.\nCyril began running\ntowards a corridor on the far side of the room. \"I think it came\nfrom this way!\"\nZira and Lance\nrushed to catch up with the Grovyle.\n\"Wait a minute,\"\nZira said, jogging at Cyril's side. \"We're running towards\nthe explosion?\"\n\"Yeah. We have to\ninvestigate it,\" Cyril answered. \"Someone could be--\"\nCyril was cut off by\nanother explosion, this time much closer. Before Team Dakota could\nreach the corridor, a Krokorok and a Sandslash sprinted into view.\nThey both appeared to be wounded and frightened completely out of\ntheir wits.\n\"RUN!\" the male\nKrokorok screamed.\nCyril looked down\nthe corridor as the other team ran past. His expression immediately\nchanged to one of horror. \"Oh shit!\" He turned around and started\nrunning. \"Follow them!\"\nAs Zira turned to\nfollow Cyril, she caught a glimpse of what was coming down the\ncorridor: a horde of angry Nidorinos and Nidorinas. Far too many to\nfight. Zira ran as fast as she possibly could to catch up with the\nothers, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the outlaw Sceptile\nthe other day.\n\n\"The exit's this\nway!\" the Krokorok yelled. He was leading everyone into another\ncorridor.\nI sure hope he's\nright about that, Zira thought. She and Lance were at the back of\nthe pack, so if the Krokorok was wrong, she'd be one of the first\nto die. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she sprinted down the\ncorridor. It was just her luck that she'd be running for her life\nagain. Though Zira didn't dare look back, she could tell by the\ngrowls and the footsteps behind her that the ferals were closing in\non them.\n\nZira glanced at\nLance, who was running beside her, and noticed that he was digging\nfor something in his bag. After a few seconds, Lance pulled a seed\nout of his bag, cracked the shell, and tossed the seed over his\nshoulder. A moment later, Zira heard--and felt--an explosion behind\nher.\n\"That was our last\nblast seed!\" Lance shouted.\n\"We're almost\nthere!\" the Krokorok shouted. \"Just a little bit further!\"\nThe two teams\nsprinted into another room. Zira immediately noticed the shimmering\nexit on the far wall, but there was a problem. Several feral Pokémon\nstood between them and the exit. To make matters worse, the ferals\nthat survived the blast seed explosion were closing in on them. They\nwere surrounded.\n\"Engage!\" Cyril\nshouted before unleashing a bullet seed attack on the ferals close to\nthe exit.\nAll around Zira, a\nmassive battle erupted. While her teammates and the other team fought\nthe ferals, Zira stood in the middle of the fray, utterly overwhelmed\nby what was taking place. As she looked around at the carnage, a\nNidorino jumped towards her. Zira shielded herself with her hands,\npreventing the Nidorino's horn from striking her, but it still\nmanaged to knock her off of her feet.\nThe Nidorino wasted\nno time jumping onto Zira. It attempted to bite her as she held its\nhead away from her face. Zira began to claw at the Nidorino's\nthroat with her right hand, but her bare claws weren't doing much\ndamage against the Nidorino's hide. With her anger rising to its\nboiling point, Zira gritted her teeth and put all of her strength\nbehind one more attack. This time, she managed to activate her slash\nattack. Her claws slashed through the Nidorino's throat, causing it\nto fall off of her as it bled out.\nZira quickly stood\nup and looked at the exit. There were four feral Pokémon standing\nbetween her and freedom. Escape was so close that she could almost\ntaste it. As Zira focused on the ferals blocking the exit, a familiar\npressure formed in her chest as smoke billowed from her mouth and\nnostrils. Realizing what was happening, Zira took in a deep breath\nand then exhaled in the direction of the ferals. A spark seemed to go\noff within her as her breath ignited into a stream of fire that\nengulfed two of the ferals.\n\nA powerful jet of\nwater suddenly whizzed by Zira's head, blasting away the other two\nferals. Zira spun around to see where the hydro pump originated from.\nHer eyes landed on Lance, who was standing near her, water dripping\nfrom his mouth.\n\"The way's\nclear!\" Lance shouted. \"Let's get out of here!\"\nEveryone still\nfighting the ferals immediately disengaged and sprinted for the exit,\nas did Zira and Lance. Zira dove through the exit, landing harshly on\nthe ground beyond the shimmering threshold. She quickly stood back up\nand readied her slash attack in case the feral Pokémon followed\nthem. Zira jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.\n\"Easy,\" Lance\nsaid. \"Feral Pokémon can't follow us beyond the dungeon\nthresholds. We're safe now.\"\nZira bent over and\nplaced her hands on her knees. After taking a moment to relax, she\nlooked around to see if they'd lost anyone. Miraculously, everyone\nhad survived. The Krokorok and the Sandslash sat on the ground as\nthey addressed their wounds, and Cyril stood nearby, looking at her\nwith a concerned expression on his face.\n\"Are you all\nright?\" Cyril asked.\n\"Yeah, I'm\nfine,\" Zira replied.\n\"You did good\ntoday, Zira,\" Cyril said, smiling faintly. \"I'm sorry your\nfirst mission turned out this way. That was a lot more action than I\nexpected from a small dungeon like this.\"\n\"It's all\nright,\" Zira said, standing up straight. She smiled at Cyril.\n\"Besides, now I can do this.\" Zira looked up towards the sky and\nattempted to fire off a flamethrower into the air, but she erupted\ninto another coughing fit. The other four Pokémon laughed as Zira\ncoughed up thick, black smoke.\nCyril place a hand\non Zira's shoulder. \"We'll have you using that flamethrower\nreliably in no time,\" he said with a great big grin on his face.\nWith everyone now in\nhigh spirits, both teams began the three hour walk back to Seneca.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1566133-pmd-wildfire-chapter-1.json"}