# PMD: Wildfire - Chapter 2

Author: ZiraDakota
Tags: PMD, Pokemon, Team dakota, mystery dungeon

Finally, here's chapter two.
Sorry 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.
Given 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.
Pokémon © 2016 Nintendo
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Wildfire © 2016 Zira Dakota
This 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/.


Chapter
2
Cyril awoke just as
the morning sun began to filter through the windows. He rubbed his
eyes as he sat up in his hammock, giving himself a moment to wake up
a bit more. After nearly a minute had passed, Cyril carefully slid
out of the hammock, stumbling slightly as he landed on his feet. He
let out a yawn before glancing at the other two Pokémon in the room.
Lance was still asleep, as was Zira, the odd Charmeleon they'd
rescued the day before. Cyril walked over to Zira's hammock and
gazed at the sleeping Charmeleon.
Zira was lying on
her back with her hands resting on her chest. Cyril's eyes ran over
her entire body, from her peaceful face to her bright white belly,
down her long red legs to the tip of her tail, where her flame burned
calmly. Her majestic body was outmatched only by the shroud of
mystery surrounding her. What brought her to the Pokémon world? Was
she destined to fill an important role?
Cyril sighed as he
turned away from Zira, knowing that he wasn't likely to find
answers to those questions any time soon, if ever. He walked over to
Lance's hammock and began to shake the sleeping Golduck. "Hey,"
he whispered. "Wake up."
Lance opened his
eyes and lifted his head. He stared bleary-eyed at Cyril for a few
seconds before putting his head back down. "Oh gods..." he said,
rubbing his eyes.
"It's nice to
see you too, Sunshine," Cyril said. "Come on. It's time to face
the music."
Lance nodded before
quietly sliding out of the hammock. As Cyril and Lance walked past
Zira's hammock, Zira suddenly turned onto her side, her tail
lashing upward. Cyril jumped away, eliciting a stifled laugh from
Lance. Slightly embarrassed, Cyril looked wide-eyed at the grinning
Golduck for a moment before grabbing his bag off of the desk and
stepping outside. Lance grabbed his bag as well and quietly closed
the door on his way out.
"Do you think we
have time for breakfast?" Lance asked.
"I don't think I
could eat anything right now," Cyril replied. "Let's just hear
what Cale has to say."
"Try not to worry,
Cyril," Lance said, placing a hand on the Grovyle's shoulder. "I
don't think Cale will shut us down. We may have strayed from our
patrol, but we made a discovery and saved a life. He'll take that
into consideration."
"I hope you're
right," Cyril said quietly. I'd hate to go back home and tell
everyone that we're failures.
Failure. It was the
word that often kept Cyril awake at night. Leading his own rescue
team was his lifelong dream. The thought that he would fail to keep
his dream alive terrified him to no end. Just the other day, before
setting out on their patrol, he'd broken down into tears in the
town square after realizing that they wouldn't even be able to pay
the month's rent for the cabin. At least he still had his friend
Lance. It was only because of Lance's unwavering support that he
hadn't given up yet.
As Cyril and Lance
walked into the square, the wonderful aroma of food filled Cyril's
nose. The surrounding restaurants had just opened and many of the
Pokémon in the square were streaming into them for a quick meal
before either heading to work or out of town. The scent of the food
and the beautiful morning sky, however, did little to put Cyril's
mind at ease. He let out a sigh as they passed by the fountain in the
center of the square. The Federation building was not much further
away.
"What do you think
of Zira?" Lance suddenly asked, shaking Cyril out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh... she
seems like a nice person," Cyril replied.
Lance gave Cyril a
sly grin. "You're just interested in that nice ass of hers,
aren't you?"
"What? No!"
Cyril glanced at the Golduck, seeing that he was not entirely
convinced. "Okay, fine, I think she's cute, but that's not the
only reason I offered her a place to stay." Cyril returned his gaze
to the looming Federation building. "There something about her that
I find... I don't know... fascinating."
"Aye, she's
certainly unique in many respects," Lance said. "You don't see
too many Charmeleons with a bright white belly, certainly not with a
Human mind as well. And with that slender body and long legs, I bet
she'd be a speed demon in combat."
"Ha-ha! Yeah..."
Now standing before the entrance to the Federation building, Cyril
took in a deep breath. "All right," he said, taking a step
forward. "Here we go."
As they entered the
lobby, Cyril looked around for Commander Cale, the Nidoking who was
in charge of the facility. The scene was chaotic as the night shift
was being replaced with a bleary-eyed day shift. Commander Cale,
however, was nowhere in sight.
"Maybe he's in
his office," Cyril said as he started walking towards the hallway
in the back of the lobby. As he and Lance made their way through the
crowded room, Lance looked at the job board.
"Damn... no E or D
rank jobs," Lance said. "Looks like we're volunteering for
another patrol."
"Assuming this
meeting goes well," Cyril reminded him as they continued walking.
Cale's office was at the end of the hallway to the right. Reaching
the door, Cyril tried to turn the door handle, but the door was
locked. He turned to Lance. "I guess he's not in yet."
"He'll be here
shortly," a male voice from behind said.
Cyril turned around
to see Shar exiting the office across from Cale's, closing the door
behind him. Even through the Flygon's red lenses, Cyril could see
the fatigue in Shar's eyes. Cyril then noticed that Shar was
holding a file in his left hand. As Shar locked the door leading into
his office, Cyril caught a glimpse of part of the file's label,
which ended with the letters OTA.
It's our file,
Cyril thought, his heart sinking.
"I saw Cale and
Jake having breakfast at the Starlight Café," Shar said. "It
shouldn't be much longer--oh, there they are."
Cyril and Lance both
turned towards the lobby entrance. Jake the Ampharos, Cale's other
lieutenant, walked in first, carrying his signature coffee mug with
the phrase "I hate mornings" printed on the side of it. Cale
himself walked in next, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Cyril and
Lance. Cyril began to tremble slightly as Cale and Jake made their
way through the crowded lobby towards them. He hoped that he would
not have a panic attack.
"Commander!"
Shar yelled over the commotion in the lobby. He held the file up in
the air as he walked towards Cale. "I need to talk to you." He
handed the file to Cale, who immediately began to browse its contents
while Shar spoke.
Cyril sighed heavily
as he watched the exchange. He began to fidget with his hands as he
waited for them to finish their discussion. Lance placed a hand on
his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. After a few minutes, the
conversation ended and Cale and Jake walked over to meet them.
"How are you
holding up, Cyril?" Cale asked. "You seemed rather distressed the
other day after you were given your assignment."
Cyril's eyes
widened. "Uh... you saw that?"
"The whole square
saw it," Jake said before taking a sip from his coffee mug.
Lance looked at
Cyril. "Saw what?"
Cyril's face
flushed in embarrassment. "Oh gods. I can explain..."
Cale held up a hand.
"We'll talk about it in a bit." Cale reached into his bag and
pulled out a set of keys. He opened the door and walked into his
office. "Come on in," he said, holding the door open. As soon as
Cyril and Lance walked into the sparsely decorated office, Cale
closed the door behind them.
"Shar told me
about what happened regarding your patrol," Cale said as he walked
past Cyril and Lance. Taking a seat behind his desk, he opened the
file that Shar had given him and again browsed through its contents.
"That was a risky move on your part, straying so far from your
patrol route, but I understand why you did it. A strange rift and a
legendary Pokémon's sudden interest in it are certainly worthy of
investigation, so I'll let this incident slide." He put down the
file and looked directly at Cyril. "But next time, ask for
authorization first. Your badges still should've been able to
communicate with us from that distance."
"Y-yes sir,"
Cyril replied, hanging his head. He wanted to smack himself for
forgetting such an important detail.
"Sorry, Cyril, I
should've thought of that too," Lance said, looking at the
embarrassed Grovyle.
"And the
Human-turned-Charmeleon you rescued..." Cale skimmed over Cyril's
report. "Zira... what's her status?"
"She's resting
at our base right now," Lance answered. "She has gaps in her
memory regarding who she is, but she's otherwise all right. We've
offered to help her out any way we can."
"Thank you for
that," Cale said. "It takes some weight off my shoulders. Now,
going back to what I was saying earlier..." Cale locked eyes with
Cyril "What was that breakdown about the other day?"
Cyril started
fidgeting with his hands again. "Well sir, we've been having a
hard time finding enough work. We're almost out of money and we're
about to lose our cabin." Cyril sighed in resignation and looked
down at the ground, too ashamed to look at Cale in the eyes. "Our
team will be defunct by the end of the month."
"I'm sorry to
hear that," Cale said. "You're one of the few rescue teams here
in Seneca that shows any promise. The other so-called rescue teams
came here just because they thought they'd get rich or make a name
for themselves. They don't actually care about the rescuing part.
And don't even get me started on the Explorers Guild. Greedy lot."
It was no secret
that Cale wasn't a fan of the Explorers Guild. Cyril had heard that
Cale had a really bad run-in with an exploration team before his
transfer to the Seneca outpost. Exploration teams going bad wasn't
an unusual occurrence on the continent of Andara and Cale watched the
local explorers like a Staraptor.
"I can't promise
anything," Cale said, "but I'll see if I can find some special
assignments for you."
Cyril lifted his
head upon hearing Cale's words. Finally, a glimmer of hope!
"Really? You'd really do that for us, sir?"
"Really, Cyril,"
Cale answered. "As I said, your team is one of the few here that
shows any promise, and I don't want to see it fail before it has a
chance to get off the ground." He stood up. "Now, I need to
attend to my duties. Good luck to both of you. I'll be keeping an
eye on your progress."
"Thank you, sir,"
Cyril and Lance said in unison, smiling brightly. For Cyril, this was
a huge confidence boost. He may have made a mistake starting a rescue
team in the frontier, but there was still a chance that he and Lance
could recover from that mistake. Team Dakota wasn't finished yet.
Cyril and Lance were
still smiling as they left the office and made their way through the
lobby, which had calmed considerably with the departure of the night
shift. As Team Dakota walked out into the square, Lance nudged
Cyril's arm with his elbow.
"See? I told you
he wouldn't shut us down," Lance said jubilantly as he walked
beside Cyril.
"Well, we're not
out of the woods yet," Cyril noted, heading straight for the
fountain. "Hopefully, Cale will find us some of those special
missions he was talking about. In the meantime, we need to keep
looking for work."
"There's also
the matter of Zira," Lance noted. "We offered to help her decide
what to do, but to be honest, I don't have a clue where to start."
Cyril remained quiet
as he considered Lance's words. He wanted to help Zira, but like
Lance, he wasn't sure how to go about doing it. As Cyril and Lance
approached the fountain, they sat on the fountain's stone edge,
gazing at nothing in particular as the Pokémon around them went
about their business. The sun was rising higher in the clear sky,
bathing the small frontier town in its warm light. Cyril closed his
eyes and slowly breathed in and out. As he relaxed, an idea occurred
to him. Opening his eyes, Cyril turned to face Lance.
"Maybe we should
ask Zira to join our team," Cyril said.
Lance look at Cyril
with a curious expression on his face. "Are you serious? Being a
rescuer is a dangerous job and she doesn't know a damn thing. She
doesn't even know any moves aside from an unreliable flamethrower."
"She can be
taught," Cyril said, looking straight ahead again. "This is a
dangerous world and she needs to learn how to defend herself. As a
member of our team, we can teach her how to fight while at the same
time giving her a home and a purpose in life. Given some time, I
think she'd make a great rescuer. Maybe we'll discover what
brought her to our world along the way."
Lance sighed. "Well,
assuming she's willing to give it a try. After what happened to her
the other day, she might not be interested."
Cyril stood up and
looked at Lance. "Let's ask her."
Zira awoke on her
side in her hammock. The morning sun filled the interior of the
cabin. After a few moments, Zira rolled onto her back and placed her
hands over her belly as she tried to make herself more comfortable.
Just a few more
minutes...
As Zira tried to get
back to sleep, she brought one hand up to her chest to scratch an
itch. She yawned as her fingers ran over her pectoral muscles on her
otherwise flat chest.
Flat chest?
Zira's eyes
snapped open. Alarmed, she lifted her head and looked over her body.
Though initially shocked by what she saw, Zira quickly relaxed with a
sigh as she recalled the events of the previous day. Her thoughts
then shifted to her two rescuers. From the way that they had spoken
the other night, they seemed to be in dire straits. Zira glanced at
the other two hammocks in the room, seeing that they were empty.
They must be at
that meeting they spoke of. I hope it turns out all right for them.
Zira didn't think
that she'd be able to get back to sleep, so she turned over and
slowly got out of the hammock, being careful not to brush her flaming
tail against the wooden floor. Zira yawned again before performing a
few stretches, during which her tail's flame caught her attention.
She grabbed the tip of her tail and cradled it in front of her,
staring into the flame.
"You're not so
bad," Zira said softly. She found herself mesmerized by the flame,
her beautiful flame. Despite her shock upon first seeing it the other
day, Zira was already starting to warm up to the idea of the flame
being an ever present part of her. She lightly blew on the flame,
causing it to flicker. Zira chucked before releasing her grip on her
tail and allowing it to move around behind her.
I could be
waiting a while till Cyril and Lance get back, Zira thought. She
looked around the cabin for something to occupy her. It appeared the
only items of any interest in the rather empty cabin sat on the worn
desk, where Zira spotted several books standing between a pair of
bookends and what appeared to be a newspaper. She walked over to the
desk and looked at the spines of the books, spotting a number of
interesting titles such as Team Apex and the Falling Star, The
Time Crisis, Rescue Team Essentials, and History of the
Pokémon Federation. As interesting as the books were, it was the
newspaper, the Seneca Weekly News, that grabbed her attention,
specifically the headline at the top in large print.
PRESIDENT
SURVIVESASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Zira picked up the
newspaper and sat in the worn chair in front of the desk, curling the
end of her tail upward to keep the flame off of the floor. As she
read the article, Zira learned a number of things about the world she
now found herself in.
The continent of
Andara was home to a nation known as the Pokémon Federation, a
republic that spread across the western two-thirds of Andara. The
president, a female Blaziken named Kara, had narrowly escaped death
after a bomb composed of about twenty blast seeds detonated near her
while she was on her way to speak with the Federation Council, the
governing body of the Pokémon Federation. Though Kara survived with
only minor injuries, several security officers and civilians lost
their lives in the blast. The attack was blamed on the independent
territories on the eastern side of the continent, who denied any
involvement.
After Zira finished
reading the article, she looked at the remaining headlines in the
paper, most of which were bad. It would seem that things were not
going well on Andara. As Zira began to read another article, the
cabin door suddenly opened and Cyril and Lance walked in. Zira stood
up with the newspaper still in her hands.
"Hey, you're
finally awake," Cyril said, smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm all right,"
Zira said, folding the newspaper. "I've just been doing some
reading."
The smile
disappeared from Cyril's face as he eyed the newspaper. "Ah... I
wish there was some better news in there. It's not exactly the best
introduction to our world."
"Are things really
so bad right now?" Zira asked.
Cyril sighed. "I'm
not going to hide anything from you. Things are bad on this continent
right now, and I don't see it getting any better in the foreseeable
future. At least, not unless something miraculous happens."
"I'm sorry to
hear that," Zira said, still holding on to the newspaper. Her gaze
shifted to the floor for a moment before laying the newspaper on the
desk.
"At least we're
relatively isolated from current events out here in the frontier,"
Lance chimed in. "Life here in Seneca is still somewhat normal."
As Zira turned to
face her rescuers, she noticed that Cyril was holding something in
his right hand. "What's that?"
"Oh!" Cyril held
up a loaf of bread with both hands. "Here's breakfast." He
broke off a third of the loaf and handed it to Zira. "It's
multi-berry bread. You'll love it."
"It has healing
properties as well," Lance said. "Not as much as the raw berries
it's made of, but it'll still leave you feeling full of energy."
Zira accepted the
piece of bread and quickly devoured it. As it turned out, Lance
wasn't exaggerating the effects of the berry bread. Zira felt like
she was ready for any challenge the day might throw at her. Cyril
divided what remained of the loaf between himself and Lance and they
too quickly finished their meals.
"By the way,
Zira," Cyril said. "I've been thinking about what you said the
other day about wishing you could repay us. There might be a way that
we could help each other."
"Really?" Zira
asked. "How?"
Cyril fidgeted with
his hands. "Well, I was wondering..." Cyril took a deep breath.
"How'd you like to join our rescue team?"
Zira's jaw dropped
as she stared at the Grovyle. This was totally unexpected. As much as
she wanted to repay Cyril and Lance for saving her life, joining
their team wasn't exactly what she had in mind. What could she
possibly contribute to Team Dakota when she couldn't even defend
herself? She didn't want to be a burden on them.
"Uh, that means
no," Cyril said nervously after a few seconds. "I-I totally
understand. It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable
or anything. I just... oh gods..."
Lance placed a hand
on Cyril's shoulder. "Why don't you let me handle this."
Releasing Cyril's shoulder, he took a step towards Zira. "What
Cyril means to say is that we feel you have a lot of potential. We
can teach you about our world and how to fight. Admittedly, being a
rescuer is a dangerous job, but it's also very fulfilling. And
maybe, with a little luck, we'll discover what brought you to our
world. If you're interested," he held out his hand, "we'd be
honored if you would join us."
Zira pondered
Lance's words for a moment. She'd already had a taste of just how
dangerous this world was, so perhaps it was in her best interest to
accept their offer. She had nowhere to go and she could certainly use
their help. Her only alternative was to venture out on her own, which
was likely to end badly. With her mind made up, Zira reached out and
shook the Golduck's hand. "I accept."
Cyril shook Zira's
hand next. "Thank you. And I'm sorry if I was a little awkward a
moment ago."
"There's no need
to apologize," Zira said. "I was just surprised."
"Well, let's get
you a bandana," Cyril said, releasing his grip on Zira's hand. He
walked around Zira and opened one of the top desk drawers, pulling
out a blue bandana just like the one that he and Lance wore. Cyril
positioned himself behind Zira, being careful to avoid the
Charmeleon's tail flame, and tied the bandana around Zira's neck.
"It looks good on
you," Lance said.
"It sure does,"
Cyril said. He pulled a hand mirror out of another desk drawer and
handed it to Zira. "Have a look."
Zira held the mirror
out as far as her arm could reach so that she could get a good look
at herself. She had to agree with her new teammates; the bandana
looked great on her. Zira smiled brightly as she brought up a hand
and ran her fingers over the embroidered, light blue hexagon and claw
that served as the team's logo. "I love it!"
"Welcome to the
team, Zira," Cyril said. He and Lance both smiled as Zira gazed
into the mirror.
"So what's
next?" Zira asked, placing the mirror on the desk.
"First we need to
get you registered with the Rescuers Guild at the Federation
building," Cyril replied. "After that, we'll take a look at the
job board and see if there's any work available."
Zira, however, had a
more basic need on her mind at the moment. "Um, before we head out...
is there a toilet or something around here? I really have to pee."
Lance chuckled and
then pointed towards a small shack outside. "There's an outhouse
right over there."
"Th-thank you,"
Zira said as she embarrassedly excused herself.
Once Zira was ready
to depart, the team left their cabin and headed towards the square.
With the sun rising higher in the morning sky, Zira was getting a
much better look at the village than she had the night before.
Walking behind her new teammates, Zira took in the sights, the
sounds, and the scents of the village that she would now call home.
As Team Dakota
entered the square, Zira scanned her surroundings. The square was
bustling with activity as the various Pokémon went about their
routines. It still felt strange to her to walk around nude in public,
but it was something she could get used to. After all, everyone else
was nude too. Zira was reminded of her conversation with Athena the
day before regarding the topic, as well as her subsequent
abandonment.
She wouldn't
even give me a ride, Zira thought. She couldn't make any sense
of the Lugia's motives. Athena seemed so willing to help her at
first. Why did Athena just abandon her like that? It was a question
that Zira intended to ask if she ever saw the Lugia again. For now,
she resolved to assist her new team any way she could. There was
really nothing else she could do at this time. Zira sighed as she and
her teammates walked up to the large stone building where her
injuries had been treated the night before. Stepping into the busy
lobby, Cyril and Lance led Zira to the right towards a desk near a
large bulletin board staffed by a Nidoqueen.
"Hey, Anna,"
Cyril said, waving to the Nidoqueen. "We're Team Dakota." He
gestured towards Zira. "We've just added a new member to our
team."
"That's good to
hear," Anna replied cheerfully. She handed Cyril a clipboard and a
fountain pen. "Just fill out this form while I grab a badge and a
travel bag for her." She glanced at a list she had sitting on her
desk, then she walked into the storage room behind her.
Zira watched as
Cyril filled out the form. Most of it was basic information that
she'd expect to see on such a form. She couldn't help but notice
Cyril's honesty on some of the fields, such as Species and
Birthplace. He had written "Charmeleon, formerly Human"
and "Human world" respectively for those two fields.
"That won't
raise any red flags?" Zira asked.
"Nah," Cyril
replied. "You're not the first Human to come to our world and a
lot of them tend to find homes in the Rescuers Guild or similar. In
fact, the Charizard on Team Apex is a Human. We've got a book about
them at the cabin. You should read it when you've got a chance."
He finished filling in the final field just as Anne walked back into
the room. Cyril placed the clipboard and pen back on the desk. "All
done."
"All right, let's
have a look," Anna said, picking up the clipboard. It didn't take
long before she raised her eyebrows and gazed towards Zira. "Well,
this certainly is a surprise. I never imagined I'd actually get to
meet a Human all the way out here." She leaned over the desk and
held out a hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Zira."
"It's nice to
meet you too," Zira replied, shaking the Nidoqueen's hand.
Anne handed a travel
bag and a badge across the desk to Zira. "I wish you the best of
luck, Zira. Take care."
"Thank you,"
Zira replied as she swung the strap of the travel bag over her head
and onto her shoulder. Her attention then shifted to the badge.
Holding the rescue team badge in both hands, her eyes ran over its
features, from the circular center to the pair of golden wings on
each side. The center of the circle was occupied by a pink crystal,
which glowed slightly as she rubbed her fingers over it.
"That crystal will
allow you to communicate with the Rescuers Guild," Cyril noted. "It
also acts as a tracking beacon, which is nice when a rescue team
needs to be rescued themselves. Now, let's see if there's any
jobs available." Cyril turned around and looked at the job board.
He let out a sigh almost immediately. "Still no jobs."
Zira stepped up
beside Cyril and examined the board. It seemed to be organized into
four categories, baring labels such as E and D rank on the left side
to star rank on the right side. The E and D rank category was totally
empty, while the C and B rank category next to it only had a few
papers pinned to it. Most of the papers on the board were
concentrated in the A and S rank and the star rank categories. A
Fraxure wearing a purple armband stood nearby with his arms crossed,
gazing briefly at Team Dakota before shifting his attention back to
the board. Zira figured that he was part of another rescue team
looking for work.
Cyril's comment a
moment ago about there being no jobs had Zira confused. It appeared
to her that there were plenty of jobs to choose from, yet neither
Cyril nor the Fraxure appeared to be considering them. Were those
jobs not available to them?
"Hey, what about
those jobs there?" Zira asked, pointing towards the star rank
section.
"Those are way
outside of our league," Cyril replied. "As a normal rank rescue
team, we're only permitted to take E and D rank jobs, but there's
none available." He sighed once more. "We'll talk to one of the
security personnel and see if we can take on a patrol instead. It
doesn't pay worth a damn, but beggars can't be choosers."
Just as Cyril
stopped talking, Anna left her desk and walked towards the left side
of the board where she then pinned a single job posting. As Anna
walked back to her desk, Cyril and the Fraxure immediately sprinted
towards the far end of the job board. Despite the Fraxure's head
start, Cyril easily overtook him and, with a mighty leap, he snagged
the job posting, rebounding off the board before landing on his feet,
facing the Fraxure. This annoyed the Fraxure considerably.
"Aw, son of a
bitch!" the Fraxure yelled, slamming the side of his fist into the
job board before glaring at Cyril. "Fine! Take the damn mission! It
probably doesn't pay shit anyway!" He turned away from Cyril and
stomped towards the exit. Zira and Lance stepped aside, giving the
angry Fraxure a wide berth.
The room went silent
at the Fraxure's outburst. After the Fraxure walked outside, all
eyes shifted towards Cyril, who was still standing by the board with
the job posting in his hand. Cyril glanced uneasily at the onlookers
before walking quickly towards Zira and Lance.
"Let's head
outside," Cyril said, walking past his teammates.
Zira and Lance
followed Cyril out of the Federation building just in time to see the
Fraxure flip over a wooden bench near the fountain, attracting the
attention of several bystanders. The Fraxure gazed briefly at the
onlookers before looking back at the Federation building, where Team
Dakota was still standing. The Fraxure glared at them for a moment
before turning around and walking out of the square.
"Wow, he's
really pissed," Zira said.
"He's just
frustrated," Cyril said with a note of sympathy in his voice.
"There's a lot of low ranking teams around here and not enough
entry level jobs to go around."
Lance turned to face
Cyril. "So what's the mission?"
Cyril looked at the
job posting. "It's a standard item recovery mission. Someone lost
their journal in the Howling Woods dungeon. They're paying 200 poké
for its return."
"Is that good?"
Zira asked.
"It's not bad
for an E rank job," Cyril replied, placing the paper in his bag.
"In any case, this'll be a good starter mission for you. Howling
Woods is a three hour walk from here, so we'd better get moving."
Cyril took a step forwards, then stopped and turned to face Zira.
"Uh, I should mention... Howling Woods is the dungeon that you
escaped from yesterday."
Zira hesitated for a
few seconds as Cyril's words sank in. "You're taking me back to
the place where those outlaws tried to capture me?"
Cyril nervously
rubbed the back of his neck, the expression on his face revealing his
discomfort with the idea as well. "Y-yeah, I'm afraid so." He
stepped towards Zira and placed his hands on her shoulders. Looking
into her eyes, he said, "Don't worry. You're not alone this
time. Lance and I will be with you all the way."
Zira stared back
into the Grovyle's eyes. She was still uncertain about going back
to that place, but Zira believed that Cyril and Lance had her
well-being at heart. Besides, she wanted to learn how to fight and
she desperately wanted to pay her rescuers back for everything
they've done for her. It was time to face her fears. "All right,"
she said, giving Cyril a nod. "Let's do this."
And so, Team Dakota
left the square along the main road leading west out of Seneca. As
they walked into the nearby forest, Zira took a moment to look back
at Seneca, admiring the view of the small frontier town against the
background of the trees, the mountains, and the nearby river. It was
as though the scene came straight out of a dream. Zira smiled as she
turned around and jogged to catch up with her teammates.
While the three
Pokémon walked through the forest, they talked occasionally to pass
the time. Most of the conversation was casual, covering a wide range
of topics, though Cyril and Lance briefly covered some of the basics
of being a rescuer. Zira couldn't help but notice that her
teammates seemed to be steering clear of the subject regarding the
political situation on Andara. Maybe they just didn't want her to
worry about it. Or perhaps Lance was right about the isolation of
Seneca and the locals simply weren't affected much by events so far
away.
After a few hours,
the scenery began to look familiar to Zira. She and her teammates had
just crossed a river near the base of a waterfall, reminding Zira of
her close encounter with death the previous day. She shuddered as she
recalled the feelings of fear and helplessness that she felt after
her tail's flame had been extinguished.
That's not
going to happen this time, Zira thought. There's no
way I can be that unlucky. Right?
After climbing up a
hill and passing through more forested area, Zira and her teammates
stepped into a clearing. Not far from where they were standing, Zira
spotted a familiar patch of dense vegetation, along with its
shimmering entrance.
"That's the
place," Zira mentioned, pointing towards the dungeon entrance.
"Yep, it certainly
is," Cyril said. He turned to face Zira. "Before we head in, try
using your flamethrower attack."
"Um... I'll give
it a shot," Zira said. She took in a deep breath as she pulled her
head back, and then she blew all of the air out of her lungs as she
lunged her head forward. But like the day before against Galen, only
air came out. Zira stomped the ground in frustration. "Damn it!
"Hey, don't
worry," Cyril said, holding the palms of his hands outward to calm
her down. "We were all new to this once. Give it another try, but
this time, imagine a fire burning in your chest trying to get out."
Zira nodded and then
closed her eyes. She tried to imagine flames burning within her as
she took in another deep breath. Then, opening her eyes, she blew the
air out of her lungs once more. This time, however, she erupted into
a coughing fit, with each cough emitting a thick plume of dark smoke.
Lance placed his
hands on his hips. "Hmm... perhaps we should try a normal type move
instead. Even scratch would suffice."
"Agreed," Cyril
said. He looked around for a moment before his eyes came to rest on a
nearby tree. "Zira, try attacking that tree with your claws, but
imagine that you're channeling all of your strength through your
claws while you're doing it."
Zira stepped toward
the tree and began swinging her claws at it. She felt silly attacking
a tree, especially while being watched, but if it helped her learn a
new move, then she was willing to do it. After a short time, she
noticed that her claws had grown in length and were now glowing. With
her newfound power, Zira was now doing major damage to the tree,
leaving deep gashes in its trunk.
"That's good,"
Cyril finally said. "It appears you know slash, and better yet, you
can sustain it."
Zira turned to face
Cyril, panting from the exertion, but smiling. Even if her
flamethrower turned out to be a dud, at least now she had something
to defend herself with. "Awesome!" she said. "Sorry about the
flamethrower though."
"It's no
problem," Cyril said, smiling in return. "We'll work on that
flamethrower another time. Now, let's go find that journal."
Zira followed her
teammates to the dungeon entrance. Cyril passed through first,
followed immediately by Lance. Zira watched as the entrance shimmered
wildly as it reacted to her teammates passing through. Before
stepping through herself, Zira took in a deep breath and exhaled. As
ready as she was going to be, Zira stepped into the dungeon entrance,
feeling the frigid wind of the threshold that was now very familiar
to her. After appearing on the other side, Zira noticed that her
teammates had concerned expressions on their faces.
"Is everything all
right?" Zira asked.
"I forgot to
mention something," Cyril said. "Don't take too long to enter a
dungeon after your teammates have entered, or the threshold will send
you to another part of the floor. The same rule applies to the stairs
as well."
"Got it," Zira
said. "By the way, do you think we'll find Galen here?"
"I doubt it,"
Cyril answered. "After I gave my report to Shar yesterday, he
issued an arrest order for Galen, so I'm pretty sure he's long
gone. With his flightless teammates dead, he has much greater range
now."
What a relief,
Zira thought. She wasn't too eager to deal with that Charizard
again.
"Cyril, do we know
what floor the journal is located on?" Lance asked. He seemed to be
eager to get on with the mission.
"The job posting
didn't say, but this dungeon only has three floors," Cyril
replied. "We shouldn't have too much trouble finding it."
Zira and her
teammates spread out and carefully searched the entire room for the
lost journal. There wasn't much to the room, being rather devoid of
any distinguishing features other than the short grass that covered
the floor. A brief walk around the room's perimeter was all it took
to confirm that the journal wasn't there.
As the group moved
on to the other rooms, Zira noticed that the layout of the dungeon
had changed since her last visit, which left her wondering just how
much stranger these dungeons could possibly get. Cyril and Lance had
told her about some of the quirks of mystery dungeons along the way
to Howling Woods, but seeing these quirks in person was still a
shock.
The team searched
room after room, but it would seem that the journal was not on the
first floor. Walking towards the room where the stairs were located,
Zira wondered about the name of the dungeon, which made absolutely no
sense to her, given the oppressive silence.
"Why is this
dungeon called Howling Woods?" Zira asked. "It's totally quiet
here."
Cyril chuckled. "It
was probably someone's idea of a joke. Honestly though, I have no
idea where people come up with some of these dungeon names."
Upon entering the
room with the stairs, Team Dakota was spotted by two Nidorinos, who
immediately charged at Zira and her teammates. Cyril ran towards one
of the Nidorinos, the leaves on his arms extending into deadly
scythes, while Lance stood his ground, waiting for the other Nidorino
to come closer.
Zira readied her
slash attack as she stood by Lance. She wasn't confident in her
combat abilities yet, but she would do what she could to help out if
one of her teammates got into trouble. Fortunately, her help didn't
seem to be required. Zira watched in amazement as her teammates dealt
with the Nidorinos.
Lance's eyes began
to glow blue as he made a lifting motion with his hands. The closing
Nidorino's body became enveloped in a blue aura as it was lifted
off of the ground. Lance then spun around towards a nearby tree and
made an overhead throwing motion, causing the Nidorino to sail
through the air and smack into the tree, breaking its neck. Cyril
flipped around the other Nidorino several times before jumping up and
bringing his leaf blade down onto the Nidorino's neck, killing it.
"You're such a
showoff, Cyril," Lance teased.
Cyril, walking over
to his teammates, looked up at the taller Golduck and stuck out his
tongue. "You're just jealous that you don't have my jumping
prowess."
"You two were
amazing!" Zira exclaimed. "I wish I could fight like that."
Cyril smiled at
Zira. "You will, Zira."
Team Dakota headed
up the stairs, one by one, to the second floor. Zira followed closely
behind Lance, heeding Cyril's advice from earlier about not waiting
too long to follow her teammates. Though she knew an attack move now,
she was nowhere near ready to traverse a dungeon on her own and
didn't want to risk being separated from her teammates. After
passing through the cold, windy threshold separating the floors, Zira
was relieved to see her teammates waiting for her.
As before, Team
Dakota began by spreading out and searching the room that they were
in. Zira looked within patches of tall grass, in hollowed out tree
trunks, and even within the dense vegetation that made up the dungeon
walls--at least, as much as was possible. When Zira attempted to
search within the "walls," some kind of unseen force pushed back
against her. It served as a further reminder that the laws of nature
didn't apply in mystery dungeons.
Finding nothing in
the room they were in, Team Dakota headed for a nearby corridor to
search the other rooms. As they traversed the seemingly endless
corridors, Zira looked up at the blue sky beyond the dungeon canopy,
wondering if it was even a real sky. She estimated they they were
already in the dungeon a couple of hours, yet the position of the sun
never changed. After fruitlessly searching the remainder of the
floor, Team Dakota headed up the stairs to the next floor without
encountering a single feral Pokémon.
"Do you think we
missed it?" Zira asked as she joined her teammates on the third
floor.
"It's possible,
but I don't think we did," Lance answered. "We've been pretty
thorough."
"Even if we did,"
Cyril said, "we can just enter the dungeon again and start over. At
least this isn't a 50 floor dungeon... or worse."
Lance chuckled.
"Yeah, that would really suck."
As Cyril and Lance
turned away to explore the room, Zira stood still for a moment.
Looking down at the ground, Zira wondered if she overlooked the
journal on one of the previous floors. It wouldn't look good to her
new teammates if that turned out to be the case. Zira sighed as she
turned around and walked towards a tree near the center of the room.
She looked up at the sky beyond the dungeon canopy, hoping to purge
the doubt from her mind, when she tripped and fell face first onto
the ground, letting out a yelp as she did so. Cyril and Lance rushed
over to her.
"Are you all
right?" Cyril asked, crouching by her side.
"Ugh... yeah, I'm
all right," Zira replied. As she turned herself over and sat up,
she got a look at the object that she tripped over. Picking up the
object, Zira realized that she'd found what they were searching
for. "Hey, I found the journal!"
Cyril and Lance both
giggled as they helped Zira get back onto her feet. Zira brushed the
dirt off of the journal's leather cover before handing it to Cyril.
"Yep, that's the
journal all right," Cyril said. He placed the journal in his bag.
"Good job finding it, even if it was an accident." Cyril grinned
at Zira.
"Today must be my
lucky day," Zira said, returning Cyril's grin with one of her
own.

An explosion
suddenly reverberated throughout the dungeon, making all three
Pokémon jump.
"Me and my big
mouth," Zira lamented.
Cyril began running
towards a corridor on the far side of the room. "I think it came
from this way!"
Zira and Lance
rushed to catch up with the Grovyle.
"Wait a minute,"
Zira said, jogging at Cyril's side. "We're running towards
the explosion?"
"Yeah. We have to
investigate it," Cyril answered. "Someone could be--"
Cyril was cut off by
another explosion, this time much closer. Before Team Dakota could
reach the corridor, a Krokorok and a Sandslash sprinted into view.
They both appeared to be wounded and frightened completely out of
their wits.
"RUN!" the male
Krokorok screamed.
Cyril looked down
the corridor as the other team ran past. His expression immediately
changed to one of horror. "Oh shit!" He turned around and started
running. "Follow them!"
As Zira turned to
follow Cyril, she caught a glimpse of what was coming down the
corridor: a horde of angry Nidorinos and Nidorinas. Far too many to
fight. Zira ran as fast as she possibly could to catch up with the
others, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the outlaw Sceptile
the other day.

"The exit's this
way!" the Krokorok yelled. He was leading everyone into another
corridor.
I sure hope he's
right about that, Zira thought. She and Lance were at the back of
the pack, so if the Krokorok was wrong, she'd be one of the first
to die. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she sprinted down the
corridor. It was just her luck that she'd be running for her life
again. Though Zira didn't dare look back, she could tell by the
growls and the footsteps behind her that the ferals were closing in
on them.

Zira glanced at
Lance, who was running beside her, and noticed that he was digging
for something in his bag. After a few seconds, Lance pulled a seed
out of his bag, cracked the shell, and tossed the seed over his
shoulder. A moment later, Zira heard--and felt--an explosion behind
her.
"That was our last
blast seed!" Lance shouted.
"We're almost
there!" the Krokorok shouted. "Just a little bit further!"
The two teams
sprinted into another room. Zira immediately noticed the shimmering
exit on the far wall, but there was a problem. Several feral Pokémon
stood between them and the exit. To make matters worse, the ferals
that survived the blast seed explosion were closing in on them. They
were surrounded.
"Engage!" Cyril
shouted before unleashing a bullet seed attack on the ferals close to
the exit.
All around Zira, a
massive battle erupted. While her teammates and the other team fought
the ferals, Zira stood in the middle of the fray, utterly overwhelmed
by what was taking place. As she looked around at the carnage, a
Nidorino jumped towards her. Zira shielded herself with her hands,
preventing the Nidorino's horn from striking her, but it still
managed to knock her off of her feet.
The Nidorino wasted
no time jumping onto Zira. It attempted to bite her as she held its
head away from her face. Zira began to claw at the Nidorino's
throat with her right hand, but her bare claws weren't doing much
damage against the Nidorino's hide. With her anger rising to its
boiling point, Zira gritted her teeth and put all of her strength
behind one more attack. This time, she managed to activate her slash
attack. Her claws slashed through the Nidorino's throat, causing it
to fall off of her as it bled out.
Zira quickly stood
up and looked at the exit. There were four feral Pokémon standing
between her and freedom. Escape was so close that she could almost
taste it. As Zira focused on the ferals blocking the exit, a familiar
pressure formed in her chest as smoke billowed from her mouth and
nostrils. Realizing what was happening, Zira took in a deep breath
and then exhaled in the direction of the ferals. A spark seemed to go
off within her as her breath ignited into a stream of fire that
engulfed two of the ferals.

A powerful jet of
water suddenly whizzed by Zira's head, blasting away the other two
ferals. Zira spun around to see where the hydro pump originated from.
Her eyes landed on Lance, who was standing near her, water dripping
from his mouth.
"The way's
clear!" Lance shouted. "Let's get out of here!"
Everyone still
fighting the ferals immediately disengaged and sprinted for the exit,
as did Zira and Lance. Zira dove through the exit, landing harshly on
the ground beyond the shimmering threshold. She quickly stood back up
and readied her slash attack in case the feral Pokémon followed
them. Zira jumped when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
"Easy," Lance
said. "Feral Pokémon can't follow us beyond the dungeon
thresholds. We're safe now."
Zira bent over and
placed her hands on her knees. After taking a moment to relax, she
looked around to see if they'd lost anyone. Miraculously, everyone
had survived. The Krokorok and the Sandslash sat on the ground as
they addressed their wounds, and Cyril stood nearby, looking at her
with a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you all
right?" Cyril asked.
"Yeah, I'm
fine," Zira replied.
"You did good
today, Zira," Cyril said, smiling faintly. "I'm sorry your
first mission turned out this way. That was a lot more action than I
expected from a small dungeon like this."
"It's all
right," Zira said, standing up straight. She smiled at Cyril.
"Besides, now I can do this." Zira looked up towards the sky and
attempted to fire off a flamethrower into the air, but she erupted
into another coughing fit. The other four Pokémon laughed as Zira
coughed up thick, black smoke.
Cyril place a hand
on Zira's shoulder. "We'll have you using that flamethrower
reliably in no time," he said with a great big grin on his face.
With everyone now in
high spirits, both teams began the three hour walk back to Seneca.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/977755

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