Chapter 6
Ambipom's Job


I'm laying in a bed, just having woken up. I feel weird and uncomfortable. I try to roll into a more comfy position, and I realize something is very wrong with my body! I open my eyes and look down at myself-

Oh. Right.

I'm a Mudkip now.

After taking a moment to recall what happened, I get up and look at Snivy's bed to find it empty. I walk outside and find them eating breakfast. They notice me, turning to greet me with a smile.

"Good morning Mudkip! How are you doing?"

"My name is Jamie, not Mudkip."

"Glad to hear you're doing fine! Grab some breakfast, then we'll pack up the tent and get moving."

I sigh. If I could have anyone else as my partner, I would. I walk over to the bag to get some food. It looks like it's all fruits and berries Snivy gathered themself while traveling. There isn't a lot left, but we at least have enough for today. After breakfast, Snivy and I pack the tent away into a relatively big backpack, which also holds some other stuff. We decide that I'll carry the backpack while Snivy carries most of the other bags. The backpack is pretty light, which makes sense; Snivy had to carry it and everything else all on their own before.

After leaving the beach, we walk along a dirt road with Snivy leading the way. After some time, I see an Ambipom up ahead. As we approach, they notice us and start walking towards us.

"Hello there, travelers! I'm Ambipom, and I'm looking for explorers. Would you two happen to be explorers?"

Snivy speaks up. "Yes, we are! I'm Snivy, and this is Mudkip." I think about correcting them, but Ambipom starts responding and I lose my chance.

"Well, I'm a collector of rare stones. I've learned that there is an especially rare stone in a mystery dungeon nearby. But, I'm no explorer, so I'd like to hire you two to fetch that stone for me."

"Hire us?" Snivy questions.

"Yes, yes, I can pay you! A hobby like mine can be rather expensive, but also rather lucrative at times, you see. I'm offering 300 coins for the stone."

"Hmm... Oh, wait a sec. We're looking for a mystery dungeon that can grant wishes. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"A wish-granting dungeon? Oh, I think I've heard a story about that..." Ambipom thinks to themself for a moment. "Ah yes, I remember now! Hmm... Alright! I know the name of the dungeon, and I'll tell you if you complete my job. In addition to the monetary payment, of course!"

"Hey, that'd be pretty helpful! Well we can't say no now! What do you say, partner? Any objections?" Snivy says, turning to me.

"Sounds good. We were already planning on exploring every mystery dungeon we came across, so this is a nice bonus."

"Wonderful!" Ambipom says. "The dungeon that holds the stone is called Twisting Tunnel. Follow me to the entrance."


After a few minutes of walking, we arrive at the mouth of a cave. The entrance leads deep down into a dirt tunnel. Oddly, it doesn't seem to get dark inside, despite how deep it appears to go.

"This is the Twisting Tunnel," says Ambipom. "I'm looking for a stone called a Striped Sun. It's perfectly round and smooth, colored a lovely yellow, with stripes of orange and red! Ah, it is truly an object of beauty... Um, anyway, you should find it in the deepest part of the dungeon. Fetch it, and you'll have your reward!"

"Alright then!" Snivy says, setting down the bags they were carrying. "Ready to go in?"

"Yeah." I put the backpack holding our tent with the other bags and follow Snivy into the dungeon.

As we go deeper, we start to see some odd holes in the ground and on the walls. We try looking into them, but they're pitch black inside. It would make sense, since there's no light here, but I start to wonder why we can still see. "Hey Snivy, there's no sunlight in here, and I don't see any other light sources. How are we able to see down here?"

"Oh, uh... I'm not sure." Snivy pauses and looks around. "Oh, I have an idea!" Snivy stops and picks up some of the dirt, closing their hands around it. They look into the space, then pull away.

"I've got it! It's this dirt, it's glowing!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Maybe mystery dungeons might have a way of making things glow, like the crystals back in Marine Cavern."

"Huh. That's convenient. But wait, what about these holes? They're dark, but they're made of this same dirt, right?"

"Yeah, that's weird... Maybe they're-"

Snivy stops at by the sound of footsteps running towards us from up ahead. We turn to see a Cubone and a Drilbur approaching us. Before I can react, the Cubone jumps towards me and hits me on the head with its bone club. It winds up for another swing, but I duck under it, then jump backwards in time to dodge its next swing. The Cubone is off balance after its missed swing, so I dash forward and land a tackle, knocking it back! It feels like my training with Snivy was pretty effective.

The Cubone gets up, and we pause for a brief moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Suddenly, I feel the ground rumble beneath me, and I look down just in time to see the Drilbur pop out of the ground and strike me from below! I'm knocked to the ground, and I see Cubone rushing over to attack me, but it's suddenly grabbed by Snivy's vines and dragged away.

I get up and turn my attention to the Drilbur. It runs forward and swipes its claws at me, but I dodge to the side and counter with a headbutt. The Drilbur staggers a bit, but recovers and jumps into the air while spinning, digging underground when it lands. I realize its trying to hit me from below again, and I hold still, waiting.

Sure enough, I feel a small rumbling underneath me, and the moment I do, I jump to the side just in time to avoid the Drilbur's strike! I turn to face it and prepare myself. The Drilbur jumps towards me to attack, and when it does, I open my mouth and blast it with a water gun!

The Drilbur gets caught completely off guard, and it's a perfect hit! It's sent rolling backward before coming to a stop on the ground, evaporating into smoke a moment later.

"Nice!" I hear Snivy say, and I turn to face them. "That was a good move right there. You're doing much better than yesterday."

"Yeah, that training was really helpful." I've gotten a lot more used to moving around in this body since then, too. "Thanks for saving me from that Cubone. You know, these wild pokemon don't seem to be very good at fighting. I just learned to fight yesterday, and I beat that Drilbur no problem."

"Yeah, wild pokemon tend to be pretty dumb. I don't think they do any training, and even if they do, they probably can't learn anything from it. But I have heard that some wild pokemon are smarter, though, and better at fighting."

"Huh. Well, lets move on," I say, walking deeper into the dungeon.

"Right!"

As we walk on, I rub the sore spot on my head where the Cubone whacked me. Battling hurts, but its pretty cool to be able to finally have pokemon battles. I never had the chance back in the human world. I never wanted to get to get this close to the action, though. At least using water gun is as cool as I imagined it.




Thanks for reading. Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged.