Chapter 22
Frustration


"Excuse me, but do you know anything about a wish granting dungeon called Volomans, or of pokemon with strange fire powers?" I would ask.

"No, sorry, I don't," they would answer.

"I see. Sorry to bother you."

The same conversation, over and over, for the past three days. Three days I've been asking around this useless town. Three days wasted. Three days closer to my Wildfire backfiring.

I wake up in Mightyena's bed, opening my eyes to see my Joy Scarf on the bedside table, burned. I got a little too angry last night, and my Wildfire flared up and burned it. I've been feeling very frustrated lately, as I still have absolutely no leads on Volomans. I get up and start packing up my bags, grabbing some food and the tent and stuffing it into a backpack before walking out the door.

As I walk out, I see Mightyena. The evening after we left the Violet Void and brought Ralts back, Snivy and I told Mightyena and Lilligant what really happened that night. They took it pretty well, and agreed that punishing Ralts wouldn't really help anything. They were really concerned about my Wildfire, but I told them there was nothing they could really do about it. In my explanation, I skipped over the whole 'human' thing and just told them I needed to get to Volomans to go home.

"Good morning, Jamie," Mightyena says.

"Morning."

"Lilligant and Snivy made pancakes downstairs, if you'd like some."

"Okay." I walk away, and Mightyena heads to Lilligant's room, where Ralts has been sleeping. With only three beds in the house, Mightyena, Lilligant, and Snivy have been sleeping on various furniture. Ralts likes to sleep in, so Mightyena tends to wake them up in the morning.

Ralts has been doing pretty well; they've started getting more comfortable with Mightyena and Lilligant. Also, it turns out Poochyena is younger than Ralts, unlike Ralts' siblings, so Ralts has been fine around them. They still have their Wildfire, but it's getting better with time.

I head downstairs, and see Snivy, Lilligant, and Poochyena at the table. Poochyena's gotten better, but they're still recovering, so I don't see them often. Snivy hears my footsteps and turns to see me, their genuinely happy expression turning to a now-familiar nervous smile. "G-good morning Jamie!"

"Hi," I reply. After countless corrections, Snivy is finally calling me by my actual name, thanks to a single threat of violence. No better way to build a healthy friendship than accidentally intimidating your partner into basic politeness. And I hadn't noticed at first, but Snivy's been avoiding me lately. I even overheard them talking about me to Mightyena, and heard Snivy confess that they're now scared of me.

"Oh, Mu- Jamie, where's your scarf?" Snivy asks.

"I accidentally burned it last night, so I took it off."

"Oh... Hey, wait, what's that bag for?"

"No one in town knows anything, so I'm going on a trip to find mystery dungeons."

"Um... When you say 'I'm' going on a trip, do you mean-"

"Alone. I can handle fighting on my own now. You should stay here so you can keep asking around." That's not the real reason; Snivy clearly doesn't want me around, and honestly, I don't really want to be around them either; being around other people has been annoying lately, and with Snivy especially it just feels... wrong.

"Oh, um... That's... probably a good plan," Snivy replies.

I sit down and serve myself some pancakes. They taste bland, because the Wildfire sucks and I can't taste good things now. Conversation at the table quiets down, which is normal around me by now. Soon, I finish my meal, and I walk out the door.



It's now been over a day since I left. I walked all day yesterday and today, and now my dumb Mudkip legs are sore. No one in Maceria Town knew of any nearby mystery dungeons besides the Violet Void, so I've been blindly searching anywhere that looks like it could have a cave or a dense forest that might be a dungeon. With no luck, of course.

It's getting late as I walk through a forest that could have a dungeon in it, but most likely doesn't. As I walk, it starts raining, which I expect to bother me, but it actually feels fine. Perks of losing my humanity and becoming water type, I guess. Now that I think about it, I've actually been less annoyed in general lately, thanks to all the solitude.

I walk through the forest for about 15 minutes in the rain before I stumble upon something unexpected; another person, wandering around in the middle of nowhere. Specifically, they're a Treecko, wearing a little ribbon around their neck and carrying a bag like mine. As they notice me, their face turns to a friendly smile.

"Oh, hey there! Judging by that backpack, you're an explorer too, right?"

"Uh, yeah. My name's Jamie."

"Treecko. Nice to meetcha!"

"Um, would you happen to know about any mystery dungeons in the area? I'm searching for them, and I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure, of course! There's actually a dungeon somewhere in this forest. If you want to talk more, you'll have to follow me in there; I don't have much time." Treecko starts to walk away, beckoning me to follow.

"Wait, what do you mean you don't have much time?" I ask, walking along behind them.

"Well, this is gonna sound weird, especially in the middle of a rain storm, but if I go too long without going into a dungeon, I'll burst into flames."

... Oh. Oh my gosh, I might actually finally have a lead! "Hey, I actually know what you're talking about! I have that too!"

"You do!? Do you know something about this power?!"

"Uh, yeah. Do you... not know anything about it?"

Treecko sighs. "No, not really. Whatever, let's just get into the dungeon and talk there. It should be pretty close."

Well that ended up being kinda disappointing, but at least I finally found a dungeon. And this Treecko still might have useful information about Volomans or nearby mystery dungeons, even if they don't know anything about the Wildfire. I follow after Treecko deeper into the forest, and as the trees get denser, I can faintly feel the familiar aura of a mystery dungeon around me.




Thanks for reading! Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated!