Chapter 30
The Wish Machine


After stopping for a rest and drinking some water, Snivy and I continue our journey. We would've rested for longer, but we both wanted to get through this dungeon and out of this heat as soon as possible. As we walk through a curve in the tunnel, a rhythmic banging noise gradually gets closer. We carefully peek around a corner and spot a Golem repeatedly punching the wall.

"Hey Snivy, why's it doing that?" I whisper.

"I have no idea. Maybe the Wildfire's messing with its head?"

"Yeah, that seems likely. That Arcanine from before seemed territorial, like it was guarding that room, so it does seem like the Wildfire is making them act weird."

"Huh. Anyway, that thing is rock-type, right?"

"Better; rock and ground."

"Perfect. Wanna test out our special combo attack?"

"Oh yeah!" I'd forgotten about that; on the trip here, Snivy and I learned new moves while we were sparring, and we figured out a combo with them. Now's the perfect chance to try it! "Alright, I'll distract it, then you do your thing!"

Snivy nods in agreement, and I dash around the corner. As I get close, the Golem spots me and punches down at me, but I step out of range, and its fist hits the ground! I keep moving, making some distance and putting the Golem between me and Snivy. I blast a water gun at it, and it flinches and turns towards me.

The Golem starts running towards me, now thoroughly distracted. Snivy jumps out from behind the corner and presses their hands to the ground. Vines sprout from the ground around the Golem, lashing and whipping wildly, forcing the Golem to stop in its tracks as it tries to defend itself! Red flames start to ignite around the Golem as it prepares to burn the vines away...

I raise my forelegs in the air and slam them onto the ground, and moments later, a geyser erupts under the Golem, blasting it with water and extinguishing its flames! Snivy's vines are soaked along with the Golem, and as they absorb the water, they grow bigger and stronger, wrapping around the Golem and pulling it to the ground!

Snivy dashes forward and leaps into the air, spinning as leaves gather around their tail. They slam the leaf tornado onto the helpless Golem, causing it to cry out in pain! Then, the tunnel falls silent as the Golem goes limp. A moment later, the wild Golem burns away in a red flame.

"Woo hoo!" Snivy cheers, running towards me. I run forward to meet them, and we high-five in celebration. "That was perfect! We didn't even get hit once!"

"Yeah! You did awesome!"

"You did awesome! We did awesome! We should have, like, a team name!"

"Oh, good idea. How about... the Firefighters!"

"Oh yeah, 'cause we're stopping the Wildfire! But, wait, wouldn't that make people think we're literal firefighters?"

"Oh. Good point. We should totally come up with a team name later though."

"Totally."

We stop for a minute to have some water, then continue onward. It feels like the dungeon is getting even hotter the deeper we go. Luckily, we brought plenty of water. The glowing red patches of rock get more frequent, and we have to carefully walk around them. Soon, we turn a corner and enter the hottest room yet.

The red glow covers the whole ceiling, with the center of the ceiling glowing the brightest. From that brightest point, a small drop of lava periodically drips down, landing in a small pool in the floor that's about the size of a cauldron. It's quite the sight, but our main point of interest lies at the back wall of the room.

The Wish Machine.

It's a giant machine built into the wall, the metal of it glowing a dark red. A monitor on it continually flashes an error message, and the noise we first assumed had been coming from the surrounding volcano is now obviously the loud whirring of the machine. Behind it, the rock wall is glowing the same dark red as the machine itself, the glow spreading outward. It's like the rock itself is being infected with the Wildfire.

Snivy pulls Mew's key-like device out of their bag and we review the instructions. First, I have to touch a special pad on the device so it can read my soul or whatever and activate. Then, we stick it into a slot in the machine. Finally, I touch a soul-reading pad on the machine to make it, I don't know, work with the device or something. The pictures were a bit vague on the details.

With our review finished, we step towards the machine.

"Whoa!" Snivy says, suddenly taking a step back.

"What is it?"

"That machine is way too hot! I don't want to even stand near it!"

Well, it is hotter closer to the machine, but... "It isn't that hot."

"You probably just don't feel it 'cause you're a water-type."

"Oh. Well that's convenient."

We start the process of using the device. I press my foreleg against the pad on the device, and it starts glowing a light blue. Snivy takes it and sticks it into the machine, complaining about the heat all the while. Then, I walk up and press my foreleg to the machine's pad, and it starts glowing blue! It's pretty dim at first, but it gradually-

"Ow!" I flinch and pull my leg away from the machine.

"Oh shoot! Did you get burned? I bet that feels like putting your hand on the stove."

"Not that bad," I say, inspecting my leg. "I'd say it's like washing your hands with water that's too hot, but a level or two above that." It started out just hot, but it got worse the longer I touched it. Fortunately, I pulled away before I got actually burned. Unfortunately, the blue glow on both the device and the machine have faded. Looks like I need to keep holding it until the device finishes.

"Do you need an oran berry?"

"No, I'm fine. Let me try something." I walk over and pull the device out of the machine. I wrap my foreleg in my Joy Scarf and press it to the device. No effect. "Shoot. Looks like it needs direct skin contact."

"That's... bad. Maybe you can cool it down with water first?"

"I don't think that's a good idea; water might break the machine, and we need to keep it working so that we can reprogram it to fix the mountain."

"Oh. Well, how about this!" Snivy reaches into their bag and pulls out an oran berry. "Put this in your mouth. Then, when it starts to hurt, you can bite down on it and it'll heal you!"

"That might work, but how long will this thing take? I don't know if I'll have enough berry to last the whole time, and we only have one left."

"Hmm... Well, I'm out of ideas."

"If that's the best we can come up with, it'll have to work; we can't just leave the dungeon like this, or the Wildfire will never go away."

"Right. Too many people have been hurt by this, and too many more will be hurt if it isn't stopped. I wish I could help somehow..."

"Your idea is better than anything I've come up with. I'll just have to hope Mew's device works fast enough."

We start the process again, activating the device and sticking it into the machine. Snivy hands me the oran berry, and I put it in my mouth. Finally, I take a deep breath, and I touch the pad on the machine.

It feels okay at first; uncomfortably hot, but nothing more. The pad starts to emit a dim blue glow that gradually brightens. The heat of the machine slowly gets harder to take, becoming painful after only a few seconds. Soon, it gets unbearable, and I bite down on the berry.

I swallow a bit of the fruit, and the pain instantly lessens. A moment later, though, and it's back. I space it out as much as possible, taking little bites every few seconds. The blue light reaches peak brightness, and stops growing brighter. I look to the monitor, but it's still flashing the error message; I need to keep going.

Once again, the pain starts building up, and I bite down, only to find that I'm chewing on nothing but the skin of the berry. I swallow it down, but it's not enough; the pain keeps building. Within seconds, I'm feeling the full force of the machine's heat. It hurts like touching metal that's been sitting out in the summer sun, and my body is screaming at me to pull away.

I give in to the urge, and pull my foreleg away for just a second, but the blue light starts to dim. I close my eyes touch the pad again, restoring the light's brightness. I can't pull away; I need to fix the machine. For Krokorok and Treecko and everyone the Wildfire's hurt, for everyone who the Wildfire will hurt in the future, I WILL do this! I NEED TO DO THIS!!

I feel determination flaring up in my heart, and the heat of the machine feels less painful... A lot less painful. Strength surges through me, and I sense a different kind of heat inside me. I open my eyes-

And see a glowing red flame covering my foreleg.

The blue light gradually dims, and I recall Mew's words. 'As it turns out, having the Wildfire's energy inside you messes with your soul, so now the device doesn't recognize me and I can't use it.' It's just like what happened to Mew; my desire to stop the Wildfire is making the Wildfire infect me!

I force those thoughts out of my head, ignoring the desires. The flames shrink, and the blue light stops dimming, but I flinch as the burning pain returns. I can't stand holding my leg here, and I want to pull away. I think about Krokorok and the others again, and the pain fades, but the Wildfire flares up again, and the light continues to dim. I can't keep my leg there without motivation, but I can't motivate myself without strengthening the Wildfire. I don't know what to do.

I look over my shoulder at Snivy, standing there with wide eyes; they can see my Wildfire, and they understand what's happening. "Snivy, help!"

Snivy stands frozen in shock for a moment, but quickly snaps out of it. They take a few steps forward, but they flinch from the heat and step back. "Um, uh, y-you can do it Mudkip! Just keep it up! I believe in you!"

Snivy's encouragement helps, but it's not enough. I'm trembling, and tears are starting fall from my eyes. Even worse, the Wildfire is still burning, and the light isn't getting any brighter.

Snivy keeps going. "I know you can do it! And Mightyena, and Treecko, and Krokorok, and Mew, they're all rooting for you! Everyone's counting on you!"

Snivy's right; everyone's counting on me! I can't let them down, I need to- the Wildfire flares up again, and the light dims.

"Shoot, I mean- Um, don't think about that! Just focus on, um, something!"

I follow Snivy's advice, and turn my thought to the Rainbow Rainforest, where Treecko and I cured our- No! Not that! The Twisting Tunnels, where Snivy and I fought that Steelix, and then we got our reward, then we got attacked by- No! Between the Wildfire and this pain, I can't control my thoughts! I'm panting my lungs out, and I feel like I'm about to collapse.

"Um, d-don't give up! Everything will be fine after the machine's fixed!" As Snivy's words motivate me, my Wildfire grows once more. "No, I mean- We have to- You- Uh, um..."

I try to avoid thinking about the Wildfire, but that leaves the pain as the only thing in my head. My leg feels like it's on fire. I have to pull away!

But just as I'm about to, I suddenly feel another hand press against my own.

"It's okay! It doesn't matter if you can't fix the machine! Everything will be fine anyway!"

I look to my side, and I see Snivy standing next to me, holding my foreleg against the pad. They're flinching in pain from the heat, but even as my Wildfire burns their hand, they still stand there.

"You don't need to fix it! If you can't, we'll do something else! We can wake up Mew and get them to fix their own mess! And we can still help the people with Wildfire, one at a time, just like we've done before! No matter what, everything will be fine!

"And after this, we'll go out and explore more mystery dungeons! You can take me to the Rainbow Rainforest, and we'll eat the fruit and play in the rain! We'll go on adventures, and discover new dungeons! See new places! We'll become a world-famous exploration team! Everything will be fine, so don't worry!"

As Snivy speaks, my mind is filled with visions of us together; exploring, fighting, playing. Smiling and laughing. They're right; even if I fail, we'll still be together. The Wildfire gradually shrinks down to nothing, and the blue light begins to grow brighter.

But without the Wildfire, the pain is too much. I try to pull away, to get away from the burning pain, but Snivy holds me there. My legs give out, but Snivy keeps holding me up, not letting me fall. It hurts. It hurts so much I can barely think, and I can't get away, but...

"Thank you, Snivy."

Eventually, the pain starts to fade; the machine is cooling down. I turn my eyes to the monitor, and although I can't read it in my current state, the message has changed. The red glowing rock behind the machine has started to recede. It's over. Soon, Snivy sees it too, and be both collapse to the ground.

Minutes pass in silence as we lay there. Eventually, I can think straight again, and it finally hits me; it's over. It's all over. With this, a lot less people will be infected, and the Wildfire will eventually disappear. We did it.

"... Mudkip, are you okay?" Snivy says, exhausted.

"... Yeah, just pain... My leg feels like an overcooked hamburger."

"Oh, I... Oh my gosh! Mudkip, I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't thinking, I just- I felt like we had to fix it right then and there, and-"

I giggle weakly. "We're you the one saying I didn't have to fix it?"

"I... Well, I had to say something to stop your Wildfire, right?"

"It's fine. Thanks for helping me. I never would have been able to do it without you."

"Thanks. Or, you're welcome, I mean. Well, all that's left is to release Mew."

"Yeah. Then how about I take you to the Rainbow Rainforest?"

"Awesome."

After resting for a few minutes, we begin our walk out of the dungeon, tired and burned. I can't walk on my burned foreleg, so Snivy has to help me. Slowly but surely, we walk through the exit tunnel, finally leaving the heat of the dungeon.

Eventually, we return to Mew's laboratory. We walk up to the frozen cylinder containing Mew, and find a big red button labeled 'RELEASE'. We press it, and a blast of cold mist fills the room as the cylindrical tube slowly rises, and the ice inside melts. Soon, Mew is partially thawed out, and their eyes suddenly open.

Red flames cover Mew's body, rapidly melting the rest of the ice. Their eyes dart around the room before falling on me. "You! You're Jamie!" Mew flies toward me, grabbing me by the shoulders. "Did you do it? Is the machine reprogrammed?! Did you fix it!?!"

"Y-yes! We did it. We reprogrammed the machine. It's over. Everything's okay..."

"It's... over." Mew falls backward, slowly floating to the ground and simply lying there. The Wildfire around them shrinks down to nothing. "Oh my gosh... Finally... Thank you."

After a moment, I start to walk over to Mew, but as I set my leg on the ground, the pain of the burn shoots through me. "Ow!"

Mew looks up. "Hm? Oh, is that from the machine? That looks bad." Mew sits up and leans toward me, putting their hands on my foreleg. "Hold still a sec."

I hold still as Mew requests, and a pink glow covers my leg, the pain fading away. When the glow fades, my burn is gone!

"I'm not supposed to do stuff like that for mortals," Mew says, "but I think this is a fair exception. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll talk to you later; I haven't slept in weeks, and having all my biological processes frozen while a rogue program rages inside my brain doesn't make for very good rest." Mew falls back to the ground again, their eyes closed.

Snivy cautiously approaches Mew. "Um, Mew? What-"

"Talk later. Rest now. Go away."

"Okay sorry c'mon Mudkip let's leave Mew alone!"

We finally leave the cave, and we find some soft, non-rocky ground to set up our tent. The sky is bathed in orange as the sun starts to set. We could stay up and wait for the stars to come out, but we're both very, very tired, so we simply eat some dinner and go to sleep.

As Snivy and I settle into our sleeping bags, we simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

It's finally over.




Thanks for reading! The final chapter will be uploaded soon.