NOTE: Several details of the plot have been changed, see this journal for details: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9706025/ . Chapters 1-5 have been updated accordingly. TL;DR: No Mew, no guardians, no Fletchling, and Coral Lake has been swapped for a different dungeon called the Enchanted Forest. Everything else is basically the same.




Chapter 6
Impulse and Regret


"C'mon Mudkip, hurry up!" Snivy calls from deeper in the forest.

"Do you really have to run so far ahead?" I reply as I run through the trees, panting for breath. I'd love to just walk and make Snivy wait, but then they might just keep running and we'd get separated, so I have to keep up.

Finally, I catch sight of them. Surprisingly enough, they're waiting for me, and they don't even resume running when I catch up and stop to catch my breath. Wait, there's that feeling again, the one I felt in Circuit Cavern! It stopped when I left the cave, but now it's back. Could it be...

I raise my head and look behind Snivy, finally noticing the trees of purple bark and pink leaves, rising up like a gateway into a similarly colored forest as the clustered trees give way to a cleared path. "... We're here."

"Yup! And we only had to walk for most of the day! Ready to cross the threshold?"

"Let me just catch my breath for a sec... Hey, should we leave these bags outside? We'll be coming back here anyway, right?"

"Well... that's what I usually do, but we don't have much daylight left; unless you want to sleep on the ground, we'll probably need to set up camp inside."

"That doesn't sound safe. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to go in?"

"No way, we'd waste too much time waiting around."

I sigh. It's not like we're on a time limit... "Alright, I'm ready."

We walk into the Enchanted Forest, the greenery of the woods behind us replaced with pink grass and purple bushes. Scattered about, on the tree trunks and the ground, are odd glowing circles. Each contains a purple-tinted image of the forest, like a picture or a window. I'm about to investigate them when I hear Snivy call.

"Hey Mudkip, check this out!"

"My name is Jamie." I turn to find Snivy standing by a tree, right next to a circle. As I approach, they keep talking.

"I kinda thought these things might be mirrors or something, but look, no reflection!" Snivy's right; the image in the circle doesn't show Snivy at all. More confusing is that it isn't a still image; I can see leaves and branches moving with the wind.

"Huh. Have you considered the possibility that it is a mirror and that we're vampires?"

"Hmm, maybe..." Snivy cautiously reaches toward the image, only to have their hand pass right into it! "Whoa! What is this?"

I'm amazed by the sight before me, but I get a strange feeling, and I can't help but look behind me... "Snivy."

"Yeah, what's up?" Snivy says, still staring into the circle.

I walk over to the tree behind us, where I can't help but stare at Snivy's arm sticking out from the side of the trunk. I walk around to get a better view, and find the arm emerging from another circle. I get a bit closer and-

"AAAH! M-Mudkip?! When did you get in there?" Snivy says, pulling their arm back and looking at me through the circle.

"Um... I didn't."

"What? Wait..." Following the sound of my voice, Snivy looks behind themself and sees me. They turn back to the circle, then back to me. They put their arm through again, and their face turns from confusion to absolute glee.

"So, uh, I think these things are por-"

"They're PORTALS! Wait, does this mean I can-" Snivy turns back to the portal and crouches down. I realize what's happening a moment too late, as Snivy dives through the portal and tackles me to the ground. "Mudkip this is amazing! They're PORTALS!"

"Y-yeah, I got that. Would you mind getting off of me now?"

We continue walking through the forest, often stopping for Snivy to experiment with the portals. Actually, 'experiment' is the wrong word; Snivy stops to play with the portals. It's kind of a relief, actually; it's been a long day of travel, and it's nice to stop and rest for a bit while Snivy fools around...



It's been around half an hour since we entered the forest. Wild pokemon have attacked us a few times, but it wasn't much trouble. Right now, we're taking a break and having some food. It's quite the experience; munching on apples in a magical forest makes for a nice picnic. The only issue is that I'm still a pokemon. That, and that Snivy won't stop talking.

"... and those annoying mushroom fairy whatevers back there were just so annoying!"

"Morelull."

"What?"

"The mushroom fairies. They're called Morelull."

"Oh. What about the purple pig one we just fought?"

"Grumpig."

"Huh. And the big yellow one back in Circuit Cavern?"

"Electabuzz."

"Wow. For being so ignorant about everything, you sure know a lot of pokemon names."

"I was really interested in pokemon back on Earth, so I learned everything I could about them."

"Right... Oh, that reminds me! What are you gonna do after we get through this dungeon?"

"Well I was hoping to find a way home here. With all these portals here, maybe at the end there's a big one that goes to Earth or something."

"Yeah, of course, but hypothetically, if there were no portal to Earth, what would you do?"

"I... don't know. I hope there's at least a clue at the heart of the dungeon, but if not..."

"Well, we could... Uh, you might want to travel around looking for clues, right? And since we're both just wandering, you can stick with me!"

"If there's no clues or anything here, then yeah, I guess that'd be my best option."

"Awesome! Huh? Hey, look up there!"

I follow Snivy's gaze to a tree branch, and notice a few berries growing on it. "Those are... liechi berries?"

"That's right! A mysterious berry that gives a sudden burst of strength: The liechi berry! Sheesh, how do you know all this stuff?"

"I already told you."

"Yeah, but actually how? Anyway, I'm gonna grab those!" Snivy runs over to the tree, but there aren't any low branches to climb on. They reach upward with their vines, but the branch is too high. Disappointed, they look down... and notice a portal on the ground.

I sit back and watch as Snivy messes with the portal. It turns out to lead to a second portal on the ground some distance away. Snivy climbs a different tree close to the second portal, and make their way to a branch high above it. Suddenly, I realize what's happening, and I can foresee at least 50 ways it could go wrong.

Before I can say anything, Snivy leaps off the branch, shouting "WOOHOO!" as they dive down toward the portal. I run over, getting in a better position to catch them when they fall. They manage to dive through the portal, rocketing upward toward the branch, and I can see in their eyes the exact moment that they realize this was a terrible idea.

Snivy comes to a sudden stop as their head bashes into the branch, causing them to fall back down. They fall back through the portal, tossing them into the air and setting them on a crash course with the ground! I rush over just in time, and I stand up on my hind legs to catch Snivy as they fall onto me-

Next thing I know, I'm moaning in pain as I shove Snivy off of me.

"oof... wha..? Mudkip..? What happened..?"

"You're an idiot..."

"... Oh. Oh yeah."

We both stand and rub our heads. "In what world would that have been a good idea?"

"Well, I thought I'd just land on the branch, not... Hey, wait, why are you hurt?"

"Because I caught you, you reckless, immature idiot..."

Snivy frowns, anger evident on their face. "Hey, don't you dare call me imma- Wait, you caught me? Oh. Oh my gosh, thank you! I think I would've been totally knocked out from a fall that high. Ouch, I think I need an oran berry. Do you need an oran berry? We should split an oran berry. WAIT, the berries! Did I-" Snivy and I look over toward the branch, which is now barren. On the ground below, four pink liechi berries lie scattered about, shaken off the branch from Snivy's impact. "Aw yeah, score! Mission success!"

As Snivy runs over to collect the berries, I walk back to the picnic blanket to fetch an oran for our pain. I split it and eat my half, the instant relief almost making me forget Snivy's moment of royal stupidity that caused the pain in the first place. I probably should've just let them hit the ground.

Snivy takes a while before walking over and eating their half of the oran. "Hey, um... I thought about it, and... Here." Snivy holds out a pair of liechi berries. "You definitely deserve at least half of the berries after that."

"Oh. Um, thank you." I put the berries away in my bag. "We should get moving now, right?" I start packing up the blanket and food we laid out for our snack break.

"... no..."

"What?"

"No, you shouldn't be thanking me! You were right, I was being stupid and reckless and... immature. I AM immature. I even got you hurt because of it! I'm so sorry, you were right, I just... I don't..." Snivy looks down and mumbles something.

Why is Snivy suddenly acting like this? It wasn't that big of a deal. I'm not sure what's going on, but... I walk over and put a hand on Snivy's shoulder. "Hey, Snivy, you're not stupid. You did something without thinking it through, that's all. We're both fine now, just... Let's think things through before jumping in. As a team, okay?"

Snivy stares at me, eyes wide in confusion. "... O-okay, yeah... Um I..."

"... What?"

"Uh, it's just, I'm... Thanks for saving my butt back there, partner."

I sigh, and smile; it's nice to see Snivy back to normal. "You're welcome. Now come on, we've got a dungeon to explore."




Thanks for reading! Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated! Also, college is starting again in January, so expect updates to slow/stop again.