Chapter 19
Summit



"Uuugh. Jamie, are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we close?"

"Not close enough for me to feel it."

"Uuuuuuuugh. We've been climbing for HOURS! How tall is this dumb mountain?"

"Want to take another break?"

"No, I'm not tired, just bored. It's been like 20 minutes since we even fought a wild-"

Suddenly, a sound echos through the mountain forest, like a boulder falling. Then it happens again. And again. Rhythmic footsteps from a big pokemon up ahead? We sneak forward and peek around the corner to find a Golem walking around.

"Hey," Snivy whispers, "that's totally a rock-type, right?"

"Even better: Rock and ground."

"Wanna try our new special combo attack?"

"Let's do it. I'll distract it, you start the combo."

"Alright. 3, 2, 1, go!"

I dash out from our hiding spot and blast the Golem with a water gun, enraging it! I run around it, dodging the rocks it throws, until I get it facing away from Snivy.

Just as the Golem starts running toward me, Snivy presses their hands to the ground and a tangle of vines sprout up around the Golem, wrapping around it and holding it in place! Using the opening, I press my forelegs to the ground and summon a geyser of water, blasting the Golem and making it roar in pain!

But then the vines around the Golem absorb the water, growing bigger and stronger, constricting around it! Snivy raises their arms up and the vines lift the Golem into the air, then Snivy throws them back down, and the vines slam the Golem into the ground! The Golem lies motionless for a moment before evaporating into smoke.

"Woo-hoo!" Snivy cheers. "It didn't even hit us once!"

"That's the power of Team Playmates! Up high, partner!" I raise my foreleg, and Snivy gives me a high five.

"Okay, I know I was complaining before, but this dungeon really is awesome."

"It's overstaying its welcome a bit, though."

"Yeah. Let's keep moving."

We walk for a few more minutes (taking a quick break after Snivy decided to eat a bug-type berry (don't eat the bug-type berries)), and then I notice a familiar feeling.

"Hey Snivy, good news."

"We're close to the heart?"
"Yup! Follow me," I say, breaking into a run as I turn the corner. "It should be just a bit... further..."

I slow to a stop at the sight before me. The clearing is cloaked in brilliant light from the web of colorful vines covering the walls of the clearing, glowing and changing in hue, fading from red to yellow to green, cycling through the rainbow. The berries growing here mimic the magical color changing of the vines, glowing even brighter.

"Wow," Snivy says. "That sense of yours is spot on, Jamie."

"But I... huh." This is obviously the heart, but why is the feeling so faint? And why didn't I feel it sooner?

"Whoa, what do THESE berries do?" Snivy runs over and pops a berry into their mouth... and freezes. They just stand there, unmoving.

"Snivy?" I ask. No response. I run over to them, but before I reach them, they snap out of it, losing their balance and stumbling backward. "Snivy, are you okay?"

Snivy looks around, dazed. "... Whoa. What was THAT?"

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I just... Jamie, you need to try one of these." Snivy plucks a berry and hands it to me.

I look down at it, wondering if it's safe. But Snivy is... still alive, and my intuition is telling me that it's fine. Like a prize at the end of the dungeon. I bite into the berry-



I'm surrounded by stars, lights shining in the void, coloring the space with their auras. I'm here again? But something's off, where's this dungeon's star? This is all so strange-



I'm back. I maintain my balance as I readjust to the world, turning to face Snivy.

"Mudkip wasn't that so weird and wild and AMAZING?! What WAS that place? And all those stars! And it felt so weird! Have you ever experienced anything like it?!?"

"Uh... yeah, actually. That's the place I see whenever I touch one of those pink orbs."

"THAT'S what happens to you?! Geez, that is WILD! I just... whoa... Oh yeah, speaking of those pink orbs, the Guardians' Gate is supposed to be here, right? I don't see anything like a gate. Do you see anything? With your Guardian Vision™?"

I scan the room, but I don't even see an orb. I check the walls, the vines, the ceiling, but... "There's nothing here."

"Dang. Well if there's no gate, maybe you can find another clue with the orb and-"

"No, I mean, there's nothing. Not even an orb."

"... What? Did that berry mess with your senses or something?"

"I don't think so, I can still feel the aura of- Wait. This isn't the heart."

"... What what? Um, how could this not be the heart? The kind of magic in those berries couldn't happen anywhere except the heart. They even took you to that void place, just like the orbs."

"No, only almost like the orbs. I couldn't see this dungeon's star, its heart. And this feeling... we're close, but not there yet."

"Okay, so... does that path over there lead deeper in then?"

I check the path, trying to sense the heart. "No. This is the shortcut out, not deeper in."

"What what what? But those shortcuts only exist at the heart!"

A realization hits me. "It's a fake. The amazing scenery, the magical berries, the shortcut out, it's all to trick people into thinking this is the heart. That's why no one's ever found the gate! They'd find this place, be satisfied, then turn back!"

"... You're sure this isn't the heart? Because that doesn't sound very likely."

Following my senses, I walk toward the growth of trees that make up the clearing wall. "I'm sure. Because the real heart..." I press my foreleg against one of the trees, and the forest shifts in response, the plants parting to reveal a path further up the mountain. "Is right this way."

"... Mudkip, I will never doubt you again."

"Come on, you didn't think the end of a mountain dungeon would be anywhere besides the summit, did you?"

"Fair enough. So... Last one to the top is a rotten egg!"

Snivy sprints into the path, and I give chase, running beside them. The thick forest clears out, letting the orange sunset light our way. Up and up we run, getting closer and closer to the heart!

The path spirals around the mountain and leads up to a flat area. The aura here is stronger than any other heart I've been to. We've made it.

"There... there it is," Snivy says, gasping for breath. "The Guardians' Gate..." At the edge of the mountain stand two pillars, and between them is a portal holding a vortex of colors. There it is.

And yet, something else catches my eye. "Forget the gate Snivy, check out that view!"

Below us is the world, bathed in the sunset's glow. I can see innocuous cliff that hides Cloud Palace, and behind that, the giant lake of Coral Garden. Even further is the Enchanted Forest, hidden behind green trees. And just beyond, I think I can barely see the entrance to Circuit Cavern.

Snivy sits beside me, and we take in the view together. It's amazing how tiny everything looks; the trees look like pine needles, and the journey we traveled in a week looks like a brief stroll. "How small do you think we'd look from up here?"

"Like ants. Or grains of sand. Sheesh, and I though I felt short around my family."

"At least you're taller than me."

"Eh, we're both tiny. Everyone's tiny from up here. Like ants living in a colossal terrarium."

"Good thing the Guardians gave us some enrichment with these mystery dungeons, right?"

"Heh, yeah. They're responsible pet owners."

We giggle, staring out at the sunset, leaning against each other in a sideways hug. "Do you think you'll ever have an adventure like this again?"

"Like this? Not in a million years! This kinda thing is a once in a lifetime experience."

"That goes double for me. Transported to another world and turned into a pokemon? What a day that was, and what a week it became!"

"Oh yeah, the gate!" Apparently satisfied with the view, Snivy runs off to check out the Guardians' Gate. "I can't believe I actually found it! And it looks so incredi-" Snivy crashes into a barrier that suddenly appears, surrounding the gate in a dome shape. Rubbing their head, Snivy stands and presses a hand against the dome. "Huh. Guardians only, I guess..."

My intuition kicks in, and I walk over to press my foreleg against the dome... only to have it pass right through. "I think 'Earthlings only' is more accurate."

"Yeah, that makes sense. So now you can finally... go home..."

"Oh. Oh yeah." I... forgot. I got so caught up in everything that I forgot why I was even looking for this place. And now I can go home... And leave this world... Forever...

"Do you... Do you really have to leave?"

"... I don't know."

Silence falls over the summit. All this travel, all this fighting, all of it was to get back home, but now I don't know if I want to leave. I love this world. I love exploring mystery dungeons, I love being a Mudkip, and most of all, I love Snivy!

But I don't belong here. I have a life back home, people who care about me. I'm not supposed to be here-

What does it matter where I'm 'supposed' to be? Where I 'belong'? I can stay anywhere I want!

But do I want to stay here? Do I really want to give up everything I had back home? To leave behind the place I've lived my entire life?

But I don't want to leave behind this place either. I don't want to leave Snivy, and never be able to come back.

"I don't know what to do." I stare into the portal. That wonderful, awful portal. I almost wish we hadn't found it. Or maybe even that I'd never come here at all. I don't know how long I stand there, staring, wishing that I didn't have to chose, that I could travel between worlds as I pleased.

"Um, hey Jamie? It's getting late. I think we should set up camp."

"... Yeah. Good idea."

We set up the tent and eat some dinner. It's a silent meal, as I'm still lost in thought over what to do. By the time we're done eating, the stars are out, and I flop onto my back to gaze at them. It's cloudy tonight, the stars peeking through gaps in the clouds.

Soon, Snivy joins me, staring at the sky. A few minutes pass as we lie there. "Hey Jamie? Um, do you want to... talk about what's on your mind?"

I sigh. "I just... don't know what I want. I love this world, but I haven't even been here for a week. I don't know if I'll still want to be here later. My life back home was so much more... comfortable. I slept in a bed and got food from the store, it was all so easy."

"But you've gotten good at living out here, right? It's been fun, gathering our own food, camping out under the stars..."

"But the novelty will run out. I lived on Earth for ten years, I don't want to just leave all that behind. But I also don't want to leave all this... I don't want to leave you. Ugh, my head hurts, why is this so hard?"

"... I think you're too tired for this."

"What?"

"You just walked all the way to this mountain, then climbed all the way up, fighting wild pokemon the whole way. You're too tired to think clearly right now."

"... Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. I'm gonna sleep now." I get up and head for the tent.

"Wait, Mudkip?"

"Yeah?"

"If you do decide to go home... Please don't leave without saying goodbye."

I approach Snivy and wrap my arms around them. "I won't. I promise."

Snivy returns the hug. "... Thank you. For everything."

I stay with Snivy awhile, until the exhaustion finally hits me, and I almost fall. "Okay, whoa, I really need to sleep."

"Yeah, me too."

We head into the tent and snuggle into our sleeping bags. The nagging thoughts claw at my mind, but I can't even try to deal with them right now. Exhaustion covers me like a blanket, and I drift to sleep.




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