This isn’t right…
Everywhere I look, it all looks the same! I’ve been stuck in this dungeon for what feels like days and I can’t find my way out! For some reason, I don’t get hungry so I can’t starve my way out… I wasn’t allowed to bring in items so I don’t have an Escape Orb, and there are no Primals around that could faint me out so I’m just trapped in this stupid labyrinth! I knew coming here was a mistake… but the rumors! A true adventurer never backs down from rumors of treasure and glory! But I’m starting to wish I did… Please find me and get me outta here!
Client: Furfrou
Job type: Rescue
Location: Parallel Labyrinth
Rank: A
Reward: Golden Seed + ?
Normally, Fennekin wouldn’t have bothered with a job like this—it didn’t even list any money as a reward—but the prize of a Golden Seed was just as tempting. He wasn’t the most versed on this world and all of its items and quirks but if there was one thing he knew, items that offer a Pokemon instant growth and power were highly coveted and the Golden Seed was one of the finest at that. An instant growth of power and strength five times over? Who wouldn’t want an item like that? But he didn’t want it for himself, oh no he was plenty strong enough! At least that’s what he always tells himself, hyping himself up far more than it’s worth, but if things ever go wrong, there were a sea of excuses to be made. He was never in the wrong.
No, this item was something he could sell or even auction off for a value much more than he would’ve received for an A rank mission. Maybe 30,000P or even 50,000 if he auctioned it! Sold normally, he’d probably only make like a clean 20,000 which was still a lot of money but definitely underselling the potential he could have with it.
Fennekin had never been to Parallel Labyrinth before, nor had he heard of it prior to this mission so it would be uncharted territory for him. But he wasn’t afraid of the unknown, he was an adventurer and rescue freelancer after all, the unknown was half of the job. When he’d arrived at the dungeon, it had looked much like any other entrance; an opening in a wall that led into a cave, the grass beneath his feet fading into a dirt path that lead to smoothed out orange-tan stone. But once he’d entered the dungeon, that’s when it became almost immediately unsettling. Instantly, the stone patterns had lost all of their randomness and inconsistencies, becoming meticulously shaped, carved, and patterned to perfection. Everywhere he turned his gaze looked exactly the same, tall, tall walls that went all the way to the ceiling, no possible way to cheese out this dungeon by going above to look over the maze. There was no telling how big this dungeon was and suddenly, Fennekin realized that the job request didn’t have a floor listed on the location tab. It simply stated the dungeon name. He’d only just stepped inside the dungeon and already felt lost, it’s no wonder there wasn’t a floor listing.
How in the world would anyone be able to tell what floor they’re on in this place unless they kept track in their head?
Sounds easier said than done, it’s just a single number to remember. But the constant familiarity of everything around him, nothing ever looking different, every path the same width, the same length, the same travel distance to the same four way junction. Even as he kept walking straight, it felt endless, never reaching a wall that turned a four way into a three way. Was the dungeon looping on itself or something? Could a dungeon even do that? Mysterious as they were, Fennekin always felt they still followed some sort of laws and rules like… making sense.
“What the hell is going on with this place? Where am I? Where are the items? The Pokemon? The damn stairs??” Frustration was starting to settle in on Fennekin, the quietness and emptiness of this seemingly looping dungeon slowly weighing down on his sanity. It almost felt as if he were frozen in one place, constantly repeating it again and again instead of actually going somewhere. “There’s nothing here! There’s NOTHING! What is this shit!? Why would anyone go in a place like this?? I walk and walk and walk and nothing changes! What sadistic bastard made this dungeon!? This isn’t a dungeon, this is a fucking torture method! I’m gonna lose my damn mind!” Fennekin roared and shot fire at a wall to let out his growing anger. It didn’t do his sanity any favors to see the wall completely unharmed, not an ounce of burn or charring, not the slightest difference as if his burst of flame hadn’t even touched the wall.
Fennekin’s eye twitched and he nearly hissed at the wall before swapping claws at it, once again unfazed. He gave it a headbutt, another swipe, more fire, all amounting to nothing. “WHAT IS THIS!?” He shouted, dropping to the ground and covering his head. “WHAT IS MY LIFE!?” Fennekin was in his own personal hell. This dungeon should be illegal, someone should put a sign at its entrance or something warning travelers and adventurers to just not enter at all, stay away, go back, not worth, keep your sanity! How was this mission a mere A rank? This was like S+ tier torture! Sure, A rank jobs aren’t exactly easy either, it’s like the entry level into being a master class team before the truly tough S ranks, but there was nothing entry level about this! The work itself was easy, but the mental warfare was were it got intense. Fennekin was losing his mind, it’s all the same, everything is the same, it’s never changing, never different, just same same same!
“GET ME OUTTA HERE!!” Fennekin screeched out and ran blindly, turning aimlessly at every intersection just hoping he finds anything. Money on the floor, an Oran berry, a Primal, the client themselves, an exit, something! But no amount of running would change the world around him. Fennekin could feel his heartbeat picking up, pounding in his chest. He was starting to hyperventilate. Is this it? Is this how he dies? Living the rest of his life in this horror story of a dungeon, some mystical force preventing him from getting hungry? Never starving, just suffering until he dies of old age or something?
“How do I get out? How do I get out? I WANNA LEAVE! I GIVE UP, OKAY!?” Fennekin cried out to no one in particular. He was panting, chest heaving as if there weren’t enough oxygen in the air. Finally, on the verge of losing himself entirely, Fennekin turned around and tried to go back as if that were going to change anything.
But it did.
As he shamefully returned to the intersection he’d last turned to, he’d find himself staring forward into a room with eyes widened and on the verge of tears. Right in front of him was a nearly passed out Furfrou, their fur completely disheveled even for their species, unkempt and rowdy, even grown out more than usual to the point of looking more like a snow white Stoutland with how uncouth and wild their fur had grown out. Weakly, they looked up at Fennekin who looked just as distraught, though the sight of another Pokemon had caused the canine’s dim blue eyes to light up with life and rejoice almost like a machine turning on. Their tail began a weak, slow wag that gradually became rapid and lively just like they had. Through all the rowdy fur could Fennekin only see those desperate little eyes and that cute, pointed button nose of theirs.
“Are… are you..?” The Furfrou began as they slowly stood up, looking down at the fire fox standing in front of him.
“Real?” Fennekin finished, reaching a paw out towards the Furfrou who did the same. When their paws made contact, they shivered from the touch, the feeling and presence of another Pokemon bringing the two back to reality. Furfrou had finally been saved, and by rescuing them, Fennekin too had been saved. “You’re real… you’re really real! You’d better be real! Cus I’m sick of this damn place, what the hell were you thinking coming in here!? Did anyone tell you this place is a shithole??”
“N-no…” Furfrou flinched from the sudden hostile behavior. Their already droopy ears seemed to droop even further as they backed down with a soft whimper. “I-I’m sorry… I-I didn’t know…” Fennekin groaned and sighed. He shouldn’t take his anger out on Furfrou, they didn’t do anything wrong. Just a curious explorer following rumors. It was almost a plague, a flaw to the average adventurer and their need to follow the rumor mill.
“No… it’s fine, I’m just a bit on edge.” For once, Fennekin took accountability for his actions rather than making excuses. He sighed, pulling out his rescue badge and grabbing Furfrou, the two teleporting to town, safe from that treacherous hellscape.
“Thank you oh so very much for rescuing me. I’d been lost in there, stuck for… I don’t even know, it felt like days or weeks. Time just felt so incredibly slow in there, trying to find my way to that treasure, the end of the dungeon or something.” Furfrou explained, bowing before Fennekin out of gratitude.
“I still don’t get what the hell was up with that place. Did you ever once try just turning around?”
“Well yeah but that didn’t do anything. I just started going backwards. Maybe… in a place like that, it feels like there’s no forward or backwards, just… going.” Furfrou shivered at the thought of being back there. “I’m never going back there again. From now on, I’ll get more information on rumors and legends before I go running places.” The bushy furred canine reached into their sea of fluff to pull out the Golden Seed, glimmering and glossy golden, befitting of its name. Fennekin looked it over with a sparkle in his eye, almost in disbelief that it was actually all his now. “I-I gotta get going, I haven’t seen my family in… I dunno! Thank you again, Fennekin! You’re one of the bravest Pokemon I know for going in there and saving me!” Furfrou gave the fox a lick on the cheek before running off, leaving Fennekin huffing and blushing faintly from the random and sudden act of affection. Jeez, these Pokemon are really affectionate with strangers when they show their gratitude. Humans would never just go up and kiss some savior of theirs like that. At most, they’d get a thank you for the selfless act and that’s it. But here, Pokemon are all kind and courteous, they give you hugs and kisses, they give you money and goods that you can actually put to good use. Maybe this world isn’t so bad after all. Though, Fennekin still preferred he could get back home and back to being a human.
“Welp. Time to see how much this bad boy sells for.”
![Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Season of Love [2]](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5136/5136855_ThePuffyTablet_season_of_love_2.jpg "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Season of Love [2]")
