Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Recovering Memories

Chapter 3: Into the Dungeon

Beach Path

Ben was kicking up a lot of dust as he ran through the main street of the town that led back towards the beach, and Ryan and Lena struggled to follow. Ryan, in particular, was having a bit of difficulty running on all fours, though he was definitely doing better even compared to earlier that day.

"Slow down!" the sneasel shouted after Ben. "We can hardly keep up! Do you even know where we're going?"

"Yeah!" the eevee added. "Plus, all that's this way is the lighthouse Lena and I are staying in and some cave with a foggy entrance!"

The scorbunny skidded to a halt. Oh shoot! They think I don't know what I'm doing! Quick, think of something! Ben turned around to face the duo, who had caught up by this point.

"You said something about a cave, right?" Ben asked the eevee.

Ryan tilted his head. "Yeah? What about it?"

"That's no ordinary cave, that's a mystery dungeon!" Ben said excitedly. "I bet the berry thief hid in there to escape the consequences of their actions!"

Ryan nodded to show that he agreed with the scorbunny's theory. More importantly, this confirmed his suspicions about which version of the Pokemon world he had been sent to. Although he didn't show it, he was a bit nervous about the prospect of fighting other pokemon when he had just mastered... the ability to walk. Despite this, he continued with the other two towards the beach.

Soon, the trio arrived where the forest met the beach, near the bluff where the abandoned lighthouse stood. Instead of continuing up the bluff, the trio crossed the sand toward the cave entrance that Lena had seen the day before, and before long, they stood just outside it. Lena adjusted her bag, and Ryan took a deep breath, as the trio entered the mouth of the mysterious cave, disappearing into the fog.

Coral Cove Mystery Dungeon

The trio started off in a room with two branching pathways: one in front and the other to the left. Ryan looked behind him and was shocked to find that the way they had come in had seemingly disappeared. There was also a funky smelling breeze, amplified by Ryan's newly strengthened sense of smell, which he found odd because the pokemon were clearly in a fully enclosed room with rocky walls. Clearly, the Mystery Dungeon games had not prepared him for this.

Well, we're in here, the eevee thought to himself as he started walking forward with his teammates in tow. No turning back now. Let's just hope whoever took the berries is actually hiding in here...

Ryan hoped that he wouldn't have to fight off anything, although he knew that even if a wild pokemon did attack, he had Lena and Ben, who did know how to attack, even as he didn't. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any ferals on this floor. Or, perhaps, unfortunately, because it was eerily silent inside except for a small breeze and the trio's footsteps. The eevee tried to think of something to say as the trio traversed the hallways, but Ben spoke up first.

"So, Ryan... can I ask you how old you are?" the scorbunny asked.

Ryan hummed in thought. "Well, I got here yesterday, so... that would mean my eighteenth birthday is in exactly two weeks."

"You're almost eighteen?" Ben replied in disbelief. "That's funny, because my eighteenth hatchday is in a few months, after the um... that day of the year... when the day and night are the same amount of time..."

"The fall equinox?" Lena chimed in, then realized, "Wait, how do I know that?"

"Yeah, that," Ben affirmed. "Normally, pokemon have already evolved by my age, but my parents never really let me do any sparring or exploring on my own to get stronger, so now I'm the only 'mon my age in the village who hasn't evolved yet." He sighed. "Well, I was until you showed up, Ryan. Speaking of which, I heard that eevee has eight options for what to evolve into. Have you given it any thought?"