The passageway was a lot longer than expected.
Buizel and Shaun walked down it, exhausted from fighting with the ocean. Neither of them said anything as the passage sloped deeper and deeper.
Eventually, Shaun broke the silence. “So, I think I’m sick again.”
Buizel winced at the sound of his voice, which sounded sick and stuffy again. “Ah. Yeah, I can hear that.”
“It’s the damn Time Gear,” Shaun growled. “I swear, this thing wants me dead.”
Buizel inhaled through his teeth. “Right, you used- time magic or whatever.”
Shaun coughed, stumbling a little. “Yeah, that’s basically what it is.” He laughed. “Wow, I’m a mage now. That’s cool! That’s-“ his sarcasm was interrupted by more coughing.
Buizel watched him, concerned. “Are- are you going to relapse?” He glanced around at the walls of the passage, which seemed to be growing blacker. “We can’t exactly… help with that, down here.”
Shaun shrugged. “I’ll live.” His light dimmed a little. “Probably,” he said, looking at it with worry.
Buizel had also noticed it. “The last time your tail did this, you passed out.”
“Every time I use this light, I pass out,” Shaun corrected dryly. “This thing is more of a curse than a blessing.”
Buizel looked at the walls again, which had gone almost pitch black. “You can probably turn off your tail, anyway. These walls don’t seem to be getting any lighter.”
Shaun sighed as his tail light faded. “I was hoping that I’d be more useful.”
“Don’t start,” Buizel said softly.
They continued walking in the dark, Buizel worrying that they would walk off a ledge. Shaun kept coughing, with the occasional sneeze added in for variety. “Wow, I feel really awful,” he remarked after a while. “I hope the guy with the answers has, like, medicine or something.”
Buizel laughed. “That’d certainly be something.”
They lapsed into silence again, their footsteps reverberating through the ground like it was made of glass. “Huh, that’s odd,” Shaun muttered. “I feel like I’ve been here before.”
Buizel blinked at him. “You have?”
He got the impression that he shook his head. “No, but… it’s like I’ve seen this place in a dream.”
They walked further. Buizel wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been walking for, but he was too afraid to ask.
A blue light suddenly began to glow. They didn’t notice it at first, each stewing in their own thoughts. But after a while, Buizel looked up and looked around. “Wait, where’s the light coming from?”
Shaun looked too. “Hey, look over there!”
A large blue mural of some kind floated in midair, far away from the glass platform they were standing on. It vaguely looked like a Pokemon, but neither Buizel nor Shaun could place it.
“What is that?” Buizel asked.
Shaun suddenly gasped. “This was in that dream I had! With the weird cat thing!”
“Wait, really?” Buizel looked around again. “You saw this place in your dream?”
“Yeah!” Shaun began to limp ahead enthusiastically. “Come on, let’s go!”
As they continued down the passageway, more and more glowing blue murals began to fade into existence. Buizel thought he could almost make out a few, but their shapes were just vague enough to elude him.
Written under a lot of these murals was a script. It looked almost like Unown, but it was all linked together in a way that flowed the words together into one long line.
Shaun noticed one of these and whistled. “Fanciest cursive I’ve ever seen!”
“Cursive?” Buizel asked.
“Old way of writing quickly,” Shaun explained. “Looks pretty, but hard to read. I can’t even read this,” he added ruefully. “This is like- archaic.”
More and more murals kept appearing in the space around them. Curiously, Buizel reached out to touch the wall. He was slightly chagrined to learn that the wall no longer existed, throwing him a little off balance. “Um, watch your step,” he said. “No walls.”
“That tracks,” Shaun said, unsurprised. “I swear, these mystery dungeons are so strange.”
“They’re not usually like this,” Buizel insisted. “Usually, they’re just like- elaborate mazes in caves or forests. Not- this.”
Shaun chuckled. “Glad to hear that this is unusual, even for this place.”
Buizel opened his mouth to agree, but a figure at the end of the passageway caught his eye. “Who’s that?”
Shaun squinted. “Hey, wait, I think that was the person from my dream!” He made as though to run, but his cast quickly reminded him that it was still there. “Man,” he lamented, “I wish I could run.”
They slowly made their way across the glass hallway, approaching the figure at the end of it at a snail’s pace. Buizel almost wanted to run ahead, but he felt like it would’ve been a disservice to Shaun.
They finally reached the end of the hallway, Shaun panting with exertion.
Buizel leaned down to him. “What do we say?”
“I don’t know!” Shaun whispered. “Maybe, like- say hello?”
“That feels too informal!” Buizel whispered back. “I feel like making a good impression is important!”
Shaun gestured to the cat-like figure with his broken paw. “We can’t stand here all day! We need to-“
The cat spoke, ending their argument immediately. “It’s been a while.”
Buizel and Shaun both stared at it blankly. “Huh?” Shaun said cluelessly.
“What?” Buizel said, barely more eloquent.
“I am Espeon.” He turned to face them, the light reflecting off of the red orb in his forehead. “I must say, I am more than a little surprised you’re here so soon.”
“What do you mean?” Buizel asked. Something about Espeon was very familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“When I said ‘you had two days’, I fully expected you to come here tomorrow, or maybe the day after.” Espeon cocked his head. “You two coming here the day of the message speaks volumes.”
Shaun realized first. “YOU’RE the one who’s been sending the messages?!”
Espeon nodded, to Buizel’s shock. “Correct.”
“B- how?” Buizel stammered. “Who- why me? How did- the lighting!-“
“You didn’t give me much to go off of,” Espeon said with amusement. “I had to improvise.”
“Why the messages?” Shaun asked, taking a step forward.
Espeon sighed. “I suppose I got a little lonely. I began trying to see if anymon could find messages that I hid throughout Island Village. After a while, I got the feeling that whomever did would be immensely important to the village’s survival.”
“So, I was just… lucky?” Buizel said, his stomach dropping a little.
Espeon shook his head. “Not by any means. By far, you have surpassed any expectations I had, thanks to mister Shaun.”
Shaun immediately bristled. “How do you know my name?!”
Espeon sighed again. “I told you, I am somemon familiar.” He looked around at the floating murals. “What do you think of this place?”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Shaun said accusingly. He coughed, ruining the image he was trying to cast.
“All in good time.” He stared at a mural as it slowly floated past.
“This place is kinda pretty,” Buizel admitted. “Though, um, I don’t get the murals.”
“I’ve spent years trying to determine their meaning.” Espeon shook his head. “Alas. The glass below me begins to crack.”
Startled, Buizel and Shaun looked at the glass panel below Espeon. Sure enough, a large crack ran through it.
“This entire dungeon collapses in two days,” Espeon said ruefully. “I did not know this at the time.”
“Collapses?” Shaun asked, confused.
“Mystery dungeons, like most natural things in this world, have a life cycle.” Espeon watched as another blue mural drifted by. “However, it is so slow that most other Pokemon do not see them collapse. Or be born,” he added. “I, unfortunately, lived through this one as it collapsed.”
“What happened?” Buizel asked curiously. He knew that mystery dungeons could collapse, but no ‘mon had ever been inside one as it did.
Espeon shivered. “Dark. Very dark. Darker than dark. It becomes very hard to breathe, as well. I- don’t really wish to remember that experience.”
Buizel had been watching Espeon closely. “Who are you?” he asked. “You’re so familiar, it’s almost eerie.”
Espeon shrugged a little. “All in good time.” He looked around with sudden trepidation. “We should leave.”
“Alright, you lead the way,” Buizel said. Something about this Pokemon was giving him insane Deja vu.
Espeon slipped between them and led the way, Shaun and Buizel’s footsteps echoing on the glass. “So you’re the one who gave me the weird dream about this place?” Shaun asked, watching Espeon’s forked tail wave with interest.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And you somehow also know that we’ve reversed time?”
Buizel stared at Shaun, aghast. “He does?!”
“Yes.” Espeon inhaled a shuddery breath. “I feared I was trapped down here forever before mister Shaun rewound time.”
Buizel shook his head like it was full of bees. “Why are you so familiar?” he asked.
Espeon glanced back at him. “For an extremely observant Pokemon, you’re a bit forgetful.”
Buizel stared confusedly at him. “What?”
“All in good time,” Espeon repeated.
Far behind them, something shattered loudly.
All three of them jumped and looked. At the very end of the hallway, the glass panel Espeon had been sitting on was gone. As they watched, the murals at the end of the hallway winked out.
Espeon began breathing quickly. “We need to run.”
“I can’t!-“ Shaun started to point out. He was lifted off of the ground by an invisible force, causing him to yelp.
Espeon and Buizel began to run. Shaun floated along, matching their pace easily. He glanced behind them as a glass panel shattered. “We’ve got a pretty good head start, we just need to keep going…”
Another glass panel shattered. Shaun winced. “…or not.”
Buizel and Espeon were already running as fast as they could. Beneath their feet, the glass cracked at every step, threatening to drop them into the abyss. Behind them, more murals blinked out as another glass panel shattered.
“Wh- why is this happening?” Buizel panted. “I thought- I thought you said we had two days!”
Espeon didn’t respond aloud, exactly, but they heard him clearly all the same. “This dungeon still has a mind of its own. It does not want me to leave.”
Another glass panel shattered, almost immediately followed by another. “They’re getting faster,” Shaun remarked uneasily.
Buizel’s side began to hurt, but he continued to run. Espeon also seemed unused to the exercise, beginning to limp a little.
He nearly tripped as they suddenly encountered the slope upwards. They had to slow down as a matter of course, because they didn’t have the energy to run up the slope. Shaun continued to watch worriedly as the glass panels behind them continued to shatter in sequence.
A worrying thought occurred to Buizel as they walked up the slope, walls beginning to close in around them again. “How- how are we going to get out?” Buizel asked. “We’re like forty feet underwater!”
“That- will not be an issue,” Espeon panted aloud. “We just need to- get to the entrance.”
They continued climbing the slope, Shaun still watching behind them. The echoes of shattering glass kept growing louder, to his evident chagrin. “I hate to be that guy, but, um, can we pick up the pace?”
“No,” Buizel and Espeon chorused. “I have not run like this in a long time,” Espeon added, breathing hard. “It does not come easily to me.”
The ground beneath them began to level out a bit, something the walking Pokemon were immensely grateful for. They began to walk faster, far too aware of their surroundings being dark.
After a minute, without being asked, Shaun lit up his tail. It was still dim, but it cast enough light for them to vaguely see where they were going. “Thanks,” Buizel panted.
They finally reached the small cave that Buizel and Shaun had rolled into. Buizel looked around fruitlessly for an escape, but Espeon expertly walked over to an unassuming wall and rested a paw on it.
The rock blinked away, showing an exit to a forest somewhere. The sun had already mostly set, but it was still brighter out there than in the mystery dungeon. “Through here,” Espeon said.
Buizel followed Espeon through the passage, Shaun floating behind him. As they seemingly stepped through the cave entrance, Buizel’s stomach did a somersault. He looked around, but they were entirely surrounded by forest. There was no rock outcropping to be found.
Shaun looked around as well, still suspended in the air. “Okay, uh, question one, where are we? Question two, what was that?”
“That was a Teleport,” Espeon said, answering the second question first.
“You could have just done that the entire time?” Buizel asked, more than passingly miffed.
Espeon laughed a little. “No, unfortunately. I had to be as close to the surface as possible.”
Buizel looked around at the vaguely familiar landscape. It was darker than he would’ve liked, his promises he made earlier that day beginning to poke his conscience. “Where are we, exactly?”
“Fifty Island,” Espeon replied simply. “We should find the village with a little walking.”
Buizel groaned. “My parents are going to kill me. Again.”
Espeon chuckled a little. “I suppose we’ve all been in that situation.”
“No, like, you don’t understand,” Buizel said. “I went missing until midnight only like, two days ago. If this-“
“It’s only about six o’ clock,” Espeon cut him off. “Don’t worry, I’ll attempt to explain things to your parents.”
“And I’m going to be in trouble,” Shaun said ruefully. “Strict bedrest and all of that.” He coughed, as if his body was trying to make a point.
Espeon glanced at Shaun, a mischievous glint in his eyes that neither of them expected to be there. “That will be less of an issue than you might expect.”
He started off in a seemingly random direction, Shaun floating after him helplessly. Buizel followed, worrying about what he would say to his parents.
As they wandered through the woods, they suddenly came across a brick wall. Espeon halted, a look of confusion spreading across his face. “This is new.”
Buizel scrutinized the brickwork. “Hey, I think I know where this is.” He walked along the wall for a moment before finding a stairway leading up. “Yeah, there’s a way into town over here.”
Espeon followed Buizel up the stairs. They led through an alleyway into the residential district that Buizel vaguely remembered from a week ago, the rows of houses brightly shining light from their windows.
Espeon looked around and hummed appreciatively as Buizel led the way up to the main part of town. “I have not been here in some time.”
Shaun’s eyebrows shot up from where he was still suspended in the air. “You’ve been here before?”
“I used to live here,” replied Espeon vaguely. “I… left, after having a disagreement with my brother.”
This didn’t match with anything Buizel had been thinking at all. “You have a brother?”
Espeon shrugged. “Yes,” he said simply. “Maybe you’ll meet him soon.”
Shaun groaned. “I am so tired of people giving vague prophecies that come true.”
“My apologies,” Espeon said with amusement. “Us Psychic-types are more prone to that than other Pokemon.”
As they reached the main square, which was quiet, Espeon asked, “Where’s the clinic?”
Buizel showed him the way down to the clinic. “I don’t exactly know what you’re going to say to Chansey, but…”
In response, Espeon floated Shaun through the wide window of the sick ward. Buizel heard a muffled flumph as Shaun presumably landed on a bed, and Espeon turned to Buizel. “We should go now. Your parents are undoubtedly worried about you.”
“Yeah,” Buizel sighed. “I just don’t want to get in trouble again.”
They walked to the lighthouse in silence. Buizel was beginning to feel exhausted. “I am never going into the ocean again,” he yawned.
Espeon glanced at him. “You seem to have gotten much better at swimming.”
Buizel nodded sleepily. “I guess. I don’t- I don’t really know what happened. It was all such a blur.” Espeon tilted his head in thought, but neglected to comment.
They reached the lighthouse after what felt like far too long. Buizel robotically pulled the door open and went into the vacant house.
Espeon also walked in and looked around, his eyes lingering on the bookshelf. Buizel didn’t notice, instead opting to wander directly into the kitchen.
His place already had a plate of food at it, which he sat down at and began to eat. Espeon climbed into the seat across from him and looked around some more. “You’ve been raised well.”
“Thanks,” Buizel replied automatically. He ate approximately two bites of food before resting his head on the table and falling asleep.
Espeon smiled warmly at him. “Poor child.” He looked up and opened various cabinets, looking for where the cups were stored. After finding them, he took a cup out and got himself a glass of water, which he sipped from, seemingly waiting for something.
The door opened and shut, and Floatzel hurried around the corner. She froze as she saw Buizel asleep at his place, and Espeon calmly drinking a cup of water.
Espeon nodded at her. “Good evening. Are you his mother?”
“Yesss…?” She drew the word out into a question. “Who are you?”
“I am Espeon,” he replied by way of introduction. “Your son saved me from a collapsing mystery dungeon.”
Floatzel’s eyes flicked to Buizel and back. “That’s- a little hard to believe.”
Espeon cocked his head in acknowledgement. “Believe it or not, it’s the whole truth.”
Floatzel glanced towards the base of the lighthouse. “Do you mind staying here until my husband takes a break? He’ll want to talk to you about this.”
He shrugged. “I had no other plans for tonight.”
Floatzel delicately picked up Buizel and carried him upstairs to his room. After a minute, she came back downstairs and checked in on Espeon. “Can I trust you to- not do anything while you’re here?” she asked.
Espeon nodded. “I don’t plan to.”
Floatzel watched him warily as she ducked into the master bedroom, presumably to sleep.
Espeon let her go, waiting for Ampharos.