Firefly Hunting

Volbeat wrote:
   This crazy Sneasel just suddenly attacked us out of nowhere and made off with my sister! I don't even know why he'd want her, she's always so.... Well, it doesn't matter. Just please teach him a lesson! Oh, and get my sister back too!

» Client: Volbeat
» Target: Sneasel
» Place: Pricklemist Hill
» Restrictions: Escort the Illumise captive out of the dungeon after defeating the outlaw
» Difficulty: F
» Reward: 150 Poké
» Expiration: 4 months since last attempt 5/31/16
» Exploration Points: 10
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Energy: 16 - 10 (entrance fee) = 6

"This looks like the place," Darcy said, turning her gaze from her map to the misty hill in front of her.  It looked gloomy, covered with fog and dense greenery beneath a cloudy sky, but that didn't make the Skitty any less excited or determined.  This was her first time entering a mystery dungeon as well as her first mission as a guild member.  It was an important mission, too--someone's sister had been kidnapped.  She had to do something about that.  If one of her own siblings went missing, she would do anything to get them back, after all.

She rolled up her map and stuffed it back into her bag using her mouth.  "It's hard to believe that this place is actually a mystery dungeon, isn't it?" she said, turning to her partner.  "It looks normal enough from out here.  I expected it to be full of moving trees, or covered in magic runes, or something.  Maybe we have the wrong hill."  She leisurely began trotting forward, half expecting the scenery around her to start shifting around on its own.  That was what mystery dungeons did, right?

Tenebris followed her, being a member of her team, the "Friendship Alliance." He said, "Mystery Dungeons have various mysteries, I haven't been to one either and they can be dangerous. But I suppose it could be worse. If nothing strange has happened yet, that only makes it more likely for us to get this job done easier. Yes, being part of the guild isn't 'easy,' but our first mission is only an F rank so this place can't be as dangerous as some." He said.

He also acknowledged the idea of someone's sibling being kidnapped. He said, "I would do anything to protect any member of my family. Even other families I enjoy helping in need. I don't even think the biggest reward will be the Poke, either. In my opinion, the only reward I ask for is gratitude from our clients. It makes me feel good knowing I have brightened up someone's day."

Than that made Tenebris think of the kidnapper. "But something is suspicious here. That kidnapper is my same species, which means he could actually be related to me. I hope not, it's hard to bring an outlaw to justice, let alone one that shares your blood. Anyway, even than I would have to at the very least give that other Sneasel a talking to. Even in my family's desperate situation, it is not our standards to capture innocent, defenseless Pokémon like Illumise. Isn't it insulting just thinking about it?" He paused, realizing he just gave away something a little complicated to Darcy. "Oh, and by the way, maybe I said too much when I said 'desperate situation...'" He began to get nervous. He and his family may have a bad situation, but he figured Darcy shouldn't get affected by it. He liked her too much to tell her about sad things like that.

He continued onward through the dungeon, and he had to admit it was creepy. Places like this were giving him a suspenseful surge of alertness. "Let's be careful, I've heard hostile Pokémon hide in places like this. But don't worry, it seems safe so far." He said. But he couldn't be sure, so he thought, At least, I hope.

Darcy listened to Tenebris as they walked, still scanning the surroundings for any evidence that they had entered a Mystery Dungeon. The bushes and trees had become more dense, letting in even less sunlight, and the air was becoming heavy with humidity and the scent of pine needles, but it seemed like a regular old forest. A cold, dark, unpleasant forest. She shivered and was glad that she had someone with her.

"What do you mean by 'desperate situation'? Is something wrong back at home?" she asked distractedly as they walked. "At least your family only kidnap bad guys, from the sound of it. Nothing wrong with that." She laughed a little, but paused when she noticed that Tenebris seemed uncomfortable. Maybe this was more serious than she thought? She felt a little pang of guilt for joking about it.

"And, um... I asked around about this place before we left," she added, hoping to change the subject. "It's supposed to be pretty safe, for a Mystery Dungeon. The guild sends rookies here all the time, so I'm sure a pair like us can handle whatever it throws at us!"

Tenebris was a little offended, but he easily forgave Darcy, for she didn't know the situation and thus it wasn't her fault. He replied to her motivation about the dungeon by saying, "That's good. If there are always low difficulty missions here, then you are probably right. I just hope our fellow Sneasel isn't a harder suspect to deal with. I guess this is an F-rank, however, so he or she shouldn't be too notorious or powerful, at least not more than us."

He looked around cautiously, wondering if any hostile Pokémon really did show up in these places. He thought to himself, We can do this. If other rookies can succeed here, Darcy and I definitely can.

Darcy's posture relaxed again, glad that Tenebris didn't seem too bothered.  "Yeah, I'm more interested in the Sneasel, too," she said, swishing her tail back and forth as she walked.  "I'm surprised that this is just an F-rank mission, really.  I would expect someone strong enough to be a kidnapper to be kind of scary."

Her mind started to wander as she thought about what kind of Pokémon their target might be.  "Do you really think he might be related to you?  If he is, maybe we can just...  talk him down, and go have tea together after this, or something.  If he's related to someone like you, he can't be that bad, right?"

Tenebris replied, "Well, I don't know if he's related, but if he is, he has to be my cousin. I remember my cousin, Glacies, being a rather hostile type, always getting into trouble. I don't know where he currently is, though. After our family's, uh, situation started, we were separated. I haven't seen him since. I have a bad feeling that Glacies may be our quarry. I hope not, because that means I'll have no choice but to explain what happened."

Tenebris also acknowledged the difficulty. "And you have a point about kidnappers. I always thought they were scary types as well. Maybe the guild thinks since he is about the same level as us, that he may be equally matched? We may never know, I guess. And who am I to question the clients anyway? The guild surely knows what they are doing. They would never send us on a mission out of our league."

It was than that Tenebris realized, "This is a mystery dungeon... why does it seem so quiet? We still haven't encountered any wild Pokémon or anything weird. Is the kidnapper nearby already?" He looked around. "Be careful, Darcy. If it has been this quiet for so long, maybe the worst happens all at once..." He hoped not.

"It has been awfully quiet, hasn't it?" Darcy said as she stepped into a small clearing with a fallen tree near the center.  "I'm a little disappointed, to be honest.  I didn't think something with a name like 'Mystery Dungeon' could be so underwhelming.  There aren't even any magic runes.  What a joke."  She hopped onto the tree and started grooming herself while she thought about which way they should go next.  Would their target be at the top of the hill?  Or maybe hiding somewhere less conspicuous?

She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw something strange near the edge of the clearing out of the corner of her eye.  "Hm?  What's that, Tenbri?" she asked, turning to look in its direction.

Eventine carried out 3 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

, ,

(Just so you know, I haven't quite figured out how to battle yet. I'll see if I can find any tutorials on it.)

Tenebris was shocked when the Pokémon showed up at first, but then he thought to himself, What do I expect? This is a Mystery Dungeon... He carefully stayed on guard, preparing for any coming attacks. This is it. My first battle as a member of Faye's Guild!

(I think combat is just freeform, except that your character always gets knocked out if their energy reaches zero.  You can only lose energy by entering dungeons and rolling the encounter dice, though, so you don't have to worry about it until you're ready to look for more trouble.  If you have any questions just PM me and we'll sort things out.)

(Speaking of energy, mine is 6 - 9 = 0.  Whoops.)

Darcy was startled when a few Pokemon entered the clearing.  Oh, great.  She jinxed it.  Two of them looked like ghost Pokemon, and the third was some kind of red bug that chittered loudly as it approached.  "Um...  Hi?" Darcy said hesitantly as she hopped off of the log and edged closer to Tenebris, hoping that they might not be hostile.

They seemed to ignore her, though.  The two Haunter cackled as they swooped between her and Tenebris. Darcy looked back at him with concern, but her attention was diverted when the bug Pokemon slashed at her with a forearm. She tried to get out of the way, but the attack still glanced her side.

She was shocked by how badly the injury stung, but stood her ground. She didn't know much about fighting, but she figured that the thing in front of her couldn't be all that dangerous. New guild members were supposed to practice in places like this, right?