Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Abnormals (Book 3)

Mystery Dungeon: Mystifying Swamps

The amount of filthy water and slime in this place was enough to make anyone turn their nose in disgust. The sheer smell was enough to make Geek almost throw up. But, somehow, he and Volt held their lunch in and kept going. The design of this dungeon was, expectedly, different from any other dungeon they'd ever encountered before. The pathways were marked very clearly by the roads emerging from the sticky, stinky waters of slime below. Pokemon left and right challenged them, some for personal reasons, others for the sole reason of getting revenge against the Explorers for everything they'd done. Usually Geek wouldn't have cared about their reasons, but this time, he did. He had to.

The duo reached floor two with relative ease, by floor two they meant a different area. It was getting darker and darker as they moved along, so every time it got to a certain darkness point, Volt and Geek called it the next floor. Bubbles from the water became a threat. Geek noticed that, as a bubble rose, slime and gunk rose with it. When the bubble popped, the gunk and slime would fly everywhere, knocking things into the water or totally freezing them in place. Geek had to save Volt once already, that was when they decided that staying alert for anything, even when they thought they were safe, was a good idea.

The duo fought against the smell, the gunk, the Pokemon around them, all of it. It filled Geek was memories of long ago, when they'd first arrived in this world. The first few dungeons they'd explored. The two made their way through floor three and floor four, easily moving past Pokemon. A few puzzles stood in their way on floor five, but Volt very quickly solved it. Geek was surprised. He wouldn't have expected Volt to be the puzzle type. Then again, he hadn't seen or talked with Volt in over three years. So much had changed about his friend in that time.
Volt had changed in appearance over the years too. One of the smallest changes that Geek had noticed was Volt's eye. There was a little thunder mark over his left eye. Whether it had gotten there on accident or on purpose Geek didn't know. Now wasn't the time to find out. Volt had also gotten a massive staff with metal on either end. Geek assumed that the staff was meant to be a Lightning Rod. It seemed like Volt also used it as a regular weapon, but that was a rare thing. It was mostly just used to harness and focus Volt's powers as far as Geek had seen.

The tenth floor finally arrived, and by this point they had reached the edge of the Swamp. They were entering the Extinction Zone, the place where the Key of Strength was placed. They exited the dungeon and made their way over rock faces, across barren plains, past dead charcoal trees, and empty water streams. Lava was commonplace here, and Geek was getting more tired and more sweaty the further in they got. They walked over natural rock bridges, lept over lava moats, jouneryed across more wastelands of ash and death. They very quickly entered a small sweet spot, one where lava and death hadn't fully reached yet. It was like an oasis in the desert, except this time it was paradise in hell.

There was a small, quickly drying up lake in the middle of lots of trees which had been singed but not burnt to crisps. There were some peaceful Pokemon who had been making a living here, tents and things set up around. It was a peaceful little resting place before the storm ahead.

Geek had been sitting next to the lake alone, looking off into the distance of fire and death around them. Way off into the distance, just within eyesight, was the Tower of Legends, leaning against the volcano it now shared space with. It was difficult to imagine that this whole area was once a lush land teaming with life. It was also hard to imagine this land was once filled with Pokemon. Now, this was nothing more than what the name spelled it out to be. An Extinction Zone.

Geek heard crushing leaves behind him and turned his head, seeing Volt coming up behind him from the bushes. Volt emerged and spat out a leaf, then walked over and set a hand on Geek's shoulder. Geek looked up at his friend curiously.

"I... think there's something you'd like to see," Volt said with a pained, yet somehow genuine smile.