(Owen's stomach growled loudly, breaking him from his train of thought. He tittered and dug through his bag.)
Owen: "I guess fighting all the time can work up an appetite, huh?"
(The crackling flames of the battle's aftermath spoke back to him.)
Owen: "I need to stop talking to myself."
(The trees might have agreed.)
(He stomped around a small clearing, then sat down to enjoy his meal.)
(He grabbed a stick nearby and stuck it through the core of the apple.)
(He wrapped his tail around and kept it in front of him, roasting the apple above the flame, focusing on making the flame hot enough to cook it.)
(Someone hissed behind him.)
(Owen sighed.)
(There was never any peace from the ferals of the Dungeon.)
Owen: "I wouldn't do that."
(Owen warned.)
(He didn't even turn around.)
(He bit into the roasted apple, savoring the sweet, hot taste.)
(The feral advanced, growling even louder.)
(Suddenly, the ground beneath the Pokémon's feet lit up in a bright yellow.)
(A column of fire engulfed it—and that was it.)
(A quick shriek, and then it was gone from the Dungeon.)
(Satisfied, Owen spun the apple to cook it a bit more.)
Owen: "My signature attack Fire Trap!"
(The wind that accompanied him did not reply.)
(Owen finished his apple and stood up.)
Owen: "Top shape!"
(He pumped his fists in the air.)
Owen: "Can't beat me now, Dungeon!"
(Owen had tempted fate.)
(The ground rumbled.)
Owen: "U-uhh..."
???: "Rrr... rrrn... rpphhf..."
(He was ready to run at a moment's notice.)
(He shoved his hand into his bag, looking for an item that he'd picked up in an earlier section.)
(He found it and looked up just in time to see the foot of a Snorlax stepping through the corridors.)
(This Snorlax was huge way above average, perhaps two heads taller.)
(And its arms were longer, too, with thick, matted fur.)
(Muscles bulged unnaturally.)
(It wasn't a normal Snorlax and Owen wasn't prepared for whatever it had in store.)
(The phantom pain in Owen's chest and back suddenly flared up.)
(He had forgotten all about it.)
(Suddenly, flashes of a dream tugged at Owen's mind.)
(He remembered his father getting struck, and then exploding in a cloud of blue embers.)
(And some creature he couldn't remember what slicing at him.)
(That didn't feel like a dream.)
(But his father was alive! It had to be a dream.)
(The Snorlax, however, was anything but.)
(A single swing from its mighty, Machoke-like arm would turn Owen into a fine, red mist.)
Owen: "Nope!"
(He threw a seed toward the Snorlax and fired a puff of flames along with it.)
(The seed ignited, sending soot and smoke in all directions, both blinding and suffocating the mutant.)
(It roared and rubbed its eyes, stumbling blindly into a wall.)
(Owen, knowing he was outmatched, fled for the next section, demarcated by a rippling, transparent wall like a gently rippling pond had been rotated to be vertical.)
(He only stopped running once he was sure he was far away.)
(He held onto his tiny knees.)
Owen [in mind]: "A Snorlax like that, here? Did it wander in recently?"
(He shook his head.)
(Nothing he could do about it now.)
(It was just something to report when he got back to Kilo Village.)
(That was an 'Elite Heart' problem.)
(The Charmander gently held his chest; the phantom pain was fading.)
Owen [in mind]: "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. That was real, and I'm not seeing things. Not crazy."
(And so, he advanced, one rippling distortion after another.)
(Section seven, section eight, section nine... section ten.)
Owen: "Okay, this must be it."
(he said.)
Owen: "Finally."
(Between his apparent struggle to differentiate dream from reality, and then the Snorlax sighting, his enthusiasm for the exploration was being sustained only by his feigned excitement.)
(He did his research.)
(There was a Waypoint at the end of the tenth section, where the Dungeon's perimeter ended.)
(What great timing, too—Owen was beat! He didn't want to admit it to the Dungeon, but the tenth section was his limit.)
(He looked up at the sky.)
(The sun's rays weren't shining through the tall trees anymore—not directly, at least.)
(It looked like it was going to turn orange soon.)
(If he didn't get home by evening, Alex's cannons were probably going to explode again.)
???: "Hey. Kid."
(Owen bristled.)
Owen: "I'm NOT a ki...id...!"
(He turned around.)
(On the other side of the Dungeon hall was a creature with gray scales, a huge jaw, and large wings.)
(His eyes... Owen didn't like those eyes.)
(Trained, focused. Malevolent. Hungry.)
(What did this one have in mind? He saw that look often in town—outlaws that were captured, still bitter with defeat.)
(But this one wasn't defeated.)
(Of all the people that he'd met today, this rogue was the first one that he had no inkling of familiarity with.)
(He had to be careful what he wished for; meeting this Aerodactyl gave him the worst pit in his stomach yet.)
(Maybe it was the apple.)
(Something about his presence darkened the air around him, but that could have also been Owen's senses going into overdrive.)
Aerodactyl: "What's someone like you doing in a place like this?"
(the Aerodactyl asked.)
Aerodactyl: "Looking for an advantage? Nothing but Grass and Bugs here, after all. Fire Type like you? Easy win."
Owen: "Y-yeah. Easy, haha..."
Aerodactyl: "I have an easy time here, too."
(Aerodactyl replied.)
Aerodactyl: "Rock is strong against Bugs. And Flying? Beats 'em both. But you know what's really great about me?"
Owen: "Y-yeah? What?"
Aerodactyl: "Rock beats Fire. Rock also beats Flying. And guess what explorer-types show up the most here?"
Owen: "F... Fire and... Flying?"
Aerodactyl: "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. You're pretty smart, aren't you?"
Owen: "I—I know Alakazam Nevren."
(Owen said.)
Owen: "You should be careful how you act in front of me!"
Aerodactyl: "Oh, is he around?"
(Aerodactyl asked.)
(Owen flinched.)
(His hesitation said it all; the winged Pokémon's jaw twisted into a horrible grin.)
Aerodactyl: "Guess that won't matter, then, will it?"
Owen: "Uhh...! Uhh, then I'll just beat you!"
(he said.)
(He stomped on the ground and leaned forward, feigning an attack stance.)
Aerodactyl: "Oh, really?"
(Aerodactyl asked, amused.)
Aerodactyl: "That's a laugh. Okay, kid. But I'll give you one last chance. Gimme your bag, and I'll let ya go. Otherwise, I'll..."
(When Owen ran, all that he left behind for Aerodactyl were a few stray embers from his tail.)
[To Be Continued...]