Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 2 - Trouble in the Woods

"Stupid kid—get back—pfwaaagh!"

A Fire Trap exploded beneath Aerodactyl when he reached where Owen had stomped. Unfortunately, all it did was slow him down.

Hoping it would work again, Owen spent some of his time stomping on the ground, channeling his energy through his feet into the soil. This created another trap.

Owen turned down the corridor but then skidded to a stop. "W-wait! That's not fair!" he shouted.

Owen stared at the path—or, rather, the lack of a path—ahead of him. He had run into a dead end.

"You shouldn't be the one to complain about being fair!" Aerodactyl shouted, pushing through the second Fire Trap.

Owen spun around. Aerodactyl didn't immediately advance. Perhaps he recognized that Owen wasn't as easy to strike directly.

"Just—let me go!"

"Oh, no, no, no, I don't think I can do that," Aerodactyl said. "Not without some payment first. Your bag. Just hand it over, and I'll be on my way."

"No way!" Owen said. He glanced in his bag with the little time he had. He had too many precious items in it. The gift from Nevren, too. And all the items he picked up during exploration! Wait, the items!

"Ha!" Owen saw the small, blue sphere—an Escape Orb. He could use it. He'd be out of here without a problem! Owen smashed it on the ground. He was ready for the blue light inside to envelop him and take him straight to the entrance. Instead, the light and energy inside evaporated into nothing.

"What?" he said. A mysterious power had stopped the Orb from functioning. That normally only happened against Pokémon with powerful auras, or—

"Heh." Aerodactyl produced a strange-looking device from a satchel around his neck that resembled another Badge. "Jammer Emblem. Do you think I'd let you run off so easily? Everyone brings Escape Orbs. So, I bring a Jammer."

"Th-those are illegal! You can't use those without Heart permission!"

"Oh, no! Illegal! How terrible!" Aerodactyl sneered.

Aerodactyl took another step forward. Owen only had enough time to try one last trick. And his Totter Orb would be useless, too. He could try to use his Badge to escape—even if it was just a Provisionary Badge, it still had enough of a charge to escape. But within a Dungeon, it wouldn't have the energy or precision to take anything on him—just his person. All his gear—no, Nevren's gift, too! He couldn't use his Badge. He didn't have time, anyway; it needed a few seconds to activate. Seconds he didn't have.

Something knocked against his claws in his bag. A seed. It felt strange to the touch as if the air around it simply wasn't there. He knew the feeling. A Warp Seed.

Owen immediately shoved a seed in his mouth and chomped. In one second, he was staring an Aerodactyl in the face. In another, he was elsewhere. Owen, working off of the adrenaline rush, immediately ran ahead. If he could just find the—

He was in the same room he had been in before. He even saw the Aerodactyl emerge from the hall next to him. Owen fought against his momentum and scrambled backward.

Fortune was not in his favor. He ran from room to room, thinking Aerodactyl was in hot pursuit... and then, finally found a new part of the Dungeon section. One with the exit Waypoint... and Aerodactyl right next to it.

Aerodactyl caught sight of Owen at the corner of his eye. His huge jaw twisted into a smirk.

"Hey, there," he said. "Having trouble?"