Meanwhile, on Yancy's end, the game had reached its second day.
The morning sea breeze carried a salty, damp scent through the doorway that was now just a broken frame, rousing Larvesta from her makeshift bed of grass.
Strangely enough, even sitting in front of the screen, Yancy could practically smell that wind and the ocean.
She wasn't even surprised anymore. This was just the godlike tech that came with the territory.
Yancy controlled Larvesta to shake her head. After a night's rest, the flame antennae on top of her head seemed a little droopier than before.
Her first instinct was to look over at the grass bed nearby.
Dragonair still lay there quietly, eyes closed, breathing weak but relatively steady.
Her sapphire-like scales glimmered faintly in the morning light, but the scars covering her body remained just as shocking as before.
The image of that eerie black mist from last night flashed through Yancy's mind again.
She felt a headache coming on. This Dragonair was definitely going to be a huge pain, but she couldn't just leave her, could she? What kind of person just abandons someone like that?
"Mmm..." Squirtle rubbed his eyes and sat up beside her. His first instinct was also to check on Dragonair. "Is it morning? Is she..." He immediately leaned over to inspect her carefully, and only after confirming that her condition hadn't worsened did he breathe a sigh of relief.
A moment later, a loud "gurgle" echoed from his stomach.
Squirtle's face turned red instantly as he clutched his belly in embarrassment. "Uh... well... I'm kinda hungry..."
Yancy froze.
Hungry?
She glanced at her team's status bar and noticed that below the HP bar for both her and Squirtle, there was now a yellow bar...
Wait, are you kidding me? This game has a hunger mechanic too??
At that moment, both of their yellow bars were nearly empty.
Watching Squirtle's awkward expression and remembering his run-down shack, Yancy let out a long sigh.
Great. I didn't think I'd be this broke in a game.
This turtle's got decent skills, but man, his life is rough.
Now they were all so poor they couldn't even afford food. She was a deadweight who could only use String Shot, and now they'd picked up an unconscious pseudo-legendary patient... The difficulty curve was maxed out from the start.
"Let's go," Yancy said, controlling Larvesta to stand up and gently nudge Squirtle with her antennae. "We're a one-star rescue team now! Let's head to the guild, take on some missions, earn money for food—piece of cake. And while we're at it... maybe see if there's a way to figure out what's going on with this guy."
Although she was still thinking about that purple stone with the fifty gold coin appraisal fee, given how broke they were right now, she decided to put it on the back burner.
"Yeah!" Squirtle nodded vigorously in agreement.
The turtle and the bug carefully stepped around Dragonair and left their drafty "home," heading once more toward the Wigglytuff Guild deep in the forest.
On the way, Yancy controlled Larvesta to walk alongside Squirtle, finally getting a chance to ask the questions she'd been holding in all night. "Squirtle, what's the deal with those dungeons? And those Pokémon covered in purple mist? How did the rescue teams even get started?"
After everything that had happened, she was getting curious about the basic lore of this world.
And she wasn't the only one. The livestream chat was just as interested.
Squirtle led the way while earnestly explaining.
"Those dungeons... they weren't always like that. According to the senior members at the guild, a long, long time ago, one day these weird places just started appearing all over the world. The terrain inside shifts on its own, like it's alive, and it's full of danger."
He paused, his voice dropping lower with a hint of fear.
"The scariest part is the Pokémon inside. Something happened to them, and now they can't communicate at all. Their eyes turn red, they're covered in that purple mist, and they're completely aggressive. They attack any other Pokémon they see. So many Pokémon living near the dungeons got hurt. Some went missing, and others... ended up just like them."
"Once you enter a dungeon, if you lose the ability to fight, lower-star dungeons are okay, but in higher-star ones... there's this mist floating around everywhere. If your stamina drops too low, you could end up getting corrupted at any time."
Yancy listened carefully, starting to piece things together.
So these dungeons were the source of the Pokémon corruption, and the purple mist was the contaminant.
Then what was the ultimate endgame plot of this game?
"That's why," Squirtle continued, his tone growing more resolute, "the Wigglytuff Guild was formed! In the beginning, it was just Guildmaster Wigglytuff and some powerful veterans who wanted to protect everyone. They went into the dungeons to rescue trapped Pokémon, retrieve lost items, and investigate the cause of the dungeon corruption."
"Over time, more and more Pokémon joined, and it grew into what it is today! We rescue teams exist to help Pokémon in need and fight against the threat of the dungeons."
When he talked about the rescue team's mission, Squirtle's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"So... how do we get stronger and take on higher-level missions?" Yancy asked the most practical question.
They couldn't just stay in one-star dungeons forever, swatting bugs and picking up items, right?
"Oh! That!" Squirtle perked up at the mention of professional knowledge. "When we first join, we're 'Green Leaf' rank, the lowest tier. To rank up, we need points from completing missions! The more missions we finish, the higher the difficulty, and the better the evaluation, the more points we get!"
"Once we've earned enough points, the guild will upgrade our badge!"
He pointed to the green Wigglytuff smiley-face badge on his chest. "Above Green Leaf is Bronze Leaf, Silver Leaf, Gold Leaf... and higher up, there are even more impressive star-ranked teams. The higher your rank, the tougher the missions you can take, and the better the rewards!"
"I heard those five-star teams can go into the deepest, most dangerous dungeons."
His voice was filled with longing.
"But right now," he said, scratching his head sheepishly, "we can only take simple one-star dungeon missions. Like gathering stuff, finding lost items, or clearing out low-level corrupted Pokémon on the outskirts."
As they talked, they arrived once again at the massive guild treehouse.
The guild hall was even noisier during the day than it had been yesterday, with all kinds of Pokémon coming and going.
Squirtle seemed nervous again, instinctively shrinking behind Larvesta.
Yancy ignored that and controlled Larvesta to push her way to the central counter.
Gumshoos was still at the desk, adjusting his round glasses while quickly processing paperwork.
"Boss! We're here for a mission!" Yancy hit the interact button, her voice coming through the mic full of energy.
Gumshoos looked up, the light reflecting off his lenses.
"Green Leaf team? Mm."
He pointed a claw toward a bulletin board nearby covered in white slips and a few green ones. "One-star mission area. Pick one yourself. Don't bite off more than you can chew."
Yancy moved closer to the board, and the screen displayed a list of available missions:
[★ Gathering Mission: Collect 5 Oran Berries for the Apothecary (Location: Plains F1-F3) Reward: 20 Silver Coins, 5 Points]
[★ Retrieval Mission: Aipom's Lost 'Round Pebble' (Location: Mushroom Swamp F2-F4) Reward: 25 Silver Coins, 5 Points]
[★ Clearing Mission: Drive Away 3 Spinarak Harassing Teddiursa's Territory (Location: Silk Thread Forest F3-F4) Reward: 30 Silver Coins, 5 Points]
[★...]
All one-star missions. Rewards ranged from 20 to 30 silver coins, and the points were all five. Yancy frowned as she scanned them.
How long would it take to save up fifty gold coins at this rate?
Her eyes drifted involuntarily toward the area with blue slips, and even a few red ones—that was the higher-ranked mission zone.
Yancy suddenly had an idea. This game had such a high degree of freedom. Maybe she could try pushing the limits?
"Boss," Yancy tried tentatively, "can we... take a blue two-star mission and give it a shot? I guarantee we can finish it!"
She thought back to Squirtle's combat ability yesterday and their coordination... well, it was decent enough, right?
Gumshoos didn't even look up. The light glinted coldly off his lenses. "You're one-star." His voice was flat. "Want higher missions? Rank up first. That's non-negotiable."
Squirtle gently tugged at Larvesta's antennae from behind, whispering, "Yancy... the guild's rules are really strict... let's just do one-star missions for now..."
Comments started flooding the chat:
[Hahaha, streamer tried to skip ahead and got shut down!]
[Gumshoos: Rules are rules!]
[Squirtle's such a scaredy-cat, won't even back the streamer up lol]
[Streamer, just grind it out like the rest of us~]
Yancy sighed.
Alright. Looks like the rules here are stricter than she thought.
She scanned the mission board again and finally locked onto one with slightly higher pay and a location she was familiar with.
[★ Clearing Mission: Drive Away 3 Spinarak Harassing Teddiursa's Territory (Location: Silk Thread Forest F3-F4) Reward: 30 Silver Coins]
"Let's go with this one!" she said, accepting the mission.
This one paid the most. Every little bit counted. They couldn't even afford food right now, so even scraps mattered.
Plus, they'd been to Silk Thread Forest yesterday. With familiar terrain, the mission would be easier.
As she confirmed, a notification popped up.
[Accepted One-Star Mission: Spinarak Eviction!]
[Mission Objective: Defeat/Drive Away 3 Spinarak in Silk Thread Forest F3-F4 (0/3)]
"Alright! Destination: Silk Thread Forest! Let's go make some money!" Yancy controlled Larvesta and, with the still somewhat awkward Squirtle in tow, headed back into the forest dungeon tangled with silver webs and corrupted Pokémon.
As the transition scene played, a brief cutaway interrupted.
Back at Squirtle's shack, on the grass bed, the unconscious Dragonair's deepest wound twitched almost imperceptibly in the morning light. A wisp of dark purple mist, thicker and more solid than last night's, quietly seeped out before vanishing back beneath her scales.
Yancy watched the scene and rubbed her forehead.
Dude, you don't need to keep reminding me this Dragonair's got problems.
Why are you rushing me like this?!
Stepping into the familiar first floor of Silk Thread Forest, the damp earthy smell mixed with the scent of rotting plants washed over them again.
Yancy controlled Larvesta to follow closely behind Squirtle, observing their surroundings. She noticed that the dungeon's layout seemed slightly different from last time.
"Yancy, have you noticed? Every time we enter a dungeon and leave, when we come back the next day, things inside will have changed. Lower-star dungeons don't change much, but higher-star ones change a lot."
Squirtle looked alert.
"Even though this is just a one-star mission, anything can happen in a dungeon. We need to be careful."
Before long, at a corner in the F2 area, they encountered their first target: a Spinarak.
It was perched on a freshly spun web, and the moment it saw Squirtle and Larvesta, it started chittering and spat sticky silk in an attempt to entangle them.
"Watch out!" Squirtle barked, nimbly dodging to the side while firing a precise Water Gun!
Seeing this, Yancy paused for a moment. She couldn't shake the feeling that Squirtle's movements seemed sharper than they had been during yesterday's battle.
So even with AI control, he could grow and learn through combat?
That was actually pretty cool.
Meanwhile, the water blast hit Spinarak square on, knocking it off its web. It tumbled awkwardly a few times, and its HP bar immediately dropped a chunk. Enraged, it lunged again.
Yancy controlled Larvesta to use String Shot once more.
Fine white silk shot out, sticking to several of Spinarak's legs with a wet slap.
Spinarak's speed visibly slowed, its movements turning clumsy.
Squirtle seized the opening and fired another Water Gun, finishing off the Spinarak in one shot.
A notification refreshed on screen.
[Mission Objective: Defeat/Drive Away 3 Spinarak in Silk Thread Forest F3-F4 (1/3)]
Squirtle turned back and gave Larvesta an encouraging smile. The two of them continued deeper into the F3 area.
The webs in F3 were much denser, and the ground was littered with slippery moss and puddles.
Yancy carefully maneuvered Larvesta, constantly watching her footing. Just then, Squirtle seemed to step on a patch of soft moss, and the ground suddenly gave way beneath him!
"It's a trap!" Squirtle shouted as his body plummeted downward!
The trap wasn't lined with deadly spikes, but it was full of sharp, jagged rocks!
Yancy's heart leapt into her throat.
Without thinking, she instinctively controlled Larvesta to fire String Shot at a rock near Squirtle!
The white thread landed precisely on the rock, with Larvesta gripping the other end tightly. Squirtle's falling body jerked to a halt, barely hanging on at the edge of the collapsed pit!
Yancy quickly controlled Larvesta to pull backward. Despite her small frame, Larvesta summoned all her strength and dragged Squirtle back bit by bit, hauling him up from the edge of the trap.
Squirtle crawled back onto solid ground, still catching his breath as he patted his chest. "That... that was way too close! Thanks, Yancy!" He looked at Larvesta with deep gratitude.
The chat exploded:
[Holy crap! Streamer's reflexes are insane!]
[String Shot clutch! Who said that move was useless?]
[Squirtle almost became turtle soup lol!]
[That trap interaction came so fast, just like when Bulbasaur fell in the cutscene, so intense]
After that close call, the two of them proceeded even more cautiously. In a corner of the F4 area, surrounded by massive vines and glowing blue mushrooms, they finally found the other two Spinarak, who were trying to gang up on a trembling Teddiursa.