"Ah, you must be Guy, then," Josh remarked from atop Aslan as he felt one of Yagyu's tassels wrap around his arm. "Not yet, Yagyu," he addressed the half of the Doublade already in his hand, reaching for the other half that was circling him. Getting the message, the other half of Yagyu flew toward Josh's hand hilt first. He wouldn't have been happy the other way.

"My name's Josh," the tall Pokémon racer introduced himself. "Josh Devlin. I'm a Pokémon racer looking to turn pro, but I'm also learning the ropes of Rangering to keep me afloat during the off-season. This is Aslan, the most amazing Pyroar you'll ever meet." He let out a roar to try to impress Guy, the noise reverberating down the gas-filled lava tube. "And this is Yagyu, my trusty sidearm," he clinked the two halves of the Doublade together, whose eyes glowed green briefly before turning back to their pink color. "She's saying hi."

Josh was able to catch from Guy's voice that he might be a smoker, which made him concerned for multiple reasons: one, he was allergic to nicotine vapor, and two, breathing in this place was already more difficult than in an open field. Aslan made it easier for him; fire-type ride Pokémon had a strange ability to keep their riders more comfortable in excessively warm environments. It was limited in scope, though; extreme heat was something they could not do anything about. And extreme heat was very much a factor down here.

"Wow, your Noivern looks really impressive, Guy!" Josh complimented. "What's his or her name? I still have a difficult time recognizing the differences between a lot of male and female Pokémon. Either way, having a ride Pokémon is really handy, especially in places like this. Flying indoors might not be a great idea, depending on how spacious it is in there." He thought about how many flying mount Pokémon he had with him; Resheph was probably agile enough to fly around indoors, but Ares had to have a wide open space to accommodate such clumsy flight. "If push comes to shove, I have an Absol you can make use of."

Josh took his first step onto the wavering bridge. The surface felt solid, though his perception of the bridge made it look like his right leg was wavering in sync with it. It was psychedelic, to say the least; a different kind of disorienting than taking whiplash-inducing turns on a race course, for certain. "It's safe. Come on," he waved toward Guy.

"Now one thing I want to make clear; this sign is serious. We have to be here for each other, because this is one of those things we have to learn about in Rangering." He stressed that if the Lavaridge Rangers' Guild couldn't find any volunteers to answer a call for help in such a dangerous location, they would be on their own. "Do you know how to use a sword? If you do, using the second half of Yagyu here might come in handy." If Guy is comfortable, he would toss the other half of his Doublade to him, sheath included. "...Let's go."

Josh twisted the ornately-crafted doorknob on the right of the double-doors leading to the palace's entrance. When the doorknob clicked from being turned all the way, the front door phased out of existence, much like a Pokémon using Phantom Force. "Whoa, this is trippy already..." The entrance hall was equally trippy; the wavering from the outside of the Palace covered everything on the inside also. It was adorned with statues of people wearing robes and holding jeweled rods of some kind, as well as statues of fire-type Pokémon known for their mysterious powers, such as Ninetales.

Flames danced about the statues, as well; combined with the effects that made it difficult for the trainers and Pokémon to see straight, it looked like the statues and paintings in the hall were almost...alive. "No wonder they call this place the Mirage Palace. It's like everything in here is refracting light like you would see in a desert, but it's way more intense here." He peered about the large room. On the west side, there appeared to be a single door, and on the far north side up a small staircase was a double door. "We probably shouldn't venture too far from one another," Josh said with a racing heart; anyone could tell his nerves just shot way up, like he was getting in over his head. "I don't think anything in here is like it seems."

@guillaume

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Yagyu         Doublade       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good

{WC: 772}
{PC: 2}

"That's a good name!" Josh replied. "I have a Noivern I've been trying to get through Hoennian customs for weeks now; his name is Reverb." He frowned when he heard the sad stories of neglect about Guy's entire team. "Well, I'm sure they're all happier with you!"

Aslan chowed down on the small piece of smoked meat while Josh was taking in his surroundings in the main hall. "I can smell that from here," the Pyroar's rider remarked. "That's quality stuff." Aslan walked to Guy and gently nuzzled him, letting out an affectionate purr that he could probably feel if he embraced the lion back.

When asked which way to go, Josh answered, "I'm gonna check them both. Come on, Aslan!" With a quick rear and about face Josh was more than ready for, the Pyroar bounded toward the western door. "Yeow, that's hot!" the rider yelped as he flicked the metal handle to undo its latch. Even that split second of contact flared up his right hand's nerves. The door shimmered and disappeared much like the palace's entryway doors did. A heat wave rushed toward the two; if Guy was nearby, he would have felt enough of the heat wave for his skin to tingle afterward. It was at the minimum quite unpleasant.

Josh ducked behind Aslan's mane to shield himself from the worst of it. The Pyroar was fine; if anything, he seemed to enjoy the rush of scalding hot air. "Wait here, Guy," he said as though his companion was a trainee and not a friend. Josh may have been letting his nerves get the better of him. "I'm going to look around." He leaned low on Aslan's back and coaxed the lion forward.

The sound of bubbling magma was the first to reach his ears as soon as he stepped into the western chamber. Several Chandelure dotted the ceiling, their lamps all glowing a bright orange to match the color of the molten goop in the center of the room. He could have sworn he saw stairs leading into the magma. All of this observation took place over the course of four seconds; when he took a breath, he felt like his lungs were burning!

It only Josh him moments of being in that oven to high-tail it out of there, dashing around the corner and taking a deep breath of much more breathable air. "Arceus, that was scary! I couldn't even breathe in there, it was so hot!" He took a brief rest to feel comfortable breathing properly again before he had his Pyroar walk to the north chamber.

Once he stepped through, three Braixen suddenly appeared in flashes of purple light, much like they had teleported. They pointed their wooden wands at Josh and swung them in his direction simultaneously! Thankfully, Aslan was not only a fire-type to be able to blunt these blows, but Josh was not so lucky. He had to rely on his riding skills to evade the high-speed Will-O-Wisps that sizzled around him. As the first set whizzed past him, the Braixen blinked out of view long enough for him to catch his breath. While there were two door frames, one each on the west and north sides, there was no door in either one. Before he could tell Guy about it, the Braixen warped back in and made a new formation, ready to blast Josh again! "Can I get a hand with these?!" he called out to Guy, dismounting the Pyroar and letting him fight, for once. He drew his half of Yagyu, ready to plunge the sword into one of the wilds if it tried to snipe him from close range...

@guillaume

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Yagyu         Doublade       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good

{WC: 613}
{PC: 3}

"You got it!" Josh cried, sticking close to Guy while their speedy Pokémon handled any Braixen that tried to snipe them from a distance. One appeared right next to Guy and tried to knock him down with a quick psychic burst, but could not react to his stab with his half of Yagyu. Josh plunged the other half of the Doublade into the wild. It, along with the one Aslan and Claribel dispatched, disappeared in a flash of violet.

Josh's eyes frantically scanned for the remaining Braixen. By the time he spotted it, it was too late; the fire-type waved his wand at him and struck him with a debilitating PSYBEAM. Reacting to his trainer's cry of anguish, Aslan rocketed toward the Braixen behind Josh, CRUNCHed down with his fangs, and flailed his head about to cause as much harm to the wild as possible. It, too, succumbed to their powerful Pokémon, but not before leaving a mark that left Josh's upper back tingling painfully.

Seconds after the final Braixen disappeared, the door frames on the north and west sides glowed white, a door-sized space appearing where they once were. A pillar of fire erupted from the center of the room moments later, lasting but a few seconds. Where it stood was a small, metallic chest. Not wanting to singe his hands again, Josh instead kicked the lid open. Inside it was a small ring not unlike a Klefki's key ring, and on the ring was a single SMALL KEY. He stowed the valuable before stumbling back toward Aslan.

You obtained a Small Key! Use it to open any one lock in this dungeon.

Josh started to feel better when he sat back atop his Pyroar, but that Psybeam still stung. Bad. "Ugh..." he moaned, sheathing his half of Yagyu to try to conserve his own strength. Wielding the ghost-type didn't help matters; she was probably trying to sneak in a snack mid-combat, hoping Josh and Guy wouldn't notice.

He and Aslan advanced through the north door and found what appeared to be a large dining hall in surprisingly well-kept shape. Of course, its condition could have been just another illusion. He could have sworn he heard the murmurs of human voices coming from the table, but there was absolutely no trace of anyone sitting there. Why would people voluntarily live in such a dangerous place? "This place is getting weirder and weirder by the moment," Josh remarked. "No wonder the Rangers don't want people coming here."

Even the curtains on the walls, which had designs reminiscent of Kantonian Ninetales, looked like they were in good condition. Unlike ever other room they had been to in the Mirage Palace, this one looked like someone was still using it. Of course, their surroundings still wavered like a desert on a hot day, but this single chamber looked much more upkept than the others. "I'm turning around and going the other way. This place is giving me the creeps." He headed through the west door frame, through a hall that at its narrowest was just barely wide enough for Aslan to walk through. At the other end of the hall was a spiral staircase leading upward, and he could feel the temperature...dropping. A lot. "Did someone turn on the air conditioning in here?" Josh joked, trying to stay calm. Inside, his heart was racing; his fear that he had gotten in over his head was building.

@guillaume

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Fair
Saber         Manectric      Good
Yagyu         Doublade       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good

Keys: 1

{WC: 577}
{PC: 4}

Josh backed Aslan away from Guy as soon as he offered him a vape. "I wish I could, but I'm actually allergic to one of the chemicals in nicotine," he answered, clearing his throat, which caused him to hiss again from the pain. He didn't want to admit it and possibly sour Guy's mood, but he had to put his health first. "Vaping doesn't agitate it too much, but I can't be around lit cigarettes at all. Sorry. Found about about it at one of the first places I worked at; I sat next to multiple co-workers who were heavy smokers. Got fired over it."

Guy's half of Yagyu slammed into the table. With the extra force his half of the Doublade was able to add, his SACRED SWORD was able to cleave through the table's leaf but not the metal holding it together. Whatever crazy people lived here better hope they could make do with a table that seated eight, because that table wasn't seating twelve anymore! Several Chandelure had taken notice of Guy's vandalism, but by the time they could point WILL-O-WISPS at him, he was already gone.

"I think I do need to sit down for a bit," Josh agreed, having Aslan back up into the hall where the temperature was just right. Not too cold and not too hot. He would have to remember this hallway for later, if he found himself injured later and needed a place to recover. "So I took a look in the next room, and there's this spiral staircase that disappears into light I can't see the other side of," he reported to Guy.

After sharing stories of his racing career to pass the time while he got some much-needed rest, Josh decided a scout would be best. He stood up, wincing but not letting out a hiss, then sat astride Aslan again. He threw a sidearm Poké Ball pitch toward the spiral staircase, Ares the Charizard emerging from it. "Hey Ares, can you scout ahead for us a little?" The winged fire-type nodded, snorting embers out of his nose before tromping up the stairs. When he touched the light cutting off visibility of the entire spiral staircase, he disappeared much like a teleporting Pokémon would.

He did not have to wait long, either; after the couple of minutes it took for Josh to introduce the Charizard to Guy, he came tromping down the stairs, his tail flame slightly smaller than it was when he departed. A pattern of gestures, grunts and cries from the dragon was all Josh needed.

"He says he can see all of Mount Chimney from the top of the stairs, and that it's really cold up there. This is probably a long shot, but you don't happen to have a big fire Pokémon, do you? If you do, you might want to sit on its back to help stay warm. Otherwise, Aslan's willing to help you out. Ares is a little more fickle but I'm sure he'd be okay with it, too." Regardless of Guy's answer, Josh felt he was ready to proceed. Whether at Aslan's reins or awkwardly riding the Charizard on land, he ascended the staircase. The moment he hit the light, he felt the sensation of being teleported, and quite the distance at that.

When they emerged, Josh looked behind him and saw the top of the spiral staircase, a large amount of heat radiating from the white light that seemingly devoured the stairs. He logically concluded the two halves of the staircase were linked. Their entire surroundings weren't wavering like a desert mirage anymore, but that was the only real compensation. The walls, ceilings, and much of the floors were primarily constructed out of Never Melt Ice. It came with a new danger.

It was FREEZING #%&%ing COLD. And Josh did not come prepared to deal with freezing temperatures. He just happened to have two fire-types on his squad because of how much he favored electric and fire Pokémon. He wasn't expecting to have to use both to stay warm. He sheathed his half of Yagyu clung tightly to his fire-type mount's back just to avoid shivering. As he lowered his body to try to absorb more of his Pokémon's heat, he took in the most psychedelic image he had seen since entering the Mirage Palace.

Josh could see all of Mount Chimney from where he was at. They had to be thousands of feet in the air, the distant bubbling magma of Chimney Crater giving him a sense of scale against the cloudless sky. Was this all an illusion, too? He could have sworn his heart skipped at least one beat.

"Pardon my Kalosian, but what the actual #!%$ is this place?" Josh snapped. "I want to know what combination of legendary Pokémon was whimsical enough to craft this place. Fire, ice, and psychic-types at the very least. And really powerful ones at that. Not like Raikou." He wondered what Raikou would think of such a brave yet foolhardy trip. Perhaps simply making it out alive would suffice as a demonstration of his FORESIGHT.

@guillaume

Keys: 1

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Fair
Saber         Manectric      Good
Yagyu         Doublade       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good

{WC: 857}
{PC: 5}

Josh kept both of his Fire-types out; they were going to be his lifeblood on the second floor of the Mirage Palace, seemingly thousands of feet above Mount Chimney. His penchant for Electric and Fire-type Pokémon would be a lifesaver in the unexpectedly frigid environment he did not come explicitly prepared for. "Let's press on," Josh suggested. "It's not going to get any warmer." He stayed seated on Aslan's back, both due to his warmth and his claws providing sure-footedness on the floors Never Melt Ice.

After Josh and Aslan passed through the door frame and slid over a block of ice not far from it, two slabs of ice slammed down where the open door frames were, trapping them in the wide open, frozen chamber. A quartet of Mr. Rime seemingly phased into existence out of nowhere through liberal use of ALLY SWITCH, firing synchronized PSYBEAMs toward him before vanishing again. They re-appeared seconds later, the next wave of PSYBEAMs set to crisscross where Aslan was standing. Even phasing through the very center of the north and south walls wasn't beyond them.

"Aslan, pick a corner! You too, Guy! This could get ugly!" Josh cried. He leaned low in Aslan's saddle to narrowly avoid a beam that was headed right for his helmet. "Ares, use your INFERNO!" Having seen Never Melt Ice before thanks to his trips through the Ice Path in Johto, he knew that it would take a legendary Pokémon's fire to melt the stuff. He could go as ham as he wanted with his Charizard's fire attacks.

If he managed to get some cover fire from Guy's Pokémon, the INFERNO's giant blast radius would fell all four of the Mr. Rime simultaneously...but not before two of the Mr. Rime phased in from beyond the south-central wall left a parting gift for him and his Charizard. The ice-type blasted Josh with a point-blank PSYBEAM he was not prepared for. The psychic attack flew right through him at just above heart level, sending a nerve spike toward his brain and giving him quite the headache. His arms shook as they struggled to keep his pounding head in place.

The ice slabs covering the doors receded in response, and a panel in the northeast corner of the room sild away as well, revealing a complete map of the Mirage Palace. Josh briefly took out his phone to snap a picture of it, the pixels on his phone's screen already starting to lag in changing color due to the frigid environment. The image was a complete blur. "Hey Guy, can you take a picture of that for me, please? My hands are barely steady enough to hold Aslan's reins, let alone a phone."

You got the DUNGEON MAP! The dark rooms are the ones you haven't been to yet.

In the next room to the east, the Never Melt Ice on the far east side was thin enough to see into the upper floor's east wing, though there was no obvious way to get there from where they were at. The only prominent feature he could make was a giant ice block several times his own size; he estimated it to be around ten feet square. "Wonder what that's for," Josh pointed briefly before having to hold his head up again; it was still pounding. He led the way north.

@guillaume

Keys: 1

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Fair
Saber         Manectric      Good
Yagyu         Doublade       Good
Ares          Charizard      Fair

{WC: 564}
{PC: 6}