Chapter Text
Nothing and no one can save you from the desolate, dark abyss of a Mystery Dungeon but yourself. This was the realization that came to Monty as he sat outside the entrance to Aquatic Grotto, staring down its ingress as a familiar but unwelcome feeling making itself known. Fiddling apprehensively with his stubby digits, the young Minccino sat in the middle of a vibrant, beautiful teal grass field. This wasn’t the best spot for skygazing, but he simply liked it for reasons unknown. His bag was laid down beside him, filled with various goods and berries, including first aid, which his mother, a Chesnaught, greatly reminded him of.
The cave, with its visible inside area being filled with dark browns and grays, was tonal whiplash compared to the surrounding area, a peaceful green grass field that served as a break from a short forest. Past that was a small path by the riverside on the side of the next forest that served as a shortcut to Realza Town, Monty’s hometown. As that glance only intensified that growing feeling of uncomfortability, he tried to suppress this growing sense of hostility. ‘It's not that dangerous,’ he reassured himself. ‘You just gotta try… well, something. Can't be too hard.’
On the topic of the cavern, Monty was reminded of memories of old and new, specifically the last time he came here with his friend, a Teddiursa named Kobai.
The crescent moon marking on her head, which was almost the size of her paw, seemed to always shine brightest when she was getting pumped up, like when Counselor Desparata gave them an ‘assignment’ to do around town, or the topic of Mystery Dungeons came up. Just like each time before, Kobai would come to his house early in the morning, give a quick respectful greeting to his mom and Whimsicott dad, and then drag him out by the arm. On the way through the forest, she would let go of Monty and run ahead, making a sound in the lush grass with each step. By the time he would arrive, tired and panting for air, Kobai would already be waiting for him, twirling in place as she fully took in her surroundings. The proceeding stifled coughs would make Kobai immediately snap out of it and turn to him.
“It's one of these days, I can feel it,” she began to chant, kicking up her lapis boots. “I can even sense it!”
“Okay, Psychic,” Monty replied jokingly.
“Hey, you know I was kidding about the ‘Aura Sense!’”
“Yeah, if you say so.” Kobai took a look back at Monty, who was sitting up in the grass, fidgeting with his paws and looking at the ground nervously.
“What cha doing?”
“...” The silence was more of a response than words.
“Aw come on, again?” Kobai slumped where she stood, dropping her head low for a moment before composing herself again.
“Mystery Dungeons are really scary! What if we get lost?”
“Mr. Desparata will find us at the end of the day.”
“And if we’re dead before then,” Monty argued, his fur nearly standing on end.
“I know how to fight,” Kobai retorted, punching her fists in the air, making fake moves to herself. “And you can too,” she added.
“I probably can’t do a thing without Sing, and your Fury Swipes and my Pounds will get far. Even if we could beat more than a Zubat, what would we tell our parents?”
“...Okay, okay, fine. But promise me.”
“Promise you what?”
Kobai turned to face Monty completely, dropping down on the ground to meet his eye level. She turned her head up, turning her attention to the sky, and Monty followed after. The peaceful, quiet blue sky that always quietly moved, at its own pace without worry for the past, present, and future. It wanted nothing more than to keep moving forward slowly, it knew what it wanted and it did it.
“I know you want to check out and explore Mystery Dungeons. You don’t come here to skygaze, you wouldn’t go here for that. It’s to be near Aquatic Grotto…”
She looked back to Monty, and they met each other’s gaze again. “Promise me that you’ll explore a Mystery Dungeon someday, and that you’ll do it with me.”
The young Teddiursa brought up her arm, pointing out her pinky claw. “Pinky promise,” she said with a mellow, warm smile.
Monty hesitated for a moment, before extending an arm out as well. “....Alright. I promise.” The two of them met paw and claw, before shaking on it.
“Great. What cha wanna do next?”
“I don’t know, what about you?”
“Oh, I’m definitely gonna go prank M. You wanna join in?”
“Never doubt the tricks of someone with the blood of a Whimsicott,” Monty responded with a cocky smirk.
The two of them got to planning. Matthew, or M as everyone knew him, was a pretty clumsy Raichu, who had come with a cold to Realza Town from all the way in Alola, not expecting the moderate cold. Despite being an adult, everyone was close friends with him and were entertained when he told scary stories from his hometown or showed them a new move he learned.
That was two weeks ago.
Back to the present, Monty got to his feet and took another look at the cave. His stare turned into a glare, almost as if he was having a staredown with the dungeon. He tried to play it cool, but he wavered, his confidence faltering. Something about Aquatic Grotto was so unnerving, so unnatural in its existence. Of course, it was really unnatural by nature, but the Pokemon couldn’t let it go.
His face turned to an angry pour as he dropped to the ground again, slouching in self defeat. Tons of other Pokémon have entered Aquatic Grotto, younger and older than him, and were fine (if you didn't account for most chickening out or being rescued by an exploration team). Kobai would’ve been one of them, if he wasn't holding her back. Why can't he do it? The dungeon was said to only have three floors, and the ferals, if you could find them, were either relatively peaceful or weak. But he just couldn't go through with it.
He turned to that familiar beautiful sky to take his mind off things. It was a bright light blue, signifying mid morning, and translucent clouds slowly inched their way through the sky, with a white ray of light, the sun, in the northwest corner, shone its warm rays upon everything in sight, filling his whole body with warmth and almost a sense of strength. A wind started to blow, pressuring the leaves in the grass to sway and dance, uncaring for anything in the world. Monty quickly took the hopes of entering Aquatic Grotto out of his mind and spent time basking in the warm light and soft grass, closing his eyes and leaning back to fully take in his surroundings and enjoy the warm comfortability of spring. He was in a peaceful, balanced world now, and his tail now began to stand proudly, rising above his own natural height. Everything's fine.
There was a small rustling sound from the undergrowth behind him, immediately taking him out of his period of relaxation. Someone was there. Maybe it was Samdrana, a rather… unorthodox Wooper from the other side of town who seemed to find fun in the weirdest ways (like trying to climb a tree despite her lack of arms); or Luno, his next door neighbor, a Cubone who was always around but never spoke, to the point that he didn't even know his voice. He wore a Garchomp skull, as he still lived with his mom in the West part of Realza Town. ‘Wait, this is Kobai trying to prank me, isn't it? You think I don't know your tactics, huh?’
The sound got louder and louder, which prompted Monty to turn around and look into the forest. He was met by nothing but regular trees and bushes. ‘You got real sloppy today, Kobai. What's up?’ The rustling intensified even more, with the bushes now visibly shaking with force. ‘Dang, with all that strength, you could take on Mystery Dungeons yourself (probably)... Yeah, the dangerous Pokemon only live in the lower levels, and you just have to go down to around the third floor. You just go in and leave. Why can't I…’
Wait…Kobai didn’t make all that noise when sneaking up on Monty, she just went for it. This wasn’t Kobai. This was probably some little kid from the village, who weren’t that good at walking through the forests without making a lot of noise and attracting attention to themselves. Or Matt, who couldn't crashing into stuff with his giant spark shaped tail. Monty stood up.
“Hey, you can come out now,” he called out to the green backdrop, bringing his paws to his mouth. “I know you're there, it's okay. You scared me for a second there, you know that,” he continued, adding the last part with a dry chuckle. He dropped his arms to his sides. No response. Only the continuous sound of moving from the trees reminded him that there was a person there. Monty was growing nervous. “D-did I annoy you? Sorry,” a small flush of red powdering his face.
This time, the rustling stopped and there was a second of blissful silence. Monty found himself tensing up from the sudden quiet, and the forest became fully quiet, with not a single sound to be heard.
Then, a blur shot out from the bushes, clawing at Monty, sending him flying back, and his bag ripped right off of him. Everything became a blur until he slammed into something, falling to the ground with a mild thud. Struggling to his feet, he looked up to his attacker. It was a Sneasel, with a very expression on her face that bordered between anger and seriousness and bloodied claws. Putting a paw to his face, Monty realized that this was his blood, as the pain started to kick in now all over. A second figure came out, a Machop with a piercing grin that communicated a more violent expression than the Sneasel; he enjoyed this. The two stared at Monty for a few seconds as if waiting for something, and finally the Sneasel spoke.
“Looke here, Chop. We got ourselves some unsuspecting Pokemon ready to call out to a suspicious sound from the woods. For someone my age, you sure made this too easy,” the Weasel taunted in a cold and scratchy voice that emanated impatience and condescending easiness.
“Oi!” The Machop yelled at the Sneasel, turning towards her in a fighting stance, pulling his fists up. “My name’s Riley, not Chop, and if you think you can call me that again, the deal’s off!” The Sneasel did nothing but glare at him, causing him to flinch for just a moment before snapping back to before.
“I would’ve called you Riley if you let me hold my part of the bargain. I’m not here to beat random Pokemon senselessly. Arceus, it’s been 10 minutes and you’re already bitching,” the Sneasel retorted, saying the last part to herself.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Monty slowly crawled for the bag as quietly as he could. Grabbing his bag (which now had a rip in the strap), he began to eye his surroundings, staying out of sight on the ground as the two strangers bickered. ‘They’re straight ahead, so that rules out forward. Left leads to the mountain up to the Guild, but these two would definitely catch up to me before I get there, especially the Sneasel. Behind me is Aquatic Grotto, so that’s an instant no-go. And to my right… is the road beside the river. Good luck to them crossing it safely. So I’ll go ri-’
His thoughts were interrupted by a rough punch to the stomach by the one named Riley. Monty flew back, crashing into some rocks nearby, knocking the wind out of him and scraping up his back, as he slumped for a second. Before he could counterattack, Riley landed a second and third hit back-to-back on him, dropping him to the ground. Crap, Double Hit. As Monty dropped to the ground, coughing up blood, the Sneasel dashed over, pushing aside Riley and clawing Monty with another Scratch, but this time it was much stronger, trading speed for brute force. Monty dropped to the ground a second time, staining the grass in red once again as the strap on his bag ripped even more under pressure. This barrage of attacks left him bloody and trembling, struggling to hold himself off the ground. He frantically pushed himself back, struggling against the blood building up in his throat as he held the bag in between his arms. The Sneasel gave him another glare, ripping the bag from his hands as the Machop held him down. “S-stop it… p-please,” Monty begged, stuttering through strained gasps.
The stranger with Monty’s bag stopped examining the bag and looked down at him.
“P-... please…”
Riley let out a cruel chuckle, and the Sneasel stayed silent. “Please don't, Minccino,” she said, with much less malicious intent in her voice. “I feel bad enough as it is. I just need answers. Do you know anything about Me-”
“I swear to Arceus if you pieces of shit do anything to Monty!”
All three of them swiftly turned towards the source of the voice, coming from the forest. Out came Kobai, fists raised ready for a fight. From behind her was Luno, his unique skull mask, its rounded ‘horns’ almost seeming to have a unique shine to them.
Monty pushed himself off the ground. “Kobai, Luno, don’t come over here!”
Riley turned towards the Teddiursa, cracking his knuckles and neck. “Wanna play hero, eh? Don't worry, I'll knock both of you into place. Just watch-” Before Riley could act on this promise, Kobai lunged forward with speed paralleling the Sneasel's. She slashed at his arms and shoulders, making good use of her claws as he clamped over his shoulders and fell to the ground, holding back tears in pain and staining more of the ground in bright red. She then turned to the Sneasel with a glare of anger, while the Sneasel was standing her ground, but seemed visibly nervous.
Luno finally jumped in, bringing out a long, sharp bone. Sneasel jumped back, barely avoiding his first swing, which pushed up dust with a hollow thud. He ran forward, preparing another swing as the Sneasel prepared another attack. Another second, and claw met bone as the two Pokémon greatly struggled, fighting for the upper hand. The Sneasel jumped to her right, throwing off Luno and dropping the bag off to her side. As Luno struggled to regain his balance, the Sneasel prepared another attack. However, she lost her footing for a moment. She was at the edge overlooking a small decline to the river. She went forward, narrowly avoiding another swing from Luno.
Kobai was done with Riley now, who she had held back, tangled and struggling in the thick bushes. He was covered in honey, greatly restricting his movement.
“Where’s your confidence now, huh,” Kobai taunted. “For someone who felt ‘real bad’ about robbing a defenseless Pokémon, you sure seemed real smug about it. Get the hell out of here and leave, or I‘ll-” The Sneasel had lunged at Kobai, who had seen this coming and got ready to block. However, the Sneasel simply jumped off her arms, soaring past Luno and and approached the cavern entrance.
“All I need are answers, and you’re not getting this bag back until then.” The Sneasel swerved to the left, taking up Monty's bag, some of its contents spilling out on the ground behind her. Grabbing it, she dashed into Aquatic Grotto without a second thought for her partner.
The four Pokemon stared into the cave’s entrance, very confused and thinking the same thing. ‘She went for the Mystery Dungeon?’ Kobai and Luno then turned their attention towards Monty, running over to help him.
Luno was closer however. He extended a hand to Monty.
“Are-... Are you okay?” His voice was softly spoken and gentle. His eyes were closed, a smile underneath being obvious.
‘So that’s what he sounds like,’ Monty made a note to himself.
“Are you okay,” Luno repeated, much quieter than before. This second use of the question made him jump back, taken immediately out of his thoughts.
“Uhh, yeah, it's okay.” Monty slowly dragged himself to his feet. “I'm fine.” He looked down to the floor, its beige grass less center engraving itself in his mind. “I couldn't even protect myself,” he continued, desperately fighting back tears. He didn't stand a chance against either of them. He really thought that he could stand a chance in Aquatic Grotto like this.
“Hey, don't put it like that,” Kobai responded, trying to offer comfort. “It was a 1 v 2, and you don't fight that much either.”
“Y-yeah,” Luno added. “Um, at least you were brave enough to not run first thing. I thought that was cool.” Monty felt oddly relieved by that last part.
“Anyway, we should go report this to Mr. Desparata. He'll find that stupid weasel, she gets arrested along with this prick (she said pointing to Riley), and you get your bag back.”
Luno silently nodded. Monty stayed staring into the ground.
“...Let's follow her.”
Those three words shocked both Kobai and Luno, as they visibly flinched from the response.
“WHAT,” Kobai practically yelled back. “No offense, but you got your ass whooped. You're still bleeding and everything. I'd be all for it, but-”
“Please trust me on this. Just that- I'm not sure, but something’s up about that Sneasel’s behavior. I’ll tell you what I mean, but first, please.”
The Teddiursa stood silent, putting a claw to her chin as she contemplated.
“Ya know,” she finally answered, grinning from ear to ear (?), “doing stuff based on yer gut feeling is the kind of crazy I'm here for. LET'S DO THIS!” She cackled, pumping her fists in the air, prompting some shocked looks from Monty, and especially Luno, who stared at her in pure bewilderment. “You wanna come with, Luno?”
Luno simply nodded. “Also, what about the Machop,” he noted, pointing to Riley, who was now starting to free himself from the honey and several layers of leaves and tree branches.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about you~” Grabbing rope that had fallen from Monty’s bag, she walked over to Riley, who was slowly but surely crawling away. Pulling him back, she brought him to a nearby tree. She proceed to get to work, and tied him up as much as she possibly could, leaning down for dramatic effect. “There. Let’s see you run now, Machops.”
Riley turned and struggled to escape from the rope, trying to kick at Kobai. “My name’s Riley, not Machops, dumbass! Also, let me go!”
Ignoring the fuming Machop, Kobai turned around, walking up to face the other two. “I didn’t expect my first time exploring a Mystery Dungeon to be like this, but hey, now I get to catch a criminal, heh heh heh.” She grabbed Monty and Luno's arms, before she began to dash towards the entrance of Aquatic Grotto, almost completely swiping the two off their feet. “ALRIGHT, LET’S GO,” she yelled at the top of her lungs, as they made it through the entrance of Aquatic Grotto, running through its dark void of an entrance, marking the point of no return.
Aquatic Grotto, 1F
Out the three came through the mystery dungeon's void of an entrance, sort of flying through the air for a moment. There was a sense of innocent wonder in that short second of levitation. Then gravity kicked in. The trio landed hard on the floor, Kobai going head-first as Luno and Monty went further ahead. Luno landed on his ‘skull mask’ first, bouncing off the ground and finally landing on his back. Monty went sliding into the dirt, dragging him through the mud. Everything around him shook and turned, distorting and compressing right in front of him until his whole environment was just a strange array of overlapping colors and shapes. He tried using his paw to get up before he was greeted by the floor once again.
By the time he stopped seeing stars, he could feel himself being taken off the floor, his legs missing the ground for a moment. When he finally came to, the orange shape in front of him became a familiar Teddiursa.
“You couldn’t just stick the landing, could you,” he could hear Kobai playfully scoff over the slight ringing in his ears now. He just absentmindedly nodded, before she dropped him to the ground with a sigh. She turned around to look ahead of them.
Luno limped over to Monty. He now realized that the three of them were already not in the best of conditions. Kobai had several purpled bruises and scratch marks over the back of her head and back, blood seeping from several of these marks. Luno was a similar case, with what seemed to be his blood running down the length of his skull and even down his throat, except he had a look of exhaustion from what Monty could make out of his face. His eyes were mainly gray with a small mix of dark emerald. They were tired and half-open, almost as if he had been awake for quite some time. He realized that the bone club that he had been using was old and battered, grayed and softened as if he had been using it for a long time. He sure looked cool. But he was dirty too.
Luno stood a few feet away from Monty, keeping to himself. ‘Why is the entrance like that? Did we go through a portal of some kind? Maybe every Mystery Dungeon is like th-’ He quickly was taken out of his thoughts by a weird feeling in his back. He turned around to find its source. It was Monty’s tail, brushing up against his back. He locked up, as his body seemingly formed with the earth not unlike a Kecleon in disguise.“What are-” were the only words he could stammer before Monty realized, jumping back in surprise.
“S-sorry. M-Minccino instinct,” he mumbled. He accidentally stole another glance with Luno. He nervously fiddled with his paws, avoiding all eye contact before trotting past him, catching up to Kobai. She was still staring ahead of them, that rare but always welcoming sparkle in her eyes. Monty looked as well, trying to figure out what had entranced her so long.
The dark browns of the cave’s ceiling and light grays of the ground, that eventually ascended to the ceiling and opened up a wide path in the middle, were almost entirely drowned out by the shining rays of light coming from the beautiful cerulean ponds that lay about alongside the pathways. The ponds stretched out far out of range, with small silhouettes resembling Pokémon that could be spotted off in the distance. The walls and stone ends were decorated with moss and shining crystals; Monty had heard that they weren’t worth anything, but they still shone magnificently with the water. Unlike the darkness of the entrance, grimy, dirty, and empty, the inside of the cave was bright, refined, and bursting with life. Monty couldn’t hold back his admiration for the dungeon’s sights, audibly ‘wow’-ing to himself and neither could Kobai.
Looking over his shoulder, even Luno was taken aback by the sight, his eyes shining in surprise.
“This place is kinda empty, but it’s also awesome,” Kobai mumbled in awe. “Why does no one talk about this part?”
“Probably because Rana, that Piplup from the guild, is always bringing attention to the ‘crazy ferals’” Monty responded. “Or bragging about taking on a Monster House all by himself.”
“I heard that Mr. Desparata said differently,” Luno chimed in.
“Oh yeah,” Kobai continued. “I heard from him that he couldn’t even beat a wild Kabuto!” This last comment gave a stifled chuckle from Monty before evolving into full blown giggles. Almost as if it was contagious, Kobai joined in, unleashing a flurry of laughter.
“T-there's a Monster House here,” Luno questioned, breaking the break of laughter.
“Nah,” Kobai shrugged. “They would probably have to block this place off if it did have Monster Houses. That was a test, and you failed hard,” she added playfully, giving him a playful punch to the arm, which made him flinch. Luno simply nodded. She began to laugh again, her childish laughter echoing in the corridors ahead of them.
“Okay, let's keep going.” They continued to walk forward, as Monty began to instinctively analyze his surroundings, seemingly looking for something that wasn’t there.
Down the hallway was another opening with… a steel flight of stairs sitting in the corner of the room. Weird. Despite everything else in the room showing age or signs of life; the imperfect wall formations with several Geodude-shaped holes, and the clean radiant water, the stairs had a degree of perfection to them, with no rust or cracks or mon-made quirks. They were unnatural, fitting for the setting they were in.
“I guess that's the stairs to the next floor,” Monty questioned himself, twiddling his paws again at the sight of it. Kobai approached the stairs as the other two got closer. The stairs led down into a void, one lacking any color or life or anything, really. Kobai got in front of the stairs, staring down the void.
“Well, down I go.” Kobai then hopped into the void before Monty could stop her, immediately disappearing out of thin air. A silence followed.
“Y-you go first,” Luno beckoned to Monty, tilting his head to the void. Monty hesitantly nodded, walking up to the stairs. He took a long look at the abyss within, unsure of the emotions brought on by it. He sighed, and took a step into the darkness.
Monty opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by familiar grays and browns, but his vision was blurry once again. Once his pupils adjusted to the room around him, he remembered where he was.
Aquatic Grotto, 2F
The walls and ground were mostly the same as the entrance. He first noticed the walls on three sides.
“Where's the stairs,” he said to himself, continuing to check out the room he was now in. The area was a simple dead end, with no sign for entry at all. ‘Another weird quirk of Mystery Dungeons, I guess.’ However, in the corner to his left, he noticed a small pocket of water emerging from below the wall. It was likely too small from any water ’mon to live in, until he saw a shadow move. He promptly ran ahead, catching up with Kobai, who was sitting off to the side, who had her eyes closed and arms crossed as she sat in wait. He noticed that she definitely had seen better days, sweating profusely and breathing heavily.
Then, a blinding flash of light came from the first hallway, catching the two ’mons completely off guard. As vision slowly came back to him, Monty noticed running out from the light came a silhouette. The silhouette wobbled and tripped until it entered the beginning of the hallway with them and stopped close to him, just a few feet away. Wiping his eyes, the Minccino took another glance at the thing in front of him. Now he could tell it was Luno, frantically blinking, seemingly trying to wash out the pain of descending. Then-
“Buugh.” Monty couldn't stop himself. He threw up onto the cold floor, failing to stay on his legs. He dropped back, as his head took the blunt of the impact, shaking him to his core. Luno and Kobai rushed over to Monty immediately.
“Are you okay,” Kobai asked, grabbing onto his arm.
”Yeea-yeaah,” Monty stuttered through bloodied lips, forcing a dry chuckle. Kobai hoisted up one of Monty's arms, with Luno standing off, his eyes darting around the room. A loud cough signaled Luno over, and he got to work, hoisting up his other arm.
“Guh-guys, it's o-okay.”
“No the hell it's not, look, you're bleeding again!”
“I'll be- I'll gonna be fine, don't b-baby me.”
“You can't even speak right right now.” Kobai's reasoning didn't make a difference, as Monty pulled away from the two's grasp, kicking at the air. Eventually, he somehow got free, pushing himself forward, leading into another struggle to stay up. He wobbled and balanced, switching between feet as he fought to stay standing. Eventually, he evened out, finally standing securely. He tried grinning from one side to another, which came off as pretty off-putting.
“Suh-see see? I'm f-fine,” he struggled through another sentence.
“Nope, don't-”
“Puh-please.” Monty stopped himself from swaying side to side, staring Kobai dead on. He was completely serious now. This was the first time that Luno had seen him so serious, or serious at all for that matter. Aside from the occasional distant crashing waves, everything around them was completely silent. Time seemed to slow at this moment. Kobai dropped her head to the ground, deep in thought. After what felt like an eternity, she raised her head again.
“Fine, but we’re walking next to you.” Monty regained his smile, which somehow stretched even further than before. He clapped his hands together by the time that Kobai and Luno joined his sides.
“I'm really trusting you here, okay,” she responded, staring him dead on like he did before. “I'm concerned, okay? Please, just- I hope you can prove me wrong, that it's all fine even though I know it's not. Uh, I don't know how to put it. It's-” Monty jumped forward, wrapping Kobai in a tight hug with both arms. Kobai couldn't help but feel much warmer by this embrace. She leaned into it, wrapping her arms around Monty as well. For just a moment, she could tell that the Cubone to her right smiled from under his skull.
“Okay, let's get going.”
Aquatic Grotto, 3F
“Weird, nothing's jumped out at us yet. You’d expect a Shellos or Shellder to come out of nowhere,” Kobai said, stealing a glance of the corridor ahead of them. They had been in the Mystery Dungeon for a while, the exact time being lost a few corridors ago. The entirety of the second floor was mainly uneventful, save for a sparkle in the corner they found to be an Apple. Otherwise, it was: Kobai runs forward, checks the upcoming corridor, lets Luno and Monty know it’s safe, and they continue on. They still hadn’t yet found an exit after what had to have been who knows how long. Monty could feel the distance now, visibly putting more effort into each step. The other two weren’t as bad, but they could’ve been better. Kobai had to stop to catch her breath every once in a while, and Luno’s every breath was now audible. Nevertheless, none of them brought attention to this.
“Whatever, there’s always next time to get sliced up,” she teased, chuckling to herself as she caught Luno turning to her with a hint of disbelief.
“You really have a weird sense of humor,” he whispered.
As if on cue, out from in the distance, a shadow swooped in from above. A wild pokemon. As it got closer, its form became more apparent. With two large wings, long stick-like feet, and a giant agape mouth, it revealed itself to be a Golbat. Upon seeing the bat swoop in, the three Pokemon assumed fighting stances to the best of their abilities, all visibly faltering. They waited for the beast to attack.
And waited. And waited.
“What is it doing,” Luno suspected to himself, gripping his bone club at the ready. Then… it dropped to the ground and frantically ran right past them, screaming, constantly kicking up into flight and back to running, paying no mind to the three Pokemon before it. They watched as it dashed in the opposite direction of them, still yelling.
“W-what was that,” Monty queried.
“It was scared of something,” Luno responded. “There’s something in this cave that scared even that Golbat. We need to get out of here, and soon.”
“You'll be fine. Please trust me.”
Monty stumbled back upon seeing this voice chime in. It sounded familiar, but also so unfamiliar. It was gentle and kind, like a parent speaking to their child in a moment of emotional anguish. He looked all around the ceiling, as if he expected to find an answer ‘Are you speaking to me through telepathy,’ Monty responded in his mind. ‘How can I know you’re safe to trust? Are you even real? How do I know I’m not going crazy?’ But the voice didn’t respond, leaving his mind in silence once again. Thinking of this, Monty didn’t notice that Kobai and Luno was looking at him with concern.
“Yo, Earth to Monts,” Kobai groaned, snapping her claws near him. “Ya in there?”
He was quickly snapped out of his stupor, turning his focus to his companions. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Something was bugging me.”
“What was it,” Luno asked.
“Okay, hear me out here. I’m not insane, alright?”
“After that time you told me that you heard about these things that look like Lillipup called dogs,” Kobai joked. “Nothing else you say can make you seem insane.”
“Alright… I got the idea of coming here from a voice in my head. Something about trusting them, and that we’re safe. I don’t know who it is, but they sound familiar.”
“Huh. Let's narrow it down. Are they a dude or girl?"
"Guy."
"Do you get the feeling of dark thoughts and uncomfortability?"
"No, it was… oddly comforting.”
"Well, I got no clues," Kobai shrugged. "Maybe ask Mana about it later, that Xatu on the edge of town. My money's on a Ralts." She made a mock shocked gasp after Monty shot her an intense glare. "What? You two are probably just friends. Really close friends."
"Hey, stop it! I don't know any Ralts!"
"Then why are you getting so mad about it?"
“Well, um… Anyway, he sounded older than me, but he’s probably not an adult.”
“Maybe it’s some Haunter messing with you or something. I heard those guys are pretty sneaky.”
“But that voice sounded genuine, so I doubt-”
“Look,” Luno said, interrupting Monty. He pointed to the ground ahead. There were small streaks of blood painted on its surface. They were still bright red, signifying that they were quite new.
“Sweet, we found that stupid Sneasel. Let’s go, guys, we have a thief to-”
“But,” Luno interrupted again. “Neither of us drew blood.”
“...”
As if on cue, Kobai jumped back to the Ground and Normal type, and the trio began apprehensively looking all around them for some sign of life and especially an easy escape. Those stairs had to be somewhere. There was nothing, the corridor becoming completely silent except for the quiet waves and strained breathing from Monty. Their theory from earlier was confirmed. There was something in this dungeon, and it’s far stronger than anything they had ever encountered. There seemed to only be one way in or out, the flight of stairs leading back to the outside world. ‘Who knows how long this floor went on for? Who ever knew that the Sneasel was still alive? What if it was a false alarm? But what if it wasn’t?’
Kobai still went ahead again, but stayed closer to the others. They continued, going much slower than before, with Luno watching the back, Monty checking the ceiling, and Kobai looking ahead. They eventually reached a three fork in the road.
“Which way ya guys want to go,” Kobai asked, the playfulness and unseriousness from her earlier conversations being almost fully subdued. Monty looked to Luno for a response. He stood still, not saying a word. Finally, he pointed a paw to the left. They proceeded onward.
It was a dead end. Monty sighed, ready to go back, but Kobai stayed in the dead end. In the darkness, she started patting down the wall, looking for something. Then, she found a piece of cobblestone that felt particularly loose. Pulling at it with all her strength, she took the hole off the wall to reveal a giant hole. Looking into it, she found a rope going up into darkness, which was just big enough to give a Lucario wiggle room and seemed to have no starting point, continuing up the hole in complete darkness, and vice versa for the end point. However, it wasn’t stationary, as the rope was shaking up and down. Someone was tugging at it.
“Guys, I found something,” Kobai called over to Monty, who was looking for something on the opposite wall. “I found this rope, and someone’s pulling at it. Come help me.” To her request, they rushed over, and the three of them barely squeezed their arms into the hole, tugging at the rope and pushing their feet at the wall just below the hole as they leaned back. As they struggled, from the hole in the wall, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness. With one final pull, the top of the rope fell out, the figure falling down rapidly. They dropped right onto Kobai, and the four figures fell back and crashed to the ground, the rope dropping to the ground before somehow sliding back up.
“You need to get up.” A voice directed itself to Kobai from the figure that had swiftly got to their feet before everyone else. As she grabbed for the person’s arm, she finally identified the figure as the Sneasel, who now had blood dripping down her head, as if she had just been in an intense battle, with bits of fur tangled up and missing. She constantly looked over her shoulder as if she was in a rush. Kobai promptly pushed away the Sneasel’s hand in disgust, opting to hoist herself up, and a grunt followed.
“Helping someone up isn’t gonna make up for what ya did,” Kobai shot down with a glare.
“Who said I’m trying to make up for something? It was just a misunderstanding. Monty didn’t have what I needed. Here.” The Sneasel tossed the bag over to Monty, who managed to slip it on, and abruptly stopped himself from thanking her out of instinct. “Sorry.”
"Kobai, it's alright, it was a misunderstanding. At least I still have my stuff. But-" Monty looked up to the Sneasel, who met his gaze. After a short second, Monty continued. "Please don't call me Monty, at least for now. And I guess I forgive you.”
The Sneasel simply nodded, trying to ignore the two angry glares coming from her sides.
“We need to leave soon,” Luno reminded them.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” the Sneasel agreed. “We need to get to the second floor, now.”
“NO, we need to find the exit on this floor,” Kobai retorted, “and who said you tell me what to do?” The Sneasel didn’t immediately give a response, choosing to simply walk past her, trying to set back up the rope.
“Why do you think this rope is here?”
“...A shortcut between floors, of course.”
The Sneasel half-turned to her, ears dropping low. “You can’t travel between floors with a rope, dumbass! This is the exit!”
“No it’s not, the exit’s always stairs!”
“It’s here because there’s no other way to the exit, this is the exit on this floor.”
Kobai hesitated, intrigued but still keeping herself composed. “The hell ya talking about, ’course there’s an exit on this floor.”
“Then are you still here?”
“To catch you, obviously!”
“And after that?”
“We find the real exit!” Kobai relaxed, sporting a cocky grin and crossing her arms.
The Sneasel relented. “Jesús, you’re stupid,” she ended with a sigh, as she began to leave the dead end.
Kobai followed the Sneasel away from the dead end, going to the open path again. The only thing that Luno could see from the whites of his eyes were the two stopping dead in their tracks.
“It’s coming, run.” Monty flinched from the sudden reappearance of the voice, shifting in surprise. His movement slowed, scanning his brain for a hint at the voice’s source. ‘What’s coming,’ he questioned. No response again.
Luno took a step forward. In the larger corridor was a light, one that brightened up the entire pathway. He shielded his eyes from the light, trying to get a read on what was ahead.
“Get to the safe spot and get to the exit before-” The voice cut off, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Monty quickly realized the urgency of this message.
The room in front of Luno began to come into focus, as details in it came to his mind. It was normal, maybe a Pokemon out of sight using Flash?
Monty felt the room spin around him, the colors and shapes blurring together as the voice’s almost fearful words fully sunk in and his lightheadedness finally caught up with him. Time slowed and sped back up again inconsistently, and he could feel each breath enter and escape his body as they became manual.
Then Luno noticed the strange light coming from its eyes and the fresh blood on the floor.
Monty could only stand there as the more defined colors moved away from him, muffled distorted yelps filled the air as if he were underwater, and his vision filled with one giant purple blotch and small streaks of red. One second, the room was a mix of shapes in liquid form, the next it was a corridor with a river set to its left as Monty finally focused back in.
The ‘purple blotch’ was actually a giant Pokemon of near indeterminable species, as it had a giant crab mouth, eight long bent legs that seemed to twist in every way, plate-like indents in its scales, and numerous spikes lining its back and head. Its pupiless eyes were blindingly bright, almost like two small suns glaring back. He noticed that the claws on two of its legs were colored red in blood. It wasn’t just his blood.
Monty saw a mon run right past him. It was Kobai. The monster clawed at them, too wide to fit through the gap. Luno jumped to the rope, immediately getting to climbing. Kobai followed, and Monty ran to his only escape. The monster swung another claw at him, this time breaking through the tight dead end, almost implanting itself in his side, still drawing blood. Ignoring the blistering pain in his stomach, he scaled the hole, climbing desperately to the pocket of light at the top.
He scurried out of the hole, panting and fighting back the urge to vomit again. He felt something pull him away by the fur of his collar, prompting him to run. Turning around, he noticed it was Kobai, and going to her side, they met up with the Sneasel and Cubone as they all ran at full speed, with the Sneasel in the front. Behind him, the creature was back, now seemingly crushed within its face.
The creature’s numerous limbs made it difficult for the monster to gain speed, so the four ran as fast as their legs would allow. The Sneasel jumped back for a moment, unleashing several short and concentrated shards of ice, and Luno threw his bone club straight at the beast’s eye, forcing it shut, as his club swung back to him like a boomerang. The beast let out a piercing scream that sounded almost distorted. Monty took a second to pull out an item from his bag: a flare. Signaling to Kobai, she pulled the top off as a red mist began to spill from the contents of the flare. Monty then jerked his head in the opposite direction, tossing the flare in the direction of the monster as far away from it as he could.
“That should buy us some time,” Monty informed the others. And so, they continued to run away from the creature.
“We can’t make it to the exit at this rate,” the Sneasel yelled over the monster’s screams. “That thing could still outrun us.”
“Let’s just hope to Arceus that this works.”
As they ran, everything around them blurred into one another. Their feet turned into blurs as they ran with all their power, the walls turned into constantly shifting light browns and sparkling whites. All of them were very exhausted, but this was a situation of life-or-death. Blood spilled from Monty’s head onto the ground, as he put a paw to his new injury, which he found was coming from his neck. His surroundings spilled into each other, becoming shapes once again before then separating and becoming whole again, causing him to stagger. But he couldn’t let it stop him. Not as the sounds of distorted screams broke through his delirious state.
Leading down a long hallway, they saw it. Even as his bloodshot eyes began to betray him, he spotted the familiar steel formation in the center of the room. As crashing and destruction could be heard behind them, they ran up to the stairs. A Kabutos jumped out of seemingly nowhere. The Sneasel blasted it on sight with another Ice Shard. They formed around the stairs. The beast stormed into the hallway as they jumped into the stairs, narrowly missing its claws. As Monty jumped in, the creature swung again, just barely cutting into Monty's arm.
A flash of blinding light, and Monty emerged from the source of the light. His eyes fought to adjust to the room around him, which was much darker than he was expecting. He felt even worse, almost as if his insides were about to come out. His legs gave out, and he dropped to the floor.
Before he fell out of consciousness, his vision. Dark grays and browns surrounded him. His look of terror was the last thing he felt. They were still in Aquatic Grotto.
END