Night had fallen, and the stars twinkled in the sky far above the team heading to Sea's Rest. Everyone except Hydro and Mago were making their way down the dirt path, Slink was holding a torch, which made a small circle of light that surrounded the group.
Slink looked down at Watt, "Watt, before I forget to ask, do you remember what moves Castello used when he first attacked you?"
"It all happened so fast, the only two I can remember clearly are crabhammer and vice grip," Watt admitted.
"It sounds like we'll need to keep our distance." Hex commented, "He seems to make a good amount of use of his claws."
"I know razor leaf, so we should be able to get our friend's shellder back without a hitch!" Flora said proudly.
Slink kept the torch held firmly in her paw, "We should still be careful. Keep in mind what he did to Watt."
"Why are you guys acting like Castello for sure did it?" Miel asked, "All this suspicion is just based on what Hex said."
"Because from simple deduction, he is the prime suspect, with little chance anyone else could have committed this act." Hex retorted.
"You can't just say that for sure!"
Slink sighed, "Miel, please, just let it rest."
"Even if Castello hadn't done it, he may have seen the true culprit," Watt replied.
"We sound so much like detectives!" Flora exclaimed, "This is really exciting!"
"It didn't seem like you were so excited back at camp." Slink commented.
"That's just because Hex was making assumptions about pokemon. I mean, we're researchers, we aren't supposed to believe things without solid proof right?"
Hex sighed, "It's called a hypothesis, Flora. They're not that complicated to understand."
Flora looked at Hex skeptically, "More like saying he's guilty until proven innocent. You can't just apply the same logic to both pokemon and science."
"Then tell me Flora, if you knew better than me, why did you just yell at me without any purpose?"
"Because you couldn't prove it!" Flora was attempting to keep herself from exploding.
"Could we please save the arguments until we get the shellder returned to Coreef?" Watt asked.
Both Flora and Hex shut their mouths, and gave each other a scowl.
Coreef leaned over, and whispered into Slink's ear, "Is your group always arguing?"
"No, but ever since Watt brought Hydro to the camp, things have been off for us." Slink whispered back.
"I see," Coreef whispered back.
The group was silent for the next few minutes, the only sounds being their footsteps and the crackle of the torch. They eventually arrive at the cave entrance.
"Is everyone ready?" Slink asked.
Hex scoffed "Well we wouldn't be here if we weren't. Let's just get in there before Catsello does something worse."
"...A crude way to put it." Watt commented.
"Let's just get this over with." Hex said.
"Let's split up into two groups." Slink pointed to Watt, Coreef, and Miel, "You two will come with me, while Flora, Hex, and I will travel in another group. When one group reaches the staircase, they will call out to the other group so we can meet up."
"Why can't we just go in all as one group?" Coreef asked.
"Because mystery dungeons only allow groups of four to enter at a time. We can bypass that by forming one group when we reach the staircase."
"But wouldn't it be safer if we just rendezvous in the first room?" Watt asked.
"It'd be better for us not take any risks. The first room should be mostly clear."
"Sounds like a plan." Miel said.
After the group was split up into two, they began making their way in. Slink's group went in first, and not too long after, Watt's group followed. When they got into the first room, they noticed there wasn't any resistance upon entry.
Watt looked around every inch of the room, "It appears to be clear so far. Could they be setting up an ambush? Maybe a Monster House."
"Listen, I don't care what happens as long as we get the king's shellder back. I'm sure we could fight off an ambush with all of us together." Miel already was making his way down the hall in front of them, as Watt and Coreef followed.
As they continued, there was no other Pokemon in sight. Just empty hallways and rooms with the occasional item, but nothing else. Everything seemed too peaceful.
Just then, they heard Slink's voice echo through the halls. "Over here! We found it!" Watt's group quickly ran towards the voice, as she kept calling out to help guide them through the winding hallways. Soon after, the groups were finally reunited.
"That didn't take you very long." Watt commented.
"Maybe this won't be so difficult after all!" Flora smiled, trying to raise the spirits of her fellow team members.
"...Or we just got lucky." Hex replied.
"Focus on what's important, we need to hurry up." Slink walked down the stairs, and the rest of the group followed without question.
When everyone made their way down to the second level, they heard something from behind them. They all paused and got into combat stances. It was footsteps, and they were coming down the stairs they had just reached the bottom of. The group was prepared to ambush whatever walked down them.
As the footsteps were almost at the end of the stairs, they could see someone's feet. They all jumped towards the staircase, and they were all shocked when they saw who it was. It was Hydro, who after noticing the group leaping towards him, let out a loud scream before the team barely stopped themselves, resulting in them falling into a pile at the bottom steps.
"O-Oh no! I-I'm so sorry!" Hydro screamed, "I-I didn't mean for that to happen! Are you okay!?"
Slink looked up at Hydro, "What are you doing here!?"
"I-I wanted to help Coreef! H-He's my friend, I can't just leave him like this!"
The team got off the stairs and stood up. "Haven't we gone through how dangerous these places are!?" Watt exclaimed.
"I know, b-but I promise I'll be able to help!"
"Hydro... I don't want you to get hurt..."
Hex interrupted them, "Hold on. Hydro, how can you be friends with someone you barely know?"
Hydro flinched and then sighed. He was probably going to have to admit this at some point anyway. "Um... well... w-when Watt w-went to Sea's Rest on his own a-after he saved me... I... I followed him because I wanted to help."
"You did what!?" Miel exclaimed. "Are you crazy!?"
Hex looked over at Watt. "Is this true?"
"Well... yes." Watt admitted, "I was going to escort him out of the cave, however, that was when we were attacked. We were surrounded, and couldn't escape."
"I-I begged him not to tell Mago because I was a-afraid I'd get in trouble."
"...I agreed to that. He's already been through so much, and I didn't want to see him suffer more."
"So you let him get off scot-free!?" Miel yelled.
"...I was hoping he'd learn his lesson from that experience, apparently, he did not." Watt's ears drooped.
"I-I want to be brave! That's why I did it! I want to be a brave explorer who helps pokemon no matter what. I thought maybe I should help Watt because he's not only my friend, but that maybe I could prove to myself I'm stronger than I think I am..."
Watt put his paw on Hydro's shoulder, "I understand what you mean, however that's no reason to keep throwing yourself into danger. We're all worried about you."
Hydro pauses and looked at everyone before sighing. "...Maybe you're right... I should just go back to the camp..."
"I'm sure you'll get your chance eventually. I'll bring you back to camp if you want."
He looked Watt right in the eyes, "I think you should help Coreef, but if you really want to."
Watt turned to the rest of the group, "Is everyone else fine with that?" everyone looked at each other, looked back at Watt, and nodded.
"We'll go on without you. I hope you'll get home safely." Slink and the others turned and began walking down the other hall.
"Mago will hear about this though." Miel followed everyone else.
"Farewell, and good luck." Watt then turned to Hydro, "Let's hurry up."
Hydro nodded, "Alright." the two of them began to climb the stairs, but their plans were brought to a halt.
The dungeon shook violently, as Watt and Hydro rolled down the stairs while the others barely kept their balance.
"W-What's happening!?" Hydro screamed.
"I-It's an earthquake! Cover your heads!" Miel shouted, everyone doing as instructed and hunching low to the ground. The staircase disintegrated and the hole in the ceiling was covered up by rocks.
"T-The walls! T-They're shifting!" Slink yelled, before a wall burst from the ground and blocked the hallway. The shaking continued as the walls seemed to morph and bend, surrounding Watt and Hydro, separating them from the rest of the group.
Watt stumbled to the floor, as the room rocketed from one end to the other, slamming into rock not part of the dungeon, creating a huge shock-wave that threw the two of them against the opposite wall.
Watt lied on the ground, completely helpless as Hydro tried to get up, his arms and legs were shaking before he fell on his stomach, letting out a groan of pain. "I-It... hurts..."
Some dust fell from the ceiling, and the two of them looked up to see the ceiling was breaking into pieces.
"H-Heads... down!" Watt put all his energy into shouting the order, the two barely had the time to put their arms over their heads as the ceiling collapsed, the rocks tumbling down towards them as they lied there helplessly.
The next thing they knew, everything went black.
