Chapter 10: More Questions, More Surprises

"I do not believe it" angered Shuy.

"I have no idea what's going on either!" commented Zack.

"What happened?" asked Cresselia.

"That Being forced us back!" said Shuy.

"That Being…oh. I knew it." said Lapras telepathically.

"You knew it?"

"He wants to see you. And he told you the reasons why you can't go back to the future right?"

"Well yes."

"I guess he wants you to make some decisions when you get to meet him."

"Make some decisions?" questioned Zack.

"Uh.." Shuy was finding words to lie to him. "I just want to ask him some questions. Why would he want me to make choices?"

"Hmm hmm hmm…" smiled Lapras as she knew Shuy was hiding the truth. "It is entirely up to you Shuy. Make sure that the ones you want to ask will not make you regret it."

"I will keep that in mind. Now I am more infuriated that Grovyle, Celebi and Darkrai can't come back. Oh well, now I have more questions to ask him. I would like to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Haha! I will join in the fun Shuy!" chuckled Zack.

"Yes Zack. Make sure you treat him some barbeque later!"

"Um sorry to break your mood, I sensed wild Ice Pokémons within the crystals heading towards us! It may be a gang. We must make a move!" warned Cresselia.

"Now that you said it, I sense them as well." communicated Lapras.

"Let them come." said Shuy.

"What?" surprised Cresselia.

"I need to let go some steam. Besides I know how to deal with Ice types. Zack, let's do 'it'!"

"Weee! It has been a long time since we execute this move!" excited Zack.

"Alright! I suggest you two hide in the cave. It is gonna be a blast!"

"Okay…be careful you two." concerned Cresselia.

"I won't be that concerned since I know she is well prepared." said Lapras with a smile.

Cresselia and Lapras hid in the cave. Although the cave was made up of Crystal, it was not Crystal Cave Mystery Dungeon as it was just a crystal tunnel to an opening of more splendid and huge crystals. There was a true cave that resides there within the maze of mirrors. On the other hand, Shuy and Zack prepared their stance in anticipation of the gang. And they arrived as what Cresselia had foretold. A gang of Froslass! There were five of them in total. When they saw Shuy and Zack ready to attack them, they giggled.

"Ho ho ho. It seems we have guests in our home." said one of them.

"Shall we treat them with hospitality?" joked the other.

"We shall. And they will be trapped here forever!" said the larger one, which was the leader.

They execute Icy Wind at Shuy and Zack. Shuy quickly took out Fiery Orb and screamed at Zack.

"Now!"

Zack's body began to glow. Before the wind could hit them, he let go his energy and flames scattered towards the snow ladies. It was Overheat. Using this move will lower his special attack momentarily. But with the Fiery Orb, he could recover his strength quickly. The Froslass Gang panicked and tried to flee from the flames, unfortunately they were hit and they all fainted on the ground of dirt. Shuy and Zack rejoiced from the success of their attacks.

"Woot! You did it again Zack!"

"Haha! It was all due to your brilliant planning Shuy!"

They danced and that signaled Cresselia and Lapras to exit the cave to join them.

"Seriously. If Zack isn't here, what you gonna do Shuy?" asked Cresselia.

"I still have friends I recruited you know? Entei is awesome!"

"En…Entei? How do you manage to find him?"

"I won him. He sent his messenger to invite me for a challenge and I won. One on one battle in Blaze Cave. That Mystery Dungeon has some strict rules. Only Team Leader can enter and I can only bring eight items. I brought along Soothe Globe so I never run out of energy since their attacks only heal me instead."

"Wow. That's amazing. I never know anyone will willing to take the challenge by itself."

"Isn't she? Haha! She can do solo mission just fine!" boasted Shuy.

"And that is why she is chosen to save Temporal Tower. Even if she is at a disadvantage, she won't back down." praised Lapras telepathically.

"I won't able to accomplish that if my friends didn't support me." admitted Shuy. "Anyway, we need to go to Happy Outlook so that I can fully prepare to scale the tower."

"Alright. I shall accompany you there and then I have to head back to my territory." said Cresselia.

"Why?" asked Zack.

"I cannot be too far away from my area as I am protecting it with my power."

"I see! Well let's go Shuy!"

"Are we going by sea as usual?" said Lapras telepathically.

"Hmm…Can you can levitate the same as Cresselia?" asked Shuy.

"I can. But with my weight, I can get tired quickly."

"We could go by sea, but travelling to Happy Outlook by air from here is faster. If you are tired Lapras, just tell me."

"Sure. I shall help in any way. It is my responsibility to send you two to your destination."

"Actually, may I ask who is this Being you want to meet?" inquire Cresselia.

"It is a secret!" replied Shuy.

"Okay…well do what you need to do then!"

Shuy rode on Cresselia while Zack was on Lapras. Shuy hugged her Fiery Orb to keep her warm. They took off and headed north-east of the continent. But before they reached there, they had to fly above more mountains. Shuy disliked flying in areas that were cold, but she did not want to waste any more time than to meet Him.

"I will have to endure it. Besides, what he did isn't fair at all!" thought Shuy.

They exited Crystal Crossing and soon arrived in the areas with tall peaks. The forests at the bottom of the mountains were special; they needed only minimum sunlight to nourish them. And those areas were the favourites of Dark and Psychic Pokémons. Right now was late afternoon and the cool air neutralised the blazing heat from the sun. However there were huge clouds ahead of the group which could mean that snow storm was ahead. Shuy decided they should rest before attempting to head in a storm. They landed on a mountain cliff where there was a cave and not far away from the forest floor. Once settled, Shuy took out three Coba Berries for their lunch. Cresselia and Lapras had one each, while Shuy and Zack shared the berry. It was going to be a long baffling battle against the storm and they needed all the energy they could master. They ate their fill and resumed their travels. As they entered the storm, the visibility was poor. Cresselia and Lapras depended on their psychic abilities to navigate through, and Cresselia used Safeguard to prevent the team from getting froze bites. She could not spare enough energy to protect them from the snow hitting their bodies. Shuy took the worse hit as snow fall smacked on her body with pain and bitter cold. However as she dealt with snow storm before and her Fiery Orb never failed her, she managed to prevent herself from fainting. It took them about 2 hours to exit out of the storm. They shook their bodies to get rid of the snow and landed on the grassland to warm up their bodies. The grassland was rich due to the mountain's natural water and minerals nourished the land, and it the temperature was at maximum at 20 degrees. Though right now was about 5 degrees, it was way warmer than in the storm. The grassland had a lot of berry plants. One such rarity was Enigma Berry. It only grew on highlands closest to the stars. Its size was about 15cm and even though it was hard, its taste was spicy. This berry was very sought after as it could warm up a Pokémon and its effects lasted for a few hours. It can also heighten a Pokémon's resistance to attacks temporary as well. Not surprisingly, here had many Grass, Ground and Rock type Pokémons and they challenged each other for the best berries. In about 200m away, Golem was fighting with Cherrim for Belue Berry. Shuy hoped that she would not encounter a Pokémon for battle. She searched for the common berries such as Oran Berry just to give them quick energy before they moved on. She wanted to be away from the mountains by sunset, and it would not be long before the sun sunk in the west. Once she gathered enough, she headed back to the group and they had some quick bites. Soon after that, they departed.

The Sun was getting lower above the horizon. The group managed to travel pass the mountains. Right now they were above the forest and another grassland could be seen far ahead. That grassland was Happy Outlook. This Mystery Dungeon was unique. If any Pokémon landed on the grass plain, they would be warped into a dungeon. That was why the grassland looked empty. Shuy asked Cresselia to pin-point the Kangaskhan Statue. Sure enough she found one at the west of their direction. They landed beside the statue and Shuy restocked her food supply. Cresselia on the other felt it was time for her to say goodbye.

"Alright Shuy, I have to go now. I wish you a fabulous journey ahead!"

"Thank you so much for your help Cresselia. Sorry for the trouble…"

"Oh don't worry! Even without Darkrai around which I suppose to check on him, I am happy to just travel with you. For some reason, I feel you going for a rough road so please be careful."

"Haha. I am always be. I see you some other time Cresselia!"

Cresselia smiled and took off to return home. Shuy was saddened a little when she flew off. She loved to be nag at as a reminder that she should not be too stubborn. Now it was back to three of them. Shuy decided they should head towards the beach and rest for the night. There were lots of Liechi Berries there so they would not need to travel far for food. In a matter of hours, they reached the shore. Stars sparkled in the sky and the moon which was not full moon anymore shone brightly at about Zenith point of where the group was. They took some time to stare at the night sky. She saw the 'cloud' too and assumed it was part of the Milky Way.

Zack broke the silence and spoke to Shuy, "Beautiful isn't it? It is weird that the sky is clear but that place is isn't." He pointed west and Shuy and Lapras saw a grey mist shrouding around that area.

"That is where Destiny Tower is." said Lapra telepathically.

"Wow! We are already close to there?" delighted Zack.

"Yup. We shall head off first thing in the morning. For now, let's have our belly full and enjoy the scenery!"

They had their dinner and slept through the night. Daylight and Shuy was first to wake up. She yawned but was startled by a peculiar roar.

"REEEEEERRAAAAAAAAA!"

Shuy woke Zack and Lapras up as she sensed something big was heading their way. All of a sudden, powerful downdraft wind pushed them on the ground. Shuy struggled to look up and saw a huge serpent-like dragon levitating in front of them.

"You got to be joking…" said Shuy.

"It's Rayquaza!" alarmed Lapras.

"What is this dragon doing here?" astounded Zack.

"Yoomtah! I shall explain!" said a familiar voice.

They looked around and saw Wigglytuff wearing glasses leaped out of the dragon. And the rest of the guild members too! Wigglytuff took the initiative and spoke to Shuy, Zack and Lapras.

"Well well well, you two had sneaked off without telling me! Well it is sneaking off after all! As a punishment, you two have to battle us and then I will tell you how we managed to find you two. I warn you, we are much stronger than before! Lapras, I would like you to move aside. This battle is going to be huge!"

"Hmm…I shall do as you say." And she levitated herself and landed on the waves.

Shuy and Zack saw Diglett and his father, Sunflora, Bidoof, Loudred, Corphish, Chimecho, Croagunk and Chatot leaped out of Rayquaza's back after Wigglytuff gave the signal. All of them wore glasses as well, which made Shuy worried.

"Are you all wearing…?" asked Shuy.

"Yup! We are all wearing Scope Lens! Be prepared for critical hits!" replied Wigglytuff.

"But Guild Master, this isn't fair at all!" argued Zack.

"Well if you two lost this battle, we will take you two back to Treasure Town!"

Shuy realised what Wigglytuff was trying to interpret and she smiled. She told to Zack,

"Let's play with them Zack."

"What? Shuy! They are tough to beat than the last time we fought against them just because of that item!"

"Isn't that simple? We just need to smack them when they were distracted!

"Okay I see your point. I shall assist you the best I can!"

"Oh you always do Zack haha!"

Wigglytuff said with his arms crossed, "So I assumed you two are ready?"

They nodded.

"Then let's battle!"

Without words, Diglett and Dugtrio started first and used Earth Power at Shuy and Zack. They dodged their attacks as it was easy to see the earth budging up. However their attacks were deterrents. Loudred stepped in used Hyper Voice and blasted Shuy and Zack onto the tree trunks and hurt in the process. They quickly recovered and Zack used Smokescreen to blind the opponents. Shuy used this chance to hone in on Loudred and took off his Scope Lens. He was bewildered and Shuy wasted no time to use Giga Drain on him. He collapsed as she managed to drain all his energy away.

"Not bad kekeke." said Croagunk.

Shuy turned around and found Croagunk jabbed her with Poison Jab. She cried in agony as this attack did critical hit and poisoned her. Zack heard her cry and hastily ran towards her, but Corphish blocked his way and used Bubble Beam to slow Zack down. Zack retaliated and used Overheat to evaporate the bubbles and Quick Attack to knock off his glasses. He finished Corphish off with his powerful Flamethrower and he suffered from burns.

"Cor..cor. You are pretty strong Zack." said Corphish panting.

Zack just brushed past him and replied, "I have no time for you! Shuy what happen?"

"Don't worry about me. I just ate a Heal Seed to cure my poison." Shuy faced at Croagunk. "Though I thank you for synthesising rare items for me, I can't show mercy on you for what you did to me!"

"Kekeke! Bring it on!" said Croagunk.

He Taunt Shuy so that she could not use any non-attack moves. It did not matter to her as she used another Giga Drain on him and he too fell on the ground exhausted. The Smokescreen disappeared. Shuy was still on a rage and targeted Diglett and Dugtrio. She used Energy Ball at them. They dug to avoid attacks and rammed her using Dig. Shuy was flung in the air. She recovered and once more used Energy Ball at them, and again they avoided her attack by digging. Once Taunt wore off, she could think clearer now. She landed on the ground and used Bullet Seed onto the ground surrounded her. As Diglett and Dugtrio resurfaced near her, the seeds sprout into vines and they were trapped. Shuy ended her combination with Giga Drain and they fainted. Zack was amazed of her attack and wanted to stick to her so that he could protect her from distance attack, but he was forced away by Chimecho's Psychic and again he was a distance away from her. On the other hand, Sunflora and Bidoof approached Shuy with vigor.

"Oh my gosh! That was some move you did there Shuy!" said Sunflora.

"Yup yup! Let's show her what we can do!" continued Bidoof.

Sunflora cut the vines using her Razor Leaf and Bidoof shot out Ice Beam at Shuy. She was surprised at his short charging time and could not escape from his attack. The beam encased her legs with ice and now she was stuck. Sunflora used her powerful Leaf Storm and Bidoof used Shock Wave to make the leaves electrified. Once the leaves hit Shuy, she suffered from shock and pain. She expected two non-effective moves to hurt her so much no thanks to their Scope Lens. Sunflora and Bidoof boasted with their successful attacks and their glasses glinted under the sunlight.

As Shuy still suffered from the attacks, Zack was not doing any better as Chimecho kept on deflecting his Flamethrower. He could not close in on her as she could use Psychic to move him away, and she is able to sense his movement even if she was blinded. Realised he could not do anything on her, she sit on the ground to rest.

"Oh? You gave up?" asked Chimecho. "Very well, I shall move you to the sea!"

That was what he was waiting for. As she lifted him up, he used Smokescreen. Chimecho squinted her eyes and she let go of Zack. Before she could defend herself, Zack used Quick Attack and knock off her Scope Lens. She also collapsed on the ground as her defense against physical attacks was weak.

He headed back to Shuy and realised she was in trouble. Sunflora and Bidoof were just standing there as they did not have the heart to defeat her. But it seems that Guild Master was going to end her with his moves! Zack shot out a long distance Flamethrower at Wigglytuff, but he managed to step back to avoid his attack. Zack used this chance to run to Shuy's side and burned the leaves away.

"Ha..ha..thanks a lot Zack." said Shuy.

"No problem. Shall I be your shield Shuy?"

"No. Let's attack together. You take Sunflora and Bidoof while I take on the Guild Master."

"Alright!" replied Zack without complaining.

Zack immediately pounced on Sunflora and Bidoof. Panicked, they used Razor Leaf and Ice Beam at him. Even though his special attack was compromised due to Overheat he used before, he destroyed their moves using Flamethrower and the flames lit them on fire. Sunflora screamed and ran away, followed by Bidoof into the sea to extinguish the flames. That scene made Zack laughed. They surrendered and Zack acknowledged their defeat and went back to Shuy to assist her. Shuy on the other hand was staring at Wigglytuff, waiting for him to use a move. As Wigglytuff saw Zack running back to Shuy, he smiled and said.

"As usual, it seems even with our held item, we are still defeated. But do you two forgetting something?"

They replied, "Forgetting something? OH!"

They forgot Chatot! As Chatot emerged out of the trees, he used Chatter and successfully confused both of them. Shuy and Zack spun around in confusion, unable to use attacks. Chatot used this opportunity to strike them with Air Slash. Pierced by the wind, Shuy and Zack fell onto the ground. They struggled to regain consciousness. Luckily Shuy managed to take out the last Heal Seed to heal herself and she countered Chatot with her Giga Drain. Thanks to her ability Overgrow and her item Woody Scarf tripled her Giga Drain power and Chatot fainted in the process. Now Shuy had Wigglytuff in her view. She had no choice but to face him one on one since Zack was still confused. Shuy used Bullet Seed at him but he countered her with Blizzard! The ice pelted on her and she quickly took out her Fiery Orb to warm her up. Wigglytuff saw what she was doing and ended his attack.

He spoke to her, "So…you are feeling cold now? Allow me to warm you up~"

This time he used Fire Blast. Shuy knew that if she was hit by this attack, she was finished. She dodged the massive flames by skillfully used her Bullet Seed to propel her in the air. Now she needed to get closer to him. She knew it was going to be risky so she put Revival Seed in her mouth and dived towards Wigglytuff. He shot his Fire Blast at her once more since she could not dodged it in the air. The attack scorched Shuy and Wigglytuff was certain that that move defeated her. To his surprise, Shuy came out of the flames unharmed and used Leech Seeds on him. The seeds sprouted and wrapped around him, sapping his energy. The energy was send back to Shuy and she felt she had enough energy to charge her strongest move. She landed beside a struggling Wigglytuff and grinned at her.

"I suppose you don't think I survived your attacks isn't it?"

"Haha…yes you dazzled me with your unpredictable strategy. So what you gonna do to me now?"

"Well, this move isn't as powerful as your elemental attacks, but at a close range…I wonder?"

She opened her mouth and gathered nature's power to form a green ball. As it grew into a massive ball out of her mouth, she fired it at Wigglytuff. He flew out to the sea and landed about 100m away from her. Rayquaza immediately rescue him from drowning.

"And that was what I called Super-charged Energy Ball!" gloated Shuy.

She dropped onto the ground from exhausting all her energy for that attack. She saw Zack managed to snap out of confusion and approached Shuy with concerned looks on his face.

"Shuy! Why are you so beat up? And where is the Guild Master?"

"I blew him away." She pointed where Rayquaza was lifting Wigglytuff up."

"YOU DID THAT? Wow that was stunning! So we won the challenge?"

"Seems like it."

"YES! Now what are we going to do?"

"We just wait for the guild members to recover and tell us their story."

"Congratulations of your victory Shuy and Zack. But first, eat these berries to recover your lost strength."

Lapras levitated towards the two and passed each of them an Oran Berry.

"Thanks a lot Lapras!" said Zack. "Can you do the same for the rest too?"

"Sure."

After everyone including Wigglytuff recovered their energy. The guild members apologised to Shuy and Zack for what they did to them.

"It was Guild Master's idea. I am against it for using Scope Lens to try to critical hit you in one hit." said Bidoof.

"Oh my gosh yeah! This isn't an initiation as we know it." continued Sunflora.

"YOU POKÉMONS STILL MANAGED TO DEFEAT US. I AM IMPRESSED!" roared Loudred.

"Cor cor! Yeah you managed to toast me with your fire attacks Zack. Ah I still need more training." embarrassed Corphish.

"Kekeke! I guess my Taunt isn't good enough kekeke! Oh well, it was fun." laughed Croagunk.

"It seems our father and son combination moves aren't enough to beat you two." said Dugtrio.

"Yeah! You two are so strong!" agreed Diglett.

"Oh fudge. I thought I could defeat you two!" said Chatot. "Anyway, congratulation! I believe our Guild Master has something to say."

"Yoomtah! It took me quite a while to remove the leech vines Shuy. Whew!" He patted his body. "Okay! As promised, I shall tell you. I believe one of you had seen Team SAWT. They are scouts that I usually hire to find wanted Pokémon. And for this case, it is you two. I was worried where you two have gone so I have to use this method to locate you both."

"But how do you managed to catch wind of us so quickly?" asked Zack.

"Ah! These birds can fly for three days without breaks. And they hunt for fish on the go. They are the pinnacle of scouters for hire, with a price of course! Ah my Wonder…oops not gonna say that! And when we were notified by your whereabouts, I assumed by the path you all are going is somewhere that not many Pokémons know. That is Destiny Tower. I summoned my friend Rayquaza to give us a ride to the area closest to that land and viola, we found you two."

"Wait…how do you know about Destiny Tower?" demanded Shuy.

"Well you see, I been there before."

"You did?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I was kicked out after some tour around its ground floor. The Pokémons roaming there were more powerful than me."

"What? More powerful than you Guild Master? How can they be?" said Chatot.

"They learned other moves they we don't normally learn. I believe they have eggmoves."

"Eggmoves? You mean they learn the moves from their parents?" asked Shuy.

"Correct. That is why I have to test you two to make sure you all are ready to take them all. And I am pleased that you two could take us down. Be head strong and don't ever forget why you go there for."

"Guild Master…Thank you and sorry for not telling you." apologised Shuy.

"Yoomtah! Don't need to! Once you managed to scale the levels of that tower, remember to tell us about your adventures!"

Shuy took a while to answer, "I will."

"Good! I guess you need to restock your items again?"

"Well yes. We planned to go there when we are fresh but since we just had a battle, maybe we go or later."

"Silly excuse! There are places in the tower you can rest Shuy! However Shuy, you can't bring any items along with you."

"I can't?"

"That dungeon has strict rules and it is the toughest of the dungeons. One of the residents told me there are 99 levels to scale to the top."

Shuy was stumped. She did not expect that she could not bring any items. This dungeon surely tested her survival skills. And there were 99 levels to conquer. At least Wigglytuff warned her about the challenges ahead.

Wigglytuff continued, "As I said before, don't be discouraged. There are many food items in the tower so you won't need to worry about starving. And there are many rare held items as well that cannot be found anywhere else! Use these items to your advantage!"

"I see. Thank you for your advice."

"Yoomtah! Okay let's see you two off."

"Right after I deposited my items." replied Shuy.

An hour went passed, Shuy and Zack rode on Lapras and prepared to leave. The guild members and Rayquaza waved them goodbye while Lapras steadily moving away from the shore. Zack and Shuy waved back in return and she saw Wigglytuff's sad face. Did he know what she was going to do? She shook off that thought and looked ahead at the mist that shrouded the hidden land.