Chapter 20
On Their Own
Stride headed out early the next day, doing whatever Fafnir called him to do. He still didn't tell Team Dawn Breaker where he was going, he just smiled and said he'd be back in a few days, leaving them in the capable paws of Orion. Shortly after, Orion steered the group to the Groudon Division's mission board.
"So, go ahead pick out any mission you'd like," Orion said, gesturing to the large board, several Pokémon already surrounding the board.
"What mission should we take?" Furno asked Zero as they squeezed through the crowd.
"Hmmm..." Zero gazed at the board, looking through the papers that are spread across the board. "How about this one," he said, pulling a paper from the board.
"Bring me water from Sunspot Oasis," Quill read from over Zero's shoulder. "It says to get there we have to go through a dungeon called Blistering Desert. It's a C-rank mission, shouldn't be too tough."
"Judging by the name, it's probably full of ground and rock types," Furno commented nervously. "You guys will be fine, but I might be in trouble."
"Don't worry, we got your back," Quill said confidently, slapping Furno on his shoulder.
"Right..." Furno said, still not completely convinced.
"We'll bring some extra oran berries," Zero reassured. Furno gave his friend a grateful smile which Zero returned.
"Okay," Furno relented. "Let's just tell Orion and get this over with.
"Find anything good?" Orion asked as he saw them approach. Zero handed him the paper. "Blistering Desert, huh? Pretty tough place, sure you guys are up for it?"
"Yep, no problem!" Quill said, puffing up his chest proudly.
"We can handle it," Zero reassured.
"Well okay then." Orion clapped his paws together. "Let's head out then."
Orion led the trio through the labyrinth of bridges and tunnels in the division. They soon reached the area where they had entered the underground guild the day before. They passed the sand pit that was used as a cushion for members that fell through the quicksand pit and moved to the opposite wall. Orion raised a paw a paw and knocked against the wall four times in a specific pattern. A few seconds passed and nothing happened.
"Umm... is something supposed to...?" Furno trailed off as the wall shuttered for a second before sinking into the ground revealing a large doorway, a staircase behind it. "Nevermind."
Orion chuckled lightly and led the group through the doorway.
-Resistance-
Red Sand Desert
"Wow, that staircase leads up into the desert!" Furno exclaimed, gazing over the red sands of the desert.
"Where else would it lead?" Orion asked, half jokingly and half seriously.
"Uh, I don't know?" Furno said sheepishly.
"How come members don't just use that entrance?" Zero asked.
"Because the quicksand is much more fun," Orion joked, laughing at his own joke. Seeing the deadpan expressions on Team Dawn Breaker faces he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Hehehe, just kidding. We use the quicksand pit as a deterrent for those who are not part of this division, which is why you used it the other day. Only fully fledged members are allowed to use this entrance."
"So anyone from this division can just use that entrance," Zero said, looking at the doorway as the stone that had previously sunk into the ground to allow the group passage rose up again, sealing the doorway. "Isn't that risky?"
"What do you mean?" Orion asked.
"What if one of the members gets captured?" Zero persisted. "If the Emperor learns how to get into the division..."
"That won't happen," Orion said, brushing off Zero's concern.
"But all you have is a simple password," Zero persisted. "We have our badges that only work with us, but if one of you guys are captured and tortured-"
"Torture won't work on members of the Groudon Division," Orion said seriously. "Have you ever wondered why our division has less members than yours?"
"I never really noticed," Zero said, thinking back. Now that he thought about it, despite the division being larger than the Latios Division, there were quite a few less Pokémon in this division.
"There's a reason for that," Orion said beginning to walk through the desert forcing his three young charges to jog slightly to match his long strides. "We are put through a rigorous... exam before we are allowed entrance into the division."
"Exam?" Quill asked curiously.
"That's putting it lightly," Orion chuckled mirthlessly. "We are given a code that we are forced to memorize in the span of an hour. Afterwords we are taken into a room and tortured for three days by our divisions top interrogators."
"T-Tortured?!" Furno gasped out. "They torture you?!"
"Basically," Orion said nonchalantly. "It's to root out the strong from the weak. Only those that survive this ordeal are allowed to join."
"So that's why there are no training programs," Quill commented. "You guys only except the best of the best."
"That's right. Unlike the majority of the other resistance divisions, the Groudon Division only excepts the strongest of the bunch. If you don't pass you are usually deferred to another division. The Groudon Division takes pride in its members strength and integrity."
"But still, to torture prospective members," Furno said uncertainly.
"That's just how our division works," Orion said with a nonchalant shrug. "It's one of the more serious divisions."
Furno nodded his head, but he still seemed conflicted over the requirements for joining the Groudon Division.
-Resistance-
The group of four walked for about two hours, heading west through the desert. The cliffs that stood on the outside of the desert seemed to converge towards one another. The blazing sun hung high in the air, casting its rays upon the group.
"Why is it so hot?" Furno complained.
"What are you complaining about? You're a fire type, the heat shouldn't affect you as much," Quill quipped. Furno turned to Quill to respond, but stopped mid-sentence when he took note of Quill's coloring.
"Quill, are you okay?" Furno asked in concern. Hearing this, Zero looked over and noted Quill's change of color. Instead of the vibrant green that was on his body, it now had a brownish tint to it, reminding Zero of a wilting plant.
"I'm fine." Quill waved off his teammates concern.
"But your color..." Zero persisted.
"It's just a defense mechanism," Quill explained. "Like plants, grass type Pokémon require store water in themselves so they can go days without any water and to give them their healthy green color. When grass types enter areas of extreme heat, or areas without that much water, grass types will lose their pigment in order to conserve the water in their bodies. I've been going through this same process since we first entered Red Sand Desert."
"I didn't notice until now," Furno said sheepishly.
"It's no problem," Quill said with a shrug. "It doesn't hurt me so it's all good."
"We're here," Orion interrupted, reminding them of his presence.
The trio looked forward and saw that the cliffs were indeed converging towards one another, forming a slightly narrow entryway into what appeared to be another desert. On the other side of this entryway the sand slowly shifted from blood red to a muddy yellow color as the group entered another area. The stone that the cliffs were made of shifted from the previous color to the same muddy yellow color of the sand before them.
"Well, this is it," Orion stated, stopping just before the crevice. "As soon as you pass through those cliffs, you are in the dungeon Blistering Desert. Good luck, I'll be waiting here for your return."
"What?! You mean you're not coming with us?!" Furno practically demanded.
"Nope." Furno sweat-dropped at Orion's bluntness. "You guys are big kids now, you don't need me."
"But we've always had someone with us when we entered a dungeon," Furno said nervously.
"Don't worry, we can handle it, Furno," Quill said, thumping his chest in confidence.
"I don't know..." Furno said, not completely convinced. "What do you think, Zero?"
Zero glanced at Furno's imploring eyes and closed his eyes in thought. Furno's right when he said that this will be our first journey into a dungeon without supervision, this could be risky, but isn't this what we were training for in the first place. Like Stride said, we'll have to start doing missions by ourselves eventually. Zero nodded his head determinedly. I guess that time is now.
"We can do it," Zero said confidently.
"That's the spirit," Orion said, smirking. He reached into his own pack and tossed an empty flask at Zero who fumbled it before grabbing it firmly. "To get to Sunspot Oasis, you have to get past the eight floors of Blistering Desert. When you get there, fill that flask with the water. Good luck."
"Right," Zero said determinedly. He looked over at his team. Quill looked excited at the prospect of challenging the dungeon and Furno, while still slightly nervous, had a determined look on his face. "Let's do this."
With a nod of confirmation from Quill and Furno, Zero lead Team Dawn Breaker into Blistering Desert and their first solo mission.
-Resistance-
Blistering Desert B1
As soon as the trio entered the desert, they felt the intense heat that radiated off the sand and were buffeted by the hot winds that blew through the dungeon. While Furno was mainly unaffected by the heat, Zero and Quill felt the heat full force.
"Arceus, it's hot," Quill panted.
"I guess that's why it's called Blistering Desert," Zero said candidly. "Let's hurry up and get to the seventh floor and get that water and get out of here."
"Right," Furno chirped determinedly.
The trio traversed through the desert maze, enduring the blistering hot sand the crunched under their feet. They were very wary of their surroundings, more so then in the past. They didn't have Stride with them in this dungeon meaning that if they were knocked out, then they were done.
Scorching winds constantly blew through the dungeon, buffeting the group with sand and heat. It wasn't enough to require the use of weather bands, but it was annoying having to constantly brush sand from their faces.
"Bleh!" Furno spat out. "I got sand in my mouth!"
"Then keep your mouth shut then," Quill quipped jokingly.
"Not helping!" Furno shouted back.
"Guys!" Zero interjected before their argument could escalate. "We need to be quiet or else we'll alert the wild Pokémon that we're here."
"Sorry, Zero," they chorused, causing Zero to sigh.
"It's fine, let's just-" Whatever Zero was going to say was interrupted by a green and yellow beam of light shot from the adjacent wall and slammed into Zero's chest. Zero gasped out in pain, the air forcibly being ejected from his lungs, and was sent flying into the opposite wall.
"Zero!" Furno and Quill shouted in worry. They both heard and angry buzzing noise coming from where the ray of light came from. They turned and saw an enraged Vibrava flying towards them.
The Vibrava screeched angrily at the duo and shot at them. Furno and Quill jumped to the side, causing the Vibrava to pass them. The Vibrava stopped itself and turned to face the duo. It reared it's head back, the same yellow and green energy that hit Zero forming in its mouth. Just before it fired the blast a bluish shockwave of wind shot through the air and slammed into the Vibrava, disrupting the attack and causing a small explosion to ensue.
The Vibrava fell from the smoke cloud and slammed into the ground with a pained cry. It struggled to get to its feet, but before it could Zero dashed forward and slammed a force palm into the Vibrava's back, right between its wings. With one last pained screech the Vibrava lost consciousness.
"As I was saying, before I was interrupted," Zero began, a strained smile on his face. "Let's continue."
"R-Right," Furno said, slightly in awe of Zero's efficiency
"Wow, Zero," Quill said, failing to hide his surprise and awe. "You took that thing out fast!"
Zero just shrugged, brushing off Quill's praise. "I just caught it off guard. It won't be down long though, so we should go now."
"But which way should we go?" Quill asked. "There are two paths."
True to Quill's words, the path that they were on had two branching paths going in opposite directions.
"What should we do?" Furno asked nervously.
"Well, like Stride told us, there's no right or wrong way in a dungeon when looking for the staircases." Zero reminded them. "We can only take a path and hope for the best."
With that said, Zero lead his team down the left path. The path twisted and turned, leading the group through even more paths. As the paths looked almost exactly the same, it made it hard for the group to know if they had already traversed that particular path. After about seven minutes of trekking, without any other encounter other than a sleeping Cubone, the trio found the stairs and continued on.
-Resistance-
Blistering Desert B2
No sooner had the trio entered the next floor they were immediately assaulted by two Cacnea. The first one, upon noticing the group exit the staircase, shot several purple needles at the group.
Caught off guard, only Zero saw the attack coming. Not wanting his friends to get his, Zero channeled ghostly energy into his paws and slashed the poison sting attack out of the air with two swift shadow claws.
Enraged that its attack failed the Cacnea that had attacked charged the group, the other close behind.
Seeing the two wild Pokémon charging, Team Dawn Breaker leapt into action. Zero and Furno ran to the sides, flanking the two Cacnea, while Quill fired his own pin missile attack at the approaching Cacnea. One Cacnea managed to leap the side to avoid the attack, but the other was hit by the full force of the super effective attack. The Cacnea cried out in pain as the needles pierced the cactus Pokémon's skin and stumbled back, shaky on his feet.
Seeing its instability, Furno ran at the injured Cacnea and unleashed a barrage of fury swipes. The Cacnea gave another cry of pain, but fought through the pain and swung its arm at Furno, the spiny green arm taking on a light green glow. Furno grunted as the needle arm slammed into Furno's side, pushing the Chimchar back.
The other Cacnea fired a poison sting at Furno's exposed back. Zero jumped in front of the attack and slashed through the purple needles with another shadow claw. Zero then swiped his hand and released a vacuum wave at the Cacnea, slamming into it.
The Cacnea slid back, its needle like feet carving through the sands as it flew back. The Cacnea regained its footing after sliding back a foot or so. The Cacnea glared at Zero and was about to act when a shadow covered his form. The Cacnea turned and saw Quill smirking sinisterly at the Cacnea. Before the Cacnea could react Quill slammed his fist into the Cacnea's head using rock smash.
The Cacnea wobbled for a second before collapsing onto its back, unconscious. Zero nodded his head at Quill and turned his attention towards Furno who had just breathed out a small breath of fire, taking down the Cacnea he was fighting.
"Geez, just as we got to the next floor," Quill quipped.
"At least they weren't that strong," Furno said. He had a couple of scratches from his scuffle with the Cacnea, but looked no worse for wear.
"We should keep moving," Zero said. "The longer we stay the higher our chances of encountering wild Pokémon in this dungeon."
No sooner had he said this, the ground in front of them cracked and a Gible popped out at Zero, its teeth bared. Startled by its sudden appearance, Zero could only twist his body slightly in an attempt to dodge the ground dragon. Unfortunately the Gible was able to find purchase on Zero's tail.
"YOW!" Zero shouted in pain as he felt the Gible's sharp teeth piercing through his sensitive tail. He then turned his head towards the Gible that was now dangling a few inches off the ground as it refused to let go and gave the Gible a look that meant death. The Gible actually shivered from the intensity of the glare.
The Gible soon found its self practically embedded in a wall, its entire body racked with pain. Zero gave a huff of annoyance and glared at his two laughing teammates, silencing them. "Not. One. Word."
Not waiting for an answer, he walked down a random path, his teammates jogging to catch up.
-Resistance-
Blistering Desert B6
The group passed through the next three floors with little incident, only encountering a few Trapinch, Cacnea, and a Sandshrew. Upon seeing the Sandshrew, Zero was immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia, remembering their own Sandshrew teammate whom they had not seen in a while. He mentally promised to visit the mouse Pokémon.
The trio pressed on, baring with the intense heat caused by the sun, sands, and wind on the dungeon. They had to constantly take breaks to drink water so they did not dehydrate in these treacherous conditions. They were currently resting in an alcove in the dungeon taking one of those breaks.
"Ugh, what floor are we on?" Zero asked sluggishly.
"I think floor five?" Furno said uncertainly.
"Nah, it's the sixth floor," Quill argued.
Zero gave a low groan. "I'm really starting to hate the desert. This fur is good for cold or temperate climates, but out here I'm roasting."
"We're almost done though," Furno consoled. Despite being a fire type, he too was being slightly affected by the heat generated by the sun and blistering winds. "I wish there was some cloud cover though. The heat is blistering."
"I guess that's why they call this place Blistering Desert," Quill joked halfheartedly.
"Not helping, Quill," Furno grumbled.
"Never said I was trying to help," Quill said cheekily.
"Well-"
"SHH!" Zero hushed them, placing a finger to his mouth, his ears perked up. "I think I here something."
"What is it?" Quill asked, all pleasantry from his banter with Furno gone.
"I'm not sure," Zero said, his eyes closed as he focused on his hearing. "It sounds like... stomping."
"I hear it too," Furno piped up, his brow furrowing in concentration as he too heard the noise. "It's getting louder."
"I think I hear it now," Quill said, poking his head out from the alcove. He looked down the left side of the open corridor. Seeing nothing he turned his head towards the right and had to jump back as a gray blur raced passed their alcove.
He turned towards his teammate, fear written on his face. "Rhydon!" he shouted fearfully. He then lunged forward, grabbed his teammates arms, and pulled them into the path, going in the direction that the Rhydon came from. "RUN!"
Quill pulled his two teammates along the corridor, moving as fast as he could. Behind them the could hear a loud crash and a disgruntled roar reverberated through the corridor. Zero dared a glance back and saw a large Rhyhorn glaring at them. It pawed the ground with its front foot and charged forward.
Furno turned, seeing the Rhyhorn charging he tried to stop in order to attack, but Quill gave another sharp tug on his arm, making Furno stumble a little before he continued on.
"We can't fight a Rhyhorn in an enclosed space!" Quill explained, still tugging the two of them along. "We need to get into a more spacious area!"
The trio ran as fast as they could, weaving down the twisting sand filled maze, but the Rhyhorn kept closing in. The only reason that it had not gotten them already was because the spikes Pokémon was unable to turn as fast as them and repeatedly slammed into the walls. Just as the Rhyhorn was about to hit them the corridor opened up into a rather copious room. The immediately dove to the sides of the room, causing the Rhyhorn to dash past them.
The Rhyhorn slammed its feet into the sand trying to stop itself, causing a slight spray of sand to kick up off the ground. The Rhyhorn skidded a little before regaining its footing and glaring at the trio.
"Now, we can fight it," Quill said, tensing as he prepared himself.
The Rhyhorn roared and charged Quill, its horn taking on a whitish hue. Quill barrel rolled out of the way, causing the Rhyhorn to slam into the wall. The Rhyhorn gave a grunt as it slammed into the wall, causing it to shudder. The Rhyhorn stepped back from the wall, shaking its head though it did not look like the impact hurt it.
Quill shot a barrage of light green missiles at the Rhyhorn, hoping to do some damage, unfortunately the attack bounced seemingly harmlessly off of the Rhyhorn's thick hide. The Rhyhorn glared at Quill and lunged at Quill, the same whitish energy coating its horn. Before Quill could react, the horn slammed into Quill's chest, doing massive damage and sending Quill onto his back.
"Quill!" Furno shouted, seeing his friend get hit. He took a deep breath and fired a barrage of small flames at the Rhyhorn.
Unfortunately, like Quill's pin missiles, the flames impacted against the Rhyhorn's hide, but did not visible damage. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the attack was enough to shift the Rhyhorn's attention from Quill to Furno. The Pokémon growled ferally at Furno, but before it could act, Zero launched a vacuum wave at it. When the shockwave hit, the Rhyhorn to get a low guttural cry of pain as it felt the fighting type energy slam into its forehead.
The Rhyhorn stumbled back slightly before shaking its head to clear the cobwebs from its head. It glared at Zero and opened its mouth, firing a flurry of medium sized stones at Zero and Furno. The starting members of the group as the attempted to dodge the wave of stones, though one of them managed to nick Furno in his leg, causing him to cry out in pain.
The Rhyhorn pawed the ground and prepared to charge the duo, but was interrupted by an uppercut rock smash to the jaw from Quill. The Rhyhorn reared back in pain from the super effective attack. As it struggled to regain its footing, Quill continued his assault by slapping the Rhyhorn across the face with a vine whip attack.
The Rhyhorn hunkered down, bracing itself as the vines struck across its hide, causing it to wince slightly. It then charged forward towards Quill using the same attack that it had used before, which Quill now recognized as peck. Quill jumped to the side to avoid the attack and tackled the Rhyhorn's side as it passed.
The large rock and ground type gave no indication that it felt the attack, other than a grunt of annoyance. It was about to attack when the sand under it shifted and sank down slightly. It looked down in confusion as Furno burst from the ground and slammed into the Rhyhorn. It gave a cry of pain as it not only felt the super effective attack slam into its stomach, but also as its foot was forcibly uprooted from its place on the ground, toppling onto its side.
Zero saw the Rhyhorn fall onto its side and was about to charge forward when something hard impacted against the back of his head, almost sending him into unconsciousness. As spots flickered in his vision, Zero quickly shook his head and turned towards the direction the attack came from just in time to see a Cubone catch the bone that it had thrown at Zero.
Zero glared angrily and dashed forward with quick attack, startling the skull wearing Pokémon. Zero reared back his paw and slammed a force palm into the Cubone's face. I bright light came his paw, sending the Cubone flying down the corridor. He then spun on around, coalescing the wind that he generated from his spin, and fired a vacuum wave at the Rhyhorn when he locked onto it as it was struggling to its feet.
The Rhyhorn had just gotten to its feet as another vacuum wave slammed into its side, creating a shallow gash in its rocky hide. A loud, low, screech of pain escaped its mouth as it felt the energy carve into its side. The Rhyhorn's eyes shifted nervously at the group, almost as if it was questioning attacking them. It then reared its feet into the air and slammed them into the ground. A shockwave blasted out from where its feet impacted against the ground. The earth underneath the sand shifted and cracked as earth energy entered the ground.
The ground rumbled violently underneath the Team Dawn Breaker and they struggled to maintain their footing. They were suddenly struck with an pain, originating from the ground. Zero and Quill wince in pain, but Furno gave a deafening scream of pain as racked through his body, causing him to fall to the ground, curling into himself as he laid their. His tail flame spluttering weakly.
"FURNO!" Zero shouted, desperation and worry clear in his voice.
The Rhyhorn gave a triumphant grunt and charged towards Furno's downed form with a take down attack.
"Watch out!" Quill shouted as the Rhyhorn charged past him.
Seeing this, Zero made a mad dash towards Furno, stopping in front of Furno as the Rhyhorn barreled towards him. He raised his paws, channeling his energy in his paws in preparation for a double force palm, and sunk low to the ground, ready for the attack.
Quill shouted something, but Zero paid him no mind, his only focus on protecting his friend. The Rhyhorn's take down attack slammed into Zero's outstretched paws. Zero winced as he was almost knocked over by the Rhyhorn's charge, but instead sinking lower to the ground to remain standing, though he was pushed back several feet. He then released the stored energy in his paws straight into the Rhyhorn's face, stopping its charge.
The Rhyhorn swayed on its feet, the plating on its head chipping and cracking from the attack, and fell onto its side once more, this time unconscious.
Zero eyed the Rhyhorn warily, ready to attack should the bulky Pokémon get up again. When it was clear that the Rhyhorn wasn't about to get back up, Zero rushed to Furno's side, kneeling next to him and shaking his shoulder.
"Furno?!" Zero cried desperately. "Are you okay? Furno?!"
Furno's response was a choked cough and a low groan of pain. His eyes cracked open and gazed at Zero with a glassy eyed expression.
Seeing that his friend was at least conscious, Zero gave a sigh of relief. "Quill," he called to his other teammate. "Bring a sitrus berry over here ASAP!"
"Got it!" Quill called back. He pulled off the pack and rummaged through it in search of the berry. He finally found the requested item and was in the process of bringing it over to them when a dragon breath shot over Zero and Furno's heads and slammed into his chest.
Quill gave a loud "Oof" of pain as he was shot backwards into the wall behind him, the yellow berry falling to the sand.
Zero's head whipped towards the corridor where the beam came from and was horrified to see the Cubone that he had hit earlier, a Vibrava, a Cacnea, two Trapinch, and a slightly large Cubone that was standing slightly in front of the other in what appeared to be a defensive stance. Zero cursed internally as he got to his feet in front of his downed teammate, prepared to do anything to protect him.
One of the Trapinch gave a threatening churring sound and fired several globs of mud from its mouth at Zero. Unable to dodge, lest the attack hit Furno, Zero crossed his arms in defense and braced himself as the mud slammed into him. He gave a grunt of pain, but ignored it and swiped both of his arms up, creating two vacuum waves, in the form of an 'x', at the group of wild Pokémon.
The Pokémon, being in a rather narrow pathway, were unable to dodge efficiently and were struck by the attack, though the Pokémon towards the back of the group took less damage as the ones in front of them acted as an impromptu shield against the winds.
The larger Cubone gave an angry grow, which sounded odd from underneath the skull, and chucked its bone at Zero. Zero managed to deflect the bone with a shadow claw, causing it to go soaring past him, but, as if the bone was taken by a psychic force, the bone came back around, hitting Zero's side and flew back to the Cubone.
Zero grunted in pain as the bone hit his side and before he could retaliate, he was met with a wave of purple needles and mud balls from the Cacnea and Trapinch. Zero couldn't help but scream out in pain as the needles pierced his skin and the mud bruised his body. Despite the pain, he positioned himself so that Furno would not be hit by the attacks.
When the attack finally let up, Zero slumped to one knee, gasping for breath. He raised his head and gave the assembled wild Pokémon a weak glare. Paying him no mind, the group advanced threateningly into the room. Zero struggled to get to his feet, but fell back on one knee.
This is bad, he thought as pain continued to rack through his body. He felt the light trickle of a warm liquid run down his body in various places, indicating that he was in fact bleeding. He glanced back and saw Quill struggling to stand, the effects of the peck attack as well as the surprise dragon breath taking its tole. We're about to be overrun and we're in no condition to fight. I'm going to have to use final gambit if we want to-
He was snapped out of his thoughts when the sound of sand shifting came from behind him. Despite himself, Zero instinctively looked back and saw Furno get to his feet, his stance slightly wobbly. Zero was about to tell Furno to stay back, but his voice caught in his throat when he saw the look in Furno's eyes.
The kind and mirthful look that once resided in the young Chimchar's eyes was now gone, replaced by a look of rage and fury that seemed out of place on the Chimchar's expression. His iris' and pupils were small dots that were narrowed at the group before him. His sclera took on a light red color.
A low warning growl reverberated from Furno's throat as he fixed the group in front of him with a hateful stare, his tail flame now a raging inferno that crested just above his head. He took in a deep breath of air and shouted, "Go away!", releasing a humongous torrent of flames from his mouth.
The wall of fire shot forward over Zero's head and into the group of Pokémon. The flames were so large and wide that not only did the completely engulf the entirety of the wild Pokémon, but also completely filled the path they came from.
Furno kept up the flames for a few seconds before his body relaxed, the flames slowly losing power and intensity before it stopped entirely. With the flames gone, Zero was able to see that all the sand going from Furno and about eight feat down the corridor was now glass, the walls slightly charred. The Pokémon were all knocked unconscious, their bodies showing various stages of charring.
Zero couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at Furno's display of power having never witnessing it before. Furno stood there huffing, still glaring at the wild Pokémon's unmoving bodies. His eyes then rolled back and he fell flat on his back, his flame going out.
"Furno!" Zero shouted, pushing to his feet, despite the pain and limped over to his friend.
"He's fine," Quill said having finally gotten to his feet, the once fallen sitrus berry in his hand. "He's just unconscious."
Quill then got on his knees, breaking off a small piece of the berry and placing it in Furno's mouth. He moved the unconscious Chimchar's mouth so the berry was chewed and massaged his throat forcing him to swallow. Close to a minute passed before Furno's tail flame spluttered back to life and Furno's eyes fluttered open.
"Argh," Furno groaned in pain. "I feel like I was run over by a stampede of Tauros."
"That's what happens when your hit by a powerful magnitude attack," Quill joked lightly, helping Furno sit up.
Furno groaned again as he sat up, taking the rest of the sitrus berry Quill offered him and popping it into his mouth. He then surveyed the damage around him, his eyes widening in shock when he saw the burnt bodies of the group of Pokémon. "Did I do that?"
"You mean you don't remember?" Zero asked in worry.
"Kind of," Furno admitted, swallowing the rest of the berry. "I remember seeing Zero take a bunch of attacks and falling to one knee. After that it's blurry."
"Then allow me to fill you in," Quill said in mock importance, tossing a sitrus and pecha berry to Zero. "You unleashed a wave of hell fire onto our enemies and roasted them with the fire of ten thousand suns."
"I'm really not in the mood for jokes right now, Quill," Furno deadpanned.
"Everyone's a critic," Quill sighed dramatically. He recovered quickly and fixed Furno with a serious stare. "In all seriousness, you knocked them all out with one hit. A hit, I might add, that also was hot enough to turn the sand in a twenty foot line to turn to glass."
"Oh." Furno looked down, an unreadable expression on his face. "I must have blazed..."
"Blazed?" Zero inquired, barely catching what Furno said. "What's that."
Furno did not answer immediately, only brooding as his expression darkened. "It's an... ability that I have," he finally said. "Unlike the blaze ability that the majority of my species has, this blaze is one that's part of my particular bloodline."
"Not that I'm not interested, but I think we should go,"Quill interjected. "We spent a lot of time here and made a lot of noise. It won't be long before more Pokémon show up and I personally don't fell like fighting anymore."
"We can talk while we move," Zero agreed, finishing off his berries and helping Furno to his feet.
Quill handed Furno an oran berry to help with the healing process and the group set of again across the now glass floored corridor.
"So what is this blaze ability that your family has?" Zero asked as they walked.
Furno sighed. "Like I said, it's a rare bloodline from my father's side. Like the regular blaze ability, it activates when I reach low health and increased my fire power. The only difference is the boost I get is much stronger."
"How much stronger," Zero asked.
"Well," Furno gestured to the line of glass that covered the floor. "you can see how much stronger."
"Right," Zero said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"How many others know of this ability?" Quill asked, all mirth and and joyfulness that is usually in his voice was replaced be a deadly seriousness.
Furno looked down. "Well, now, you guys, my parents, and..."
"The Emperor," Zero finished. Furno's head lowered even further, the sadness coming from him practically palpable. "That's why the Emperor wanted you to join his army."
Furno nodded his head silently, fighting back tears. "But why you?" Quill asked. "Why not your father?"
"Because he doesn't have it," Furno choked out, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "For some reason the ability skipped his generation. His father thought that, perhaps, the bloodline became deluded with each passing generation. They were overjoyed to see that I had it."
"And the Emperor learned that you had this power and wanted it for himself," Quill reasoned.
Furno gave a bitter chuckle. "That's putting it lightly. He practically demanded that I be handed over to him. I ran away because my parents were overjoyed that I was 'accepted' into the Emperor's army."
Quill gained a horrified expression. "They were happy that the Emperor wanted you to join his army?!"
"Yeah," Furno said bitterly. "I had hoped that once I ran that they would stop pursuing me, but he just sent Aster after me. Please don't tell anyone."
"But they could help protect you," Quill argued. "I'm sure if Stride knew-"
"No!" Furno shouted. "I don't want to worry Stride anymore than he already is. Besides, it's only a matter of time before they catch me." He said the last part in a whisper.
Hearing his whisper, Zero immediately placed a reassuring paw on his shoulder. "Like I told you, I promised that I wouldn't let him take you. And, as far as I know, I don't go back on my promises."
Furno looked up at his friend and saw the determination in his eyes. He smiled faintly. "Thank you," he whispered faintly.
Zero returned his smile, happy that he was able to make his friend feel better. He turned back to face forward and the trio pressed on towards the staircase in silence.
-Resistance-
Sunspot Oasis
Thankfully for the group they did not encounter any more Rhyhorn as they pushed forward through the final two floors, only stopping to either defeat a wild Pokémon or take a short water break. When they finally exited the dungeon they were greeted by a large oasis. Large palm trees and other vegetation surrounded a rather large crystal clear spring. The water glittered glamorously in the now setting light of the sun.
"Wow," Furno said in awe at the oasis. "It's beautiful!"
He took a step forward towards the oasis, but was stopped when Zero's arm shot out in front of him. Furno looked at Zero confusedly and saw Zero's eyes narrowed at the oasis. Furno followed his line of sight and saw a Rhyhorn, larger than the one they faced, at the edge of the spring, drinking deeply.
As if feeling their gaze, the Rhyhorn raised its head and looked at the group. It regarded the group for a second, unmoving. The two parties stared at each other, each sizing the other up. A minute passed, then two, then three before the Rhyhorn gave a grunt before returning to its drink. The trio let out a breath that they didn't know they were holding.
"I guess it's not bothered by us," Furno said in relief.
"Then let's get the water and go, before it changes its mind," Zero said urgently.
The nodded and cautiously moved towards the water, keeping a careful eye on the Rhydon. The Rhydon ignored the group and kept guzzling water without a care in the world. Zero took out the flask and filled it tot the brim with the sparkling water.
"Okay, I got it. Let's get out of here." They nodded in affirmation and headed back towards Orion.
-Resistance-
Red Sand Desert
"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" an excitable Flaaffy shouted rapidly, bouncing on his feet in excitement.
"N-No problem," Zero said awkwardly, slightly taken back by the Flaaffy's energy.
"The water from the oasis has healing properties, something that I thought would be extremely useful especially in these parts," he babbled. "I would have gone myself, but the dungeon is full of ground types and I would have been helpless against them. So I thought myself, "Why not get more help?" So I put in my request to have someone retrieve the water. Imagine my surprise when-"
"Well it was no problem," Zero interrupted, a strained smile on his face. "We're always happy to help those in need."
"Oh, you're such polite hatchlings," he cooed. "You don't see that nowadays. I wish that more hatchlings were like you guys. Just the other day, I was talking with my friend Charlie and I said-"
"Well I hate to interrupt," Orion interjected. "but I have to get these hatchlings," Team Dawn Breaker gave him blank looks. "back to our home before dusk."
"Oh, well no problem. It is late and young hatchlings like themselves need their rest." The Flaaffy failed to notice Team Dawn Breaker's irritated expressions. "I'll go ahead and let you go. Oh! You're reward!"
He pulled out a small pouch of coins and placed it in Zero's outstretched paws. "Thank you again for getting the water. I know it must have been dangerous for hatchlings such as yourselves, so I am grateful for you going out into that dungeon. So thanks again. Goodbye."
The four resistance members gave strained smiles and waved at the Flaaffy's retreating back. When the Flaaffy was gone, the four Pokémon sighed.
"Well," Quill began. "He was quite the character."
"You occasionally meet Pokémon like that in this line of work," Orion said. "So how was your first solo mission?"
"It was... okay," Zero said hesitantly. "We had a few close encounters, but we pulled through."
Zero purposly left out the part about Furno's ability as his friend requested him not to tell anyone. Furno shot him a grateful look before turning back to face Orion.
"Well that's to be expected from your first mission," Orion said. "I honestly thought your would take longer." He then took note of the glares of the young team, he quickly added, "but you all exceeded my expectations."
Their expressions didn't change, causing Orion to chuckle nervously. "Well, let's head back to the Groudon Division."