Team Miasma still had not returned by the time Formora sat down for breakfast. The others were quite worried, and to make matters worse…
"I sense a storm brewing right over that part of the ocean. It'll be a nasty, vicious tempest that'll flood all nearby dungeons; I've never Seen anything like it. Anyone that's not a water-type or excellent swimmer will drown, and in a place like Kyogre's home? Oof, the pressure alone would kill any lesser creature. Those three had better come back, and soon," Miles reported grimly, a faraway look in his eyes.
Oksana twisted her napkin in her hands, ripping it into ribbons. She stood abruptly.
"I…need to work," she said curtly, hurrying out of the room.
Miles sighed, and nudged Formora. "I do have something for Team Renegade. I did some research last night, and your Shiny Litwick and Pumpkaboo are named Ezra and Carys, respectively, and are indeed a rescue team. They call themselves Team Banshee, and they appear to be a promising duo. No info yet as to where they are, but I'll get on that soon."
Names were useless to Formora, so she wasn't too excited.
After breakfast, the street kids from Firewood City came up to her.
"Miss Formora? We wanted to say thanks. Thanks for telling us about this place," Fennekin said shyly, toeing the ground.
"It's the least I could do for those in need. You guys enjoying it here?" Formora smiled, seeing herself when she first arrived in these kids.
"Oh, yes! We became an expl'ration team, Team 'Nspire, an' we're gonna help others like us an' get dem ta join da Dark!" Brandt said vehemently.
Formora laughed. "That's a beautiful goal. I wish you the best of luck."
The kids raced off, and Formora sobered, wondering what was going to be done about Team Miasma. It didn't seem like anyone was going to look for them in Kyogre's home, and who could blame them, with the storm coming? It'd be a suicide mission, and anyone who dared tried would have to be insane.
She thought about it for a second, and went up to the second floor to see Miles.
"What can I do for you?" he asked politely, looking up from a plethora of Intel reports.
"Out of curiosity, where does Kyogre live?" she asked innocently.
"Hm? In a dungeon called Roaring Waters, at the bottom in a place known as the World's Basement, for it is the deepest part of the ocean worldwide. Why?" he answered.
"It occurred to me that I didn't know where he lived, and that seemed like a hole in my training," she shrugged. "Thanks Miles."
She left before he could say anything else, and went on up to Kia's room and knocked on his door.
"Can I have the bag? I'm going to do some dungeon training," she said.
"Uh, sure. Would you like Firnen and I to accompany you?" Kia inquired.
"Nah, you two deserve a day off," Formora said casually.
"Very well, have fun," Kia said as he handed her their bag.
"Thanks," she said as she went down to Dungeon Alley.
Utilizing both the shops and storage, she filled the bag with Reviver Seeds, apples, Oran Berries, and packed an emergency Escape Orb. Once she was fully decked out in supplies, she headed outdoors.
Looking at the map, she found Roaring Waters was miles from the eastern shore. She'd need a ride, but she'd rather not have anyone back home know what she was doing, for they'd certainly try to stop her.
She rowed herself to the mainland, and began making her way up the eastern shoreline, searching for a suitable water-type.
After about an hour, she spotted a Gyarados. She got its attention, and waved it over.
"Yes?" the Gyarados inquired politely.
"Could you take me to Roaring Waters? My…friends…might be trapped down there, and a bad storm's gonna be in that area soon," Formora asked.
"Oh no! Of course I'll take you there! You'll have to lead me, though. Hop on my back," the Gyarados agreed.
Formora obeyed, and led her to the dungeon.
Roaring Waters ( watch?v=D5XffCPTv_E)
The sky was gray, a precursor to what was to come later. The waters were choppy, and there was a small sandbar in front of the dungeon entrance, which was a mere underwater shadow.
"I don't know how long I'll be, but hopefully I'll be back with my…friends…before the storm hits. Wait here," Formora told Gyarados as she hopped onto the sandbar, staring into the murky waters below.
"Will do. Good luck," she said soberly.
Formora nodded her acknowledgement, took a deep breath, and jumped in.
B1F
The light was quite poor inside the dungeon, with most of it coming from glowing coral growing along the edges of the tiny chamber. She broke off a piece, waving it in front of her so she could see better.
The mood of the dungeon was cold and unwelcoming. Freezing, navy water covered the dull gray sand on the floor. Teal, smooth coral walls boxed Formora in, uncomfortably reminding her of Castelia City and its narrow alleys. In the back of her head, the beginnings of a headache were starting to form as well.
Why was she doing this? She honestly didn't know. Team M had always been rude to her, so there was no reason for her to risk her life to save them. Who knew if they were even here, anyway? Maybe they'd been arrested, or were on their way back home right this second.
But…they were part of her organization, for better or worse. Everyone (and especially Oksana) would be devastated if the trio were killed. She hadn't passed them on the way here, and there hadn't been a waiting water-type at the entrance. Besides, with this oncoming storm, the trio would've had to hoof it from the entrance back to shore. There was no way Sonya could swim that far, and Binacle and Cradily were slow as hell.
Screw it, she'd made it this far; she might as well go and check the entire dungeon. Miles said she was fated to fight atop Celestial Spire, right? That meant she wouldn't get killed doing this stupid rescue mission. There wasn't much she could do if it turned out Team M had been arrested, but she did have Oran Berries with her if they were injured.
"Well Formora, looks like you're a rescue team today," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she moved deeper into the dungeon
B2F-B4F
Yay. More water-type Pokemon. Formora was just thrilled to be fighting more water-types!
Except she was not, but she contented herself with the thought that when she found Team Miasma,
THEY OWED HER. BIG TIME.
Many deep-sea Pokemon attempted to stop Formora's rescue attempt. Stunfisks hid under the sand until she was practically on top of them, then leaped out and attacked her. Mantines, Jellicents, and Lanturns swam through the halls, searching for the ice/ghost intruder that plagued their home. Claunchers scuttled here and there, hoping to lacerate her body to ribbons with their razor-sharp pincers. Toxapexes slowly scoured the floor, ever alert for her. Or Corsolas.
All of the foes were stronger than what she was used to, but she was able to avoid most of their attacks by striking from inside the walls, as was her habit. The Jellicents, being half-ghost themselves, could follow her there, but luckily they weren't too much trouble to handle.
Overall, it was a pretty meh place.
B5F
One thing that wasn't meh, however, was defeating a Mantine who dropped a One Shot Orb. Formora immediately snatched it up and put it into her bag. The glittery, girly-looking orb was one of her favorite items of all time.
That and Joy Ribbons.
Stupid Pikipek.
B6F-B9F
Nothing too exciting happened on these floors. She avoided most foes, picked up useful items, stopped once or twice to rest and eat, so on and so forth. As she descended the floors, her headache grew slowly in intensity. Miles had mentioned something about deep-sea pressure, so she figured this was what he meant. The pain was tolerable, so she tried to ignore it as best she could.
B10F
Huh, she made it to B10F. She supposed it would be too much to ask for to hope that this was the last floor? Probably, because why would her life ever be ea—
"WHOA!" Formora gasped, feeling something sharp strike the small of her back, dashing her to the floor and making her drop her coral-torch.
She managed to catch herself before she fell face-first into the water, and quickly spun around to see just what had hit her.
Standing over her, a light blue leg covered in deadly poison, was a Toxapex. She felt the spot where its Poison Jab had struck her begin to tingle, and her arms began to tremble.
Ohhh no. Great. Just great. She was poisoned.
The Toxapex's gruff face twisted upwards in a gruesome smile as it took in her discomfort. It lashed out its leg at her again, catching her on the arm. Formora yanked her arm back, wincing in pain as she was Jabbed yet again.
She reached around to pull out a Pecha Berry from her bag, but it was deftly snatched from her hands by the Toxapex's other front leg. It flicked the bag behind it, where it landed on the other side of the room with a quiet splash.
"You bastard," Formora grimaced as her good arm gave out. She fell into the water, and quickly tilted her head upwards so she could still breathe.
Despite her failing strength, she managed to get herself to stand. She summoned a Shadow Ball in her non-Jabbed, trembling hand and threw it at the Toxapex. The light from the coral was near it, so its menacing form was still visible. However, her arm was shaking too much, and the ball went wide. The Toxapex didn't even need to move at all.
"Damn," Formora muttered as her vision began to grow hazy.
The Toxapex laughed, and spat a spray of purple liquid at her. She was drenched in the venomous ooze, and at once her vision went black.
She heard a VREE sound from far away, then there was a flash of bright white light. Then she was suddenly thrust back into the dungeon.
What had happened?! What—oh.
She had fainted. Like a weakling.
Thank Arceus no one here but the Toxapex could tell that embarrassing tale. Time to eliminate the only witness, then.
The Toxapex spat another glob of Venoshock at her, and she threw herself towards the nearest wall. She landed on her hands, and used the momentum to launch herself into the wall, where she was safe.
Her enemy howled with cheated rage at seeing its prey get away. A quick Shadow Ball to its front legs had it howling again.
Formora chucked Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at the miserable cretin. Fortunately, Toxapexes were incredibly slow, so it was only a matter of whittling it down little by little.
After a solid five minutes, it was gone, and Formora returned into the dungeon proper. She picked up her coral-torch and discarded bag, shook off as much water as she could, and resumed her trek, whistling a merry tune as she did.
B11F-B13F
Thankfully no other Pokemon caused her as much trouble as that stupid Toxapex did. After that embarrassing ambush, she made sure that she never let her guard down again. There were a few close calls with a persistent Jellicent on B12F and a Summon Trap cornering her on B13F, but she never allowed herself to faint again.
The farther down she went, the greater her headache became. It was like a storm was brewing in her head as well as outside!
Speaking of, on B12F she heard a faint rumble coming from way up above, presumably from outside the dungeon. Formora looked up, and quickened her pace, scowling fiercely. Sounded like the actual storm was approaching. She had to hurry if she was to rescue Team Miasma before they all drowned.
B14F
As she was walking through the halls, trying as best as she could do ignore the pain in her head, she stumbled across a Sealed Chamber. A white door barred her entrance, requiring a Key. Formora looked at the lock, then simply phased through the door and into the chamber.
Inside lay a purple stone; a Dusk Stone. She picked it up, marveling at the evolutionary power it contained, then tossed it aside and left.
She didn't need a Dusk Stone, so why bother taking it? Besides, it was useless; Pokemon couldn't evolve anymore.
Utterly worthless.
B15F-B18F
The pressure in her head kept on increasing, until she had a raging headache that refused to go away. It was incredibly distracting, and on B16F she nearly lost to a mere Clauncher. But she loved the challenge, and managed to persevere.
But…if the dungeon could end soon, that would be nice too.
The World's Basement
And so it did.
The floor was still covered in navy blue water, but it was now made of a deep blue stone. Glowing red lines formed a pattern in the center of the giant room similar to the ones on Kyogre's fins. There were a couple of lumps in the center of the room, but Formora was too far away to make them out. The room stretched on and on, and was easily big enough to contain a Wailord, maybe even two. Kyogre and Mimikyu were nowhere to be seen. To her delight, the air was freezing, but to her displeasure her headache had increased somewhat.
With a wince, she moved towards the center of the chamber, where the mysterious lumps were. As she got closer, she broke out into a pained sprint, for there were Cradily, Binacle, and Sonya!
They were unconscious, and covered from head to toes in bruises and welts. There was a large lump on Cradily's head, and one of Sonya's fingers was bent at an unnatural angle.
Her pulse quickened, and she immediately knelt down and pushed three Oran Berries into their mouths. She made their jaws bite into the berry flesh, and upon tasting the mystical healing properties of the berry all three groaned and stirred.
"F…Formora…? What are…you doing here…?" Cradily whispered, his unsteady gaze on her.
"Saving your hides. Come on, eat up! The storm's almost here!" Formora ushered as another overworld rumble made its way down to the World's Basement.
"Storm…?" Sonya inquired as she slowly chewed the berry. Team M's wounds began to disappear, but they would still need medical treatment when they got home.
"If we don't run now, we'll all drown or die from the pressure. You can feel it, can't you?" Formora said, bouncing impatiently. She stopped, as every movement antagonized her head.
"Ah, I see…" Cradily said as he struggled to his feet. "Move out, team…"
Argh, she didn't have time for this! She reached into her bag, pulled out an Escape Orb, and threw it to the ground.
A brilliant blue light shone down upon the four, and Formora felt a tugging sensation in her gut. The next thing she knew, they were on the sandbar outside the dungeon.
A powerful gust of wind assailed her, and she stumbled to regain her balance. Up above, smoky gray clouds were rapidly forming right on top of them, and she could see brief flashes of lightning within the clouds. To make matters worse, most of the sandbar had already been swallowed up by the rising water…
"Hey! You're back! Come on, hurry!" Never in her life had she been so relieved to hear someone's voice. Gyarados had stayed! She'd subconsciously known that there had been a strong chance Gyarados would flee when the storm hit, but she'd refused to acknowledge it for her own mental health.
Team Miasma dragged themselves onto Gyarados' back, and Formora wasted no time in joining them.
"Think you three can hold on?" Gyarados asked the three wounded assassins.
"We'll certainly do our best," Binacle said grimly.
And with that, Gyarados sped for the shore.
"How can I ever repay you?" Formora asked once they were back on land, far away from the storm.
Gyarados shook her head. "Don't worry about me; right now, your most important goal is to get your friends to a doctor. Saving them was payment enough."
She wouldn't hear anything else, and swam off.
Once she was gone, Formora pulled out her mirror. "Let me call us a ride...Yes, My Lord? Can you send Sumatra about 150 miles north of the Deadlands? I found Team Miasma…"
Everyone had the same shocked expression when Formora and Sumatra returned with Team Miasma, who were immediately sent to the infirmary.
"Where were they? How'd you find them?" they all asked.
"I went to Roaring Waters and rescued them. Yes, I knew about the storm," soon became her default answer after being asked for the millionth time.
Once she couldn't stand the attention any longer, she visited the team in the infirmary.
"Formora…thank you. You, uh, didn't have to do that for us…" Cradily said sheepishly, not meeting her eyes.
"Whatever. What happened, anyway?" she rolled her eyes.
"Mimikyu's learned a few new tricks since last time he was fought. He took us by surprise, and Kyogre was quick to clean up. He wanted us arrested, but Mimikyu said it would be better if we were left to die. Something about how if we were arrested He Who Is would just bust us out anyway. We were too weak to move, so we were forced to just lay there in agony…Until you showed up," Binacle narrated softly.
"Unteel you showed up…" Sonya echoed.
"Hm. Well, whatever. Get well soon, or something like that," Formora shrugged as she turned to leave.
"Wait! Why'd you do it?" Cradily called after her.
"I don't know," Formora replied.
She was thoroughly tired of company by now, so she locked herself in her room and asked Teysa to send food up while she took out her puzzle.
Happy belated holidays, friends!
Exactly one year ago, I had finished the original story, Light in the Darkness. It's…kinda weird, to be honest. It feels like I had completed it in May or so compared to an entire year. Apologies for not getting as far into this story; school and other stuff have been competing for my attention, and unfortunately it doesn't appear to get any better any time soon.
But at least there's always summer vacation, yeah?
The next post shall contain: a fiery bird, a lovestruck mercenary, and a whoooooooooole lotta rainbows.
See you all next year.
~Remi