/Somewhere/
"Oh goddamnit! I kicked Minerva in the freaking head!" Zeke woefully exclaimed, holding his head. "She's actually gonna kill me when this is over!"
"Don't worry yourself so much, Zeke. Hopefully by the time we run into them again, she'll forget you attacked her. Besides, you didn't actually get to hit her." Kai reassured the worrying Blaziken. The other Zoroark then looked at Lee and glared at the Wolf. "By the way, thanks again for blurting out my real name TWICE now!"
"Does it really matter that much? I still don't get why you wanted to be so secretive in the first place, it really wouldn't be that suspicious if you and the kid had the same name." Lee said with a shrug. The Wolf looked around where they had ended up, a chamber with reddish-orange gems, and was of much higher temperature than other rooms.
"It's been a week and we barely understand this place." Kai pointed out. "All we know is that we run into rooms with four different kinds of gems. We also have no way of knowing how to pick what room we go to."
"Thank you, Kai. You telling me something I already know is greatly helping me figure out what to do." Lee said sarcastically. The Wolf clutched his fists and gritted his teeth. "We were so close, I could feel it! Running in circles blindly is so irritating! Oh how I yearn for the feeling of despair I felt when we first entered, that sweet, sweet, nightmare-inducing aura~!"
"Speak for yourself, Lee. Even with your magic protection whatever, I still get chills everytime I even think about taking a nap." Zeke said. "And it's gonna get even worse because Minerva will be out for MY blood!"
The three Pokémon sat together, brainstorming what their next move should be. With no idea on how the doors work, there wasn't much they were actually able to think of. After a little while, Lee let out a sigh and loose away from the two.
"Kai..." He started to say, "C-Could you remind me of what we already know?"
"Ooh~? But I thought that somebody said it wasn't helping?" The other Zoroark said smugly. Lee scratched the back of his head and nervously coughed.
"J-Just do it! Sometimes it helps to have everything said outloud! Don't belittle your elder!" The Lycanroc defended himself, still facing away.
"Yeah, my elder who can't look me in the eye when he's in the wrong!" Kai mocked, making the already red Wolf redder. The other Zoroark cleared their throat before talking again. "We know that we've only been able to go into areas with four different kinds of gems: Black, Reddish-Orange, Brownish-Orange, and Light-Brown. The only life we encountered were those Parasects, who tried to get us to wipe out the Galvantula, but when we declined they tried to kill us, the Galvantula who can only say 'Galvantula' and only attacked us when Lee was still hyped up when we first got here and plowed through them.
"And we just ran into both a battle between the Parasect and Galvantula, AND Minerva with Diana, Kane, and I think maybe Rio, but it was really dark and I couldn't really see that well." Zeke added. Lee pondered for a second.
"Alright, but there's something I can't really wrap my head around. Obviously, the Parasect and Galvantula were here before us," Lee started thinking out loud, pacing back and forth, "And with their large numbers, they obviously aren't just in the rooms we keep going to. So..."
"We need to find out where they're coming from, and how to get there." Kai finished.
"But since we aren't on good terms with the Parasect and Lee keeps attacking the Galvantula, how do we find any of that out?" Zeke asked. After some more thinking, Kai had an idea.
"We just ask Minerva and her friends!" The other Zoroark proudly exclaimed.
"So... you're crazy?" Zeke responded.
"And how do we do that, genius? Have you forgotten the adversities we have with them? They still persist on halting our progress, and securing our capture!" Lee pointed out.
"I mean, they only really wanna capture you. They just want me due to my association with you." Kai replied.
"And they didn't even care that much about me..." Zeke added, somewhat defeated. "Sure took them a while to come looking for me..."
"The both of you worry too much. I'll just send a manifest to ask them." Kai said.
"The manifests of you that we can't get to talk? Or think?" Lee pointed out. "Forgive me, but that's absolutely idiotic."
"Alright Mister Stone Age, how would you get their information?" Kai said, somewhat annoyed. Lee shrugged.
"Why not make a manifest of one of their other friends? Like Zen? If anything, Rio might talk with him." Zeke suggested. Kai nodded and snapped their claws. With a light 'poof', a Bisharp appeared beside Kai.
"If it isn't Kai, summoning me so soon? How needy~." The Manifestation said, chuckling alluringly before being immediately dispelled. The other Zoroark cleared their throat.
"I have no idea why he came out like that, hehe..." Kai snapped again and summoned another Zen. This one was much more like the real Zen, at least in the sense that he was about as serious and sophisticated as the real one. His manner of speaking was a bit more posh, however.
"Ah, my services have finally been requested. Whatsoever the task may be, I shall execute it with haste and efficiency. The Manifestation declared, kneeling before the Zoroark that summoned him. "Just say the word, Creator."
"We require you to locate the Outlander, Rio, and procure information regarding the navigation of this Mystery Dungeon. It is imperative that you do NOT attempt to do battle with any of the Pokémon accompanying him. You must avoid confrontation at all costs. Understood?" Lee told the Manifest. It didn't really pay the Wolf any mind, however.
"Um... do what Lee just said." Kai said. The Bisharp stood up and gave a strong nod.
"Affirmative." The fake Zen left the chamber, which actually gave Kai another idea. It was more a means to a personal goal, so Kai didn't inform the other two Pokémon. To act on their idea, Kai just left the room. There wasn't a need to make up some excuse; Lee and Zeke were both worn out from wandering around blind and fighting off bugs, so why would they care that Kai stepped out for a sec?
Once alone, Kai created three copies of themself. After checking once more that neither Lee nor Zeke were curious enough to see what they were up to, and seeing them both start to doze off, Kai whispered the plan to the copies.
"Are you sure they're all down here?" The first copy asked quietly.
"What do we do if they don't listen to what we have to ask?" The second copy whispered.
"What if we get lost?" The third one added. Kai smiled warmly before responding.
"You three know we don't have to worry about any of that. Just trust your instincts, and keep focused. I really don't see a better time for us to speak with them than while we're done here." Kai answers. A light frown finds its way on the other Zoroark's maw. "Once we find the Time Gear and what or who Lee's looking for... we might be at odds for a while."
The three copies put on a face of confidence, nodding at each other and also Kai before turning towards the Stone Door. Right before they open it, the third copy quickly turns around.
"Before we go, what do we do if we run into Kora?" It asked. Kai grinned, almost embarrassed that they would think Kora wouldn't be down here.
"Give him a hug for me, if we don't find him first." The other Zoroark replied. The clone smiled and waved goodbye before stepping into the door. Kai took in a deep breath once the three copies were gone, letting out a long exhale.
Lee and Zeke weren't the only ones tired of all the running and fighting, but Kai would rather do that for a hundred years before they decided to go to sleep and experience those surreal dreams again. Thing is, after about three days of almost constant action, Kai's body was refusing to stay up any longer.
"*Yaaaaaaawwwnnn* I really wish I didn't need to sleep, it's such a hassle down here..." The other Zoroark complained as they sluggishly rejoined the wolf and bird, collapsing on the floor.
/With Zen and Eva/
Zen's tinkering was rudely interrupted by the sound of someone screaming, followed by the sound of them banging their head on rock, and finally the sound of them rolling off an elevated surface onto the floor.
"Good lord, Eva! Are you alright?" The Bisharp asked once he reached the fallen Zangoose. He poked her a couple times, asking the same 'are you alright?' until she responded.
Eva sat up, holding her head and her chest, cussing under her breath. She was cold to the touch, and despite her calming down after hitting her head and falling, Eva's heart was pounding. Once the pain of her awakening subsided, she remembered what it was that startled her awake.
"Sorry, I had a bit of a nightmare. It was terrible, I think I fell in some big, empty room, and there was this loooooong tunnel that went deeper underground, a-and I think I heard your voice so I kept going, and..." Eva started panicking, but caught herself before it got too noticeable. "I think I dreamed about that place Paras was talking about."
"Y-You have..?" A voice said from behind Eva, startling her. She jumped and turned around, looking down on the Mushroom Pokémon that's been assisting them since they first met. Eva let out a sigh of relief, placing her hand on her chest again.
"Hey, Paras! Were you bringing stuff for Zen?" The Zangoose asked, purposefully avoiding the subject.
"Yes... he requested some parts to further repair the gauntlet we had gifted your earlier. It is fortunate that there were multiple of the same variety of gauntlet." The Bug Grass Type answered. "It would seem the Galvantula have evacuated our territory for the time being, the two of you are free to partake in whatever activities you desire, as long as you are within our territory."
"Thank you, Paras. Honestly, I think I could handle a few more of those monsters before calling it a day." Zen replied. "You can leave those spare parts where you are."
Paras' eyes flickered for a moment, as if he just remembered something. He dropped the gauntlet parts and scurried out the room without saying a word. Zen chuckled a bit and was about to get back to the gauntlet, then he noticed Eva kinda just, standing there.
"What's on your mind?" Zen asked, standing beside his friend. He bent over to look at her face, and saw a terrified expression had washed over it.
"In my dream... after I reached the room at the end of the tunnel..." She started speaking. "It was so rancid and dark, I couldn't see and could barely breath. There was a path and I followed it. Somewhere along it... I heard the clanking of metal. I wanted to turn around, but the ground behind me disappeared, and eventually, so did the clanking..."
"You don't have to-" Zen started to say, worried at the growing fear Eva was displaying. She stopped him, swallowing some air and continuing.
"I... I turned around and I heard something get kicked over to me. It was... it was the sword we got earlier. I picked it up, then whatever was making the clanking dragged itself over to me. I turned around because I didn't want to see it, but it grabbed my shoulder, and, and I panicked! I swung the sword around because I was scared a-and I couldn't see and I..." Eva grabbed her chest even tighter. "I stabbed whatever had grabbed me, and that's when I realized that... it was me..."
Zen was starting to get scared himself, especially when Eva spread apart some of the fur on her chest. The spot she revealed, had a scar. It wasn't the biggest scar, but it was fresh, and it looked almost exactly like how a stab from the claymore would look like. Zen even looked on her back and, sure enough, there was another scar that would've been the exit point.
"...How do you feel?" The Bisharp asked.
"It stings a bit, actually. Especially when I touch it. How does it look?" Eva replied.
"Not terrible, but if anyone else were to see the scars under your fur, they'd obviously ask some questions." Zen answered. "I'd offer you a hug, but..."
"It's fine, I'd rather not dice myself up. Thanks anyway." Eva joked. The two sat side by side, tinkering with the gauntlet some more, and lifted the mood a bit with some jokes. After a good while, Paras finally returned. It was holding a familiar looking black flower with a faint purple glow.
"This is a Shade Lillie. It's a very unique flower, for it is the only one we have witnessed growing within the confines of this rocky world of ours. Despite the "light sources" it might be under or lack thereof, and even if it has been removed from the ground it grew from, it always blooms and closes every twenty-four hours. I was instructed to deliver it to you earlier, forgive my forgetfulness." Paras explained and apologized. Once it placed the flower on the ground, Paras suddenly lurched backwards.
"Paras!" Eva exclaimed, running over to the Mushroom Pokémon before he stopped her.
"G-Get some rest... if you can. B-But be weary of y-your dreams..." He managed to say before suddenly stopping and walking out of the room. Eva and Zen were quiet for a moment, feeling like they shouldn't go after him or risk losing favor with the Parasect. Regardless of whether they wanted free access around this entire floor or not, both Pokémon get the sense that being allied with the Parasect is leagues above going against them
"Could have used that warning earlier, right?" Zen attempted to once again lighten the mood. Eva went over to the flower and picked it up, a strange, yet, somewhat familiar sensation climbing up her arm. For some reason, the flower's stem seemed warm to the touch, but the petals were icy, and she couldn't recognize the scent of the flower.
"Have we seen a flower like this?" She asked the Bisharp, handing it over to him.
"I don't believe so. It feels kinda nice to hold, don't you think?"
"I dunno, maybe? I think it's weird."
"Alright, well, would you help me fix this gauntlet?"
"Better than going back to sleep."
/With Kai, Mia, K2, and Skully/
The four Pokémon were running out of conversation topics that didn't include existential dread, which was starting to bring everyone down. It had gotten to a point where K2 was hoping they would run into some kind of trouble just to pump some adrenaline through his technically non-existent veins.
"How long have we been walking?" Skully groaned, nearly falling out of K2 mane if Kai didn't catch him.
"You say 'we' like I'm not the only one actually walking." The Kora Copy said. "And it's probably been, like, an hour or so since we found you."
" キリスト、これは永遠にかかっている！"
"I have no idea what you said, but geez, this is taking forever!" K2 threw his hands up and fell on his backside. "My legs shouldn't feel sore, but they actually are!"
Kai and Mia hopped out of K2's hair, both falling flat on their stomachs, while Skully fell on his side.
"Aye, if I had legs, I'd feel more sorry for ya." The head told the Kora Copy. "And if I had a gut, I'd be starving!"
"It's a good thing we do then, huh?" Kai said sarcastically, rolling on his back. "Let's hurry and make some food, Mia."
The Eevee nodded, both of them jumping to their feet. After putting Skully a bit further away, Kai and Mia started glowing a black and red aura. It grew and grew until it engulfed the two, making Skully worry about what just happened. After a little while, it started condensing between them. As it shrank, black sparks of electricity flew out of it, and some of the aura dripped onto the floor. The aura condensed into the shape of a seed, which Kai punched into the ground with a summoned fist.
"Wh-What was that?! What was ANY of that?! Did you make a seed? A-And a giant fist?!" Skully asked, his jaw causing him to jump around a bunch.
"If you think that's crazy, just wait a second." K2 calmly told the skull, not even looking at what was going on. The ground started to rumble slightly, and the place where Kai punched down the seed started glowing. A black plant grew from the glowing spot, twisting and curling, growing black leaves, and eventually a black berry. The berry grew until it was the size of Skully, then fell on the ground with a light Thud.
"Oooooo, this one's huge!" Kai exclaimed before he and Mia started eating the berry. "It tastes a bit tougher than normal, though."
K2 turned to see Skully's expression, seeing a flabbergasted bonehead gawking at the two kids. The Kora Copy laughed, picking up the skull and holding him in his lap.
"Why so surprised, Skully?" K2 asked sarcastically. "Didn't I tell you that I too was made by them?"
"Y-YOU WERE BEING SERIOUS?!" Skully exclaimed, falling out of K2's lap and making the faux fox laugh some more. Once Kai and Mia finished their berry, Skully started bombarding then with incomprehensible garble.
"Slow down, Skully! We can't understand what you're saying!" Kai tried calmed down the skull.
"How can you MAKE both a FULLY EVOLVED whatever-the-heck K2 is, and, not just a berry, but an ENTIRE GROWING PLANT?!"
"By being the strongest ever!" Kai said proudly, posing with Mia. K2 patted the Zorua and Eevee on their heads with a smile.
"Yep, strongest pair of Pokémon on the island." The Kora Copy said, lifting the three up and placing them in his mane again. "Let's hurry up and get out of here, I'm starting to hate this place."
" ヘイ・ジャッカス! You can't just brush my question aside!" Skully yelled.
"Alright, THAT time I understood you! Watch your mouth, bone head!" K2 yelled back.
"YOU'RE STILL AVOIDING MY QUESTION!"
"We'll answer it later, when we get out of here. Kai likes to build suspense before he reveals something that big." K2 replied as he entered a tunnel.
Skully kept asking questions that were basically shut down or only kinda answered, and everytime he was downright ignored, he'd flip out so much that he'd almost fall out of K2's hair. For a little while, it didn't feel all that bad being lost in the cave. Luckily, they wouldn't have to wait much longer.
The group reached a stone door, similar to the first one they had entered, but it was a couple feet larger. Almost instinctively, K2 went to open it. He had his paw on it when Skully stopped him for some reason.
"I guess I forgot to ask, probably because I didn't think I'd ever see this door again, but you guys do know how to use them, right?" Skully asked. Kai and Mia both shook their heads.
"When we opened the first door, we got transported here. I dunno why or how, but I think it's cool!" The Zorua explained.
"Is there a trick? It's not gonna send us all the way back to where we started, is it?" K2 asked.
"No, the doors don't often send you where you just were. There is a trick, however." The Skull answered, hopping out of K2's mane. "You know those gems we've been passing by this whole time?"
"What about them?" Kai asked as he and Mia joined Skully.
"They're actually made of super-dense Ghost Type energy! Each floor in this giant dungeon place has it's own set of Type gems, and if I remember correctly, we gave ourselves the painstaking task of Type-coding any floors we could!" The Skully elaborated, a chipper tone in his voice. "I can't remember all that much, it I'm pretty sure I had fun back then. Anyway, all the doors down here are connected, and they like sending similar things to rooms with other similar things."
"Alright, say that again, but without all that extra fluff." K2 said, crouching next to Skully. "Or, just skip to what I'm supposed to do."
"Rude. Basically, whatever you have has a say in where you go. If I had a Fire Gem and went through a door, I'd most likely be transported to the floor with the most Fire Gems." Skully simplified his explanation.
"Why not all the time?" Kai asked.
"Whatever type you are also has a say in where you go, but since it's quite likely that the gem has more energy than you, it will probably just go to room that corresponds with the gem." The head answered.
"So... if it's not gonna count you because your a skull, then we'll either end up in a Dark Floor or a Normal Floor." K2 pieced together. "Hey Kai, do you think you're able to create energy from other types yet?"
"Nah, that stuff is too hard. Let's just stick with what I can do!" With a poof, a black gem formed above Kai. It was created with such ease, Skully didn't even realize it was there until K2 grabbed it. The head was too surprised to even say anything, but chances are he would have yelled about how absurd Kai is.
"Whoa, this things got a kick to it! Just holding it feels, I dunno, exhilarating!" K2 said, the gem glowing with a black light as he held it. The Kora copy turned towards Skully. "You said these gems are made of pure energy, right? Have you tried using them in battle?"
"Hell if I remember. But just in case, don't aim at me, please?" The skull asked. Kai and Mia places Skully back in K2's mane, both staying right next to each other as K2 opened the stone door. The cracks emitted a light similar to the one Kai's Dark Gem made, then it slowly began to open. Dust fell from the stone, and the rock around it cracked and dropped bits and pieces of rubble onto the group. An ominous breeze swept in with an odd stench to it, and a chill traveled up K2's spine.
"I can't believe it... I really can't believe it! I'm gonna get out of here! This nightmare is over!" Skully cheered, putting a smile on Kai and Mia's faces. K2 took in a deep breath and walked into the dark beyond the door.
Right as they touched the darkness, a very faint, very quiet "Para, Parasect" was heard behind them. Nobody realized they heard it until after the door shut.
/With Kane and Minerva/
"Kane, I don't know how many times I've told ya this indirectly, so I'll just say it as direct as possible. I. Hate. You." Minerva stated, walking a few feet ahead of the Scrafty.
"Oh c'mon! Sparky ain't that bad a na-"
"This has nothin' to do with this Joltik! I despise you! I absolutely loathe you! I am speakin' as clear as I can, JUST so ya can understand the fact that I do NOT, in any way, shape, or form, want to be anywhere near you, unless my fist is inside your thick, brainless, skull!" The Meowth spat, patting the Joltik on it's head.
Kane stopped following behind Minerva. He wasn't expecting her to turn around anytime soon, but it felt like he wasn't making any progress whatsoever. He took in a deep breath, taking just one more shot to try and at least have her forgive him.
"I know that no matter what I say, you're not gonna believe me. But I am sorry, Minerva. I was a jerk and I never should've said what I did." Kane apologized. Minerva let out a sigh and put the Joltik on the ground before turning towards the Dark Fighting Type.
"Say exactly what ya said to me, then apologize for it. Word. For. Word." She demanded.
"..." Kane stood there quietly, trying to remember what exactly he said to her, but he just couldn't. After Kane gave up, Minerva walked in the opposite direction with the Joltik following behind her.
It was much more quiet after that, which was music to Minerva's ears. Every now and then the Joltik would make some adorable little noises, but that was about it. Minerva smiled at the baby bug, scratching it's head. After a little while, a bit of static shocked her and caught her by surprise.
"Ya shocked me lil guy!" She said with a smile as she picked him up. "I just thought of the perfect name for ya! How does Static sound?"
"Joltik Jol!" It happily cheered. The newly named Static jumped right out of Minerva's arms and ran around her, jumping and cheering and almost bumping into her too. It suddenly stopped, looked at Minerva for a moment, then ran off into a tunnel on the other side of the room.
"Hey, wait!" Minerva called out, chasing after Static. Kane quietly followed behind her, making sure to keep his distance. Static was surprisingly fast, it was difficult for Minerva and Kane to keep up. In no time at all, the Joltik led Minerva and Kane to a room with one giant yellow gem. The air was so full of static that Minerva's fur stood up, and with almost every movement she made was accompanied with the light crackling of electricity. Static jumped right onto the gem, almost purring as he was enveloped in electricity.
"He must've been hungry." Kane thought out loud. "That gem's packed with electricity."
"I can see that, I don't need ya to tell me." Minerva said coldly. Static really seemed to be enjoying himself, trying to get as flat on the gem as he could. After a little while, Kane suddenly realized something.
"We should probably get out of here." He said. "Like, now."
"Can it, lizard breath. We'll leave when we're ready." The feline shut down Kane.
"Minerva, I'm serious! We need to go!"
"Then leave! I'd rather stay here with Static than go with ya!"
Just then, the sound of something crawling through a tunnel echoed into the chamber. Kane grew a bit more anxious, positive that a Galvantula was about to rear it's head.
"This is where some of the Galvantula are nesting, Minerva! We. Need. To. GO!" He exclaimed, accidentally raising his voice. The noise sounded got faster, which made Kane get even more anxious. At this point, Minerva was just ignoring him, so he decided to do something that might've helped him out earlier.
"If we don't get outta here, I can't bring you to Kora!"
"I know damn well ya have no idea where Kora is ya lying bastard!" Minerva snapped.
"Yes I do! I know how the doors work, I know how to find him!" Just like he hoped, Minerva was quite interested in this bit of information. So much so that she didn't bother asking if he was telling the truth.
"If you're lyin', I will break both of ya arms." She said, going to grab Static. The moment she did, unfortunately, she was suddenly pumped full of electricity herself, having forgotten that Static was surrounded with it. "GGGOOOOooOoOddddDDDD DaAaAAAAAMmmN IIiIiiITtTTtT!"
At this point, the Galvantula had already reached the opening of the tunnel, Minerva was heavily shocked, Static was confused as to why Minerva was on the ground, and Kane was failing to keep himself cool.
They were in essentially an Electric Type's hotspot, if there was one Galvantula present, more were probably gonna be on their way. As strong as he has become, Kane still struggle against one or two Galvantula by himself, but if they got swarmed... well, he'll try his best to make sure it doesn't come to that.
Thinking quickly, Kane grabbed Minerva, put Static in his hood, picked a tunnel and bolted! He didn't bother turning around to see if they were actually being followed, because that usually leads to the thing chasing you being directly behind you.
Blindly choosing a tunnel might end up being the worst choice Kane could have made, mostly because it led to a pretty dead end. There was plenty of crystals around, ample room, decently flat, basically the most confidently perfect battlefield. The downside? There was absolutely no tunnels except the one he came in from.
"Alright, this is fine, this is great! I'm sure the Galvantula didn't even bother following us! I mean, that was a pretty long tunnel!" Kane said to himself. "Hell, once I turn around, there is not gonna be a single Galvantula behind me!"
He was right, there wasn't a single Galvantula standing behind him...
There were two!
After Kane finally stopped sweating bullets, he turned around and was face-to-face with six pairs of spider-like eyes. He slowly backed away, him and the Galvantula staring each other down intensely. It looked like they weren't going to do anything, but that was when Static poked his little head out.
"Joltik?" It asked, and suddenly, the two Galvantula charged down Kane. The Scrafty tossed Minerva up, jumped over the two giant EleSpider Pokémon, caught the feline, and sprinted back through the tunnel. The Galvantula were ready for Kane to attempt an escape, and immediately fired an ElectroWeb at the opening.
"Oh shit... Ok! Th-This is fine!" Kane weakly told himself. "I just gotta fight a Pokémon I am poorly suited to attack, especially without any kind of gear on hand. He took a deep breath, let Minerva down, and raised his fists. "Bring it, ya brain dead monstrosity!" And that's exactly what they did.
One of them threw itself at Kane with immense speed, barely giving Kane time to react. He was just barely quick enough to grab the spider's forearms and slam it on the ground. Despite the fact that the ground was now cracked, the Galvantula stood back up like nothing happened.
The Spider fired a string shot at Kane, stuck him on the chest, and started spinning around, hitting Kane into some of the Electric Gems. It finished by slamming the Scrafty on the ground, much harder than he did to it. Shaking off the pain, Kane grabbed the string from his chest and pulled the Galvantula closer.
"We're gonna keep this as close as possible, pal!" He declared, punching the Electric Bug Type directly between it's eyes. The spider was dizzy and stumbled backwards, leaving Kane just enough time to attack again. Kane pulled back his fist, yanked the string to bring the Galvantula closer, and hit it with incredible force.
"G-Galva!" The spider exclaimed, scurrying over time the other Galvantula. Kane ran after it, getting ready for a High Jump Kick, when he was again caught in a String Shot. There was a lot more string this time, entangling Kane completely. The injured Galvantula started sparking, preparing an attack. Kane was able to get an arm free and started ripping the string as much as he could, but the Galvantula was ready to attack!
"G-Galvan!" It fired a Thunderbolt at Kane, but the attacked just barely missed, and was heading towards Minerva.
"Hey, Minerva! Get up!" Kane shouted, still mostly stuck. The Thunderbolt struck the grounded Meowth, but... nothing happened. It fizzled as it touched her fur. Kane couldn't tell if the attack missed her too, or if Static did something, but he didn't need to wait long for a reason to pop up.
"How many times do I gotta tell ya to stop tryin' to tell me what to do?!" Minerva said, dusting herself off. Kane relieved to see Minerva standing, but he was still stuck and the Galvantula were readying another Thunderbolt.
He was struggling to get himself free when he was struck hard from behind, setting him free but making him hit the ground just as hard. He looked back to see Minerva standing behind where he was, and she was... sparking?
"The hell are ya doin'?! Get off the ground!" Minerva commanded as the Galvantula forex another Thunderbolt. Kane pushes himself out of the way in the nick of time, just barely evading the bolt of electricity.
"Thanks! They got us trapped, we're gonna have to beat them then get the hell outta here!" Kane explained. He was, unfortunately, mostly ignored by Minerva, who went right into fighting.
"I'm feelin' pumped! Ya spider bastards won't know what hit ya!" She exclaimed, running towards the two spiders. The Galvantula fired several multiple string shots at the approaching feline, but in the blink of an eye, the string was destroyed in the air. Kane took a double-take, unsure what just happened and wondering if he missed something.
The uninjured Galvantula charged forward, leaving the other to charge up electricity for another attack. As the spider was closing the distance, Minerva grinned. Much like with the string, the Galvantula was suddenly launched into the ceiling with a very loud "KRACK!"
"W-Whoa!" Kane said, full of amazement. "Was that you just know?"
"Who the hell else would it be?" Minerva replied. The feline cracked her knuckles and faced the still conscious Galvantula. The two stared for a few seconds, a few seconds of silence. It was like a stand-off to say the least.
Once it was ready, the Galvantula fired the Thunderbolt at Minerva. To Kane's surprise, the Meowth didn't budge while the attack was coming. He was getting worried that maybe she wasn't fully awake yet.
"Minerva, get away!" Kane exclaimed. Once again, Minerva cared little for his warning, deciding to just stand there and take it. The Thunderbolt struck the feline head-on, but just like before, it didn't even faze her.
"V-Vantula?!" The EleSpider exclaimed fearfully. Minerva, now surrounded with blinding electricity, vanished and appeared directly in front of the Galvantula.
"Man, this was too easy!" She proclaimed, slamming the back of her fist into the side of the giant spider's head, sending it right into some of the Electric Gems and shattering them. Static, who wasn't really paying the fight any mind and was sapping the energy from some gems, did notice when the two big Pokémon where knocked out, and thought something bad happened. Then he saw Minerva and forgot about the two other spiders.
"Joltik!" It cheered, running over to Minerva and hopping on top of her head
"Hey, Static! Were the big bugs scarin' ya? It's ok, they're sleepin' now." She told the baby bug, scratching the top of it's head. Kane let out a sigh before he remembered that they were still stuck.
"Oh yeah, can you do somethin' about the webs on the exit? Since you have claws, and are extremely strong?" The Scrafty asked. "If we don't get moving now, more are gonna come after us."
"Gimme a sec." Minerva replied. She went over to the smashed gems and grabbed a few of the pieces. A pleasant sensation surged up her arm and throughout her body as she held it, and she slipped out a quiet purr. "Alright, now we can go."
Minerva easily sliced through the electrified webbing, and the three Pokémon made their quick getaway before any other giant Bug Types made an appearance.
/With Diana and Rio/
It's safe to say that Diana was too tired to remember to hold a gem before she opened the door, especially since, after they arrived in a room full of Electric Gems, she said "Arceus damnit" under her breath and immediately fell flat on her back.
"I wanted to bring us back to Jirachi's floor so we could wait for Minerva and Kane there, uhhhhhggg." She groaned, which wasn't something Rio really thought she'd do. Groaning and complaining was more of a, Kora or Minerva kinda thing.
"So where are we now?" The Fledgling Outlander asked.
"The Electric Type floor, there's gonna be a bunch of Galvantula deeper inside. At Least we know we can trust them." She replied. "Actually, that makes me feel worse. Do you know how many of them Kane and I have fought? Man, living down here would've been so much easier if we knew they were friendly!"
"It's been a whole year, who are you just now finding out they're nice?"
"You're probably not gonna believe it, but every time we've encountered the Galvantula, they were actually already fighting some Parasects, and I guess they were scared or paranoid when they saw us, because they would be the ones to fight us!" Diana explained. "I swear, it's happened so many times it's like the Parasect want us to fight!"
"But... why?"
"Maybe because they're hoping we'd both get rid of each other? I feel like having to fight an Outlander would be something those Pokémon would want to avoid at all costs." Diana sat herself up. "Hey, could you break one of those gems and hand me some of the pieces?"
The Outlander nodded, picked the biggest gem he could find, and smashed it with surprising ease. He guessed that being able to use aura again might've upped his strength. The Lucario gave the shards to Diana, who thanked him and stood up. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then the gems turned to dust and flowed into her!
"Wh-What?! You can absorb gems?!" Rio exclaimed, getting a chuckle from the Diana.
"No, these gems are made of electricity energy, and I really needed a pick-me-up. All the gems are made energy from one type or another. It's also how we get through the doors, and why I thought Kora was in the floor we just came from." She explained.
"Type... energy?" Rio scratched the top of his head. "The doors function by the type of gem or Pokémon enters it? Then... we might wanna try a Dragon Type Gem, if you have one."
"Dragon? Are there even any Dragon Types on the island?" Diana asked, puzzled at Rio's suggestion. The jackal looked a bit nervous at telling Diana about Kora's transformation, so he told her he'd explain later.
Figuring that Rio would stick to his word, Diana shrugged and reached into her hair. Despite it being shortened, it still held a lot of things within it, surprisingly. After a little bit of digging, Diana pulled out very light-bluish purple gem and tossed it over to Rio.
"Why're you're..?" He started to ask, catching the gem.
"I... believe that if we get split up, we'll both be able to look out for ourselves." Diana replied. "As far as I know, we both have natural access to mostly-safe areas, although I don't know for certain what the Steel Type or the Dragon Type floors are like."
"You want to split up? Shouldn't we atleast regroup with Minerva and Kane?" Rio brought up.
"If you want to, be my guest." The Motherly Outlander said, tossing a pink gem at Rio. "That's the floor Jirachi and Mew stay in. Kane and I agreed that if we ever got split up, to wait for the other here. If he's there, tell him we just got split up on the way back."
"We're splitting up so you can Kora, right? But why? You even said you don't know what you're getting into, why try and do it by yourself? Why needlessly throw yourself in danger?" Rio pressed Diana, not at all able to imagine what it is she was thinking.
"Rio, I'm not sure how to explain it in a way you'd understand, but if Kora's down here and he get's hurt, or even if he's with someone and they get hurt... I'm not sure what will happen to him..." Diana replied. "I need to find him a soon as possible, and having an extra set of locations to possibly go to isn't going to help."
"Neither is going in blind and getting yourself hurt! I don't know if you can tell, but it is dangerous out here!" Rio exclaimed, his voice sounding different than before.
"Out... here?" Diana looked Rio in the face, and even that looked different. His eyes were red and his other features looks... familiar.
"I'm not letting you go by yourself! End of story!" The Lucario stated as he crossed his arms.
Diana couldn't figure out what was happening; she thought her mind was playing tricks in her, but she wasn't that exhausted. She wasn't hungry or under some kind of mind control either. She shook her head, realizing that thinking too hard about would waste time.
"I appreciate your concern, Rio. But I need to do this, I need to find him as soon as I can." Diana told the jackal. She patted him on the head, gave him a warm smile, then surrounded herself in electricity. "The door for this area is down the tunnel to the right, if we're lucky enough to get to the same floor, you can help me find him."
"Diana!" Was all Rio could say before the Zoroark practically vanished, leaving a faint trail of electricity in her wake. His voice turned back to normal and his eyes went back to green, he felt a bit dazed, but he followed behind Diana as fast as he could anyways.
/The Dark Type Floor/
" クソ 私たちは実際にそれを作りました！ 何てことだ！" Skully cheered upon seeing a gem that wasn't a deep purple. The head leaped out of K2's mane and kissed the ground, throughly overwhelmed with joy. Kai and Mia laughed and hopped out behind the skull.
"I'm happy that you're happy, Skully! Hey, do you think you'd want to-?"
"OH ARCEUS YES!" Skully yelled. "Sorry, but the very thought of seeing the sun is the most euphoric thing for me, and now I have that chance!"
"Whoa! Skully read my mind!" Kai exclaimed, fully amazed.
"Then it's settled, once we catch our bad guy, we'll bring you along to the surface. Just... try not to turn to dust in my fur, please?" K2 asked, shooting a smile at the skull.
"Aye! I've already waited so long, but beggars can't be choosers. And I'll beg right now if I have to!"
"You don't, trust me." K2 replied. The Kora Copy stretched out his arms and legs and let out a loud yawn. "So... if Kai can only really make Dark Gems, how do we move on?"
"If we can find another Pokémon on this floor, or maybe a gem or some other powerful item, we might be able to get to another totally different, not dark and depressing, hopefully well-lit room!" Skully cheered.
"Perhaps... we can create a mutual agreement, then?" A voice said from one of the tunnels. K2 turned and was met with a shulk of Zoroarks, three of them to be exact. Kai and Mia got ready to fight, but K2 stood in front of them.
"And you three are?" The Kora Copy asked.
"We're one and the same, you and us." The Zoroark in front replied.
"Nearly identical in every way." The one directly behind the first added.
"You could say we're triplets, and you'd make us quadruplets." The third finished.
"..." The three Pokémon and K2 were already confused, and the intruding Zoroarks sighed and stood side by side.
"We're copies of the Pokémon you know as Z." The first explained, getting an "Ooooooh" from Kai and K2.
"I don't know anyone named Z." Skully interrupted. "A single letter name? That sounds stupid."
"I don't like the talking head. Wait a talking hea-" The third copy was interrupted by the first speaking up.
"We overheard that you guys might know how to get through the doors however you want." The first one said.
"We've been asked to check in on Z's friends, as well as find out how the doors work." The second added.
"There also might be a copy of Zen that may or may not be a secondary target for us." The third added.
"And how do we know we can trust you? Z works for Lee, and Lee's a villain!" Kai stated.
"He's more of a bossy sibling if you get to know him, actually." The third replied.
"If you help us, we'll obviously return the favor." The second told the still skeptical child. "Besides, you have the power to literally dispel us at will, if we weren't here peacefully, why would we approach you?"
"Because you're copies of someone named Z who obviously doesn't have enough of a brain to get a better name?" Skully replied.
"Can you please shut your magic talking head?" The first asked. "Or is he the key for the doors?"
"If I say yes, will you keep him?" K2 questioned, causing Skully to clatter himself all over the floor. "I was kidding, Skully! Kidding!"
With the situation not really going anywhere, the three copy Zoroarks sighed and tried to get the ball to start rolling again. They each sat down in front of Kai, making sure not to look or act aggressive.
"We really need to get going, Kai. We get that you don't trust us, or Z, or Lee, but we're not bad guys." The second copy told the Zorua.
"Just because Lee looks mean, and can detach his limbs, and almost every move he uses has 'dark', 'shadow', or 'black' as an adjective, doesn't mean he's evil!" The third one added.
"If we're honest... we're really doing this so Z can apologize and make sure everyone's alright. Minerva, Eva, Kora, Rio, Zen... they feel like friends to us, even more so than Lee. Please, if you know how we can see our friends again, tell us." The first finished.
Kai calmed down a bit, seeing how genuine the three were. The Zorua looked at Mia and K2, silently asking what he should do.
"I don't think they're lying." K2 said, letting out a sigh. "Go ahead, tell them."
"Awww, but wasn't it explained enough?!" Skully whined. "There's so much talking going on that I think I'm gonna lose it!"
"You need a gem of a certain type to get to a certain floor. Otherwise, you'll always go to the floor that matches your own type." Kai explained the doors to the three copies. "We only got here because I could make a Dark Gem, but I wanna go see my brother."
"Gems of a certain type..? You mean like..." the first copy snapped their claws and a very light-bluish purple gem popped up. "...this?"
Kai's eyes lit up, nearly just as much joy that flowed through Skully was flowing through him. He bounced up and down, cheering happily around K2.
"You guys can make gems, too! And they're not just Dark Type!" Skully exclaimed. "Maybe Z ain't so dumb a name afterall?"
"Can we have it? Please? I'm positive that's where we'll find Kora!" Kai excitedly asked. The three copies smiled at the young Zorua's want to find his brother. They stood up and faced K2.
"Even if we give you this gem, unless you had another one, you'd probably just come back here." The third one stated.
"It would be pretty sad if you guys were stuck in just the two areas, right?" The second one added.
"If only you had someone with you that could make more?" The first one finished.
It didn't take long for the other to pick up on what the copies were asking. They asked the three to hold on for a sec as they discussed it to each other.
"They're right. Unless Kai figures out how to make gems of other types, we're gonna need one of them with us." Skully whispered. "Shame it's a copy of someone named Z. Even if they can make gems, that is such a dumb name.
"I think we can trust them." K2 said. "And if we think they're doing something fishy, Kai can take care of them without even breaking a sweat!"
"Alright, fine." Kai agreed. "Man, now that Skully mentioned it, we really have been talking a lot, huh?"
With their decision finalized, K2, Kai, Mia and Skully accepted the copies' offer of having one join them. Skully further ridicules their original's name, and was threatened with being turned into a stone and placed in a river. He then admitted that he doesn't remember what a river was, and started crying.
The copies agreed that the first one will be the one to join Kai and the others, and let everyone to the stone door. The copies said their goodbyes to each other, and left each holding different colored gems as to not end up in the same place.
"Alright, Dragon Gem, Dragon floor. You guys ready?" The Z Copy asked.
"As long as I get to know that Kora's alright, I'm always ready!" Kai replied, full of vigor. The Z Copy summoned a Dragon Gem and pushed open the door, grabbing K2's paw before walking into the dark beyond the door.
After the three Pokémon and two copies were gone, the sound of metal clanking on rock approaches the door. A Bisharp, one who surely was meant to be calm and collected, was furiously approaching the door. The Zen Manifestation pounded his fist on the rock, cracking it.
"Kai created copies to destroy me? My dear creator?" He said to himself, clenching his fists. "I haven't even begun my initial directive yet, and I've already disappointed my creator?"
His fury getting the better of him, the Zen Manifest smashed several of the Dark Gems around him, yelling and screaming in agonizing rage. When his outrage subsided, the Bisharp grabbed some of the Dark Gems he shattered and absorded then into himself. He then created a Steel Gem and opened the door.
"My creator cares not for the well-being of their subjects, sending three lesser copies to handle me instead of themself!" The Manifest said, an aura flowing around it. "I will follow my directive, after I take care of those who would be threatening the success of my task. Yes, this is a test, a test of faith! I understand, creator!"
The Zen Manifest entered the dark beyond the door, cackling to itself. It's horrid laughter echoing throughout the floor.