/The Psychic Floor/
Upon reaching their exit, Minerva almost immediately pressed Kane for info on how to find Kora. Which meant that she was literally pressing the Scrafty into a wall. He explained how the doors work, and when Minerva told him that Kora was part Dragon Type, he willingly handed over a Dragon Gem. What was her thanks? Tossing the poor guy behind her.
"Rude." He said, picking himself up from the shattered remains of a Psychic Gem. "I haven't been down there yet, Diana and I were actually planning on going after we made sure we had anything we could find from the other floors."
"I don't care 'bout any of that, I just wanna find Kora." Minerva replied. "By. My. Self."
"I told you before and I'll tell you again! This place isn't safe for any of us to be going anywhere alone!" Kane exclaimed. "I've actually been down here for a year, and I know I haven't even seen the worse of it!"
Minerva shrugged off his warning and started towards the room that she met Jirachi in, wondering if the rude Pokémon was still lodged in the ground. Static followed quickly behind her, hopping onto the Meowth's head.
It was definitely a surprise to see the Wish Pokémon in the same place she left him, this time the pink cat-like Pokémon was now very much awake and trying desperately to get Jirachi out of the ground. It pulled on Jirachi's streamers, tugged on the wish tags on his head, but nothing worked! She kept at it, so extra points for tenacity. Even when Minerva walked right beside Mew, the pink feline didn't even notice her at first.
"What's the problem?" Minerva asked, hiding a smug grin. "Is he stuck?"
"Yeah! I've been trying to get him up for soooo long! But my arms aren't strong enough!" Mew replied, pulling on one of the streamers so hard that she slipped and floated away.
"I could help ya, if ya want." Minerva offered. Mew shook her head and went right back to helping Jirachi.
"It's ok, I know you guys mean well, but you can't help Jirachi if you're in my head." Mew said. "Actually... are you new? Who are you?"
Minerva shrugged, partly because she had no idea if Mew was joking around or not. After a few more failed attempts, Kane made himself known and also offered his help. Upon seeing Kane, Mew flew over and gave the Scrafty a big hug.
"You're back!" Mew happily exclaimed, unknowingly picking Kane up off the ground. "I thought you guys got lost again! I was starting to worry!"
"It's barely been, like, half an hour. But if I knew you woke up, I'd have been here sooner." Kane replied. "I see you've met my 'friend' over there?" The Scrafty motioned his head towards Minerva, leading to himself getting dropped by Mew and the feline making an overly dramatic gasp.
"Y-You mean... you can see her too?!" Mew asked, flying around Minerva. "And this cute little bug thing, too?!"
"See her? If I get her mad enough, I can feel her! She's beaten me up a whole lot since she showed up." Kane replied. Mew, again, let out a very dramatic gasp and flew up to Kane.
"You mean she ISN'T a new friend in my head? She's a friend... in real life?!" The feline asked, pure, genuine excitement radiating from her. When Kane nodded his head yes, Mew tackled Minerva to the ground and wrapped her tail and arms around the Meowth.
"Y-Ya're pretty friendly, Mew! A whole lot more than that pain in the a-"
"Finish that word and I'll leave you in stone for half an hour." A voice sternly warned. As if he wasn't stuck at all, Jirachi popped out of the ground and stared Minerva down with daggers for eyes.
"*GASP!* Big Bro! You're alright! You came outta the ground like a zombie!" Mew let go of Minerva and hugged Jirachi tightly. For a brief second, the semblance of a smile tried to creep itself onto the dark and gloomy face of the Wish Pokémon.
"Sorry if I worried you, sis. I was a little tired, that's all." Jirachi explained.
"Oh, really? I had dream that that cat was really angry, and she punched Kane in the wall, then she threw you into the ground." Mew let go of her brother and tapped her chin. "I also that I saw miss Diana and a blue dog guy."
Upon hearing about Diana and the 'blue dog guy', Minerva remembered that they were split up, and there wasn't any sign of either Pokémon showing up. She was about to ask Kane if he could tell Diana and Rio that she left for Kora, but seemed to have lost track of Kane.
"Hey, Lizard Breath! When're Diana and Rio comin' back?" The feline asked outloud, walking into the other chamber. When she stepped into the other chamber, she heard the faintest voice call out to her. It was incredibly quiet, but she knew she heard it.
"Minerva..?"
"Kora!" Minerva quickly snapped back around. What she saw was Kane being tightly wrapped up in Mew's tail, which actually grew quite a bit, and Jirachi staring blankly towards Minerva.
"...Why do you have a Joltik with you?" The Wish Pokémon asked. "Also, who?"
"Kora, my friend! Didn't ya hear him?" Minerva ran past whatever Mew and Kane we doing and placed Static next to Jirachi. "I need ya to watch Static for me, I gotta go!"
"Oooooh! Minerva has head friends too! I wanna meet 'em!" Mew said cheerfully, dropping Kane and allowing him to finally breathe. Mew was then distracted by Static trying to follow Minerva. "Awwww! I didn't know you had a baby!"
"What, no I didn't have Static, I found 'im." The Meowth said, making sure she had the Dragon Gem. "I don't wanna bring 'im into trouble, so could ya-"
"Is this Kora friend the father?" Mew's sudden question brought Minerva to a halt and caused Kane to snicker.
"N-No! Didn't ya hear what I just said?!"
"I wonder if this Kora guy is cute? He must be with how much you wanna be with him!" Mew picked up Static and flew around with him. "Hey, baby! Is your daddy a cutie?"
"Yeah, Minerva! Is Kora a cutie?" Kane said with a chuckle. "He's just the Pokémon of your dreams, ain't he?"
Minerva was about to chew both Pokémon out when she heard Kora's voice again. It was a bit louder this time, and he sounded kind of distressed. She blew off Kane and Mew's comments and headed for the stone door, gem in hand.
"Minerva..? Can you... see me..?"
"Hold on Kora, I'm comin'!" The feline proclaimed, throwing open the door. Before she stepped in, Jirachi stopped her.
"The Dragon Type Floor? I don't think I've ever been down there, so I don't know what you should expect." He began. "If you're supposed to help me get Mew to the surface, don't get your dumb ass killed over some dumbass." He whispered that last part, making sure Mew didn't hear him.
Minerva ignored the Psychic Steel Type and walked through. Kane, once he realized that Minerva really was leaving and was done giggling with Mew, hurried through the door, making sure to hold a Dragon Gem just in case. Static wanted to follow behind Minerva, but Jirachi had already shut the door when Kane went through.
"J-Jol..." He whimpered. The Joltik tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. On one attempt, Static fell on his back and started snifling. Mew quickly picked the baby Pokémon up and comforted him.
"Don't worry, little guy! Your mommy will come back with your daddy soon!" She said softly, floating gently up and down with the Joltik in her arms. Jirachi, after watching Mew take care of Static, let out a sigh and the faintest of smirks before leaning against a wall and shutting his eyes. He wasn't trying to sleep, but he was already so tired that he needed to shut his eyes for just a moment. Just a moments reprieve. Just one.
/Within the Parasects' Domain, with Kane and Eva/
Repairing the gauntlet took up a lot more time than Zen and Eva thought it did. It was a decent contrast from when they first arrived, who'd have thought that repairing ancient equipment would be more relaxing than being locked in combat with giant Galvantula with thick exoskeletons? Plus, Paras' periodic drop-ins also contributed much needed details about where they were currently stuck. In fact, when the gauntlet was just about ready, Paras stopped by to inform the two of a shocking development.
"It would seem that a group of Parasect sent to explore the other floors have been stopped by an army of Galvantula. They were... ambushed and assaulted into a retreat." Paras explained.
"Ambushed? By an entire army?" Zen asked, raising a metaphorical eyebrow.
"The floor our group were investigating was, unfortunately, one of the Galvantulan nesting areas. It was totally unbeknownst to us before we sent them. However... we did uncover a detail that was quite... interesting." The Mushroom Pokémon continued.
"Well? Don't leave us on the edge like this! What happened?" Eva asked, leaning closer towards Paras.
"There were Pokémon we have never seen there. Seven, to be exact. A red one that controlled rock, a red one controlling flame, a furious and powerful white one, a blue and white one, an orange one, and two black ones. One of the black ones had an unruly amount of red hair, and was able to use energy of several Pokémon types, while the other was highly adept with electricity and had shorter hair."
"That... hm..." Zen started to say.
"Is there more you can tell us? Did your guys hear any names?"
"In the confusion of the ambush, it was difficult for us to understand everything that was said, but six of the seven new Pokémon met in the middle and fought each other, and we believe the names 'Kai,' 'Lee,' and 'Zeke' were said at some point." Paras then made an odd clicking sound and remembered something. "Oh! Apparently the blue and white one and the electric black one fought alongside the Galvantula, the blue one summoned a rain of blue energy that overwhelmed us, and the electric black one fired a Thunderbolt strong enough to break through a wall!"
"That's incredible! I mean, devastating for you guys, but wow!" Eva exclaimed.
"Do you know where those seven Pokémon went?" Zen asked. Paras paused for a second, but eventually said no and let out a sigh. Before he spoke again, Paras choked and a bit of color flashed in his eyes.
"If they are your friends... you must find them..! They... might prove... a threat..!" The Mushroom Pokémon choked out. "Th-The doors! Find one and... locate... your friends..!"
"What about you guys? What about the Galvantula?" Eva asked.
"Speak with... the Elder... he will allow... you to leave..!" Paras said, not exactly answering her question. "We... have no need..!"
Before he could finish, Paras suddenly snapped back to normal and started walking away. He managed to motion Zen and Eva to follow him before continuing on like a drone. Zen grabbed the gauntlet and sword and followed behind Paras with Eva behind him.
/The Elder's Quarters/
For some reason that neither Zen or Eva could think of, the Elder was actually bigger than before. The mushroom was sprouting out more tendrils and an uncomfortable moisture was in the air. There was also signs of something struggling to move on the ground, with scratch marks on the floor near the Elder.
"Ah, if it isn't our two protectors! Forgive our intrusion, but we have... overheard that you two would like to locate your accomplices, in hopes of assuring their well being." The Elder greeted Eva and Zen, his voice just a bit too upbeat for their liking.
"Yes, that would be the long and short of it. We understand that you require assistance with the Galvantula, but-"
"You need not explain, Metallic Warrior! We understand whole heartedly! In fact, we've been doing some investigating near our old territories in the lower floors, and one of us has detected a group of Pokémon wondering in a lower, more dangerous floor! If we remember correctly... a Black Fox, two smaller fox-like Pokémon... and although there was a fourth voice, we could not identify who it was."
"That's gotta be Kora or K2, Kai, and Mia!" Eva whispered to Zen.
"How do we get to them?" Zen asked the Elder. The gigantic Parasect cleared his throat before answering.
"We will give you the required materials to arrive in the floor your seek, however... I must warn you of the dangers you will be facing." The Elder spoke. "There are Pokémon within with immeasurable power, and they do not act kindly to strangers trespassing upon their land. If you two are swift, you may be able to save your friends before they get injured."
"Thank you, Elder. We promise to return once we know our friends are alright." Zen thanked the gigantic Parasect with a light bow. "Now, where is the exit?"
"We will have a Parasect guide you to the door, as well as carry the items you need to properly use it." The Elder relplied.
"What of Paras? Does he not know the location of the exit?" Zen questioned, seeing the Mushroom Pokémon he was referring to jump slightly at the mention of his name.
"I have something of rather high importance to discuss with him. I do not mean insult you when I say this, but I do not find this to be any of your concern." The gigantic Parasect informed the two. Zen and Eva glanced at each other for a second before shrugging. "Come, Paras. Now, if the two of you would follow that Parasect behind you."
Zen and Eva thanked the Elder for the information, waving goodbye to both him and Paras before leaving. After about a minute had passed, the gigantic mushroom started shaking and vibrating, and two Parasect were brought inside.
"Alert the Swarm about the sudden appearance of multiple groups of Pokémon arriving from the surface. If the four you saw in the Dragon-Ghost Type floor are as dangerous as we believe, the Swarm must know immediately! Hopefully, they will satiate the Swarm..."
"Wh-What are you doing?" Paras asked, starting to panic. "A-A-Are you planning on atta-"
"Silence! It is fortunate we caught on to your meddling before the Swarm did! You threaten to destroy all of us with your frequent displays of independence! You were fortunate before, having those two take a liking towards you extended your time quite a bit, but your shall be imprisoned for your insolence!" The Elder shouted, scaring Paras more. "Lock him in the deepest chamber we have, and make sure he has no interaction with ANYTHING until he is fully assimilated!"
"W-Wait! Don't do this, please!" Paras begged as another Parasect entered and spun him in thick string.
"You have lost your right to yourself, Paras. A mind against us is a mind against the Swarm, and we cannot risk losing favor with the Swarm." The Elder stated as Paras was carried away. "We... will inform your acquaintances of your fall to the Galvantula should they return, and you will remain imprisoned until you evolve."
With a sigh and a moment or two of silence, the Elder called in a few more Parasects. They were a bit larger than the others and had larger pincers, as well as scars of battles.
"How many Galvantula corpses do we have at our disposal? We will need to stage an invasion for their return." The Elder asked.
"Sect." One for the Parasect replied.
"Gather about twenty, make sure they are ones with thicker exoskeletons. Don't bother reusing the ones they defeated, and if we need fresh bodies you have my permission to procure them." The Elder ordered, and the Parasect made their leave. Once alone, the Elder began to reassure himself.
"This is... for our future... for even his future. Paras will come to understand... he will come to forgive me... right? Yes, it is for his own good! The first fully-sentient Paras in over a millennia... surely he knows this is... the only way..? Right?"
/A Stone Door, Ten Minutes Later/
Along with the workout of walking that long distance, Eva was exhausted and Zen was trying to remember all the twists and turns they were took. Once they arrived at the door, the Parasect dropped two pairs of gems, with one ocean blue and the other light bluish-purple. The same Parasect even pointed at the gems, then at the door, before leaving them alone.
"I guess we... put the gems on the door?" Eva asked with a shrug.
"Maybe we just need to hold these and walk through it. Intriguing." The Bisharp was mostly talking to himself. He picked up one pair of gems and shivered for a second. "Wh-Whoa! This blue one as a chill and sort of wet texture to it, and this other one is just raw and ancient! Archaic? No... draconic!"
"How the hell does something feel ancient?" Eva asked. Zen handed her the pair he was holding, and almost instantly she felt the same things Zen felt.
"It's... how to properly explain it?! I mean, you can feel it too, so, you know what I mean right?!" Zen was getting excited, too excited for Eva's taste. Though, she had to admit that he was right.
"If this one's wet, and this one's draconic... do you think they have something to do with Water and Dragon Types?"
"There is no doubt in my mind! These gems somehow have the pure, unfiltered essences of Water Types and Dragon Types! Never in my life have I experienced a feeling similar to this, nor did I think this was possible! Crystallized Pokémon energy growing underground?! It's like some sort of fantasy!"
"Alright, cool it professor! We get it, this is something for the books, but let's not forget why we have these?" Eva brought Zen back down to earth, opened the door and got ready to see what was on the other side. Zen stood beside her, his sudden excitement preventing him from standing properly still. The two stared at the blackness beyond the door, unsure if the gems with truly bring them to their friends.
"We can assume that, if the Parasects are giving us Type-Based gems, then the doors respond to the different typing of the Pokémon entering them, ergo our own typing might have some effect on where we go! To be safe, I suggest we do try touching the door with the gems first!"
"All that hype you got is starting to mess with your brain! I can see why you try to keep yourself under control so much." Eva told the Bisharp, tapping both gems on the door. Surprisingly, the gems both faded into the door, causing a faint glow, a mix of the colors of the gems, and the blackness beyond turned white. Zen got even more excited and almost ran in by himself. Not knowing what had gotten into the Bisharp, she picked him up and sat him down on the ground.
"Oh, come on Eva! This is a big discovery we just made! Aren't you excited?" Zen asked, jittering and shaking in Eva's paws.
"Nowhere near as much as you, obviously! Why are you so hyped up about this? Normally you'd just say some hypothesis or whatever and sound barely interested in it, even if you really were!"
"I'm only excited because I have the chance to increase my knowledge and, by extension, my power! Knowledge is power, and power is respect!" Zen replied.
"You never would have said that a year ago! Hell, maybe not even a WEEK ago! You'd say 'Power is Power,' and belittle behavior like this! What happened to that snarky asshole that told off Kora and Rio because of how amateurish they were? When did you get so... childish?"
Zen paused for a second, taking in what Eva had just said. Had he really been acting so immaturely lately? He wasn't always like this? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he did grow incredibly soft as of late. The Bisharp shook his head, stood up, and cleared his throat.
"Come to think of it, you may be onto something. I... apologize." Zen replied. "I'll have Tia check me out once we get out of here. Now then, ladies first?"
"You can forget the chivalry, Metalhead. Atleast you sound like you now. We can walk in together, to make sure we don't get lost." The Zangoose replied with a smile.
The two stood side by side and faced the white beyond the door, noticing a faint flow of blue and purple strands of energy all throughout. They entered the whiteness and the door closed behind them, leaving the pair to see if their experiment would actually work.
/With Rio/
The Outlander was yet to find out he had been transported to the Dragon-Steel Type Floor, which was either a struck of luck or misfortune, as he was entirely alone. He's been walking for close to half an hour already, and still nobody! The gems gave off decent light, and he was able to sense things again with his aura, but it was so quiet and lonely, he was actually grateful that he had Orion.
"I don't think there is a single Pokémon on this floor. Either that, or it's so big that we can't sense them yet." Rio said.
'Oh, cheer up buddy! If there's no one here, then we find the door and bounce on outta here!' Orion reassured the Outlander.
"Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about what you did!" Rio stated suddenly. "You took over my body and freaking saved us, you jerk! How the hell am I supposed to repay you, huh?"
'Don't you mea- wait, what? Was that sarcastic?'
"I actually won't be able to thank you enough for figuring that would work and being able to do it! Now look at you, you're a hero!" Rio's tone was playfully angry, which was yet to be caught on by the voice he was talking to.
'I'm getting a whole lotta mixed signals. Are you happy that I took over for a while?' Orion asked. Rio groaned and forcefully rested his head in his paw.
"Yes! You actually saved us, Orion! I get that I was against you taking over in the first place, but I'll have to make an exception when you literally saved my ass!" The Outlander spelled out to the voice. "Who knows, maybe I could let you hold the reigns for a while, as a way of saying thank you."
'...'
The lack of a response from the usually talkative Orion was odd. Rio thought Orion would be a little more ecstatic at the chance of being in control of their body for a while. The Outlander kept walking in silence for a little bit, wondering if Orion might actually be at a loss of words, or if he was so lost in thought about what he would do and where he would go. It was quiet for so long that when Orion did speak up, it startled Rio a bit.
'No. I couldn't do that.' Orion said, a faint sadness in his voice. 'Thanks for the offer, Rio...'
"I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting this kind of reaction. I guess it's up to you to do whatever you want, but... why?" The Outlander questioned.
'I... I just don't wanna have full control, ya know? I'm totally fine with hanging in the back for now.' Orion replied. Rio figured that Orion wasn't telling him everything, but he can't force Orion to. Whatever it is that Orion doesn't want to say, is gonna be bugging Rio for at least the rest of the day.
After an even longer period of silence, Rio finally wandered into a vast chamber with impressively large gems illuminating every inch of the room. It's safe to say that this room is about as big as the Sparring Area back in the guild, if not a slightly larger. There still weren't any signs of life, which was equally good and bad. Rio let out a disappointed sigh, pushing himself a bit further on his tired legs. He saw a tunnel on the other side of the chamber, but the longer he walked, the more he felt the soreness in his legs.
"I need a break, my legs are about to fall off!" Rio exclaimed, falling forward.
'Oh, I think I can help with that!' Orion said. After a moment of two, aura bursted from the bite-shaped mark on Rio's arm, which enveloped his body and rejuvenated him. The Lucario jumped right off the ground and landed on his feet, feeling as light as a feather.
"What a kick! Man, aura is great!" Rio said, filled to the brim with energy.
'It's a natural pick-me-up, among other things! If you were able to control it 24/7, you'd be able to last days without getting exhausted.' Orion informed the Outlander, who was sprinting towards the tunnel at full speed!
"About that, I know that you taking over was a part of it, but how exactly did you bring back our aura?" Rio asked as he dashed passed the giant gems.
'I shared some of mine, actually." The voice answered.
"You're telling me that you still have aura, but I don't?"
'Well, it's more... how can I put this... your aura is... man, I don't know how to explain it. It's, away?' Orion struggled to explain. 'You have an aura, but it just isn't here.'
"That makes very little sense. Oh, we're here!" Rio brought himself to a halt just before entering the tunnel, kicking up dust and pebbles with his sudden stop. The aura surrounding his body dissipated and the Outlander followed the tunnel at a pleasant walking pace.
About ten minutes in, Rio was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of intense pressure, bringing him to his knees in a second. Orion quickly summoned aura to assist Rio, but it was just barely enough to allow him to stand. It was such a sudden shock to his body that Rio was on the verge of passing out.
"H-Holy shit..! I-I don't know... what just happened... But I am in... sooo much pain..." Rio said weakly. He managed to overcome some of the pressure, which helped keep himself from going unconscious.
'Th-This is intense! I don't know how long the aura will last, we probably shouldn't go too deep down here!' Orion suggested. Rio thought about it, but as much as he wanted to get as far away from the pressure as possible, he felt that something very important was up ahead.
"I'm willing to bet that a certain piece of highly-sought-after machinery is somewhere up ahead." Rio said, preparing himself to walk forward. He took exactly two steps before he had to prop himself on the wall to keep from falling over.
'Do you mean the Time Gear? I mean, I guess a gear counts as a piece of machinery but I wouldn't really... whatever, we obviously can't keep going!' Orion told Rio. The Outlander, however, didn't listen.
"W-We need to make sure. Give me all the aura you can, I'm gonna make a run for it!" Rio demands, not really giving Orion much of a choice. The Lucario bursted in bright blue flames, the weight of the pressure almost non-existent to him, and he made a mad dash through the tunnel.
There were a bunch of turns, but luckily there weren't any branching paths to distract the Outlander. After a couple minutes passed, the pressure started weighing down more: either a sign of them getting close, or of the aura running low.
'We got about three minutes! We really shouldn't push it!' Orion warned. Rio nodded and tried going as fast as he could. Whenever there was a sharp turn, Rio would jump off the wall to get just that much further, and with two minutes to spare, he reached another super-large chamber.
It was dome-like in shape, with small Dragon Gems lining the ceiling and patterns similar to the ones on the Stone Door they first entered. Six lines of gems led down the walls and went directly towards one gigantic gem in the rooms center. The gem was dual-colored: the regular color of the Dragon Gems mixed with a silvery color, which Rio could imagine would be the shade of a Steel Gem.
"Dragon and Steel? Is that important or something?" Rio asked, mesmerized by the room.
'Yes, there's a god with that same typing, but we're running low on time!' Orion exclaimed. 'I'm giving it all I've got, but there's about a minute left!'
The pressure really started to lay itself on Rio now, but he tried to push through it anyway! The Outlander thought that there might be something here that would be giving off that pressure, and with very little thought, figured it was probably the giant gem in the middle of the room. Without hesitation, Rio sprinted towards the gem, but as he grew closer, the more unbearable the pressure became. It was an odd thing to note, but the ground was also covered in a fine sand-like substance closer to the gem.
'What the hell are you doing?!' The voice yelled. 'We've got less than a minute, hell, less than HALF a minute!'
"I just need... to absorb... the gem!" Rio strained himself to say.
'How do you know you even can!?'
"J-Just a... hunch..! Trust... me!"
With about ten feet between him and the gem, Rio finally fell on all fours. He knew it was far too late to turn back now, so he crawled towards the gem as fast as he could, which was not that fast. Nearing five feet, Rio collapsed on the ground so hard that it cracked beneath him.
"O-One... last... burst..!" The Outlander choked. "O...rion... G-Give me... ever...ything..!"
For a moment, the aura vanished entirely, and the full weight of the pressure was on top of Rio. It was just a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity! He kept himself in position to leap forward once the aura came back, even managing to raise himself slightly off the ground. As his vision started to blur and he began losing feeling in his arms and legs, a sudden burst of blue light filled his body. Not wasting it, Rio threw himself forward, his right arm outstretched...
...and blacked out...
/With Kia, Mia, Skully, K2, and the "Z" Copy/
Unfortunately, the group of Pokémon and Copies didn't reach the planned Dragon Type floor, instead, they were in a very familiar, very dark, very ghost-like floor. This was confirmed to everyone when a shriek of terror erupted from Skully, followed by the sound of someone throwing said skull across the room.
"Gahhhh! My ears!" K2 painfully exclaimed, kneeling over and clutching his ears.
" 神はなぜありません！ なぜ私を拷問するのか！？！" Skully cried, the sound of his head clattering on the floor as he made even more wails of sorrow echoing through the chamber.
"Somebody shut that head up before I turn it to sand!" The Z copy demanded. Kai and Mia hurried over to their bodiless friend and hugged him tightly, really hoping their fluffiness would stifle the shrill cries of the troubled head. After five minutes of comfort, Skully finally grew quiet, much to both the Copies' relief. However, Skully didn't respond to anything for a while, preferring to quietly sob wherever he might be.
"Alright, so the gem was a bust." The Z Copy said with a sigh.
"No, if it was, your other copies would be down here with us." K2 pointed out. "One of us just has a lot of Ghost-Type energy in us, which probably affected the door more than that gem of yours."
"Do you think it was Skully? He is a magic talking head, afterall. Maybe he was a Ghost-Type!" Kai suggested. K2 shook his head and placed the two kids and crying skull in his mane.
"No, it's one of us. How would we have gotten down here in the first place?" The Kora Copy told the child. "We'll just have to make a stronger gem, or risk splitting up."
The five discussed how they could make a stronger gem as they made their way through the poorly-lit tunnels of the Ghost-Type floor. Kai suggested boosting the Z Copy with his own energy, but the Copy was surprisingly against the idea, saying that "a copy with too much energy goes crazy."
They made it to the large, open room where Kai, K2 and Skully learned just how long the latter has been down here, when they felt an odd presence that wasn't there the last time they were hear. In fact, there were multiple presences, but for reason, they all felt the same. Kai was also able to faintly smell a rancid stench deeper inside. K2 had the genius idea to fire an Incinerate towards the presences, but as he did so, he felt he was making a mistake.
"Um... Incinerate." The Kora Copy said, firing the fire bolt forward. It went quite far before hitting something... no... someone! There was a Pokémon! But... it wasn't..? From the light the Incinerate gave, there was, in fact, a Pokémon there! It was really quiet, and the way it fell over was... strange... and it not making a sound was also off... and to be honest, the whole situation was actually getting creepier by the second and nobody wanted a part of it.
Assuming that he might have hit an actual Pokémon, albeit a strange, ominously-quiet one, K2 went to check on it. The feeling of some sort of threat still in the air, Kai and Mia hopped out of K2's mane and stood with the other Copy. K2's body was telling him to not approach the Pokémon that might not be a real Pokémon, fear swelling inside him for the first time, but the Kora Copy ignored that warning.
K2 was now close enough to the fallen Pokémon to make out what it was. The boxing gloves, tunic-like clothing, weird shoulder pad things, and distinct head shape was a clear sign that the Pokémon was a Hitmonchan, but it's coloration was off. Instead of red boxing gloves, they were light blue, and it's skin was a very light green. Oh, and it's eyes were glowing a murky, soulless green that K2 felt was taking something from him that he didn't know he had.
With surprising swiftness, the Hitmonchan sprang up and threw an uppercut at K2, how just barely dodged, getting his chin grazed by the large boxing glove.
"...Chan monchan..." it said, it's voice sounding like several voices blending together.
That feeling of danger skyrocketed the moment K2 heard it's voice, and he tried to retreat to the others, making the mistake of turning around slightly. The instant K2's eyes were off the Hitmonchan, it threw out three ungodly fast punches into K2's side, then one more strong hit to send the Kora Copy flying. As K2 hit the ground in front of the other Copy, he coughed and wheezed while grasping his side in pain.
"Hurt! So much hurt!" He groaned. "Bad... Bad Pokémon! Bad guy!"
The Hitmonchan started walking towards K2, staring solely at the faux fox. Kai hopped into K2's mane, sending a bit of energy into the Kora Copy to get him back up. Despite outnumbering the Fighting Type, nobody was really sure they could beat it. K2 let out a sigh and prepared for battle, as well as the Z Copy, and the two approached the Hitmonchan carefully.
"Hitmon... hitmonchan..." The Fighting Type groaned, only going for K2.
"We got this big bro!" Kai assured K2. "We can win this for sure!"
K2 bore his claws and dipped in to try Slashing at the Hitmonchan quickly. The Fighting Type effortlessly deflected the Kora Copy's attack and socked in him the side of the head with a right hook, then gut punched the heck outta him.
"Incinerate!" K2 exclaimed as he regained his footing. A powerful bolt of flame fired at the Hitmonchan, but much like K2's previous attack, it was deflected with ease, right at the Z Copy. Fortunately, the other Copy stopped the attack and sent it back at the Hitmonchan without touching it.
"Take this!" The other Copy threw it's paw forward and a bolt of electricity struck the Hitmonchan in the side. "Don't you go underestimating me, weirdo!"
Having been attacked, the Hitmonchan dashed towards the Z Copy, catching it off guard. With blinding speed, the Hitmonchan threw a mighty swing at the other Copy, the attack just barely being blocked but still sending the Z Copy backwards. K2 growled and fired another Incinerate, this time it hit the Hitmonchan right in it's back. Now that he had it's attention, K2 fires more bolts of fire at the Fighting Type, knowing that it would be able to deflect the attacks.
"How about something a little hotter?" K2 put both his paws together and thrusted them forward, a much larger Incinerate firing from them. The Hitmonchan stopped moving towards K2 as the large bolt approached. It raised a fist, pulled back, and threw one quick jab at the bolt as it was upon it. The entire bolt dissipated, the sound of fire fizzling out and the lack of an explosion surprising K2.
"You wanna try hellfire yet?" Kai asked once the Hitmonchan started approaching again.
"Not yet, how about a speed boost?" K2 replied. Kai nodded and began glowing black and red. The Zorua's energy flowed into the faux fox, giving him a faint glow. Now confident in his speed, K2 appeared in front of the Hitmonchan and threw a punch, which was met with a punch. K2 grinned and threw out two more punches, which were also met with the same amount of counter punches.
"...Chan..." The Fighting Type groaned. It and K2 began throwing out a flurry of punches at each other, their speed just about even but K2 was seriously lacking in power. Everytime he got hit or their fists clashed, K2 would wince in pain and start to buckle, but no matter where he hit the Hitmonchan, the Fighting Type wouldn't budge.
"Hey, Copy! Can you make a Fire Gem for me?" K2 asked, landing a solid hit on the Hitmonchan's stomach and managing to back away. The Z Copy nodded and summoned a Fire Gem, but unfortunately, the Hitmonchan somehow figured out to attack the other Copy again, quickly turning and leaping high above the Fox.
"...Hitmon..." The Hitmonchan slammed it's fist down, missing the Z Copy by a hair and cracking the ground beneath it. The Z Copy got as far away as it could, which was not very far at all because the Hitmonchan swung out it's leg and struck the other Copy in the ankle.
"Catch!" The other Copy shouted, tossing the gem towards K2. Kai jumped up to catch it, but what a surprise, the Hitmonchan had the same idea! Kai created a fist and slammed it into the Hitmonchan, but it barely moved and retaliated with it's own punch. Kai vanishes before he was struck, grabbing the gem with a hand he summoned beforehand. The Zorua reappeared next to K2, along with Mia, and handed the gem over to the Kora Copy.
Before K2 could take in the energy, the Hitmonchan also appeared beside K2 and struck the fox in the spot he was first struck, right in the side. A sharp pain coursed through K2, causing him to drop the Fire Gem. The Z Copy fired more electricity at the Hitmonchan to distract it, but it didn't care about her lightning and went for the gem.
"How about a Stone Edge!" The other Copy slammed their paws into the ground, erupting pillars of rock around the Fighting Type. Kai and Mia grabbed the gem and scattered right as the Hitmonchan busted through the rock.
"Surprise!" K2 yelled, firing a large Incinerate at the Fighting Type. This time, K2 was close enough to have the attack land at point blank range, creating a grand explosion that blew him away, as well as the Hitmonchan. Well, "blown away" is a bit of an exaggeration in the Hitmonchan's case. It was more like being pushed back by a really strong wind.
"Chan..!" It sounded a bit angry now, signified by it's voice crackling and getting more distorted. K2 cracked his neck and was ready for anything, except for Hitmonchan actually raising it's fist and closing the gap between the two in two steps. With more speed than it was showing before, the Hitmonchan struck K2 no less than ten times on his chest and stomach before slamming their heads together and kicking him hard in his side.
"K2!" Kai exclaimed, running over towards the Kora Copy. The Zorua threw out several fists, each being expertly evaded by his target, and started to growl. Mia vanished while Kia still approached, both knowing this Pokémon needed to be stopped ASAP.
Much like during the fight Lee, the sound of something slicing through the air surrounded the Hitmonchan while Kai fired a volley of fists at the Fighting Type. While evading Kai's attacks, the Hitmonchan easily avoided the invisible slashes without breaking a sweat! The Z Copy even tried to help, shooting out shards of ice from their paws. Even with three Pokémon attack him all at once, the Hitmonchan wasn't even touched!
"Hit... Mon..!" All of a sudden, the Hitmonchan threw out a punch behind himself, striking Mia with one clean blow to her stomach and sending her flying towards K2. Kai froze for a second, knowing how hard the Hitmonchan can hit. Fortunately, Mia landed on her feet, she was hurt but she had a confident smirk on her face.
"You ok?" K2 asked, he himself in worse shape. The Eevee nodded and motioned towards the Punching Pokémon. After he punched Mia, the Hitmonchan didn't move for some reason. It was shaking lightly and staring forward. Then out of nowhere, the arm it had extended fell clean off.
"Whoa..." Kai said, amazed that Mia was smart enough and bold enough to risk getting hit to slice the arm off like that. The Zorua laughed and flared up his aura, Mia's strategy being made clear to him. "Hehehehe! Thanks, Mia! K2, with me! Z2, make us a few gems, please!"
"On it!" K2 started glowing the same color as Kai's aura and ran over to join the Zorua. The Z Copy, Z2, nodded and immediately began making Dark and Fire Gems.
Meanwhile, the Hitmonchan picked up it's arm and stuck it right back where it fell off. He threw a couple jabs to make sure it was in firmly, then turned to face the Zoroark and Zorua. His normally expressionless face was now visibly angry, but what was even more intimidating was the grin it now sported.
"Hitmon chan..." He said, lowering himself and starting to chuckle. In the blink of an eye, the Hitmonchan launched himself with enough force to crack the ground below him, aiming for Kai. K2 kicked the Punching Pokémon's fist, the only casualty being the floor beneath them. The Kora Copy swiftly kicked twice more, striking the Hitmonchan's head and side, followed by Kai slamming a fist into the Hitmonchan's face.
"Incinerate!" K2 fired a bolt of fire, but it was put out by a jab from the Hitmonchan, who landed a hefty uppercut on the Zoroark. K2 tightly grabbed the Punching Pokémon's arm and kicked him several times before being thrown off. Kai threw out a flurry of punches, which was matched by the Hitmonchan with ease.
"Lemme get a Fire Gem, Z2!" K2 asked, slamming both arms into the Hitmonchan's back. Z2 threw a gem at the Zoroark, firing a bolt of thunder at the Hitmonchan to make sure it wouldn't stop the Kora Copy. K2 grabbed them gem and took in it's energy, his mane glowing brightly for a second and gaining a fire-like aesthetic.
"Ooooooh! I wanna dark one!" Kai exclaimed, keeping the Hitmonchan in place with another flurry rush. Z2 tossed two this time, each one being taken in by Kai. The Zorua's aura flared up dramatically, and a clever idea came into his head. "K2, I need like, two minutes! Beat him up for me, bro!"
"Gotcha! I might even beat him before you even get a chance, bro!" K2 replied, brimming with confidence.
"Monchan?" The Punching Pokémon seemed to understand that statement K2 made, deciding to rush the overconfident fox down. He went right up to K2 and swung a right hook, easily getting blocked. A quick one-two jab, a left hook, an uppercut, each one blocked with ease. The Hitmonchan's grin grew wider as he threw out a straight punch and it was blocked. Sparks of electricity flew from his boxing glove, still touching K2, before exploding in with a massive shockwave of electricity.
"Oof, ouch, owwie, electricity!" K2 mocked, grabbing the Hitmonchan's arm. "How about something a little spicier?" A blue bolt of fire expanded from K2's other paw as he raised it up to the Punching Pokémon and made it explode between the two of them. The Hitmonchan was sent back several feet, it's body slightly churned, but not inflicted with a burn just yet. From the still-rising smoke, K2 sprinted from the darkness and charged the Hitmonchan down.
"Hit hitmonchan!" The Punching Pokemon acknowledged K2's recklessness, some form of excitement and rage causing it to kind of laugh. It was a distorted cackle, honestly, but K2 was on too strong a rush to care.
The two both sent out a straight punch, striking the other in their jaw, and threw out a hook while leaning in, missing their punches but hitting their heads together. K2 took a step back and took a similar stance to the Hitmonchan's. The Zoroark taunted the Punching Pokémon with a claw and a grin, bouncing with energy and adrenaline.
Z2 and Mia watched the Hitmonchan and K2 exchange flurries of punches and kicks, the former at Lee of the sudden burst in speed and strength within K2. From their understanding of copies, they can't normally become stronger than the Pokémon they are a copy of, but Z2 doubted that Kora was this potentially strong. If that was the case, then Kora might be able to go head-to-head with Lee in a prolonged battle.
"Alright... I think I got it!" Kai exclaimed. His aura was thick and inky, but concentrated in the shape of a tentacle. "I tried to copy one of Lee's attacks! Whaddya think?"
"I mean, it looks like it, but do you know how to use it?" Z2 replied, getting an affirmative nod from Kai.
"Could ya help K2 a little? Try and distract that Hitmonchan long enough for me to get close!" The Zorua asked. He and Mia then vanished. Z2 took a deep breath and psyched themself up before running over to the Kora Copy's aide.
For as confident as he was, K2 got pretty exhausted from being hit every time he hit the Hitmonchan. His movements started to slow, and his head started pounding. Wherever Kai was, he was keeping a considerable amount of energy to himself, putting a bit of a rut in K2's output. After getting socked in the face twice more, the Kora Copy stumbled backwards and fell on his back.
"Aw, shoot." The Faux Fox groaned, breathing heavily. His opponent hit his two boxing gloves together, his grin growing even more. It was starting to reach around to the back of his head, not something anyone wanted to see.
K2 wasn't able to get himself up, each of the attacks he took during the fight started taking their toll on him. The Hitmonchan slowly approached, the green glow of its eyes emanating like smoke from their sockets. Everything about this Pokémon was either creepy or menacing, or both! Luckily, once the Hitmonchan was close, Z2 was able to fire a mighty blast of water to push the Punching Pokémon away. Z2 offered a Dark Gem to K2, a caring smile on their face.
"There's better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know?" The other Copy said, helping K2 up once he absorbed the Dark Gem.
"But it was so comfy!" K2 jokingly replied.
"How about we try and keep Hitmonchan at a distance? I'm nowhere near as hardy as you, and you already took your share of being punched in the face." Z2 said. The two Zoroarks faced the Hitmonchan and tapped the back of their arms together. "Kai has a plan, we just gotta keep Punchy over here busy."
The Hitmonchan roared, charging the two foxes down. They both jumped to either side, avoiding a punch strong enough to shatter the ground it struck. As Z2 expected, the Hitmonchan focused on K2 for now, and decided to throw something big at him. K2 kept just out of arms reach of the Hitmonchan, not trying to retaliate, but making sure they were still near Z2.
"Frozen Twister!" Cold air surrounded Z2, an icy vapor falling from their claws. Z2 raised their arms to the side and quickly threw them diagonally, throwing out a twister from the cold air and vapor, aimed directly for K2 and the Hitmonchan.
K2 grinned and grabbed one of the Hitmonchan's arms, then also took hold of his other arm, and held him in place. When the twister was close enough, K2 kicked the Hitmonchan its both feet right into it, making sure to get himself far enough away that he wasn't also hit. It didn't take long for the Hitmonchan to free itself from the icy winds of Z2's attack, a powerful punch dispersing the twister and spreading the cold out further. Z2 was hoping it would be stuck a little while longer, but wasn't surprised it didn't.
"Trying punching your way out of this!" Z2 exclaimed, jamming their still-icy claws into the ground. Pillars of ice erupted from the ground around the Hitmonchan, the cold air condensed and made the floor slippery, and surrounded the Punching Pokémon. A chilling air flowed from Z2 as they stuck out their arm and started to close their paw, which caused the pillars of ice to shake and crack.
"Let me lend a paw or two!" K2 said as he got over to the other Copy and placed a paw on Z2's shoulder. The glow that surrounded K2 covered both Zoroarks, and the surge of power startled Z2 at first. After a second to get back under control, Z2 grinned and tightly closed their paw. All the ice they created collapsed onto the Hitmonchan and turned into a ball of solid ice with the Fighting Type in it's center. K2 approached the sphere and leaned on it smugly.
"How long until he finds a way to punch out? Twenty, thirty seconds?" K2 asked sarcastically. Z2 chuckled and rolled their eyes.
"C'mon, cut me some slack! I think it'll take him forty seconds at the very least!" The other Copy replied. "Speaking of stuck, hey Kai! We got him pretty much stuck in place for a good while! You should probably do whatever it is you got planned!"
Z2 didn't get a response from the Zorua, instead Mia showed up for a second and shook her head. The fox assumed that meant they weren't ready yet, and shrugged.
"Well, we'll try and get him stuck again, but I dunno how many more times we can frap him this good." Z2 told the Eevee. "Alright, K2! How much are you betting?"
"I never said I was gonna bet on this! Besides, he's already been stuck for more than thirty seconds, so I would've lost!" The Kora Copy shouted. Coincidentally, right as K2 was saying how the Hitmonchan was stuck for more than half a minute, the ice suddenly cracked very loudly. The Hitmonchan was starting to move, his boxing gloves starting to catch fire.
"Great, he knows Fire Punch!" Z2 groaned as the ice shattered and melted. The Z Copy created two Dark Gems and tossed one towards K2. "This is starting to get annoying!"
"You'll get used to it! Trust me." The Kora Copy replied, taking in the energy from the Dark Gem and firing a Dark Pulse at the Hitmonchan.
"Hitmon CHAN!" The Punching Pokémon was starting to show his anger again, his mouth now reaching almost all the way around his head. Aura started to rupture from parts of his body in a painful looking way, each burst of aura causing the Hitmonchan to jolt and flinch sporadically. The green from his eyes became more dense, and everytime he moved it looked like a trail of green followed his eyes.
"Aura?! Alright, we definitely can't get hit by this guy now!" Z2 exclaimed. K2 nodded, getting on all fours and retreating towards Z2. Unfortunately, the Hitmonchan appeared right in front of K2 and slammed his fist into K2's side. To say that copies have a higher pain tolerance than normal Pokémon would be correct, but being punched by this aura-powered monstrosity felt like K2 about to split in half.
Z2 tried hitting the Hitmonchan with a blast of fire, but he vanished before the flames could even reach him. Realizing that they'd have to fight entirely defensively, Z2 created pillars of rock to split up the battlefield and made their way over to K2. They were just able to see K2 again, for about three seconds, before being blocked by the Hitmonchan standing in their way. Z2 threw out a large bolt of electricity, which was punched away. The Hitmonchan opened it's mouth, revealing jagged teeth, and attempted to speak.
"...Night...Night..." He spoke, hitting Z2 with the back of his glove with enough force to send the fox through several stone pillars. The other Copy gasped for air as they finally stopped going through pillar after pillar, being hit was not something Z2 was used to, especially not by a jacked Hitmonchan. The Punching Pokémon grinned further, somehow, and raised his fist to his face. Aura bursted around the boxing glove and the Hitmonchan pulled back his fist and threw it forward. A blue sphere came flying right at Z2, an Aura Sphere powerful enough to go clean through any rocks would have been in it's way.
In a panic, Z2 put up a wall of ice in hopes of stopping the attack, trying desperately to move out of the way. Just by being hit once, Z2 was nearly incapacitated, their arms felt like they were falling off and their back was practically on fire! Within seconds, the Aura Sphere shattered the ice wall and continued it's pursuit on Z2.
"Dark Pulse!" The other Copy exclaimed, firing a blast of darkness at the Aura Sphere. Z2 was barely able to hold the sphere back, the attack creeping ever closer no matter the amount of energy they put into the Dark Pulse.
"Hellfire Burst!" A voice shouted, a blast of black and red fire hitting the Aura Sphere from the side and exploding on impact, destroying the sphere. Z2 looked over to see K2 standing there, swaying lightly and breathing heavily. He took just one hit from the Hitmonchan, and K2 was hardly able to stand! "I... I think I got... one more..."
"N-Nghhh! GAAAAAAAGH!" The Hitmonchan roared. It was clear that everytime he saw K2 standing after he was punched or knocked down was quite irritating to the Hitmonchan. The Faux Fox laughed, aiming his paw at the Punching Pokémon.
"Come and knock me out for real, big guy. I dare you." K2 dared the Hitmonchan. Aura erupted from the Fighting Type as he launched himself towards the Kora Copy. Even his boxing glove was bursting with aura! In just a few seconds, the Hitmonchan was mere inches before striking K2 down, when a black tendril shot out from the ground and tightly coiled around the Hitmonchan. The Fighting Type was baffled, not even realizing he was captured yet and tried to throw his first forward and crack up the triangular head of the fox right in front of him.
"We did it!" Kai exclaimed, him and Mia hopping from behind K2 with big grins spread across their faces. "And right at the last second too!"
K2 drops his arm to his side and starts panting heavier than before. His legs started to shake, his mouth tasted like iron, and his side was pretty much numb. "We definitely could have used you earlier, bro..."
Kai and Mia jump into K2's mane and the Kora Copy is almost instantly rejuvenated and powerful up again. The three start glowing black and red and the pressure in the chamber starts to shift. Although faint, Z2 could swear they heard the sound of stone cracking. It could've just been the pillars they created in the fight, right?
"We're gonna need the strongest heat we got, bro!" K2 told the Zorua. "Any higher the deepest pits of hell, and all we'll do is give this guy a tan!"
"You got it!" Kai replied, their glow becoming thicker and more sinister. Z2 felt the need to get out of the way, despite being several feet away.
"Can you beat this? The flame that burns throughout the underworld?" The glow around K2 releases black embers, and the air around them heats up exponentially. "Just being near this flame would scar your soul for all eternity!"
"Bear witness to our strongest technique! Ignis Inferni!" Kai and K2 shouted as the Zoroark grabbed hold of the Hitmonchan's face. The black embers raced up K2's arm and swarmed the trapped Hitmonchan, erupting in black and red flames whose heat was felt even by Z2. A distorted scream echoed throughout the chamber as the Hitmonchan was ruthlessly scorched down to his very core. The fire eventually got so hot that the black tendrils that Kai trapped the Hitmonchan with started to fall apart, but even if the Hitmonchan was freed, he was in too much pain to be able to do anything.
K2 walked over and helped Z2 up, the smile he gave feeling almost sadistic when juxtaposed with him casting unholy fire on the Hitmonchan seconds prior. And that description of the fire before he forced them on the Hitmonchan? If it was getting hotter in there, Z2 would have the chills.
"You guys are terrifying." The other Copy told them.
"I thought it was cool!" Kai replied with an honest smile.
"You aren't the first to say that, actually." K2 said. "Speaking of calling us terrifying, where's Skully?"
Mia dives into the mane and resurfaced moments later with a skull that looked very much oblivious to what was going on.
"I got stuck down here, and NOBODY heard me?! I coulda suffocated!" Skully whined.
"Oh please, you don't even have lungs! And you would've been fine, Kai sleeps back there whenever we got a long ways ahead, and he's fine!"
In the midst of their playful arguing, K2 was suddenly grabbed by Z2 and turned around. When he asked what the problem was, Z2 focused his gaze on a now standing, and slowly approaching, well of eternal black flame. Fear filled every corner of K2's body, seeing the Hitmonchan not only alive, but walking right towards them while ON FIRE!
"Wh-What the!?" K2 exclaimed. "N-No! That is our strongest attack! You c-can't just... y-you can't just...!"
"All... Eighteen..." The still-burning Hitmonchan spoke. "All... Eighteen... and... Leave..." Before anyone could ask what he was talking about, the Hitmonchan raised his fist and struck the ground as hard as he could. In fact, he struck the ground so hard that not only did it start cracking and breaking, but he himself started to fade to ash, which then vanished into the flames.
The ground kept cracking and shaking and breaking, pieces of the floor falling to reveal darkness below. K2 and Z2 both started running, but it was already too late. The Hitmonchan's last punch spread out fast, with cracks running faster than both Zoroark's and destroying the floor they were on. Along with the sound of crumbling rock, the yells and kid-friendly cuss words of the five resounded throughout the barely lit chamber.
/With Minerva and Kane, the Dragon Type Floor/
The feline and reptile we met with an almost entirely barren chamber, except for one single gem in it's center, a Dragon Type gem of course. Luckily, the stone door was in the same place, so they know how to get out. Minerva let out a small cheer and started running for one of the tunnels, and by that I mean the only tunnel, followed by Kane trying to keep up.
"I'm assumin' you know where you're goin'?" Kane asked.
"Yea, down this tunnel, jackass." Minerva replied as she entered the aforementioned tunnel.
"No need for the insult..." Kane said.
"Yeah, my big bro says that those words are for meanie heads!" A young, girlish voice said from behind. Minerva snapped around immediately and saw Mew, floating there, like she was there the entirely time!
"How... when..? Wait... where's Static!?" The Meowth yelled. The Joltik in question, having heard his name, jumped off of Mew's back and landed happily on Minerva's head.
"He really wanted to go with you guys! He was so sad and tired of waiting that he wanted me to bring him here right away!" Mew replied. Kane and Minerva were a bit puzzled.
"Um, you're makin' it sound like we were gone for a while?" Minerva asked as she held Static in her arms. Mew nodded a bunch and smiled.
"Right? It's only been, like, two hours! Jirachi was taking a nap, so I didn't bring him, but he probably knew exactly how long it's been!" Mew replied, causing Minerva to jump and Kane to suddenly remember something.
"Oh yeah! Some rooms' times run faster or slower than the others! I completely forgot!" The Scrafty said aloud, getting himself immediately punched into a wall.
"WHEN WERE YA GONNA FREAKIN' TELL ME?!" Minerva shouted, sparks starting to jump from her fur. Static remained attached to Minerva, her anger being something he missed. And the free electricity coming off her was a good bonus too.
"I... just said... I forgot..." Kane weakly replied, falling out of the wall and onto his face. Before Minerva could beat Kane even more, Mew flew ahead and let out a comically loud gasp.
"GUYS! There's a room with a really pretty gem in it! And it's big!" Mew exclaimed, flying inside. Minerva, without assisting Kane, hurried after the floating feline. After recovering a bit, Kane managed to shuffle his way inside.
The room they entered was enormous compared to the room before, honestly it was just a scaled up version. There was a giant gem in the middle, much like the first room, but there was something that was a bit more interesting. Along the walls were depictions of forty-three different Pokémon, large and small, with almost all of them looking at four Pokémon in the center. Unlike the others, these four had color, the one on the bottom was black and red, the middle-right was white and pink, the middle-left was blue and silver, and the one on top was white and gold, as well as being twice the size of the other three. The four Pokémon were surrounded with a golden circle that was broken at the bottom.
"Whoa... look at this place..." Kane said in awe. He went to get a closer look at the Pokémon to see if he could recognize any of them. In fact, he recognized a few. "Hey, Minerva, isn't this Lugia?" Kane pointed around a Pokémon with large arms flying with a phoenix-like Pokémon.
"Yea, actually. And that's Ho-Oh, too! There's even a Groudon and Kyorge!" Minerva quickly scanned through the other Pokémon before she got to the four in the middle. "Oh, I think I know these guys. That white n' gold one is definitely Arceus."
"And these three are Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina." The Scrafty added. "These are all Gods, aren't they?"
"Hey, it's Mom!" Mew exclaimed, flying towards the Arceus on the wall. "I knew you'd come to see us! I knew I should've brought Jirachi, he'd be so happy! It's a shame he likes to sleep so much, the poor guy doesn't do much, but I still love him and..! And..."
"That's... That's just a carving, Mew..." Kane told the feline.
"Y-Yeah, I knew that..! I... I knew that..." Mew said quietly. She floated in place for a little while before she said anything else. "I-I'm gonna go back to Jirachi! Bye guys..!" Without a sound, Mew zipped out of the room. Kane felt a bit sorry for the Mew, but as much as he wanted to go and help her, he knew that it was beyond him.
He decided to keep inspecting the wall, noting all the Pokémon that were present, some more letter-like symbols, and once again came back to center. It was then that he noticed the gems placed above Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Dialga's too gem was the color of Dragon and Steel, Palkia's top was Dragon and Water, and although it was a little difficult to tell, Giratina's top was Dragon and Ghost. Below the three were slots meant for different kinds of gems, Dialga's was rough and spherical, Palkia's was smooth and spherical, and Giratina's was jagged. The gems above the three were a bit smaller than the ones Kane and Diana would normally carry, and they even popped right out of their slot.
"These gems are a mixture of Dragon and the other type of their respective god. We might be able to use these to get to their rooms specifically!" Kane surmised, taking out the gem above Giratina and looking at it closely. "We might even find whatever is supposed to go into these extra slots!"
"That doesn't help me find Kora, so why the hell should I care?" Minerva asked, disappointed with the turnout of this little escapade. Kane rolled his eyes.
"If Kora's with, I'll just guess here, Nate? Then the two of them might have went to Palkia's floor." Kane explained. Minerva snatched the gem out from above Palkia, using Kane as a springboard, and walked towards the exi.
"Lucky guess. Welp, that's all I needed to hear, see ya!" Minerva stated, petting Static as she left.
"...Minerva... Please... can you hear me..?"
Just then, Mineva heard Kora's voice again.
"...Can't you... see me..?"
"Don't worry Kora, just hold on a bit longer!" Minerva said quietly before sprinting out the chamber. As expected, Kane hurried right after her.
Knowing how little Minerva would care, Kane began to devise a plan to get everyone back together AND find out what's hidden within the chamber with the mural. He hoped that Diana would be ok long enough for him to find her, some part of him feeling that she was still up and running about.
'Maybe Kora'll help me convince Minerva to help!' Kane thought to himself. If anything, he's definetly a better asset than her based solely on the account of him (hopefully) not wanting to needlessly break one of Kane's arms, or legs, or beat him into a wall. It should be a nice change of pace, knowing he won't get beat around as much.
The reptile and feline reached the door and Minerva opened it, gem in the same hand, and watched the black turn to white. Thinking it to be the result of using the door of a seemingly important floor, neither Pokémon really asked any questions about it and walked through.
Unbeknownst to them, however, a fox was shadowing the pair and took not of what had occurred. The fox was too scared to approached Minerva, feeling that they would one hundred percent get attacked. Instead, they waited patiently and quietly for Kane and Minerva to leave, and began to make a gem with the same energy that they had used.
"Kora, huh? I've been dying to meet him, I hope he's alright." The Zoroark said to themself before entering the door. "I wonder how much he remembers about us..."