Chapter 20: Facing the Bombardment
Solestral read the 'The Influence of Dawn and Dusk in a Life Cycle' book and spoke in dread.
"Lava Floodplains Mystery Dungeon is in Starlif Continent, situated in Draconia River which is also a lava river. This is the toughest Lv5 no corridors Dungeon. There are not many solid lands, and they get swallowed by the lava easily. There are ninety-nine basement floors, but there is a shortcut to get to the last basement floor quickly. There is a lava vortex at the centre of each floor. Apparently, if there is a Fire-Type Pokémon that can withstand the hot lava, it can dive into it and reach the last floor in less than a minute. Orbs, Items, and even fire-proof benefits will not work for this shortcut. If not, there is no choice but to use the stairs. And there are no items in this Special Mystery Dungeon at all, and only one Pokémon can enter this Mystery Dungeon, making this a high-risk exploration to the bottom," then she took a breather before continuing, "Does that mean I have to go alone? I can't hold my breath for long! Kitty can't swim in a lava pool!"
"If there…is a quick way to reach the…last floor, then we don't need…to rest for another day. We should plan…on how to get Solestral to reach…the last floor safely," said Normad.
"Well…yeah, we can't venture into that Special Mystery Dungeon. There are too many risks. But Solestral, do you still need a break?"
The black kitty sighed, "I don't have a choice but to move on, isn't it? And I don't want Mr Cobalt's health to deteriorate further… Shall we teleport to that Mystery Dungeon's entrance and discussed the plan over there?"
"You should not concern about my health, Solestral. I have already switched my energy dependency from the stars. It is just that I won't be that 'fit' anymore," explained Cobalt.
"You are feeling okay now?" questioned Solestral.
"Yes. I apologise that I have worried you. We should make our way to Lava Floodplains Mystery Dungeon."
The black kitten activated the storage box and requested it to teleport her and the rest to the last special Mystery Dungeon's entrance. When they arrived, the group was standing on the barren ground with lava rivers all around them. That area was so hot that even the night breeze could not provide a little respite. The heat from the lava river was unbearable for General Cresselia that she invoked Safeguard to shield her from the heat. Fortunately, Normad, Paul and Cobalt did not show signs of heat exhaustion. Even though the heat did not affect the group, it did not prevent them from smelling the sulphur stench from the lava.
Despite Solestral complaining about the smell clogging her nose, the group conversed about how to get her to the bottom of the Mystery Dungeon successfully. Then, Paul brought up an interesting theory.
"Madam Eterna's ability should shield Solestral from the elements of lava, so I believe she can 'breathe' when she was traversing down the lava vortex."
General Cresselia said, "But the book mentioned that fire-proof benefits would not work. So, let's say Eterna's blessing is disabled, is there any other way Solestral can make her way down to the last floor?"
"Learn a new attack move," suggested Normad.
The rest of the group were amazed at his idea. That plan could work as the vortex did not restrain attack moves. Cobalt emphasised on Normad's proposal.
"Solestral might have to learn a new attack move so that she can breathe. How about Substitute? That should help her take damage when she is in the lava vortex."
Paul replied, "Good idea, but how does she learn Substitute? We might need to find it first."
The black kitten questioned, "What do you mean 'find it'? I thought I have to learn the move naturally?"
"It is a Technical Machine, or TM for short. It is a shape like a disk that lies in Lv4 Mystery Dungeons. You can buy TMs from Kecleon Mart, but they don't always have it in stock."
Solestral was baffled, "Technical Machine? Disk? And I thought that this world doesn't have that kind of technology!"
Cobalt responded, "Nothing awkward about this, though. Anyway, there is no need to find it. I have that TM with me."
It took out a white disk from its Psy Space using Psychic and put it on the black kitten's head. The disk radiated white light, and she could hear a voice.
"Do you wish to learn Substitute?"
"Umm, yes?" consented Solestral.
"You have learned Substitute!"
She felt a surge of instructions on how to use the move. All she needed to do was to focus on protecting herself, and her substitute would take the hits for her. It can take any attacks, including the effects of Wands, Orbs and other items that can cause damage to her. The substitute had Health Points. Once it reached zero, the substitute disappeared.
"Oh, wootsie! I am ready to go into the FIRE PIT! Thank you, Mr Cobalt, for using the TM on me," said Solestral excitedly.
"You are welcome," answered Cobalt. "Since the problem with the lava vortex was solved, I think we need to give Solestral some items just in case she that she cannot avoid a battle."
Paul realised that he did not plan for that and replied, "That's right! Oh. I don't have many items left… Ah! You should take this."
Paul gave his Goggle Specs to Solestral. As the black kitten was bewildered of why the blue tortoise did that, he replied.
"Since that is a tough Mystery Dungeon that is unknown to us, it is better to check whether there are nasty traps around."
"Ah. Thank you, Paul," said Solestral in an unusually polite manner.
Paul stuttered as he was not used to her talking to him nicely, "It's…it's fine! Please come back safely, Solestral!"
"Aren't you blushing?" she nudged at him and said, "That's why you are an easy target for bullying, haha! I will return. You have my word!"
The blue tortoise shrugged when he heard that he was susceptible to bullying, but he was happy that Solestral was enthusiastic for the mission.
"As for me," spoke Normad, "I pass you…an Invisify Orb. It turns you invisible…for a while, giving you…ample time to escape from the residents."
Solestral accepted Normad's gift and put it in her backpack. She spoke to him, "Thanks, Normad. This will really help me in a pinch!"
"I apologise that…I don't have many useful items in my sling bag. We have spent…too many items in Mirage Water Cave Mystery Dungeon."
The black kitten shook her head and said, "No…no! It is fine. It is just that we had gotten in a sticky situation, huh?"
"Indeed. Be safe, Solestral."
General Cresselia smiled, "Well, Solestral, I have a special item for you."
She plucked three feathers out of her body. It shone a faint green light."
"These are Lunar Wings. They can prevent nightmares. Each of my feathers can be utilised once. It will activate once you are having a nightmare, even when the feather is in your sling bag."
Solestral was amused. "Nightmares? You mean that there are Pokémon that can use this move?"
"Yes. If the Pokémon inflict nightmare on you, you will fall asleep and having nightmares. That makes you vulnerable to attacks."
"Ah. These will be necessary for my survival then! Thank you for the feathers, General Cresselia."
The crescent Pokémon shook her head. "No, I should be thanking you for helping us to save the world. It is no easy feat, but I feel that you will not back down without a fight."
Solestral spoke half-heartedly, "Well…yeah. Not exactly I won't run away, but do I have a choice?" Next, she stared at the sky and continued saying, "No. I should not be complaining. I should be proud that I am chosen for this mission."
"It is remarkable that you are self-reflecting at such a young age," said Cobalt, "By the way, I have an item that I know that you will use it at the right time."
It used Psychic to take an item out of its Psy Space. That item was an Orb with two arrows flipped at each other. Cobalt described that item.
"It is Stats Switch Orb. You can switch your stat with the other Pokémon. It cannot be used in a boss battle, but you can use this when you perceive a strong foe in other floors. Your stat change is only last till you exit the floor though."
The black kitten replied, "This will come in handy. Thanks again, Mr Cobalt."
Cobalt nodded and responded, "All the best for your final trial, Solestral."
Solestral wore the Google Specs and put the rest of the items given to her into her sling bag. She then peered at the Lava Floodplains Mystery Dungeon's red portal and sighed.
"Alright, here I go then."
She entered the portal. On the other side of it, the one-room floor was a lava lake with few cooled lands. There were nine species of Pokémon having a blast swimming in the lava: Magmortar, Typhlosion, Magcargo, Camerupt, Torkoal, Emboar, Chandelure, Salazzle and Turtonator, though Chandelure looked like phasing in and phasing out of it. She also noticed a huge lava vortex at the centre of the room. She scanned for areas she could take to reach the lava vortex quickly. Once she had decided where to go, she dipped her paw into the lava to test whether she immuned to heat. To her surprise, the lava felt like a warm shower. Yet, it still smelled like rotten eggs.
"Argh, if only I don't have a sensitive nose." she moaned, "Anyway, I guess I have to swim over to that lava vortex. I need to be careful not to get caught by the residents. By the way, will my sling bag catches fire?"
She lowered herself to the lava pool with her hind legs. Fortunately, her sling bag did not burn, which made her wonder whether the sling bag was the strongest non-living thing in the universe. She then swam as quiet as she could in the lava. All she could hear was the lava bubbling, so she hoped that the sound of it would mask her presence. When she was close to the lava vortex, she eyed at Salazzle swimming briskly around it.
The black kitten thought, "I guess I have to dive and swim straight into the vortex. Time to use Substitute!"
She used the move. The imitation of herself enveloped her, and with enough space for her to breathe. She dived into the lava and swam towards the vortex. Soon, she could feel the pull of the lava vortex and drag into it. As she traversed down the lava vortex, she detected something zooming passed her. She turned her head around and saw Chandelure giggling at her.
"Hehehe! You think that you can outrun me by using this easy path? Prepare to plunge into your deepest despair!"
It used Shadow Ball. The shadowy blob hit Solestral's substitute. The black kitten could feel her imitation could only take another hit of that attack. She had no choice but to use her attack. She chose Flamethrower since that was her only long-range attack that could hit an agile target. But when her fire landed, she was shocked that Chandelure became powered up.
The ghost lamp laughed, "You didn't know I have Flash Fire ability? You are in a lot of trouble, kitty!"
It used Fire Blast. Solestral could not evade that attack. The huge fire attack caused her substitute to break. To prevent the lava from entering her nostrils, she quickly conjured another Substitute. She felt her health points had drained substantially from using the move. Agitated by Chandelure's attack, she decided to go all out.
She spoke angrily, "You piece of broken glass… You regret mocking me!"
The black kitten used Syncross. That gave her an extra boost of speed to catch up to the ghost lamp. She then tackled it, and it knocked out of the lava vortex. She contented to hear the ghost lamp screaming at the distance, till she heard no more. After deactivated her ability, she reserved her strength until she emerged out of the bottom of the lava vortex.
She landed on her four paws on the solid ground. She looked around the final floor. Lava oozing out of the rocky walls form a lava river at the edge of the room. There were Trap Tiles on the floor that she had never seen before. At the centre of the room was a red four-legged Pokémon with water hoses connected to form an arc. The arc illuminated blue light. The Pokémon bellowed in a low tone.
"Welcome to the final Special Mystery Dungeon, feline! My name is Volcanion. I am the final guardian protecting the answer you seek. I have heard about your achievements from the other two guardians. You had good creativity and luck. Let's see you can win against me!"
It initiated an attack without Solestral had the chance to speak to it. It used Earthquake. The super-effective attack instantly shattered her imitation. The black kitten was stunned, but she could not let her nerves paralysed her. She needed to act quickly to avoid another hit. And to her surprise, Volcanion used another Earthquake. She leapt as high as she could to avoid the attack, and in the meantime, took out a Disabling Wand and waved it at the guardian. The orange sparks surrounded it, prevented it from using Earthquake.
"Good thinking," it said, "but that is not the only strong move I got."
It shot Sludge Bomb at Solestral. The black kitten dodged the attack, but the guardian repeatedly shot Sludge Bombs at her. Soon, the ground became mostly covered in a gooey mess. As Solestral tried not to land on the Trap Tiles and the sludge, she continued to hop around the little ground she had left. Volcanion had planned this all along. It used Steam Eruption from its two hoses. The immensely powerful hot water jet rammed at the black kitty, causing her to smack into the wall. She then slid off the wall and fell onto the lava river.
"It is so strong!" she muttered, "I don't have much vitality left. But since I am here, I cannot give up!"
Solestral used Syncross. In full power, she let loose a huge Flamethrower at Volcanion. Even as the guardian resistant to fire attacks, the blazing flames could hurt it. She continued to spew fire until she managed to get close to the guardian, then she switched her attack to Bite. She bit on the left hose so hard that even Volcanion's armour could not withstand the attack. The guardian roared in pain and tried to fling her away but to no avail.
As the black kitten still held onto Volcanion's left hose, she spotted a Trap Tile that had a symbol of rage. She wondered what it would do to her.
"If that could give me an edge in battle, why not?" she thought.
She then let go of her grip and triggered that trap. Instantly, her mind went blank, but only anger at Volcanion remained. The golden glow that shrouded her became dark red. She screeched and dashed at the guardian. The guardian was taken aback and said.
"That was…Berserk Tile isn't it? This isn't good. I need to protect myself!"
It used Haze. The smoke blinded Solestral view, but it did not block her sense of smell. In the end, she managed to find the guardian and bit its left hose again. Volcanion could feel that its hose was breaking apart. Desperate, it used Sludge Bomb at the black kitten repeatedly, but she still bit its hose. It even used a weaker version of Steam Eruption from its right hose at the black kitten, but she did not budge. It then resorted to slamming her onto the ground. After a few attempts, Solestral had fainted from the blow. The guardian took a sigh of relief and spoke to her.
"That was a reckless attack. But you did it anyway because you understood the priority. Even though you have lost, I will tell you the final clue you seek. I deem you worthy. I hope that you know who you need to deal once you know the truth."
It then inhaled and continued to speak, "A being splits into a hundred to remain undetected. They feast on the planet core, and once they are full, they join together to form its dragon form. It will surface from the core and attempt to shatter the planet. The inevitable draws near..."
And after its words, the Mystery Dungeon teleported Solestral away.