DarkFoxKit: TM? Are you okay? You look a little… *Sees steam coming out of TM's head* … steamed.

Traveling Master: *I was too focused playing on my Switch, watching as a Pokemon Egg started to hatch. Soon the egg hatch, revealing a regular looking Dieno* DANG IT! That's it, I'm done. That was the last egg, I'm giving up. I already lost count on how many eggs I tried hatching, just to get one stinking shiny Dieno! But no. Not a single one! *Stares at the mass of non-shiny Dieno in my PC box* NOT A SINGLE ONE!

DarkFoxKit: It's Deino.

Traveling Master: *Turns off Switch* You'd think after hatching so many Deino, I'd learn how to correctly spell the stinking name!

DarkFoxKit: A shiny hunter you are not. ^^' And neither are you lucky with the shiny eggs.

Traveling Master: Nope. While I've gotten a few...three shinies, those were from events, so I didn't really catch one. The only time I ever did catch a shiny Pokemon was when I played Omega Ruby, and it was a stinking Purugly! And since then, I never had any other encounter with any shiny. So I'm gonna take a break from shiny hunting.

DarkFoxKit: Well… uh… on the plus side, we can update today. We managed to get another chapter done. So, uh… hooray?

Traveling Master: Hooray, *I tiredly cheered with one arm in the air*

DarkFoxKit: Huh… *Looks at her own Switch* oh look, I managed to hatch a shiny Dreepy.

Traveling Master: …...Imma go now… Enjoy the chapter. *I just leave without another word*

Dust: Oh, since he left, does this mean I get to do the reviews today?

DarkFoxKit: No. *Drags TM into the reviews*

Traveling Master: Come on! Just let me sulk on my own!


Chapter 37: Confrontation and Resolution

It had been days since Berry had opened up to Dust about her feelings towards Eclipse. After comforting Berry through the night, Dust had noticed that Berry had fallen asleep, having been exhausted from all the pent up pressure and burden. Having finally told Dust her thoughts, Dust wasn't surprised to see his friend passed out. Gently picking Berry up, Dust returned back to their room. Shab and Cliff were worried when they saw Berry passed out, but Dust then explained what happened, calming the two.

In the morning, after everyone had woken up, Dust had suggested that they focus on just relaxing for the day, seeing how stressful the week has been.

Berry was a bit worried about how Dust would feel about how she felt about his mother. She asked Dust if he was really okay with what she said to him about Eclipse. Dust just gave Berry a smile and told her not to worry about it, and that he needed to deal with some issues with his mother of his own.

That was where Dust found himself now. He was at Chihiro's office, requesting a message.

"You realize that sending a message like this to a Master Rank of another guild usually costs a lot of Poke to deliver, don't you?" Chihiro asked. "Hand delivery to important Crusaders like that doesn't come cheap after all, otherwise they'd get junk mail every day."

Dust nodded. "I'm fully aware of the cost, but this is something that needs to be settled now. I don't know when I'll see my mother again, and I can't wait until I become Gold Rank to return back and speak with her then."

The Dragapult gave a bit of a sigh. "Very well then. Since you are family, I'll see if there's a discount I can give you."

So Dust ended up spending about 5,000 Poke to get the message delivered to his mother. It was a bit of a hefty price, though Chihiro did give him a discount as the original price was about 8,000 Poke. So Dust now just had to wait. While his team didn't go on missions, they did still keep themselves busy at the Dojo. Berry would often go to the Dojo, either with Shab and Cliff or alone. Berry seemed to have some kind of drive to get stronger, or at least, learn a new way to battle than how she had been before. Dust wanted to ask her, but he decided to wait until after his confrontation with his mother.

Berry and Shab still took care of Cliff, and Dust did too. Cliff was like the heart of the team lately, she kept them relaxed despite these tense times, and the little Larvitar may have somewhat of a realization of this, since she often acted cuter than normal to get their attention.

Before long, Dust heard a knock on the door that night. Berry, Shab, and Cliff were all asleep, and Dust didn't want them to wake up, so the Absol walked over to the door to answer it.

A familiar Flygon was on the other side of the door. "Hey, Dust Absol, correct? It's me, Gale, your friendly, neighborhood mailmon."

Dust looked back into the room before facing the Flygon, making sure to whisper. "Gale, a pleasure to see you. It's rather late though. Is there something I can help with?"

"I know it's late, but it's not my fault she decided to be nocturnal…" Gale muttered. "Eclipse Absol is here to see you actually, she's waiting for you at the Guildmaster's room."

"Mother's here?" Dust asked, surprised by what Gale had just said. "But I sent that message only recently. How did she even get here so fast?"

"There must be something she wanted to do here. You know Eclipse doesn't mess around when she has something in mind," Gale remarked. "You should go to her soon, it's best not to keep her waiting."

"Thank you, Gale," Dust replied before walking past the Flygon. "Oh, by chance have you spoken with your old friend? The Shiny Trapinch?"

Gale frowned a little. "Haven't had a chance to even go to the Phoenix Desert. Maybe one day… but I've got more deliveries to make, and then turn in for the night."

"Good luck with that," Dust waved goodbye before heading towards Chihiro's office.

"Good luck with you too," Gale chuckled before he flew off in the opposite direction.

Dust felt nervous as he walked down the almost empty hallway. There were a few other Crusaders lurking about, but most of them were either asleep or out on night missions. It was usually really quiet at this time of night. Dust didn't really know what to say, he surely wasn't expecting his mother to arrive so quickly. But just as Gale had said, when Eclipse had something set on her mind, nothing could stop her.

Dust had finally reached Chihiro's doors, hearing voices on the other side. Even though they were speaking in a hushed tone, Dust recognized them as Chihiro and Eclipse. Knowing it was now or never, Dust took a deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting for this upcoming confrontation.

The door opened, almost as if on its own. Though it was because of Phantom and Spooks, they opened the door for Dust.

"Ah, Dust, glad you could join us tonight," Chihiro greeted. "Eclipse has gotten your message."

Eclipse was looking over at her son, though her expression was unreadable as usual.

"I was rather surprised by the sudden request, but luckily I was rather close to White Leaf Town when I received the message," Eclipse remarked. "Chihiro, do you mind giving me and Dust some time to speak alone?"

"Of course not, I'll be as gone as a Tepig in the old human slaughter house," Chihiro remarked.

"... That was a dark pun, even for you," Eclipse noted.

"I felt it was appropriate," Chihiro stated before she started floating to the door. "Come along, kids, we should leave these two to their chat."

Phantom and Spooks went into Chihiro's horn, getting comfortable as the Dragapult left the two Absol alone in the room.

Silence filled the room as the two Absol looked at each other. Last time Dust was alone with his mother, he was nervous, but that was because he hadn't seen her in months. Though that reunion turned out rather well. This time it was different. While Dust was nervous, it was because he was the one to have his mother come, and it would be him confronting his mother this time, instead of the other way around.

After a while, Eclipse decided to be the first to break the silence.

"So… I was told that you wanted to talk to me, Dust," Eclipse stated, looking at Dust. "I may have been near White Leaf Town when I received the message, but I would rather not be called out here unless it was important. Since you did have to pay to get the message delivered, however, I know it had to be important. So what did you want to talk to me about, Dust?"

Dust took a deep breath, to help calm his racing heart. It helped a little, but he was still feeling nervous. "First off, thank you for coming, mother. As well, I wanted to thank you for your suggestion concerning my team's rank in becoming Silver Rank instead of Bronze."

Eclipse was a bit surprised that Dust had found out rather quickly about her input, but figured Dust would've found out sooner or later. "You're welcome. I felt your team at least deserved Silver Rank after all the trouble you went through."

"Again, thank you for that, mother," Dust replied.

"Dust, I hope this isn't the only reason for calling me," Eclipse stated. "While I am glad you appreciate what I did, it would be a waste of my time and your money if this was the only reason you called me out here for."

Dust shook his head. "No mother, there's something else."

Dust paused for a moment, taking another deep breath. Part of him was afraid, never before had he confronted his mother. But after seeing Berry break down in tears, he knew he had to speak to Eclipse about what she'd done. If he didn't, Dust wouldn't be able to call himself Berry's friend.

"Mother, on the night of the tournament when we had faced off against Patricia, what did you say to Berry?" Dust asked.

"What are you looking for specifically? Because I said a lot of things to your partner," Eclipse questioned.

"When I was unconscious, and Berry tried to approach me," Dust specified. "What did you say to her then?"

Eclipse frowned. "I said what needed to be said."

Even though Dust's heart was racing, he decided to push further. "Mother, what did you say?"

The older Absol sighed. "I told her that since becoming your partner, your life had been put in more danger than you had ever been when you were with me. I told her to leave if she wished to stay on the same team as you. You were gravely injured, and your partner didn't protect you. I couldn't trust that she wouldn't be able to protect you the next time something happened, and I needed to make sure your wounds were healed. From what I've heard, your partner's slime is toxic. I did not want her near you with those open wounds of yours."

Dust remained silent for a moment, his heart was pounding harder, but not from being nervous. Dust felt something else instead, but he was too focused on what his mother had just said to realize what he was feeling.

"Mother, I appreciate that you were concerned for me. You always made sure to keep a watchful eye whenever I got into any kind of trouble," Dust started. "But that gives you no right to treat Berry the way you did."

Eclipse sighed as she tried to explain herself. "Dust, you need to understand-"

Dust cut her off, taking a step forward. "No mother, you need to understand that because of what you did, Berry had been tearing herself apart with the guilt you placed over her! I know that ever since coming here my life has been put into danger more than once, but only one of those times was caused by Berry. And we already had a solution for her slimes, it's why I've been wearing this Pecha Scarf everyday since that incident! But every other time my life was in danger was because I was doing what I was supposed to be doing! Being a Crusader!"

Eclipse was, for once, speechless.

"Mother, you are a Master Rank Crusader, you know how dangerous the job itself is," Dust continued. "We are going to get hurt, we are going to experience hardships and pain, and yes, there could be times where our lives would be in danger. What happened with Patricia was out of our league, yeah, but that wasn't Berry's fault. We are Crusaders, we need to face danger like that on a daily basis, Mother. I thought you of all Pokemon would've understood that. Berry had been trying her best to help me, and she's done a great job with that, she had been a wonderful partner who stuck by me even when she had every right to leave me before. I didn't like seeing her upset and paranoid to even let me go on a mission with her because she was afraid I would get hurt again and incur your wrath."

Dust fell silent, realizing he was out of breath. His heart was still racing as he waited for Eclipse's response. Still, his mother was speechless, having heard Dust express himself in such a way. Seeing that Eclipse was not responding, Dust took a deep breath, feeling his heart starting to calm down. He was angry at his mother for what she's done to Berry, but he understood why she did it. A parent would feel that way if someone had put their child's life in danger. Dust then thought of Cliff, of how she was in danger because of Patricia, and how scared she had been recently. And because of Cliff, Dust had been doing things he'd normally never would have thought of doing himself, such as letting her sleep with him, calling him Daddy even Dust isn't her biological father, even telling an old story his mother told him when he was Cliff's age.

"Well…" Eclipse finally spoke up, getting Dust's attention. "I will admit; I may have been a bit too harsh on your partner when I scolded her that night. I was angry and stressed when I saw you hurt, Dust. For as long as I had you, you were never injured as badly as you were that night. I was afraid I would lose you. I was angry that I hadn't been there to protect you, and I was angry that your partner had let that happen to you. But you are right in saying that you are a Crusader now, and these things can happen… even though I'd rather they didn't. I hadn't been fair to your partner either, though I do hope she would do better at protecting you."

Dust then did something that surprised Eclipse even more. The young Absol went up and hugged her, where normally it was Eclipse the one who first hugged Dust.

"Mother, I am grateful for all you've done, and I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that, but… you can be a bit much sometimes," Dust lightly chuckled.

Eclipse started laughing. "Oh, Dust… those are the words your father used to say that to me when we first got together. You're just like him sometimes, especially when it comes to his own curiosity and desire for knowledge… and I hadn't realized how much you've grown since coming here, but it would seem like you have in more ways than one."

Dust was now speechless. This was the first time his mother mentioned anything about his father. But what was even more shocking was hearing his mother laugh. He didn't know if he should be worried or relieved, this was something he never experienced.

"What? Meowth got your tongue?" Eclipse chuckled.

Dust blushed a bit.

"I will apologize about how I treated your partner," Eclipse sighed. "I suppose it wasn't fair of me to judge her based on what I've heard, and only seen what she could do in the tournament. From what you've told me, your partner is quite sensitive, and very… soft, in more ways than one. It's hard to believe that someone with her kind of raw power would be as sensitive as she is."

"Heh, it's something that still surprises me, and I was the first to witness it too. But Berry wants to use her own strengths rather than trying to rely on an unstable power. And while I do respect her wishes, it doesn't change the fact that she still has this raw power. I wish I could help her more, but so far none of us really know how to help Berry to better control that power," Dust explained.

"I will say it's best to take it one step at a time, until she's come to terms with that power herself, and that she'll have to learn to control it," Eclipse remarked. "We can't make someone use something if they don't want to after all. That battle with that Hakamo-o proved that. And, there is one other thing I'd like to talk to you about, Dust."

Eclipse gave Dust a sudden serious look on her face. "... When were you going to tell me you had a child?"

Dust went wide eyed when Eclipse asked that. "O-oh...Uh...What ever could you possibly mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean; that little Larvitar that called me 'grandma'. You know, I may be getting up in the years, but I'm still too young to be a grandmother!" Eclipse frowned. "Don't try to play dumb, Dust. Or do you want me to hunt down where your room is and see this little Larvitar child myself again to prove my point?"

"No no no!" Dust quickly said while shaking his head. "They are all asleep and I rather you not wake them up."

"Then tell me about that Larvitar right now," Eclipse demanded. "How did you end up with that child?"

Dust sighed, knowing that he would have to tell his mother about Cliff at some point. "Remember when I told you about the Phoenix Desert Dungeon, where me and Berry went after an outlaw?"

"Yes," Eclipse replied.

Dust took a deep breath as he prepared to give a long explanation. "Well…"

Dust then went on to explain how exactly Cliff came to be. From the beginning to when Dust and Berry first entered the desert dungeon, to accidentally falling into the underground tunnels, and then to his one on one match with the shiny Trapinch.

"It was during that match that I accidentally tripped over what I assumed to be a rock. I then noticed how it had a unique color, and I was so fascinated by it I had decided to take it with me later, not knowing it was in fact an egg. Later, on Princess day, just as I showed Berry the rock, it happened to hatch, revealing a baby Larvitar who ended up imprinting on both me and Berry. Since then we've been caring for her," Dust explained.

Eclipse was suddenly laughing. "Of course! Of course you would mistake an egg for a rock of all things! And what a present to give to your female partner on Princess Day! You just gave her a baby!"

Eclipse was on the floor at this point, unable to stop laughing. Dust just stood there, unsure of how to react. He was left speechless once more, never having seen his mother react in such a way. So he just stood there, watching Eclipse laughter fill the room. After a while, Eclipse started to calm down as she was trying to catch her breath.

"You are definitely your father's son. I haven't laughed like that since…" Eclipse frowned for a moment before shaking her head, as though trying to shake away a thought. She then smiled at Dust. "Either way, Dust, you never cease to surprise me. I guess it was too much to ask for no more surprises."

"I...uh...I'm sorry?" Dust was still unused to seeing his mother like this.

Eclipse let out a sigh, having finally calmed down. "While I can't say I like that your life would be in constant danger… I realize that I can't keep protecting you forever, especially since you are a part of this guild now, and you are expected to work hard just like everyone else here. I am happy to see you are growing here though, making new friends, and building up your own reputation. Maybe one day, I will hear your team name from all the way in the Olympius Guild, and perhaps you will soon join me in the Master Rank before long."

Dust let out a little chuckle. "Master Rank? Mother, I still have to focus on getting Gold Rank. I don't really see myself reaching a rank like yours."

"If you keep up what you've been doing and improve yourself, you will, one day," Eclipse replied. "Take care of yourself, and your partners, they will help you achieve what you couldn't alone."

"Thanks Mother. And thanks for coming in the first place," Dust smiled.

"Yeah, well, hopefully you won't need to talk to me again for a while until the next time we meet. I look forward to hearing more of your achievements by then," Eclipse stated. "And don't you dare go dying on me, or I will go into the Distortion World myself and drag your soul out of there to punish you for dying on me."

Dust gave a nervous chuckle. While something like that seemed impossible, knowing his mother, Dust wouldn't be surprised if Eclipse did exactly that. "I wouldn't expect it any other way."


Although Eclipse did talk to Berry and apologized about her behavior involving Dust, Berry stiffly nodded to Eclipse and didn't say much more about it. Berry didn't want to get on Eclipse's bad side, nor did she know how to react around Eclipse. Though Berry was a bit more at ease with Dust going on missions with them again. It made things less awkward between Team Night Tide again, though there was a little more respect towards Dust lately.

It was early in the morning when Dust had woken up and noticed that Berry was missing. While before this would've made Dust very concerned, after he learned what Berry had been doing the past couple of days, he figured that Berry had gotten up earlier to train at the Dojo. Dust then thought about Berry's training, only seeing a glimpse of it last time before he interrupted her training. Now curious, Dust got up, making sure not to wake Cliff or Shab, and headed out the door.

When Dust made it to the Dojo, he slowly looked to see if the Goomy was there. Sure enough, Berry was in the middle of the arena. She looked as though she was waiting for something. Dust moved a little closer, before seeing a Water Gun being fired at Berry, and Berry took the attack head on.

Dust was alarmed by the sudden attack and was about to call out to Berry, but then he remembered this was something similar she did last time he saw her. So for now, Dust decided to wait and see what kind of training Berry had been doing. The Water Gun attack soon stopped, and Berry frowned a little.

"It's not quite enough…" Berry muttered. "Maybe I should get a sparring partner to help?"

"Anything I can do to help?" Dust asked, seeing now was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Berry turned over to the Absol, surprised to see him. "Dust? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see how your training has been going. I only got a glimpse of it last time before I had interrupted you," Dust explained. "What is it exactly you're trying to do, by the way?"

Berry gave a thoughtful look at Dust for a moment, before deciding on something. "Hmm… well… I suppose since you're here… I could show you if you're really willing to help me."

Dust nodded. "Sure, what do you need me to do?"

"I want you to attack me," Berry answered. "You can use any of your attacks."

"What? Even Ice Beam?" Dust asked with concern.

"Yes, the harder the attacks hit, the better," The Goomy replied. "Okay, maybe don't go all out on me. Just enough to cause some kind of damage."

Dust was a bit reluctant, but knowing that Berry was capable of taking some major hits, he agreed. "If you say so. But if things start to get out of hand, let me know and I'll stop."

"Of course, I won't overdo it," Berry reassured before she slithered back a few feet, then she began to brace herself. "Okay, Dust, come at me when you're ready."

"Okay," Dust replied, still unsure of what Berry was exactly planning.

Dust decided to start things off with Iron Tail. Even though Berry did tell him using Ice Beam was fine, he'd hold off on using that move until later. For now, he charged at Berry as his tail hardened. Jumping forward, Dust twisted his body as he swung his tail towards Berry, who made no indication to dodge the attack. Berry took the attack straight on. She stood her ground despite the Iron Tail slamming into her.

Dust noticed that Berry's body was glowing with a red aura. Berry looked up with determination on her face, and some wounds from the Iron Tail. She didn't make any indication that she was going to make a move yet, however.

"You're not finished yet. Keep going, Dust," Berry stated.

Dust blinked a couple times before nodding, seeing that Berry was fully prepared to take on his attacks. Dust jumped back a bit, to give him some space to prepare his next attack. Berry watched Dust, waiting for his next attack when suddenly his body vanished. A second later, Dust was besides Berry, having used Faint Attack to hit her on her side. Despite the surprise attack, Berry still held her ground as her body gave off that same glowing red aura. Dust didn't stop though as he quickly spun to the side, his tail already hardened as he hit Berry's other side with Iron Tail. Soon Dust went from using Faint Attack to Iron Tail, switching between the two as he constantly attacked Berry.

Despite all the attacks, Berry was taking it. Her body was getting really bright red now. It looked like Berry was barely holding whatever it was back now. Dust could see he likely had one more attack in before Berry finished whatever it was she was doing.

Seeing that Berry had been able to take on all his recent attacks, Dust still had not used Ice Beam. But now that she was this close, Dust decided now would be the best time to use Ice Beam. Dust opened his mouth as he drew in energy, preparing to use Ice Beam, though he made sure to hold somewhat back, not wanting to cause Berry too much harm.

Berry saw that Dust was preparing to use Ice Beam, so she braced herself, knowing full well on how much ice attacks hurt her. Satisfied, Dust fired the Ice Beam at Berry. Berry braced herself from the incoming Ice Beam, which slammed into her almost full force.

Berry shut her eyes for a moment, trying to ride through the pain. Then, a second later, Berry turned away from Dust before she fired out a powerful white beam from her mouth that completely obliterated any dummies that were right in front of her.

Dust stared wide eyed at seeing such a powerful attack. It was almost similar to when Berry used her outburst, though this time Dust didn't feel any sense of dread or pressure.

"Incredible!" Dust exclaimed. "What did you do? Was that an outburst?"

Berry shook her head. "That was a move called 'Bide'. It's where I take as many hits from the opponent as possible, build up whatever damages they throw at me, and then double all of that right back at them. Admittedly though, Bide is a move that one would need to tank hits for, so it's pretty risky."

"I can see why," Dust noted. "I've only read about the move, never having seen it in action. For a moment there, I thought it was one of your outbursts. Only difference is that I didn't feel any pressure or sense of warning when you used it. When did you learn how to use this move?"

"I've been trying to learn it for the past several days actually," Berry admitted. "Ever since that tournament incident, I've been looking for ways to fight better defensively, not just offensively. Perhaps you could also teach me how to use Protect at some point, or maybe I can learn how to use a healing move so we don't always need to rely on Oran Berries to heal our wounds."

"Let's start with Protect then. I haven't really read much on healing moves, so I wouldn't know which ones you would be able to learn. Maybe we can speak with Otti later, she might know which moves you might be able to learn," Dust suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," Berry agreed.


Another day had passed. Dust was able to help Berry learn how to use Protect without needing to buy a TM for it, since those were always expensive. Shab and Cliff would join them at the Dojo to try to sharpen their own skills, and Cliff still wanted to learn how to fight so she could go on missions herself one day.

In fact, when Dust was watching Cliff trying her best to learn how to battle so she could handle herself, it gave him an idea. It had been a while since he went on a Research Mission, and he had been dying to go back to the Wild Area to study the wild Pokemon outside of Mystery Dungeons. Research Missions were also usually safe, when it wasn't mating season.

"So what do you think about doing another research mission?" Dust suddenly brought up.

"A research mission?" Shab asked. "Are you sure it's safe to go this time?"

"It should be, it's been a month since our last research mission," Dust stated. "And I'm sure Cliff would like to go on her first mission with us soon. What better mission to start with than the research mission where wild Pokemon aren't automatically hostile?"

Berry blinked, looking over at Cliff for a moment. "You… really think she's ready to go on a mission?"

"Absolutely," Dust confirmed. "She's been doing well when she's with us in the Dojo and has expressed her desire to come out with us when we do our missions. This would be the perfect opportunity to show her some of the things we do, at least during a Research Mission. It'd be a great learning experience for her."

"Could I? Could I really come on a mission?" Cliff asked in excitement. "I'd love to come!"

Berry was a bit hesitant, she still felt Cliff was a bit too young, but on the other hand, Dust had a point. Cliff was indeed showing a desire to go on a real mission with them, and it wouldn't be fair to keep holding the Larvitar back just because she was young.

"We'll be there right beside her, Berry," Shab promised. "I'm sure Cliff will be fine, and this is a good opportunity for her to learn what a mission could be like, even though it's a safe mission."

"I guess…" Berry reluctantly agreed. "A Research Mission is probably the best possible first mission for her."

"Great, let's head back to our room and get packing for a Research Mission then." Dust grinned.

"Yay! I'm going on my first mission!" Cliff cheerfully said.

Although Dust could carry Cliff, Cliff seemed to like to walk on her own lately, likely to prove she was big enough to carry herself now. Cliff's speech was also starting to improve lately as well. She was growing up quickly in Dust's eyes. At least Berry still rode on top of Dust's back, she was a lot more at ease with riding on Dust again after Eclipse had apologized.

After getting all the necessary papers from Chihiro, as well as making sure they had enough supplies. Chihiro stopped them from leaving, however.

"Hold on, before you all go out," Chihiro spoke up. "There's a carrier Pidgey who wanted to see Team Night Tide in the lobby. You better check out what they have for you before leaving."

"A carrier Pidgey? What's that?" Cliff asked.

"Think of them kinda like the mailmon. Though while mailmon typically handle general mail and delivery, a carrier Pidgey is tasked with delivering mail to a specific Pokemon in a short amount of time, though it does cost quite a lot to send one," Dust explained. "I wonder what message the Pidgey has for us."

"We should go find out, it might be something important if someone is using a carrier Pidgey to contact us," Berry suggested.

Dust began to walk out of Chihiro's office, carrying Berry and Shab as usual, while Cliff walked beside Dust, still wanting to show she was a big girl and didn't need to ride on her 'daddy'. Dust was just fine with that, because the extra weight would've made it difficult for him to move much.

When Dust and Cliff walked into the lobby of the guild, Berry pointed out a Pidgey wearing a green mail hat, and had a scroll case strapped to its back, likely where the letter it was supposed to deliver was. As they got closer, the Pidgey noticed Dust and the others.

"Ah, by chance are you Team Night Tide?" The Pidgey asked. "I was told to keep an eye out for an Absol with a Goomy and Feebas stack."

"Uh… yeah, that would be us," Berry spoke up.

The Pidgey nodded, before he turned his head to the scroll case, and pulled out a piece of paper with his beak. "I was told to deliver this straight to Team Night Tide."

Taking the piece of paper, Dust started reading the paper out loud. "Dear Team Night Tide, news of your reputation has spread far and wide. There had been a discovery of a missing town that was said to have disappeared at the Sunken Tunnel Mystery Dungeon. If possible, I would like for you to send in members who are aquatic Pokemon to find the missing town at the Sunken Tunnel, and see if it's truly there or if it's just another rumor. You will be rewarded of course for this. It is a B rank mission due to the Sunken Tunnel being a B rank dungeon. When you are done with this mission, take this letter to Miyagi."

Once Dust had finished reading the paper, he flipped it around to see if there was anything on the backside, but there wasn't. He read the message again and gave a disappointed sigh. On the one paw, the idea of a possible missing town in a dungeon was very interesting to him. The only problem is that whoever sent this message had specifically requested for aquatic Pokemon to take on this mission.

"Well, me and Cliff won't be able to take on this mission. While I can at least swim, something tells me this mission will involve a lot of exploring underwater," Dust explained.

"So… do you want me and Shab to go?" Berry asked. "Both of us can explore underwater just fine, but…"

"Do you… want us to go next time? I mean we did agree to go on the Research Mission with you and Cliff today," Shab asked.

"While I would love to, I think it's best if you two go now. I've read a bit about Sunken Tunnel, apparently there's rumors that Kyogre was spotted there. And while I would have loved to explore that dungeon, I quickly learned that it's mostly a watery type dungeon," Dust said. "Plus, from what I remember, that dungeon doesn't stay open for long. Which would explain why the missing town was discovered only recently, considering how often the dungeon closes. If it's open now, this is the perfect opportunity for you two to go and see if that town is there. We may even get a lot of points for this."

"If it's important, Mommy and Uncle Shab should go. I'll stay with Daddy on my first mission like a good girl," Cliff promised, understanding how important the water mission apparently was.

"Thank you, Cliff," Berry replied with a small smile. "You keep an eye on Daddy, okay? He can get carried away with research. Make sure he comes back before it gets dark."

"I promise, Mommy!" Cliff smiled.

"Shab and I better get our own bag and pack up supplies before going to the Sunken Tunnel," Berry stated to Dust.

"Good luck then. Make sure to be extra attentive while on this mission, especially if you do happen to come across the missing town. Who knows what ancient history could be left behind?! I look forward to your return," Dust happily exclaimed.

"Calm down, Dust, before you blow something," Berry chuckled.

Shab then realized something. I'm going on a mission… alone with Berry… to discover some ancient ruins underwater… Could this day get any better!? I better not blow this mission. I want to impress Berry, not make things harder for her after all.


Berry and Shab had to buy a new bag for themselves, so they could pack up supplies for their own mission. Meanwhile, since Dust had already packed up supplies for the Research Mission, he decided to go ahead with Cliff. Since Berry wouldn't be riding on Dust's back, she and Shab were going to take a while to get everything ready. Dust, along with Cliff, headed to the Carriage.

"My, who is this little cutie you have with you?" Twilight, the Psychic type Ponyta, asked with a smile when he noticed Cliff with Dust.

"We haven't seen you in a while, and we see you've replaced your Goomy friend with a baby Larvitar?" Sunny, the Fire type Ponyta, questioned, though she gave a playful jab in her words.

"Berry wasn't replaced, just that she and Shab had to prepare to go on another mission," Dust explained. "At the meantime, me and Cliff here will be doing a Research Mission. This will be her first time and we thought it'd be a great learning experience for her."

"Aww, babies grow up so fast, don't they?" Twilight chuckled. "I'd say this is a great opportunity for the Larvitar to see the world while she's young."

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Just hop on in and make sure she doesn't fall out during the ride."

Dust chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, she's had her fair share of rides. But I'll make sure she doesn't fall, just in case."

Dust picked up Cliff, though she had gained quite a bit of weight. Dust managed to hop into the Carriage with Cliff. Cliff giggled, feeling giddy about riding on the Carriage.

Both Twilight and Sunny were shocked to see Dust lift Cliff, knowing how heavy a Larvitar can be.

"Uh, Dust?" Twilight started. "When you said she had her fair share of rides, did you mean that you gave her rides before?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, when she first hatched she always rode on my back. It was only recently that she had been walking more and more on her own," Dust explained.

"You're serious? You've been giving rides to a Larvitar? Even a newborn is heavy! Your back must hate you right now," Sunny noted.

"Back then it did, and she was indeed heavy. She's even grown more so since then, but I've grown somewhat accustomed to it," Dust said before turning to Cliff. "Plus, it's really hard to say no to her."

Cliff gave an innocent smile. "I'm never too heavy for Daddy."

"Right… well, we should get going now," Sunny remarked.

"Oh yes, I'm excited for the little Larvitar to see what's out there." Twilight smiled.

The two different Ponyta began galloping through the path, heading out into the forest area. Cliff was watching the scenery go by, seeing the trees pass them by, the Flying Pokemon flying over them, and whatever Pokemon that were living out in the forest area. Cliff's eyes were wide and in awe as she watched. Dust had to keep an eye on Cliff to make sure she didn't lean too far off the Carriage in her distraction.

As Dust continued to watch over Cliff, he couldn't help but notice how much she reminded him of himself. He thought about how excited he would get over a new discovery, seeing things he never saw before, as well as being so distracted that he'd cause some sort of trouble to start. Luckily for Cliff, he was there to at least make sure she didn't make the same mistakes he did.

Eventually the carriage crossed a familiar bridge where Dust saw the same stable off in the distance. He remembered the last time he was here, the unfortunate incident involving the wild Absol, as well as that strange occurrence of seeing a wild Goomy riding the Absol. Dust wondered if he would see them again, though part of him wasn't exactly in any rush to do so, not wanting to risk another potential mating incident.

Twilight and Sunny pulled up to the stable, where Dust helped Cliff get down from the carriage before hopping off himself. "Thanks for the ride.

"No problem," Twilight thanked. "And just like last time, we'll be here waiting until you two finish your research mission."

"You ready, Cliff?" Dust asked the Larvitar.

"Yes, I'm ready, Daddy!" Cliff smiled, looking excited.

Before Dust could say anything else, Cliff began to rush ahead, too excited to wait anymore.

"Wait Cliff! You gotta wait for Daddy!" Dust shouted, but then realized what he said. He looked back to see the shocked expression on Twilight and Sunny's face. "I mean...oh nevermind, wait for me Cliff!"

Cliff came up to the top of a hill, and stopped. She was smiling in awe as she saw a lot of Pokemon in the area, just living in the wild. She had seen many Pokemon before while living at the Unity Guild, but it was her first time seeing so many wild Pokemon in one place, but with a large, freer environment.

Cliff was about to run off once more but then Dust managed to catch up to her. Holding her in place, Dust took a couple of deep breaths before speaking. "Cliff, while I do appreciate your enthusiasm, you can't go running off like that. It might be safer compared to a normal dungeon, but these Pokemon are still wild, and some of them might attack you if provoked."

Cliff frowned a little. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I got a bit too excited. There are so many Pokemon here… I just want to go see them all."

"And I completely understand. So let's go see them all together," Dust suggested.

Cliff smiled as Dust stood up, and both of them began walking down the hill.


Meanwhile, back at White Leaf Town, Berry and Shab just finished packing up their supplies. Berry was a bit nervous, although she had gone on small missions without Dust before, and that one mission at Waterfall Cavern, this was her first time going on an official mission that was higher than D Rank without Dust. She was pretty nervous about it.

"You think we have everything, Shab? You think we're ready to take on a B-Rank dungeon without our leader?" Berry asked the Feebas nervously as they were heading towards the Carriage.

"Berry, we've been doing missions over the past couple of days on our own, and you have been training a lot. We'll be in our environment where I know that together, we can face anything," Shab reassured.

Berry took a deep breath and let it out to calm down a bit. "Y-yeah, you're right. I'm sure we can do it… it's just… the last time I went on my own to a B-Rank dungeon, I had to face with a really big and strong Dragon Pokemon. I just hope we don't run into anything like that in the Sunken Tunnel… like that possible Kyogre Dust was telling us about."

"We'll be fine. And if we do happen to run into Kyogre, I'll make sure that they won't harm you in any way," Shab confidently exclaimed.

Berry looked at the Feebas, not sure how Shab planned to make sure a Legendary Pokemon like Kyogre wouldn't be able to do her any harm, but she supposed she appreciated the sentiment. "Let's hope that Kyogre will decide that we're not worth the trouble if they do show up for whatever reason. We're only going to the Sunken Tunnel to see if this missin town is actually there or not anyways."

The two finally made it to the Carriage. Since they were small and light weighted Pokemon, they only seeded a one seater. This Carriage was being pulled by a Midday form Lycanroc.

"Where are you headed?" The Lycanroc asked.

Berry held out the paper with her antennae to the Lycanroc to let her study the page. The Lycanroc blinked for a moment, before sighing. "Great, a Water dungeon… just hope I don't need to get my fur all wet when I get there… Alright, hop on it."

Berry nodded before she slithered up into the Carriage, and Shab easily hopped up onto it. With both of them in the Carriage, the Lycanroc began running through the path, heading to her destination. Unlike the forest area, however, the Lycanroc was running through a more rocky area. There was a stream next to the road, making the place a bit wet. It was refreshing for Berry and Shab, though the Lycanroc didn't enjoy it as much.

"So, what exactly are you two planning on doing in the Sunken Tunnel dungeon?" The Lycranroc asked between strides. "While I don't normally care for water dungeons, it's not very often you end up seeing rare ones like Sunken Tunnel."

"We were asked to go find a missing town there," Berry answered. "Since we're aquatic Pokemon, we seem to be perfect for the job."

"A missing town?" Lycanroc blinked. "I've heard about that missing town."

"You have?" Shab asked in surprise.

"It's a bit infamous whenever one talks about the Sunken Tunnel," Lycanroc informed. "They say that before it became a Mystery Dungeon that was flooded, the Sunken Tunnel was a beautiful place with a thriving town. But one day, the entire place became flooded, everything there sank and disappeared. Which is why it got the name 'Sunken Tunnel'. Nobody knows why it happened, but it became a Mystery Dungeon after it did."

Berry shivered, she never liked creepy stories, and this sounded like one heck of a creepy story. She was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all.

The remainder of the ride went in silence, with the Lycanroc focusing on getting Berry and Shab to their destination. It wasn't long until the Carriage came to a stop. Berry and Shab turned to see that they were now in front of a bridge that was leading into a large body of water.

"Alright, this is as far as I can take you," Lycanroc stated. "From what I remember, the actual entrance to the dungeon is underwater, though I couldn't tell you how far it goes. Only Water types… or I guess, aquatic Pokemon could ever get that far down there."

Berry and Shab nodded as they got out of the Carriage. Berry looked out at the water, seeing that it was pretty murky.

"I guess this is it," Berry said, looking at Shab. "Are you ready, Shab?"

"With you, I'm always ready," Shab nodded.

"Good luck," Lycranroc waved. "Oh, and let me know if you see Kyogre, rumor has it they've been known to reside here."

"W-we'll… keep that in mind," Berry nervously replied.

"Don't worry, they are nothing more than rumors. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if this 'Kyogre' is just a Wailord," Shab reassured.

"That's not much better," Berry hissed. "Do you know how big Wailord are? One could easily swallow us whole if we're not careful."

"Don't worry, Berry, if we can handle the chaos that was the tournament, we can handle a silly old Wailord," The Feebas reminded.

"Right… okay… let's get this over with," The nervous Goomy gulped.

The two team members of Team Night Tide made their way through the tunnel that would lead them into the dungeon.


Dust was currently looking at some Oddish and Hoppip that were in a flower patch together. He was amazed at how well the two different species got along in the same flower patch. Cliff was sitting to the side, sniffing a flower she had picked from the flower patch. But now she was starting to get bored.

"Now if you look closely, Cliff, you'll notice how Oddish and Hoppip are able to pass along their pollen. Similar to regular flowers, plant based Pokemon are able to achieve the same thing," Dust explained.

"Daddy, how much longer are we gonna be looking at the grass Pokemon? Can we look at the bigger Pokemon?" Cliff asked.

Dust turned to Cliff, and was about to reply when suddenly, the Oddish and Hoppip began to glow, quickly catching the Absol's attention.

"Oh my gosh! Cliff, if I'm not mistaken, it looks like these two might be evolving soon! This is something you don't want to miss!" Dust excited exclaimed as he sat down to watch the two Grass Pokemon.

"Daddy!" Cliff nudged Dust's backside, trying to get his attention.

"In a moment, Cliff," Dust replied, never taking his eyes off the Oddish and Hoppip.

"Hmph," Cliff mumbled as she crossed her arms and sat against Dust's fur.

Cliff was annoyed that Dust was paying more attention to the Oddish and Hoppip, but then something caught the Larvitar's attention. She began to follow it while Dust was distracted.

"Any minute now…" Dust said excitedly.

The Oddish and Hoppip stopped glowing, however, and neither evolved. Instead, they now had a leafy head full of pollen. They spread out the pollen, which made Dust sneeze like crazy.

"ACHOO!" Dust sneezed while shaking his head. "Excuse me...me...meeeeAAAACHOO!"

Dust kept on sneezing, unaware that he was now alone. After a minute or two of sneezing, Dust was able to stop, though he couldn't breath through his nose at the moment.

"Sorry about that Cliff, looks like I got too excited and assumed the Oddish and Hoppip were evolving. We can go look at the other Pokemon now," Dust stated as he waited for a reply. When he didn't get one, he turned around and saw that Cliff wasn't there. "Cliff? Cliff?! Oh no..no..nooAAACHOO!'

Dust quickly moved away from the flower patch, as well as all of that pollen. He shook himself, trying to get rid of all the pollen, and began to look around for the young Larvitar.

"Now where she?" Dust frowned.

Dust then heard a child-like laughter not too far away. Turning his head, he saw Cliff happily jumping after what looked like a Pidgey. The Pidgey was flying low enough for Cliff to try to jump up to it.

"Oh, just a Pidgey. For a moment I was worried she'd run into something much more dangerous," Dust sighed in relief.

Cliff suddenly ran into a tree, not having seen it while she was chasing the Pidgey. Due to Cliff's hard head, this caused the tree to shake, and suddenly several Beedrill came falling out of the tree. The Beedrill were not happy at being disturbed in such a way.

"Oh no, Beedrill!" Dust shouted as he charged towards Cliff, who was still dazed from hitting the tree to notice the swarm of Beedrill.

As Dust got closer to where Cliff was, some of the other Beedrill took notice of the oncoming Absol. While a few continued going for Cliff, the others turned their attention towards Dust. While before, Dust would have been reluctant to charge head first towards an angry group of Beedrill, this time he was more focused on Cliff. He knew he was about to get stung, but that didn't deter him from going after Cliff.

Dust tried dodging some of the Beedrill's giant stingers, and while he managed to get past some of them, he still got stung on his side. Cliff was slowly coming out from her daze as a group of Beedrill were about to attack her. But before they could, Dust fired an Ice Beam at one of them, causing it to be frozen. This caught the attention of the rest of the Beedrill, who all turned away from Cliff and starting going after Dust.

Cliff finally snapped out of her daze, only to see her 'daddy' being stung and attacked by the swarm of Beedrill. "Daddy! You big meanies leave my Daddy alone!"

The Beedrill ignored Cliff as they continued to attack the Absol. Dust had never been so thankful to be wearing his Pecha Scarf, it protected him from being poisoned by the Beedrill's Twineedle attacks, but it still hurt like the Reverse World.

"I… said… leave my Daddy… ALOOOOOOONE!" Cliff unleashed a powerful Screech from her mouth as she screamed.

The Screech caused all the Beedrill to freeze for a moment due to how loud it was. Dust hissed as he ducked his head, putting his paws over his head. After a couple of seconds, Cliff finally stopped as she fell back into a sitting position, exhausted from using Screech. Seeing that Cliff had stopped, as well as the Beedrill being momentarily paralyzed, Dust took this chance to get Cliff away from the Beedrill. Dust winced as he got up, feeling the multiple stings across his body, but he ignored them for now as he went to Cliff and picked her up. Placing her on his back, Dust started running away from the Beedrill, making sure that Cliff had a good grip on his fur.

Alright, next lesson; how to find healing berries while out in the wild… Dust grumbled to himself. I didn't know Cliff had such a strong Screech attack. My head is going to be ringing for a while.


Sunken Tunnel BF1

Meanwhile, Berry and Shab just dropped into the murky water. They were now in the Sunken Tunnel. They were currently on the surface of the water. They could see a few wild Magikarp swimming around, as well as Tentacool, and Basculin. There weren't that many surface dwellers, however.

"Looks like we're in the Mystery Dungeon, Shab," Berry noted.

"Doesn't look like the other Pokemon are very hostile," Shab noticed. "Let's keep going then."

The two aquatic Pokemon began their swim throughout Sunken Tunnel.


Sunken Tunnel BF7

Berry and Shab had been diving down deeper into the Sunken Tunnel with each stairs they found. The murky waters were getting darker the further down they went. They began to run into Pokemon like Chinchou, Relicanth, and surprisingly, there were also Grimer and Muk underwater. Berry noted that sludge Pokemon could also breathe underwater if the water was polluted enough. Berry couldn't help but notice that the water tasted pretty bad, and she was breathing it in.

"It's getting pretty hard to see in this murky water…" Berry frowned.

"I didn't think the water would get like this, though I'm used to this kind of water," Shab stated before looking at Berry. "Do you want to turn back?"

Berry shook her head. "No, we've already come this far, we're not giving up now just because the water is a bit murky. I'll eat an Oran Berry or something if I have to."

Shab couldn't help but worry for Berry. Someone as pure as her should not be in such a dirty water like this, she was much too delicate for this. But Berry seemed determined to see this mission through the end, and he also didn't want to get in the way of that. His concern for Berry's health, and his desire to make her happy was clashing inside him.

"Look out!" Berry suddenly warned Shab before she used Protect, creating a white barrier around them just before a Grimer's Sludge Bomb smashed into the barrier. "Great, more wild Grimer to deal with…"

"Luckily for us, we have the advantage underwater," Shab replied.

It didn't take Berry and Shab long to knock out the Grimer with their Dragon Breath and Ice Beam combination. They took down many wild Grimer and Muk with this. The Water Pokemon were a bit more troublesome, however, as they resisted most of Shab's attacks. Berry usually had to take care of them with her Dragon Breath and Body Slam attack. Unfortunately, Body Slam didn't work so well underwater, but she was still able to pull it off if she needed to.


Sunken Tunnel BF14

It felt like Berry and Shab had been swimming forever. It was dark and cold. They weren't sure how much longer they had to go before reaching their destination, or if they were possibly lost. Even with Berry's antennae, it was difficult for her to tell where to go with how dark and murky the water was.

"Perhaps we should take a break," Shab suggested, seeing how tired Berry looked. "You look like you could use the rest…"

"Y-yeah… a small break… couldn't hurt," Berry agreed, looking to be out of breath.

Grabbing an Oran Berry from their bag, Shab noticed how dirty the berry looked, despite currently being underwater. He checked the other berries and noticed that they also had a murky look to them. Shab tried cleaning the Oran Berry as best as he could, and while it looked a lot better than before, Shab could still see some smudges on the berry.

"Here, Berry, I tried cleaning this as best as I can. You deserve an Oran Berry much cleaner than this, but you need the energy right now," Shab offered the berry to Berry.

Berry looked at the Oran Berry before she opened her mouth. Shab was surprised that Berry was allowing him to feed her, she was likely too tired to just take the Oran Berry with her antennae. Blushing at the opportunity, Shab dropped the Oran Berry into the Goomy's mouth. Berry quickly closed her mouth and swallowed the Oran Berry.

"Thanks, Shab… that helps me feel better," Berry said in a grateful tone.

"Anything for you, my sweet Berry," Shab blushed at the grateful remark.

The two continued floating in the water for a bit more, and while the Oran Berry did help Berry feel better, the dark murky water around them still made her feel icky.

"We should get moving soon…" Berry suggested. "Staying in one place too long is dangerous in a Mystery Dungeon. We could be ambushed by a wild Pokemon or the dungeon will shift with us in it."

"Oh yes, of course, Berry. But are you sure you're well enough to keep going?" Shab asked in concern.

"I'll be fine…" Berry answered, trying to hide her feeling of weakness.

Then, a light began to approach them. Berry and Shab were on high alert, seeing that it was likely a wild Pokemon. They braced themselves for a wild Chinchou to attack them.

The Pokemon that was responsible for the source of the light was indeed a Chinchou, however, this Chinchou was wearing a headband, and had its own small pouch that was hanging around its side.

"Oh!" The Chinchou spoke up in surprise. "You two don't look like wild Pokemon."

"You're not a wild Chinchou?" Berry asked in shock seeing that the Chinchou was talking.

"Oh, no, I'm not wild," The Chinchou replied. "I am an explorer! I've been exploring around the Sunken Tunnel when I heard it opened up. I've been wanting to find the lost town!"

"Heh, that's the same reason we're here actually," Shab noted.

"Wow, what a small world," The Chinchou remarked. "Since we found each other, how about we go and travel together? There's safety in numbers after all, and since it's getting darker, you two may want a Pokemon that's capable of shining light in the murky waters."

"We do appreciate your help," Berry admitted. "It has been getting very hard to see the further down we go. My name is Berry by the way. This is my teammate, Shab. We're actually a Crusader team, and we were sent on an exploration mission to find the lost town."

"Well nice to meet you two. I'm Sparks," The Chinchou greeted. "Do you two need to rest before we continue on with our journey?"

"We've just rested actually," Berry said.

"Oh, perfect timing then. Just follow close behind, from what I've learned, it's only gonna get darker from this point on," Sparks warned. "Wouldn't want any of us getting lost in the dark now."

"Then we're really lucky we ran into you," Berry noted.

Shab frowned a little, though he didn't have any real reason to doubt Sparks, he couldn't help but feel it was a little too convenient they ran into a friendly, explorer Chinchou when they needed him the most. Berry seemed to trust Sparks, so Shab decided he would keep a close eye on the Chinchou in case there was something amiss.


Sunken Tunnel BF21

"Whew… we just defeated another Muk…" Berry groaned, having gotten some sludge on her from the fight. "How long is this dungeon? Do you know, Sparks?"

"Well considering how rarely this Dungeon appears, I wouldn't be surprised if it went on forever," Sparks replied. "Or the town might actually be on the next floor. The farthest anyone has ever gone was a few floors below us. This is actually the farthest I've ever gone."

"So there might be… 30 floors?" Shab asked, who had been keeping an eye on Sparks this whole time.

"I can see why not many were able to get that far… it's… difficult to keep going in such… a dark, dirty environment if you're not built for it…" Berry panted, starting to get tired again, and they were running out of Oran Berries and Apples.

Sparks nodded. "Then let's push for the 30th floor. Hopefully we'll find something by then."

Berry was starting to lag behind a bit. Shab, noticing this, carefully moved beside Berry, trying to help hold her up a bit. He was worried about Berry pushing herself, especially since she was not built to withstand murky waters like this. But they had come too far to turn back now, and Shab knew Berry would refuse to give up now.

"Berry… are you sure you're okay?" Shab asked in concern.

"Y-yeah… yeah, we just have to go a little bit further," Berry replied, before she coughed a little.

"...Okay, but if there's nothing at the 30th floor, we're leaving," Shab said, concerned over Berry's condition.


Meanwhile, with Dust and Cliff. Dust found some Oran Berries that he was able to eat to recover from the Beedrill's Twinnedle attacks. He also gave some berries to Cliff to eat, helping heal her throat from her Screech as well.

"Is Daddy better now?" Cliff asked, standing beside the Absol while munching on some berries.

"Don't worry, I'm all better now," Dust reassured.

Though when Cliff saw Dust's face, she tried holding back her laughter, seeing how swollen Dust's face was now. "Daddy has a big bump on his face."

"Oh, I do?" Dust went and felt for the big bump, feeling how swollen it was. He noticed how sensitive it was right now, and it'd take some time before the swelling went down. "Ah, not to worry, my face will return to normal eventually. This is usually what happens when someone gets stung by Beedrill."

"Daddy, I'm sorry that I left you," Cliff apologized.

"It's fine, Cliff. In fact, this almost reminds me of the time when my own mother was worried because I too had ran off. I saw something that was so fascinating that I couldn't resist," Dust replied.

"So you ran off from your Mommy?" Cliff blinked.

Dust chuckled slightly, recalling his past. "Yes, I was no older than you when it happened. The Olympus Guild had just gotten new members, and one of them was a Pikachu. I've never seen a Pikachu before, so I ended up following the electric Pokemon. You can imagine my mother's surprise when she saw my fur all electrocuted while I was paralyzed."

"Daddy gets into a lot of trouble," Cliff remarked. "No wonder Mommy wanted me to watch over you."

"Heh, I guess I do have a talent for getting into trouble," Dust smiled. "But it's a good thing I have someone like you to keep an eye on me."

"So what are we going to research next?" Cliff questioned curiously.

Dust looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun was starting to set and that it was getting late. "Hmm, looks like we have time for one more research. How about you decide? What seems interesting to you?"

Cliff grew excited at the thought of getting to choose their next research. Cliff then stood on top of Dust's back to get a better view as she scanned the area. While she saw other Pokemon around, Cliff wanted to look for something that was extra special. Suddenly something caught her attention in the distance. She leaned forward as she squinted, trying to get a better view. While having never seen the Pokemon before, after seeing it Cliff decided that it would be the Pokemon they should research.

"That one! I wanna research those Pokemon!" Cliff pointed towards a field.

Dust looked at what Cliff was pointing at, and he went pale. Cliff was pointing at a herd of Tauros and Miltank. The Tauros were fighting each other to impress some of the Miltank, and they were headbutting each other with their horns that looked really painful if Dust ended up getting stabbed by one of those horns.

Dust gulped before turning to Cliff. "Ah, Tauros and Miltank...Are you sure you want to research them, Cliff?"

"Yes, they look like fun!" Cliff smiled. "Come on, Daddy, we can't do research without taking some risks, right?"

Dust sighed before smiling at Cliff. She's right, no matter the risk I've always been eager to do any research, any experiments and studies when the opportunity arises.

"Alright, but we just have to make sure that we are careful, Tauros and Miltank are known for being very rough," Dust replied. "Now hold on tight, we got some Pokemon to research!"


Dust was on the run from a stampede. He was trying not to get trampled. If someone were to ask him how things had gone so horribly wrong, he wouldn't know how to answer them. All he knew was that Cliff was currently riding on top of one of the Tauros while he was on the run from the stampede himself. The only brightside Dust could find in any of this is that Cliff was having the time of her life, not knowing the danger she was exactly in.

Dust knew he would have to not only get out of the stampede alive, but also try to save Cliff from it. Cliff was having too much fun to realize how dangerous the situation was, and Dust wanted to make sure she was safe. Now he was starting to realize how much stress he always put his mother in whenever he caused trouble.

Dust slipped through the stampede, trying to get into it in order to get to Cliff. Unfortunately, it was difficult to dodge all of the Tauros, one of them accidentally tackled him into the ground. Dust groaned as he was thrown back a bit, though since it was an unintentional Tackle attack, it didn't hurt Dust too much. But he knew he should be more careful, as all the Tauros's attacks could build up if he got hit too many times. Dust was trying to find Cliff.

Dust then heard Cliff's cheerful noise as she was riding on one of the Tauros. "Whee! This is fun! Come on, Daddy, join me up here! It's fun!"

At first Dust thought that was somewhat absurd, but then an idea popped in his head. "Well, I've always been letting others ride my back, maybe it's time I try riding someone else's."

Dust knew it was going to be easy, having never done anything like this before, but he knew it would be his best shot. Running alongside the Tauros, Dust tried looking for the right moment to make his move. His first attempt resulted in him hitting the side of the Tauros, luckily he managed to catch his footing before getting trampled. Trying again, having a better idea this time, Dust timed his jump and managed to land on top of one of the Tauros, though he almost slipped off.

"Okay! This feels weird, but I can do this!" Dust said to himself as he held tightly with his claws.

The Tauros let out a cry of pain at feeling Dust's claws digging into its back, and reared up, giving a loud mooing trying to throw the Absol off. Dust yelped as he fell off of the Tauros before it began to run away. Now back in the stampede, Dust decided to do what he should've done earlier; he jumped at the Tauros that had Cliff riding on top of it, and snatched up Cliff with his front claws.

Now on the ground, Dust quickly moved Cliff onto his own back so he could get out of the stampede with her. Cliff didn't seem to mind being on Dust's back again, though she was now looking at the chaos around her.

"Uh… this doesn't seem… safe, Daddy," Cliff muttered.

"Yeah, it isn't," Dust quickly said as he began running again, trying to dodge the stampede.

One of the Tauros slammed into Dust's side, causing Cliff to be tossed off of Dust's back and landed in the middle of the stampede. Cliff gasped, realizing that the Tauros could trample her. She started to move around frantically, trying to dodge the Tauros. She started to cry, feeling scared now. Luckly, Dust managed to find her and pushed her with his head to get her to slide onto his back as he was running towards her.

Dust knew he had to get out of here, but with the Tauros constantly running around in a stampede, there was no way for him to predict where to go. But then a new idea came to mind, it's been a while since he used his gift, but he didn't have time to stand around to try to use it. Instead he would have to try and do what he did when he fought against Brody.

Running alongside the stampede, Dust closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on that familiar sensation from before. He couldn't rely on just any vision, he needed to see where he needed to go at this very moment, to be able to predict the Tauros' movements.

Come on Dust, just focus on getting Cliff to safety. And the only way you're going to be able to do that is if you recreate what happened when you faced Brody. It's now or never!

Dust opened his eyes as he felt that same sensation from before, but instead of having a vision like last time, Dust was still running besides the Tauros. At first Dust thought it didn't work, but then he noticed that something was off. For a moment he thought he was seeing twice as many Tauros, but the more he focused, he realized it was like the last time, where he saw two Brody. Taking this chance, Dust ran towards the nearest Tauros, seeing the original body and a second image. The image made a move to ram against Dust, so trusting his instincts, Dust stepped to the side just as the actual Tauros tried ramming against him.

Having missed Dust, the Tauros feel behind, giving Dust some open space to run. Dust couldn't believe he managed to get it to work, but the time for admiration would have to come later, right now he needed to get Cliff out of here. He took a moment to look back to see Cliff was clinging tightly to his body while keeping her eyes closed. He knew she was scared and felt horrible that they ended up in this situation.

"Don't worry, Cliff. Daddy will keep you safe," Dust stated.

Dust managed to dodge the Tauros, as he was able to see what they would do before they do it. Dust kept this up until eventually he found an opening to get out of the stampede, and he quickly ran to the empty path, getting away from the stampede. Dust didn't stop running until he knew for sure they were completely safe.

When Dust saw he was far away from the stampede, he stopped running, and all but fell to the ground, panting. Cliff rolled off of Dust, and quickly hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, Daddy… it was my fault we ended up in that…" Cliff sniffled.

Dust was still breathing hard, but he still hugged Cliff, hoping to calm her. "It's okay, Cliff. What's important is that you're safe."

"I won't do that again, Daddy… I could've… we could've… been hurt badly…" Cliff teared up. "Mommy would be so sad if we were… and Uncle would be mad…"

"Shh, it's okay. That is part of growing up. There will always be risks and dangers we must face, but it's why we continue to grow stronger and wiser, so that we would be prepared for these kinds of dangers," Dust hugged Cliff even tighter. "But as long as we are with you, we'll make sure to always keep you safe."

"But… I also want to keep you, Mommy, and Uncle safe… those Beedrill were mean to you," Cliff reminded. "I want to get strong… to keep you safe too Daddy… and so you wouldn't have to always keep me safe."

"And you will be strong, one day. And when that day comes, you can bet that you'll be able to keep all of us safe," Dust reassured. "Now what do you say we head on back home? I'm sure your mother and uncle are waiting for us."

Cliff nodded, still hugging Dust. "Maybe… we can do this again… with Mommy and Uncle… and when I'm a little older?"

Dust nodded. "Yeah, and next time, if we run into any mean Beedrill, we can count on you to protect us."

Cliff gave a small smile at that.


Sunken Tunnel BF29

"We've been stuck on this floor for ages," Berry muttered. "Are we… going around in circles? I know this is a Mystery Dungeon, but it feels like the stairs just don't exist on this floor."

"Or maybe… they're hidden? I mean if the lost town is supposedly on the 30th floor, then the stairs leading to there must be hidden," Sparks stated.

"How are we supposed to find the stairs then?" Shab questioned.

"Well I can only light up the way, if only we had a Pokemon who could sense their surroundings. Like a Psychic type," Sparks answered. "For now our best bet is to keep searching."

"I could try sensing for it myself…" Berry suggested.

Sparks looked at Berry. "Sense it? You can do that?"

"My antennae can sense other Pokemon… but I've never tried using them to search for stairs," Berry admitted.

"Well, it might be our best bet, else we might spend hours trying to search for these stairs," Sparks commented.

"I know you can do it, Berry," Shab encouraged.

"I'll try my best… maybe there are some Pokemon near the stairs that I'll be able to sense," Berry remarked before she began to move her antennae around.

Sparks floated near Berry as she took the lead, trying to keep the area around her lit up. Shab swam behind them, still keeping a cautious eye on the Chinchou, he still had an uneasy feeling around Sparks, though he wasn't sure why. Throughout the entire dungeon, Sparks hadn't given Shab any reason to doubt him, but the Feebas just couldn't shake away the uneasy feeling.

"Hey…" Berry stopped suddenly, looking at what appeared to be black bars, several, long black bars. "Is this… some kind of… cage?"

Shab got closer to get a better look. "It...looks like it. But what is a cage like this doing here?"

Sparks looked up and down at the cage. "It looks like… it leads down into a tunnel. It might lead us to the stairs, where the lost town might be."

"But… how do we get through it?" Berry asked. "It looks like it goes up a long way."

"We swim up until we find an entrance," Sparks stated. "We're so close, we can't give up now."

Shab was having second thoughts, mostly due to being concerned with Berry's condition at the moment. "Maybe we should turn back. I don't think Berry should push herself any further. Plus, we don't know for sure if there's an entrance up there."

"No, Shab, we're already here, we might as well go through with it," Berry spoke up, coughing a little. "We're almost there… we can't turn back now. Just a little further, okay?"

Shab didn't like seeing Berry like this, but he also wanted to make sure Berry was happy, so he nodded. "Okay, but if there's no stairs, or if there's no lost town, we are going back."

"Come on, we just need to get over the cage," Sparks spoke up. "It shouldn't be much further now."

The three Pokemon swam up, trying to get over the long cage. They eventually made it to the top of the cage, seeing a hole at the top that was just big enough for all three of them to fit through. Sparks, Berry, and Shab began swimming down the long tunnel. It was somehow even darker inside the tunnel than it was outside of it. If they didn't have a Chinchou with them, they would have been swimming blindly.

"Why is the water so much darker here…?" Berry asked, starting to cough more.

"The water is much more murky here," Sparks noted. "Ah… look, there's the end of the tunnel… and there's the stairs."

The three Pokemon quickly swam over to the stairs.


Sunken Tunnel BF30

As soon as Sparks, Berry, and Shab came down the stairs, they were greeted by an unusual sight; a town underwater. The town itself looked blocky, huge even. There were a few tall buildings, something that looked like a church, a fountain in the center of the town, a set of stairs nearby, likely leading deeper into the Sunken Tunnel. What else was unusual was that there appeared to be a garden, with actual plant-life despite it being underwater.

"We… we did it! We found the missing town!" Berry smiled, her eyes sparkling in excitement at the discovery.

While Shab was glad to see Berry smiling, he was still worrying about her. "Yup, we found it. I think now's a good time to go back-"

"We can't go back, you have any idea how long it's been since anyone has even laid their eyes on this town?" Sparks asked. "We gotta explore, investigate, and learn about the mysteries of this town. We may not get another chance like this."

"Sparks is right, Shab, we should at least explore the town before we leave," Berry agreed, coughing a bit. "We won't stay too long though."

Shab frowned. "We'll explore for about 30 minutes, but that's it. I don't want you down here longer than you should be, Berry, you're already starting to look sick."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Shab," Berry reassured before she began to swim into the town. "It's not so dark here, which makes it easier to see."

Sparks watched as Berry and Shab began to swim around the town. As they were, Sparks began to swim towards the chapel and began to lie down in the center of its crevice. The lights on his antennae began to glow brighter.

"This looks like a town only land dwellers would make…" Berry noted. "I don't think sea Pokemon would build a town like this underwater."

"Which proves this used to be on land," Shab agreed. "I wonder what happened that caused this place to sink in the first place… And… what happened to its inhabitants."

"Heh, too bad Dust isn't here with us, he'd be going nuts over seeing all this," Berry lightly chuckled. "I'll have to try to memorize all of this for him."

Suddenly, the water around them started to drain. This surprised Berry and Shab as they didn't expect the water to suddenly drain while they were exploring.

"W-what's happening to all the water?" Berry asked in shock.

"It looks like it's all being drained," Shab noted. The town started to shake slightly, though it stopped shortly after. "I think that's our cue to leave."

Berry and Shab were now standing/floating on dry land. The town somehow felt more ominous when it wasn't underwater anymore.

"Wait… where's Sparks?" Berry asked.

Suddenly, something hopped down from the chapel. It looked like it was Sparks, but something strange was happening to him. Berry and Shab looked at their Chinchou friend, and noticed his body was starting to turn purple. The yellow on his antennae began to turn orange and red.

"Sparks…? What's wrong?" The Goomy asked in concern at the strange color changes Sparks appeared to be going through.

Suddenly, Sparks' antennae burst into flames. His bottom grew out some kind of wispy tail, and he began to float. When he opened his eyes, they were black. Inside the black eyes were glowing red pupils that almost seemed to be staring right into Berry and Shab's souls.

"Oh...everything's fine…" Sparks replied, though Berry couldn't see how he was speaking since the Chinchou seemed to have no mouth now. "In fact...I would say things are better than ever, now that you two are here."

"What's going on? Who… or what are you, really?" Shab demanded, glaring at the now ghostly and fiery Chinchou.

"If you must know, I am actually called Grudge. Sparks was just a name I used when using my water form to get through all that nasty water," Sparks, or rather, Grudge, answered. "I, like many of the townspeople here who had drowned due to the water, died with a grudge in our hearts. I wasn't originally a Chinchou, you know. I used to be a Vulpix. But I became like this after drowning. Doomed to wander the murky waters of what used to be my home for all of eternity."

"W-what?" Berry paled, seeing how Grudge was a spirit of a dead Vulpix.

"But without water, I'm free to be in my true spirit form here. The dungeon is now closed. You two are trapped here with me. And you will be until we devour your souls!" Grudge gleefully laughed.

"You lead us here, didn't you?" Shab frowned. "I knew it, I knew it was too easy to find the town ever since you just so happened to conveniently show up to us."

"It's not very often that we get those who venture so far into the dungeon. Most usually turn back, but you two kept on going. I knew on your own you would never find the town, so I decided to offer my assistance," Grudge explained.

"W-why though? Why did you lead us here?" Berry asked. "You just wanted to devour our souls?"

"You wanted to find our town," Grudge stated as fiery wisps began to appear around them. "Since you wanted to find it so badly, I figured it would be nice if you became one of us. Which you will, I'll make sure of it."

Grudge began to laugh maniacally. "I won't have to be alone anymore!"

Shab got in front of Berry in a protective manner. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Alright, it's been years since I've battled anyone. I'll play with you a little," Grudge replied.

Suddenly the fiery wisps started charging towards Berry and Shab. The duo quickly fired Water Pulse, extinguishing most of the fireballs, but one of them managed to hit Shab on his side. Despite not being very effective, Shab could feel his body was burning now.

"Shab! Are you alright?" Berry asked in concern to the Feebas.

"It's okay, it's only a burn, I'll be able to handle it. Right now we need to take that Chinchou out," Shab answered.

Grudge quickly hid himself into the shadows. Berry's eyes widened, recognizing this move as Phantom Force. The time she had to battle with all those Ghost types in the mansion reminded her how dangerous that move was. Wasting no time, Berry stayed close to Shab and put up a white barrier around them. Grudge came out of the shadows to attack, but ended up bouncing off of the Protect barrier instead. As soon as Grudge bounced off of the barrier, Berry dissipated it, and shot out a Water Pulse.

Grudge let out a hiss of pain from the Water Pulse. He then flashed his fiery antennae at Berry's eyes. Berry yelped as everything around her became disorientated. She had become confused.

"Berry!" Shab shouted, though it sounded distorted to Berry.

Berry tried to focus on Shab, but suddenly the Feebas' body started shifting until it now looked like Grudge. Berry gave a yelp as she jumped away from Shab, thinking that he was the Chinchou.

Berry then shot out a Water Pulse at 'Grudge', who gave a surprised yelp and quickly dodged to the side.

"Berry! It's me!" 'Grudge' shouted frantically.

The confused Goomy blinked, before she was hit by a strong force behind her that caused her to fall several feet away. Berry groaned as she hit the town's fountain face first.

Shab was about to go to Berry when Grudge suddenly appeared in front of him, laughing out loud. "Well this just got more interesting. So what's it gonna be? Attack your own friend or let her keep attacking you? And to make this even more fun, every time you dodge her attack, I'll just attack her directly. Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"You're a cruel ghost," Shab hissed angrily.

Shab shot out a Water Pulse at Grudge, who shot back with Flamethrower. The two attacks cancelled each other out.

"Hah! What a weakling! My Flamethrower was enough to cancel out your Water Pulse!" Grudge laughed.

Berry slowly slithered out of the dry fountain, still looking confused, but also pretty angry. She looked between Grudge and Shab, seeming to be unable to tell who was friend or foe. Berry started to turn to Shab, however.

"Berry… please, it's me, Shab, can't you hear me?" Shab begged.

Grudge grinned. "Heh, maybe this might help her figure things out."

The Chinchou then shot out Flamethrower at Berry. Berry let out a hiss of pain, but her body started to glow red.

"You think that would be enough to hurt me?" Berry grinned. "Come on, I'm sure you could do better than that."

Shab's eyes widened, he saw what Berry was trying to do. Since she couldn't tell who was the enemy, she was letting the enemy attack her. But he also knew Berry was planning to use Bide, which was a Normal type attack. Grudge appeared to be at least half Ghost type, so Shab knew Bide wouldn't do anything to him. Then Shab remembered how Grudge took the form of a normal Chinchou when he was wet. A Water Pulse attack wouldn't be enough to change him, however, they needed the water to fill up the town again.

But how? Think Shab, where did Grudge go when we first got here? Shab tried recalling, but for the most part he only recalled how his attention was on Berry. All he remembered was seeing Grudge going towards one of the buildings.

Looking around, Shab saw a building he believed was the same one Grudge went to earlier. Having no other option, Shab decided to go towards the building while Grudge was busy attacking Berry.

I'm sorry Berry, but hold on for a little bit longer! Shab thought to himself as he swam through the air quickly towards the building.

There was a large crevice in the building, and it looked sacred. Shab quickly went into the crevice, and began to search around. He noticed a loose brick at the back of the building, and he pushed it with his head. The brick fell down, and he saw a floating blue cube of some kind where the brick was.

Berry let out a shout of pain as she was hit by several Phantom Forces. Her body was weak, but still glowing.

"You know, as fun as this is, it's starting to get rather boring. Wait, where's that weak fish friend of yours?" Grudge looked around, noticing that Shab was nowhere near by. "Probably got scared and decided to hide. Though it won't matter, there's nowhere he can go."

"As if you could find him when you can't even take me out," Berry taunted. "Maybe you're the weak one here."

The tip of Grudge's antennae flared up. "I'm the weak one? Fine, since you think I can't take you out, guess I have to prove you wrong!"

Shab hissed a little as his scales were affected by his burn, but he had no time to worry about that now. He quickly spun his body around, letting his tail fin touch the blue cube. When Shab touched the blue cube, the cube began to spin around rapidly, and the town began to shake.

Meanwhile, Grudge had been attacking Berry non-stop, trying to knock the Goomy unconscious. But no matter how hard he tried, Berry still remained conscious. It was then Grudge noticed that Berry's body was giving off a strange glow. At first he was a bit worried, but then realized what Berry was trying to do.

"Really? That's your plan? Not sure if you noticed, but Bide doesn't work on Ghost types," Grudge mocked.

Suddenly, the entire area was flooded with water. Grudge let out a gasp and a cry when he was suddenly submerged in water. His body began to change, he was now blue again, his eyes were yellow and black, and his fiery antennae were now normal, electricity light bulbs.

"Maybe not… but it's sure to work on Water and Electric types." Berry smirked.

Berry then opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful white beam of light right at the Chinchou, and exploded in his face. Grudge fell back, unable to move. As soon as Grudge was out, Berry recovered from her confusion, though unfortunately her injuries were still there.

Having seen the water rise, Shab left the chapel and quickly swam to where Berry was. "Berry! Are you alright?"

Berry was panting, and coughed out some of the water that filled her. "I'll… I'll be… okay… it's too bad we used… up most of our items in the dungeon…"

"I think we've overstayed our welcome. That was smart of you using Bide against Grudge," Shab replied.

"And… it was… clever of you… getting the water back up… I didn't know if Bide… would work… it was just the best… move I had… under confusion," Berry panted.

Shab then turned to look at the unconscious Chinchou. "I guess we gotta thank him for telling us about how his form changes with the water."

"I…" Berry sighed. "I thought… he was a friend… can't believe… I got tricked so easily… by a malice, vengeful… ghost…"

Shab looked at Grudge as he thought about what he said earlier, feeling some pity for the Chinchou. "Being here so long, alone...I'm not surprised he would resort to using methods to trick us. You shouldn't be hard on yourself Berry."

Grudge groaned as he began to wake up. Shab quickly got in front of Berry, seeing the Chinchou had regained consciousness quicker than anticipated.

"... I see… you were both able to defeat me using tactics and teamwork…" Grudge noted.

"Come on Berry, we should get out of here," Shab suggested while still keeping a wary eye on Grudge.

Grudge let out a sigh. "I apologize for my behavior. I was… desperate. Being the last spirit in this sunken town starts to wear on one's mind."

"The… last spirit?" Berry asked.

"There used to be hundreds of us here," Grudge began to explain. "When our town sank, many of us had drowned. Leaving our spirits trapped here for… I don't know, centuries? But, little by little, my fellow spirits began to disappear. They likely found a way to move on to the afterlife. Before I knew it, I was left all alone. I had no way to move on, no way to leave this town until the Sunken Tunnel opened up. Even then, my spirit is still bound here. I hate it. I just wanted some company. So when I saw you two, I thought it would give me a chance to finally have two more spirits to stay with me. We had so much fun exploring together, I was hoping you would be my first friends in the longest time."

Shab stared at Grudge before sighing. "Instead of attacking us, you should've told us from the beginning that you were all alone. We could've done something to help you."

"I was alone for who knows how long, do you really think that would be the first thing that came to mind?" Grudge questioned. "I realize now I went too far. I apologize. You shouldn't have to stay here just because I was a little lonely. Perhaps one day I'll find a way to finally move on…"

"How… how did your town… sink in the first place?" Berry asked.

Grudge sighed, shaking his head. "It's been so long, it's hard to remember what happened exactly… I just… remember a huge… cataclysm. There was a lot of rain… and sun… and earthquakes. Before I knew it, water began filling up the town…"

Berry frowned. "Maybe… that's what's been holding you back… you want… to remember what… happened to… your town… the town… you grew up in…"

Grudge was about to reply when the town started shaking more, giving the Chinchou a worried look. "You two need to leave now, or else you will end up trapped here like me! The Sunken Tunnel will be closing soon, and I don't think even a magical item will help you escape until it opens again, and who knows when that would be."

"We'll… we'll come back… and help you move on," Berry suddenly spoke up. "Nobody should be trapped… alone… like this."

"...That would be...that would be nice," Grudge gave a small smile before frowning once more. "But that won't matter if you're stuck here. Go now, before it's too late! And… please, remember me not as Grudge, but Sparks. I truly did have fun exploring with you two."

Berry nodded, before turning to Shab. "I'm… too tired… to use my badge… can you use… yours to… transport us out of here, Shab?"

Shab quickly nodded as he reached for his badge. He gave one last look at Grudge. "We'll come back, we promise."

"Thank you," Grudge said gratefully before Shab and Berry teleported out of the dungeon.

Berry and Shab were suddenly back at the entrance of the Sunken Tunnel. They saw the tunnel itself closing itself off. There was some kind of force keeping it closed, cutting off any Pokemon from the Sunken Tunnel.

"...Talk about cutting it close," Shab gulped. "Any longer and we really would've been trapped there."

"Yeah…" Berry agreed, shaking herself to try to get rid of all the dirty water she had on herself. "Well… we've done our job. We found the lost town, and even discovered an inhabitant. Hopefully all of this would have been worth it once we report this back to Myagi."

Shab nodded. "For now, let's just focus on getting back home."

The two of them slithered and floated back to where their Carriage was waiting. The Midday form Lycanroc was laying down, likely taking a nap while she waited for them. Her eyes opened when she heard the slithering. "Ah, you two are finally back. I was about to call it a day and leave if you didn't come by nightfall."

"Glad you waited then… we're pretty tired from the long dungeon," Berry remarked.

"Oh, any luck finding the missing town?" The Lycanroc asked.

"Actually yes," Shab answered proudly. "We did find the missing town."

"Really?" The Lycanroc looked surprised.

"Yeah, and we almost got trapped in the Sunken Tunnel," Berry sheepishly stated. "But… can we talk about this on the way back?"

"Oh, right. Go ahead and get in the Carriage then," The Lycanroc stated.

Berry and Shab, tiredly slithered up and hopped into the Carriage. Both of them were grateful they wouldn't have to move for a while.

"Hold on tight!" The Lycanroc began running while pulling the Carriage with her.


FoxyKhai0209: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Chopper had a really bad mindset on what makes a guild strong, and he felt Chihiro is weak and deserves to rot in jail.

Thank you for the idea for Team Aura Force, we will consider that as we progress through the story. For now, we are focusing on certain character arcs before we start bringing in other characters.

Sunrise Spirit: Traveling Master: Yes, it's rather unfortunate that Dust became so focused on his end goal, that he forgot about the importance of teamwork. And I think it's something most of us can relate too, sometimes when we have a project, a chore, or a goal that we've been working on for a while now, we sometimes get careless when we are almost finished. This will be a good lesson for Dust in the future, one that he will not be forgetting any time soon.

Guest #1: Traveling Master: Yup, we have some interesting plans concerning Undergrowth and Patricia. And this is only the beginning.

Ember2018: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I usually have some kind of music playing in the background when writing, especially if it's fitting for the scene. It was also about time Berry told Dust what had happened between her and Eclipse.

As for Berry taking Al possibly being her father, unless you meant Al taking Berry possibly being his daughter, either way, Berry is still not sure if he is her father, just that it's a possibility. And Al is… well, he's simple, he doesn't mind if Berry is his daughter or not, but if she was, he would enjoy trying to bond with her in different ways.

Traveling Master: And I'm glad that Al is one of your favorites. Fun little fact, Al the Charmeleon is actually my very first character I ever made when I first joined Fanfiction. So it's nice seeing that others enjoyed Al so far.

DarkFoxKit: Also, remember that it hasn't been confirmed yet that Al is indeed Berry's father. It's only something the characters suspect. As for Team Night Tide getting Silver Rank, we figured it would be fitting to show it was possible for them to skip ranks if they did a good enough job at the tournament, and usually in the story, it feels like you're stuck at the Silver Rank for the longest time. It also makes Dust feel so close yet so far from his goal of getting the Gold Rank. As for the story itself, just because Dust may reach his goal soon doesn't mean that'll be the end of the story. We have a lot more planned.

Traveling Master: I think it's a good thing Dust didn't have his mother's personality. Berry was shy at the beginning of the story, and seeing an intimidating Absol was already off putting. If Dust acted like Eclipse, I think there would be a lot of silent moments. Also, uh… could you use the proper gender when addressing Dust or Eclipse, or anyone really? It's rather hard to figure out who you are talking about exactly and it gets a bit confusing.

Flawless Victory: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, though with Chopper in 'timeout', his own son is kinda left alone in the guild since he doesn't have a mom, at least not at the moment. As for Team Aura Force, we will get to them when we get to them. They aren't characters we are focusing on much, but we will bring them in when we're ready to use them.

Lonelyboi69: Traveling Master: ...I'm not sure if Dust is capable of telling dad jokes, but I'm sure with due time, he'll either tell one, or do it unintentionally. XD

As for Eclipse, well, she's done a lot in her past and truly wants the best for her son. And while her reputation and Pressure ability helps when it comes to mission related work, when it comes to things outside of work, others already have that image of Eclipse being this intimidating Absol who you never want to cross. And she also hasn't seen what Dust and Berry have gone through since he last left the Olympus Guild, only from what she's been told. But as you ended up seeing, Dust did have some things to say to Eclipse when he saw her again.

DarkFoxKit: And Berry is quite a sensitive soul, so she doesn't take too well to Eclipse's intimidation and pressure, which is what caused the breakdown. Also, congrats, you gave TM and Dust a side quest to work with. Hope you enjoy that. XP

LonleyboiAltAcnt: Traveling Master: Huh? Maybe you did see something? Maybe you ended up having a future vision like Dust does? XD Glad to know you're excited, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Guest#1: DarkFoxKit: It didn't fail to upload, I just accidentally uploaded it 2 days too early. Our normal schedule is supposed to be Friday. So… no, it wasn't on purpose either. ^^'