DarkFoxKit: Whew… took us a while to finally get another chapter, huh?
Traveling Master: You can say that again. It has been a hectic couple of weeks lately, and most of it was on my part.
DarkFoxKit: It also didn't help that whenever on the rare time you are available, I'm not. We do apologize, readers, it's been very difficult to get together and write lately.
Traveling Master: So a bit of an update, to explain some of what's going on. Due to my job, I've been busy for the last couple of months, and these last few weeks have been even busier. It's because I will be leaving to a different location for some time. Tomorrow I'm going to be visiting my family for a bit, but after that, I'll have to go. Now this doesn't mean I'm leaving Fanficiton, or this story, just that it's the reason why I've been having a hard time writing with DF.
DarkFoxKit: So while it will be slow for a while, we are still trying our best to write more chapters for you lovely readers, and we hope to be able to keep writing until we get to the very end.
Traveling Master: But for now, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 38: Return to Waterfall Cavern
Dust and Cliff had returned back to the guild, and reported to Chihiro about what happened during their research mission. Chihiro was laughing up a storm.
"So Cliff caused a Tauros stampede, and you ended up in the middle of it as well? How did that even happen?" Chihiro laughed.
"I'm still wondering that myself. One second, we were watching the Tauros from a safe distance, next thing I know I saw Cliff riding one of them, and, well, you know the rest," Dust explained.
"It's a miracle that you two came back with little to no injuries," Chihiro stated. "Perhaps next time you should bring your teammates with you to help keep an eye on your mischievous little youngest member."
"Well that was the original plan, but Berry and Shab had to take a mission that involved a dungeon that rarely opened. I'm surprised they haven't returned yet," Dust noted.
"I had fun, though that stampede was scary…" Cliff admitted. "Daddy could've been hurt."
"Yes, young one, Pokemon could get hurt over things, especially since not all of them have rock hard hides like you do," Chihiro agreed. "That's why Crusaders help hurt Pokemon."
"It's also why we work to get stronger and better, so that we can be more prepared to help others too," Dust then pat Cliff's head. "It's like we talked about earlier. One day, after you get big and strong, you'll be able to protect others."
Cliff gave a vigorous nod at that. "I want to be a Crusader like you, Mommy, and Uncle!"
"Until then, you should continue to practice your skills at the Dojo or with Carrie," Chihiro stated. "Soon, you won't be a Larvitar, but a Pupitar!"
"Come on, Grandma, that pun was lame even for you," Phantom grumbled.
"What? It's like a larvae stage for her, and she'll mature when she gets bigger," Chihiro explained.
Dust had read about Larvitar's evolution, but after hearing that pun, he started wondering if that's the origin of their names.
"What's… a Pupitar?" Cliff blinked cluelessly.
"I'll… let your… 'parents' explain that one," Chihiro chuckled. "You're free to go, Dust. Perhaps get something nice at the Kecleon Shop from some of the bonus Poke you've earned."
"It's been awhile since we've visited the store," Dust noted. "Come on, Cliff. Maybe we can find something for you?"
Cliff gave an excited smile at that. "Yes!"
Dust walked as Cliff happily skipped behind him.
It was getting dark at the Whiteleaf Town, the lights were starting to come on. Dust could see that Berry and Shab hadn't gotten back yet. He hoped they would get back soon before it got too dark. Cliff started to yawn, she was getting sleepy.
"Daddy… can I ride on you again?" Cliff requested a little sleepily.
"Sure thing," Dust answered as he crouched down. After Cliff slowly climbed up on his back, Dust made sure that she wouldn't fall before continuing on. "Just make sure to hold on tight."
Dust liked being able to carry his teammates, it had started to become a habit now. His back was beginning to feel naked whenever he didn't have someone on top of it.
When Dust reached the Kecleon shop, he saw a Lillipup just bought a bouncy looking ball, and happily carried it away with their mouth, looking excited. Dust couldn't help but smile, seeing how the young Lillipup was happy to have a new toy. He was beginning to see children in a different light since he hatched Cliff.
"Hello and welcome!" The purple and green Kecleon greeted Dust.
"Oh, hey Dust, how can we help you today?" Green asked.
"We just got a shipment of all sorts of items in today, so you have plenty to choose from," Purple added with a smile.
"I see you also brought an adorable little shopper with you," Green chuckled, seeing Cliff on Dust's back.
"Heh, yeah. This is Cliff," Dust introduced. "It's a long story, but she's a new member of the team."
"Where's the Goomy you always carried with you?" Purple curiously questioned.
"She went on a separate mission with another teammate of ours. Normally we go together, this one was apparently an underwater dungeon," Dust explained.
"Ah, I see," Purple noted. "It's the first time I've seen you two split up."
"But nevermind that now. Since you have a young Pokemon with you, you're open to our selection of toys if you'd like. We normally only sell these to Pokemon with children or to the children themselves," Green explained. "Go ahead, take your pick."
Dust turned back to Cliff and slightly nudged her. "Hey Cliff, see anything you like?"
Cliff looked at the shelves of items the Kecleon was showing them. Cliff's eyes sparkled at the several toys she could see, but she wanted to be more like her mommy, daddy, and uncle. They were Crusaders, and they wore these scarves that helped make them stronger, and look cool when they go into dungeons. Cliff decided she wanted something like a scarf too. Cliff began to look at the accessory shelf. She didn't want to be a complete Copy Meowth, so she decided to take one that looked cool, but not the same as the ones her 'parents' and 'uncle' wore.
"That one, Daddy!" Cliff pointed with her stuffy arms.
Dust turned to look at what Cliff was pointing at. It looked like a silver, elastic band. He was surprised at first, thinking that Cliff would've gone for one of the toys, but recalling about her desire to go on missions with him and Berry, it made sense why Cliff picked that particular item.
"How much for the silver band?" Dust asked.
"That? That is a Power Band," Green explained. "If you wear it, it will increase your attack power by 10%. Kind of like how Berry's Defense Scarf increases her defense by 10%. If you're serious about buying it, it'll be 500 Poke."
"Is that the one you want?" Dust asked Cliff. The Larvitar nodded as she pointed at the silver band once more. "Okay then, we'll take the Power Band then."
Green nodded before he took the Power Band from the shelf, Dust took out a small bag of 500 Poke before handing it to Purple. Green handed Dust the Power Band.
"Will there be anything else?" Green asked.
Dust looked at the assortment of items and TMs that was on display. At first, he didn't think they really needed anything else, but then he thought about Patricia. Despite both him and Berry having acquired new moves before the tournament, they barely were able to damage the Mawile, especially when she had Mega Evolved. Dust looked over the TMs once more, thinking that perhaps it wouldn't be bad to get a new move.
Dust thought about what kind of moves would be effective against Steel type. If he remembered his type chart right, then Steel are weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground type attacks. Dust frowned, he didn't know any of those types of attacks.
"What kind of Fire, Fighting, or Ground type TMs do you have in stock right now?" Dust asked.
Purple smiled as he took out a box full of TMs. "Well, let's see what we've got. For Fire, we have Fire Blast, Inferno, Sunny Day, and Incinerate. For Fighting, we have Swords Dance, Focus Punch, and Dynamicpunch. For Ground, we have Earthquake, Earth Power, Dig, and Mud Shot."
Dust looked at all the new TMs. While Dust knew Absol could learn Fire Blast, he was hoping they would at least have Flamethrower. At least he'd have some better control. Swords Dance did seem promising, especially as he thought about Crimson's strategy in using Calm Mind. As for the other Fighting moves, he knew no one on his team could use those moves. Finally, looking over the Ground type moves, he was impressed by the selection, but also disappointed, knowing that he couldn't really learn those moves. But perhaps Berry or Shab could be able to use one of them.
"Do you know if Goomy or Feebas can use any of these Ground moves?" Dust asked.
"Oh yes, a Goomy and a Feebas are capable of learning Mud Shot," Purple answered. "Though a TM can only be used once, and we only have one Mud Shot TM."
"Well, I can only afford one TM anyways, so I'll take the Mud Shot TM then," Dust replied.
Dust spent quite a pretty Poke paying for the Mud Shot TM, but he hoped it would be worth it, and he still had some Poke stored in the bank. Cliff was currently wearing the Power Band around her waist. Dust couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable Cliff looked with the silver band around her waist. Dust was making his way back into the guild, and when he reached the main lobby, he was surprised to see Berry and Shab were back, and were currently reporting to Miyagi.
Dust was about to call out to them when he suddenly felt Cliff moving on his back. The Larvitar then jumped off his back and started running towards Berry.
"Mommy!" Cliff happily shouted.
Berry only had time to turn a little before Cliff immediately hugged her. Berry groaned a little from being sore, but she still hugged Cliff back with her antennae. "Hey, Cliff, glad to see you're doing fine. Did you have fun on that research mission with Dust?"
"Yeah! Though some of it was scary, like the Beedrill and the Tauros, but besides that we had so much fun," Cliff replied.
"The Beedrill and the Tauros?" Berry blinked, looking up at Dust.
Dust smiled sheepishly. "We'll… uh… explain it later."
"Well… I'm glad you had fun then, Cliff," Berry said.
"Did you and Uncle Shab have fun too, Mommy?" Cliff asked.
"We… had… 'fun', yeah, you could say that…" Shab hesitated. "But we also discovered quite a few things at the Sunken Tunnel, which we were just reporting to Miyagi here."
The Meowstic was staring at Dust, and it made Dust wonder if this stare was a little more intense than the others.
Dust gulped as he picked up Cliff with his mouth and turned his head to place her on his back. "Well sorry for interrupting your report, I'm sure Miyagi wishes to hear the rest of it. Me and Cliff will be waiting for you two back in the room!"
Dust quickly rushed away, not wanting to be under Miyagi's cold stare anymore.
Miyagi looked back at Berry and Shab. "Please, continue."
"Alright… well, we went through the Sunken Tunnel…" Berry continued, telling Miyagi about the friendly Chinchou they ran into, and how he helped guide them through the long dungeon.
Shab handled most of the detail, about how murky the Sunken Tunnel was, and how hard it was to navigate without the Chinchou's light. But he had been worried about Berry getting sick, as it was not good for her, and she wasn't the type to be able to survive in such a dirty place.
Then finally, Berry and Shab mentioned how they found the lost town. This caught Miyagi's attention, and he looked anything but neutral for once. He was especially attentive when Berry and Shab told him about the Chinchou's true identity being one of the lost spirits who had lived in that town before drowning with the others, becoming a Ghost/Fire type Chinchou named Grudge.
"After that, we had to use our badge to leave before the Sunken Tunnel closed up," Berry finished.
Miyagi looked away, as though deep in thought. While normally the Meowstic keep an expressionless face, Berry and Shab were surprised to see Miyagi like this. After a while, the Meowstic turned to face Berry and Shab, giving a nod of approval.
"...Good job," Miyagi commented before grabbing for a bag and holding it out for Berry and Shab. "...Your reward."
"Thanks, Miyagi." Berry smiled as she took the bag with her antenna.
"No… thank you," Miyagi stated with an extremely rare smile.
Berry and Shab wished they had a camera at this moment, because they had never seen Miyagi smile before. But just as quickly, Miyagi went back to having the expressionless face. Berry and Shab took that as their cue to leave.
Dust was looking at the bag Miyagi had given to Berry and Shab after they had returned to their room. He was shocked to see they had about 2,000 Poke, as well as a bright, silver scarf, and a golden key inside. Dust had never seen such a sparkly scarf before, not even at the Kecleon Shop. Keys were also extremely rare and highly valued among Crusaders, as keys often lead to treasure rooms in Mystery Dungeons.
"Did Miyagi say what this key was for?" Dust asked as he examined the key.
"No, we didn't even know we had a key until we came here and opened up the bag," Shab answered. "We also didn't want to annoy Miyagi after he made a smile."
"Wait! Did you just say Miyagi smiled? Are you sure you just didn't see something else? Forget the key, what did he look like smiling?!" Dust asked.
"That's something you would have to see for yourself to experience," Berry chuckled sheepishly.
"Besides, Daddy… shouldn't you be asking more important questions?" Cliff inquired. "Like… what did Mommy and Uncle see when they were doing their mission?"
"Right, got distracted by the thought of Miyagi smiling. So since you two got a reward, I'm assuming you found the lost village?" Dust asked as he prepared to take notes.
"Well, it was more of a town than a village," Berry said. "And well…"
Berry coughed a little. "Maybe… Shab can tell you… I'm too tired to tell you about everything…"
Dust gave a concerned look at Berry before turning to Shab. "Did...something happen in the Dungeon? Is Berry alright?"
Shab frowned in concern. "I'm not sure… the dungeon itself was very murky, likely covered in a lot of germs too. Berry didn't seem to cope well while we were travelling in the dungeon, and there were 30 floors of it."
Dust's eyes widened at that. He had never explored a dungeon with 30 floors before, that had to be the longest dungeon Team Night Tide had ever traversed before.
"That...must of been quite the mission. Berry, you go ahead and rest, Shab can tell me what had transpired," Dust commented.
"Is Mommy getting sick?" Cliff asked with worry.
"No… I'm fine, Mommy's fine," Berry reassured. "I've lived in a swamp before… a little murky water isn't going to make me sick."
"We should get you to the Medical Bay if you feel any worse in the morning," Shab stated.
"I'll be fine, don't worry," Berry sighed. "But… I will call it an early night at least."
Dust spent most of the night writing every detail he could get from Shab about the Sunken Tunnel. It was a mysterious place, even among Mystery Dungeons. It closes and opens during certain invtrovolts of time. The lost town itself was also quite the mystery, and this Ghost/Fire type Chinchou with the self proclaimed name of Grudge. Dust never knew a Pokemon could change its type or species upon certain circumstances. He had Shab describe exactly how Grudge looked in every detail.
Dust ended up drawing what he thought Grudge would've looked like. Dust wished he could've seen Grudge, as well as explore the Sunken Tunnel himself. Never more had he wished he could breathe underwater and explore its depths. But eventually, he had to turn in for the night. Berry and Cliff had already long since fallen asleep, and Shab was tired from the long mission himself.
However, the peaceful sleep didn't last as long as Dust was hoping. What felt like dawn, there was a knock on the door. Dust was pulled out of his slumber as the knocking continued.
Dust stifled a yawn as he got up and went to the door. "Lately I feel we've been getting more visitors early in the morning."
Getting to the door, Dust let out one more yawn before opening. "Can I help you?"
The Pokemon at the door was a familiar looking Flygon. "You are Dust Absol, the current leader of Team Night Tide, yes?"
"Yes, Gale...Do you not remember me? This isn't the first time you came," Dust pointed out.
"I'm not Gale, I'm his twin brother, Jade," The Flygon stated.
Dust blinked. "Wait...Jade? Only Jade I know was that Trapinch...I thought you were a girl!"
The Flygon started laughing. "Gotcha~ Actually, I'm Gale. Just wanted to pull a little prank. I also ask that question because it's standard procedure to ensure the mail I'm delivering is going to the right Pokemon."
"Ah, makes sense. I'm guessing since you are here, that means you have a letter for us?" Dust guessed.
"Yup, it's kind of an unusual letter. Whoever wrote it must still be learning Footprint Rune, because it's pretty sloppy and hard to read," Gale answered. "It's also a request letter, specifically for Berry Wooper- wait… Berry Goomy."
Gale handed Dust the letter, who noticed that it was a bit slimy. "Uh, thanks. I'll be sure that she gets it."
"Happy to be of service," Gale bowed his head.
But before Gale could leave, Dust decided to ask him another question. "Oh, before you go, I wanted to ask you something else."
"Oh? What is it you wanted to ask?" Gale tilted his head curiously.
"Well I know you told us how you kinda retired from being a Crusader and became a delivery Pokemon. But do you still keep in contact with any of your former teammates from the Dragon Knights?" Dust asked.
"I do," Gale confirmed. "We still talk, I also send them packages and letters on a weekly basis. Because they're on a long term mission, I need to fly them items they order quite often. It's good that we can still keep in contact even after all this time."
"Interesting, I can only imagine what kind of missions Master Rank Crusaders must take on. Though right now my main goal is to just get Gold Rank," Dust explained. "Still, Berry and Shab had just finished doing a 30 floor dungeon, can't imagine us doing long missions like the Dragon Knights."
"Heh, yeah, it would be difficult for rookies and low ranking Crusaders to imagine such long term missions, but once you get there, it's not so bad. In fact, you'll be so used to doing long term missions that if you take on a short one, it'll be like you blink and it's over," Gale laughed. "I'd say don't worry too much about it. You'll get there some day, and you'll be able to handle it once you do. For now, just focus on your Gold Rank. Now, I better get going, I am still on the clock."
"Alright, thank you for your time," Dust waved goodbye as he watched the Flygon leave. Once he was gone, Dust thought about what Gale said. I'll get there someday? Unlikely, seeing how once I gain Gold Rank, I'll be done...right?
Dust stopped for a second, he hadn't put much thought into what would happen after he gained Gold Rank. He did recall talking with Berry before about visiting her once he returned home, but besides that, he didn't think much about what he'd do afterwards.
"...I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Dust mumbled to himself before turning his attention back to the letter. "For now, let's check on Berry and see how she's feeling today."
Dust realized he was talking to himself out loud again.
The Absol walked over to Berry, who was sleeping on her own bed instead of the water pot. Cliff was sleeping on Dust's bed as she usually did. Though they did have an extra bed for Cliff to sleep in. Shab still slept in the pot himself.
Berry's antennae sensed someone near her, which woke her up. She blinked open her eyes, groggily looking up at Dust. "Do… you… need something, Dust?"
"Morning Berry, got a letter for you," Dust greeted as he held the letter out for Berry. "Gale had just delivered it moments ago."
"A letter this early in the morning?" Berry yawned, and she appeared to be fine from what Dust could tell. "Alright, let me see it…"
Dust opened up the letter, since Berry herself couldn't do it without any hands or claws. Berry squinted her eyes at the letter's contents.
"Who wrote this? It's hard to read," Berry questioned.
"Not sure, Gale mentioned whoever wrote it must still be new to Footprint Rune. Do you need help reading it?" Dust asked.
"Just give me a minute to decipher what the letter's saying…" Berry sighed.
It took Berry about a minute or two to finally read the letter. "Okay… so it says 'To the Unity Guild, I have a request that a Goomy from the team I heard is called 'Team Night Tide' would come to the Waterfall Cavern. Please deliver this to her.' It's not even signed, so whoever sent it is an anonymous."
"Waterfall Cavern, that was the dungeon you had to go through in order to get back to your old home to retrieve that flower for me, right?" Dust recalled.
"Yes, it was…" Berry confirmed, looking a little troubled. "It was a tough dungeon for me. I avoided most of the wild Pokemon there."
"Whoever wrote this might be a native there and needs some kind of assistance," Dust noted. "Well we can first grab breakfast before we head out. Something tells me this won't be a quick and simple visit."
Berry sighed, not looking too thrilled about something. "Maybe you can get breakfast without me. I don't really feel all that hungry. I'll get in some more sleep before we leave."
Dust gave a concerned look but nodded. "Alright, I'll grab some extra berries though, for later."
Dust, Shab, and Cliff, after waking them up, headed to the cafeteria. They were a bit worried about Berry not wanting any breakfast, but they decided to let her be for the time being and let her sleep a little more. Dust promised to bring some food for Berry later when she got hungry.
However, when they walked to the cafeteria, there was a tense atmosphere. It was still early in the morning, so there weren't a lot of other teams in the cafeteria right now, but there was one other team there that they could see. It was Team Silkwing, they were sitting by a table. But there was something going on between them considering the tense atmosphere that Dust could sense.
After getting their food, Dust decided to head over to where Team Silkwing was at, to at least learn of what had transpired between the team members. Before he did, he told Shab to watch Cliff for him, wanting them to stay where they were while he went to see what was going on with Team Silkwing.
"Team Silkwing," Dust greeted. "It has been a while, how's it going?"
Neither Talon or Ivy replied. They didn't even seem to acknowledge that Dust had greeted them just now, instead they just stared down at their food, silently eating what was on their plate. Tippi only sighed as she looked at her two teammates before greeting Dust.
"Morning Dust, it's nice to see you too," Tippi replied.
"Yeah… so um… how is everything?" Dust asked, feeling slightly awkward.
Tippi looked between Talon and Ivy. "Well… ever since the tournament… Talon and Ivy have been… a bit uncomfortable with each other."
Dust recalled Berry telling him about the Serperior that had shown up, and how it easily overpowered them. "By chance, does it have to do with the Ser-"
Dust saw Tippi shaking her head quickly. He then noticed that Talon and Ivy seemed to have grown even more tense.
Correcting himself, Dust continued as he tried to think of something else to say. "I mean… Uh… Seeerrrrrr….. Riously… Have you heard...about….today's special?
"Dust… you seem rather well," Talon spoke up. "I'm glad you've recovered from that battle."
Dust realized that Talon was a Staravia now instead of a Starly, he was much bigger than he was before, and surprisingly more intimidating, especially when he was looking tense instead of that happy-go-lucky little Starly he used to be.
"Heh, I have my mother to thank for that. Too bad I was unconscious, seems like I rather have the unfortunate luck of missing others and their evolutions. From what I've been told, it's what helped you defeat Patricia in the end, correct?"
"Yeah… though you could also thank Team Crimson Raiders for helping weakening her before then," Talon answered.
"But still, we really should try getting stronger in case we face another enemy like that again," Ivy spoke up.
Dust was about to make a comment but Talon spoke before he did. "Maybe you should talk with that Serperior then, since he was offering to help you get stronger."
"I told you; I want nothing to do with that Serperior!" Ivy snapped. "I can't help it that I'm a Snivy, Talon!"
"It's not that you're a Snivy, it's that you're related to that Serperior!" Talon snapped back, his feathers ruffling.
"Well I can't help that either!" Ivy glared. "I really didn't know that he was the one responsible for devouring your family!"
Dust was shocked when he heard that. "Uh...maybe we should talk about something else-"
Talon cut him off, rather he was more focused on Ivy. "Yet that didn't stop you from just watching him squeeze the life out of me and Berry. You just stood there, ready to join him! Were you just waiting for him to finish what he started with my family?!"
"What could I have done, Talon?" Ivy asked. "I didn't know what to do, I would've been overpowered myself either way. But I couldn't move. The second I looked into his eyes, it was like I was in a trance."
"Probably because you actually did want to join him. It's a part of your nature," Talon stated.
"No! That's not it! You're not being fair to me, Talon!" Ivy snapped. "I'm pretty sure he was hypnotizing me or something!"
"That's enough!" Tippi shouted as she spread her wings, getting Talon and Ivy to quiet down. "You two promised you would behave yourself at least for breakfast."
Dust was taken back, he rarely seen Tippi get this upset before. The table fell silent once more. Dust saw how tired Tippi looked and wondered how stressful it must have been for her to see her two teammates fight with each other.
Talon and Ivy both glared at each other, before Ivy picked up her plate with her vines. "Maybe I'll eat alone today."
With that said, Ivy hurried out of the cafeteria with her food.
Shab and Cliff had heard the shouting, since it was pretty hard to miss.
"Why are they shouting?" Cliff asked. "Aren't they friends?"
"Sometimes… even friends can fight…" Shab said quietly to the Larvitar.
"Tch, good riddance," Talon mumbled.
"Talon!" Tippi frowned. "Ivy is still our teammate. She's not that Serperior who devoured your family, and you shouldn't treat her as such. She had been helping us since she joined."
Talon didn't reply as he just looked away.
Tippi sighed, her antennae drooping a bit. "This has been going on since the tournament… I just don't know what to do about them."
Dust nodded, he wouldn't like it either if his teammates began fighting each other. It must have been hard for Talon when he discovered that Serperior who ate his family was related to Ivy, someone who was a teammate of his. Though Dust also felt bad for Ivy, she was clearly in distress about the whole thing herself.
"Talon...I won't say I know what you're going through, or that I know what it's like to lose a family member, but…" Dust started, knowing he had to be careful with what he said next. "...family is more than just the blood you share with others, but the bond you end up making with them, regardless if you're related or not. We may not get to choose who we are related to, but we can choose who we can be family with."
Talon looked down, and gave a sigh. "I… need some time to think."
Tippi perked up a bit, seeing that Talon was considering what Dust just said.
"But until then, try not to get involved with this," Talon added to Dust.
Dust nodded, knowing that the Staravia needed his space. "Take care."
After Dust and the others had finished their meal, Dust made sure to take some extra berries with them so that Berry could have something to eat later. Dust then made sure to get additional supplies, knowing full well how dangerous Waterfall Cavern could be. He also wanted to give Berry more time to rest, recalling how exhausted she looked. Once they had all they needed, Dust, Shab, and Cliff returned back to their room so as to get Berry.
Once Dust, Berry, and Shab dropped Cliff off with Carrie and Chloe, they made their way to their Carriage. Sunny and Twilight were the Carriage's pullers again. Berry herself, however, didn't look too good. Dust noticed Berry felt colder than usual when he was giving her and Shab a ride to the Carriage.
Dust hopped into the Carriage, ready to put Berry and Shab down, when he noticed there was someone else in the Carriage. "What the?"
Ivy looked up from the Carriage she had been hiding in. "Uh… hey, Team Night Tide… going somewhere today?"
"Ivy? What are you doing here?" Berry asked, surprised to see the Snivy.
"That...is a very good question," Ivy replied.
"Yes, it is a good question, mind answering?" Dust asked.
Ivy sighed. "I… couldn't really stay with my team right now, specifically Talon… I was hoping maybe… I could just go with the next team who decided to take this Carriage for a little bit? Give Talon and myself some space from each other?"
"What happened between you and Talon?" Berry asked.
"Ah, you weren't there to see it, but there has been some tension between Ivy and Talon lately since the incident at the tournament," Shab answered. "Ivy… is apparently related to that Serperior that Talon is afraid of."
Berry frowned. "Oh… I see… I guess that would cause some tension between you two…"
"And no matter how much I try explaining to Talon that I want nothing to do with that Serperior, he doesn't believe me," Ivy sighed. "I'm sorry for sneaking like this, but would it be okay if I tag along?"
"Is there a problem back there?" Sunny asked.
"No, no problem," Dust spoke up before looking at Ivy. "Give us a moment."
Dust turned to his other two teammates. "What do you two think? I didn't expect a fourth member to join us on this mission, especially since it's Waterfall Cavern where that wild Goodra lives."
"Is that Goodra still there?" Berry asked, shivering at the thought of running into her again.
"Hard to say," Dust replied. "Certain Wild Pokemon do make their own territory, while others are often travelling. Unfortunately I don't know a lot about Goodra's natural habitat. Did the Goodra look like it just happened to be there? Or did you notice some kind of nest or home of sorts last time you were there?"
"I think she had a nest. I remember seeing her sleeping near it when Splash and I were trying to get past her," Berry answered. "Though I didn't see anything on the nest itself."
"'She', huh? You could tell what the Goodra's gender was?" Dust remarked.
"Is it that hard to tell a Pokemon's gender?" Shab questioned.
"Well some Pokemon are easier to tell than others. And again, there isn't much knowledge on the Goodra species itself. It would be interesting if we did run into that Goodra, we might be lucky and she turns out to be rather friendly. Gives us the chance to learn more about her kind," Dust noted.
"No way, she almost killed me and Splash that last time we saw her. She's a hostile wild Pokemon." Berry frowned, remembering her last encounter with the Goodra all too well. Though she… was unusually merciful near the end there… I still can't figure out why.
"Perhaps we should listen to Berry, Dust, she was the only one among us who encountered that Goodra before," Shab stated.
"True, I do remember what she told me. Still, one can only hope," Dust remarked.
"Do you need more time, or can we finally get going?" Sunny asked as she was starting to get impatient.
"Am I joining you or what?" Ivy asked as well.
"Uh…" Berry looked at Ivy. "You can join us, but you should be careful. Waterfall Cavern is a pretty tough place, and there's a Dragon Pokemon that lives there that's very, very strong. Do not engage with that dragon."
"Heh, I've had my fair share of tough places and dangerous Pokemon, you won't have to worry about me," Ivy gave a confident grin.
"Plus, our mission is to find the one who sent you that letter, not looking for that Goodra. You mentioned how she was towards the end of the Dungeon, so we should be able to find our mystery client before we even come across that Goodra," Dust reassured.
"So that's your mission?" Ivy asked. "You don't even know who your client is? Then how do you know if you've found them?"
"They'd likely be the only civilized Pokemon there," Shab stated. "Then we just simply ask if they're the client we're looking for."
"Sounds like an interesting mission, wonder who it is that wanted Team Night Tide specifically," Ivy replied.
"That's what we're hoping to find out," Dust said.
"Alright, I heard Waterfall Cavern multiple times, is that where you guys are going?" Sunny asked.
"Oh, yes, we're going there," Shab spoke up.
"Ah, it's been a while since we took anyone to the Waterfall Cavern, it's such a dark and mysterious place," Twilight remarked before he and Sunny began pulling the Carriage.
While the Carriage was on its way to the Waterfall Cavern, Dust looked at Berry. "Since you're the only one who's been at the Waterfall Cavern before, perhaps you could tell us what to expect."
"Well… it starts out fine, you'll be able to see small bits of water, and some Water Pokemon. But on the 4th floor and onwards, it's going to get pretty dark, with bits of light coming from the water. Wild Pokemon get a bit stronger and tougher the further in you go," Berry recounted her time at the Waterfall Cavern. "It's a really nice place, but also really dangerous. That Goodra can also traverse through the dungeon though, she doesn't stay in one place. Splash and I first ran into her on the 5th floor. Oh, there's also traps in Waterfall Cavern, since I remember falling into a pitfall."
Dust nodded. "So once we get to the 4th floor, we just have to pay close attention to our surroundings, especially if that Goodra is nearby. Do you remember how many floors the dungeon had?"
"There appeared to be about 10 floors," Berry answered. "That's how many floors it took for Splash and I to reach the end of the dungeon and into the Spring Swamp."
"The Spring Swamp is probably the cleanest swamp in the region," Shab noted.
"And turns out it also has a rare flower that has healing properties," Dust smiled as he looked at Berry.
"The Chrysalis Flower," Berry stated.
"Oh, I've heard of those flowers," Ivy spoke up. "Supposedly they're at their strongest potential when they're in their bud stages. When they bloom, however, they can be deadly. They release a toxic sort of pollen when they bloom. Though I guess doctors would know how to utilize the poison pollen and turn them into potent medicine."
"Well, it's a good thing that Berry got the flower while it was still in its bud stage, else we might be having a very different story here," Dust gave a slight chuckle.
"I'd rather not think about that…" Berry shivered.
"I would like to see the home you grew up in, Berry," Shab admitted. "Could we explore around Spring Swamp after we completed our mission?"
Berry frowned a little. She hadn't seen her family, except Splash, for quite a while, not since she joined the Unity Guild. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to her family, even now that she was a Silver Ranked Crusader. Well, Berry wouldn't mind seeing her mother again, but the rest of her family she was a bit unsure about, especially her father. If her father knew she was responsible for Splash's dry state at the time, he would want her dead, he already didn't like her.
"I… I don't know…" Berry answered softly.
Dust recalled Berry's childhood and her relationship with her family. "Perhaps another time, seeing how we'd have to go through this Dungeon, and most likely that Goodra if we wanted to get to Spring Swamp. We can take the longer route sometime in the future, for now we should focus on our mission."
Shab frowned a little, seeing how upset Berry looked. "Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Berry."
"No, no, it's fine, Shab. I just… had a rough childhood with my family is all," Berry explained. "I grew up with a Quigsire and Wooper family. I'm… not quite like them, so I was treated… a bit differently from them. Though my mom still loved me at least."
"Oh, I see… I guess it would be hard growing up with a species different from yours," Shab noted. "But even so, they should've treated you better. You're too pure to be treated anything less."
"Heh… thanks, Shab," Berry said in a grateful tone, though she was a little bit bothered by what Shab said. Different species, huh? If I'm not a Wooper, then what am I? What's a Goomy exactly?
"Alright, we're here," Sunny announced as she and Twilight stopped in front of a cave.
"Guess we'll be waiting on you four to get back," Twilight stated. "If you take too long though, we'll have to call out another Carriage to wait for you."
Berry looked pretty tired despite not really moving much. She slithered onto Dust's back, not really wanting to move on her own.
While Dust had gotten used to Berry's slime, he actually shivered slightly from how cold her slime was. He looked back, seeing how tired she was. "Maybe we should go back and get you checked out by Dr. Perfume."
"No… I'll be fine. We're already here," Berry spoke up.
Shab frowned, also concerned for Berry.
"Berry's right, we are already here," Ivy stated, jumping out of the Carriage. "If she's tired, just keep her on your back. We'll find this client and complete the mission, then we can go back to the guild. No biggie, right?" I also don't want to go back to the guild right now anyways.
"...Alright, then we best get going then," Dust nodded.
"Don't worry Berry, I'll stay close with you," Shab stated, wanting to keep a close eye on Berry.
"Thanks…" Berry softled answered back.
Dust began to make his way into the cave, along with Shab and Ivy following him. They soon entered the Waterfall Cavern Dungeon.
Waterfall Cavern F4
It was as Berry had said, the first few floors of Waterfall Cavern weren't so bad, but when they reached the 4th floor, it had gotten much darker. The wild Pokemon were stronger as well. It took a few more moves than Dust would've liked to have taken down a wild Pokemon.
"It's… better than… the first time," Berry replied, sounding strained. "I had to… avoid the wild Pokemon… the first time…"
Dust couldn't help but notice that Berry's body had gotten warmer lately, though her slime was getting colder. In a way, it reminded him a lot of why Berry came here in the first place, how because he neglected his own self care, he ended up causing harm to his body, which ended up forcing Berry having to go through this dungeon in the first place.
"Berry, I know you want to finish this mission, but I think we should-" Dust started, only to stop when he saw the expression on Berry's face.
Berry looked scared about something as her antennae stiffened. "We need to hide."
"Why? What's wrong?" Dust asked.
Shab and Ivy, who were admiring the little pools and the waterfalls, turned to look at Dust and Berry.
"Is something wrong?" Ivy asked.
"Are you okay, Berry?" The Feebas questioned in concern.
"Something strong is coming, I think it's that Goodra, we need to hide!" Berry spoke up louder and more urgently.
Seeing how desperate Berry was, Dust didn't doubt what her friend had said. Dust quickly turned to Shab and Ivy. "Quick hop on my back!"
Shab didn't hesitate to jump onto Dust's back. Ivy hesitated a little bit, since she never rode on an Absol before, but seeing Berry's distress about whatever's coming, she decided to hop onto Dust's back. Dust began to run.
"No! No! Not that way! Go the other way!" Berry quickly warned.
Dust quickly changed the direction he was going, running through the dungeon. Dust saw some Pokemon up ahead, and at first it looked like they were preparing to attack them, but suddenly their expression changed and they started running away too, as though their instincts were telling them of an oncoming danger. Though Dust didn't really blame them, shortly after hearing Berry's warning, he started to sense that all too familiar sense of dread when danger was nearby. Dust didn't risk looking behind him, trusting Berry would warn him of which direction the Goodra would be coming from.
However, as Dust was running, he didn't notice a wild Corsola right in front of him. The Corsola yelped in surprise at the upcoming Absol and quickly shot out a Bubblebeam attack. The Bubblebeam took Dust by surprise as he was hit by the bubble and let out a yelp, which caused him to stand up on his hind legs. This caused Berry and Shab to fall off of Dust's back and into the water with a splash.
Dust was slightly disoriented from the surprise attack, but quickly recovered. Though, as he turned around to look where Berry and Shab had fallen, in the distance he sensed something was coming. While he knew that Berry was the one who normally can sense nearby Pokemon, being an Absol made it to where he can sense oncoming danger, and now that he was focusing more on it, he couldn't help but gulp as he took a step back away from the upcoming danger. Ivy used her Vine Whip to knock the Corsola out, since the Corsola was doubly weak to Grass, it was easy for her. Ivy turned over to Dust, unfortunately, he was so focused on what was coming, he failed to notice the sudden change to the ground he was stepping on.
Ivy immediately saw what was happening and tried to warn Dust. "Dust! Quick, you just stepped on a-"
Dust suddenly found himself in a completely different area of the dungeon. Ivy ran to where Dust was just at, stepping on the Warp Trap that just appeared, and she too disappeared.
Berry and Shab swam up to the surface of the water they landed in.
"Uh… what happened to Dust and Ivy?" Shab questioned.
Berry groaned, sinking back into the water, feeling too tired to want to move anymore. She was also a bit overwhelmed by whatever was coming their way, so she was having trouble staying conscious, especially since they had lost Dust and Ivy.
"Berry? Berry! Are you okay?" The worried Feebas asked as he turned, seeing the Goomy sinking back down with her eyes closed.
Berry was barely conscious, she almost couldn't hear what Shab was saying. Unfortunately, the Feebas was so focused on Berry, that he didn't notice the giant Pokemon coming towards them. Berry noticed the giant Pokemon when she opened her eyes again and tried to warn Shab, but she couldn't find the strength to even speak. She could only watch as the giant Pokemon now stood behind Shab, though her vision was starting to go blurry, she already had an idea on what the Pokemon was.
Something purple reached down and grabbed Shab, who let out a surprised yelp as he was dragged out of the water. Berry gasped, scared that Shab was about to get eaten. Then another purple thing reached into the water and wrapped around her, though it felt more gentle than like a vice grip. Berry closed her eyes, not wanting to be conscious for the end as the purple thing pulled her out of the water.
Meanwhile, Dust was looking around, feeling completely lost. He didn't sense that big Pokemon anymore, but he was in an unfamiliar area of the dungeon, and alone.
"Berry? Shab? Ivy?" Dust called out, in case they happened to be nearby, but to his disappointment he heard no reply.
Dust thought about how he ended up here in the first place, recalling about how he read about certain traps that could appear in dungeons from time to time. From what he could tell, he must've stepped on a Warp Zone, sending him to an unknown location of the dungeon.
"Luckily it was only a Warp Zone," Dust said to himself, remembering all the other traps he read about. "I'm not sure how accurate the information about traps are, but I don't think I'd like to end up stepping on an Electrode Trap."
But then his focus turned to his missing teammates, recalling how close the upcoming danger was before. "I better find them before it's too late."
The only problem was that Dust had no idea where to go. He had always relied on Berry when it came to searching for Pokemon. Though as he thought about Berry's ability to sense nearby Pokemon, it did give the Absol an idea.
"Hmm, while I can't really sense nearby Pokemon, I could try to focus on sensing oncoming danger. If I'm able to pick up on it and move towards the danger, it might lead me to where Berry and the others are," Dust explained to no one. "That or it will just lead me straight to the danger while Berry and the others are nowhere to be found."
"Talking to yourself already?" A familiar voice spoke up from behind Dust.
Dust gave a yelp as he jumped back. Turning to face the voice, Dust started to calm down once he saw who it was. "Ivy, nice to see you again. As for the whole 'talking to myself.' Well I find that talking to yourself can help clear your mind, or help you figure things out."
"Right… well, we do have a bit of a problem. That Warp Zone took us somewhere else in the dungeon, and we left behind Berry and Shab to whatever that strong Pokemon was," Ivy stated. "We could try to look for them, but they may not be on the same floor anymore if that Pokemon took them."
"Hmm, then our best bet is to continue on and find them as quickly as possible," Dust replied.
"You also better watch out for more traps," The Snivy warned. "This is one of those dungeons that have hidden traps it would seem."
Dust nodded before he started to walk forward with Ivy moving behind him. Dust can only hope that Berry and Shab were safe, though part of him felt as though that strong Pokemon had already gotten to them. Strangely enough, another part of him had an idea on what that Pokemon was, though knowing Berry, Dust felt she would've preferred any other Pokemon than the one he was thinking of.
Waterfall Cavern F5
The next floor of the dungeon was even darker than the last one. Thankfully, Dust could see in the dark due to his Dark typing. Ivy had a little bit of a harder time seeing, so she stuck close to Dust as they were travelling on. The wild Pokemon were also stronger here. Dust and Ivy had to use some items to slow down the wild Pokemon before knocking them out. Ivy was really fast, so she was good at dodging attacks and keeping the Pokemon distracted while Dust came in with Faint Attack or Iron Tail.
The two continued through the dungeon, hoping to find Berry and Shab, or that big Pokemon. As they were walking, however, Ivy decided to ask Dust a question.
"So… this big dangerous Pokemon you guys kept mentioning when we were back at the Carriage… do you know what kind of Pokemon that is?" Ivy questioned curiously. "You seemed to have an idea on what it was."
"Well...Berry had already warned us about there being strong Pokemon in the dungeon, but she also did say she thought it was Goodra that was coming while we were running away. After seeing how worried Berry was, I don't think she would mistake the dangerous Pokemon as something else," Dust explained.
"What's a Goodra?" The Snivy questioned.
Dust hesitated, before Otti had shown him, Dust didn't know what a Goodra was either. "It's… a really big and strong, yet slimy Dragon Pokemon. If I had to guess, it might tie in to one of the stronger fully evolved Dragon Pokemon like Dragonite or Salamence."
Ivy's eyes widened at that. "That's… strong… Any idea on why that Goodra seemed so focused on chasing us?"
"I have several ideas," Dust replied. "One could be to where it sensed us and felt as though we were trespassing on her territory. Another could be she was hunting for her next meal and noticed us."
"You know it's a 'she'?" Ivy blinked.
"Well according to Berry, she thinks the Goodra is a she," Dust answered before suddenly stopping as something else came to mind. "...There is one more idea...that comes to mind as to why that Goodra was chasing us...Or more specifically, Berry."
Ivy had almost bumped into Dust when the Absol had suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Hey, maybe a little warning before you decide to suddenly stop? What's this other idea of yours anyway?"
"Well...when Berry had shared her account of what happened the last time she was here, she mentioned how at first the Goodra seemed to attack Berry and her brother, but then ended up letting them go. At first I figured perhaps the Goodra took pity on them and let them go, or maybe she felt they weren't really worth the effort to eat, seeing how small Berry is. But now I'm wondering if there was more to that," Dust explained.
"I mean wild Pokemon in dungeons don't usually show mercy to intruders…" Ivy noted. "If the wild Goodra suddenly decided to let them go… there should be more reason than just taking pity or because it decided it wasn't hungry."
Dust decided to continue forward while he further explained his theory as Ivy followed close behind. "You are right. After having Otti who showed me what a Goodra looked like, I tried sharing my theory with Berry that perhaps her kind could evolve into Goodra, though Berry rejected the very thought of having any kind of relation to Goodra. I respected her desires and didn't bring it up any further, but I'm still convinced that her kind can evolve into Good-."
"Wait!" Ivy spoke up, interrupting Dust. "Are you saying Berry could become a Goodra? A Dragon type? I thought Berry was a Water type! She doesn't look very dragonish."
"She was raised in a family of Quagsire and Wooper, so for a long time she believed she was a Wooper herself, one that looked very different from a normal one. When we first met, I spent a while trying to convince her she was a Goomy, and while not much is known about the Pokemon, one thing I do know is that Goomy are Dragon type. Berry has admitted she knows she's not exactly a Wooper, but she still doesn't believe she's a Dragon type, or at least she knows she's a Goomy, but they themselves aren't really Dragons," Dust explained. "I still respect her choices and won't try to force her, instead I believe it would be better if she comes to terms with it on her own."
"Oh my gosh, I never knew Berry was a Dragon type either," Ivy muttered. "Although, I can't say that I blame her for not knowing or thinking she's not one. I don't know that much about Goomy, but they really don't look draconic. If anything, I just thought they were Water type."
"Perhaps they are Dragon and Water Type," Dust pointed out.
"Regardless, it's still pretty shocking," Ivy said. "I guess I know how Berry feels though… being possibly related to what one would consider a monster…"
"She always did get worried when she thought about her evolution, or that Goodra," Dust noted. "I don't mean to pry, but, this morning, with what happened between you and Talon. If you don't mind me asking, do you know who that Serperior was?"
Ivy frowned. "... Yeah… I know who that Serperior was… He was the one who devoured Talon's family a while back. I… actually didn't know that until recently… at least I didn't know it was him who did it…"
Dust had guessed that perhaps that Serperior was the same one Talon had told him about, though he had hoped he was wrong. "I'm sorry to hear that, I can only imagine how Talon must've felt seeing the same Serperior from his past. But what about you? From what I understand, you seem to know who this Serperior is, to some degree."
The Snivy slowed down to a stop, making Dust stop as well as he looked at Ivy.
"... The Serperior's name is Undergrowth, he's a shiny Serperior who's not only one of the strongest Pokemon I know, but is also one of the most sadistic… I think he was born wild too," Ivy explained. "And… the reason why I know him… is because he's… my father."
Dust fell silent, so many things going through his mind. First it was the idea of a shiny Serperior, then to how strong he could be, making Dust wonder what would happen if his mother were to face him in battle. Then his mind thought of him being born wild, wondering if that would explain his sadistic nature, or perhaps somewhere down the Serperior's life, something caused him to be sadistic. Lastly, the one that Dust focused on most was the last thing Ivy had said, how Undergrowth, the Serperior who was a dangerous outlaw, who apparently was Patricia's master and was the true mastermind behind the incident at the tournament was also Ivy's father.
While normally Dust would ask numerous questions, he knew this was a very sensitive topic for Ivy, just from seeing her reaction.
Ivy sighed. "So… now you know why Talon and I have been having trouble being around each other lately. Talon already had a hard time trusting the Snivy line in the first place, but knowing I'm related to that monster who devoured his family… I guess that was too much for him… and maybe it's too much for me too…"
Dust was still silent, pondering over the things Ivy had shared with him. He understood now why there was so much tension between Talon and Ivy, as well as to why Ivy had decided to sneak on the Carriage with them. He wanted to offer some kind of advice or helpful words, but at first nothing came to mind. This was something he didn't exactly know how to relate to. Being related to a sadistic outlaw like Undergrowth must've weighed heavy on the Snivy's mind. But as Dust thought about families and relationships, he thought about his conversation with Talon this morning.
"Ivy, do you want to know what I said to Talon after you had left?" Dust asked.
Ivy looked up at Dust. "What did you say to Talon?"
"I told Talon that I don't know what he's going through, or what it's like to lose a family member, but that family is more than just the blood you share with others, but the bond you end up making with them, regardless if you're related or not. We may not get to choose who we are related to, but we can choose who we can be family with," Dust recounted. "Ivy, I can't say I know what it's like being related to someone like Undergrowth, but I can say I understand a bit. While my mother isn't an outlaw, I do know being related to someone with quite the reputation can make things...difficult. Others usually based what they think of you depending on who you're related to. Does anyone else know that Undergrowth is your father?"
"I… hope not." Ivy frowned. "It's not like I went around announcing who my parents were. But it is possible that rumors could spread now that Talon and Tippi knows…"
"Well, it's like I said, the bonds you make with others are what truly define what family is. I don't think Talon and Tippi would toss aside the bonds you three had built, or even mentioning your relationship to Undergrowth. I think Talon still cares about you, else he would've told everyone the moment he found out who Undergrowth was," Dust explained.
"I don't know… maybe. I think Talon and I need to work things out before we can really work together again…" Ivy sighed before looking around. "... Is it just me, or have you noticed there's.. less wild Pokemon in the dungeon lately?"
"Now that you mentioned it…" At first Dust thought it was because they were perhaps lucky, but thinking about it more, he was starting to wonder if something else might be going on. "We best hurry, something tells me the Goodra isn't the only thing we should be worrying about."
"Or maybe it is the Goodra…" Ivy remarked. "Who's to say she isn't out hunting right now? She seems to be the strongest Pokemon in this dungeon."
Dust nodded as he continued forward, with Ivy following close behind. Before he was focused on Ivy and their conversation, but now that his attention was to the dungeon itself, he noticed there was some kind of slight pressure nearby, though he couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from, it did tell him that danger was close.
"Let's hurry and get to the next floor," Ivy spoke up. "I doubt we'll find Berry and Shab here."
Meanwhile on floor 9 of the Waterfall Cavern, Berry was waking up. She didn't know when she fell unconscious, but she just knew the last thing she remembered was being picked up by a purple tentacle thing, though thinking about it now, it was likely one of the antennae from the Goodra.
How am I not dead already? Or inside the Goodra's stomach being digested by now? Berry questioned herself.
Berry felt horrible. She felt cold, sore, and a bit numb. She couldn't really move, nor did she want to. Though as her vision started to clear up, she realized she was sitting on a nest of some kind just over the water. She also saw Shab in the water close to her.
"Sh-" Berry coughed for a moment. "Shab?"
At first Shab didn't move, causing Berry to worry. But when she moved closer, she saw that something was covering Shab's body. She recognized the green slime and saw how it was connecting to the nest she was currently in.
"Shab!" Berry called out once more.
"I'm here, Berry. I'm glad you're awake," Shab said. "Though I'm… currently kinda stuck."
"What happened?" Berry asked, though she felt a little better hearing Shab talk, reassuring her he was fine.
"Well, after we had gotten separated from Dust and Ivy, I noticed how you were starting to sink in the water. I went to assist you, but then that Goodra showed up and ended up taking both me and you," Shab explained. "At first I thought the Goodra was gonna eat you, and no matter what attacks I tried, nothing fazed the Pokemon. I was dreading what the Goodra would do to you, but when we came to the 9th floor, the Goodra placed you in that nest while she covered my body with slime. I've been trying to break free but I can barely move."
Berry frowned, realizing that she was indeed in that nest she remembered seeing by the Goodra on her last trip in this dungeon with Splash. "Why stick us on the nest? Is she planning to feed a child or something? She probably couldn't stick me with her slime though… although in the condition I'm in… she wouldn't need to… I can… barely move…"
"Berry, by chance do you have your Badge with you? I can't seem to reach mine with all this slime," Shab suggested.
Berry blinked. "I'm not leaving without you, Sha-" Berry started coughing again.
"Berry, I know you would never abandon any one of us, but right now I'm stuck, your conditions are getting worse, and Dust and Ivy are lost in this dungeon. If you could escape, you can send help," Shab tried reassuring.
The sick Goomy frowned, but she realized Shab had a point. For once, they were the ones in need of some help. Berry tried to reach for her Crusader Badge in her scarf, but as she looked for her, to her growing horror, she couldn't find the badge anywhere. "... Shab… I think my badge fell off me or something… because I can't find it."
Shab would've gone to Berry at that moment, to provide assistance and comfort, but at the moment he was stuck. "Do you think you could reach mine? I keep it attached to my scarf, but I can't really turn my body to grab it," Shab suggested.
Berry weakly slithered, but she felt dizzy when she did. She really didn't want to move. However, as Berry struggled to get herself moving, a shadow loomed over them, making Berry stop to look up with horror.
The Goodra was standing over them. Not only that, but the Goodra had quite a few Pokemon wrapped around her antennae. The Goodra then put the Pokemon down near the nest. They were mostly small Pokemon like Krabby, Psyduck, and Clamperl. The Goodra then spat out green goo at each of them, causing the Pokemon to get stuck by the stickiness of the slime. Berry and Shab could only watch the process in horror.
The Goodra looked at Berry, noticing she was awake now. The Goodra approached Berry, who stiffened in fear, wondering if the Goodra was going to eat her first from this patch of Pokemon. Shab was struggling as he tried to break free, but to no avail. The Goodra then reached down and picked up Berry, causing both her and Shab to think the Goodra was planning on eating Berry first. But to both their surprise, the Goodra only held Berry close to her body, almost as though she was cradling her.
Shab was staring in surprise while Berry was looking confused. The Goodra's body slime was starting to come on her, but the slime easily dropped off due to Berry's own slime. But Berry did feel a bit better feeling the Goodra's slime on her. It was the first time Berry felt another's slime on her that wasn't toxic from her Wooper and Quagsire family. The Goodra then gently rubbed Berry's head with one of her hands, and frowned slightly.
The Goodra then gently placed Berry back in the nest before reaching for Shab. The Goodra easily removed the slime from Shab's body as she lifted him out of the water. At first Berry was worried that the Goodra would eat Shab, but then the Goodra lowered the Feebas and held him in front of Berry. At first neither Berry or Shab knew what the Goodra was trying to accomplish, but after the Goodra moved Shab closer to Berry, she saw the Goodra making a motion with her mouth by opening and closing it.
Berry paled when she realized what the Goodra was doing; she was trying to feed Shab to her. "N-no! No way, I'm a vegetarian! And Shab is my friend, I wouldn't eat him!"
At that, Shab started to heat up. Berry tried to show the wild Goodra that she wasn't interested in eating Shab by putting her head on Shab and tried to push him away. The Goodra gave a surprised look, but then shook their head, nudging Shab's body closer to Berry once more. Berry shook her own head, keeping her mouth shut, trying her best to show she was not interested in eating Shab.
Shab was blushing very hard at this point as he started whispering to Berry. "H-hey...uh… just play along, and as soon as the Goodra leaves, you can just spit me out. I won't mind."
Berry frowned, though it was a good suggestion, she felt extremely self conscious at the idea of even having Shab in her mouth at all. If she swallowed Shab, it would be doubly awkward for her.
Though Berry didn't get the chance to reply, for the Goodra suddenly reached for Berry. At first Berry thought the Goodra was upset because she wasn't eating Shab. She tried moving away, but she was still too exhausted, so she closed her eyes and braced herself for the worst. But then she started to feel a strange new feeling. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see the Goodra was giving her right antenna a gentle squeeze. At first she was confused, but the more the Goodra squeezed her antenna, the more she noticed how good it felt. And without realizing it, Berry was starting to slowly open her mouth.
Berry then suddenly felt something in her mouth, she opened her eyes in shock when she saw Shab's tail fin sticking out of her mouth. The Goodra was trying to push Shab into Berry's mouth while Berry had accidentally let her mouth open. Berry wanted to spit Shab out, but the Goodra kept pushing him further inside. It was then Berry remembered Shab's plan to spit him out later after the Goodra left, and that seemed to be the best plan they had right now. Berry couldn't possibly fight against the Goodra, so all she could do was let the Goodra push Shab all the way into her mouth. Berry couldn't help but notice how hot Shab felt in her mouth.
The Goodra looked at Berry, as if expecting her to do something. Berry's eyes widened as she realized the Goodra wanted her to swallow. I hate this! Where the heck are Dust and Ivy!?
Waterfall Cavern F7
"This dungeon isn't very long, but its wild Pokemon are strong. It's getting harder to get through without needing to stop for Oran Berries," Ivy commented, chewing on an Oran Berry to help with a bad wound she got from fighting with a wild Skrelp, it didn't help that Pokemon was half Poison type.
Dust nodded as he took the time to rest. "Normally Berry would warn us of nearby Pokemon, and we try to avoid unnecessary battles. But ever since we got separated, we seem to be running into more Wild Pokemon after the other."
"And without Berry to tell us where that big Goodra is, we have to comb every single part of the dungeon to make sure we didn't miss them before moving on…" Ivy frowned. "Though we can't exactly travel in the water…"
"That is quite unfortunate. In fact, it's because of that reason that Berry and Shab ended up going to a special dungeon without me. Turns out only Water Pokemon, or at least those who are able to breath underwater are able to enter that dungeon. Real shame, from what they told me they had quite the adventure," Dust explained.
"So let me guess; you're going to try to find a way to make it so you could breathe underwater?" Ivy joked. "Maybe you could 'evolve' into a Water type or something."
"Heh, while I haven't really thought of breathing underwater before, but after missing out on going with Berry and Shab, I've actually thought about the possibility. I mean, Absol don't really have an evolution, but maybe that's because it hasn't been discovered yet," Dust pondered.
"Hmm, well it's too bad you're not an Eevee, then you'd have a plethora of types to choose from," Ivy chuckled as she finished up her Oran Berry.
"If only, though being an Absol does have it's quirks," Dust remarked. "Ready to keep going?"
"Yeah. We should pick up some Pecha Berries along the way too, there are quite a few Poison types in this dungeon and I rather not get poisoned," Ivy answered back.
Dust looked down at his own pink scarf, thinking about how he had gotten poisoned months ago, but ever since getting this scarf, it had protected him from Berry's toxic slimes, allowing him to give her a ride. But seeing how it was just him and Ivy, he decided to take off his scarf.
"Here, I think this would better suit you while we search for Berry and Shab," Dust offered.
"Oh? Are you sure?" Ivy asked, looking at Dust. "You could still get poisoned yourself you know."
"That may be so, but I'd be able to handle it a bit more than you," Dust explained. "If we find any Pecha Berries along the way, we'll make sure to take them with us."
Berry had no idea how she didn't look like a miniature Snorlax right now. The Goodra pretty much fed her Shab and the other Pokemon that she brought here, yet Berry didn't look that much bigger for it. Berry never knew her stomach was able to hold so much. The Goodra appeared to be satisfied.
"Uh… okay… are you done?" Berry hesitantly asked. "Were you trying to… fatten me up?"
The Goodra didn't reply but only continued to smile. The Dragon Pokemon then lowered her head towards Berry. Berry was sure that the Goodra was actually going to eat her now, but to her surprise the Goodra seemed to rub her head against her body, almost as though she was nuzzling her. After a few seconds the Goodra stepped back, giving one last look at Berry before leaving.
Why…? Why was she… nuzzling me? Berry frowned as she watched the Goodra walking into the dungeon.
Berry waited a little longer, making sure the Goodra was out of sight before she put her plan into action. Berry jumped off of the nest she was on and splashed into the water. Immediately, the Goomy began gulping down as much water as she could.
When Berry's stomach could no longer hold in all the water she was gulping down, she puked out all the Pokemon she had swallowed earlier. Ugh… now I know how Patrica felt…
The Pokemon were all confused to suddenly be outside of the Goomy's stomach, however, they didn't waste this opportunity to quickly try to swim or hop away while they still could. There was one Pokemon Berry didn't throw up. Berry frowned, realizing she missed one, the most important one.
Berry made herself cough up more water until she managed to throw up Shab, the Feebas let out a yelp as he splashed into the water. Berry was surprised that Shab looked really red, and she was worried if maybe he got partially digested already.
"Shab!" Berry called out, but got no reply from the Feebas. "Please say something!"
"...I… I need… a minute…" Shab finally replied, his body even more red now.
Berry gave Shab a worried look, concerned that the Feebas may have been traumatized from getting eaten.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Shab… hopefully after you shake it off, we can get out of here and find Dust and Ivy before that Goodra comes back…" Berry said quietly, looking around in case the Goodra would suddenly come back.
Shab quickly got up, though he was still red. "Oh no need to apologize. Not at all. I'm actually fine, better than fine!"
"Are… are you sure? You… look pretty red… did… did… uh… some of your… scales burn off?" Berry asked in concern.
"Oh no no no," Shab quickly replied while shaking his head. He paused for a moment as he thought of a good excuse. "It was just…very hot… Yeah, being inside you…"
Shab paused once more as he thought of his time inside Berry, his body turning even more red. He then realized that he had been quiet for a bit too long, so he quickly coughed as he continued.
"And with all those other Pokemon, it got cramped and hot," Shab quickly said.
Berry blinked, she didn't know how to react to that answer, though she was embarrassed and ashamed about what happened, she couldn't tell if Shab was actually traumatized or… He almost looks… happy?
"Um… are you sure you're okay?" I hope being… uh… in… my stomach didn't make him delirious… Berry frowned.
"Yes, I promise you that I'm okay," Shab answered as he started to calm down, his body returning to its natural colors. "But more importantly, how are you feeling? I can't imagine having to force yourself to throw up after consuming so many Pokemon just now."
Berry shivered a little. "My… stomach does hurt a bit… but I'd rather deal with that than actually eat anyone. I am a vegetarian after all. We better go before the Goodra come back though…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shab asked. "Dust and Ivy are still somewhere in the dungeon… and if the Goodra discovers you're missing… well, she might go on a rampage. I… don't want to assume, but from the looks of it, it looks like she… uh… cares for you, Berry."
Berry frowned, she knew that the Goodra had been acting oddly attached and caring towards her since they saw the Goodra again, but she had been hoping that maybe the Goodra just wanted her as one of her meals. Maybe she thought Berry looked the most appetizing, and wanted to fatten her up.
But then why would the Goodra be cradling and nuzzling you if you were just food to her? A treacherous thought asked Berry.
Berry slumped down, the pain in her stomach from forcing herself to throw up all those Pokemon and her current fever, added to her own confusion made it hard for her to stay standing. Berry felt dizzy and disorientated. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to throw up all of those Pokemon.
"Berry?! Are you alright?" Shab quickly went to Berry's side to check on her, but when her slime touched his body, his body flinched from how hot it was. "Berry, you're burning up!"
Berry let out a bit of a moan.
Shab frowned, realizing the best course of action, since leaving the dungeon and heading back to the guild would take too long, was to let the Goodra take care of Berry. He knew the Goodra cared for Berry, and it was likely the Goodra would know what to do in this situation. Shab nudged Berry a bit, pushing her back to the nest as best as he could.
"You should let the Goodra take care of you," Shab told Berry. "I know you're scared of her, but she obviously cares for you. Let her help you with that fever."
"But… she would… eat you…" Berry weakly warned.
"For now I'll hide while keeping a lookout in case Dust and Ivy show up. I can warn them of the Goodra and we can make a plan for all of us to get out of here," Shab explained. "For now, you just rest here, okay?"
Berry groaned, but she couldn't exactly argue as she felt too weak to even move. She looked at Shab, hoping that he would hide himself well from the Goodra, and hoped the Goodra wouldn't sense him with her antennae. Berry started to close her eyes, unable to stay conscious anymore.
Berry Tail: DarkFoxKit: The whole 'lost city' idea was actually inspired from the Wet-Dry World from Super Mario 64. It also adds to the creepiness and mystery.
Ivory Spark: DarkFoxKit: Yes, the Vulpix once lived in that town that got flooded and became a Mystery Dungeon. As for your theory about Kyogre flooding it, either by accident or on purpose, that's a strong possibility.
Ember: Traveling Master: No need to apologize, before we were just confused, but thank you for letting us know, so that we can better understand your reviews.
When Dust and Berry first formed Team Night Tide, since it was only just them two, they would be doing a lot of missions together. But as their team grows, they will have more opportunity to do more missions while splitting up the team. With a higher rank, it means they'll have more responsibilities, as well as taking on more missions that will require them to operate on different locations.
But yes, we wanted to focus on building Dust and Cliff's relationship, while also giving Berry and Shab a mysterious adventure of their own.
DarkFoxKit: What's funny was that Sparks/Grudge wasn't originally going to be in the dungeon, but as we were writing Berry and Shab getting deeper into the dungeon, seeing how it was getting darker, I figured they could use some help from a Chinchou's light. Then another idea struck me when I saw a picture of a Delta Chinchou from Pokemon Insurgence, so it became the 'big boss' of the dungeon to make it more interesting and tragic. As for the Pokemon who gave Team Night Tide the message about the Sunken Tunnel, no, it wasn't Sparks who sent them the letter. The Pokemon is supposed to remain a mystery, so I can't answer it here.
Well… Shab is planned to evolve at some point, because Milotic is my favorite Water type Pokemon, but he won't be evolving for a while if that will make you feel a little better about Shab. I usually prefer taking my time with evolving Pokemon unless they need to evolve quickly, like with Tippi the Caterpie, who became a Butterfree fairly quickly in the story.
Traveling Master: It's one of the few rare times Eclipse opens up and isn't constantly on guard. Her past with her former partner is a big mystery, one that will eventually get revealed. As for your theory, that is not a bad one, some of it does make sense. You may be right, so right that you may have guessed the entire mystery. Or we purposely set it up like that to lead others off and instead plan to reveal something even more crazier! But that will all be in the future, and I look forward to the day when all questions are answered.
And again, no need to apologize, but thank you for letting us know.
Arctic Breeze: DarkFoxKit: Good, good, let Cliff's cuteness take you~
The Moonfox Collective: DarkFoxKit: Yup, it was fun doing Dust and Cliff's bonding together. As for the sunken town, you're actually right, it's based off of the Wet-Dry World from Super Mario 64. I enjoy the creepiness factor, and wanted to use it, as well as a mystery behind it. As for the water being polluted, yeah, Berry's not used to dirty water like that. Feebas can survive in that kind of water, hence why Shab was unaffected, but the same can't be said for poor Berry.
Heh, well if it is a pattern, it wasn't on purpose. Grudge actually came in later while we were writing out Sunken Tunnel, and we thought them fighting against an unusual Pokemon would spice things up a bit more, as well as add to the creep factor, as well as tragedy.
As for Cliff being adorable, and becoming a gentle giant later, well… you aren't wrong. :3 Whenever I see a Tyranitar in the Pokemon anime, they're usually depicted as vicious, aggressive, very roary creatures. There was one Tyranitar in the Pokemon 4ever movie that looked like it could've been a gentle one before it was captured by a Dark Ball and turned evil, and I kinda liked that Tyranitar before it was turned evil.
Lonleyboi69: Traveling Master: Well, like you mentioned before, we also couldn't see the text translations that well. But yes, Dust being a worried father was definitely pog. XD
Aurastar Warrior: DarkFoxKit: I don't know when I'll be continuing Child of Mew, that depends on my other co-writer, Darkzdragon. We plan to finish We Are Phantom's season 2 before going back to Child of Mew. But please don't leave a review asking someone when they'll continue a different story, it is actually rude, especially to the other co-writer.
Jewel moonstone: Traveling Master: Thanks, again, we wanted to try something different and split the team. We got to have a cute fun adventure with Dust and Berry, while also adding a suspenseful and mysterious adventure with Berry and Shab. Glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Berry4Goodra: Traveling Master: There is still a bad relationship between Eclipse and Dust's father. But that doesn't mean they didn't have some good times in the past. Reason why Eclipse is talking about him so casually is cause she was caught off guard by Dust, and he reminded her of the few good times she had with Dust's father. But she still resents him.
DarkFoxKit: The reason it's a B mission is because the dungeon itself is pretty long and difficult, the Kyogre sightings were more rumors than actual confirmation.
Well, Dust isn't going to be stupid enough to try to carry Cliff when she becomes a Tyranitar, at that point she would be way bigger than Dust. As for the Pupitar, I think Dust will realize Cliff is already too heavy for him at that point and would snap his back in half. And just because Dust is able to carry Cliff as a Larvitar doesn't mean he has the unnatural strength that Ash and Lillie has. Ash is able to carry a Larvitar in his backpack no problem, meanwhile, Dust is actually struggling to carry Cliff.
Cliff doesn't really know where babies come from, so… I don't think she'll be asking Dust about that any time soon.
Dust: Please, I rather forget that mating incident. I'm just glad things turned out okay. But I would never betray Berry. Also, while I do adore Cliff, I don't think I can handle Cliff having a younger sibling.
DarkFoxKit: Grudge doesn't have a Vulpix form. He lived and died as a Vulpix, but his spirit was cursed to become a sea Pokemon, a Chinchou in this case, due to drowning. His true nature is a Fire and Ghost type Chinchou, the fire being from his life as a Vulpix, the ghost being his spirit. He turns into a normal Chinchou while in water though. As for the cataclysm, it's open for interpretation. The most logical conclusion would be that Kyogre flooded it for some reason, since there had been Kyogre sightings in this dungeon. But it's mostly up to the readers to decide what actually happened to the sunken town. As for if Kyogre or Groudon will play a role in the future… I'm going to say yes, but give no details to when, how, or why.
FoxyKhai0209: DarkFoxKit: Oh, nice, happy birthday then. Hope you continue to enjoy reading.