There were no vicious Charizards in the cliffs, just a Rhyhorn that forgot to change directions and ended up smashing through a boulder. The Larvitar that had been munching on said boulder gave a small cry in protest, waggling its tiny fist in the air as the much bigger rocky creature raced past it, then went right back to munching on one of the smaller pieces. A nesting Mandibuzz tending a little Vullaby gave Astrid and Arashi a glance as the Dartrix too sailed through the air with her comrade firmly grasped in her talons, and Astrid eyed them too in caution while Arashi watched the ground below.
"You… you'll be able to tell where this place is… right…?" Astrid asked her comrade, a bit unconvinced of what answer he might give.
"Of course!" Arashi chirped back, then with a playful smirk, "You've said it yourself- I am the native, aren't I?"
Astrid scrambled for just a bit at the jest. "W-well, th-that's not…! I didn't mean it like-…!"
Her comrade laughed. "Don't worry! Everything looks different from above; you're just being cautious!"
She breathed a sigh of relief.
The bag was slightly heavier around her friend, but she didn't mind too much on account of her newly-larger form. Two more Oran berries and a Blast Seed sat nestled in the bag, all three procured from the Kecleon Shop before departing the town, and Astrid made a careful mental note of their inventory- 3 chestnuts, one Pecha and two Oran berries, one Blast and one Heal Seed. She hoped they wouldn't run into too much trouble that necessitated using them, but of course, there was no telling. She had also deduced that yes, the Kecleons did indeed just talk in sing-song voices all the time, which intrigued her just a bit (but she didn't think too much about it).
In any case, both Astrid and Arashi deduced that flying would likely be less time-consuming than walking the entire way to Chasm Edge, and yet again, the tops of the cliffs started to look closer than they did from the ground while the ground itself started to resemble a patchwork quilt. Overgrown Crevice was easily visible, as was an expanse of trees covering the ground further north from it. The cliffs died down just a bit to a hillier scene than the one with gargantuan rocks jutting out of the ground, but still, the landscape was far from being flat.
"Alright, so you'll see the trees starting to clear out just a little bit on the edge of one curve-shaped cliff, and that's Crescent Ridge," Arashi noted of the surroundings down below. "If you start going west, you'll see another rocky hill, and on the south side is the opening to Chasm Edge."
"Gotcha," Astrid replied.
She veered west in her flight.
"So what can we expect to see there? Do you know?" the Dartrix inquired.
"I'm not too sure, honestly!" Arashi cheerfully replied. "I know it feels kinda mystical, and I know my mom's been here a few times, but I couldn't tell you specifics. Guess we get to find out together!"
Astrid supposed that they would, one way or another. Still, her primary concern was the Clefable they'd be meeting inside... and if they too would get Fissured into oblivion. The odds of that were ridiculously low, she figured, so she brushed the thought off, even if it also brought to mind the slightly greater odds of her summoning a Fire Blast or Zap Cannon in comparison.
In any case, Arashi was right, she soon figured out, for off in the distance the opposite way they were going, she could see what appeared to be a crescent-shaped drop off of a cliff with sparser trees and a few little cottages of various shapes and sizes poking out between the foliage. She couldn't see any cave entrances from her vantage point, but the hills themselves were easy enough to pick out. They were still rather green, but crag certainly poked up through the grass.
"So… is it just Dusk Stones that you can find here…?" the Dartrix mused. "Or can we find other ones…?"
Arashi giggled. "Well, it'd be great if we could find more! Those things are valuable, and Veeko would probably like to keep a stash of them! All else fails, I'll use them to make my shrine to the Expedition Coalition!"
She cast an incredulously amused glance downward. "Y-you're not serious, are you?!"
Her friend grinned. "No, of course not! I'm keeping that paper under my cushion where it's safe and cozy!"
… She almost wanted to question whether or not he actually thought the letter was a sentient being that had the capacity to feel 'cozy,' but decided that no, he wasn't quite that insane. Fanatical, sure, but not insane.
Nonetheless, after a bit more scanning about, the both of them noticed an opening on the side of one hill that was rather tall in comparison to the surrounding ones, a cave seeming to open up on what indeed was a chasm about halfway up its height. Astrid glided over to the flattened edge of the drop and set her comrade down before landing herself.
She carefully peeked over the edge and saw the ground sloping downwards for about a hundred meters, rocks interspersed with trees and grass trying to overtake all of it. An Ariados crawled around the steep incline, but didn't seem all that bothered enough to come confront them.
The both of them looked at the opening, which lead into immediate darkness.
"Ready?" Arashi inquired.
"M-hm. You?"
"Yeah!"
That was good enough for the both of them and they strolled inside, the sunlight from outside quickly getting drowned out by the inner darkness of the cave.
Chasm Edge 1F
The air felt damp inside, and it was fairly dim, but after walking inside far enough for the opening to vanish from view, some glowing crystals shed a gently shimmering light on their rocky, otherwise mostly black surroundings. Astrid almost mistook them for the beginning of another Boldore's Power Gem, but the soft blues and pinks and greens were far from threatening. Droplets of water dripped off of a few rocky spikes on the ceiling, occasionally filling the room with a soft echo as they hit the ground. 'Kinda mystical' had been an accurate description.
There were two corridors to pick from, one in front of them and one to the left, both only slightly illuminated by the glowing rocks embedded in the walls.
"Hah! This place is pretty!" Arashi cried happily.
"It is pretty nice…" Astrid had to admit, eyeing the different colors splashed across the walls and floor. She quite liked their hues cast about.
Arashi glanced between the corridors. "Which way do you think?"
She thought for a moment, then glanced at the one to the left. "This one."
She strolled in, her comrade hopping closely behind.
Astrid soon realized, thankfully, that she could still swivel her head around in her new form when what sounded like small footsteps pattering away graced her ears. Arashi seemed to notice too, for he gave a quick glance backwards, but didn't pay it any mind. If something was there, neither one of them saw it, and the Dartrix turned her head forward again.
"If there's someone following us, I swear…" Astrid's voice trailed off.
"Maybe they just wanna say hello but they're shy!" Arashi wasn't fazed too much.
… Maybe. Highly unlikely, but maybe.
Nonetheless, the next room wasn't all that visible from the corridor until they strolled into it, and when they did, something akin to a soft musical note filled the air next. A quick glance upwards revealed the source thereof- a startled Chimecho clinging to the ceiling from the sucker on its head, which it then shook loose. Astrid immediately had a cautious eye on it, holding her wings out ready to strike, and her comrade wasn't too far behind in his mannerisms though he still wore a grin.
"A Psychic-type! Figures we'd see one!" the Froakie mused.
The Chimecho let out another pleasant-sounding (but still blatantly aggressive from its furrowing eyes) cry, and as it did so, a wave of purple wispy energy spread out from it that looked akin to a soundwave, but carried a psychic essence. Astrid shook some leaves loose from her wings and sent them flying at their wild company, the Chimecho trying to float out of the way but its long tail getting sliced while Arashi darted out of the Extrasensory's way.
"Was that a Razor Leaf?!" Arashi happily exclaimed to his comrade. "Guess those sharper feathers gave you sharper leaves!"
Astrid gave a flap upwards, narrowly avoiding the wave of energy. "W-well, I guess so!"
The Chimecho certainly wasn't too happy about that, for it threw itself to Take Down the Dartrix while Arashi rushed it in a Quick Attack. The Froakie knocked it off of Astrid's path, and the Dartrix landed on the ground again while Arashi found himself tangled in the streamer-like tail. He tried to unfurl from it, but… a problem soon manifested with such.
"Hey!" Arashi cried, trying to writhe free. "C'mon now- yiaaah-…!"
The tail tightened, Wrapping him up and preventing him from darting away again. The Chimecho made some more intonations, much louder than before and causing a great Uproar of sound to reverberate around the room. Arashi flinched at being so close, and Astrid too found it less than pleasant with the sounds ringing in her head.
"No, you cannot have my friend," Astrid nonetheless remarked flatly at the Chimecho, sending another Razor Leaf at its tail.
The sharp leaves sailing straight for him made Arashi let out a startled cry, but thankfully, the Dartrix had better aim than to strike him. The Chimecho made a cry that they were sure would've been a growl if didn't sound like a pleasant instrument, and unfurled its grip on the Froakie in a recoil of pain. Immediately Arashi disentangled himself and shot a Water Pulse at it, which made it fall motionlessly to the floor with one last little tinkling sound.
"Sheesh, I didn't think something so pretty and flat could have a grip like that! Remind me not to tangle with those things!" Arashi chuckled haplessly, shaking himself off albeit with a slightly dulled expression.
Astrid gave her feathers a fluff. "It didn't hurt you too bad, did it?"
"Nah, I'll walk it off and be fine," was the answer, her comrade rejoining her.
A quick scan of the room revealed little to be inspected, though there was a small pool of water in one corner that seemed to be flashing with a yellow glow.
"Hey, even the water is all sparkly!" Arashi noted happily, hopping over to it.
Astrid skittered along too, still keeping an eye out for any more visitors that might not have been happy with their presence (and in case a Sharpedo or the like jumped up and chomped onto her comrade's face). The water was crystal clear, and glancing over the edge of the pool revealed two Chinchous at the bottom flashing their bulbs to each other to cause the glow. It seemed innocuous enough, even in a dungeon.
"So it isn't just some fancy mystical glow," the Froakie mused nonchalantly.
Apparently one of them took note of two sets of eyes peering down, for it glanced up and sent a Spark throughout the water.
"Yiaah!" Arashi cried, jumping back with a frightened grin.
Astrid too took a step backwards, cautiously eyeing the water. "W-we should just leave the pools alone," she mused quickly, blinking and rustling her feathers up just a bit.
Her comrade gave her a wide-eyed, awkward glance and nodded. "Y-yeah, I don't really wanna get fried in my natural habitat…"
Astrid went back to trekking, her comrade close behind her.
Chasm Edge 2F
It seemed that the second they entered the floor, the skittering sound of footsteps returned. Astrid scanned the room as soon as they came, and Arashi too glanced around inquisitively, though the source of it was something they couldn't ascertain. Perhaps it was just the dungeon's natural ambiance.
"What is that?" the Froakie mused.
Astrid stared down the only corridor that opened up to them, and barely made out a tiny figure vanishing down the other end. Whatever it was, it evidently wasn't going to bother them.
"… Maybe the inhabitants don't get outsiders that often," the Dartrix said, unsure.
"Maybe they just don't like outsiders," Arashi nonchalantly proposed.
Whatever the case was, they headed for the corridor, seeing nothing of interest in the room they ended up in first.
"So, Astrid," Arashi mused, hopping along beside her, "since it's just us here, can I ask ya something?"
"Sure," she replied, shifting her glance to her comrade.
"So when Mom and Dad came back, we heard something about Zariel and some other world, yeah? And how she just vanished into a portal or something? Do you think maybe she's from the world you're originally from?"
The Dartrix thought about it for a moment, her eyes narrowing just a bit as she mulled it over. "Well, I'm sure it's possible… But if I knew any of those Pokémon- er, Pokémon and beast- from my former life, then I definitely don't recognize them. And I'm sure that if I recognized a Spelon berry, I'd recognize them…"
Arashi chuckled. "They definitely seem like an unforgettable bunch."
The Dartrix gave him a slightly wide-eyed, hapless look. "You got that right…"
"You think maybe your world has Pokémon-turned-humans on it?" her comrade wondered, slightly amused. "I mean, wouldn't that be cool! Well, in theory, anyway. I'd much rather still be a Froakie if I was gonna go world-hopping!"
Astrid chuckled at the idea, trying to visualize it but having little luck. However, it did bring to mind another question. "Hey, Arashi? Remember when we first met, and you thought I was crazy because humans went extinct a long time ago…?"
"Yep! If Dad hadn't said otherwise, I would still think you'd just hit your head really hard!"
Her feathers fluffed out just a bit as she asked, slightly uncertainly, "W-why… Why did humans go extinct…?"
The corridor was empty of skittering inhabitants, but on the other side of it, the same skittering sound could be heard. Astrid kept her eyes peeled.
Arashi, though, got a bit of a funny look at her inquiry. "Well, don't take any of this the wrong way, 'cause I'm sure your human self was pretty cool too," he noted.
"I won't," the Dartrix replied simply.
"They were just… kinda pathetic, as far as the history books say," the Froakie explained. "You know, there's exceptions in every group, like Magikarp and Feebas are notoriously useless Pokémon, and there were some humans that were really smart or strong… But in a world like this, where even most of the weakest Pokémon were stronger than above-average humans, they just couldn't keep up and disappeared a loooong time ago."
"A-ah… So natural selection didn't select humans…"
Arashi chuckled. "Nope! But you knew I was a Froakie, you knew you were a Rowlet, and you know about Pokémon, so it's gotta be the case that humans and Pokémon get along really well in your world!"
She considered it, and what her partner said definitely made sense. "I sure hope so, anyway- I have no idea," Astrid mused still.
Another source of a soft purplish glow added to the pastels of the next room, but the source of the skittering wasn't apparent, for it certainly wasn't the nonchalant Litwick standing off to one side staring at them with its softly wavering flame burning on its head. Both Astrid and Arashi readied for whatever attacks it might have been carrying.
The little Candle Pokémon smiled upon seeing them, and didn't move straight away as if not bothered by their presence… though for just a second, its eyes took a strange glow before fading just as quick as it had come.
Astrid blinked. "H-huh…?" then, on feeling something akin to pins jabbing into her skin, "A-ah…!"
She glanced to her comrade, who had the same odd eyeshine and spit a few purple pulses of ghostly energy her way to Hex her. Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny, unsure of what she was seeing.
"What was that for?!" the Dartrix cried uncertainly. "Since when could you do that?!"
"Huh?!" came her comrade's voice, even though Arashi's mouth wasn't moving. "Astrid, what's wrong?"
He did it again, his mouth curling into a grin as he did so, and she sent just a few razor-sharp leaves at him in a hapless attempt to make him stop.
"Cut it out! Whatever that is, cut it out!" Astrid cried.
"Owwww!" came her comrade's voice again, but not from her comrade.
She blinked again, and Arashi wasn't in her line of sight anymore. She glanced around, and promptly found him with one arm held up defensively and what looked like a few nicks on his skin, the remnants of her Razor Leaf stuck in the wall behind him and the remnants of a Water Pulse coating the ground around a fainted Litwick.
"A-Arashi…?" she asked confusedly. "What was that? I didn't even know you could learn Hex!"
"I can't," the Froakie replied, putting his arm back down. "You must've gotten hit with a Confuse Ray and started acting funny."
Her feathers ruffled out, and her eyes went slightly wide. "D-did I attack you?!"
He grinned awkwardly, not seeming all that bothered nonetheless as he replied, "Yep, you sure did…!"
A distressed squawk escaped her beak. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean-!"
"It's fine, it's fine!" her comrade eased her, hopping to her side again. "I know you were being careful; I'm not fainted! Now we know to knock those things out when we see 'em!"
She deflated. "This is only the second floor and we're already getting messed with," her voice trailed off.
"It feels even more legit," Arashi giggled happily, not dissuaded.
Astrid gave her comrade a glance as they went back to searching for the stairs, not sure if 'legit' was quite the right word. In any case, she didn't raise a protest.
Chasm Edge 4F
The skittering sound graced their ears every time they entered a new floor and on occasion when entering a room, but aside from a fleeting silhouette, the source of it was something they couldn't find. A few Chimechos came down from their places on the ceiling to protest intruders in their dungeon, and a few Litwicks came out of the shadows to cause trouble, but the latter was dealt with swiftly to avoid any inadvertent knockouts by comrades. The pools with Chinchou flashes weren't all that troublesome so long as the Starstorm duo didn't go sticking a limb into them, which they of course refrained from doing.
The fourth floor wasn't much different, but the colors of the glowing crystals did seem to be gradually transitioning to darker colors, making the light appear more on the intrusive rather than calming side. However, in the middle of two intersecting paths of the glow and nestled in the crag of the wall was one spot that seemed to be absorbing light rather than casting it, making it look as though a patch of the night sky had been carved out and placed there.
"Hey! We found one!" Arashi exclaimed on seeing it and hopping over.
"Hm?" Astrid inquired, traipsing over to it as well.
She looked at it closely while Arashi carefully picked it up from its spot in the wall. It was a stone, a stone as dusky as could be.
"…Ah, a Dusk Stone…?" the Dartrix noted.
Arashi stowed it in the bag, nestling it safely down in their other supplies. "Yep! None of us need it, so it might make Niko happy to have one."
Astrid nodded in agreement.
Off to the next room they went, where another little flashing pool was in the middle along with two more corridors, though an item lying in the room also caught their attention. It was round and seemed to have a pink exterior, but a star-like yellow glow emanated from the center of it that made it a bit hard to tell. Arashi hopped over to it the second he laid eyes on it, and Astrid was close behind.
"Hey, here's another orb!" the Froakie exclaimed.
Astrid looked it over. "Do you know what kind…?"
He shook his head. "Not off the top of my head, but this pattern says it'll give us a buff if we use it!"
Astrid nodded, making a mental note of her comrade's words. "… We better save that, then. The Slow Orb came in handy for Lurantis."
As the Froakie stowed the orb in the bag, he got a cheeky look and grinned at his comrade. "The Blast Seed did too, but say… You don't mind if I breathe fire this time if we go that route, do you?"
Astrid chuckled. "Go ahead, I'm definitely not gonna fight you for fire-breathing rights. Whoever sent me, whether they messed up or not, did me a favor in not making me a Fire-type."
Arashi clapped his hands together gleefully, fixing the bag back into its position.
The Dartrix had to admit, the mental picture of a fire-breathing Froakie amused her, for it seemed even more ridiculous than a fire-breathing Rowlet.
Blast Seeds or not, another figure entered through a corridor that was just fine to breathe fire- another Litwick. Both Astrid and Arashi eyed it, and it spit an Ember.
"Aaaand here we go again," Arashi remarked on seeing it.
Both of them jumped out of the way as the little burst of fire connected with the wall behind where they had been moments before, fizzling out into a puff of smoke in seconds. If a wild Pokémon could giggle, their Ghost-type company probably was, but they couldn't quite tell for its lack of much sound. Arashi spit a Water Pulse at it and Astrid (very carefully) darted closer to Peck it, but at the same time, the grinning Candle Pokémon released a thick cloud of Smog that floated out from it.
"Agh-!" Astrid cried in discomfort, tightly shutting her eyes and attempting not to breathe it in.
The Litwick clearly didn't appreciate the attacks, but with Astrid as a closer target, it turned to her with another Ember in its mouth.
Arashi noticed it almost as fast as it readied the attack. "Oh, no you don't!" he shouted, loosing another Water Pulse.
The Dartrix scurried backwards away from it, and her comrade's attack nullified the little burst of flame, but the Smog's discomfort still lingered. The Litwick's eyes narrowed and its mouth curled downwards in a pained frown, and even though it was a resisted move, a few nicks from the Dartrix's Razor Leaf knocked it out a few moments later.
"Sheesh! Those little guys are just full of terrible surprises!" the Froakie exclaimed, waving a slight remnant of the Smog away.
'Terrible surprises' was right, Astrid had to admit. She coughed a bit, feeling a burning sensation down her throat from the poisonous cloud's effects. Her wings and feet felt a bit heavier than normal, but she tried to ignore it.
"I'd hate to live around those things," the Dartrix remarked.
One corridor was closer, thus they headed for that one next. The burning sensation and heaviness didn't go away, but Astrid hoped that too was simply due to her weakness to the Poison-type and not because she was actually poisoned… but given that she didn't know what being poisoned felt like, she didn't know for sure. Arashi had been able to walk off the Razor Leaf, thus she ignored the Smog's effects to do the same.
Just in caution, she swiveled her head backwards, and quickly she became aware of something that hadn't been there before- the floating iron body of a Beldum that drew itself back. Her face fell.
"Hey, Arashi-!" she exclaimed.
The Froakie noticed her change in countenance and glanced backwards too. "Wha-!"
The Beldum slammed its body into the nearest target- Arashi- in a Take Down, which in turn slammed the Froakie into the Dartrix and sent them both flying out of the tunnel and into the next room, landing in a tangle of limbs and wings.
"Ngh…!" grunted Astrid.
"Jeez!" Arashi cried.
The Beldum apparently needed to reorient itself too from the recoil damage it took, for it shook in the air as if brushing itself off. Astrid and Arashi untangled themselves quickly and turned to face it, the Dartrix unleashing an Ominous Wind that it simply couldn't avoid. Nonetheless, it revved itself up again and shot its body at her, letting out a few metallic snarls. Arashi leapt out in a Quick Attack to knock it off course, though the attack did little in terms of damaging the Beldum. Instead, it crashed itself into the ground, and Astrid was glad for it, too- a sudden bout of chills overwhelmed her body.
"C'mon, just knock yourself out! Literally!" Arashi exclaimed, quickly hopping away from the Beldum.
Crashing into the ground apparently did some damage to it, for its shiny body had a few scratches on it from the rocky ground and it made a few more snarling noises as it tore its metallic crest out of the floor. The Ominous Wind had definitely slowed it, at least. Its eye glanced between them as if deciding who the better target was, but apparently it decided on the Dartrix again.
Something akin to a growl came out of Astrid's beak as she shook some leaves loose from her wings and sent them flying at the Beldum in return, but not out of aggression- her wings didn't seem to want to listen to her, and neither did the rest of her when she jerked her body aside. One of the leaves jabbed into the Beldum's eye, and the Beldum in turn got its head stuck in the floor again. The Dartrix let out a heavy breath, stepping backwards and away from it. Her own eyes didn't feel that great, either.
A metallic screech followed when the Beldum emerged, and without clear vision, it merely slammed into the nearest point that it deemed a likely target- a rock. The rock cracked, and the recoil damage was enough to put the Beldum out.
Arashi laughed with a hint of uncertainty, blinking at it. "W-wow, I'm glad you didn't go for my eyes…"
"Well, it works," Astrid mused, voice a bit husky.
She tried ignoring the heaviness and plodded over to the Beldum, carefully removing the leaf from its socket with one foot, which made Arashi flinch a little. She stumbled a bit but caught herself, letting out another pained cough. They glanced about, and seeing only one opening, went for it.
The Froakie studied her, still upbeat but looking concerned. "You okay? You don't seem as… swift."
Another bout of chills made the Dartrix grimace. "That Smog really hit me hard…"
Her comrade perked up, sticking a hand on her wing. "Are you poisoned?"
"I d-don't know… How can you tell…?"
"You won't regain health like normal and you'll gradually take damage," Arashi answered. "We have a Pecha berry- do you want it?"
She shook her head. "N-no… I'm sure it'll be fine; that Gligar's Poison Sting lingered around for a little while, too… B-but, c-can you take lead for now…? I don't wanna slow us down by being droopy and not noticing something up ahead…"
The Froakie nodded and went into the tunnel first, the Dartrix close behind but following with uneven steps. She wasn't sure when the dungeon's effects would kick in and start healing her faster, but she hoped it was soon… if it was going to happen, anyway. It was only the fourth floor- she didn't want to waste the berry so soon if there were ten more to go and more Litwicks waiting for them that probably carried the same move.
"You know, if we reach the stairs, that'll heal any status conditions too," Arashi noted. "Remember how Trixie got hit with Sleep Powder in Brushwood Tangle and woke up once we hit the next floor?"
"A-ah…" Astrid acknowledged. "Th-that's… good to know…"
Her eyes wanted to close, but she forced them to stay open. The burning sensation started to spread, which she certainly wasn't fond of. She certainly wanted to reach the stairs, if only because the floor they traversed had been utterly ruthless to them with the feral ones and their attacks.
The next room didn't have the stairs, but thankfully, it was empty of foes and had two corridors to pick from- one in front of them and one to their right. Arashi glanced between them both.
"Let's go this way," he said, strolling to the one on the right.
Astrid went to follow, but another bout of chills made her falter.
"Agh-!" the Dartrix cried, losing her balance when she went to take another step.
Arashi whirled around, and Astrid fell face-first onto the ground, her wings splayed out beside her and another pained cough escaping.
"S-sorry, it just feels… really bad…" the Dartrix choked out.
The Froakie slipped the bag off. "Yeeeaaaaah, that's poison, alright. You're probably about to faint."
"A-ah…!"
He gave one of her wings a pat, fishing through the bag with the other hand. "Don't worry, you're not gonna," he said gently, taking out the Pecha berry. "Here, open your beak."
She did so, and soon she felt the berry eased into it, which she bit into. The second she swallowed the pink fruit, the burning sensation eased up. It didn't take her long to scarf down the rest of it, which expelled the rest of the effects and let her get back to her feet. She could still tell she wasn't at full health, but it was much better than she'd felt moments before.
Arashi slipped the bag back on. "Better?"
"M-hm," she said, nodding.
Her comrade went back to grinning. "You wanna take lead again? You keep better watch than me!"
She smiled a bit too. "S-sure."
Chasm Edge 7F
Skittering and scuttling, every single time. Whatever it was, it clearly didn't want to be found, and was doing quite a good job of ensuring that it wasn't. The Beldums intent on Taking Down everything in their path were thankfully scarce, but a few Litwicks and Chimechos caused trouble- thankfully none quite as much as on the fourth floor. The pastel hues of the glows had disappeared in favor of much sharper reds and greens and purples that weren't quite as bright, but still lit up the surroundings fine enough to see without too much difficulty.
"You know, if I'm being honest, this place is rough," Arashi remarked, still smiling nonetheless as they traversed one corridor.
The edges of Astrid's beak curled up just a bit. "You're not wrong. And I'm still waiting to see what all that running away is whenever we enter a new floor."
The Froakie laughed. "It's not like we're that scary, aha!"
Astrid had to agree. When she thought of either one of them, the word 'scary' did not come to mind.
The room the corridor opened up into was empty save for another flashing pool with a Chinchou sitting harmlessly at the bottom of it. It Sparked the waters as if to tell them to stay away, but that didn't bother them too much.
There was no poison or confusion, but the Dartrix started to notice another sensation. "Hey, Arashi, can you pass me a chestnut?"
"You just started noticing too?" her comrade mused, slipping the bag off.
"M-hm…"
Her comrade retrieved two of the spiky nuts, and Astrid took one with the claws of one foot. Very carefully she peeled off the shell with her beak and Arashi did the same with his hands, the both of them leaving the spiky shells on a rock as they ventured on.
"You know, I wonder how well that Clefable is doing, just camping out at the last floor," Astrid mused, glancing about as they entered another tunnel.
More skittering and scattering graced their ears, and another rounded silhouette dashed away at the end of the corridor.
"She might not mind so much if she's crazy," Arashi said with a chuckle.
However, the corridor opened up into a room with no other passages leading out, and it was completely empty… save for one lone Pokemon with a round pink body, most of which was covered by thick locks of blue hair with a hat-like antenna- a Hatenna. It faced away from them as if it were running towards the wall seconds earlier, but on noticing there was no outing, turned to face them.
"… Well, that explains the sounds," Astrid noted, looking it over.
Arashi giggled. "Hah, they're shy!"
They couldn't see the eyes underneath the blue locks, but its mouth curled into a pout and it began to cry with the two side locks flailing in dismay.
"Let's get out of-" Astrid started to say while turning to leave, then, "What the-!"
More skittering came from the corridor they had just entered the room from, and the second she turned around, another pink and blue figure came swooping into the room along with them- a Hattrem. And it looked furious.
Arashi turned around to notice it too. "Oh, sheesh, there's- KYAH-!"
Thud!
He didn't have time to finish that thought when the Hattrem's braids pounded straight into him and Brutally Swung him into the ceiling with enough force to crack the rock. Astrid let out a startled squawk, while the Hatenna went to bawling hysterically. Arashi's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"Hey!" Astrid shouted at the one with violent braids, her eyes narrowing.
The Hattrem turned to face her next, but the Dartrix unleashed an Ominous Wind before the Hattrem could attack her next. It let out a pained cry, but the attack clearly angered it even more, and a wave of Confusion followed. Arashi fell down from the ceiling, still making little more than a few gasping sounds but at least getting ahold of himself and standing up, while Astrid flapped out of the way of the Confusion.
The Hattrem's braids flailed for Arashi again, but the Dartrix swooped him up and took to the air before they could make contact. The Hatenna was still sobbing its unseen eyes out with its two side locks wrapped around its body.
"Arceus above, show this thing to Trixie next time she talks about pretty ones being weak…!" Arashi croaked.
A Razor Leaf sailed through the air at their braided attacker, who tried to pummel the leaves themselves but only got cuts from their sharp edges. Arashi added a Water Pulse to the mix, which elicited a shriek of wrath and another wave of Confusion that Astrid flew out of the way of.
"The only things in this dungeon that aren't ridiculous are the freaking Chinchou pools!" Astrid cried.
"On one hand, I like it, and on the other, this is nuts!" Arashi exclaimed in agreement.
The Hattrem apparently wasn't happy with them evading in the air, for it crouched down with its braids touching the ground and gave a mighty push to launch itself into the air at them.
"What the heck!" Arashi shouted.
"Are you kidding me?!" Astrid chorused.
An Ominous Wind and a Water Pulse thankfully knocked it out before it could make contact, and Astrid landed with her comrade again while the Hatenna still sobbed harmlessly in a corner.
They looked at each other.
"… Well, that's something else we gotta watch out for," Astrid mused flatly.
Arashi grinned, but got an awkward look and stuck one hand behind his head disarmingly. "Y'know, they're attracted to strong emotion, so… I guess that's my bad…~"
"Tell 'em to go take a hike and calm down," Astrid remarked with a slight grin, reaching one wing out and giving her comrade a pat.
Back to trekking, the Hatenna still bawling as they left.
