"It's a Rock- and Dragon-type, so that'd make Steel Wing and Ice Beam super effective…" Astrid's voice quickly trailed off, the Dartrix mentally running over as many possibilities for an attack as she could think of. "But if I aimed a Razor Leaf at its eyes…"

"There you go, aiming for the eyes again," Arashi remarked with an awkward grin, shuddering a bit.

One way or another, they'd have to decide fast, for with another snap of its jaws, the Tyrantrum came at them with steps that practically shook the ground. Yet again Astrid was swooping up her partner while he spit an Ice Beam at their foe's face, the hulking jaws practically ripping a chunk out of the ground as it bit down where they'd been seconds prior. Super effective or not, the dungeon-dweller was apparently too fixated on crushing things with its fangs to show any reaction.

"Dammit!" the Dartrix hissed, shaking her head and flapping out of the way as fast as she could. "This is what Delphi warned us about, I'll bet! Maybe Raijin was right, but we should've run when this thing showed up!"

"Hey, if anything, this'll make a cool story later!" Arashi was still cheerful.

"Yeah, if that thing doesn't eat us!"

It certainly seemed intent on doing just that, for when it shortly realized that Astrid and Arashi weren't in its jaws, it turned its gaze on the fluttering Dartrix and the Frogadier she grasped again with a roar. Astrid went to shake some leaves loose from her wings, but before she could send off a Razor Leaf, she felt something else… a breeze that seemed to come out of nowhere, a Tailwind. Arashi noticed too, for both of them looked back to the opening they'd entered from and instantly took notice of another figure.

"Night Slash, find your mark!"

It was an Unfezant, obviously a male from the plumage, but more than that, all of his feathers were a different color than what they would've expected and sparkled a bit- a Shiny variant. He flew straight up to the Tyrantrum with a dark-shrouded wing, turning a graceful flip in the air and slashing down at its snarling snout in one fluid movement before the Tyrantrum even seemed to fully notice another presence. A snarl escaped the rocky-scaled one's maw, and it tried to Crunch the new avian figure, but he retreated back to the ground before any fangs could sink in.

Arashi's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Astrid, are you seeing this?!"

"I am," she said, casting a glance downwards at her comrade.

Her partner's countenance was turning into the same exuberant grin he got whenever Rush and Rozen turned up, his mouth agape and eyes sparkling like stars.

She squeezed her feet a bit tighter, getting a very pointed expression. "Don't you go fainting from excitement at seeing a Shiny!"

"But that was so cool!" Arashi protested, grinning almost stupidly. "He's cool! Not as cool as Rush and Rozen, but cool!"

"You are such a fanboy," the Dartrix said haplessly, shaking her head. Nonetheless, Astrid couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at seeing another figure, and she flew closer while still clutching her comrade carefully and eyeing their foe. "U-um…!" she uncertainly stammered out, giving the Unfezant a glance for just a moment.

"Hey! Who are you?" Arashi was much less shy.

"Joker of Team Mirage," was the easy and suave answer, the Unfezant still with his gaze locked on the Tyrantrum.

The dungeon-dweller turned around and struck out with a Dragon Tail, to which both winged ones took to the air again to avoid it as a hapless rock jutting up from the ground was demolished by the attack. Still, from the room's entrance, they were quickly taking notice of two (or technically, four) more figures when a Dragapult with two Dreepy-loaded cannons and a certain Delphox (that clearly wasn't Salem from her hat and cloak) entered, the latter with a bag across her shoulders.

"Taste Dragon Darts!" the Dragapult cried, launching the two Dreepies at a blinding Mach speed.

"And we meet again, Team Starstorm!" Delphi chirped, giving Astrid and Arashi a glance and playfully flicking her wand.

More relief washed over the Dartrix- if odd figures were going to drop in, the ones before her were definitely better than most other possibilities.

"It's Delphi's team!" Arashi cried happily. "Hi, guys!"

Astrid said nothing, only watching the Tyrantrum that snarled again once the two dragon 'darts' went happily smashing into its rocky hide, while the Unfezant, made even faster by the Tailwind, darted around and grabbed hold of Raijin in his talons. It took a few hard flaps to yank the Beast free of the ground, but before long, Joker had the fainted Xurkitree out of the way and set against a rock in one of the room's back corners.

"Joker, Spirit, and Delphi, or Team Mirage altogether," Delphi noted nonchalantly, waving her wand while it took a greenish glow. "We go on expeditions too when I'm not running Soul Aria. I had a feeling I should come here, and it looks like I was right!"

"You were right! About the entire thing!" Arashi exclaimed. "That thing used Earthquake and KO'd Raijin! It's gotta be really strong!"

Their foe definitely appeared that way from the antics they'd seen. The Tyrantrum went snapping with its jaws again, trying to Crunch the Dragapult, but from the ground sprang some vines glowing in the same color as Delphi's wand that ensnared one of its feet and caused it to trip. More growling came, its jaws missing their mark when it went sprawling on the ground with a room-shaking thud, but all the same, the rest of the conscious occupants were quickly dodging a Rock Slide (made a bit easier with the added quickness that Joker's Tailwind provided) when the ceiling overhead took a whitish glow and started to fracture into smaller stones. Astrid set her comrade down and landed herself to avoid getting knocked out of the air, but that didn't stop a small squawk of discomfort that came when a pebble plopped down on her head. Spirit's Dreepy comrades hurried back into their cannons for safety, and soon enough, both the Dartrix and Frogadier found themselves being swooped up by the ghostly dragon. Astrid squawked again in surprise at the gesture.

"Hop on my head and hold on tight!" the Dragapult said, nestling them between the Dreepies. "I'll keep you safe! Don't worry about William and Clerval; they don't bite!"

Astrid assumed that 'William' and 'Clerval' referred to the two grinning Dreepies in the cannons, but nonetheless, even the assurance that they didn't bite didn't stop her from fluffing up shyly at being so close to strangers. Arashi didn't mind at all, and exchanged a smile with both of the small dragons while taking hold of Spirit's head. It took the Dartrix a second to get unflustered enough to nestle down into a more secure position, but in any case, she figured Spirit's protection wouldn't hurt and didn't protest it.

Still, even while taking another Night Slash from Joker (equally as fanciful as the first), the Tyrantrum got back up and wildly swung its Dragon Tail around the room, evidently not caring which target it hit, but luckily both Joker and Spirit could fly swiftly enough to avoid it and Delphi dodged fine. Apparently, the dungeon-dweller noticed that the Delphox wasn't leaving the ground and stomped its foot to set off another Earthquake, but as the fissures jutted out for her, Delphi's wand took on a purplish psychic glow and she perched herself on it, floating in the air while the wand levitated in place.

"Nice try!" the Delphox chirped. "This witch can fly too!"

Astrid blinked, a bit surprised but thinking it reasonable seeing as Delphi was a psychic, after all. One way or another, the Tyrantrum's attack missed, but it quickly went on the offensive again by setting off another Rock Slide.

"I'll teach you to pick on someone smaller than you!" Spirit declared whilst avoiding some rocks and flicking others off-course with his long tail.

The Dartrix couldn't help thinking that all of them, the Dragapult included, were smaller than the rocky-scaled one, but she didn't deem it a thought worth voicing. Joker's Tailwind started to peter out, thus the Tyrantrum wasn't avoided so easily, but still, it certainly didn't seem thrilled when Delphi took a rainbow glow and released a Dazzling Gleam while striking a cute pose on the ground again. Nonetheless, though it turned on Delphi next (albeit somewhat haphazardly after taking her attack) with fangs bared, another set of Dragon Darts flying into the side of its face knocked its Crunch off-target. The sudden launching of the little dragons made Astrid jump, but Arashi, on the other hand, was grinning with just as much excitement as the ones being launched.

"That must be a ton of fun!" the Frogadier cried.

"Well, perhaps I can try launching you sometime if you'd like!" Spirit laughed.

If he hadn't been grabbing the Dragapult's head with both hands as a Dragon Tail swung at them next, Arashi would've pumped both of his fists in the air in gleeful approval at the idea. He looked to Astrid, exclaiming, "Just imagine it- 'Starstorm Darts!' The perfect team and the perfect attack!"

She blinked, fluffing out in discomfort at the thought of being launched at Mach speeds. Perhaps the Dreepies and her partner would like that, but she definitely wouldn't, and one glance at the empty cannon next to her made her glad that her fluffy ovoid shape likely wouldn't fit regardless.

Still, Joker seemed to pause for a second at the back of the room, becoming cloaked in a bright white light. William and Clerval went hurrying back to their cannons atop Spirit's head, and another Grass Knot from Delphi made the Tyrantrum trip before it could set off another attack. With it on the ground, Joker spread his wings, the light becoming even harsher, before taking to the air and diving down at the Tyrantrum's head.

"The show's over!" the Unfezant declared, colliding in a magnificent Sky Attack.

Arashi's eyes again went to sparkling, the light from Joker's attack making them glitter like stars. A nudge from Astrid didn't do much in dissuading his fanboy antics, but the dungeon-dweller, however, seemed far less enthusiastic when a pained roar escaped its mouth. Its jaws snapped for a moment, then went motionless, and its eyes too fluttered shut.

Delphi giggled. "There we go!" she chirped, straightening her hat up. "No terrible deaths today, it seems~!"

Astrid couldn't help shooting her a funny look at the phrase, but indeed, there was plenty to be relieved about if their foe was taken care of.

"Is everyone okay?" Spirit inquired, glancing about at those present.

"Well, Raijin isn't," Arashi remarked, still grinning nonetheless.

The Dragapult let them down onto the ground, Astrid still staying fluffed up as she gingerly stepped off. Delphi slid the bag off of her shoulders and dug around for something inside as she strolled closer to the fainted Xurkitree, whom Astrid and Arashi also rushed to, still no glow to be seen in their comrade.

"Raijin…?" Astrid asked gently, nudging one of his wrists with her foot. "Hey, Raijin…?"

"Hey! Buddy! We won!" Arashi said much more enthusiastically, nudging his head.

There was still no answer.

"Here, this'll be a lot faster," Delphi said, taking a golden Reviver Seed from the bag she carried.

Before they could say anything else, the seed was glowing and emitting a warm light before falling on the ground as a spent Plain Seed, and Raijin's glow was swiftly returning.

"Ah-!" the Xurkitree exclaimed, twitching.

Very quickly, all of those in the vicinity were jumping back as Raijin jumped up, a storm of sparks shooting down his form. He erratically glanced around, then twitched again at the sight of the Tyrantrum sprawled on the ground unconscious. Spirit and Joker kept their distance at seeing the sparks, and Arashi looked somewhat perturbed in spite of his grin, keeping slightly behind Astrid so as not to accidentally get zapped.

"W-what…" the Beast's voice trailed off, then on noticing the Unfezant and Dragapult, "Who are you?! What's going on?!"

"Hey! Relax!" Arashi exclaimed, giving their comrade a cautiously amused look. "We won! This is Delphi's team; there's no one to attack!"

The Xurkitree paused, glancing first at Astrid and Arashi, then around at Team Mirage before easing up. "Ah…! W-what happened? I just remember that thing setting off an Earthquake… Did I get knocked out…?"

"Yeah, you did!" the Frogadier answered. "You stopped glowing and everything!"

"We were really worried," Astrid added. "I'm glad you're okay."

Raijin touched his fingers together, shrinking up a bit shyly. "Ah… Sorry, I should've escaped that… I've always been a lot better at giving damage rather than taking it, but… I didn't mean to leave you unguarded with wormholes opening…"

"If we didn't know what a Tyrantrum was, we probably would've gotten KO'd too," Arashi wasn't fazed.

"We're all in one piece and that's what matters," Astrid concurred.

The Xurkitree nodded.

Delphi, on the other hand, giggled. "See~? Today isn't the day to worry about your impending demise!"

All her talk of an 'impending demise' still made Astrid a bit uncertain, but at the same time, she brushed it off. The Delphox certainly didn't seem very serious about it.

Arashi, however, went bounding up to Joker, getting his huge grin and sparkling eyes again. "Those moves were so cool! And seeing a Shiny variant in the flesh is amazing! Can I touch your beautiful Shiny feathers…?!"

The Unfezant studied him for a moment, but nonetheless replied in a suave, matter-of-fact tone, "… Go ahead."

As if he were touching fragile glass, Arashi reached a hand out, and on touching Joker's feathers, gasped with a countenance looking as though he might cry of happiness while the Unfezant didn't react at all. Spirit grinned and Delphi giggled, but Astrid blinked in stupor at her partner's antics and if Raijin had visible eyes, he would've been doing the same.

"He is such a fanboy…" Astrid sighed haplessly, burying her face in her wings.

Nonetheless, Raijin's tail giving her a tap on one wing caught her attention, and she cast her comrade a glance.

"We should keep moving… just in case," Raijin noted. "The odds of that being a random occurrence are ridiculously small."

The Dartrix nodded, then looked back to her star-struck partner still staring happily at the Unfezant. "Arashi! We're getting out of here!"

The Frogadier looked downcast at leaving his new object of adoration, nonetheless nodding and hurrying back to Astrid's side but not before excitedly inquiring of Team Mirage, "Hey, if you guys are here too, maybe we can keep going together! It'd be fun!"

Delphi, however, got a bit of a hesitant look at the idea, still smiling but looking a bit flustered. "This is where we take our leave too," she quickly noted. "There's so many bodies of water to accidentally drown in! Getting down here was an ordeal enough!"

The Frogadier still giggled. "I know you're a Fire-type, but is it that bad?"

"Yes," the Delphox easily affirmed. "They're a fine way to get yourself killed! I'm not getting near another one!"

Arashi shrugged, not pressing the issue. Astrid figured there was indeed some sense to what she was saying, Fire-type or not, seeing as she and Arashi had already encountered plenty of trouble with the aquatic ones too.

Nonetheless, the Dartrix shyly gave Team Mirage a glance while turning to head off again and stammered out as best she could, "Th-thanks for your h-help. Y-you really saved us a lot of t-trouble."

"I always look out for the little guy," Spirit noted.

Delphi went chuckling again, nonchalantly replying, "Just be glad you're not on Starry Peak right now.~ Things could be much more troublesome.~"

"Why?" Arashi perked up, getting an inquisitive look. "Is it bad out there right now?"

The Delphox grinned mischievously. "Oh, you'll hear about it.~ Just wait until you get back, and you'll know.~"

That made the Starstorm trio exchange some uncertain glances, but nonetheless, the two teams were exchanging their goodbyes for the time being as they went their separate ways.

Sunken Cavern Pit B1F

The terrain wasn't that much different than the floors prior, but the one thing they immediately noticed was that the ceiling was much higher and composed of interwoven branches from some very wide-trunked trees with huge, flat bright green leaves. Many of them had roots reaching into the pools that were still too dark to see clearly into, and the humidity felt even thicker… just like a rainforest, or rather, a rainforest contained within a cave deep underground. It was an odd sight, and surely, had their target not been actively hiding, it was no place that one would expect an Abomasnow to venture into.

"Well, I take it that Aerodactyl and Archeops would be at home up there…" Astrid's voice trailed off as she eyed the tall branches. She glanced to Raijin. "Those are both Rock- and Flying-types. An Aerodactyl's got a big set of teeth that'll shred just about anything, and an Archeops stops being intimidating after it takes some damage."

The Xurkitree nodded. "Duly noted."

At that, something like a screech came from one corridor that made them perk up, to which Astrid took another corridor going the opposite way. If it was indeed an Aerodactyl screeching at another dungeon-dweller, she wasn't about to get in the middle of them.

"Well, we know Delphi was right about this place being somewhere we needed to be careful, so is it safe to say we would've gotten ambushed on Starry Peak?" Arashi wondered, still upbeat as he always was. "The way she was talking makes it sound like it's really problematic up there."

"She also just said 'horrible creatures' when she made our prediction," Astrid noted, her eyes still darting around for any walls uncharacteristically shaking from a Cranidos running or the like. "Maybe she saw Ultra Beasts and didn't know what else to call them."

"I really hope they're alright…" Raijin said hesitantly. "If Adnea is right and they didn't know what a Nihilego's poison actually does, and I'm guessing it's safe to say they don't, then whatever teamwork they have together is a moot point…"

"We'll just have to wait and see," Astrid said. "We know they're a formidable team, but there's no way to know anything else for sure at the moment."

That much was true, no one was denying.

The next room they entered had three pools dotting its floor between the corridor they'd came through and the lone one on the other side, a little pair of Kabuto eyes visible peering out from some reeds just under the edge of one surface, but what caught their attention more was a larger green and yellow figure very slowly dragging itself around- a Cradily. Perhaps it was rather sluggish, but even if it couldn't make any fast dashes, its eyes locked on the intruders too and it started in their direction.

Arashi couldn't help but giggle. "These ones look easy to outrun!"

Easy to outrun, sure, but the Energy Ball that formed between the dungeon-dweller's glowing eyes easily showed that it was not harmless. The Starstorm trio was outrunning the attack rather than the Cradily sending it shortly thereafter, Astrid flapping up and sending a Razor Leaf in return into the dark-shrouded opening on its head.

"Don't let a Cradily touch you, either!" Astrid called.

It seemed their foe didn't have to touch anyone to do some extravagant damage, for after growling gutturally and shaking its head from Astrid's leaves, it spit a large droplet of Acid at the Dartrix, which luckily, she could fly out of the way of. Still, there was a hissing sound that resulted from part of the wall behind her getting dissolved outright in seconds, leaving a sizzling dent that travelled down to the floor along with the corrosive liquid. She and Arashi both blinked in discomfort, and Raijin twitched.

"D-did that thing just melt the wall?!" the Xurkitree exclaimed, forming another Energy Ball between his hands.

"Sure did! The Lileep line can be rough if you get too close!" Arashi affirmed.

Nonetheless, an Ice Beam from the Frogadier elicited a startled cry from the Cradily when its slow crawl came to halt. An icy sheet covered it, leaving it frozen solid and completely unable to strike back or avoid the Energy Ball that Raijin released. The ice shattered, but without so much as a peep, the Cradily went limp and wilted on the ground, its tentacles still making much smaller sizzling sounds as they touched the dirt.

"That's what a Cradily does- it'll just melt you," Astrid noted, still eyeing the corroded wall. "So, um… I think it's safe to say at this point, if anything looks like a flower, don't even get close to it."

"No worries," Arashi giggled, casting the acidic damage a look too.

"Sheesh, and I thought they were kinda pretty…" Raijin haplessly said, eyeing the fainted figure.

Nonetheless, as they went for the next corridor, they were certainly keen to avoid the Cradily's tentacles and the acid coating them, keeping from even touching the ground close to them with the dirt absorbing some. A very prominent sploosh came from one of the pools, but whatever had caused it apparently wasn't surfacing, for the most that the Starstorm trio got a glimpse of was a rather large ripple that seemed to result from something stirring beneath the surface. Another rumble echoed from someplace else on the floor, definitely on solid ground from the sound, and caused them to exchange glances as they trailed to the next room.

"I'm gonna bet that those little Cranidoses have all grown up on these lower floors…" Astrid's voice trailed off.

"They don't mellow out, do they?" Raijin inquired, sounding incredulous even of his own question.

"Not even close," Arashi amusedly answered. "A Rampardos can smash just about anything!"

Her partner grinned as he noted such, but Astrid wasn't looking too enthusiastic at the idea of meeting one.

Still, an Armaldo was out and about in the next room and trying to skewer them as before, but when they encountered another Cradily in the same vicinity as the stairs, they made a bolt for the next floor rather than waste any time with an acid-spitting flower look-alike. A bit of the stairway's bottom steps were reduced to sizzling dents in the ground, but the Starstorm trio escaped it just fine.

Sunken Cavern Pit B2F

Whether a Rampardos or two was indeed out stomping about on the land, they didn't know, but the source of the underwater rumbling became fairly obvious shortly.

The trio made their way across one room with a fairly large pool situated mostly on one half of it, but as they did, another fairly large sploosh came from it along with another big ripple. Almost as soon as they peeked over to see what the commotion was, the surface broke and a bluish creature in a large helical shell practically shot across the room like a rocket, Astrid and Arashi jumping as it did so and Raijin ducking down to avoid being smashed by it. They could only determine it was an Omastar when it plopped on the ground, limp and fainted with a fairly prominent crack in its shell.

"Wh-wha-!" Raijin exclaimed.

"Did we just see an Omastar fly?!" Arashi cried, uncertainly grinning.

Astrid, however, quickly turned her attention back to the pool, where another ripple followed as the armored head of a Carracosta peeked up. "Found the culprit," she said quickly.

Her comrades took notice too as the large reptile leaped out of the water, looking more at them than the Omastar it had sent flying.

"Carracosta, Water- and Rock-type," the Dartrix quickly noted of their company.

Arashi aimed an Ice Beam at its feet, but with blinding speed, the Carracosta became cloaked in water and rushed out at them almost too fast to see. They were all smashed by the Aqua Jet on account of being fairly close together, but with Arashi in the center of their formation, he too went crashing into the wall just like the hapless Omastar.

"Kyah-!" the Frogadier gasped.

Both Astrid and Raijin had to regain their composure for a moment, but when they did, the Carracosta had Withdrawn into its shell for just a second and appeared more akin to a chunky boulder.

"Are you okay?!" Raijin called, forming an Energy Ball.

"I'm fine…!" Arashi called back, picking himself up and smiling even if it was a pained smile.

Astrid flapped up while shaking some leaves loose from her wings, and when the one in the shell reemerged, it was taking both hers and Raijin's attacks. It didn't last very long afterwards, and the trio was regrouping.

"That poor thing…" Raijin's voice trailed off as he studied the Omastar's busted shell for a second. "That has to hurt…"

"It'll heal, will it not?" Astrid brushed it off, giving it a short glance.

The Xurkitree, though, still studied it, and started tapping his fingers together pensively. "C-can I move it…? Like, into the next pool we see so that one we just fought won't bother it again…?"

Astrid and Arashi looked at each other, the Frogadier looking slightly amused and shrugging with a giggle.

"If you want to, sure," Astrid said indifferently. "But if it wakes up and starts attacking, well… You know what to do."

Raijin nodded, then scurried over to the shelled one and scooped it up in his arms. Perhaps the electrical buzzing of his limbs alerted the shelled one to something odd even if its eyes were still closed, for its tentacles started to move just a bit.

"Hey, it's alright," the Xurkitree cooed. "We're not enemies; I'm not gonna bust your shell… Just stay asleep for a little while and you'll be good as new…"

Astrid couldn't help but find the sight of her Beast comrade cradling and cooing at a fainted Omastar slightly ridiculous, and Arashi was already giggling under his breath. Still, the next room they entered had another pool in it, which Raijin carefully nudged the Omastar into. It still wasn't waking up, but perhaps when it did, it would be rather relieved to not be sprawled on the land out of its natural habitat with a Carracosta slapping holes in its shell.

Sunken Cavern Pit B3F

After knocking out another Acid-spitting Cradily in the first room, the only corridor available to them lead into a room with two corridors towards the back end and only one rather small pool that didn't seem to stir at all, but the leaves overhead from a rather large tree, however, shook and rustled. The tail of an Archeops was visible hanging out of the leaves, but at a rather odd angle along with one limp foot, next to which was the purple pointed tail of an Aerodactyl. Perhaps the flying ones had gotten into a scuffle over who could roost in the same tree, but when a trickle of red dripped down from the shaking bough, they all had a bad feeling.

It didn't take more than a second to see that they were right in having a bad feeling when the Aerodactyl jumped down from its branch with the slashed-open neck of an Archeops in its jaws, the feathered prey limp with glazed-over eyes and red coating its front from the gaping wound. The sight made them recoil, especially when the Aerodactyl's eyes caught them next.

"O-oh, jeez…!" Arashi breathed, looking awkwardly uncertain. "No amount of berries would save that…!"

"You weren't lying about those jaws…" Raijin's voice trailed off, a few sparks shooting along his limbs.

As intent as the Fossil Pokémon might have been on the freshly-dead Archeops, it laid the feathered one down on the ground that was shortly seeping up some of the pooling blood, all while eyeing the Starstorm trio.

"Don't attack it yet," Astrid said, just above a whisper, not daring to move a muscle. "If it doesn't want anything to do with us, we don't have to fight it…"

Her comrades were still as statues too, giving her only some very slight nods. A few moments of simply staring at the Aerodactyl passed, the blade-toothed one staring back and tilting its head in thought, but it didn't appear to think much of them… at least, until a rumble from someplace else on the floor caught all of their attention and an ear-piercing screech from the dungeon-dweller followed. It spread its wing and opened its red-soaked jaws, completely disregarding the Archeops at its feet.

"Well, never mind!" Astrid cried haplessly as the giant purple wings whipped up a slight breeze from their flapping.

"Oh, come on!" Arashi protested likewise.

Nonetheless, an Ice Beam followed from the Frogadier as did a Discharge from Raijin, but both attacks sailed harmlessly underneath the Aerodactyl as it glided slightly upwards to avoid them. A portion of the wall behind it was frozen, then the ice quickly broken by the bolts that followed shortly after, while the gaping fangs Crunched at the Starstorm trio with reckless abandon.

"Nope! Nope!" Astrid cried in hapless objection, likewise flapping upwards while her other two comrades jumped out of the way.

Still letting out a little squawk of fright, one of the Dartrix's wings took a steely glow and hardened, which she smashed into the Aerodactyl's head while its jaws were still shut following its attack. A high-pitched snarl followed, but Astrid frantically flew out of the way when a Wing Attack came shortly thereafter with her as the closest target. Nonetheless, Arashi was spitting another Ice Beam at one of the Aerodactyl's wings, the damage getting a frustrated cry in return too but the resulting ice crystals on the thick purple hide slightly weighing the dungeon-dweller down. Astrid shook some leaves loose and sent a Razor Leaf barrage with the Aerodactyl off-guard, but at the same time, a screech of Supersonic levels left the fanged one's mouth. Shielding herself was absolutely useless.

However, something else caught her attention from behind her, and she glanced over, seeing the gashed Archeops up and moving… even if it absolutely should not have been. She whimpered, for the mangled remains of its throat were somehow holding up fine even with most of it reduced to little strings of ripped flesh and a thick coating of blood, and the sight of a reanimated corpse staring her straight in the eyes was anything but pleasant. Without knowing what else to do, she sent a Razor Leaf at it too, but the leaves seemed to phase straight through it as if it weren't even real.

"Wh-what?!" she shrieked in fright.

The next second, she was shrieking again when she felt something touch her from behind… It had to be the sharpened fangs of the Aerodactyl. Her wing hardened again and she frantically batted and flailed at it.

"Astrid! Whoah, Astrid!" Arashi called.

"Hey! What's wrong?" came Raijin's voice, much closer than she'd remembered him being.

She blinked a few times, and the Archeops wasn't standing up anymore, but rather still on the floor where the Aerodactyl had left it… nor was it the Aerodactyl's jaws touching her, but rather her Xurkitree comrade giving her a few gentle taps on her wing, for the saw-toothed dungeon-dweller was sprawled unconscious on the floor.

She glanced between her comrades and asked, still with unease, "D-did I get confused?" then motioning at the Archeops, "Th-that thing isn't a zombie, is it…?!"

Raijin studied her, and Arashi gave her a funny look.

"Yeeeaaaah, you were definitely confused if you think that thing's a zombie!" her partner laughed. "You just started attacking the wall, then you started attacking Raijin when he tried to snap you out of it!"

She let out a heavy sigh of relief. "I thought you were that Aerodactyl and it was about to eat me!"

"I literally couldn't eat you even if I wanted to," the Xurkitree said, slightly amused.

The Dartrix shook her head, regaining her composure. "Let's get out of here… away from that," she said, giving both the bloodied corpse and the fainted Aerodactyl a glance.

Her friends were close behind.

Sunken Cavern Pit B4F

Next to one pool, aside from an upset Armaldo that tried to skewer them yet again with its claws, the team found an orb that they deduced to be a Totter Orb, which was kept stowed safely in the bag. The Armaldo certainly didn't seem all that concerned with keeping it, and after the Plate Pokémon was taken care of, they were trailing off into the next corridor.

"Y'know, I really like this dungeon itself, but the wild ones way down here…" Arashi's voice amiably trailed off. "They're honestly a little scary!"

"'A little?'" Astrid was incredulous, casting a glance back at her partner. "A Lileep tried to eat you, the Cradilies try to melt us with acid, the Armaldos try to skewer us, and on the last floor we literally saw an Aerodactyl rip an Archeops' throat out."

"They do seem pretty vicious for the most part," Raijin concurred.

Arashi shrugged, still smiling. "Well, we're managing fine, aren't we? That's the beauty of our synergy!"

Whether it was synergy or not, no one could know for sure, but the sound and rumbling feeling of something smashing someplace else on the floor certainly made them perk up.

"You think that's a Rampardos?" the Frogadier nonchalantly inquired.

"It sounds… bigger," Astrid affirmed.

"Those ones don't set off Earthquakes, do they…?" Raijin inquired, touching his finger together. "I'm just curious is all…"

The Dartrix shook her head. "Worry about getting Headbutted or Head Smashed, not an Earthquake."

"You know, we haven't seen any Tyrunts or Tyrantrums down here, either!" Arashi noted. "You think that last one was the boss or something, and it was the only one?"

"You mean kinda like Lurantis?" Astrid asked in return.

"Yeah! Except, y'know, actually wild!"

"I wouldn't be surprised," the Dartrix replied.

"No wonder it got dropped on us, then," Raijin remarked.

Still, as they approached the room on the other side of the corridor, another loud shriek graced their senses that they recognized as being another Aerodactyl's. It didn't take long to see what the commotion was when they entered, and indeed, there was another saw-toothed figure sitting in a tree with an unhappy look, but the unhappy look wasn't directed at the Starstorm trio. It was instead directed at a Rampardos below its branch, slapping at the trunk with one hand and seeming to snicker while studying the perching Aerodactyl. The expeditioners paused, a bit uncertain of the scene they found themselves in.

The Rampardos shook the tree trunk with a playful look- whether it indeed just wanted to play or rather saw 'playing' as something utterly destructive that the Aerodactyl was protesting, they didn't know. Nonetheless, the winged dungeon-dweller apparently wanted no part of its company, for a loud Roar escaped its fanged mouth that drove the Rampardos back against the wall, the rock-headed one narrowly avoiding being dunked into a pool mere centimeters away. The Head Butt Pokémon wasn't dissuaded, and instead stomped the ground a bit with enough force to make it rumble some more before ducking its head down and charging straight into the tree trunk.

Snnnnap!

More screeching followed, the Aerodactyl taking to the air as its perch went toppling over… which, as the Starstorm trio shortly discovered, was toppling straight at them.

"Oh, jeez!" Arashi cried haplessly.

"Give us a break," Astrid said haplessly.

The three of them were shortly dashing forward out of the way as the tree's splintered top half crashed down straight in front of the corridor they'd just come from, blocking it off completely. Astrid was definitely thankful they hadn't been in the corridor before it had become blocked, but on the other hand, with their cries and scurrying, the dungeon-dwellers' gazes fell directly on them, and they didn't look too happy at having visitors.

The Aerodactyl screeched again, and the Rampardos roared, the two of them exchanging glances that all but said their feuding could wait.

"Is every occupant of this place trying to kill everyone else that lives here?!" Arashi exclaimed. "Because it's starting to seem that way!"

Nonetheless, the Aerodactyl certain seemed intent on causing some form of damage, for its fangs started to take an icy blue hue and the cold air practically radiated out of its gaping maw as it picked out Astrid for its target. An Ominous Wind interrupted its flight (while also striking the rock-headed one), but still, the Dartrix went darting out of the way while sending a Razor Leaf at it too, the place she'd formerly occupied shortly having a pair of fangs ripping through it. The Rampardos Focused Energy for a second, but when Arashi's Water Pulse collided with it, it rushed to Take Down both him and the Xurkitree. Arashi dashed while Raijin shot off an Energy Ball, and perhaps the attack would have done some considerable damage… had it not hit the Rampardos' thick skull and bounced off.

"What?!" Raijin cried, twitching before darting out of the way too.

"It's got a ridiculously thick skull!" Astrid called, attempting to avoid a Wing Attack. "Aim literally anywhere but that dome on its head! Ah-!"

One of the Aerodactyl's wings slammed into her and sent her skidding across the floor, the winged dungeon-dweller still snapping its jaws.

"Duly noted!" Raijin called back.

The Frogadier and Xurkitree were relieved to be out of the way when the wall behind them was torn apart under the rock-headed one's force as if made of little more than paper. Though not there previously, the dungeon had a new (and very haphazard) entrance to an adjacent room.

The Aerodactyl, however, set its eyes on Arashi next when an Ice Beam coated one wing joint in ice and made flapping much harder than it had been previously, for which Astrid was quite relieved. The saw-toothed one went messily crashing into the ground, beating its still-mobile wing in a hapless attempt to stay up, but it was to no avail. With an opening, Astrid took to the air again with a hardened wing, then dropped down and bashed the Aerodactyl on its head while it snarled at her partner. A pained screech followed, but shortly the Aerodactyl too was out cold.

The Rampardos, on the other hand, shook itself free of the rocky rubble and growled at them next, pointing its head down in preparation to attack again. It ran at them, but an Energy Ball aimed not at its head made it snarl in pain and go sprawling limp on the ground before it could do much else.

"Sheesh! That thing ripped a hole in the wall!" Arashi exclaimed, eyeing it. "I'm glad we didn't get hit! That would've hurt!"

"You weren't lying about them," Raijin said, studying it too.

Nonetheless, Astrid strolled over to take a peek into the opening it had torn, hoping that perhaps they could locate the stairs easier… but when she saw that there was hardly anything but two pools covering most of the ground and two Cradilies out prowling beside them, she decided another corridor would be the better option to take.

Sunken Cavern B5F

Still, on the next floor, in another corridor, they came across an Archeops strolling along the ground without a giant gash in its neck from an Aerodactyl. It screeched and come running at them almost as soon as it laid eyes on them, its wings flapping uselessly at its sides with nowhere to take off to. Astrid gave her own wings few flaps to give Arashi a clear window to attack while she shook some leaves loose, and a Water Pulse was quick to follow that elicited another screech.

"Hi to you, too!" the Frogadier called.

Still, while a Razor Leaf sliced at it, a pained cry escaped Arashi when the wild one hit him with a Wing Attack, but soon enough, an Energy Ball knocked it out.

"This Harold guy must have some serious determination to be hiding down here," the Frogadier remarked as they all stepped over the fainted figure. "If I were an Ice-type, I'd hate it here!"

"I'm not too fond of it, either," Astrid mused. "This humidity is kinda terrible."

"Is it…? I don't even notice," Raijin nonchalantly noticed.

"Yeah, well, you're not really a normal case," Arashi chuckled.

However, Astrid was shortly of mind that something else was terrible when it became obvious fairly quickly that the room on the other side of the tunnel could hardly be classified as a 'room' in her opinion. There was solid ground, sure… but not very much of it. Two large pools took up most of the space and left a thin winding ribbon of solid ground between them- definitely something that would've been problematic to two of their team.

A distressed squawk left her beak. "N-not this again!"

"What's wrong?" asked Raijin, perking up. "It's not a Monster House, is it?"

She shook her head, turning around. "No, I wouldn't be so worried about that, especially not with you here," she said, giving the Xurkitree a glance. "It's mostly water. Arashi, you remember what happened the last two times we went through one of these…?"

The Frogadier grinned nonetheless. "One was a Monster House and I got eaten by a Wishiwashi in the other!"

"Wait, something ate you?!" Raijin piped up in surprise, giving a twitch. "H-how are you alive?!"

Arashi giggled. "Oh, I guess I just technically got swallowed by a giant fish, but it's technically just a bunch of smaller fish! It wasn't that bad!"

The Beast still seemed completely stumped.

"Point is, Lake Lucent sucked for a bunch of reasons," Astrid said flatly, giving the Xurkitree a glance. "And we don't have any Drought Orbs left. This is a bad idea."

"Oh, come on," Arashi wasn't so convinced. "The Monster House was coincidence and we made it out just fine anyway, and the Wishiwashi was just bad luck! We know what the Cradilies look like and we haven't seen a single Kabutops down here to jump out. A Carracosta isn't so bad, is it? We took care of the last one pretty fast!"

She thought about it for a second, still eyeing the water-covered room uncertainly. Delphi hadn't predicted anything surrounding a pool, but she could still certainly agree with the Delphox's aversion to water- it was a fine place to get drowned in. Still, she thought about the foes they'd faced for a moment- a Cradily or Rampardos would be annoying in such terrain if one entered from the other side of the room, an Aerodactyl or Archeops didn't seem likely to be present with the lack of screeching, an Omastar couldn't leave the water, which indeed only left the possibility of a Carracosta ambushing them based on what they'd seen so far…

"If something does jump out at us, you two can just duck close to me and I'll Discharge it," Raijin suggested. "That'd be a lot easier for us than taking a different route."

She mulled it over, then shortly replied, "Alright, we'll do that. Arashi, you're right- that probably was just coincidence last time."

Still keeping a cautious eye out, she strolled into the next room with her teammates in tow, eyes scanning the water for even the slightest sign of movement. There was nothing to be seen out of the pools creeping around, but the petal-like tentacles of a Cradily were visible peeking out from the edge of one pool. They were very careful not to step anywhere where it would notice them, but the pinkish appendages still swayed slightly as if trying to lure in aquatic prey. Perhaps it was successful beneath the surface, but the Cradily certainly wouldn't be melting any of the Starstorm trio if they could help it.

However, something did catch Astrid's eye when a shelled figure came closer to the surface, and her comrades noticed it just as fast too. The eyes of a Carracosta peeked out, and when it did, Raijin was planting his limbs into the ground and sparking while Astrid and Arashi scurried inside of them. As quick as it had come, the armored head ducked back down below the surface.

"Well, that was easy," Arashi chuckled.

"It was, wasn't it?" Raijin concurred, detaching from the ground and ceasing to spark.

Astrid still studied it, somewhat hesitant but relieved nonetheless, but the next moment, they were all caught off guard when it Aqua Jetted out of the water almost too fast to see… straight into Raijin. The Xurkitree hardly had to time to twitch in surprise, and in mere moments, he too vanished below the surface on the other side of their land strip. A squawk of panic left Astrid's beak, but just as quick, she regained composure fairly fast.

"Raijin!" Arashi exclaimed, worry entering his countenance.

The Frogadier looked ready to jump in after their comrade and made the gesture to do so, but Astrid's wing shot out in front of him before he could try. He looked at her in confusion.

"Discharge," she said quickly.

He still looked puzzled, but he shortly understood exactly what she was getting at when sparks shot throughout the entire pool and the Carracosta, along with two Kabutos and an Anorith, floated limply at the top. A cry of unease left Arashi's mouth at being so close to it, but he smiled at Astrid nonetheless.

"Arceus above, I would've gotten fried!" he exclaimed.

A copper-plated hand reached up onto the surface, thankfully free of sparks, followed by the Xurkitree's head emerging. Shortly, Raijin was crawling back onto the dirt, albeit casting a flustered look at the pool. "Okay, those little ones didn't deserve getting shocked like that, but you-" he pointed at the Carracosta, "-totally had that coming! Nice try!"

Arashi couldn't help laughing, and Astrid smiled a little too.

"And now I can say I don't like water," Raijin remarked. "Even if it does conduct electricity really well."

"I don't like it either," Astrid concurred.

"There's a reason I've never gone swimming when there's lightning outside," the Frogadier chuckled.

They were off again shortly thereafter, nothing else bothering to jump out at them from the not-fried pool. An Armaldo wanted to raise a ruckus close to the stairs, but they made it out fine enough without another incident.

Sunken Cavern Pit 6F

It was easy enough to tell they were on the last floor when only one room and one dark tunnel leading out met them, and very shortly it appeared they weren't alone… if not judging by the uncharacteristically cold breeze that met them, then by the Abomasnow rustling around in a sack towards the back of the room with the ground practically frozen underneath him.

"Oh, by the gods, where did I place it…?"

He certainly seemed to have plenty of opportunities to misplace something, for multiple bags and satchels littered the ground haphazardly around him, some of which had orbs and items spilling out all over the dirt. It didn't take much observation to realize what a prolific thief was before them, for surely, no one would carry that much baggage around without trying to hide something (or set up a shop, in the case of a Kecleon).

He didn't seem to notice they were there at all, either. The Starstorm trio exchanged glances.

"Okay, we can do this fairly easily if we get him before his Snow Warning fully kicks in," Astrid whispered, barely audible. "I'll fly up behind and Steel Wing him; Arashi, you go for an Ice Beam; Raijin, you hit him with Signal Beam. One Ice-type move is probably gonna knock me out so I need to move fast, but other than that, we've got the advantage here."

They nodded. Without making a sound, Arashi and Raijin prepared to attack while Astrid spread her wings out with one becoming steely hard, but as they did so, something seemed to catch Harold's attention and he whirled around.

"The other bag, of course!" the Abomasnow exclaimed to himself.

However, both he and the Starstorm trio were in for a surprise when their gazes met, a startled jolt making all four present jump slightly.

"Oh, by the gods, more company I don't wish to see!" Harold exclaimed flatly, crossing his arms. "Who the dickens are you?!"

"Team Starstorm!" Arashi happily answered, going right back to smiling. "Are you Harold?!"

"Indeed I am!" the Abomasnow called back, eyes narrowing. "And what're you here for? Are you responsible for that odd portal I saw earlier? Because if so, I must thank you for saving me the trouble of fighting that awful hulking brute of a Tyrantrum, but truly, I do not wish for company! I have no intention of sharing my bounty!"

At the mention of an 'odd portal,' the Starstorm trio paused and exchanged more glances. Astrid eased up, and her comrades followed suit.

"What portal?" Raijin was the one to inquire.

Harold studied them. "A white circular portal that seemed to crack the air! It was the oddest thing! It just opened up and that giant brute fell straight into it and disappeared! Was it your doing?"

They exchanged more glances.

"Should we tell him…?" Arashi asked softly.

"… No," Raijin replied, seeming pensive.

The Dartrix and Frogadier nodded. A bit more info surrounding the wormhole was definitely nice, but at the same time, Astrid couldn't help but be a bit downcast that their perfect opportunity to strike had been blown.

The Abomasnow gave them an intent look. "Oho? Tell me what? Go on and spit it out; I have bags to organize."

More glances between them.

Astrid gave her partner a nudge. "You do the honors."

He was certainly happy to do so. "That we're not here to share your bounty and we didn't open that portal! We're here to apprehend you, you thief!"

At that, Harold got an amused look, crossing his arms again. "Oho? Is that so?"

Right as the words left his mouth, the air got much colder in a matter of seconds. Ice crystals appeared to condense on the walls and rocks while the branches forming the ceiling turned frosty, giving everything a slight glittery shine. Astrid and Arashi couldn't help but be a bit uncomfortable with the sudden freeze, and the Dartrix started fluffing out her feathers.

"Then I do hope you are prepared," Harold laughed. "I knew the unruly dungeon-dwellers would be a deterrent to some, but if you've tracked me down, then surely you're worth something! This is my domain now, and the Sheer Cold of winter is upon you!"

Astrid let out a frosty breath, and she and her comrades were preparing to strike again.

"Stick to what I said earlier," the Dartrix said, voice wavering a bit from the cold. "Don't let up on this one."


Author's note: Team Mirage belongs to my friend, TheDragonSaver. We came up with the idea for the opening fight a few weeks ago and I thought it was a lovely idea.

Also, let me take a moment to note, because I put the evolutionary line in this dungeon and I find it absolutely ridiculous, that Cranidos has the same attack stat as Heracross, Gyarados, Gallade, Golisopod, Marshadow, Bewear, and Landorus, at base 125. For reference, Salamence and Mega Lucario are at base 145, Buzzwole is at base 139, and Tyranitar is at base 134. Just... let that sink in, that some little first stage rocky runt's attack stat is in the same range as legendaries and pseudo-legendaries.