The night had passed peacefully, with Locke sleeping soundly in the unused guildhouse room at the time. He was curled up and snored ever so quietly as he wandered the landscapes in his dreams.
His calm slumber got ended by the sound of knocking on the chamber door. The noise caused the shinx to spring up quickly and made his fur faintly glow as he snapped to being fully awake in a moment.
"Locke, wake up! It's breakfast time and you are heading off to your test mission in a few hours!" Niot spoke as he continued to knock on the chamber door.
"I'm coming!" Locke responded as he dashed to the door and undid the sliding pin lock on it.
He stepped out of the room to see the chatot standing just outside in the hallway with a notebook and a pen. Just a moment after Locke came out, the door beside him opened up and out stepped Tamin. The minccino's movements were slightly staggered and off with her eyes not fully open as she came out. Her attentiveness was not fully there.
"We are currently hosting breakfast in the dining room at the center of the guildhouse's main floor," Niot explained. "I do suggest you come along as you will be embarking on your test mission soon enough."
"That's good. My belly hasn't been topped off for a few days now," Locke replied.
"Wh-why so early?" Tamin asked, her eyes not widening.
"So we can get the mission done before lunch happens. We're not going to have you hanging around the guild, having two meals, just to then find out that you didn't make the cut."
"Okay then…" Tamin said.
Niot pointed to in the direction of the mess hall, and the two went that way. Niot stayed to continue knocking on doors while those two headed off.
The mess hall consisted of two large rectangular tables, dozens of foodstuffs on top of the tables, and dozens of pokemon in scarves around the tables who were freely grabbing from the food piles to add to their plates, it was an open buffet with the entire guild participating, and the only exception appeared to be one mienfoo who was eating out of a takeout box instead of the table food.
Locke and tamin went up to the table and hopped up some unused, adjacent seats. They were eye level with the food, and looked around for what they could help themselves to. They saw the food didn't have any prepared dishes, and most of it wasn't cooked either. It was just fruits, vegetables, and basic breads, raw ingredients. Tamin was disappointed by this, surprising herself that she could miss something from her past. Locke didn't care, he went straight to grabbing food and practically gorging himself, he even ate with his mouth open.
They continued to eat for a few minutes. Locke tried to be social and talked to the other pokemon there, the food in his mouth slurring his speech to make every "s" come out as "sh". Tamin stayed quiet as she nibbled on a cob of corn, her eyes bouncing around to check the expressions of the pokemon all around her.
After that, they were called into espeon's office along with Niot and a froslass from the guild. Once they were all gathered, Espeon got back to behind his desk and spoke.
"Before you can join the guild, we will be setting up a mock mission to test your abilities. Pay attention, because this is what you'll be doing;
There is a mystery dungeon not far from the guild that doesn't have too strong of pokemon inside. Froslass will go in and hide in there, acting as a lost pokemon whom you are to rescue.
After she is in position, you two will head in to find her with Niot following you to note your performance. After you're done you will head back out and I will look over the notes that Niot took along the way to decide whether or not you will be officially recruited.
Any questions?"
"Yes. How do we know froslass will be safe when she heads down?" Tamin asked.
"Don't worry. I know how to get this done," Froslass responded. "You think this is the first time I've done this?"
"How far deep will we have to go?" Locke asked.
"Shouldn't take over an hour for you," Froslass once again responded.
"Will we have to be partners for our entire time here, assuming we both pass?" Tamin inquired.
"Permanent teams aren't really something we do," Espeon clarified. "When someone picks up a mission they ask around the guild for who wants to go with them. With this, they can find whoever is best for the mission they are taking on. Most pokemon here find their favorite members to work with, but do change up who you're bringing in to match with the dungeon's challenges. You will never be forced to head into a dungeon where you are at a disadvantage."
"Got it. Alright, I think we are ready," Locke stated.
"Good," Espeon said, "Niot, please give them their supplies and lead them to the dungeon."
"Of course," Niot said as he got two backpacks that were both pre-filled. One was shaped like a traditional backpack while the other was worn like a saddle with a bag on each side. Locke removed the bags he previously had to put on the second backpack while Tamin donned the first. The minccino could immediately feel the added weight on her while Locke actually lost some grams from the swap.
Afterwards, Locke, Tamin, Froslass and Niot all left the office while Espeon gave them a small wave as a sign of goodbye.
Going from the guildhouse to the outside, they made an hour long trek across the lands to the test dungeon. They went down the same path Locke and Tamin raced on, except they went far, far further. They entered a new forest, not as dense as the one they had been in the day before but still had innumerable trees.
"Alright. We're here," Niot finally spoke as they came up to a passageway made of bent trees, "Froslass, You have thirty minutes to get into the dungeon before I bring our aspirants in to find you. We will wait outside until she's ready."
Froslass nodded before she quietly floated into the opening.
"Thank goodness. My legs are killing me." Tamin stated as she sat down.
"I'll keep watch until then!" Locke stated as he got down and started checking around them.
"Most likely unnecessary, but vigilance is a virtue," Niot complimented Locke as he began writing notes on them, "While we wait, I might as well go into greater detail on the equipment you will be using."
From his own satchel, Niot withdrew a rod that had its lower two-thirds white while the upper third was colored tan and had a removable strip that separated the upper segment.
"This is a flare. It is the most important part of your kit and you will always be provided at least one of them on every mission.
They have multiple properties to them that will make them useful. To use one, point it in a direction and tear off the seam with your paws or teeth. The upper part of it will then be launched off and produce a contrail of luminous, colored smoke. After a few seconds (or until it hits against a solid object) the projectile will loudly explode into a burst of smoke and produce a flash. Lastly, after it is used the remaining residue on the held part of the flare will continue to glow for an hour, serving as a portable light source that won't be extinguished if submerged in water."
Locke and Tamin both looked at their backpacks again. Tamin had a flare that looked identical to Niot's that was held by rings at the bottom of her bag while Locke's flare had the upper part colored a bright yellow and was located near his left shoulder. Tamin grabbed her flare and quickly pulled it out to inspect it, but carefully avoided the stripe that could be torn off as she handled it.
"So is this what we're supposed to use to call for help when we need it?" Tamin asked as she studied it.
"The use of one should always be seen as a call to regroup that will reach farther than your lungs can, and will also be a valuable light source," the chatot answered, "I should mention that your flare has been modded to produce less sound than the typical flare does, as your species has more sensitive hearing."
"Umm, alright then," Tamin said, unsure if she should feel offended that something needed to be modified to cater to her specifically, or be flattered that he just said how her hearing is better than average.
"I see. Well, I can get down with these (even though I doubt I'll be needing them)," Locke said while looking at his own flare, "Although I gotta ask: how many flares does it take to light away our problems? Is it easier than waving our enemies to death? Oh, or will a little noise be enough to cause ravenous pokemon to run with their tails between their legs?"
"There are a number of situations where flares will be useful, and I have heard of members finding creative applications for them. Use them wisely.
Anyways, your other exhibition supplies consist of unrotting food, berries, drinks and light bandages. Those shouldn't require further explanation, so that should conclude the equipment explanation."
Niot pulled out a watch to check the time as he turned away from the other two. As he did so, Tamin put her flare back to where it was and walked over to Locke. Seeing this as a moment where the chatot was distracted, she talked to him.
"You said you've been going into mystery dungeons for a while now, correct?" Tamin asked Locke.
"Yeah. As far back as I can remember I have been sustaining myself off of them," the shinx replied
"You don't remember anything else?"
"Not really, no. I have zero idea on who my parents were, I just assumed they abandoned me."
"So have you just been traveling around without a home or a family your whole life?" Tamin asked in a mixture of confusion and concern, "Just endless mystery dungeons, alone until now?"
"I have had some personal hideouts and companions, but nothing permanent. Not sure if this guild will be permanent either, but if I can live on it then I can handle a lot of punishment."
"Sorry to hear that." Tamin said as she started to worry about hurting Locke's feelings, "Do you have any friends you still know?"
"There was a sneasel I used to known, but we got separated, not sure what happened to her. One of the main reasons I want to join this guild is to know some more people, actually." Locke explained. "I think I already won at the test of survival, now I want some relationships."
"What got you separated?" Tamin asked.
"Dungeons have this thing where they occasionally shift around, rearrange their look and be different. We were going through one together when one happened. She ended up on one side, I on the other. Couldn't find her again after that."
"Gosh, hope she's alright."
"Me too…" Locke momentarily trailed off.
"Well, I hope things do start getting better for you."
"Thanks," Locke said, "Hey, I told you what I know about my past so can I ask about yours?"
"I… would rather not talk about that," Tamin said, looking down. "Don't take that personally, though."
"Uh, okay then," Locke said, confused by her sentiment.
Tamin's head shifted towards the ground, and she lost her focus on Locke. The shinx was never good at reading faces, but even he could tell that some undesirable memories were coming back to her. She even shifted into a sitting position where she was softly hugging herself. Her paws also tightened, like how one would tighten their hands to make a fist. Locke had no idea what was going through her mind, but stared at her while trying to make guesses
Locke did eventually speak to her again, which caused Tamin to snap back to reality. They continued to make small talk with each other for a little longer until Niot interrupted them.
"Alright, that's time. Froslass should have found her place now, now we begin," Niot said while he reset his watch, "Head into the dungeon and search for her. I will follow and take notes on your performance."
"Got it," Locke and Tamin said as they got up.
Locke was the one to get to the entrance first with Tamin getting close behind him and Niot close behind her. They went deeper in with the environment returning to the uncanny simulacra of a forest with maze-like environments like they had seen yesterday. The small details that annoyed Tamin returned, but Locke and Niot were able to ignore it. The chatot got his writing board out again along with a pen.
The first room they entered was empty. Nothing to fight, nothing to gather, nothing to see. For some this would be comforting to see there was nothing to fight, for others it would raise stress as they assumed that emptiness only meant that threats were hiding; the anxiety of feeling you could be jumped any second. That was all apparent enough in the two trainees, as Locke cracked his neck and relaxed his muscles while Tamin's hair raised up and her paws clenched.
Their options of progression were limited, only two thin pathways out of the room, only two ways to go deeper in. Niot waited, Tamin hesitated, Locke chose. He walked down one of the paths, and the other two followed heed.
The way was thin, twigs brushing against their hides. They were not silent, as every footstep was accompanied by leaves and twigs being crunched. Crunch, crunch, snap, snap. Not a moment of silence, not a moment without slowly rising nerves.
Eventually, the path opened up. They stepped downwards into a dried out gully, with the terrain being a meter lower. The silt left footsteps as they stepped down into it, and root ends were all around them.
The three began moving down this dry gully, footsteps finally quiet as the silt muffled them. Tamin relaxed for a moment as she was quiet, but only for a moment. Her large ears could pick the sounds of something moving nearby. Wings, not those of a bird making strokes in the air, but several fast moving, thin wings that were nearby.
Tamin snapped her head towards the source, and Locke casually turned his head in the same direction at the same time. A scyther had come into the gully as well, and its eyes were on them.
It dove straight at them, with anxiety inducing speed. Niot stepped out of the way to avoid partaking in the battle, and Tamin prepared to dodge. But it wasn't fast enough, as Locke discharged a thunderbolt to strike its body and make it fall.
The scyther was on the ground, but not yet feinted. Tamin had the choice to either run up to it to strike while it was vulnerable, or to continue to avoid it. In her mind, the correct choice was obvious.
Tamin jumped away to get further away from the scyther, and she left Locke to finish the job with his claws. She hadn't put any energy into fighting it at all, but was fine with this outcome. The sound of buzzing was gone, the sound of footsteps was gone, now the only sound that resonated was from Niot writing notes down with his pen.
"Let's move on now," Tamin said.
The three walked down the gully more, staying vigilant. After thirty seconds without finding another thing to fight, Tamin felt confident enough to talk again.
"So will we have to be fighting together from start to end of this dungeon essentially?" Tamin asked.
"I'd assume so. Low density dungeons do exist but this doesn't appear to be one of them," Locke replied, "I'm also trying to see what I can pick up in this dungeon. These bags still have some room for loot in them."
"So… I guess you could say that we're locked in combat then," Tamin said while making finger guns with her paws, which got unconfident and started to turn to the side, "Ehhhhhhh?"
Both Locke and Niot stopped in place to look at Tamin.
"Is that all you have in the joke department?" Locke asked, "Just a half-baked pun?"
"Well...Yeah," Tamin admitted, "I'm not really well versed in the world of humor."
"Though it is not treated as seriously as traditional combat or exploration skills, being able to cheer up moods and remove stress on the team is a valuable skill to possess. However, like all skills, it does require training and refinement over time to get anything worthwhile out of it," Niot told Tamin.
"Eh, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. It'll just cost you a few broken bones before you can get there," Locke reassured, "And don't worry, that's not an expensive currency to pay with. I'm sure you'll get dozens of broken bones overtime."
Tamin chose to give no response to that last comment Locke made. The three all continued to move forward through the dungeon, passing after they passed that awkward situation.
They stepped up and out of the gully into another pathway, this one was wider as some pokemon had cut through the wood before. The clearing didn't show any indication that the dungeon was ending anytime soon, and Tamin exhaled as she knew things were just getting started. It wasn't long until they reached another clearing, and they just kept on pushing through the dungeon as Locke took the lead from there.
As they journeyed on, the shinx's entire focus was on the dungeon, and he stopped communicating with the other two near him. Whenever a threat would appear he would be able to deal with it quickly and with little energy. Battles would occasionally get involved enough to where Tamin would have to evade attacks, but she didn't throw any attacks herself. Eventually they reached an open area that had some healthy flowers on the ground which contrasted against the rest of the deadwood dungeon. When they reached the place, Locke scouted around again and saw a pathway which led to some coins on the ground in another more open area. His sight shifted to the coins while Tamin looked at the flowers. She felt it was more peaceful than the other environments and had a desire to rest there.
"You said Froslass spent thirty minutes getting into a hiding spot, correct?" Tamin asked Niot, turning around to face him directly.
"That is right," he said. While he spoke, he focused on Tamin's face and not on what was behind her.
"So if we take the most efficient route through this dungeon, then it will take thirty minutes to get to her? But because we don't know which pathway she took, it will take a lot longer to locate her?" Tamin asked.
"Not necessarily. From our past recruitment tests I believe she only needs about ten minutes. I just gave her extra time to make absolutely sure she got into a ready position," he explained.
"Ah, that's good," Tamin said, "So giving a rough estimate, how long do you think this will take at the pace we are going?"
"I would guess fifteen to an hour. But you should steel yourself for missions that can last for hours at a time," Niot reassured as he turned back to taking notes.
"Understood. I was considering taking a minute in this room to rest, but if that's short then we might as well keep pushing on. Let's go-... Wait, where's Locke?"
Tamin looked away from the chatot to around the room again, and didn't see the shinx anywhere in it. Niot also lowered what he was holding to check around the room.
"He wandered off somewhere?" she asked.
"Appears so," Niot said nonchalantly, "I will make sure that Espeon hears of this. Lack of communication to the team is a critical flaw."
"What should I do?" Tamin asked, starting to get concerned.
"This test is supposed to see how you will deal with a standard mission scenario. For that reason, I cannot provide you with any advice as I will obviously not be accompanying you on every mission in the field.
However, seeing how you react to a situation like this will provide with a very good image of yourself to the guildmasters."
"Alright. Hmm…" Tamin said as she thought to herself about a way out. Suddenly, she had a flash of insight and reached under her backpack, "Well this is obvious. You said flares should be used to signal a regroup, so I'll just activate my flare to get Locke back over here."
She pulled her flare out once again and pointed it upwards. She used her other paw to grab onto the strap. But before she tore it off, she hesitated.
"Then again, this is the only one I have. If I use it now and we get seperated later, then I'll be left without a way out," Tamin said to herself, "Thinking about it, I'll wait on that. We'll try to find him manually for a minute."
The minccino put the flare back to where it was again. She then turned to a random path out of the room.
"Follow me, we'll search for Locke first and then Froslass."
"You really don't need to be giving commands, I will keep up."
Elsewhere in the dungeon, Locke had finished picking up the coins he saw on the ground when more dungeon pokemon attacked him. He didn't have a hard time discharging electricity at them and finishing off what remained with his claws and teeth. Once the fight was over, he looked around to realize that neither Tamin nor Niot was with him. However, he was in his standard dungeon exploration mindset and used to being alone, so he didn't pay too much focus on how they were not with him. Locke scanned around again for any other items he could pick up in his sight and continued going into new areas in the dungeon. There were many things that his subconscious could pick up on that he normally couldn't, snow-like twinkles too faint to fully see, the air being ever so colder, slight smells and the typical positions of dungeon pokemon being offset. Locke trusted his instincts with what path he should have followed throughout the dungeon. Primary goal was to find Froslass, the secondary goal was to find loot he could keep.
While Locke did that, Tamin and Niot continued through the dungeon themselves in a roughly parallel way to where the shinx was. She did her best to ignore the items strewn about the dungeon and try to sneak around. She avoided stepping on dead leaves to not make a crunch sound, and quickly checked behind corners before crossing them. Niot still followed close behind and managed to keep his noise down as well as to not ruin Tamin's work.
The chatot also made sure to take note of what Tamin was doing. He was impressed by her caution and footwork, he could tell it was more than just the nature of her species, there was actually a degree of skill behind her movements and evasive maneuvers. But at the same time, he did know the guild needed pokemon who could fight and he simply didn't see that in the minccino.
Eventually, Tamin found a thin part of the dungeon that contained a pansage in it. Dead wood packed both sides of the pathway making it too thin for her to get around the pokemon and she knew that backtracking would likely lead to her encountering fights in worse scenarios, so she figured that combat was her only option at that time.
She ran towards the pokemon on two legs with her fists clenched, while Niot stood back to watch the confrontation. Her original intent was to use the force of running to help her attack strength, but before she could get up to it the pansage fired off a sharp leaf towards her. Tamin evaded it with the limited space she had, but being forced to reposition herself while running at full speed, as well as also having the weight of the backpack throw off her center of gravity caused her to begin tripping up. She did succeed at making it to the pansage, but instead of the full-force strike like she intended it became her clumsily falling down while also swinging her fists down. They connected, but in addition to the pansage getting hurt Tamin also felt a surge of pain in her own paws. In the moment when Tamin was recovering, the pansage counterattacked and hit her square in the chest, causing her to step backwards and yelp from the pain. The pansage tried to follow up with a second attack, but she back stepped out of the way just in time. Not knowing of many other ways to inflict harm in the given situation, Tamin put both of her upper paws together and pulled them in the air with the intent to pound down. But in doing so she exposed her chest for attacks. The pansage quickly hit Tamin with a scratch at her torso, which threw her off of her game and made her pound weaker.
Adapting quickly, Tamin changed up her plans. She turned to the side and rammed her body, shoulder-first, into the dungeon pokemon. The attack connected and was her most successful one yet, packing decent and pushing the pansage back. Afterwards, in the moment it was stuttered, she grabbed onto its fur with her paws and slammed it against the dead wood walls, using both her arm strength and pressing down on the ground with her legs to make it more powerful. Doing this made it so her paws were not hurt like they were from her previous attacks. Maintaining the flurry, she kept her grip and slammed the pokemon onto the dungeon floor. With that attack, it was finally defeated.
Tamin took a step back and made sure it wasn't moving anymore while she caught her breath.
Without further comment, she took her backpack off and dug through it to retrieve an oran berry. She quickly ate it to both celebrate the victory and heal the damage she had just received. Afterwards she put her backpack back on and walked over the pansage while Niot was quickly writing notes down.
The next area they entered was circular, roughly four meters in diameter. It contained no pokemon, only a red lockbox and other pathways out. Tamin checked to see if there was any potential trap. After she saw no such thing, she walked towards the lockbox and got down to inspect it further.
"Ah yes, some mystery dungeons contain chests like these ones. The typical protocol would be to have a stronger explorer carry it back with them to the guild so that we can melt through the lock with a few acid drops and see what's inside," Niot explained. "Don't count on finding a key, finding the right one will only happen a few times in an explorer's career."
"Hmm. You said you were quite durable, correct?" Tamin asked as she turned her head back to the chatot. "Like, back when we were doing those tests?"
"Yes, and I will be safe going through this dungeon," he answered.
"In that case, could I have a few of your feathers?"
"What for?"
"Well if they're thin and won't bend easily because they're so durable, then we could stick them in and move the lock pins around to-... actually, nevermind," Tamin began saying before she realized that the words coming out of her mouth sounded more like a criminal than an explorer.
"What is it that you were going to say, Tamin?" Niot asked, putting some authority in his voice.
"Nothing. My head was going in weird directions there, not fully sure what I was saying myself; to be honest," Tamin said as she got up, "Sometimes a lack of sleep can cause your speech to be as irrational as your dreams, you know? Come on, let's keep moving."
"...Right," Niot said before he clicked his pen once again and wrote more notes down.
As they continued on in the dungeon, Locke was as well.
The shinx had already made a line of fainted pokemon in his wake from every fight he won. Though he did employ some stealth skills, he did so to ensure that he would get the jump on enemies rather than avoiding battles entirely. Unless they ran away, he never considered it to be a waste of time to fight and eagerly collected all that they left behind. He had only consumed one oran berry so far.
As he continued to follow the path that his instincts led him on, he eventually came across one room that stood out. It was mostly blank with the standard plants the dungeon possesed, but at the back of it was Froslass hovering above the ground and looking at her hand as she rubbed parts of it together in boredom.
"Froslass?" Locke asked.
"Hmm? Ah, so you've found me," Froslass said as she turned to face Locke, "Wait, where is your partner?"
"I don't know, I lost her at some point earlier in the dungeon. But I found you," he explained while walking up.
"You should really find her again before you finish this mission," froslass said.
"Oh, alright," Locke said as he sat down and reached above his left shoulder, "I guess the flares are useful after all. This should call them right to me,"
Locke got the flare out and set it down. He used his upper paws to point the rod towards a long pathway that was in the direction of the dungeon entrance, and once he aimed it he brought his mouth towards the strap. The shinx bit down on it with his teeth and pulled his head away to tear it off.
Upon the strap being removed, the upper part of it blasted off at a high speed, leaving behind a contrail of yellow smoke that produced light and a loud sound when it was initially fired off. The projectile continued zooming across the dungeon for a few seconds until it hit against a tree. Upon impact it bursted to produce an even louder sound and a large cloud of shiing yellow smoke, which persisted.
From another room in the dungeon, Tamin's large ears heard the flare being used. Though she did not know what the flares sounded like at that point, it sounded like nothing else in the dungeon in both tone and volume, and sounded far more artificial than natural, all aspects that made it clear it was Locke's doing.
She got down on all fours and dashed in the direction of the sound, with Niot closely in tow. After only a few seconds of running, she saw the stream of yellow smoke hovering in the air and causing the pathway to be brighter than the rest. She approached it and turned her head in the direction of the smoke's origin, where she was both Locke and Froslass down the path.
"There they are!" the shinx announced upon seeing her.
"Where were you?!" Tamin asked as she got back onto two legs and walked towards Locke.
"I went to pick up some items and it seems you two lost track of me. But I managed to find Froslass, so the test should be over!"
"Not quite," Froslass interjected. "The purpose of this test was to simulate a rescue mission. You are halfway done by finding me, but now you must also escort me out of the dungeon safely."
"Oh, that's right. Well, we're all back together now so that shouldn't be difficult to do."
Niot checked his watch again as the four all got together again. Locke took the lead once more while Tamin, Froslass and Niot got behind them in that order, and they followed the trail of smoke to start going back towards the dungeon's entrance.
"You really shouldn't have wandered off back there," Tamin criticized Locke, rubbing her paws a bit to console them, "I was really worried being alone,"
"I saw some coins on the ground so I went over to collect them, then I got caught up in a fight," he explained.
"You didn't need to go after those. You needed to stick with the team so we could find Froslass together," Tamin said as the group began to enter a wider part of the forest dungeon.
"I need to collect those to sustain myself. Besides, I found Froslass anyway and we got back together, so it is all fine."
"I mean, you're great at doing these dungeons by yourself (you've more than proven that), but I just don't think you're very good at-"
Tamin's talking was interrupted by a loud roar in front of them. Ahead there was an aggron that had stepped into the same wide part of the dungeon. It stood directly at a chokepoint to block the pathway as it thinned out again, and had a face of primal ferocity.
Locke got himself down in a battle stance while Tamin looked behind her after the initial shock. When she did, she saw froslass slowly going backwards with Niot stepping back as well.
"I'm just the pokemon you're to be escorting, you're going to have to handle this yourself," she said while her hands were in a defensive position.
"How are we supposed to get around this?" Tamin frantically asked.
"If you can just distract it a bit, I'm sure I can handle this. I've fought bigger before," Locke said as he focused himself.
"Wait-"
The aggron charged forward towards them, forcing action to be taken. Locke dodged to the left while Tamin dodged to the right so they both got on its side. The aggron then turned its body towards Locke and focused on him. Before Locke could pull off an electric attack, it swiped one of its claws towards him which forced him to move. Locke quickly got off a light attack using his claws, which was followed up by the aggron swinging its other arm down on the ground.
Tamin stopped herself right behind where the aggron was to observe the battle. Locke continuously tried to find a moment to prepare electricity as his claws did barely anything, but the wild pokemon was relentless. Eventually, the aggron managed to connect an attack on the shinx, which knocked him across the area. When she saw it, the minccino knew she had to do something to help with the fight.
Acting before she thought it out, Tamin ran towards the pokemon, jumped onto its tail and quickly climbed up its body. She reached its shoulders when it began to shift its focus to her and tried to pull her off, giving Locke time to get back up. Tamin clenched down hard to keep a grip as the massive pokemon did everything it could to throw her off of the body. She tried to think of any plan she could possibly do to fight back, until she realized that her tail was drooping down close to the pokemon's elbow. She got an idea she both considered absurd, and felt was the only thing she could do in the situation she put herself into.
She brought her tail closer into the aggron's arm put and shook around the end of it to try to tickle the large pokemon. Almost immediately, the beast's ferocious growls were replaced by the sounds of it trying to hold back laughter as it staggered and recoiled. To Tamin's amazement, her idea was actually working.
While the aggron transitioned to full laughter and began doing everything it could to hold in the laughter, Locke fully recovered and was charging up with electricity. Tamin closed her eyes and moved her tail as fast as she could, both holding her grip and tickling like her entire life depended on it. Eventually the aggron managed to get control of one of his arms long enough to punch at the minccino, causing Tamin to go off in one blow. But right after she was sent to the ground, Locke unleashed a potent thunderbolt at the aggron. The attack was powerful and left a mark, but failed to paralyze or fell the wild pokemon.
The aggron turned to Tamin again with anger in its eyes. Tamin tried to scoot away while she was still fallen on her butt, but she had limited space to back away into. But as she went back, her paw touched against her flare she still had holstered at the bottom of her backpack. She turned her head to look at it and gripped it with her paws. Niot's explanation of the flares quickly came back to her, and she got another idea.
"Screw it," she thought to herself.
Tamin pulled the flare out again and got up on two feet. She stepped towards the aggron's head, pointed the end of the flare at it, and gripped the strap with her other paw. While it was almost point-blank against the pokemon's head, Tamin violently tore the strap off.
The flare activated and created a loud sound as the end exploded shortly after it was launched off. The both of them were flashed by the large amount of light, and both were stunned at the same time. The aggron staggered backwards out of the cloud of tan smoke while Tamin fell to the floor with tears beginning to come from her eyes and her paws trying to hold her ears closed.
The aggron was the first to recover from the flare's stun, and began stomping back. But this time, his movements were limp. Before the aggron could recover the ground it just lost, Locke leaped up onto its back, put his claws around the argon's neck, and began to discharge electricity straight into its spinal system. The shinx spent a few seconds channeling electricity into the pokemon as it rapidly weakened, leading to it giving up and beginning to collapse. It fell to the side as Locke jumped off just as it began falling to prevent himself from being crushed. A second afterwards, Tamin began to stumble out of the tan smoke cloud; her eyes closed and still crying. Once she was out, her eyes stopped watering and she regained awareness of her surroundings.
"I-is it defeated?" Tamin asked.
"Yes," Niot said as he and Froslass went back to them, "and I got to witness all of it. I'm certainly glad that happened as well; I got to see much of what your performance is like while working together in a difficult fight."
"Whoo~... That fight is over," Locke said as he began to calm down again and his heart slowed.
"We should continue moving out of the dungeon now," Froslass interjected, "Come on, I'm sure there isn't going to be many more dangers left on the way out."
End of chapter 3.