Today, Blizz was up well before Lucario's call. The prospect of upgrading his bronze badge to silver was tantalizing enough to will himself awake despite the exhaustion of the past couple days.
Unfortunately, neither Rune or the Prince felt the same way. As a result of this circumstance, Blizz silently left their room, boredom overtaking him as he examined today's mission listings.
There didn't seem to be any missions above B-rank today. He did notice that the Misdreavus mission that has almost become a permanent feature of the outlaw board was torn off.
"Wonder who decided to take that one on…"
His thoughts didn't have much more time to wander as he noticed Lucario coming out of his room, preparing the Metal Sound. Blizz instinctively covered his ears before the usual "WAKE UP BASTARDS" echoed through the guild.
The rest of Team Apex, alongside Teams Arctic, Drill, Blitz, and Spark emerged from their rooms. After they all lined up, Lucario and Scizor started announcements.
"Alright, we got some big news on that husk shit, so listen to Scizor on that!"
"Right… thank you, guildmaster." Scizor cleared his throat. "Thanks to Team Apex's efforts, we have a better understanding of how the husk condition spreads. Last night, I took a solo expedition into the most recent quarantine dungeon, Quickmaw Cavern."
Comusken interrupted his speech. "Wait, why do you get to go into the dungeons that are locked down and we can't?"
Scizor answered while Hawlucha smacked his teammate. "Because I know what I'm doing, and can evacuate if I find myself at risk. Now, as I was saying, despite no ferals demonstrating signs of being husks during Apex's exploration, I found several on my own. Given that a common thief converted before the feral population, several of our assumptions regarding the husk condition have been proven false. Therefore, we have a new set of guidelines regarding all dungeon navigation from this point on."
The air was filled with tension, partly because around half of the guild couldn't understand what he just said.
"First, we can no longer assume that ferals and outlaws are the only Pokemon capable of becoming husks. While we have yet to see an explorer convert, at this point we cannot ignore the risk. The lockdown of dungeons with husk populations will now be strictly enforced. This should also prevent the need to take on rescue missions here, as non-feral Pokemon should not find themselves there in the first place. However, any outlaw who retreats into a quarantine dungeon is not to be pursued."
"We just have to let them go?"
"That's bullshit!"
"What'll happen if-"
"EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lucario's shout worked wonders to silence his apprentices. "He's not done yet."
Scizor nodded at Lucario. "Thank you. Secondly, we cannot rely on witnessing existing husk populations to denote that a dungeon is dangerous, as we now know that non-feral Pokemon convert before ferals do. As such, if you or your teammates suddenly find yourself feeling abnormally agitated or otherwise emotional, evacuate the dungeon immediately. We believe this is a warning sign that someone is in the process of being converted to a husk."
"Emotional? What's that supposed to mean?"
"What about Pokemon like Dewott? He acts like that all the time."
"What do you guys think even is the deal with all this?"
Scizor raised a claw, gesturing for the apprentices to quiet down. Not wanting to risk another Lucario shout, they all obliged. "If you have any specific questions, come to my office after announcements. Otherwise, I urge all of you to take caution— I would not like for our guild to be the first to see an explorer become a husk. That is all."
"Alright, let's get into it then," Lucario called. "IT WAS TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!"
After the guild shout and the other apprentices breaking off into their jobs for the day, Scizor approached Team Apex with their mission. "I trust you are prepared for your examination today?"
"Hell yea we are." Blizz declared. "We're gonna fucking get that silver."
"I am… glad to see you're excited. Here is your mission." He held out a sheet of paper to the team.
Blizz held it out to Kibo, the only one of them who put any effort into learning footprint runes. Despite that, it was still faster for them to scan it with their badge than wait for his translation.
Item Search Mission - Rank-Up Exam
Client: Exploration Federation
Location: Scourfloor Cavern
Info: A crate of silver-rank exploration badges have been placed on floor 10 of the dungeon. Reach the floor and bring back at least one badge to pass the examination.
"Scourfloor Cavern…" The Prince opened his map, looking for the dungeon's location. "It is a considerable distance from here, closer to Tenea City than Nova Town."
"Then we better get started," Kibo suggested.
"The mission should be a day trip," Scizor explained. "The dungeon itself is only a four hour walk."
Rune groaned. "Only four hours…"
"If that will be all, then good luck."
"Alright guys, let's head out," Blizz declared.
The walk was slightly more annoying than expected. The temperature dropped as they progressed further east, which was irritating to both Kibo and the Prince.
Of them, only one expressed this irritation.
"Why did Scizor decide to send us to a mission near Tenea?" The Prince complained. "There were four dungeons to choose from…"
"It's supposed to be an exam, right?" Kibo argued. "It's probably designed to challenge us."
"I see no reason to put someone as skilled as myself through such a rigorous test."
"Come on guys, we're almost there," Blizz encouraged. "Plus, if we want we could go check out Tenea City after the dungeon. We still haven't taken our off-day this week."
The Prince scoffed. "I doubt there is anything of note in any of these settlements. Nothing that can compare to the architecture of humanity."
Kibo paused, staring at a rock formation ahead of them, a yard off the trail. "Hey, ain't that the entrance?"
The rest of the team gathered around, noticing a gap between the rocks that seemed to lead down. Hard to say for sure if this was the entrance though, given that it was pitch black.
"That checks out," Blizz confirmed, looking at his map. "Let's tear through this place!" He ran headfirst into the darkness, the rest of his team following behind with moderately more restraint.
Immediately upon entering the dungeon, they felt the atmosphere change— it turned out that the void they saw at the entrance wasn't just for show. They were enveloped by an oppressive darkness that seemed to fight them at every step. Every step, motion, or twitch they tried felt sluggish. The Prince's glowing rings were barely visible even when the group was right next to each other.
"Everything here feels wrong," Rune commented. "Like trying to run in a dream…"
"Prince, can you see anything?" Blizz asked, slowly progressing down the passageway. "My vision here's shit."
"We did just enter the dungeon," the Prince reminded him. "You can hardly be expected to see very much under these conditions to begin with."
"Yea, but what's your vision like?"
"I… appear to be suffering similarly to you. I have approximately one yard of visibility."
"Better than the rest of us," Blizz mumbled. "Alright, I'll stay on lead. Keep close together, this place is gonna be a bitch to navigate."
The four Pokemon moved forward. Blizz was dragging a hand against the wall, waiting to see when it would empty out into a room.
"Maybe I could keep an eye on the map?" Kibo offered. "Tell y'all what type of room we're in and if there's stairs around?"
"It would be more advantageous for Rune to do it," the Prince recommended. "You should be on guard for any ferals approaching from the rear, whereas Rune's position is more suited for her not being on-guard."
"But aren't you in the center too?" Rune asked.
The Prince rolled his eyes, though no one else would be able to tell. "Yes, however I am the only one present capable of seeing anything in this dungeon. Diverting my attention to a display is a poor use of this asset."
"…Alright…" Rune opened up her badge's map display.
Blizz knew there was something wrong about this dungeon when he couldn't even see it.
Rune began navigating for the rest of them. "There's a room coming up, with two hallways out to the north and east."
"We'll go east then," Blizz confirmed, leading his team on.
Mid-step, the Prince suddenly froze. "Everyone halt."
"What's up?" Blizz asked. Though he couldn't make out the Prince's features, the light blue ring on his head seemed to be facing the wall.
The Prince charged up a Shadow Ball and fired it at the wall. Soon after, the groans of a Haunter rang out as it fell out of the wall and in front of the Prince.
"The feral is directly in front of me," the Prince explained. "I would prefer it if I were not to be the only one harming them."
In response, Rune's scarf began glowing, as a Powder Snow connected with the Haunter.
"He is unconscious," the Prince reported, prompting Rune to stop the attack. "Though if I were to make an assumption, this will not be the only such case of a Pokemon ambushing us from within a wall. We should prepare for this going forward."
Kibo looked at the figure of the Prince. "Pretty sure ghosts are supposed to hate staying in walls. Why would they just wait there for us?"
"Then feel free to discard my assumption," the Prince replied. "However I doubt I am wrong on this front."
The Prince was not wrong.
"Whoever just touched me, identify yourself," he asked.
No one spoke.
"Wonderful, another ghost." He fired a Shadow Ball in the direction he felt the touch come from. This time it was the right wall of a dungeon hallway.
A feral Sableye emerged from the wall, caught off-guard by the Prince's attack.
It didn't get any time to counterattack, as Rune followed up with an Ice Shard, knocking it out.
"The only way this dungeon could be any worse is if it were to begin hailing," The Prince commented.
"Be careful, don't wanna jinx it," Kibo warned.
"It would be a lot easier if it began hailing…" Rune noted. "I never get to use Snow Cloak…"
"We really should find a Hail TM for you," Blizz commented as they continued their advance. "I'm pretty sure they make those."
The Prince looked disgusted. "I will not allow anyone here to summon a hailstorm unless we also have a member capable of clearing the weather."
"What about a Sunny Day strategy?" Blizz countered. "I'd need to figure out Synthesis though… and Solar Beam would be helpful…"
"I don't suppose there are any moves that invoke a warm climate without blinding me?"
"Sorry, don't know of any," Kibo admitted.
"Hmph."
"I think the staircase is up ahead," Rune announced. "The map has that blue box on it."
Blizz stopped dragging his hand along the wall to feel for the staircase. "Nice, only one more floor then."
"The staircase is over here," the Prince announced. The rest of the team followed his voice, descending down to floor 9.
Immediately they could tell there was something very wrong about this floor.
While it was still covered by the same darkness that seemed to sap their energy, it was completely quiet. Even the other floors filled with ghost types trying to ambush them felt somewhat alive.
This was a dead-zone.
"…I don't like this one bit," Kibo whispered.
The Prince began looking around, suddenly seeming a lot more on-guard.
Rune noticed the movement and looked at his silhouette with concern. "Is everything alright?"
"…I feel as if we are being watched."
"You sure?" Blizz asked. "Feels like we're the only ones on this floor…"
"If I was certain I would have said so." The irritation in the Prince's voice was even more apparent than normal. "As of the moment, it is merely a feeling."
"Then uh, guess we should be on guard then," Blizz decided. "Not really sure how we can keep track of things in this darkness though."
The four of them began progressing through the floor. Even the ambient sounds of the dungeon seemed to be absorbed into the atmosphere, leaving things way too quiet for anyone's liking. This was made much worse by the lack of ferals— There were more than a few Powder Snows, Leafages, and Shadow Balls fired at targets that didn't exist.
All this combined meant that when something did finally reveal itself, no one was ready to react properly.
"Olá."
The voice was vaguely feminine, but the dampening effect of the dungeon made it hard to tell. More significantly, it was coming from directly above Team Apex. Before any of them could do anything, they were blinded by a flash of light.
Blizz's eyesight quickly transitioned to being useless because it was too bright to useless because it was too dark. Despite this, the ground beneath him wasn't the same as where he was just a moment ago. This wasn't the same room he was just in.
"Who the hell did that?" He asked into the void.
While it did not surprise him that the void refused to answer, it also made him realize that his teammates weren't nearby either.
He took out his badge's map, looking over the dots that represented his friends' positions. They seemed to be scattered around the four corners of the floor.
He started walking towards the center of the floor, hoping the rest of them would come to the same idea. While he walked, he looked out for any indication of who or what did this.
As he made it past the first room, his badge vibrated with a message.
Kibo was knocked out!
Kibo has been warped out of the dungeon!
Fuck.
He broke into a run, shifting his focus towards meeting up with the closest glowing dot. If they were under attack, banding together immediately was more important than getting all of them together at the same time.
It only took a minute for his badge to buzz yet again.
Rune was knocked out!
Rune has been warped out of the dungeon!
This was really not looking good. A part of Blizz wondered if this was a part of the exam, like how Lucario pinned him to the wall when he was first registering a team. Either way, he was going to finish this mission and keep his friends safe.
Thankfully, the last remaining dot happened to be the closest, and given that Rune and Kibo were knocked out, that left only one person.
Blizz finally saw the glow of the Prince's rings as he rounded the corner into the next room.
"Cover your ears!" The Prince shouted, somewhat panicked. "She's using Perish So-"
He wasn't able to get the full sentence out, before he collapsed on the ground. Detecting that he was unconscious, his badge warped him out of the dungeon automatically. Just to rub salt in the wound, Blizz's own badge decided to contribute to the already great mood.
The Prince was knocked out!
The Prince has been warped out of the dungeon!
"Fucking hell…" Blizz lazily raised the strap of his goggles to cover his ears. It wasn't a perfect system, but it muffled most things. It'd have to be good enough.
While he couldn't make out exactly what the Prince said right before he passed out, he knew him well enough to tell the difference between a "I feel like bossing you around" command and a "this is fucking important do this right now" command. The second type was pretty rare, but it happens from time to time.
With his ears vaguely protected, he continued through the dungeon, weighing the different ways he could deal with the current situation in his head.
Option one is that he tries to fight the attacker directly. While this would seem like a stupid idea given that she just knocked out all of his teammates one after another and she apparently has a move that can take them down in one hit and he's completely blind on this floor and… He forgot where he was going with this.
Option two is to use one of their escape orbs. He'd have to give up on the mission, but it guaranteed that he'd make it out safely… that's not really a major concern to Blizz.
Option three is to try to make it to the final floor and warp out there. The rest of his team is already out of the dungeon, so taking a bit longer wouldn't hurt them. The only real risk was the very-likely odds that he would run into their attacker, but even then all he had to do was hang on long enough to get the badge and get out. Worst-case scenario he gets knocked out, and then it's just option two again.
His mind made up, he spun around and began running towards the few rooms they haven't cleared yet. Not having to move alongside a functionally-blind team and not caring about silly things like "not running into walls from a full sprint" did wonders for his pace.
It didn't take him long to notice a beam of rainbow colored light that very nearly missed him.
He looked back for a moment, the light of the attack finally giving him some idea of who he was dealing with. His gaze followed the beam back to its source, seeing the silhouette of a Misdreavus. The light died off quickly, and Blizz was back to not having any clue where she was going to come from next.
While he couldn't tell if it was the same one he's constantly been seeing wanted posters for in the guild, he figured that if this wasn't her that'd be a pretty weird coincidence.
He pressed on, hoping that he would be able to dodge any future attacks from Misdreavus. This proved to be a slight challenge, given that he couldn't see anything until after the attack was fired and couldn't hear anything at all. His sense of touch was still mostly intact though, and that ended up being his main method of navigating through the corridors.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to let him dodge all of Misdreavus' attacks. Or most of them. Honestly, any attack that didn't land was sheer luck.
After being knocked around by Psybeams coming from every possible angle, Blizz finally made it to the room's staircase, thanking whatever god was in charge of this universe that there was light at the bottom. Whatever was wrong with this dungeon's atmosphere would be lifted up ahead, only one more obstacle to clear.
He used Quick Attack, trying to pass through the Misdreavus and make it to the relative safety of floor 10. Not particularly inclined to let him do that, Misdreavus countered with a Confuse Ray.
Suddenly, Blizz found that there were four Misdreavus and six staircases around him.
"What the fuck…" He jumped at the nearest staircase, which ended with him just banging his head against solid stone.
Misdreavus decided to forgo a follow-up attack in favor of watching Blizz bash his head against non-existent staircases. The concussions he was giving himself probably extended the confusion more than anything Misdreavus could do.
When it finally looked like he was going for the actual staircase, Misdreavus returned to action, lazily firing off another Psybeam.
Blizz suddenly veered right, something that he probably wouldn't have been able to do if he was still confused. As a result, he dodged the attack and promptly went flying down the stairs.
"…Clever boy…" Misdreavus floated through the ground, and descended down to the Treecko on the next floor.
The dark atmosphere was finally gone, allowing Blizz to see what his attacker actually looked like. They shared an intense staredown, as Blizz fully assessed his current situation.
On the far end of the room was a warp tile, which would presumably take him out of the dungeon. About a meter away from it was a wooden crate filled with silver rescue badges. Between himself and this goal was Misdreavus.
Now that the lighting stopped being completely abysmal, he could make out the ghost's features a lot easier, and confirmed his previous suspicion: this was the outlaw.
Blizz realized she was trying to say something, but couldn't make out what it was with the way his ears were covered. While he really didn't feel like getting knocked out the same way as his teammates, figuring out why the hell she decided to attack them out of nowhere was kinda important. So he tried making an offer.
"If you promise to not use that one-hit move I'll take out the earplugs."
She weighed the decision for a moment, before nodding. Blizz cautiously lowered the strap off his ears, and could finally hear again.
Despite the compromise, neither of them made a move.
"So, uh, what's your deal?" Blizz asked, trying to break the tension. "Bit rude to attack us out of nowhere."
"Just business, nothing personal." She responded with a disinterested sigh.
"Well uh, knocking out my friends is a kinda personal thing. So I really wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about that."
"And why should I tell you?"
"Alright, that's fair… Guess should we get into this then? Unless you feel like saying anything else?"
Misdreavus' eyes glowed a light blue. "I thought you would never ask."
The battle began with a Psybeam fired at Blizz, which he jumped out of the way of. He fired off a Leafage in Misdreavus's direction, but she vanished into the dungeon wall before the attack could arrive.
Blizz hesitated for a moment, his battle instincts telling him to stay put and look out for where his opponent would emerge. He had to forcibly remind his battle instincts that their goal was to get out with a badge. His body lit up with energy from a Quick Attack, managing to make it halfway across the floor before being struck by a Psybeam from the side, launching him into the room's wall.
The upside of being forcibly embedded into the stone wall was that he had no choice but to look directly at the source of the attack. Misdreavus was floating towards him, with eyes glowing yellow this time.
Blizz held his breath. He recognized the glow as preparing for a Confuse Ray, and getting hit by that would really fuck him up right now. However, it's a pretty hard to land attack, and Blizz considers himself to be pretty good at dodging, the last Psybeam notwithstanding. So all he had to do was get the timing just right.
Misdreavus loomed over him as his muscles tensed up. The light in her eyes got brighter as she steadily drew closer… very steadily… very steadily.
Okay, she's fucking with him. New plan.
He bounced out of the Treecko-sized dent in the rock, lunging straight for Misdreavus. The action caught her off guard, and she couldn't fire the Confuse Ray before Blizz passed through her.
The experience wasn't really pleasant for anyone.
"Holy fuck that feels awful," Blizz complained, landing on the other side and pivoting around. "Like breathing straight from a gas leak…"
"Don't you know not to do that to ghosts?" Misdreavus admonished, preparing yet another Psybeam.
"To be fair this is the first time I've fought a non-feral ghost," Blizz replied, firing off a Leafage to disrupt the Psybeam. "So uh, yea, didn't know that."
"Oh, in that case I'm honored." She flew out of the leaves' path, before finishing the Psybeam.
Blizz sidestepped the attack, moving to his left. As a result, their positions were shifted, with Blizz's back to the warp tile. Not that it meant much, given Misdreavus' ability to appear more or less wherever she wanted. He had to lure the battle back there and hope Misdreavus wouldn't notice.
"Honor's all ours, you're an S-rank, right?" Blizz jumped to the roof and clung on, allowing a Confuse Ray to pass beneath him. "Never taken on anyone tougher than a B. Good learning experience for us here."
"I feel like you're the only one getting anything out of this, your teammates only saw me for a couple seconds before getting knocked out." She used Psybeam on the ceiling, trailing Blizz with the beam as he scampered back. Eventually, the pressure from the attack forced him to drop back down to the floor.
"They learn not to get hit by a bullshit attack coming from out of nowhere in a dungeon that already blinds us. Super important lesson." Blizz was close to the crate of badges now. As soon as Misdreavus gave him an opening he was gonna make a break for it.
"Learning to deal with Perish Song is an important skill for any explorer, us outlaws don't really like listening to Federation rules." She drew closer to Blizz, eyes glowing blue with psychic energy.
"Yea but isn't it supposed to knock you out too?" His muscles tensed yet again, the moment she unleashed her attack he'd have to go.
"Oh, we always have tricks up our sleeve…" The vagueness of that statement was definitely not concerning.
The moment he saw the light of the attack Blizz sprung into action. He used Quick Attack again, sprinting to the crate of badges. He had barely enough time to grab one before Misdreavus' Psybeam tore through it, scattering pieces of wood and stray badges all around the room.
Blizz almost felt bad for whoever would have to come back here and clean up.
With the badge in hand, he could focus on his last goal: getting the hell out of here. The Quick Attack wasn't done yet, so he used it to pivot towards the warp tile. Misdreavus simply stood back, a confident smirk on her face.
Three yards from the warp tile, Blizz realized he stepped on a trap. Pink gas floated out from a small purple cylinder as the room began to spin for Blizz. Still, the warp tile out was so close, he just needed to make it a bit further.
"A bit further" turned out to be a trip trap. Misdreavus couldn't restrain her laughter by this point, watching the Treecko lose his balance and face-plant.
Realizing that there was no way he would be able to make it to the warp tile now before the sleep gas set in, he threw his bag and the silver badge onto the tile, causing them to teleport out. Hopefully the rest of Apex would be able to receive it on the other end.
Misdreavus watched the supplies vanish. "A shame, I was hoping I would be able to take those as well."
By this point Blizz was too dizzy to make a clever comeback, letting the sleep overtake him.
"But at least I still get the main prize…"
The Prince would say this has been a terrible day.
He would say this about most days since his arrival in Varin, but this one is especially terrible. Arguably worse than rescuing Rune, or rescuing Oddish, or any of the other awful rescue missions they've had to deal with.
Getting separated from everyone else with a spurn orb, then watching each of them get picked off with Perish Songs by a ghost that will vanish the moment you see her is not a fun experience. The only upside to it all was that he managed to hold on long enough to warn Blizz.
And it turned out that was probably not a good idea either, because if he just let Blizz get knocked out they all would've been warped back here to the dungeon entrance, lose a few items, and learn from the experience.
Instead, the Prince was staring at a familiar brown bag which teleported in next to him, very concerned about the implications of it being here without its owner attached.
Despite being knocked out last, he was the first of the three to wake up, and therefore had to contemplate this situation on his own until the others were no longer unconscious.
The Prince let out a sigh as he slung the bag over his back. "What did you get yourself into…" As he lifted it up, he saw the sparkle of a silver badge underneath. He examined it for a second, before picking it up and holding it to the light. "…Please do not tell me you prioritized this over yourself."
"Prioritized what?" Kibo was finally awake, and walked over to the Prince, before seeing Blizz's bag accompanied by a distinctive lack of Blizz. "…Oh."
"The bag warped next to me minutes after I woke up," the Prince explained. "I fear that Blizz was not given the same treatment as the rest of us."
"Don't tell me…"
The Prince rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt Misdreavus sought to murder him. However if he was simply knocked out, his badge should have warped him away. His badge is nowhere to be seen, while his equipment managed to make it out."
"So what do you think happened?"
"…My best guest would be that he sought to finish the mission despite the danger presented, and fell to Misdreavus on the final floor. In either a final act of defiance or to ensure the three of us are in a suitable position to rescue him, he warped his bag and the mission objective out. The thief would have no use for his personal badge, hence why he opted to keep it on his person."
"…Then we gotta find him!" Kibo turned around back towards the dungeon entrance.
"Stop." The Prince's command was stern. "All you will do is jeopardize your own health. As it stands, we are in no position to attempt the dungeon again— It was a challenge with all four of us."
"But we can't just leave him there!"
"We will not. But to go in as we are would be suicidal."
"Then what should we do?"
"We are not particularly far from Tenea City. We shall spend the night there, and write back to the guild our situation. We can stockpile luminous orbs, and deny Misdreavus the advantage that the dungeon's unique atmosphere provides her."
Kibo considered the plan, impressed by how much thought the Prince had put into it. "Sounds good, but what happens if he's not there by tomorrow? Wouldn't it be better to go in tonight?"
"We are approximately three to four hours from sundown," the Prince reminded him. "It will take us at least an hour to make it to Tenea, then we have to purchase the orbs, go through ten dungeon floors again, and proceed back to town. There is no outcome where we re-enter the dungeon today."
"Well… alright then, if you say so." Kibo didn't sound happy about this. "But we are going to be coming back, right?"
"Yes. We have no choice but to pursue him, Blizz has rendered himself too integral to our operations to leave him behind."
"And the fact that he's our friend?"
The Prince gave Kibo a blank stare. "…I suppose that is important as well."
A/N: Dropped this chapter a bit early because I realized I wouldn't be able to upload it tomorrow. Also, Chapter 10 of Sierra 10, there's gotta be some significance there.
Ch 11: Just What I Needed - 2/19/22