As Kibo felt the rush of air whizzing by his face and the sound of Rune's scream slowly getting quieter, one thought stuck out to him above everything else.

This pit was awkwardly long.

Not that it was too long— the limited sunlight coming in from above made it clear that there was a ground they were rapidly approaching. What moderately annoyed him was that it was too short to feel like a true free fall, but too long for his collision with the ground to just be a simple impact.

Completely ignoring Kibo's irritation, the ground below drew closer and closer, until the Jangmo-o slammed into the rock.

A deep chime resonated through the pit, coming to a stop when Rune fell on top of Kibo, muffling his scale's bell sound.

"What the hell did Golisopod just do?" Rune shouted as she climbed off Kibo, looking up to the light of day above.

"I ain't too sure," Kibo stated, getting his own bearings. He was still a little sore from the impact, so he didn't bounce back quite as fast as Rune. "Sounded like Golisopod was really mad at us though."

"This entire idea was stupid, why did we listen to Zar of all people?" Rune's scarf began lighting up as an orb of ice type energy formed at her mouth.

Kibo said nothing, stepping off to the side to let Rune vent.

"Everything about this was stupid! We lied to Toucannon, we lied to Golisopod, none of this needed to happen!" The temperature of the cave dropped a few degrees as a fresh layer of ice suddenly covered the rock walls.

"You feeling any better now?" Kibo asked, as the dull glow of Rune's scarf began to fade.

"...Yeah, a little bit," Rune admitted, letting the scarf fade back completely. "...Sorry about that."

"You're fine," Kibo assured, before turning back to the cave. "Though we oughta figure out what to do now. Golisopod said something about a trial, right?"

"Yeah, right before he attacked us," Rune confirmed. "Then is this it?"

On a hunch, Kibo took out his explorer's badge, tapping the crystal in the center. He navigated through the various menus, coming to a stop at the map of the floor. "Seems like we're in a mystery dungeon. Zero Isle South? Sounds familiar..." He continued navigating through the badge to the screen that manages warping out of dungeons. He held out the badge to the light, yet nothing happened.

"...What is this dungeon..." Rune whispered, watching the failed warped attempt.

"Ain't too sure, but it looks like our only choice is to go forward." Not wasting a moment, Kibo pinned his badge back on, and marched onwards.

Rune sighed, following behind. "We have to make it through a mystery dungeon with just the two of us and no items..."

The duo took their normal dungeon clearing approach. There didn't seem to be any ferals around on the first floor though, making exploration way more straightforward than they were expecting.

At the bottom of the staircase was the first feral of the dungeon: a Wimpod.

Kibo looked at it from the upper level. "You wanna take it on or- okay, go ahead."

Not waiting for Kibo's approval, Rune proceeded to use a particularly powerful Aurora Beam on the unsuspecting Wimpod. She was not ashamed to admit she was projecting some of her discontent with Golisopod onto the bug.

It was almost fully encased in a tomb of ice by the time she was done, which was particularly impressive given that Aurora Beam is not a freezing move.

Kibo looked at the Wimpod popsicle before gently nudging it out of the way with his head. They still had a dungeon to explore, after all.

The second floor seemed to be similar to the first, with the exception that there were now occasional feral Pokémon lurking in it. None of them seemed to be even remotely strong though, posing no threat to the duo who proceeded to utterly demolish everything in their path.

At some point they switched to just using basic attacks, and still that was enough to take down most of their opponents in one hit.

So their dungeon crawling continued. Find the staircase, clear a floor of pathetically weak feral Pokémon, find the staircase.

By floor nine of this, Rune was starting to worry. "…Do you get the feeling something is off about this?"

Kibo looked back as he swept a Venipede into the nearest wall with his tail. "What do you mean?"

"This feels way too easy. Why would he think someone would try to escape a dungeon like this?"

"Well maybe it gets harder? We're only on floor nine. I doubt we're even halfway there yet." As Kibo spoke, he walked down a long narrow hallway, finding himself in a room with the next staircase.

"How many floors do the really long dungeons have? 25?"

Kibo nodded as he climbed down the stairs. "Around that."

"How can this be a third of the way..." Rune trailed off as she stepped into the 10th floor. The rocky aesthetic of the previous set of floors was completely gone— now it looked like they were in the middle of a grass field, with walls made of extremely dense foliage. They could see the sky above them, despite having just crawled through a cave system where each staircase led them further down.

The ferals seemed to be different as well. The previous set of floors contained primarily bug types, whereas here it appeared the dungeon was mostly grass.

Kibo barely jumped out of the way of an inbound Razor Leaf. In response, Rune fired a quick Powder Snow, knocking out the offending Bounsweet in one hit.

"Thank you for that." Kibo dusted himself off and surveyed the room. No other threats here, at least.

"That was a big change though," Rune pointed out, her eyes still adjusting to the sudden influx of sunlight. "Have we ever seen a dungeon that's changed that much?"

"You're right…" Kibo led the way down a random hallway. "Let's be careful here. We don't know what we're dealing with."

Absol and Mewtwo were still staring at the cave opening, as they had been for the past five minutes.

"...The dungeon truly takes all of your memories?" Absol asked.

"That's right," Golisopod confirmed. "You go in, you won't remember a thing about who you are or why you're there till you get out."

Mewtwo shook his head. "That... I don't believe it will work in that manner for Team Apex."

That grabbed Golisopod's attention. He popped open an eye, studying Mewtwo. "Wanna explain?"

Mewtwo looked at Golisopod, mentally debating how much information he could share in his presence. "The requirements of the husk crisis meant we had to alter the humans summoned to fix it. To ensure that they do not fall victim to the Resonance phenomena, they were given an abnormally strong resistance to mental manipulation. Otherwise I could have just read Blizz's mind." He muttered the last sentence.

"The hell's a Resonance?" Golisopod asked.

"...Did you not receive the briefing from the Exploration Federation?" Absol asked, legitimately concerned for the guildmaster. "I no longer belong to the Federation, and they still sent me the update on the husk crisis."

"Oh, husk stuff. Ain't poppin' up here, so I don't pay it much mind."

Mewtwo sighed. "In any case, Mew is not one of them. I... do not know how the dungeon's properties will affect her. Though given that she is a legendary, I fear what could be happening at this very moment." He looked at the cave, then back between Golisopod and Absol. "We will need a plan to retrieve them from the dungeon."

"Don't bother," Golisopod assured. "No one's finished that dungeon in the past thousand years. Even with a Mew helpin' them out, they ain't gonna make it to the end. Dungeon will warp them out when they all get knocked out, so just wait up here."

Absol looked conflicted. "...My disaster sense is… quite strong right now. I doubt it will be so simple."

"That's the problem with you mainlanders," Golisopod accused. "Always stressing. Bulu will sort everythin' out, just relax."

Having personally met Tapu Bulu, Mewtwo did not quite agree with that assessment. Still, with their main point of contact and source of information choosing to not be particularly helpful, he didn't have many options.

He did have one backup plan, though he was not particularly eager to enact it.

Blizz knows how to deal with falling from a high place. He's done it more than a few times by this point, and one of those times he learned a new move. So while getting blasted downwards by an insanely strong psychic attack– belonging to a legendary of all things– made it a little more difficult, he still managed.

Right as he hit the ground he rolled forward, coming to a stop on his feet and striking what he'd say is a cool pose.

Zar was not quite so lucky. Still in her Treecko form, she was lying limp on the ground, facing away from Blizz with her legs sprawled out in what couldn't be a comfortable position and an arm draped across her back.

Blizz walked over to her as she rolled onto her back. He offered out a hand, which Zar grabbed and rose up to her feet.

Now that she was off the ground, Zar looked around the rocky chamber she found herself in. "Thanks for that."

"Course. So uh, this is that big thing you've always wanted to see?"

Zar looked at Blizz with a blank stare. "...What do you mean?"

"Well uh, wasn't there that whole thing about you spending 50 years trying to get here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"We literally just fought through Mewtwo to get here."

"...Mewtwo?"

Blizz looked at Zar, memories from immediately before jumping into the cave coming back. Golisopod's warning...

"Hey do you remember like, anything?"

"I... huh... yeah, I don't remember anything." Zar's voice didn't falter— the revelation didn't strike her as being that jarring.

"...Okay, do you remember what species you are?" Blizz had no idea what this dungeon would have in store for him, but having Zar with some of her normal strength would probably make it a lot easier.

Zar looked over herself. "Aren't I a Treecko?"

"...I guess technically but not really?" Blizz shook his head. "Whatever, we still gotta catch up with the others. You still down to go through the mystery dungeon right now though?"

Zar was busy opening and closing her hand, as if she had never seen such an appendage before. "...Sure, that sounds like fun!"

At least he could say for a fact that this was still Zar. "Right on. Oh, uh, your name's Zar. Don't know if you remember that or not."

Zar nodded, taking Blizz's words to heart. "Zar, got it! And who're you?"

"Blizz. Now let's going, gotta reintroduce you to Rune and Kibo."

The Prince had standards. There were certain activities strictly forbidden for him to be seen partaking in. Eating non-regal foods, any childish games, those kinds of behaviors.

So he was perfectly content that none of his friends were around right now as he stood atop the surfboard he rented from the resort.

Blizz had tried to teach him the basics of "snowboarding" in the past, though he was not in the mood to humor his teammate at the time. It turned out that some of the unsolicited advice Blizz gave was very relevant here, allowing him to race up and down his current wave.

Once again, he did not understand why other Pokémon seemed to ignore the beaches at night. At this hour, there was no worry of any obnoxious Pokémon getting in the way. This is to say nothing of the fact that the waves were just as strong, if not stronger, than they are during the daytime.

Though as he rose to the top of the wave, he noticed a pair of figures approaching the coast he was surfing off of. Given that one seemed to be a quadruped and the other was floating off the ground, he had an approximate idea of who they were.

Unlike the previous time, they seemed to be fully aware of the Prince's presence. He would admit it was a bit harder to remain concealed here, given that the glow of his rings was the only source of illumination on the otherwise dark ocean.

Sighing, he rode his current wave out to the beach, where he could make out in detail that it was, in fact, the two Pokémon he suspected. The mystery legendary Pokémon from the previous day and Absol, staring expectantly at him.

Once the water was at a depth where he could comfortably stand, he jumped off his board and walked in, shaking his fur out as he did so. He wasn't anywhere near a presentable condition for someone of his status, but since the two sought out an audience with no advance notice, he was not particularly concerned with it.

Absol was the first to greet him, despite how little they've interacted in the past.

"Umbreon, I am happy to see you again. This is my companion, Mewtwo."

The name reminded the Prince of the guildmaster's story all the way back in Breach Mountain. "...You were the clone of Mew who wished to abolish all forms of life, until sense was beaten into you by Lucario, Scizor, Hydreigon, and Absol, correct?"

Mewtwo looked a bit embarrassed as the Prince laid out an early life history that he wasn't particularly proud of. "...That would be correct. I assume your guildmaster still tells that story?"

"Indeed."

Absol cleared his throat, not wanting the conversation to spiral. "In any case, we apologize for interrupting your vacation, but we may need your help. Through a misconception, Jangmo-o and Vulpix have ended up in a difficult dungeon that serves as a religious right of passage for the native Cascians."

"…I anticipated that their scheme would go poorly."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow at that. "Rune and Kibo came up with that scheme?"

The Prince was moderately annoyed with himself for revealing too much information, though thankfully Mewtwo made a similar mistake that he could shift the conversation to.

"And how are you aware of their proper names?" The Prince already knew from Zar that there was supposedly documentation surrounding each of seemed like as good a time as any to fish for more information.

That caught Mewtwo on the back foot. "I... well... you see..."

"Please, we can have this conversation later," Absol intervened. "As I was saying. At the same time as Vulpix and Jangmo-o were sent into the trial, Treecko met with Mew, another legendary Pokémon. Mew has had a personal interest in 'discovering' what the island's trial truly is, though the residents have been able to stop her at all points."

"However, with Blizz's aid, she was able to bypass the security mechanisms in place," Mewtwo picked up. "And as of right now, Vulpix, Jangmo-o, Treecko, and Mew are all in the dungeon."

The Prince sighed, of course they would get tied up in something. It was really just a matter of whether the stupid idea came from Blizz or Zar. In this case, it appeared to be the latter.

"I am presently on vacation. Why should I intervene here?"

"...Do you not care for the well being of your teammates?" Absol asked.

Mewtwo shook his head. "They will be more inclined to listen to you than myself or Absol, and I know you are more rational than your comrades. It is not feasible for us to convince them to stand down."

"They have found themselves in worse situations before, yet they have persevered. Why should I want to intervene."

Mewtwo looked at the Prince directly in the eye. "…If you accompany us, I will answer some of the questions I know you have."

The Prince nodded. "That is permissible. Take me to their location."

As Kibo and Rune passed through onto floor 20, the design of the dungeon changed once again. The scenery turned into the equivalent of ancient ruins, with primarily ghost types littering the area.

Once again, the ferals seemed to get stronger, but not beyond what the duo could handle.

As they rounded a corner into a room, Rune preemptively charged up a Powder Snow, unloading it into a Gastly and Golett.

Kibo finished off the Gastly with a Dragon Tail, while Rune delivered her final blow with a basic attack.

"They just don't stop coming," Kibo said, wiping a bit of sweat off the scale on his head. "Least we're on floor 20 now."

"Yeah..." Rune had a sneaking suspicion that floor 20 was only scratching the surface of what this dungeon had to offer.

As she was in the middle of her pondering, Kibo jumped over her head, crashing into the Dhelmise she missed when she first entered the room.

"Thanks for that..." She finished it off with another Powder Snow as Kibo climbed away.

"Don't mention it! Though it looks like it was carrying an Oran." Kibo held out a blue berry. "You mind if I take it? Taken a few hits so far."

Rune's rescue from Shining Peaks was months ago, and the logical part of her brain told her that she really needs to get over her fear of Oran berries. Still, her head involuntarily turned away. "No, go ahead."

Kibo nodded, popping the berry in his mouth. Some of the bruises the dungeon's ferals gave him seemed to fade away, and he perked up with some extra energy. "Alright! Let's keep going!"

The two continued on their way, looking for the next staircase.

"...Kinda weird. I don't think I saw any items on the first set of floors, then the next one had only a few obscure ones. Now it's giving us Orans." Kibo's pondering broke the eerie silence, something Rune was more than fine with.

"So it probably has better items the deeper we go," Rune concluded. "Which we'll probably need."

"Shame we don't have Blizz here," Kibo commented. "Or at least his bag. If we could carry all the stuff we run into, that'd make our jobs way easier."

"Maybe we'll find a bag in the dungeon," Rune half-joked.

"I think it's more likely we'll run into Blizz first than a bag."

That got a faint laugh out of Rune. "Definitely."

"Alright Zar let's fuck them up!"

"YEAHHH!"

For Rune and Kibo, they figured out early on that there was a chance this dungeon could be very long, and that if there was any chance that they could make it out, they'd have to pace themselves.

Blizz and Zar did not subscribe to any such notions. The shiny Treecko flew into the room inhabited by a few unfortunate grass types, before bombarding everyone present with a full-power Leaf Storm.

Blizz trailed close behind, having to use Quick Attack just to keep up with his teammate. Despite this, he seemed to be in equally good spirits.

The two raced through the floor, finding the staircase only a few seconds slower than their last attempt. Blizz practically threw himself down it, while Zar glided, her feet never touching the ground.

"So why can't you use Magnet Rise?" Zar asked as she waited for her slower teammate to catch up.

"Guessing the main reason is that I'm not a Mew," Blizz responded, throwing out an Energy Ball at a nearby Shiftry. "But like, if there's a way I'm definitely down to learn."

Zar finished off the feral with a Leaf Blade, before turning back to Blizz. "There's no way I'm a Mew though," she argued, letting the Magnet Rise fade so it was easier to talk. "I'd have to feel it, right?"

"Telling you, this place took your memory. You're definitely a Mew."

She closed her eyes in concentration. This lasted all of half a second before she gave up. "But I can't transform."

"You were literally a Joltik like, a few hours ago."

"How do I know you're not just saying that to mess with me?"

"Because Joltik can probably learn Magnet Rise and Treecko definitely can't."

Zar shook her head, turning back to the next hallway. "It's probably an egg move or something."

That could be possible, actually. Blizz knew a lot of egg moves were bullshit.

So he continued on, trailing behind Zar as they proceeded to demolish floor after floor of feral Pokémon.

Eventually, the aesthetic of the dungeon shifted once again, bringing them to what looked like ruins crawling with ghost types.

This changed literally nothing about their approach, but Blizz did think it was interesting.

As the duo jumped down the next set of stairs, Blizz could faintly hear the sound of things getting smacked around. He grabbed Zar's arm and ran towards the source of the noise, seeing Kibo and Rune walking past an unconscious feral Dusknoir.

"Yo! Guys!"

Kibo and Rune turned around, and immediately some of the dread they were feeling faded away.

A small amount of that dread came back when Zar charged up a Leaf Storm, though Blizz quickly grabbed her arm, sending a clear statement that these are not ferals.

Kibo blinked a few times before poking Rune with a goofy smile on his face. "Told ya." The two walked forwards to Blizz and Zar, meeting in the middle of the room where Dusknoir was still lying in the corner.

"We were looking for you," Blizz explained. "Apparently Golisopod forced you guys into the dungeon?"

Rune nodded, her mood slightly souring at the mention of the guildmaster. "Yeah. He said we ran away from our trials, and was going to set us straight?"

"Can't believe he said I didn't believe..." Kibo kicked at the ground beneath him.

"Yeah, so uh, thing there was that he thought you guys were natives. Then I kinda sorta tipped them off that we're actually humans, and they realized they fucked up."

"So they sent you in to help us out?" Kibo asked, cocking his head.

"Nah, opposite. There's- oh right, there's this whole thing with Mewtwo..." Blizz proceeded to give a heavily abridged version of all the stuff he's gotten up to since being dropped off by Zar, including his interactions with Absol and Mewtwo.

During the explanation, Zar stared out in space. She knew this stuff would probably make sense as once she got her memories back, but it still felt kinda weird.

"So yeah, Mewtwo tried to stop us, he failed, and now Zar and I are down here too."

"So the memory thing is true..." Rune whispered, looking at Zar.

"Yeah, guess it didn't apply to us," Blizz admitted. "She's still strong as hell though, right?"

Zar perked up when she realized she was being directly addressed, pumping a fist in the air. "Hell yeah!"

"Well, happy to see y'all," Kibo said. "Getting through the dungeon's gonna be a heck of a lot easier now."

Despite the Prince's reluctant agreement to assist Absol and Mewtwo, he still demanded that he be given the rest of the night to himself. So it wasn't until the following morning that they were able to escort the Prince to East Island, and bring him to the clearing where the dungeon entrance was hidden.

When they got there, all three did a double take. Golisopod was still there, but now had a large canvas tent, a few sleeping bags thrown about, and a barbecue that was currently off.

"Welcome back y'all," he said, still sitting at the same tree he's been this entire time. "Got Toucannon to help me out. Figured if they hadn't gotten kicked out by now, we gon' be here for a while."

Absol nodded, slowly. "I... see. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Don' mention it."

The Prince took a seat at the other side of the clearing as Golisopod, forcing Absol and Mewtwo to sit across from each other to fill the gaps.

"Is this all we are to do now?" he asked, after a few minutes of silence. "Simply wait here for them to be removed from the dungeon?"

"We... do have an alternative plan, though I am not certain as to its reliability," Mewtwo explained. "For now, simply waiting here is the best option."

"Hmph." While the Prince wanted to look off to the side the entire time and project his annoyance to everyone in a 50 meter radius, he had important questions that he needed to ask.

"...Mewtwo. I never received a proper answer as to why you know our names."

Mewtwo sighed, expecting that the question would come up as soon as the Prince had more than five seconds to think. "That is a valid question."

"Then I expect an answer."

Mewtwo looked over the clearing, obviously uncomfortable with this line of questioning. Though here, neither Absol or Golisopod looked like they were going to be of any assistance. "I... Am intimately familiar with the individual who summoned you to this world."

"And who is this individual?" The Prince leaned forward. The entire reason he initially agreed to join Team Apex was so that he could find the Pokémon that did this to him and make them pay, this could finally be the answer he was looking for.

Mewtwo took a deep breath. "...Myself. I am the one who selected all 10 of you, transformed you into Pokémon, and brought you to Varin."

The psychic type didn't even flinch as a Shadow Ball exploded right in his face. The Prince immediately followed this up with a Quick Attack, bounding across the clearing with the sole intent of causing as much harm as he could to Mewtwo.

"I understand why you might feel that way." Mewtwo effortlessly floated upwards, beyond the range of the Prince's Quick Attack. He switched to a Shadow Ball barrage as a result, trying to land one hit strong enough to force Mewtwo to land.

Unfortunately, his first barrage came to a close unsuccessfully. The Prince reduced himself to aggressively glaring at Mewtwo, ready to lunge as soon as his foe gave him an opening. "You have stolen everything from me, deprived me of my regal life, forced me into the form of some inane creature, and despite all of this, expect me to solve your world's crisis."

Absol stood up to intervene, but Golisopod held up a claw to stop him.

"This don't concern us, let 'em sort it out."

"Err… Yes, I suppose." Absol sat back down, but still looked worried as the confrontation continued to unfold.

"That is mostly correct," Mewtwo confirmed, resignation in his voice. "I was operating under the orders of Calyrex, who predicted that a disaster was to come."

"Send. Us. Back." The Prince's tone left no room for questions as he readied another Shadow Ball. While he prepared it, his eyes drifted over the line of trees dotting the clearing.

"I cannot control when you are returned to your home," Mewtwo admitted. "You will be returned as soon as Calyrex determines that the crisis has ended."

The Prince let loose the Shadow Ball, then immediately sprinted to the closest tree with a burst of speed. Using it as a ramp, he leaped into the air, where he clamped down on Mewtwo with a Bite.

Mewtwo flinched slightly from the attack, information that the Prince filed away for later. It appeared he wasn't as resistant to physical moves as he was to special ones.

"If it wasn't me, someone else would have," Mewtwo tried explaining as he shook the Umbreon off. "This is something that has been done in Varin for centuries before I even came into existence."

"That does not justify your actions," the Prince replied, landing on his feet underneath Mewtwo. "What you have done is cruel and horrendously selfish. Your world's problems do not concern any humans."

Mewtwo looked down at the Umbreon. Despite the Prince being a dark type, he could sense the rage emanating off of him. If there was any hope of salvaging this situation, he would have to let on more information than he would have liked. "This arrangement is mutually beneficial. Varin receives a savior, and you humans receive a second chance."

That caused the Prince to pause, although he still looked ready to attack at a moment's notice. "A second chance. Elaborate."

Mewtwo took a deep breath— he didn't want to reveal this, but it seemed like he was out of options. "In the human world, you have perished."

For a moment, the clearing was completely still. The only sound was the buzzing of feral bug types as the Prince and Mewtwo stared through each other.

After what felt like an eternity, the Prince spoke. "So I am dead."

Mewtwo nodded. "When you perished, your soul was brought to Varin and given the form of a Pokemon I felt was most fitting. If you succeed at stopping the crisis, you will be returned to your world, and transformed back into your human form."

The Prince's expression softened slightly. "And once this is done, I will not have to endure this world any longer?"

Mewtwo slowly nodded.

"…Very well." The Prince walked back to his side of the clearing. "I shall continue to ensure this crisis sees its resolution. However, with Hydreigon in prison, I question what more there is to be done."

"I am not sure myself," Mewtwo admitted. "However, Calyrex is quite rarely wrong."

The four Pokémon settled into where they were sitting. They had far too much to think about.

A/N: big dnugeon

Ch 30: Can't Stop - 9/17/22