Chapter 3: Mentors


Amelia unleashed another stream of water into the stone creature crawling towards her. More and more spewed from her throat, as she refused to let up until the pile of rocks had melted away and sunk into the ground. Ending her attack, she wiped the water from her mouth with a scowl. This was disgusting.

"Stop gawking and form back up," she growled at the rest of her crew flustered. Of course they had time to watch that, but not to help. Her crew scrambled back into place around her. Two at the front, one at the back, her and Cole in the center. None of these golems would be getting the drop on them.

They all thought she was the lucky one. The one who wasn't having a breakdown over this. But that was only because she was the one who couldn't afford to have a breakdown. Her composure was the only thing keeping everyone else together.

And admittedly, she was lucky in some regards. While her newfound ability to disgorge several gallons of water was sickening, it had also been quite effective for defending their group. And hey, at least she still had hands. Not all of her crew was so lucky.

Alek up front was a goat with a leafy collar. Cole beside her was some sort of penguin with a bag-like tail, which had proved invaluable for carrying all of the strange tools they had come across. She wasn't sure what to make of Geoff. He'd been lucky enough to be bipedal, but he was some sort of ambiguous amphibian with a large lily-pad on his head. He looked ridiculous.

Natalie probably had it the worst, having been turned into an oversized bug. A small yellow one, fluttering through the air on wings the size of her body. Unsurprisingly, she'd been quiet ever since. Amelia was just glad she'd been able to shake off the shock well enough to follow along.

And then there was her. She was a monkey-like creature, which she had to admit was relative luck compared to her crew. She still had the right body shape and opposable thumbs to work with. The tail and oversized ears were strange, as was the bright cyan fur, but she could work with this.

What should have been a quick search had landed them all in unfamiliar bodies, and trapped in this subterranean labyrinth that they'd been wandering for hours. And endless maze of dripping stone, with only the light of the glowing orange rocks embedded into the walls. It had taken her twenty minutes just to get the group composed enough to move, and that was only because the first of the golems had come crawling at them.

The golems had been popping up ever since, but once they had figured out how to use their strange abilities the group of five had been able to keep them at bay with a bit of effort. They were tired now though. How much longer could they carry on?

And at this point, she was doubting they'd ever find a way out. But she wasn't allowed to show that.

"H-hey... I was wondering..." Cole started beside her, his beak making an irritating clack every time it came down. "D-do you think this is where they ended up?"

"Maybe. It would explain why he vanished," she said dismissively, keeping her eyes forward. Of course, she couldn't say the obvious part out loud: if he'd ended up here alone, hours ago, there was a good chance he didn't make it.

"I don't just mean Keith... I mean, like, all of them. The Armellos. The Roznell guy. C-could this be what happened to all of them?"

She sighed. "It's possible, but work really isn't our focus right now. We can piece that puzzle together when we're safe." That was a white lie, of course. Her mind had made up a hundred different hypothesis already.

"You think the rangers know?" Geoff asked anxiously.

"Of course not. If they did there would have been a tighter perimeter. And probably government spooks." She didn't entirely believe that either.

Alek rounded a corner ahead first and gave the all-clear. The crew squeezed through the corridor behind him, continuing on through the eternal maze of caverns.

"Listen, I know there's... a lot going on right now. But that's why we need to stay focused on what's immediately important. You can't dissect the details until you've got the big picture. Right now the only thing we need to worry about is getting out of here," she rallied them with false confidence and a smile.

With a few nods, she saw shoulders rise higher as they lumbered on. She had no idea how such empty words could inspire anyone, but for today she was glad they had.

Cole still seemed hesitant though. "And uh... does that include finding Keith?" he asked.

Everyone turned to look at her expectantly. Her stomach sank at the question. She was worried sick about her missing protégé. And at least a little bit guilty.

But they had entirely surrendered themselves to her. None of them had the stomach for a crisis like this. So she had to make the call.

"We'll... keep our eyes open for him. But we aren't helping him at all if we die. So we focus on surviving first, finding Keith second," she muttered without meeting any of their gazes.

With more silent nods, they all turned their guilty eyes forward again.

They trotted into the next cavern to find an ornate metal staircase burrowing into the floor in the center of the room. They collectively glared at it with enmity. They'd done everything in their power to avoid travelling down the first one they'd found, but their desperate search had turned up no other paths. Even though the staircases hadn't seemed to make the freaky situation worse, the thought that they might only be going deeper into this labyrinth filled the group with dread.

With an uncomfortable silence, they all marched down the stairs. The chamber at the bottom was different. The walls were brimming with the glowing stones, illuminating a large opening ahead.

"On guard," Amelia muttered as her crew formed up around her again. She'd grown suspicious of anything different.

Attacks at the ready, the squad moved into the large chamber. But the spacious cavern was mostly empty. A few large gems jutted out from the walls and ceiling, and a small chest sat conspicuously in the center. After a few moments, they let their guards down.

"It's... pretty..." Natalie muttered softly, to the surprise of everyone. She was eyeing the glittering yellow stones along the walls.

"Uh- yeah. Guess it is," Geoff agreed. He walked over and examined one of the shimmering stones.

"Do you guys need to take a rest?" Amelia polled impatiently. She'd rather not stop, but they'd be useless if she ran them too ragged.

"We should keep going. I don't want to see another one of those rocks crawling at me," Alek scraped at the dirt with his hoof anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm good to go," Geoff waved his hand. "I just wanted to try something."

He tightened his hand around the gem he was examining and tried to wrench it out.

Instantly the wall sucked inwards, pulling him with it, and then rebounded out throwing him violently onto the ground.

Everyone spun to face the wall and froze. Did the wall just attack him?

Geoff groaned and pulled himself up, ready to attack.

"S-stay away from the walls!" Amelia ordered, backing up behind a cringing Alek. Natalie cowered behind Cole.

But after an uncomfortable moment, nothing else happened. Everyone was still staring anxiously at the walls around them, their momentary peace shattered.

"New rule: don't touch anything," Amelia growled. "Everything is trying to kill us."

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, now more anxious than ever.

"W-what about that?" Cole asked, pointing to the chest.

"We touch that carefully," she relented. She wasn't about to just ignore a development like the chest after hours of wandering through empty tunnels. "Stand back."

Everyone crowded behind her as she let water well up in her throat. With a sensation far too similar to vomiting for her tastes, she spewed it all out towards the chest. It went tumbling back, now soaking wet.

It didn't seem to be a trap. But she wasn't taking any risks.

"Cole, give me a rock," she ordered. Cole quickly reached into his sack-like tail and pulled out a round stone. He'd been collecting them to throw, since he'd yet to find any other way to defend himself.

"Geoff, try smashing the lock," she passed the stone off to him. Geoff froze a moment, but took the rock glumly.

He sauntered over to the chest nervously, and with a strong swing slammed the stone down on the lock. He braced for some kind of trap. But after nothing happened, he swung again. Then another swing, and another. The loud clang of stone on metal echoed through the chamber. Everyone else watched tensely.

After a few swings, he brought the rock down again and it shattered against the lock. The lock barely showed any wear.

"No good..." he reported back with a shake of his head. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whatever. This can be another 'later' question. Cole, can you carry it?" Amelia asked.

Cole eyed the chest up for a moment. "Probably. Won't be uh... comfortable. But I think it will... fit," he blushed. Being a living backpack was weird and demeaning. But he wasn't about to complain about his fate in front of Natalie.

"Good. Grab it and let's move on."

The crew formed up once more and proceeded down the corridor ahead. They squeezed together, all trying to stay as far away from the walls as possible now. It was amazing how the nightmare only got worse the longer it went on.

Amelia might have had that thought a moment too soon, as they emerged into another small chamber. In the center of this room was a massive, gaping hole in the ground. The floor around it seemed to melt down into it and continue running along the "walls" of the hole. A dark fog seeped out from it, clinging low to the floor.

The entire group froze, muscles tensed as this came into view. it left every one of them dripping with dread.

"The hell is that?" Alek squeaked, backing away nervously.

"I-I don't know," Amelia stuttered, too shaken to feign confidence.

"Were there any other paths?" Geoff asked, eyeing everyone anxiously.

Everyone shook their heads.

"We'll just... go around it then," Amelia directed. "There's plenty of space, and it's just a hole. Just stay away from it."

The group fidgeted nervously in place at this suggestion. They knew they'd have to get past it, but the thought of taking even a step closer to the hole made them anxious. Alek pawed at the edge of the dark fog clinging to the ground, eyeing his hoof carefully to make sure it wasn't decaying.

Amelia sighed. Again she'd have to be decisive on all of their behalves. And admittedly, in spite of her fear, her curiosity was equally as strong.

She crept straight towards the hole, moving as slowly and carefully as she could. Her new body was humanoid, but she was still a bit awkward with it. She needed to be very careful. The dark fog was a bit cool around her feet but seemed to be harmless. Letting her curiosity take hold, she crept up until she was just a few feet from the edge of the hole and peered down.

Nothing but blackness awaited below. It seemed to extend down forever until the dark fog became too dense to see a thing. She shuddered and backed up.

"See? It's just a hole. Nothing to be worried about," she reassured them with a blatant lie. This was certainly not just a hole.

She returned to her crew and began to guide them around the edge of the chamber. With terrified looks they followed, and she could see the relief on everyone's faces as they got to the other side of the room.

"Good. Now form back up and let's continue," she ordered with a forced smile.

"I don't think we need to!" Alek cried out excitedly. "Look!"

They all peered down the hall ahead to see a bright light at the end of it. It looked like sunlight. Most of the group cheered, as they awkwardly stumbled towards the light. Even Amelia allowed herself a cautious smile. If they were lucky for once, this meant they could finally rest.

But another thought flicked through her head. If this was the exit, where was Keith? Had they passed him? Had they... passed his body? It occurred to her that if he was transformed like they were, she wouldn't even know what his body would look like.

This was only a small step in a much, much, bigger problem.


Tranquil Knoll

"You?" Roselia stared at him skeptically from her doorway, eyelids still drooping. "Delving didn't exactly seem like your forte." She couldn't believe the idiot had woken her up at this hour for such nonsense.

"Well... it's true I had a real tough time until you showed up," Helioptile feigned humility. "But since it seems like I may be here a while, I figured it would be good for me to learn how to survive out there. And when I saw you were specifically looking for protégés it seemed perfect!" He forced an eager smile.

Roselia continued to look him over appraisingly, glancing back and forth at the recruitment note. Really, the last thing she needed was a bumbling idiot like him. It hadn't been a day yet. Surely someone better would come around.

"Mmm. While it's true I am willing to accept some mentees, I'm looking for people who have a burning passion for delving and an innate talent. I'm not looking to help an amateur learn the absolute basics," she turned her nose.

"Oh," he fidgeted, hiding his irritation behind faux anxiousness. "Well, truth be told, I think I might be more suited for delving than you think."

"Oh? And why pray tell is that?" she glared with narrow eyes.

"Well... Like I said, I didn't really know what was going on when I woke up yesterday. But when I found Sewaddle, I led him really far through that mystery dungeon. Even though he was really slow and couldn't defend himself. Of course, I needed your help in the end, but I did a lot of that rescue without knowing what was going on! It just came naturally to me."

That much was true. He didn't really want to make a career of it, but he had surprised himself by guiding Sewaddle that far successfully.

Roselia gave him one more visual evaluation. She had to admit he did have a point with that one. She had no way of knowing how many quadrants he'd actually traversed. Probably not many. But she'd heard of plenty of people breaking down and being unable to travel a single quadrant. He was definitely not the absolute bottom of the barrel.

"Well, maybe I'd consider an entrance exam," she relented, snatching the note from him with a vine. Where had he even gotten this? She could have sworn she hadn't pinned it up yet.

Helioptile knew that was no good though. She'd clearly give him something totally unreasonable.

"Well uh... wasn't today kind of like an entrance exam? I got the kid to the end, and then we made it out. Oh, uh, even though I needed your help at the end!"

He really wanted to roll his eyes. It was hard to keep the balance between highlighting his own accomplishments and feeding her ego.

"Well, I'd hardly call it a pass if you needed the guildmaster to bail you out of such a pitiful dungeon as that," she placed her arms on her hips. "You even should have had an advantage against those birds."

"Right, but that's why I need your mentorship. I came really close today, so with your expertise I'll surely have it in no time. Look how fast I learned to uh... use electricity, with your help!"

Roselia rolled her eyes again. "Close does not cut it. I'm sure Leavanny would have really appreciated it if I'd come back and told her I came 'close' to rescuing her son. And the fact you learned how to use your basic, biological functions is not something to be proud of! I'm trying to start a respectable guild here, not a foster care for confused Pokémon!"

Helioptile winced. She was more stubborn than he'd expected. What was fueling it? Did she really think he was that incompetent, or had he personally offended her somehow? He'd need to change approach and draw on what Leavanny had told him.

"Listen, I really need your help right now. You're clearly the most capable person around here," he laid it on thick. "And... I think you could use my help right now too. I know I'm not the person you'd hoped would apply, but it doesn't seem like there's a lot of people around here who are interested in this type of thing. If you can help me out, we can do more to expand your guild's reputation and you can get more qualified people. But getting that first person to join is the hardest step, right?"

Roselia was still caught up on being called the most capable person around. That was definitely not something she'd heard before. But it was true. She was the only one who could have gone and retrieved Sewaddle today. Nobody else even volunteered. It was a totally thankless job, but she really was the most qualified delver here. And even if it was the idiot Helioptile, it felt good that after less than a day someone had finally acknowledged it.

And no one else was acknowledging it. Sure they'd all congratulated her, but not a single person had admitted they were wrong about her. Things hadn't really changed at all. With no delvers coming in from out of town, and no one in town having any faith in her, where was she supposed to get her first members from?

"I- I see some sense in that point, yes. I do suppose that without a guild's worth of Pokémon to manage yet I could perhaps take on the additional task of mentoring someone..." she tapped her foot nervously. Was she really going to take in the completely ignorant Helioptile? She was clearly going to need to teach him everything.

Day in and day out she'd constantly have to tell him what to do. But wasn't that what she signed up for anyways? Maybe directing one particularly dense Pokémon would be good practice for managing dozens of competent ones later.

"W-well, I suppose I can permit it on a trial basis," she relented. "But don't you dare slack off, and you'd better keep up in your training! I will not tolerate layabouts!"

"Of course! Thank you, Guildmaster Roselia!" he stood at salute, barely holding back a grin. Unsurprisingly, she seemed to eat that routine up with a stern nod. "Now uh... Where do I sleep?"

Roselia blinked once. Then twice. She checked the note over again.

Meals, training, and lodging provided for contributing recruits.

She'd envisioned that in her head as coming after they had a guildhall. She glanced nervously back into her house.

"I uhm... I will have a room prepared for you tomorrow. If your performance is satisfactory."

Helioptile nodded. "Right, perfect. I have a room in the inn for tonight."

"Good. Be prepared to start training in the morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to get back to sleep," she glared at him accusingly.

"Right, sorry! I was a bit anxious. I'll let you be. And thanks again, Guildmaster!" he said with a dopey smile.

With a nod and a wave he departed back for the inn. Working Roselia had been harder than he'd expected. He'd need to be careful with her in the future. Simple praise alone wouldn't be enough to make her do anything he wanted.

Meanwhile Roselia pulled the curtain in her doorway shut and sighed. This was an odd turn of events, but not a bad one. Even if Helioptile ended up being hopeless, having him around to do grunt work would be useful. And as long as he didn't embarrass her, having more people under her would increase her legitimacy.

She wandered over to the massive, vibrant rose bush growing in the center of her living area. She looked it over with a melancholy smile. If the board didn't make it official, having a subordinate did. She was a guildmaster now. Her mother would be proud. No doubt about it.

Circling around the rosebush, she peeked her head into her own old room. There wasn't much in here anymore. Her old bedding, a few empty crates, some planters... Everything she really cared about she'd moved into her parents' old room with her. She'd move out what was left and let Helioptile stay here for now. But for tonight, she headed back to her own room to return to sleep.

She didn't have the space for many more people. She'd need to get a guildhall built soon, but... she opened her coin pouch to find a disappointing amount of money remaining. And if Helioptile took her up on the 'meals' part of that note, she'd have even less...

She'd done it again. She'd acted before thinking and agreed to something she wouldn't be able to provide.

There was no point beating herself up over it now though. Clearly they would have to find jobs fast, and well-paying ones at that. With the new mystery dungeon in place there was certain to be a need. It was just a matter of getting Helioptile up to speed as quickly as possible. She just hoped he was smarter than he seemed.

With that she pulled herself onto her bedding and curled up to sleep, many thoughts and plans swirling through her head.


Helioptile slept surprisingly well. Acquiring reliable food and lodging settled a lot of the anxiousness he'd been feeling, even though he had a thousand more reasons to be anxious. His bedding consisted of a thick layer of discarded fur heaped onto a straw base. It was unbelievably comfortable once he got past the initial shock of sleeping on was almost certainly the fur of another Pokémon.

He only wished his awakening was just as nice.

"Get up! What did I say about slacking off!" Roselia's shrill voice forced him awake.

Blinking slowly he saw her staring angrily from the doorway, an apologetic Aipom grinning awkwardly behind her.

"Wh-what did I do?" Helioptile mumbled, half asleep. He slowly struggled upright.

"I told you we were starting in the morning. For future reference, that means dawn. Now get up! We're going." She tossed a small bag with a single long strap in front of him. "And put that on!"

"I nearly died yesterday, can't I get a bit of sleep?" he groaned, sliding the strapped bag over his arm. Without clear shoulders it wrapped around his torso and dragged on the floor beneath him.

"You did not nearly die," she rolled her eyes. "And if you really want to learn how to be a delver, you need to be able to keep moving no matter what. That means getting up every morning, regardless of what yesterday was like!"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. He peeked into his bag to see a few items. Large, sparkly berries like the magic one he'd found the day before. A few sticks and seeds, too. "And these are... supplies?"

"Yes. We're going on a trip. Obviously everyone here knows about us. But we also want to receive requests from Flak Grotto Village, and Solemn Meadow. So since I need to spread the word and get you some experience, we're going to go advertise in person."

"Alright. And we're expecting to get attacked along the road?" he asked, eyeing the supplies.

"Sort of," she said with a devilish grin. "We'll be taking the shortcut through Bombard Plateaus."

She stared at him expectantly for a moment, as if that was supposed to have been a grand reveal. When he didn't react, she sighed and explained, "The Bombard Plateaus are a mystery dungeon. They're the most direct route to Flak Grotto, but most people take a detour around them."

Helioptile looked at her incredulously. "So we're going to... willingly walk into a deathtrap just to take a little shortcut?"

"Oh please, it's not a 'deathtrap'. It's a pitifully weak dungeon. And you'd better get used to entering them if you want to work for my guild. Delving is all about entering dungeons, since no one else will."

"Not a deathtrap? It literally sucks people in and has them hunted by zombies?!"

"Apparitions. They're called apparitions," she looked at him disapprovingly. "And no one ever dies in weak dungeons like these."

"We nearly died yesterday! And what if no one was there to save Sewaddle? He definitely wasn't escaping on his own."

"We were nearly knocked out yesterday. Dungeons don't kill their victims. Anyone who collapses in them is preserved and trapped within. Presumably to lure more people in to rescue them."

Helioptile gaped at her. "Somehow 'the dungeon won't kill you, it will just use you as bait to trap more people' doesn't reassure me! That's insane!"

"Oh relax. If we were somehow defeated in a weak dungeon like this, another delving team would come and retrieve us. And as long as I'm there, we never have to worry about defeat in such a harmless dungeon."

"Again, we were nearly defeated yesterday!"

"Because I was unprepared," she glared angrily. "I didn't bring my equipment because Leavanny was in such a hurry. Besides, Bombard Plateaus are even easier than Rolling Fields was. I've warned you already: I will not tolerate whining. I can't have a guild member that's afraid to go into an amateur dungeon. Either come with me or I'll find someone more suited."

Helioptile groaned and got up. He didn't really have a choice. As absolutely horrifying on every front as this was, it sounded like he wasn't actually at risk of dying. And he desperately needed to stay in Roselia's good graces for now.

"Fine, fine. I'm just still getting my bearings on this stuff, sorry."

"Get your bearings while we walk then. We're going now," she huffed and walked out.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop her," Aipom said with a nervous grin, and followed suit.

Helioptile scrambled to catch up with her outside of the inn, and she led him towards the western edge of town. Looking at the skyline in the daytime, he could see a massive mountain towering just a few miles away. The path out of town seemed to climb up towards it.

"Flak Grotto is at the base of Flak Mountain. The Bombard Plateaus are in between. There's a side path that leads to them, back from before they formed," Roselia explained as they started down the road.

"So you're gonna teach me about mystery dungeons and all, right?"

"Yes. As I said, you should expect to enter and navigate them regularly as part of our work."

"Well, then that's a good starting point to understand them: When you say 'formed', what exactly does that mean? The dungeon we were in wasn't there until recently?"

"It formed yesterday, just a few hours before I found you. As to why one appears, no one knows. The theory is that the rift appears first, and the dungeon spills out from it."

"What exactly 'spills out'? The walls themselves?"

"No... the walls are made from the original environment," Roselia rustled her flowers a bit anxiously. "What comes from the rift is some kind of... force. Something that controls the environment after it takes over and makes the maze. I'm not... I'm experienced in traversing dungeons, not on the science behind them."

"And why does the rift itself appear?"

"That's... unknown," she muttered. "By anyone."

Helioptile frowned. Could the spontaneous appearance of the dungeon be related to his own sudden appearance here? Maybe all of the dungeons were products of lost humans wandering the world?

"You all seem strangely okay with giant eldritch labyrinths filled with monsters appearing at random and swallowing people up," he said with a concerned look. "Maybe I just don't understand, but it seems kind of... totally horrifying to me?"

"For a civilian, I'm sure it is," she huffed her chest. "But once you're trained to handle them, they're not so scary. And while everyone still freaks out when one appears really close to town like this, people aren't nearly as afraid of them as they used to be."

"Why's that?"

"Well for one, people just got used to it. But it also had to do with all of the guilds. Mystery dungeons try to lure people in by creating treasure, or keeping hostages, or hiding secrets. Once guilds formed to tackle this challenge, it became the thing of legends. Skilled delving teams became heroes, and dungeons began to be seen as the halls of adventure rather than a threat to normal Pokémon."

A sense of unease hit Helioptile, as the haunting voice echoed through his head: "do you have what it takes to be a legend?"

Was this what the strange voice had meant? Was this all just part of its game?

"Uh, is that why you wanted to start a guild? To uh… become a legend, or whatever?" he asked anxiously.

Roselia flashed a scowl at the question, but quickly hid it. "I started the Rosethorn guild because the area needed access to delving teams, and I was the most qualified person around," she answered curtly.

That was clearly a lie, but he knew if he prodded he'd only earn her ire.

"Anyways, the other reason people got comfortable with the dungeons is because of what they gave us. The treasures early delvers found in dungeons were like nothing the world had ever seen. Engineers have spent centuries learning to imitate them or use them for novel purposes. Tons of modern amenities are built on top of enchantments or materials discovered in mystery dungeons. Not that you'd see much of that around here."

"So the dungeons bribed people?" Helioptile asked with a grin, trying to move past his discomfort at the "legends" comment.

"That's one way to put it," she said with a brief laugh.

He took her momentary good mood to ask his next question.

"So uh... If we're going to be working together, can you tell me your name now?"

Her mirth vanished. "You don't need to refer to me as anything other than Guildmaster."

"Right, Guildmaster, but you see, I thought it would be a good idea if I took a name more appropriate to the area. So I'm trying to get a sense of what kinds of names people around here have?"

She eyed him skeptically. "What does it matter?"

"Well I, uh, I already kind of stand out for a lot of reasons. I'm trying to minimize how much attention I bring to myself."

She nodded. Helioptile minimizing his potential to embarrass himself, and by extension her, was a good thing.

"My chosen name is Bristle, but I had better not hear it from you. It is Guildmaster, or Guildmaster Roselia."

"Right," he nodded. "In that case, I think you can call me Rex."

She eyed him curiously.

"It's a name back where I'm from too, so it's not too unfamiliar. And I also uh... kind of look like a little dinosaur, so it fits," he explained with a goofy smile.

"Whatever that means."

Rex considered explaining himself but decided to save the energy. She continued.

"Let's get back on topic. We'll be entering into the Bombard Plateaus in a bit. Once we get inside, you'll be on your own. I will watch, answer questions, and provide advice, but you will need to make it through on your own."

"Excuse me? You'll be watching?" he asked flabbergasted.

"Well I'll defend myself if any apparitions attack me, of course."

"So your idea of training is to drag me somewhere dangerous and make me do everything while you watch?"

"My idea of training is to find out what you're actually capable of already, and to work through the unending list of questions you are constantly spewing," she scowled. "I can't assess what needs to be fixed if I'm doing everything for you."

Rex grumbled but chose to drop it. If he really needed her to get involved he could probably convince her with some pleading eyes and appeal to her "expertise".

"Alright, and it's just like the place yesterday?" he asked.

"For the most part. The apparitions here tend to lean towards fire and ground types though."

"What does that mean?"

Bristle stared awkwardly at him for a solid five seconds. Then she turned her head to the sky and groaned.

"Do you seriously not know your types? Did you parents abandon you under a rock at birth? How does anyone not know that?"

"Hey, I said I was from really far away…" he mumbled sheepishly.

"Once upon a time…" she started in a high-pitched tone, like she was telling a story to a child, "When Arceus descended from the void and birthed the first gods, he granted each of them a core element that permeated their body and spirit. Each element held strengths and weaknesses. This meant that the gods would be forced to work together, and that no god could dominate the others. When normal Pokémon were brought forth to inhabit the world, he granted typings to them as well, creating the same balance between people and gods."

"So what's your element?" he cut in, hoping to end the condescending fairytale.

"I am a grass and poison type," she said with an eye-roll. "That much should be obvious."

"And I have a type too?"

"Y-yes?! What part of every Pokémon do you not understand?"

"What is it?"

Bristle couldn't believe her ears. She was actually having to explain this Helioptile's own type to him. She had overvalued him. He was a bigger idiot than she could have ever imagined.

"Electric and normal, I believe."

"Okay, I guess electric makes sense. With the whole electrocuting thing and all. But 'normal'? What? How is 'normal' an element? Isn't that like, explicitly the lack of an element?"

"No, normal is a type like any other. The type of adaptability, supposedly."

"Okay but like, I know what fire looks like. I know what electricity looks like, or grass, or even poison. But what does normal look like? What does that even mean?"

Roselia glared at him. "It looks like you. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Arceus."

He squinted, debating whether or not to probe about their deity.

"Ooookay… Whatever. Fire and ground. Why is that important?" he asked.

"Weren't you listening? The types are specifically made to keep each other in check. Some types are particularly dangerous to you. I need to be careful of fire types, and you need to be careful of ground types. If this was a real dungeon exploration and I was fighting as well we would be, quite surprisingly, a good team in that regard."

"So it's like a big game of rock paper scissors?"

She stared at him confused. "You mean Lycanroc, Pyroar, Scizor? How do you know that game and not understand types! It's literally designed to teach children."

Rex blinked at her. "Must have been thinking of something else. You'll have to teach me it sometime," he said shaking his head. Talking to her was like wandering through a minefield. "Important thing is: flee from ground types, fight fire types. Right?"

"Ideally a properly practiced delver should learn to overcome their type weaknesses, but for your evaluation you can do whatever you want."

Rex couldn't care less if she looked down on him any more for it, he wasn't about to pick fights if he was at a disadvantage.

She spent the remainder of their walk to the plateaus explaining the many types and their strengths and weaknesses to him. He absorbed maybe half of it. He still wasn't convinced that knowing how effective bugs were at fighting ghosts was useful information. Nor was he convinced that either qualified as an "element".

Eventually the path began to level out, and the fields of stones and trees gave way for rugged terrain. Rex could see the towering plateaus ahead now, bunched up into tight walls. A single path ran into the labyrinth. They stopped at the mouth of the dungeon.

"So we just... wander in?" Rex shuddered.

"Yes. Dungeons have fixed entrances and exits. On the other side we'll be pretty close to Flak Grotto."

Rex peered down the hall. He could already see the walls moving and twisting inside. It hadn't been a day since he'd escaped this nightmare, and he was about to wander back in. He did know a lot more about what was going on now, but yesterday's events were still haunting him.

Bristle glared at him impatiently. With a heavy sigh, he wandered down the corridor sullenly.


Bombard Plateaus Quadrant 1

The maze reshaped itself until the plateau walls around them formed an ovular chamber with a single path forward. The sky was tinted orange like sunset, yet it had been no later than noon when they entered.

"So I just look for the weird gates, right? One of them took me to the exit yesterday," Rex asked.

"They're called quadrant boundaries, but yes. In some dungeons they take the form of a staircase too. Once you pass a quadrant boundary the dungeon will seal off the previous quadrants."

"Right. And is there some method to finding them? Cause uh... I just kind of stumbled around yesterday."

"Their position is random, yes, but that doesn't mean you need to 'stumble'. If you memorize the layout of the maze you can gradually explore it all until you find it."

"Memorize the layout?" he gaped. "How can anyone memorize this? Also isn't it, like, changing?"

"You only have to memorize one quadrant at a time. The layout of each area in the quadrant stays the same once someone has entered it. Until they leave."

"Still, wheeeeew," he whistled. "Your memory is better than mine if you can keep this all straight without keeping notes."

"Yes, well, that experience is why you wanted my help isn't it?"

"Yep, exactly!" he grinned sarcastically. She didn't notice.

"Now, for my first piece of advice: a dungeon isn't the place for idle chatter. Unless you're waiting for the apparitions, go."

With a shrug, Rex set off towards the twisting walls down the only hall. As with the day before, he weaved through a collapsing series of halls between the plateaus, bag dragging on the ground behind him the whole way. The maze quickly began to blend together, as the drab environment left each path and opening looking the same. Bristle followed closely behind, watching his every twitch intensely. Rex half expected a performance review of his posture at the end of this escapade.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just climb over the walls?" he asked, eyeing his tiny claws. "I could probably do it."

Bristle responded with a smug grin. "Please, by all means try it."

"...No. I'm getting the sense I've suggested a bad idea," he grimaced. Anything that made her smile was no good.

"The force that rearranges the labyrinth repels anyone that tries to climb or fly out. It's quite rough about it too."

"That's... I have another question I've been meaning to ask. You've talked about dungeons dragging people in, using them as bait, repelling them from escaping... Are the dungeons... you know..." he glanced around anxiously.

"No, I do not 'know'. Ask questions directly," she ordered.

They rounded a corner and the quadrant boundary came into sight, curled invitingly over the hallway ahead.

"Oh finally!" his attention shifted to the gateway.

Bristle's ears perked up as she heard a faint whistling. Rex started to scramble on all fours over towards the gate ahead.

"STOP!" she yelled urgently. Rex stopped in place and spun with shock. The whistling grew louder and louder.

BWHAM! Rex leapt back as a small chunk of stone slammed into the ground in front of him, still steaming.

"What the hell?!" he yelped.

Bristle gave another smug smile. "And now you've discovered the 'bombard' part. Shrapnel from Flak Mountain rains down here pretty frequently."

"That- that could have killed me!" he whimpered.

"I've been hit by them before," she waved him off dismissively and stepped past him towards the gateway. "It's not pleasant, but it's not fatal either. And I warned you, didn't I? You're welcome by the way."

As soon as she stepped through the boundary, the maze rearranged itself and the two of them were in a large chamber once more. As soon as the walls had settled, they pulsated and spat three apparitions into the room. Two black lizards, and a small flat red bug on a dozen little legs. Bristle recognized them as Salandit and a Sizzlipede. All with the burning orange eyes she'd come to expect from apparitions.

Just her luck that they were all fire types. But the two Salandit were closer to Rex and would surely focus on him. She just had to redirect the Sizzlipede's attention and she could assess how he handled multiple foes. Probably not well, she imagined. She hated to admit how much the thought amused her after the Starly yesterday.

Bristle was too caught up in this thought to be on guard when all three foes ignored a flinching Rex and pounced her with flames at the ready.