Chapter 5: Sacrificial Endeavors


Lillia stared up at the trees, their dull colored leaves barely being illuminated by the moonlight. The dead silence brought by the moon's ascent was faintly being quelled by a soft ambient droning sound through Gloomy Woods's shrubbery. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't going to stop her from doing what she needed to do. Get in, kick ass, save Slate, get out. Simple.

...Simple.

Lillia took a sharp breath before steeling herself and moving one foot after the other until she passed the initial brush along the outskirts. She immediately felt a surge of some weird feeling she couldn't quite describe. It made her feel more on edge than usual. Mystery Dungeons always seemed to have this effect on Pokémon, but something about this place just felt...off. The psychic merely remained firm and pressed forward.

The leaves and twigs cracked and ruptured as she stepped on them, leaving her with something else to listen to besides that ominous drone. Her head remained on somewhat of a swivel, looking out for any sign of danger or anything of the like. A few thoughts popped up in her head, giving her a moment to think about her plan. She soon decided it was best to attempt to stay out of harm's way as much as possible. She had a couple of Oran Berries on hand in case anything went awry, but if worse comes to worse, the last thing she wanted to do was find the perpetrators and not be at her peak.

Some time passed and Lillia was lucky to not have been attacked or spotted by any of the ferals living here. Perhaps the Pokémon who kidnapped Slate had some sort of base of operations here somehow and have caused some of the ferals to scurry to a less "populated" side of the forest. Whatever it may be, she was thankful to not be thrown into combat just yet. Oddly enough, if you took away the ominous droning, the trek so far would be strangely peaceful.

Crack!

That wasn't a twig anywhere near Lillia's feet.

HISSSSSS!

That wasn't just the sound of cracking twigs. The silence was quickly being erupted into the sounds of a full on brawl between a pair of Pokémon that was rapidly approaching Lillia's location. The cat spotted a bush sizable enough to hide her entire body nearby. After deciding the best course of action was to hide until whatever fighting storm was coming towards her passed, she dove into the bush and peeked out just in time to see a pair of Pokémon fly into view.

RAAAAGH!

A Zangoose grabbed the Seviper coiled around its throat by the neck and attempted to pry it off. The Seviper, however, remained firm with its grip and instead retaliated by sinking its fangs into the back of the Zangoose. It howled in pain before retaliating with its claws. It pierced the snake's scaly body and impaled it through the flesh, sinking the claws deeper. The poison type let out a shriek of its own, giving the Zangoose a chance to free itself from the attempted choking. It chucked the snake away from it, causing it to land dangerously close to Lillia before getting back up and attempting to rush down the normal type. Several bites and stabs were thrown out by each creature. Both of them moved with insane agility and neither of them managed to land a blow on the other.

After an intense back and forth, the Zangoose finally managed to land an attack across the Seviper's head, dazing the creature in the process. It followed up the strike by using its claws once more and piercing them straight through the Seviper's right eye. The previously quiet forest paled in comparison to the ghastly screech the snake let out. Lillia had to pry her eyes away from the sight. The Seviper retracting the claw from the socket followed by the juicy, sloshy noise that followed was a little too much gore for the psychic. The snake began flailing all over the place, desperately attempting to counter the normal type's previous attack, but thanks to its now impaired vision, none of these blows landed. The two went back to another intense back and forth. Each of them traded between attacks, but it was evident the Zangoose was gaining the upper hand.

The Zangoose was landing two blows for every single attack the Seviper landed. The snake was very clearly reaching its breaking point. In a last ditch effort the snake caught one of the Zangoose's arms with the end of its tail and tightly coiled around it before baring its fangs and attempting to strike the neck of its target. This only resulted in it diving headfirst into the claws of the Zangoose once more. Unfortunately...or fortunately, depending on who you were hoping to win, the place where the claw impaled just so happened to be the poor Seviper's other eyeball. The newly blind creature couldn't move its head anymore so it resorted to uncoiling itself and flinging its tail around in a desperate attempt to keep fighting. Even when on the brink of death, ferals will keep fighting until they cannot breathe. Their sheer willpower unnerved the stalking psychic. The tail, of course, didn't hit its intended target. The Zangoose decided that it was time for the Seviper to die so it took the still impaled claw and violently ripped it upwards. The claw ripped through the eye socket and upper head of the snake until it was freed with a red eruption. Lillia nearly gagged at the sight and invasive scent that had suddenly discharged from the carnage. The Seviper had finally stopped moving and dropped to the ground with a weak splat.

The Zangoose let out a sigh and took a rest next to the corpse. Lillia had expected the creature to do this, but not directly in front of her. Once it sat down, it began digging into the carcass and devouring the creature raw. The hiding cat had known that ferals do this. She knew that wild Pokémon were known to do this. Hell, she knew that some civil Pokémon were known to do this. But nothing could prepare her for the disgusting noises and stench that emanated from oneself when doing so. She had always thought of herself as a tough Pokémon, able to handle things on her own and not break when things get tough, but this? The Zangoose took another clump of flesh and plopped it in its mouth without a care in the world.

Nope. This was about to break her.

She put a paw over her mouth as another set of gags escaped her lips. She winced as the Zangoose's ears perked up and it looked at the shrubbery she was residing in. She mentally kicked herself for giving away her position. It silently closed the distance as it curiously approached the strange noise it just heard. Lillia readied up a Fake Out and struck the Zangoose, causing it to flinch. At least, that's what should have happened.

As the cat revealed herself from the bush, nothing happened. She clapped in an attempt to startle the Zangoose, but it was just a normal movement. The Fake Out never went through. Luckily, she still managed to startle the creature so she took off regardless.

Lillia's breathing picked up steam as she swerved in and out, avoiding the likes of trees, branches, bushes, and even some petite spider Pokémon. She glanced behind her to spot the Zangoose far away, but slowly closing the distance. She picked up her speed as fast as her tiny legs could move. Sweat started trickling down her fur and her breathing was becoming rapid. Another check behind her showed the psychic that the Zangoose was getting closer and getting closer quickly. It chased after her on all fours, like a Lycanroc hunting down a Deerling.

She turned back around and narrowly sidestepped a tree trunk that would have also doubled as her tombstone. Coming up with a plan was difficult in her current state, but she thought of a couple nonetheless. She swiped some twigs and rocks off the ground as she ran for ammunition. The cat turned around while running and chucked the makeshift projectiles at the beast. A good chunk of them missed, but a small handful bopped the relentless normal type square on the nose, lengthening the gap between the hunter and prey by a good several yards. They only provided as a temporary solution to her feral Pokémon problem as it managed to catch up mere seconds after getting struck. Deciding that keeping this up would only tire her out quicker than it already was, she resorted to plan B.

Lillia suddenly made a ninety degree turn into the brush and popped out the other side. The Zangoose skidded to a halt by the sudden movement. Dashing through the bush and popping out the other side, it just barely spotted Lillia as she jumped through another bush. She continued diving in and out of bushes until she started getting scratched up a little too much for her liking and took cover behind a particularly large tree. There, she listened for the sound of footsteps. When she heard nothing but the sounds of her own rapid breath, her eyes peeked out from behind the trunk. She saw nothing. No signs of a crazed Zangoose hunting her down. She assumed it had either lost track of her or grew tired itself. Either way, Lillia was thankful it passed regardless.

She rested up against the tree for a while. She was a little annoyed at herself at how much energy was exhausted by running away. She was even more so at the realization that it had just been in a near death fight and was most likely weaker than it normally was so it could have been taken down more easily. After several minutes of Lillia smacking herself at every stupid decision she made since walking into Gloomy Woods, she got back on her feet and chose a random direction to resume her search in.

As she walked, she looked at her paws. What happened with her Fake Out earlier? She quickly shook her head of the thought and continued walking. It was just an error, she told herself. So, she kept moving forward.

Lillia was left alone with the ever ambient droning that was always present throughout the woods no matter where she went. It was beginning to grind her gears ever so slightly. It started off as a minor thing that worked as background noise to something that would never leave the back of her mind. Maybe that's how these woods drove one to insanity. They get lost and all they hear is that incessant droning with no end. Then they would soon go mad and lose all thoughts until the only thing they would ever think of is that they wish that noise was dead. Next thing you know they start thinking that instead of killing the noise, they kill other Pokémon instead. Thus inventing a feral Pokémon.

...What was she thinking about again?

The cat shook her head. "Focus, Lillia! Stop letting your thoughts distract you." Unfortunately, the unwanted thoughts kept pouring into her mind like a waterfall into a ravine. Though, these thoughts plagued her mind about her current predicament.

What if she could never find him? What if she was too late? What if she got lost herself? What if she wasn't strong enough to beat whoever kidnapped him.

Lillia shook her head even harder, desperate to get the intruding thoughts away from her, but they continued to flood her brain.

What if he was already dead? What if they captured her as well? What if she was being stalked right now? What if someone else already saved him and you wander these woods for eternity?

She gasped.

Pulling her satchel in front of her, she rummaged through the contents of them with vigor.

"Fuck!"

She had no Escape Orb.

The thought had completely evaded her as she rushed through the streets of Haronfield. Her thoughts were too clouded by a certain other Mienfoo that was a thorn in her side. She grumbled at the thought of her. She should have never let her tag along.

Her eyes suddenly spotted something in her bag she didn't remember putting in herself. A slip of paper with an address with the name "Mia" along the top. Lillia glared at the paper. There was no mistaking it. Slate saved this when he met her. Without giving it a second thought, she tore the paper up and threw it across the dull colored grass. She didn't want to be reminded of that fluffy tailed brat ever again, nor did she want her distracting Slate from their main objective.

Her mood quickly soured. Not only did she need to find Slate, someone who was who the hell knows how deep into Gloomy Woods. She also needed to plan an escape for them as well. The cat had a few seeds available for them to use, namely a Blast Seed that she intends to save until absolutely necessary as well as a Sleep Seed. Neither of which had anything beyond short term salvation.

The thoughts came back at the worst time.

How will she save him and get out? Will she be able to even get him out? What if he needs to be carried, could she even manage that?

Lillia violently shook her head in a desperate attempt to get her thoughts to go away, but they kept coming. It was like she was laying in bed and all the embarrassing things she did as a child wouldn't stop popping up in her mind. Eventually, she kept herself moving forward and tried to just ignore her own thinking. It wasn't the best plan, but it was the only thing she could think of. Besides, she had to keep moving for his sake. She can't start losing her focus here.

...She can't.

That droning was starting to get really annoying.

More and more ground was covered by the small Pokémon. Contrary to the steady influx of ferals that had bumped into her, figuratively and literally, the stream had all but stopped now. It was just her and that god forsaken drone. Maybe she was getting close? She tried to listen for any sort of talking or maybe a call for help, but nothing came up. She wished she brought a light source. Lillia was glad to have solid enough night vision, but she couldn't keep track of almost every tree she just barely noticed when making her escape from that Zangoose. The deeper she walked into the woods, the darker and colder the world around her became. The moonlight was well beyond absent as it hid behind the foliage. Her treading came to an abrupt stop.

Another noise.

This one was...different from anything else she's heard since her time here. It was...soothing? An almost melodic, high pitched note. It sounded like the distant singing of a Primarina. That couldn't be right. A feral wouldn't have any reason to sing like that and what would a normal Primarina do all the way out in the middle of Gloomy Woods of all places. Something wasn't right. Lillia was instinctively already in a defensive stance, ready to defend herself against something that might jump out at her. That noise may have been rather beautiful, but it could very easily be a trap of some kind. Something to lull her into a state of safety so that it could get the jump on her without any worry. She wasn't going to get caught that easily. She waited and waited, but nothing came.

She did hear a noise...right? This dungeon was driving her crazy. It didn't help that that damn droning was present as always. She untensed her limbs and looked back in the direction she was going to begin searching once again.

That plan was quickly cut short.

He was right there.

"...Slate?"

"Lillia?"

There he was. Right in front of her. It almost didn't feel real.

...Wait.

Something didn't feel right about this. He was kidnapped, right? How could he just be right here? Though, he did look just as surprised as she was. Well, maybe not as surprised since she was a little dumbfounded at the moment, but surprised nonetheless. The psychic approached him with a tentative crawl. He didn't jump out at her or attack her as she inched her way closer. Nothing else jumped out. She was right in front of him. Reaching a paw out, she touched one of his sleeved arms. She actually touched him. He watched her with hesitance as her arm drifted to his torso. It was soft. It felt...real. It felt like Slate. Her eyes slowly moved to his.

"You're...real?" The words came out of her mouth less like a statement, which is what she intended, and more like a question. She was still a little awestruck that he just appeared right in front of her. He opened his mouth to respond, but never got the chance. She jumped into him and wrapped her arms around him in a shaky embrace. "Oh my Arceus! I was so worried about you! What happened? How did you get away?" Lillia bombarded him with a bunch of questions.

"I-I...uh...j-just..." Every time he tried to answer one, she asked another. Letting him go, she landed on the ground and looked back up at him.

"It doesn't matter. We're both here, safe and sound. Let's just get out of these damn woods!" Lillia turned to start heading the opposite direction of where she came, but Slate had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back around.

"Wait. I know how to get out." Lillia looked at him skeptically, but didn't respond. So, he continued. "Just follow me."

"I-I don't know, Slate. I'm pretty sure we just have to go the opposite direction of where I came from."

"No, no. I know a short cut." Lillia's confused look was enhanced the more he kept talking.

"Slate. It's a forest. There's no way for you to get out faster except by moving faster in one direction." Slate looked at her dejectedly.

"What? Don't you trust me?" The look he gave her caused Lillia to look away.

"N-No, I do. It's just..."

"...Yeah?" The psychic looked back at him. They silently stared at each other for a good while. Eventually, Lillia nodded.

"Alright. I trust you." She flashed him a toothy smile. He returned it with vigor.

"Great! Just follow me." He grabbed a hold of her paw and took off in a direction.

He looked much like Lillia running away from that Zangoose from a little bit ago, only with a renewed energy instead of panic. Lillia was surprised at just how fast he was leading her through the place. It was only just recently that she was guiding him around everywhere they went. Escaping from his kidnappers must have given him some sense of empowerment of some sort. Either way she was proud of how he was turning out. It was a little too quick.

She looked at her paw wrapped in his. It was a little hard to describe, but it gave her an odd feeling. It gave her a sensation she hadn't felt in quite awhile.

Security.

She didn't have much more time to give it thought however, as the two had popped out into a small clearing. He let go of her paw and as she stopped to a halt, Slate continued forward a couple more feet.

"So uh...is the exit around here or something? That was fast." She talked his unmoving back. "...Slate? ...Hellooooo?"

No response.

The cat shook her head and walked toward her partner.

"Slate, stop playing games. We have to-

Slate's torso suddenly snapped backwards in a violent manner that caused Lillia to jump and fall into her backside. Slate was now facing her, but not in any normal way. Its back was now slumped backwards like something out of a damn horror story. The psychic couldn't bring the right words out of her mouth, she was too awestruck at the scene unfolding in front of her.

The "body" of Slate looked like nothing more than a torn up costume at this point. A ink black tendril shot out of one the shoulders, scaring the poor cat even further. More and more limbs pierced their way through the puppet. Each limb was accompanied by a similar grotesque ripping sound as it tore through the puppet. Inevitably, the limbs stop erupting from the body and it dropped to the ground. What revealed was a creature that Lillia couldn't possibly call a Pokémon. It looked like nothing more than a silhouette. Its entire body was pitch black, it had no face, it had no torso. It was just a bunch of massive, black legs all connected to a blob of unintelligibility. It made no noise besides the legs stepping on the ground or colliding into each other. It seemingly stared at the trembling cat in silence. Lillia remained completely motionless. She was lost in thought thanks to the demonic being that was in front of her. She eventually decided that sitting in front of it may not be the best idea in the long run. She picked one paw up from the cold grass and...Lillia instantly wished she had remained still for eternity. The creature let out a blood curdling screech and charged the psychic with a surprising burst of speed. She screamed and closed her eyes, already accepting her fate.

...Nothing happened.

She dared to open her eyes. They creaked open to meet with an empty field. The void creature left no trace of its existence and left Lillia and her thoughts. She picked up her sweaty and shaky paws and stared at them.

"A-Am...am I going crazy?" That's when she heard it.

Laughing. ...Laughing?

The psychic glanced around the clearing. She saw nothing until a Mismagius revealed itself from the trees, chuckling pretty heavily.

"Pffffft! You should have seen your face! Priceless! Pfffhahaha!"

"Wh-What?" She didn't know how to respond.

"Whatever you just saw, wasn't real." The ghost was communicating in between laughs. "It was a hallucination caused by me."

"...What?!" Lillia grasped the situation pretty quickly and jumped to her feet. "What in the living hell is wrong with you!?"

"I was trying to clear out any of the feral Pokémon in this area. I wasn't expecting a civil one to be wandering Gloomy Woods this deep and at this hour."

"...Whatever." The cat dusted the dirt off of her now raggedy fur and turned away from the ghost. She wanted to walk away, but the ghost floated in front of her.

"So, what are you doing out here on your own?" Lillia scoffed at her and tried to walk around her, but she kept blocking the psychic's path.

"Something important. Now, move!"

"Ooh! So tell me more!"

"No."

"If it's that important, you should tell me so you can get there faster." Lillia glared at the smirking ghost. She eventually sighed in defeat.

"I'm looking for someone. Now let me pass."

"Ooh! Really!? I actually saw some weirdos not too far from here. Is that-

"You did? Where are they?!"

"Well I could take-

"Where are they!?" Lillia was looking at the ghost like she was going to stab her so the Mismagius complied.

"That way." She pointed a limb towards a certain direction. "Though there seemed to be a lot of them, I'd recommend you-

As she looked back, she found the cat gone from her original spot and running to where she had directed her. She let out a breath before floating away in the opposite direction.


Slate's eyes twitched open. For some reason, that didn't seem to cause the darkness in his vision to dissipate. Not only that, he was cramped. He tried to stretch his limbs out, but he seemed to be trapped in some sort of bag. Even worse, his entire body ached like crazy. Finally, once he realized his predicament, the memories all came flooding back. Alleyway, scary Pokémon, that damn lick, then him passing out.

He began spazzing out inside his little bag. Kick, punches, and bites were all attempted to try and escape his tightly packed prison. None of it worked. He tried for a little while longer, but tired himself out in a matter of seconds. He heard voices over his heavy breathing.

"Looks like our guest has woken up." Before he knew it, Slate was startled by a glowing red eye before being yanked out of the bag and staring down the all too familiar ghost. His body being clamped down yet again by the Arceus forsaken Trevenant.

"Welcome, friend!" The Gengar extended his hands and did a little dance to the shaken Mienfoo.

No reaction.

Without warning, his face dropped and he punched the Mienfoo across the cheek.

"We won't tolerate your lack of enthusiasm, bud." His face went back to being unnaturally cheery. "You're gonna help us make immense strides in the field of our endeavors! So give us a big smile!" Not wanting to be punched again, the poor boy offered the weakest of smiles. It ended up looking more like a pout, but it seemed to be efficient enough for the ghost. "Wonderful! Now, we'll get started here in a minute. We're just gonna have you hang over there until then. A Swoobat landed on the ground near him and offered a rope. The Gengar took it and swiftly tied it around his torso. This was clearly not his first time doing so. Once he finished, he offered the tail end of the rope back to the Swoobat. She took it with her talon and flew upwards. The bat perched onto a tree branch and dangled the fighting type. "Perfect! Just like that! Don't move, okay? We'll start in a couple minutes!" The ghost shouted from down below. At the very least, it let him get a good look at his surroundings as he dangled in midair.

They appeared to be in some sort of small clearing. Where exactly, he had no idea. Torches were strewn about here and there to offer a bit of light in the night. What worried him the most were the abundance of Pokémon wearing cloaks of some kind with some silver bracelet that he swore to himself he had seen before. Directly below him, something that caused him to gulp, was a large bonfire that he was no doubt going to be dropped into very soon. Apart from that, there was some sort of stand on the opposite end of where he was. The hooded figures began gathering in front of it as the Gengar floated onto the stand. Slate hadn't even noticed, but he donned a black and gold mask that hid most of his facial features. That, Slate was glad of. He was tired of looking at the ghost's creepy face.

"Brothers, sisters, and any of you in between, I thank you for coming out tonight!" The Gengar began from atop the stand. "For as I'm sure you know, tonight is another very special night for us!"

"Another?!" Slate screamed internally. That all but confirmed it that they had done something like this to other poor souls.

"We offer another willing individual to our holy one in an attempt to appease him as he wastes away in the distortion world!


Lillia was startled by the sounds of voices off in the distance, but was thankful nonetheless for their incessant shouting. It was guiding her right to them. She moved quickly and carefully through the woods and to her target destination. Soon enough, she spotted a mild yellow glow in the distance and wasted no time sprinting towards it. The talking grew louder and louder until she was finally able to make out what they were screaming.

"-us prayer to our lord before we wrap this up and prepare the sacrifice!"

That didn't sound good.

The psychic picked up her speed until she reached her target destination. Her head poked up from a bush, taking in the weird imagery in front of her. Lillia spotted her friend almost instantly. It was a little difficult to not notice him hanging in the air. His eyes moved to where she was and he perked up a bit. Attempting to buy her some time, he spoke up.

"W-Wait, can't w-we talk about this?!"

"Leah, shut him and ready him back up after we're done. We can't have him interrupting the prayer." The Gengar ordered. The Swoobat holding him hostage made a hum and flew to the nearest tree. There, she perched on a branch and wrapped her wings around the fighting type, completely concealing him. Then, she mimicked all the others as they lowered their heads and pressed their arms together.

"Oh mighty lord, we offer you this individual to whom you may find sufficient as you carry on with your life in the Distortion World. We thank you for your continued result of our good fortune and may one day hope to get you free from the distorted shackles that bind you so. We hope-"

Eventually, the Gengar's voice turned into nothing but white noise to the cat as she scanned the area. She attempted to wrack her brains for any ideas. Simply freeing Slate was out of the question. Even if she got to him, there was still a winged wall between her and her friend. Maybe she could put out the bonfire they intended to toss him into? No, they would just relight it and start again. That, and it would cause them to be on edge from the disruption. Any idea the Espurr had come up with ended in the same result. Inevitable failure. She began sweating as the clock ticked and she still had nothing planned.

"As our prayers for you come to a close, there is one thing you must remember, my lord."

"Shit!" Lillia internally panicked. She was losing her chance to do something. Deciding she had no better options, the cat decided that she would simply have to take all of them on. She may have failed to stop the horde of raiders on her own at Drizzle, but this is where she would shine. This would show all of them how capable she was on her own.

Lillia hopped out of the bush and got closer to the crowd of praying Pokémon.

"You must remember, our lord, that we will always believe in you no matter what. Hail Giratina!" The crowd mimicked the Gengar and erupted into a loud chant that startled the cat.

"Hail Giratina!"

Though, they remained looking downwards. Lillia made her move. She focused on the sorry sucker that would be the first victim of her Psychic. With a shaky breath, she raised her hands and attacked!

...Nothing happened.

"Hail Giratina!"

Lillia blinked. Why hadn't they moved? She used Psychic on them. She'd done this thousands of times before. She looked at the visible hands of her target, no dark type had pink paws like theirs. Her breathing began to pick up speed. What was happening? She couldn't be scared and had messed up somehow, could she? No, of course not! Then why else had her attack not worked? She tried again.

Nothing.

"Hail Giratina!"

She was hyperventilating now.

"No, no, no!" She screamed at herself. She can't mess up now! Her friend needed her and she was screwing up now! Of all times?! She tried again.

Nothing.

And again.

Nothing.

"Hail Giratina!"

Again.

Nothing.

This was the one. Surely this would be the one that would send this stupid Pokémon flying! She reared herself back and prepared to attack when-

"Gotcha."

Two large claws had grabbed her and held her limbs tight. She gasped and looked at her captor. The Trevenant from the café.

The Gengar finally looked back up and spotted the two in the back right away.

"Hey! What's going on back there."

"We have a visitor." The Trevenant answered back.

"Do we now?" The ghost disappeared into the ground and reemerged in front of the psychic in seconds. "So, you're the funny Pokémon that interrupted our ceremony? Tell me, what did you wish to accomplish by intruding on such a momentous event?" Lillia didn't answer. However, her eyes instinctively glanced back up to where Slate was still being held captive. Her spine chilled as she noticed his terrified expression. The ghost looked to where she glanced at. That gave him all the info he needed from her. "Oooooooh! Is that your friend? This is actually perfect!" His smirk left. "You can join him. Tie her up." He snapped his fingers and next thing she knew, she was back to back with Slate above the fire. As they hung there, waiting for their incoming doom, Slate looked over at her.

"What h-happened?" He asked her. She stayed silent. "...L-Lillia?"

"..." Still no answer. She was simply staring at the ground with her head away from him, making it impossible to see her expression.

"Now, we can actually finish this up here!" Gengar stopped the fighting type from continuing. The ghost clasped his hands together, though, he had all of his focus on the two small Pokémon. "We apologize for the inconvenience my lord. There were some...interruptions, but now we have an extra sacrifice! We're sure that with these meals, you'll be even more powerful than you already are! Now...drop them.

Even though he knew it was coming, hearing the snap of the Gengar's fingers had put a pit in Slate's stomach. He looked up and watched as the Swoobat gave a wicked smile before letting go of the ropes. They fell hard and fast. The inferno below them grew hotter and bigger every millisecond they fell. Slate let out a scream and closed his eyes, awaiting their demise.

Instead of the painfully agony that would have resulted in them landing in the fire, he let out a huff as something caught the two Pokémon. He opened his eyes and saw the group of hooded Pokémon quickly growing smaller.

"Hey! Who was that!? Move you idiots! Don't let him get away with our sacrifices!" The ghost's voice echoed through the forest as they disappeared through the brush. Becoming quieter with each passing moment. The Mienfoo looked up at their savior, a Scizor. He didn't look at the Pokémon in his possession. He continued running, or in his case, gliding thanks to his wings, attempting to get away from the others. Slate then looked at Lillia. She had remained silent, but couldn't contain the look of surprise from coming up on her features. Slate spoke up in her stead.

"U-Uh...thank you f-for the h-help." The bug glanced at him and nodded before going back to running. They remained this way for a few minutes. The yelling from the group of Pokémon growing more and more faint. Finally, after what had felt like way too long, the trio stopped. The Scizor set them down on the ground so that they could finally get a good look at him. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him. Just an average looking Scizor with nothing but a bag and a badge adorned on it. Lillia scoffed when she noticed it. "Wh-What now?" Slate asked.

"The others should be here any moment." He responded. On queue, a Mismagius appeared in front of them.

"Hiya! We've come to rescue you!" Lillia recognized her in an instant.

"You?!"

"Me!" The ghost smiled. She looked at the cat's ruffled and sweaty fur. "...You don't look as good as you did last time we met. Did you get captured as well or something?" Lillia crossed her arms. "Well, either way, I apologize for not telling you who we were. We were specifically ordered to not say if we ran into you." Lillia perked up.

"Ordered? By who?"

"Slate!" The aforementioned Mienfoo turned around only to be barreled by a mass of fur much like his own.

"Mia!?" He returned the embrace with one of his own. "What a-are you doing here?"

"I heard what happened to ya, so I requested that someone from the Guild come and save ya."

"You're lucky we were still awake." The Mismagius added. "We've been getting lots of reports of Pokémon going missing. At least we actually managed to find the culprits." Her facial expression shifted to worry. "But to think they were all being sacrificed by some bat shit insane cult. I better not be the one who has to break it to the families."

"At least you're safe." Mia told her Mienfoo counterpart. She gave him another tight squeeze. The other three watched awkwardly as the two fighting types held each other muttering stuff.

"We need to leave." The Scizor finally said after a bit of time. The others all heard and agreed to him. He pulled out an Escape Orb from his bag and prepared to use it. The last thing Lillia saw before the teleported away was an absurdly pissed off Mienfoo looking right at her.

Author's Note: Hey hey. Oof, you have no idea how hard this was for me to write. Who would have guessed that mystery dungeons would be absurdly difficult for me to write in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. So many drafts... Anyway, next couple of chapters shouldn't take nearly as long. I haven't lost motivation to write or anything. Hell, if anything this just made me want to write more and get out of this dungeon hell hole lol. Oh also, SURPRISE! The prologue is gone. Been meaning to do that for awhile. Chapter 1 will also getting an update sometime in the future so keep your eyes peeled for that. That should be it for now ok byeeeeeeee