[Alright, we're back with another chapter. I'm actually pretty excited to share these next one with you all. I mean, more excited than usually. Also, someone gave me the idea of adding the character names and species of important characters to the beginning of chapters so I'm going to be doing that from now on. Thanks to whoever gave me the idea. Hope you all enjoy. Note: I do not own Pokémon. All rights to it's actual owners]
[Characters within this chapter:
Tony (Monferno)
Spark (Pikachu)
Snive (Servine)
Dew (Dewott)
Tepper (Pignite)
Mr. Morington (Tyranitar)
Four New Named Characters]
Chapter 16: The Moment Most of You Trainees Have Been Waiting For. Most Likely.
(Spark Pov)
Hmm? Oh, I get to be the point of view for this chapter? Awesome! Now where do I start...oh yeah. It's currently midday and Team PPD is at a Dungeon Exploration Class. Apparently, assigned teams will be going into the school's mystery dungeon for a mock exploration from what I heard. I don't know all the details but our teacher, the Tyranitar Mr. Morington, will most likely be explaining it to us in a sec.
"Did we really have to come this early? It's not like we can be late to something that's going on all day." Snive groaned.
"Come on Snive. How can you not be excited about finally going into a real mystery dungeon?" Dew said ecstatically, full of energy to tackle what may lie in there. I smiled and welcomed his enthusiasm.
"He does have a point, Snive. This will be a great experience for us in our careers. Plus we may be able to go first since we came early." I stated.
"That too!" Dew added as Snive sighed and smiled.
"That is true. I'll try to not be a downer. I am a little excited to be honest." Snive said, sporting a confident smirk.
"Now that's the spirit." Tepper said, picking Snive and Dew upon his shoulders, much to Snive's annoyance. "Let's show them that Team PPD still has the skills to conquer all."
"Put. Me. Down." Snive growled causing Tepper to nervously laugh and slowly put her down. Dew laughed at this and I smiled at their antics.
Man, I love these guys. PokéPark wouldn't be the same without them.
"Alright trainees! The moment most of you have been waiting for. Most likely." Yelled out Mr. Morington, getting the few teams that were here's attention. "I'm going to be explaining to you all what it is that will be happening in the next few minutes so listen up! Behind me is the school's mystery dungeon. It's a relatively easy dungeon with weak mobs so most of you should get through it with no problem. *random trainee Abra raises hand* Yes?"
"How did this dungeon get here?" The trainee asked.
Honestly questioning that too.
"I cannot answer that question. Mystery dungeons are well...a mystery. We still don't understand why they show up and why they still show up to begin with. We were just lucky to have a safe one appear near us. Now back to today's agenda! In this dungeon, the other 'trainer' and I will be testing your knowledge and skills in a mystery dungeon." Mr. Morington stated.
"What was with those air quotes?" Dew whispered to Tepper.
"No idea, best not to find out most likely." Tepper whispered in response.
"Quiet you two." Snive silently warned.
"Princess Snive!" Mr. Morington yelled out causing the team and I to cringe, knowing Svine doesn't like to be called that. "Have something important to share with the class your highness? Since it seems your conversation is more important than mine."
"Actually, it was my conversation sir." Dew said, raising his hand and stepping in front of Snive protectively, much to Snive's embarrassment and blushed face. If it wasn't for the situation at hand, I would've cooed at this interaction, knight protecting princess. "And no disrespect from me and everyone on our team, but if you could refrain from calling Snive by her royal title, that would be greatly appreciated."
"I will call her as I have been told to call her. Unlike you and Tepper's guardians, Queen Serperior understands and respects titles and ranks and I make sure that I do the same, especially with royals." Mr. Morington bellowed as he walked up to our team. "The Queen has also expressed her desire to have the next in line be called that."
"Arceus damnit mom... Already ruining what's supposed to be a fun day." Snive growled lowly with a frustrated look on her face. I ended up rubbing her back a little to calm her, which seemed to work a little as she relaxed. It was also at that point that Tepper walked up next to Dew to back him up.
"You see what you're doing? Clearly it's making her upset. That's also a pretty dumb reason to continue saying it when the Queen isn't even here." Tepper argued.
"Enough talk out of all of you, we've wasted enough time as is. And I suggest you two getting into the habit of respecting titles and authority, especially you Dew. If I were Samurott, I'd rethink his relationship with you from the way you've been acting at this school." Mr. Morington said before turning and walking back to the center to continue talking.
"And the fuck is that supposed to mean!?" Dew yelled angrily while pulling out his scalchops from his hip, water swirling at the tips ready to form a weapon. Tepper was also pissed and had fire coating his fists.
What is with this asshole and coming at the touchy subjects? What's his damage?
"Woah there guys, let's take a second to breathe. Trust me, this asshole isn't worth it. Don't let him ruin our day." I whispered while grabbing on both their shoulders and holding them back from doing something drastic. Not a simple task given that these two were the power of our team.
"But-" I cut Dew off.
"Dew!" I snapped quietly before nodding towards a still upset Snive.
"Shit..." Dew says quietly before going up to Snive and placing a hand on her shoulder, getting her to look up at him. "You good Snive?"
"Yeah...let's just get this day over with." Snive said irritatedly, pushing him off her shoulder gently, much to Dew's disappointment.
"Right...sorry..." Dew said. Snive quickly took notice of his tone.
"You're good." Snive said simply but I could tell Dew was upset with himself about that response.
"Arceus damnit..." I sighed, pinching that bridge of my nose.
"Morington's lucky you stopped me. He couldn't take us even if he tried." Tepper said glaring at the trainer.
"He's not worth it. He's just an asshole who doesn't deserve the position he has." I stated.
"And what the hell happened here?" Suddenly a familiar voice in front of us. I turned to see that it was a concerned Tony.
"Morington, I don't know what's his damage with us at this place." Tepper stated.
"Been against us from day one. I don't get it." I stated.
"I think he has a problem with those he feels got a lucky break, like you guys saving PokéPark or with my thing. He's been sharing his animosity with me since finding out who I am." Tony stated.
"That would make sense..." I said thoughtfully.
"But enough about him. You'll be dealing with me now." He said pointing to himself with a confident smile. "Gonna assume Morington didn't give you a full explanation."
"That would be correct." Snive stated simply.
"Though it was mostly my fault for that." Dew stated quietly while rubbing the back of his head.
"I'll explain then. Follow me, you guys are going in first." Tony said while turning around and walking towards the dungeon entrance, the rest of us following. "So what will be happening is you will be exploring the school's dungeon. It's an easy one so you'll be fine."
"He covered that part." Snive stated bluntly.
"Oh, sorry. Where did he stop?" Tony asked.
"Something about him and you testing us on our knowledge of dungeon exploration. Guess we now know why he used the air quotes." Tepper said and joked while nudging Dew with his shoulder.
"Right..." Dew said trying to joke as well but came off a bit low, causing me to sigh.
Fucking Morington.
"Gotchu, well inside the dungeon, you will make your way through the floor to find a mock treasure at the end. Sounds simple right?"
"A bit too simple if you ask me." Snive stated.
"There's a catch right?" I asked.
"Yes there is. Guarding the treasure will be a team from the school acting as outlaws, guardians, whatever they feel like acting as." Tony stated.
"Oh so there's gonna be a fight. Awesome!" Tepper said, punching his fist into his open palm.
"Who's gonna be protecting it?" I asked.
"I cannot say. Need to keep it a secret to see how you would react to the unknown. We try to make it so the teams are balanced against each other but remember, the fight isn't the main focus of this exercise. Just so you all know." Tony stated as we all nodded in understanding.
We soon made it to the entrance. Tony then turned back to us and asked "Has anyone here ever been in a dungeon before?" We all shook our heads no before he continued. "Well, when you go in, you'll feel a small tingle go throughout your body. It's nothing bad and you'll get used to it the more dungeons you go in. It'll get to the point where you won't notice it unless you're thinking about it. Anyway, enough of me rambling. Let's go."
"Wait, you're coming with us?" Dew asked.
"Yep, I'm gonna be the field trainer for this class. I'll be noting how you all do in there and stepping in if things get out of hand. Though with your team, I'm sure you'll be fine in there. Alright Team PPD, let's explore!" Tony exclaimed with his energy being a bit contagious, causing me to get more excited.
"Let's do this!" Tepper and I exclaimed.
"Shouldn't be too big of a challenge." Snive stated confidently. I turned to see Dew staying quiet and shaking his head for a bit, probably to clear his thoughts. I frowned again.
"Follow me." Tony before stepping into the pitch black darkness that was the dungeon entrance and disappearing entirely. The team and I were shocked a bit at that before I took the first step into it. Tony was right, I did feel a slight tingle going through my body as I walked through but it quickly left when I finished walking through and came to see a crazy sight. While at the entrance was a clearing with no grass on the floor and dark wooded trees, inside the dungeon was a completely different habitat. The trees looked like they came right out of the main Arbor Area and the grass was bright green and full of life.
"Wow..." Dew said in awe while looking around at the sights, everyone doing the same.
"This is honestly crazy." Snive stated.
"This is nothing like the entrance. How the hell does this even work?" Tepper said.
"Man, I never get tired of seeing those looks on new explorers' faces." Tony said, gaining our attention. "Alright Team PPD, it's now up to you to make your way through the dungeon. I'll be in the trees watching you all from above and getting out of your way. Good luck and be careful of the team that's here. They're a...unique bunch."
Tony was about to leave us before he spoke again. "Oh right, take this. This badge is connected to my badge's voice responder and will allow me to keep in touch with you all. See ya."
And with that, Tony tossed me the badge, which I took, and he took off to the nearest tree and climbed up it, soon leaving our sight. After that, I turn to the rest of the team.
"Alright guys, let's bring it in." I said as we all got into a group huddle.
"What's the play cap?" Tepper asked.
"While they say that the Pokemon in this dungeon aren't that strong, we should still stay on alert for them or that other team that's here, who knows when we'll run into them." I stated
"We should also be on the look out for traps in the dungeon. They didn't say there would be any or not but we should still be on the lookout just in case." Snive chimed in.
"That is true." I agreed.
"And we should look out for Emeras to get us some power ups." Tepper stated.
"Also true. Alright, let's get through this dungeon team."
"Let's Go!" Snive and Tepper exclaimed excitedly. Dew tried to sound excited but it still came off low.
"Dew, you okay hun?" I asked.
"Morington still bothering ya?" Snive asked.
"Yeah...no, I'm fine. Just gotta get back in the grove." Dew said before squatting a bit before smacking both sides of his face hard, much to our shock and a bit of amusement. Dew then got up close to Snive. "Nope, not enough. Snive, hit me."
"What?" We all said with Snive taking a step back with a bewildered look on her face.
"Still not fully in it. I need you to knock some sense into me and you're the best at doing it." Dew stated.
"Wha-I mean, I don't know..." Snive said with reluctance, turning her head to look away from Dew and hide her face, most likely to hide a developing blush.
"Uh Dew, I don't think there's a need for that..." I said.
"Don't worry bro, I got you." Tepper said enthusiastically while going behind Dew. Tepper then reeled back a fist before slamming it into Dew's back. "Hammer Arm!"
The force of the attack caused Dew to fly face first into a nearby tree. Snive and I snapped our attention to the fire pig.
"Tepper!" Snive and I exclaimed as Tepper just looked at us like he did nothing wrong.
"Whaaaaat, I held back. He's fine." Tepper said, waving it off.
"Tepper..." Snive growled slowly while pulling her vines out of her shoulder. She aimed them at Tepper with a menacing glare, scaring him a little.
"Woooooah, that did it." We all turned to Dew who now looked like he was back to his usual self, though a bit hit and a bit crazed.
"Uh, you feeling okay Dew?" I asked pulling out an Oran berry.
"I am now. Thanks Tepper. I needed that." Dew said, taking the Oran berry and munched on it. Snive seemed to calm down, much to Tepper's relief, once she saw that Dew was alright. "Sorry for the hold up guys. Let's do this."
"Alright, let's go team." I said before taking the lead and began walking down the one hallway connected to the room. Dew was behind me, Snive behind him, and Tepper guarding our rear.
(POV break)
We pan over to Tony crouched on a tree branch above Team PPD. He looked down at them while laughing a little after listening to their conversation.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be an interesting day. They definitely got this." Tony said before standing and jumping to the nearest branch to follow them.
(Back to Spark POV)(An hour of exploring later)
This dungeon was as easy as Tony told us. There were barely any Pokemon to fight, which I found good but Tepper was a bit annoyed at that. The few Pokemon we did fight were pretty low level but they gave us a first hand look on what happens to defeated dungeon Pokemon. What happens is that once they're knocked unconscious, their entire body and existence gets transformed into a bright yellow mist, since Pokemon born in the mystery dungeon never really existed like me and other normal Pokemon in the first place. That mist then gets transported into the explorer badge of the victor Pokemon, if they have one, converting into leveling experience. We learned that the most just disperses into the wind if no badge is present. Crazy right? We collected items here and there. Nothing crazy since this was a beginner level dungeon, just a few berries and seeds. There weren't even any Loopets or Emeras that we could use. We also experienced first hand the weirdness of stairs in dungeons. There are, in fact, random staircases that go up into a weird black portal. Once going inside, we all got the same weird tingle from walking into the entrance of the dungeon. Once everyone went in, the portal disappeared and we were now on the upper floor, which shouldn't be a thing since there was no ceiling above us, just trees and the sunny, blue sky.
"Mon, these dungeons make no sense." Snive said as we all arrived at another floor.
"I don't think I'll ever be used to all this like Tony says." Dew stated still trying to wrap his head around all this.
"I think it's best to not think about it too much. This place is far from being understood." I stated.
"Agreed, best to just get through it. It looks great though." Tepper said as we continued exploring.
There wasn't much to explore though since we went through a hallway and entered a room with a big, lone treasure chest in it.
"Huh? Kind of on the nose, don't cha think?" Snive remarked.
"Expected something else?" Dew asked.
"Not really, I wasn't sure what to expect." Snive stated.
"Didn't Tony day there was supposed to be another team here?" Tepper questioned.
"He did say that. Stay on guard guys, they could show up at anytime here." I said to them and they nodded. We then made our way to the chest. We soon made it halfway to it before...
"STOP RIGHT THERE EXPLORER GOODY GOODIES!" Yelled out a loud feminine voice from behind the chest. This caused all of us to stop and get into a battle stance. Any seriousness that was there though soon left as four figures jumped from behind the chest. A Slyveon, Gothorita, Lilligant, and... I think an odd looking Persian that I never seen before, all struck a pose, seemingly acting like models with differing styles. The Slyveon was overly cutesy, the Gothorita gave a pose that gave off the impression that she either didn't want to be there or just didn't want to do this, the Lilligant was dignified with a hint of superiority, and the odd looking Persian was giving off a sassy pose. It was then that the Slyveon began to speak. "YOU WON'T BE TAKING THIS TREASURE TODAY! FOR IT HAS ALREADY BEEN CLAIMED BY US! TEAM CUTESY!"
After about a minute of awkward silence and a confused glance shared between me and my teammates, the Sylveon seemed to then brandish an irritated look, one of her eyes twitched, and she then broke her pose. "Come ooooonn, you guys are ruining the atmosphere."
"Atmosphere?" Tepper questioned, tilting his head to the side a little causing the Sylveon to facepalm with one of her ribbons.
"Ugh, this is what happens when you work with amateurs. We're supposed to be playing our roles." The Sylveon said annoyed.
"Roles?..Oh yeah, Tony did mention something about that." Dew stated.
"Honestly didn't think anyone would be taking that seriously, especially with this much energy." Snive stated, receiving an annoyed glare from the Sylveon girl.
"Sorry about that ladies, we honestly weren't expecting this." I said, smiling sheepishly.
"AND GENTLEMAN! ARCEUS EVERY TIME!" The weird looking Persian yelled out in a deep voice, catching me and the rest of the team off guard.
"Moving on from the train wreck..." The Sylveon growled a little before seemingly reverting back to the cutesy persona she had before. "I can happily say that it's your lucky day since you're about to be robbed by the famous idol exploration group, Team Cutesy, as I've stated before. I know you all are happy to finally be able to meet us."
"Should we be?" Snive asked bluntly, shocking them.
"You have heard us, right?" The Persian asked.
"Can't say that we have." Dew said bluntly causing Team Cutesy to flop to the floor. Dew then turned to the rest of us. "You guys know them?"
"Wait, I do, one of them at least." Snive suddenly said, focusing on the Lilligant with a glare. "Cousin."
"Princess." The Lilligant stated bluntly causing all of us, especially Snive, to wince. Snive seemed to shake it off though with a continued glare at her cousin.
"I'm gonna choose to let that slide. Didn't know you got back into town. And I never expected you to be a part of an exploration team. Seems too, what's the word you'd use...beneath you."
"I will admit, exploring is a bit dirty for my tastes, helping peasants and interacting with dirty wilds and uncivilized domains. So of course you'd be well suited for the role given your rebellious, uncouth nature." Snive's Cousin states now causing the rest of us to glare at her. "But being a famous exploration team will bring prestige to me, my teammates, and our family. Prestige being something you seek to destroy given your current course as heir."
"Ugh, as usual, talking to you is annoying and pointless. Can we get this over with already?" Snive said. Sensing the tension now surrounding both teams, Dew spoke up.
"You know, this whole acting thing might be a bit fun. Why not try it for a bit?" Dew said before coming up to the front of our group, pulling out one of his scalchops, activating it into Razor Shell Buster Sword Mode, and pointing it at Team Cutesy. "Alright evil doers! It's time for you to give up and hand over the treasure!"
"Oh, giving up that easily is no fun. I want you all to give us a good fight at least before bringing you in!" Tepper said joining in with Dew, coming up next to Dew and punching a fist into his opposite hand. All this to my amusement and to the annoyance of Snive.
"I'm disowning them after this exercise is done." Snive groaned facepalming.
"That's our lovable idiots for ya." I stated, laughing a little as most of the tension left me.
"Honestly hoped that you guys wouldn't fall into this energy." The Gothorita finally spoke up, sounding tired and droning a little "But it is you guys we're talking about."
"No, you shut your mouth, this is good." The Sylveon said harshly, causing the Gothorita to flinch a little, before turning back to us and putting her cutesy persona back on. "Come on Team Cutesy! Let's dazzle the goodie goodie team with our..."
"Style." The Persian said, striking a confident pose.
"Grace..." The Gothirita said lazily striking a pose.
"Elegance." Snive's cousin said striking a dignified pose.
"And Cuteness!" The Sylveon said, striking a cutesy pose before they all got into a battle stance. Our team also got into our battle stances in preparation. "Let's get them!"
(No POV)
Team Cutesy charged forward to the awaiting Team PPD.
"Call it Spark." Tepper said eager to get into battle.
"You guys know the drill. Target weaknesses. Dew, I'll leave the Gothorita to you. Snive, since no one has a clear weakness to you, see if you can get your Leech Seeds out on their team and hold off your cousin. Tepper, you take on the Persian. I never seen one that looks like that before so I want my strongest teammate to engage him. Signal for backup if you need it. I'll take on their leader since last I heard, Sylveons were Fairy types and I got something to take her on. Y'all good with the plan?" Spark stated?
"Copy!" Dew stated with a serious look on his face, activating both scalchops and resting one blade on his shoulder.
"I'll get it done." Snive stated eying the charging foes, reaching into her shoulders to pull out a few seeds.
"You got it!" Tepper said with a confident smile, exhaling smoke out of his nose.
"Let's do it then Team PPD!" Spark said as Team PPD charged at their respective targets.
Up above, Tony was watching the fight begin with great enthusiasm.
"Let's see what both teams can do." Tony said excitedly.
The fight began with the Gothorita. She stopped her charge and looked directly at Tepper with a hand raised. Her eyes and raised hand began to glow with a bright pink, preparing to launch a Psybeam at the Pignite. Snive saw this and jumped into the air, pulling out a vine holding a seed. She then lobbed the seed right at the unaware Gothorita. The seed connected and stuck to her unknowingly. The seed then gave the Gothorita a shock, causing the attack to nearly miss Tepper and hit a tree.
"Woah, thanks Snive." Tepper said, giving Snive a thumbs up.
"Fight now, thank me later." Snive stated quickly.
"The heck was that?" The Gothorita said, trying to feel for the spot where she got shocked but couldn't feel anything. She gave up the search when she sensed a presence dropping down on her from above. She quickly jumped out of the way, landing roughly on the ground, as Dew, who was holding both of his scalchops out with blunt sword Razor Shell activated, landed on the spot where she just was, kicking up a small cloud of dust upon impact. "Well that was close."
"Sorry about the sneak attack. I like to end things quickly." Dew said while letting one of his blades rest on his shoulder.
"Surprised you managed to pull off that sneak attack. You really must've grown then since I remember you being a lot louder. Though I guess that means more trouble for me." The Gothorita droned.
"...Do I know you?" Dew questioned, tilting his head in confusion.
"You don't remember me, do you?" She said, causing Dew to shake his head. "Well, I guess it's not surprising. You and your team probably remember me as a Gothita."
"Gothita..?" Dew questioned before he soon realized. "You were one of the sisters helping Darkrai!"
"Not one of my proudest moments..." Gothorita droned guiltily.
"Eh, it's in the past. Y'all made up for it. Glad to see you're doing some good with an exploration team. And sorry, I don't think I ever got your name." Dew smiled sincerely.
"It's Lucy. And I'm not too sure about that with this team..." Lucy claimed looking at her team engaging Dew's. She then turned her attention back to Dew with her eyes glowing pink. "Anyway, we have a battle so let's get it over with."
"Alright then Lucy, let's dance!" Dew said excitedly, getting into a twin swords battle stance.
Over to Tepper and the odd looking Persian...
"HAMMER ARM!" Tepper yelled as he jumped up into the air a bit, intending to land a heavy blow onto the Persian. The Persian had managed to out speed Tepper however, and he dodged the attack causing Tepper to slam his fist into the ground, causing it to crack. Tepper then had a light purple aura glow around him before shattering like glass, causing him to feel a little sluggish.
"If you could not hit me with such a barbaric move, that would be nice. It takes a lot of work to look this good." The Persian said haughtily looking up in the air with its eyes closed. He then charged right up to Tepper, a comical fight cloud appearing around the two as the Persian thrashed at Tepper with a quick Play Rough attack. The Persian quickly moved away before Tepper could hit him with a slow but strong Fire Punch. This caused Tepper to hit the floor, making him kneel as he tried to recover from the attack as red aura appeared around him before shattering like glass, causing him to feel his attack power lower.
"Ow, damnit, nice hit but a cheap shot. And I think there's more to worry about in a battle than one's looks." Tepper groaned while standing up. "Speaking of looks, what exactly are you? I never seen a Pokemon like you before."
"Of course you've never seen beauty such as mine." The Persian said, causing Tepper to start to feel annoyed by his pretentiousness. "My name is Batty and I am what other regions would call an Alolan region Persian."
"An Alolan region Persian? So you are a Persian. Didn't want to assume considering the..." Tepper started but stopped himself.
"Considering the what!?" Batty exclaimed, offended.
"Nevermind." Tepper said quickly. "So besides the look, you got the same normal type right? Meaning you're weak to me."
"We Alolan Meowths and Persian are the superior version to our regular counterparts. In our rise to regalia we have fully embraced the dark typing." Batty lectured.
"So you're still weak to my typing!" Tepper said before he began stomping repeatedly on the ground, building up fire around his body. "FLAME CHARGE!"
"That doesn't mean you'll be able to catch me!" Batty stated while preparing to dodge this attack.
At the same time, Snive's Lilligant cousin and Snive were engaged in a long range fight, firing off many Razor Leaves, Bullet Seeds, and Leafages at each other. Snive also had been multitasking and keeping an eye out on you teammates in the battlefield. She noticed the current position Batty and Tepper were in and knew it was her chance.
"Leaf Tornado!" Snive yelled doing a handstand and spinning rapidly, building up a tornado of leaves and launching it at her cousin.
"Ugh, how rude. You know that won't work on me!" The Lilligant said while shielding her eyes to protect her from the not very effective wind and leaves. But that was just what Snive wanted.
Ok, now with her distracted. Snive thought as she turned to the battle between the big cat and pig. With another seed held in her vine, Snive lobbed it at the unsuspecting Persian.
When it made contact, the seed activated and sent a shock through the Persian body.
"Ouch! The hell was that." The Persian said losing his concentration. Once he realized what he just done, it was already too late. He was soon knocked over hard by the charging pig, knocking him back a few feet away from Tepper.
"Gah, come on Batty! You're making us look bad." The Slyveon berated her losing teammate. "We won't get anywhere in the idol world with a lackluster performance like that!"
"I don't think that's the issue right now." A voice said beside her. The voice was Spark as he suddenly appeared next to her using Quick Attack and was now charging electricity in his fist.
"Oh cra-" Was all Slyveon got out before getting a fist full of ThunderPunch to the face, causing her to skid a few feet away from Spark.
"I also don't think that berating a teammate is a good thing for a team leader to do, especially during a fight. Maybe more of a hindrance to them rather than help them." Spark lectured after seeing that display.
"You have your way of leading, I have mine, you little mouse." Slyveon spat out a bit of blood from the attack. "And you will pay for ruining my physique." She then reverted back to her cutesy persona.
"But now that wittle Batty's nearly out of commission, maybe adding a new and more useful teammate to the Cutesy gang will help us out, don't cha think?" She giggled, fluttering her eyes rapidly at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Spark asked on guard.
"Just stand there and let the beautiful Kayla carry you away to your dreams. I'm sure you'll enjoy this, no guy can resist." Kayla said as she pressed one of her bowstrings to her puckered up lips and blew a sparkling Attract attack at Spark. He didn't have any time to dodge and attraction heart smacked him full force in the face. "Ah, another new servant to adore Team Cutesy. Now be a good little Pikachu and go help Batty, I'd be sooooo happy and grateful."
Spark, however, only stood there for a few seconds, blinked a few times and looked around his body confused. He then looked back at Kayla before shrugging his arms and speaking.
"Didn't work." Spark said bluntly.
"What?" Kayla said bluntly, breaking from her idol persona again as she sent another kiss towards Spark. This only led to the same result. "The hell!? My Attract always works on guys. What are you secretly a female or something!?"
While this ticked off Spark a little, he chose to ignore it upon realizing what the cause might be.
"Well...it's maybe because I'm not really into girls. I know how powerful and enchanting the move Attract can be, especially in the paws of someone like you, but I guess it doesn't work for me since I like guys and you aren't one. Plus, I'm in a happy and committed relationship with my boyfriend and I don't want to ruin that." Spark stated, winking at a bewildered Kayla before cupping his chin in his hand. "I've actually been wondering how a move like that will work on me for a long time but, believe it or not, I haven't found anyone who really used that move in battle. Thanks Kayla."
Spark's sincere smile and gratitude only seem to piss Kayla off more. Her right eye started to twitch before she finally exploded.
"What...are...the...fucking...ODDS!" Kayla yelled out angrily causing everyone to stop their battling and see the commotion. "This was supposed to be an easy sweep on some random beginner team! But no! It had to be you! I then thought 'oh well, there's no way they're actually as competent as Pokemon say' given how lucky you all got in the past! With beating you, our rise would be even better and non-stop! But no! Turns out my team can't handle you! And I just happen to run into the one fucking gay Pikachu in this school! Arceus! You must be playing some sick joke on me! How am I supposed to rise to stardom with this Taurosshit of luck and a team!"
"Are you done?" A voice said beside her suddenly, causing her to break her rant and look next to her to see a very unenthusiastic Spark. "Cause I think you may want to re-evaluate your goal and your outlook on your team."
"W-wait." Kayla stutter terrified as she then noticed Spark's tail turn white, gaining a metal sheen.
"Sorry, but once you fix that attitude of yours, get back to me." Spark smiled before frowning, swinging his tail upward towards Kayla. "Iron Tail!"
When the super effective attack connected to her chin, it launched Kayla a bit into the air before she came back down, landing hard on the ground.
"So...un...fair..." Were Kayla's last words before passing out with swirls in her eyes and a bruise on her chin.
"KAYLA!" Batty yelled out about to run to her.
"Pay attention buddy!" Tepper yelled, jumping into the air above Batty.
"Screw you ugly pig! I have to get revenge for Kayla. Starting with that-" As he was about to charge towards Spark, a shock spread through him courtesy of the Leech Seed. "Ow! Again!?"
"Hammer Arm!" Tepper yelled falling down onto Batty who looked up at Tepper with fear in his eyes.
"Mother." Batty said quietly in fear right before the attack connected. When it did, right in Batty's face, a big cloud of dust and dirt spread around the two caused by the power of the Hammer. When it cleared, Tepper was standing over a fainted Alolan Persian, who was now sporting a black eye.
"Alright! We did it!" Tepper said, jumping into the air, celebrating.
"Now that's what I like to see, Tepper!" Spark said coming over to him, raising his hand for a high five which Tepper gladly returned. "But don't celebrate just yet, the fight's not over."
As those two were talking, Snive and her cousin continued their engagement. The Lilligant managed to grab hold onto Snive with a Vine Whip and bring her close to her.
"Energy Ba-" The cousin was about to launch a point blank Energy Ball at Snive before...
"Gastro Acid!" Snive said before her face frowned in a way that looked like she was about to barf. Lilligant cringed before pushing Snive away from her, causing Snive to barf the Gastro Acid attack onto the floor in front of her and causing Lilligant to cancel her attack. Now the two were standing a few feet apart, Lilligant panting from the battle.
"Ew, how grotesque! You would really stoop that low to use such a vile move against me?" The Lilligant said, disgusted by the look of the sizzling purple puddle.
"I don't like using it any more than you like seeing it Elizabeth." Snive shuddered as she spit the last bit of purple liquid out of her mouth and clinching her stomach. "Bleh, I really don't like that move."
Nor do I like using it in front of others. Snive thought as she glanced over to see if Dew saw her. Luckily, he seemed to be too engaged with his battle with Lucy to notice. Snive let out a sigh in relief.
"Ugh, this should have ended ages ago. I was told I wouldn't have to exert myself for this line of work." Elizabeth complained, summoning a few leaves with Razor Leaf and using them to fan herself.
"You really didn't think about the responsibility of joining an exploration team, did you?" Snive said before glancing behind her cousin and smirking slightly. She then moved a few steps to the side. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that though anymore today."
"And why's that?" she asked confused before she started feeling heat behind her as well as seeing her shadow grow in front of her. Elizabeth turned around to see a big stream of fire flying quickly and directly at her. All she could do was let out a short scream before it connected, engulfing her in flames. When the flames stopped, Elizabeth stood there for a second, looking charred and blackened, her leaf fan crumbling to ash in her hand. She coughed out a bit of smoke before falling on her back to the floor, swirls in her eyes. Snive, Spark, and Tepper soon came over and stood over her body.
"I...didn't overdo it, did I?" Tepper said a bit concerned.
"Nah, she'll be fine. She'll be pissed when she wakes up though." Snive laughed.
Over to Dew and Lucy...
"Water Gun!" Dew yelled, firing a fast stream of water from his right scalchop.
"Light Screen." Lucy said calmly while waving her arms in a square shape in front of her. This causes a yellow, see-through window to appear and block the incoming water gun. This, however, also blocked her line of sight. Dew used the water gun to get closer to Lucy and then quickly lunged under the light screen, surprising Lucy as Dew's blades suddenly turned light green. "Crap."
"Razor Shell! Fury Cutter Mode!" Dew then used Fury Cutter in blunt sword mode to smack Lucy in the side causing her to skid a few feet away from him and fall to a knee. Panting but still active, Lucy called her next attack.
"Psybeam!" She yelled with her eyes glowing pink before a sparkling beam of swirling pink and white shot towards Dew. Seeing this, Dew decided not to dodge.
"Razor Shell! Iron Tail Mode!" Dew called, causing the light green Fury Cutter blades to become actual blades of steel. He then stabbed them into the ground in an X shape, giving him a makeshift shield that he ducked behind. When the Psybeam hit, the force of it caused Dew to grunt while holding onto the swords. The swords managed to hold, however, until the attack was finished. Dew stood up while retracting his sword, having a sincere and enthusiastic smile on his face but also slightly panting.
"Of course you'd pull something like that." Lucy said while standing up and clutching her side, the one that got hit with the Fury Cutter.
"Took me a bit to learn that move. Takes a lot of energy to make those and switch them. Gotta thank Spark again for teaching me that." Dew said before getting back into a battle stance. "Now shall we continue?"
With an exhale and quick mental encouragement, Lucy was about to respond but soon sensed, more specifically didn't sense, much movement going on around her. She gave a quick look behind her to where her teammates should be fighting. Her eyes widened a bit upon seeing that her entire team was taken down and that Dew's team was fast approaching. She soon gave a sigh of defeat.
"No, it's over. I surrender." She said, sounding tired and a bit disappointed.
"Huh? How com-" Dew said before noticing the situation his and her team were in. This made him drop his defenses, holster his scalchops, and give her an innocent smile. "Oh, I see. That was fun, though. You really put up a great fight."
"Yeah...sure..." Lucy droned looking away and not believing him.
Kayla and the rest of them are definitely gonna chew me out for this one when they wake all the teams to sign up too. Lucy thought dreading that encounter. It was then that Team PPD joined Dew and Lucy, Lucy falling to the floor to sit in exhaustion. Just gotta hold out.
"So...couldn't beat your opponent huh?" Snive joked as she poked Dew in the side of his head slightly with one of her vines. He gently slapped it away, annoyed.
"Oh come on, she was a tough fighter." Dew stated.
"Um, Snive? You didn't defeat your opponent-" Tepper said before Snive quickly used a different vine to launch a Leech Seed straight onto Tepper's mouth, leaving his voice muffled. This got a laugh out of Dew.
"Eh, it was only a matter of time before I lost. You guys showing up solidified it." Lucy said, looking away from PPD. It was then that Spark offered her an encouraging smile and hand to help her up. She shyly took it.
"Don't sell yourself short. Dew is one of the best fighters I know. The fact that you held your own against him means a lot." Spark stated as he helped her up.
"Yeah, and the fact that you're a long-range attacker didn't help my situation. Always have trouble with those attackers." Dew said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.
"You need to get better with that." Snive said bluntly.
"Well I tried to train with you one on one but you always turn me down." Dew said, annoyed.
"Y-you always ask when I'm busy!" Snive stuttered, looking away and blushing.
"Oh that's TS and you know it!" Dew said even more annoyed.
"WELL DONE TO BOTH TEAMS!" Tony yelled from behind them, getting their attention and stopping the argument, to his relief.
"Wait, where's the rest of Team Beauty or whatever?" Tepper asked, noticing that Kayla, Batty, and Elizabeth were now gone.
"They've already been kicked out of the dungeon. Once exploration team Pokemon and non-feral Pokemon faint, they will be kicked out after a certain amount of time unless they are holding a reviver seed." Tony explained as they all nodded. "And as for you Team PPD, you all get the special prize for completing today's training...The Treasure Chest!"
"Alright!" Both Dew and Tepper exclaimed.
"What is it? A gift bag?" Snive joked sarcastically.
"You'll see. I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Tony winked with a big grin.
"Let's go see it guys." Spark said as he and the rest of Team PPD followed him. Tony and Lucy stood back for a bit.
"I'm not gonna lie...your team still has some ironing out to do. While you all did pass the trial already, there was still a lot going on with them today. You did good though, despite what happened, and you should take this loss as a teaching method, you and your team." Tony stated to Lucy.
"I know I should. My team may look at things a bit differently, especially since I was the only one not to faint..." Lucy stated distantly.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked.
"I don't know, ignore me. Thank you though…It's an honor to have you in our ranks you know." Lucy said sincerely with a faint smile, catching Tony off guard.
"Oh, thanks. I'll be sure to keep doing my best for you all." Tony said humbly with a blush, still not used to receiving praise from Pokemon around his age.
"I should probably head back to my team and see how they're doing." Lucy said taking her leave, moving away from Tony. She then took out her explorer badge and pressed the center button. Holding it down and closing her eyes, a yellow beam suddenly appeared around her and caused her to disappear out of the dungeon. Tony then moved over to Team PPD once Lucy had left.
"Um Tony? How do we open this chest? It's locked." Spark asked.
"I could just smash it." Tepper said bluntly.
"L-let's not do that. We kind of need that chest." Tony said quickly with a nervous laugh. He then took out a key and tossed it to the team, Snive catching it with one of her vines. "Use this."
Snive placed the key in the keyhole and turned it, a soft clicking sound came from the chest. With a bit of anticipation in the whole team, Spark lifted open the chest. When they saw the contents of the chest, they were...confused.
"So...what's all this Tony?" Dew asked, pointing in the chest as Team PPD turned their heads to give Tony a shared questioning look. Inside the chest was a bunch of bright pink stones, filling the chest. The stones were very shiny, reflecting light of the sun, and looked valuable but there were a lot of them so they couldn't be worth that much.
"That my friends...is the reward for your rite of passage." Tony smiled but soon noticed that Team PPD kept their confused expression, Snive even raising an eyebrow. "Thought that sounded cool but that didn't answer your question. Take out your explorer badges."
They soon all took out their badges, with the badges having an empty notch in the center with a button inside, something Spark noticed.
"Wait a minute..." Spark said thoughtfully to himself while looking between his badge and the stones.
"Next, take out one of the pink stones and place it in the notch in the badge. You'll know it's secure when you hear a click." Tony said as the team did as they were told, four consecutive clicks being heard from their badges. Tony then gave them an excited smile. "And congrats! With those stones, you are all now officially Normal Rank Explorers!"
Team PPD stood there bewildered for a second, not saying anything. Tepper was the first to speak.
"Wait...so what does that mean for us?" He asked.
"In short, you all can finally take on missions like actual explorers." Tony said as the excitement slowly started filling the faces of Team PPD. "Granted, they will be low ranking missions for a while but you gotta start somewhere."
"ALRIGHT!" Tepper yelled out, flexing his arms in the air, still clutching his badge.
"WOOOHOOO!" Dew also yelled out, wrapping his arms around Snive and Spark in side hugs as he laughed. Spark laughed with him while Snive quickly blushed hard at the close contact.
"Ah, that was right in my ear. And personal space please!" Snive complained trying to get out of Dews grip, but he was too strong.
"No can do Snive!" Dew said excitedly.
"Just let it happen Snive, let us all in enjoy this." Spark said, winking at her. This caused Snive to sigh and relax herself in Dew's embrace, quickly enjoying it and smiling, not knowing that Dew tightened his hold on her slightly. It was then that Tepper came up behind all three of them and wrapped them all up in a tight group hug.
"You're not leaving me out of this one." Tepper said before turning to the air and launching a celebratory Flamethrower into the air. Tony laughed with them.
"Congrats guys, y'all earned it." Tony said as he walked up to the team, their hug ending and Tepper going up to Tony.
"You too teach!" Tepper said, spreading out his arms to Tony.
"What?" Tony said quickly, confused as Tepper then wrapped his arms around Tony in a tight Bewear hug. "Ack. Air. Lungs. Need."
"You helped us out a lot, teach, I got to thank you." Tepper said before letting go, allowing Tony to gain airflow back in his lungs.
"So what does this mean for schooling?" Snive asked.
"Well you guys will still be going here to gain more knowledge of exploration and go on missions on behalf of the school. You guys will do this until you get to at least silver rank." Tony explained.
"What happens then?" Spark asked.
"From what I have heard...you will be taking some sort of graduation exam to become an independent exploration team and receive all the benefits that come with it. What that exam will be, I have no idea." Tony explained shrugging at the last part.
"Silver rank huh..." Snive started. "Seems like quite a ways off, to be honest."
"With your team's experience and skill, you'll be there in no time." Tony said, giving them a sincere smile.
"Yeah, we'll get there when we get there. For now, we got to celebrate." Dew said excitedly. He then turned to Tony. "You're definitely joining us."
"While I won't say no, I suggest holding off for a bit. I hear a certain fire fox and electric squirrel are going to be taking their rites of passage tomorrow." Tony smirked as Tepper instantly knew who he was talking about.
"Sis and Ema are allowed to do this too!? Awesome!" Tepper exclaimed.
"And I assume you're looking forward to examining Ema and especially Flara as well for the test." Spark said while going up to Tony, nudging him in the arm, and winking up at him.
"As a matter of fact I am." Tony said with his eyes closed, oblivious to the undertones of Spark's comment. After a second of thinking, Tony's eyes snapped open before he turned down to Spark and quickly said "H-hey hold on."
"Want to run that by us again?" Tepper said menacingly behind Tony, cracking his knuckles and smoke coming out of his nose and mouth. This caused Tony to jump a little.
"Alright boys, let him be." Snive said moving a vine in between Tepper and Tony and Tony and Spark.
"Yeah, let's let him get back to work." Dew said.
"Fiiine, I'll tease later." Spark said moving back to the rest of his team. "Sorry, Tony. Now that you're in our friend group, you are now subject to the teasing that goes on around here."
"I'm actually a part of the friend group?" Tony asked genuinely.
"Of course, no stupid questions." Snive stated as Tony smiled a little. "Now how do we get out of here?"
"Oh right, first take out your badges again." Tony said as they all pulled out their badges. "Now listen first before doing, don't want you guys warping to the middle of nowhere. You are first going to hold down the button. Keep your button held as you close your eyes. You're going to picture the destination you want to go, and let's say it's the entrance to this dungeon for right now. You'll then feel a tingle move throughout your body before you feel like you're floating. After a second or two, you'll lose that floating feeling as you arrive at your destination. Pretty simple right?"
As they all nodded, Tony gave the go ahead for them to try it. They did as they were told and were soon covered in a yellow beam and were teleported out of the dungeon. They all opened their eyes to see where they were.
"That...was trippy." Tepper stated looking around.
"Are all my body parts still attached?" Dew said, looking around his body.
"I...don't think I'll ever get used to all this weird mystery dungeon stuff." Snive stated, shuddering slightly. .
"I think it's pretty convenient. I'll definitely be using this more often." Spark said, looking at the badge in his hand before attaching it to the scarf on his neck. It was then that Tony appeared in front of them.
"The teleporting will take a bit of getting used to but you all seemed to have done it perfectly." Tony smiled before turning away from them. "Now I must continue my examinations. You guys should go and get some rest. Good job again you guys. See ya."
"Thanks Tony, see ya later." Dew stated as the rest of Team PPD gave their goodbyes to the retreating Monferno. It was then that Dew gave a quick whiff. "By the way guys, do you all smell that? It smells barf mixed with a Muk."
As soon as he said this, he received a quick slap across his face from a vine, causing him to face plant into the ground. The vine had come from a now blushing and embarrassed looking Snive who, upon realizing what she did, panicked and quickly took out her explorer badge to teleport herself away from the situation before Dew could get back up.
"Ow! The fuck was that for!?" Dew said getting up and clutching the cheek he got hit on. He then turned to find that only Tepper and Spark were there. "Did Snive do that?"
"...Possibly." Spark stated hesitantly.
"WHAT I DO THIS TIME!?" Dew yelled, getting the attention of the other teams at the entrance.
[Wow that was a long chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope to bring you more chapters soon. Also, some asked about the Chima fic and if I was continuing it and honestly, I can't say I am. If I do, I would need to redo it given that it was written at a pretty cringe time lol. Plus, I got new motivation for this and new stories so idk if I would have time to get back to Chima, I do miss it though. Speaking of the other stories, be on the look out for one of them, I think I'm gonna start posting it soon. Anyway, onto the outro
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