Chapter 10

Necessary Lessons

Jolton Cave B2

The three wandered the second floor, keeping their eyes peeled for the stairs and any feral Pokémon who might want to attack the group.

Terron's arm was almost completely healed now. In fact, it looked as though it hadn't been injured at all. The only sign that Terron had been slashed by a feral were the scars that were taking a while to mend. However, this wasn't a concern. His arm was functional now.

As the three walked, Terron could feel the hunger coming to his stomach. It was light hunger, but Terron still felt the need to eat something.

"King, did you pack any food?" he asked as he held his stomach.

"So, you're hungry already," King said as a statement. "Surprised you didn't last longer."

"Well I'm not starving," Terron replied. "But, I could use some food. I'm just a little hungry."

"Well then, you should probably wait a bit longer," King said. "You shouldn't eat anything unless you have to. Food is one of the most important items to take with you on missions. Mystery Dungeons allow you the temporary ability to heal faster as well as feel less tired when traveling. Of course, this is at the price of growing hungrier faster because your energy is sapped away more quickly. So, even though you feel hungry, wait until it's absolutely necessary. Your food supply can be very scarce, and if you eat whenever you feel lightly hungry, you'll finish the whole supply very quickly. Learn to tolerate your stomach."

"So what, I start eating just when I start to feel light headed?" Terron asked incredulously.

"Yes, that sounds like a sufficient guideline," King replied matter-of-factly. "Work with that."

Terron frowned, though he didn't say anything. Instead, he tried to keep his mind off the thoughts of food and focused on finding the stairs.

Jolton Cave B4

Terron was now holding the glowing sphere in his hands since King wanted him to practice holding it. The Bisharp had said that since he was the one with actual hands in Team Vendetta, he would be tasked with the job of carrying the light. He would have to learn to be able to hold onto the ball while venturing through dungeons and during battle.

While Terron complained that Zekra could easily take on the form of a Pokémon with hands, King still insisted Terron be the light holder. His excuse was that Zekra wouldn't be able to stay in her changed form for the entire dungeon.

"Besides, you're the leader of Team Vendetta," King added. "The leader should have the light so he can see what's ahead of him and lead his teammates. And also, to warn of any dangers coming your way. The leader will be the first one to see it."

"Suppose you have a point," Terron said carelessly.

"Also, I have another thing I want to talk you about since we're on the topic of leaders and teammates," King said.

"And what would that be?" Terron asked curiously.

"Never go in a Mystery Dungeon alone, no matter how experienced you may be," King said gravely. "If you go in by yourself and you are for whatever reason defeated, whether it be from hunger, fainting for some other reason, or from a feral slaying you, then you will become trapped in the dungeon. You won't be able to escape unless someone finds you and brings you out. The dungeon won't let you escape once you're defeated and alone. However, if you are with someone else and you are defeated, the dungeon will throw you out and take you back to entrance. I'm not sure why having company would prevent you from being trapped, but you will be spared if you have someone with you. Of course, you have to stick together and never separate or else you will become trapped as you might when you're alone."

It was then that Terron began to remember the last time he was in a Mystery Dungeon.

"Zekra and I got kicked out of a dungeon once," Terron said. "I thought we were killed for a while because a Scyther attacked us and decapitated us. So you don't really die after all? You just get kicked out of the dungeon before you die?"

"Oh yes, you die," King said rather calmly. "You two did in fact, die, when that Scyther cut off both your heads."

Zekra and Terron stopped walking.

Terron could feel his heart beating rapidly and his breathing getting shallow. He couldn't talk anymore.

Zekra, on the other hand, had an entirely different reaction.

"I didn't die," Zekra said, her voice becoming incredibly cold. "I don't care what your excuse is about how we got killed and came back. You could say the dungeon saves us before our spirits go to the afterlife and in exchange for that, it takes away most of our stuff and I still won't believe you."

King scowled in annoyance.

"So, you're going to deny the truth?" King asked. "You refuse to accept the reality of the situation? Are you that scared of dying?"

Zekra shot King a dark glare.

"I'm not afraid of dying," Zekra stated firmly. "I just don't believe you is all. No one dies in Mystery Dungeons. You're wrong. Mystery Dungeons may be odd places, but they can't kill you and then bring you back to life. It doesn't feel right."

"Well, if you can come up with a better excuse as to how you lived after your head got cut off, then that's fine," King scoffed. "Believe whatever you want to believe. I refused to believe just like you at one point, but you'll see the truth just as I did. For now, remain in your bliss of denial. See how long that lasts you."

Zekra's claws slowly slid out of her paws and scrapped the ground with them. When Terron saw this, he slowly started backing away from her.

"Zekra…" Terron said reluctantly.

The Zorua brought her claws back into her, but still kept the dark expression in her eyes.

"Well, if you're done reacting to that, we should continue on," King then said. "There's a dungeon we need to get to the very bottom of. Do you feel your shock has left you? Or in the Zorua child's case, denial?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Terron replied, even if he wasn't exactly feeling so.

Zekra didn't reply, though she seemed to nod very subtly.

"Then let's go. We've wasted enough time here."

Jolton Cave B5

"Strike the feral while it's distracted!"

THUNK!

"It's not doing anything!"

"That's because you struck it while it was still curled up! Do it when it's no longer in that position!"

Rumble…

"Move! Run to the edges of the room!"

"BWOOON!"

Terron and Zekra were facing off with three opponents at the moment; a Donphan with a duo of Phanpy. Earlier, King had spotted them while exploring the floor and made the two children fight against them. He claimed that it was for practice so that they could get used to fighting on their own, but Terron had a feeling it was so that King could watch the two of them get beaten up for amusement. After all, he was already having trouble with holding both his weapon and the precious Light ball while trying to battle… and it was only the beginning of the battle. Somehow though, he kept his grip on both items in his two separate hands.

The enemies were proving tough for the two children due to their ability to roll into tight balls and roam around the room without stopping.

Their attacks on the rapidly rolling Pokémon did nothing.

King was taking the sidelines for the battle and shouting commands, surprisingly not being targeted by the enemy Pokémon. Though Terron and Zekra hated being yelled at, they found King's commands were helpful in not getting themselves hurt.

Terron narrowly avoided a rolling Phanpy as it crashed into the wall where he once stood. The impact caused the cave to shake momentarily and made a few rocks from the ceiling fall upon them. The Phanpy uncurled itself upon smacking into the wall, slightly dazed from the impact.

"Now! Strike it!" King shouted at Terron.

Without hesitation, Terron took his weapon and rammed it into the Phanpy's side. The feral let out a loud shriek from the attack, but it wasn't knocked out, much to Terron's dismay. The feral quickly rose back to its feet as it slammed its body into Terron.

He was blown backwards from the unexpected strength of the Phanpy, crashing into the wall and becoming buried within. He tried to get out, but found that moving around made the sharp rocks around him dig deeper into his skin. He didn't move in fear that his skin would be severely cut up.

"Don't stay in there! You should be able to handle the pain! Cubone have strong defenses and can tolerate most attacks thrown at them!"

A metallic hand grabbed Terron's body before pulling him out of the mess of rocks he was in. He let out a cry of pain as the sharp points of rocks grazed his skin. Once he was freed from his prison, he found King was the one who holding him.

"Get back out there!" King barked.

He tossed Terron forward before the Cubone could respond. The wind rushed past him rapidly as his eyes went dry.

He didn't know where he was going or even if he could control his movement.

THUD!

Terron smacked into one of the Phanpy before he even knew it. The two went tumbling to the ground, both becoming scratched up as their bodies slid across the stone floor. Terron slowly got to his feet however and looked over the Phanpy he had crashed in. It was the one he had been fighting earlier, and it seemed his impact on it from just now had put it near its collapsing point.

It seemed weak now.

The look in its eyes was sad and confused like when someone is betrayed by a friend.

Terron stared at it, almost feeling bad for how helpless it seemed now.

"What are you waiting for Cubone child?!" King said. "Finish it! Or do you want it to do the same to you? It's either you or it! Never hesitate with feral Pokémon!"

The Phanpy started to recover. Its eyes glared at Terron, now filling with the strange expression of blind rage. It was telling him that in just a moment, it was going to do what he needed to do to it. It was going to defeat him, possibly kill him.

Terron did what he had to do.

With one swift movement, he smacked the back of the Phanpy's head with his weapon.

"Bwoon!"

The cry rang from its mouth before the foe collapsed. The body that lay in front of Terron was now defeated and unconscious.

Terron looked over to Zekra to see how her battle was going. She was trying to take care of the other Phanpy that was rolling around while the Donphan was attempting to run her over as well. However, she was rather quick with being able to avoid most of the deadly rolling attacks. Terron watched as Zekra ran around the room with the duo trying to catch her from different sides. She skidded to a stop as she watched the two coming at different angles, rolling around rapidly at equal speeds.

Just when the two were going to run into her, Zekra quickly jumped out of the way. The two forces clashed due to not paying attention to the other's direction and due to the Donphan having more strength than the Phanpy, the Donphan ended up sending the Phanpy flying across the room and into the ceiling.

CRASH!

The small elephant hung out of the ceiling. Its body was embedded into the rocky surface. It squirmed to break free.

Crumble…

The rocks holding the feral into the ceiling could no longer support the feral. They gave way from the weight after a couple of seconds and plummeted to the ground, taking the Phanpy with them. The feral didn't know how to land properly and shrieked in terror.

BOOM!

Rocks sprayed up into the air as the feral crashed into the ground. Terron put his arms over his head to brace himself. A few pebbles struck him, but it was nothing he couldn't tolerate. He watched as the dust cleared to show an unconscious Phanpy.

Most of its limbs were bent in unnatural ways and blood seemed to be coming out of its mouth.

"Whoo-hoo!" Zekra cheered. "It's down!"

"Don't celebrate!" King barked. "You only took down the weaklings! You still need to face the Donphan, which is far more powerful than the Phanpy!"

Sure enough, the Donphan charged at the Zorua. It leapt into the air before curling into a ball. It spun rapidly as it hit the ground, kicking up dust as it sped toward Zekra with its rapid and unstoppable speed. Zekra started running toward a wall in hopes of getting the feral to ram itself into the structure.

Once she had reached the wall, she stood in front of it. She watched tensely as the Donphan rolled toward her, its speed never wavering.

Just when it was a few feet in front of her, Zekra swiftly leaped out of the way and heard the Donphan slam into the side of the cave. She landed on the ground and skidded to a halt. She looked behind her to see if the Donphan had been fazed.

Much to her surprise, there was now a giant hole where the feral had rolled into. The Donphan was nowhere in sight.

"Wha-"

CRASH!

Without warning, the revolving Donphan exploded out of a hole formed in the wall behind Zekra. Though she had no time to run, Zekra quickly changed her form to that of a Donphan just as she took the full force of the attack. She hoped that it would lessen the damage.

CRASH!

The attack sent her tumbling across the ground. It would have crushed her with its mass if she had been in her normal form.

She tumbled across the floor uncontrollably as her Donphan form faded.

Seconds later, she slammed into another side of the cave and became a part of it.

"Zekra!" Terron shouted.

"Focus on the Donphan!" King yelled at Terron. "Otherwise you'll end up just like your friend!"

As if Zekra's rages were contagious, Terron started to feel a strong aggravation growing inside him. However, he made no effort to contain it.

"How able I supposed to be able to defeat it then?" Terron demanded. "I can't block it or else it'll run me over! I can't attack it since it does nothing! What am I supposed to do?! You're our guide! Tell me how to defeat it! You haven't done anything in this battle yet to help with that!"

Terron started to pant, feeling out of breath from the yelling that was fueled by his frustrations.

King cast Terron a glare, but the Cubone didn't back down. He knew King had the answers and he needed that information from him.

The Donphan suddenly charged toward the two. It wasn't rolling around as it had been for a majority of the battle. Instead, it seemed as though it were going to ram its head into the two or impale them with its tusks.

Terron felt himself backing up behind King. Fear was very quick to replace his anger.

"You're not hurting this Donphan because its hide is too thick," King said calmly despite the oncoming threat. "You can attempt to pierce its hide all you want with regular attacks, but it'll do nothing. Not even my blades can pierce its armor because its physical defense is too great."

As King said this, a dark purple sphere began to form in one of his hand. It was small at first, but it quickly grew in size as it crackled with black energy. Terron could feel a powerful, overwhelming aura from it that seemed to be flowing with negative energy.

"There's only a couple of ways to defeat creatures with such tough defenses. One of those ways is to use the powers of water, flora, and ice against it. Those powers somehow bypass the strong defenses of the creature and inflict heavy damage."

King took the hand with the dark energy sphere and pointed it at the Donphan. The foe was only a few seconds away from ramming into them.

"The other way is to attack it mentally."

Without warning, power pulsed from the sphere. Black rings imbued with dark purple energy shot out of the sphere in a beam. They smashed into the Donphan's body just as the feral was to ram King and Terron.

"BWOOOONN!"

The feral shrieked as the attack inflicted its damage. Terron watched in amazement as the rings would slam into the Donphan's body, yet not seem to inflict any sort of physical damage on the feral. No cuts or bruises were formed as the rings impacted the elephant. Instead, the rings seemed to faze into the Donphan's body and cause internal damage.

When the attack ceased, the Donphan collapsed onto the ground and its eyes closed shut. The spot where it had been attacked was streaming with a few wisps of darkness.

The sphere in King's hand faded away.

"I know you don't have many abilities at the moment," King stated. "However, it's best you get some more whenever you can. There are many foes that will be immune to your regular abilities and you will need to overcome that. For starters, harness powers of the different elements. If you want to survive, you'll need to be more versatile in your abilities."

Terron slowly nodded. As he did this, Zekra slowly came back over to the two from wherever she had been previously.

She was covered in scratches and rocks were embedded into her fur. Blood was trickling out of her mouth and paws. Yet, despite having suffered injuries, she seemed able to walk normally and didn't seem to be in pain.

"Hey, I saw that move you used earlier," Zekra said to King. "What was that? It looked like something I wanted to learn."

"A power known as Dark Pulse," King explained. "It's a power meant for creatures of the dark, though there are others who have learned the technique. It's a manifestation of negative emotions and when it strikes your target, they'll suffer from the negativity. It bypasses physical boundaries and enters straight into the soul of the creature to inflict its damage. It's an ability meant to put your enemy through agonizing spiritual pain."

"Oh, I see," Zekra said in interest. "Think you can teach me sometime?"

"Perhaps," King said nonchalantly. "But, we can discuss that another time. I believe our work on this floor is finished. The enemies I made you take down are defeated. We no longer have any business here."

Jolton Cave B7

Terron rolled the Light ball around in his hands, watching as the electricity would move around. He noticed how the electricity seemed to be most concentrated where his hands touched the outside. He found that fascinating and would constantly move the ball around to watch the electricity stay with him.

"You should pay attention to where you're going," King warned. "A feral might ambush you and you'd never know because you were so distracted by that sphere."

"Wild Pokémon don't seem very good at sneaking up on us," Terron replied casually. "I mean, the ground moves whenever Sandshrew attack and those Donphan and Phanpy were really easy to spot. You make it sound like wild Pokémon are masters at taking us out."

"I have seen many feral ones who were incredibly powerful," King said seriously. "They fought like demons and struck from the shadows. There might not be any feral ones like that in this dungeon due to most of the creatures being rock or ground types, but there are some in other dungeons that are deadly. They know how to strategize and they will kill you if you don't keep your guard up at all times. Though, you've seen this first hand. You remember how the Scyther struck you, don't you?"

Unpleasant memories came to Terron's mind. He felt himself shudder.

"It came out of these trees," Terron replied. "And it moved really fast."

"Exactly," King stated. "It used its remarkable speed to quickly tear you down. That might not be the case with the feral ones here, who are known for brute strength rather than speed and strategy, but you will no doubt come across another feral with the same capabilities as the Scyther. That is why you always pay attention to your surroundings. Always listen and watch for the slightest bit of suspicious movement."

"You sure know a lot about wild Pokémon and how to deal with them," Zekra then said. "How long did you have to be in the Fellowship to know so much about this stuff?"

"It wasn't the Fellowship that taught me," King answered. "It was the wild that taught me what I know."

Zekra gave an odd glance to the Bisharp.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked curiously.

King seemed to consider something in his thoughts. It was very unusual for the children to see his normally stern expression become pensive. To them, he always looked like he didn't need to think about something.

"… I suppose I could explain how I received my knowledge to you two," King then said. "Perhaps you'll learn something from it."

Terron and Zekra looked up at him, quite interested in what King had to say. They had already created theories as to what he meant, and eagerly wanted to know if such theories were true.

"As I'm sure you don't know, my kind have a very different way of living than other creatures," King began. "We travel in packs, which always have exactly one Bisharp leader and numerous Pawniard underlings. Whenever we find other packs, we usually duel them and the winner will take the fallen one's belongings. There is no exception except during the mating seasons, when all the packs would gather together to breed. Then, each pack would take their share of eggs and leave them somewhere where no one else would find them. We'd then leave our most powerful Pawniard behind with the eggs so that it can raise the hatchlings and evolve into their leader. Then the cycle would continue."

"Okay… you guys have an odd system," Terron commented. "But what does that have to do with you knowing a lot about wild Pokémon?"

"It's being explained so that you don't question why I didn't have parents and why I was traveling in a pack," King answered curtly. "Moving on, though, I was a Pawniard underling forty-five years ago. I lived in a pack of seven Pawniard and obviously, one Bisharp once he evolved. I took orders from him for a while, satisfied with my status. We would always get decent meals under his leadership, and to me, that was what mattered the most. But then, one day after I had started understanding the world and seen other packs, I started to grow dislike toward my leader. He never seemed to be serious with anything. He was always so giddy and carefree, and never did much to assist us during our killings. It was very different from how the other leaders were with their own packs, and I grew to despise that. The others were somewhat displeased with his attitude, but it was only I who loathed being around our leader.

"So one day, I decided that I would become the leader of the pack. You see, there is a rule amongst the packs saying that if a Pawniard can defeat their leader, they can become the new leader and get rid of the old one. I had every intention of doing such. I thought I could be a better leader and wanted to dispose of our false one. So on a spring morning, I confronted my leader and told him I wanted to duel. He thought I was joking, but I managed to convince him that I was very serious about dueling him. And so… we fought. Leader versus underling."

King paused, as if his memories were preventing him from speaking.

"And what happened?" Zekra then asked.

"… I underestimated my leader," King answered, his tone darkening. "While he was rather ridiculous in personality, I learned it was a façade to hide the fact that he was very powerful. He used techniques I had never seen before at the time, such as burying underground and unleashing a sphere of intense energy at me. Though I attempted to strike him, my blades never reached him. I was defeated within a minute. He and the others then abandoned me since the custom also stated that if the Pawniard loses, they are exiled from not just the current pack, but all packs. From that point on… I would have none of my kind.

"I was expected to die since it had been taught that solitude meant defenselessness. I attempted to join society in order to survive, but found that I couldn't adjust to its rules. And not only that, but others were terrified of me. They knew my kind were killers, and were scared that I would massacre everyone. I ended up leaving society due to that, and went to the only place I knew would accept me; the wild."

"But, you were alone," Zekra said. "Weren't you afraid that you were going to get killed off by wild Pokémon?"

"I was aware of that at the time, but I didn't care," King said. "I only wanted to keep living, no matter the cost. I had nowhere else to go. I roamed around the region for a couple of years, staying in whatever environment seemed best at the time and killing the inhabitants. I never went into the Mystery Dungeons, however. I knew I wouldn't last in those corrupted environments. I had been warned countless times to stay away from them and I had no intentions of disobeying that particular warning.

"Though I often considered this time of living in the wild to be one of my low points in life, this was the time where I learned about feral creatures. While I had grown in the wild on a technicality, I started to understand the feral creatures I stalked were quite different. I was self-aware and could speak while these creatures simply acted on instinct and lacked any sort of spoken language. I can only assume it was because my kind had a little 'society' of their own, and thus taught us to behave somewhat like a normal society. But anyway, I observed these feral creatures now that I was free to act on my own accord and learned of what their actions meant so that I could kill them by myself.

"I had spent all my years prior fighting by the orders of someone else. And when I did try to fight by myself, I had lost. Now, with no one, I had to teach myself how to do everything alone. And though it took time, I was able to figure out how to deal with these creatures without the aid of anyone. I learned how to sneak around them when I didn't wish to fight. I learned how to flee from an enemy who was too powerful for me to defeat, something my kind was taught never to do. I learned the best times and areas to strike and deliver the killing blow for each kind of creature. I learned how these creatures attacked and the patterns behind that attack. I discovered many things during those years…

"However, this came at a cost. I lost my ability to use speech and my self-awareness started to fade because I was so accustomed to the feral ways. It was shortly after I learned the ways of a feral that I became one of them. I didn't even realize this had happened to me at the time. I somehow got the idea that I was always a feral when I became one."

Terron could easily see why King was the way he was now that this information was explained. However, that still didn't explain one thing…

"So, then how did you join Team Valor if you were in the wild?" Terron then asked. "And how'd you learn how to talk again?"

"Len and Éclair found me," King answered. "They were traveling through the Iron Jungle, which was my current home at the time. The two were heading through the area to go find the Fellowship so they could join. I happened to see them and decided to make a meal out of those two. I attacked them and the three of us fought. However, before any of us were seriously injured, another wild Pokémon decided to attack us; a Serperior. It was starving from what I could tell and wanted to eat us, despite me being covered in blades. So, we fought against that creature to save ourselves.

"Once we had done so, Len and Éclair grew weary that I was going to kill them now that nothing was getting in my way. However, seeing and fighting along those two started to make me remember that I used to be like them. And from that moment, I began to crave being self-aware again. I wanted to be able to work with others again and no longer feel I was in constant danger like before I became a feral. So I went with them, and we joined the Pledge Mountain Fellowship back when it was the only Fellowship. And from that day forward, I used my knowledge to help those two whenever we went into the wild while they helped me become self-aware again. That is how I gained my knowledge. The only thing the Fellowship taught me in regards to the wild was how Mystery Dungeons work. Even still, the creatures within were almost the same as the ones in the normal wild, except far more aggressive."

King glanced at the children. They were both staring at him with odd expressions, as if they didn't know how to react to King's life story.

King scowled.

"I don't always tell that story," King said sternly. "Only five of our members know that story. I only told you so you'll learn a few lessons from it. Necessary lessons that is."

"I thought the purpose of the story was to explain why you know so much about wild Pokémon," Zekra replied.

"It was. And it was also a way for you find the mistakes of my past and prevent yourself from repeating them," King said with a hint of annoyance. "Everything I tell you two is a learning experience."

"And what would these lessons be?" Zekra asked.

"Well, you'll have to find those yourself," King answered. "I can't tell you everything. Though, I can tell you never to tell this story to anyone else. If I find out you did, both of you are going to wake up in the morning with your ears chopped off."

"I think the only lesson in your story was to live in the wild in order to get stronger," Zekra said blandly. "That's a horrible lesson since you just said doing so makes you a wild Pokémon."

"That's only your misguided interpretation of the story," King said with a scoff. "Perhaps one day you'll gain a new interpretation and see the true lessons."

BZZZT!

A weak bolt of lightning suddenly struck Terron from somewhere ahead of him. The Cubone cringed as the electricity struck him and anxiously anticipated the pain to immediately follow.

However, much to his surprise, the electricity didn't bring any pain.

The electric current had gone into his body, and though he could feel it moving through his limbs, the sensation wasn't painful. It felt as though water was flowing down his skin and going toward the ground. He could feel the electricity sink into the floor and drain out of his body harmlessly.

He peered into the distance to see where the electricity had come from. There was a single Elekid standing a distance away, electricity generating through its two head prongs.

The group stopped to address the new threat.

"What just happened?" Terron asked as he checked his body. "I didn't feel anything. It was like nothing happened!"

"You're a creature of the ground," King said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Your kind are immune to the power of electricity. How do you not know that? That's almost as pathetic as a water creature forgetting it can breathe underwater."

"Oh… I uhh… I just forgot since I've never had this happen to me before," Terron answered awkwardly before quickly changing the subject. "But, what's an electric type doing here?"

"This cave has electricity generated through the many crystals throughout the place," King explained. "I haven't figured out how electricity is kept or made in the crystals, but it attracts electric creatures and they make homes here with the other creatures."

The Bisharp looked down at Terron and Zekra.

"I'm not going to help you this time," King said to the two. "Last time I was instructing you. This time, you're on your own and I won't be giving you advice. I'll only provide assistance if you're on the verge of defeat. However, answer this question first; how do you plan to defeat that Elekid?"

"Well, it's an electric Pokémon," Terron said, coming up with a plan as he glanced over at the enemy, "and… I'm a ground Pokémon… so it can't hurt me. It doesn't look like it's got a lot of physical defense, so I guess I'll try to hit it with my club."

"And I'll just bite it or something," Zekra chimed in.

"See how that goes then," King replied, his voice not showing whether their ideas were good or not.

Terron and Zekra then ran at the Elekid, enticing the feral to begin its own assault on the two. A bolt of electricity shot out of the wild Pokémon's body and made its way to Zekra. It seemed the feral understood that it couldn't harm Terron with its attacks, so it was aiming for the one who would take damage.

Zekra swiftly ducked as the bolt flew over her head. She had managed to avoid most of the attack, but small amounts of static that came from the attack managed to make her fur puff up.

Terron threw his weapon and watched in the dim lighting as it prepared to strike the Elekid. However, the Elekid swiftly ran forward with increased speed and avoided the weapon. Before Terron could grab the bone as it came flying back to him, the Elekid rammed him with its body while it still had the increased velocity. While the attack didn't seem to inflict too much pain, he was thrown back from the momentum. He tumbled backwards and did everything he could not to let go of the sphere in his hands.

By the time Terron managed to get to his feet, the Elekid was charging Terron once again. He didn't have a weapon to counteract the feral since it was lying on the floor in the distance. Instead, he did all that he could and tried to get out of the way.

Unfortunately, he wasn't very fast and the Elekid managed to charge him again. Terron was tossed along the ground.

The Elekid stood over him, smirking at the sight of seeing Terron unable to dodge its attacks.

Just then, Zekra came from behind the Elekid and latched onto one of its arms with her teeth. The Elekid screamed in pain as blood started to leak out of the spots where Zekra's fangs punctured its skin. It thrashed its arm around, trying to get Zekra off of it.

Terron smiled at seeing his companion coming just in time to help him. He felt glad to know that someone was assisting him with the battle.

However, that joy instantly faded when he saw the electricity building between the prongs of the Elekid.

It was a telltale sign of what was going to happen very soon.

"Zekra!" Terron shouted. "Let go of the Elekid!"

He saw Zekra look over at him for just a second, her eyes starting to widen in understanding. By then however, it was too late.

Terron watched in horror as electricity was released from the Elekid's arm and made its way into Zekra's body. It reminded Terron of how she looked when Len had paralyzed her, but unlike that time, this one was meant for harm. She screamed as she let go of the Elekid and fell to the ground, the voltage still coursing through her system. Zekra tried to move, but found that her muscles were locked by paralysis.

The Elekid began to gather static into one of its fists.

Terron noticed that his weapon was very close to him. He had been thrown toward it during that last attack.

A sufficient amount of electricity coated the arm of the Elekid.

Terron grabbed his club off the ground.

The feral threw its fist at the paralyzed Zorua.

Terron felt himself dash forward, but he didn't know what for.

The next thing he knew, Terron was standing in front of Zekra and taking the brunt of the attack meant for the Zorua.

He could feel the impact of the punch to his face, but most of the power had come from the electricity surrounding the fist. With that power being absorbed harmlessly into Terron's body, the attack wasn't as damaging. It hurt, of course, but Terron didn't let himself become overwhelmed by the punch.

Terron struck his weapon into the Elekid's head.

The Elekid immediately fell to the ground upon receiving the attack, its eyes closed in unconsciousness.

Terron let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the defeated Pokémon. He could feel his face still hurting from the attack, but he did his best to ignore it. He looked back at Zekra, who was still paralyzed.

Terron attempted to pick up Zekra and brought her awkwardly over to King. For him, it was like carrying a large dog that was his height. Thankfully though, she wasn't very heavy.

"King, do we have anything for paralysis?" Terron asked the Bisharp. "Zekra isn't moving or anything."

"Thankfully for you, I do," King replied as he took something out of the backpack. "That's another thing you should pack for missions; items that cure paralysis, poison, burns, and so on. There are berries for that, which is what I brought."

Terron then set Zekra on the ground as King held out a red fruit on a vine. He put the fruit in her mouth and watched as she started to move again.

"That was a Cheri berry," King told the two of them. "It's meant for curing paralysis. Luckily for us, they're quite common and they're not hard to get ahold of. So if you ever go in a dungeon, always bring a few of those along with Pecha berries. Bring Rawst berries if you know there will be any fire creatures around."

"Alright, got it," Terron said with a nod.

He then brought his attention over to Zekra.

"You alright?" the Cubone asked, remembering the electric attack from earlier.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Zekra assured as she managed to smile. "It just wasn't really all that great to be paralyzed and stuff. I can still feel that electricity going through me…"

She shook the thought out of her head before glancing over at King.

"How did we do though?" Zekra then asked as she got to her feet. "Did we battle that Elekid the right way?"

"Though you made a few errors, you did fine," King replied. "Though, I recommend you don't sink your fangs into creatures of electricity, poison, and fire from now on. As for you Cubone child, I saw that you shielded your friend with your body. While it wasn't risky this time due to being immune to electricity, I recommend you don't do that on a daily basis. If you're going to act as a shield for your allies, you'll need to learn how to create barriers of protection that aren't your body. You need to create barriers of energy."

"And how do I do that?" Terron asked.

"I'm sure you'll find someone who can teach you that," King simply said. "Just don't use yourself as a safeguard unless you absolutely have to. That's all I have to say."

Jolton Cave B10

"Alright! We're on the last floor!" Zekra cheered.

She then took a bite out of the apple she was eating to satisfy her hunger. Terron, who was also eating an apple, smiled upon hearing this. He could finally leave this dungeon as soon as they found the stairs.

"Stay alert, Zorua child," King reminded the Zorua. "Some of the most dangerous foes of a dungeon are on the bottom floor. Knowing this is a cave, there will probably be many large rock creatures and fully evolved forms of creatures we saw from previous floors."

Terron frowned. He could feel his good mood starting to disappear already just from that reminder. This may have been the last floor to navigate through and while that may have seemed good, Terron also knew it meant it could lead to a potential let down. If he was defeated on this very floor, then he'd have to deal with the shame of nearly completing a mission, but failing at the very last second.

He didn't want to deal with such a soul-crushing emotion.

The group eventually saw the entrance of a room that held the desired staircase they wanted. Terron could see it in plain sight, even if he was quite a distance from it. This was the last staircase. After this, the hardest part of their mission would be over.

He was about to head toward the stairs in eagerness, but King grabbed his arm. The Bisharp pulled the Cubone back with a swift motion, causing Terron to go flying off his feet uncontrollably for a second before he landed back on the ground besides King. Terron tried to yank his arm free, but King's grip held firm.

"Stay put," King instructed. "Don't enter the room."

"Why not? The stairs are right there!" Terron reasoned.

"Take a closer look at lies within the room," King stated.

King released his grip on Terron's arm. He got back to his feet and peered into the room for a few seconds.

There wasn't anything there worthy of note. He looked back up at the Bisharp.

"Nothing's there," Terron reported with a grumble.

King suddenly grabbed the Cubone's head and made him look again into the room. Terron struggled against the cold metal that felt as though it were crushing him.

"Look at the walls," King said. "What do you see on the walls? What's waiting for us on those walls?"

Terron stopped struggling and brought his eyes over to the wall he was being directed to. At first, he still couldn't see anything special. However, after staring at the wall for a moment, he was able to see that there was something there. Strange, egg-shaped Pokémon were stuck to the walls thanks to their green spikes that stuck out all over their body. Despite not moving, the Pokémon seemed quite awake. There had to be at least four of them, possible more on different walls.

"What are those things?" Terron asked.

"Ferroseed," King said matter-of-factly. "They attach themselves to walls to get minerals from stones. As soon as they spot any enemy, they will fire their spikes at you. This normally isn't a problem if there's just one, but because there are multiple, it could prove dangerous. That is why you always check the room you are about to enter; hostile Pokémon may be waiting for you and once they see you, they won't hold back. They will annihilate you with their advantage of surprise."

Terron felt his head get jerked upward toward the ceiling.

"What do you see up there?" King then asked.

Terron squinted his eyes and noticed that there were many spider-like Pokémon hanging from above on webs streaming with electricity. They didn't seem to notice him, but the mere sight of them was unsettling.

"More Pokémon," Terron answered uneasily.

"Yes, Joltik and Galvantula," King replied. "They're simply waiting for someone to come along so they can pounce on you."

"But how did you see them so well?" Zekra asked. "They blend in pretty well with this dim lighting."

"Years and years of practice," King answered as he released his grip on Terron. "But, we need to focus. We have to get rid of these Ferroseed or at the very least, avoid their attacks and get to the staircase. The Joltik and Galvantula are of concern as well. They can ensnare you in their electric webbing and you will never be able to escape. How do you suppose we take care of both these pests?"

"Ummmmmmm, long range attacks?" Zekra suggested.

"Yes, that's one possibility," King replied with a nod. "However, I don't think you two know many ranged attacks, do you?"

"I can throw my bone," Terron said.

"Yes, but you sacrifice your weapon if you use it in this sort of situation," King remarked. "But I see. Both of your kind are known for having direct attacks. Which leads us to the next option of what to do…"

King took off his backpack and set it on the ground. Terron watched King dig through the bag until he pulled out an orb that was roughly the same size as the Light ball. However, this one was completely blue and didn't have any sort of energy flowing visibly.

King held out the new orb to the children.

"This is a Wonder orb," King explained. "There are a wide variety of these orbs, all having a different effect when you use them. Some can teleport enemies to another location on this floor, others can increase your speed or evasiveness. All are useful and while they are typically used in Mystery Dungeons, they can also be used elsewhere. This particular one is known as the Petrify orb, which paralyzes every enemy in the room you're standing in once you activate it. It's very useful for ambushes."

"And how do you activate it?" Zekra asked.

"You simply tell it to activate," King answered. "Now, listen closely. Once this orb takes effect, you will only have so much time before the effect wears off. You must run to the stairs as fast as possible. Do not hesitate no matter what. Otherwise… the Ferroseed, Galvantula, and Joltik will recover and they will finish you off in a second."

Upon hearing this, Terron began to recall his incident of what happened when the Scyther from Overgrowth Jungle defeated him. He knew what had really happened during that incident and how he really couldn't stay dead, but the thought of it was still unnerving. The feeling of almost dying only to be resurrected at the last second…

He didn't want to repeat that.

Terron gave a quick nod of understanding.

"Now, when I activate this orb, head toward the stairs," King instructed. "You shouldn't run into any resistance, but if you do, eliminate them as fast as possible or avoid them."

King then took the blue orb in his hands and took a step into the room. As soon as he became visible, the Ferroseed fired a swarm of spikes from their bodies at him. The spikes quickly made their way toward the Bisharp.

He wasn't going to be able to activate the orb without getting impaled. To make things worse, the electric spiders were dropping from the ceiling and crawling toward King rapidly. Terron tensely waited to see what would happen however.

He knew that King would think of something to get out of this danger.

The spikes and spiders began to close in on the Bisharp. They were a mere few feet away from him.

At the speed they were going, they would strike in a matter of seconds.

Terron found himself looking away.

CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!

Confused by the strange sounds, Terron looked back at King to see what was happening. Much to his surprise, King was not being pierced by the multiple thorns. A slightly transparent and green barrier was encasing him and taking the brunt of the attack. Whenever the spikes hit against the strange shield, they would bounce off before falling to the ground harmlessly. The electric spiders tried to attack King as well, but their attacks couldn't pierce the barrier.

"Petrify orb, activate," King said calmly.

The blue orb within his hand immediately shattered into pieces as a strange kind of electricity escaped from within the orb. It darted out of King's hands and flew out of his barrier before hitting the ground. The single stream of static split into multiple strands as it made its way to all the enemies. All at once, each strand of static shot itself into the bodies of all the Ferroseed, Joltik, and Galvantula.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Every Ferroseed suddenly dropped to the ground and ceased launching their spikes. Streams of electricity could be seen coming out of their bodies. The electric spiders seemed frozen in place as well.

Terron and Zekra stared in amazement.

"Have you forgotten the plan already?!" King shouted at the two. "Run! Get to the exit! You have thirty seconds before they regain mobility! Hesitate and you will die!"

That was all that needed to be said to get the two going.

They panted heavily as they ran past King and kept their eyes focused on their destination.

The two could see the stairs within their sights. It was only a few feet away.

TWACK!

Something spinning rapidly rammed itself into Terron. Spikes cut into his skin as he was blown away from the stairs and tumbled on the ground.

Terron looked in front of him to find the spinning Ferroseed coming back at him again for another round. The paralysis must have faded on this one.

Just as the Ferroseed was to close in on Terron, he raised up his weapon to intercept the attack.

THUNK!

Though he managed to avoid being hit, Terron was blown backwards once more from the sheer force of the attack. He hadn't been able to resist the momentum.

Terron saw Zekra quickly rush over to him. She was trying to get him to his feet.

"Come on!" Zekra cried urgently. "The others are starting to recover! We have to hurry before they all attack us!"

"I'm trying," Terron muttered. "Just… gah… those spikes hurt…"

He checked his body to find that he had many wounds from being impaled by the Ferroseed's attack. Countless holes were apparent on his body and many were starting to bleed.

"Well you'll get injured even more unless we hurry!" Zekra stated.

She gently bit down on Terron's hand and pulled him up to his feet. She then went behind Terron and started shoving him forward with her head to get him moving. Once Terron started running again, Zekra ran by his side, making sure not to outrun him.

Just then, two more Ferroseed struck. They rapidly fired their thorns at the two from different angles. The children quickly picked up speed in an attempt to outmaneuver the oncoming spikes. The two were able to get away from most of the attack, but a few spare thorns managed to strike both Zekra and Terron. They each let out a cry of pain, but two children wouldn't stop running.

"We're almost there, Terron!" Zekra said. "Just a little bit further!"

Terron glanced around the room. He started seeing the other Ferroseed beginning to move. The Petrify orb's effects had faded. Every Pokémon that was once paralyzed was now starting to head toward the two in a mad frenzy. This time though, it wasn't just Ferroseed.

There were other Pokémon in the room now. They had come during all of the excitement.

Joltik, Galvantula, Golbat, Zubat, Sandshrew, Sandslash, Graveler…

Many kinds of feral ones were dashing toward the two injured Pokémon.

They were swarming around them.

Yet despite the hopelessness of the situation, the two kept running. Terron knew that Zekra could see what he saw, but he knew without a doubt that she wouldn't give up.

He had no intentions of giving up either.

The two kept going.

The wild ones started to close in on the children and prepared to strike.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCHHHH!

A horrible, high-pitched scratching sound filled the air. Every Pokémon in the room dropped down to the ground and covered their ears. Many screamed along with the noise to make a choir of suffering.

Zekra and Terron instantly fell to the ground from an intense ear-ache plaguing the two.

Zekra squirmed around violently and let out shrieks of tortured pain. Her movements were spastic and uncontrolled.

Terron too felt this same pain that started bouncing off the walls of his ear canal. With each passing second, the sound would only grow worse and his mind began to throb with anguish.

He attempted to cover his ears to block out the noise, but it did little to help.

Cries of agony escaped his maw.

"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T RUN FAST ENOUGH!"

Terron looked up to find King standing over the two. Both of his blades were drawn out of his arms. His expression was fixed in exasperation.

"KING!" Terron shouted since the screaming around him was making it hard to understand his own words. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Rather than answer, King grabbed Terron with one hand and Zekra with the other. Somehow, he managed to carry the two children in his hands without losing his grip or suffocating them. He immediately made his way through all of the chaos and to the stairs that were surrounded by a mob of screaming Pokémon with the two in tow.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

With swift and fluid movements, King sliced into each and every Pokémon that was in his way with his blades. During the process, he somehow didn't injure the children.

Bodies were torn to pieces as those pieces flew across the room in a messy fashion. Golbat wings were severed off, Joltik bodies were stepped on and smashed, Sandslash were sliced to pieces, and blood fell down upon the cave floor like drops of rain.

Eventually, King had made it through the large swarm of Pokémon, their brutally-murdered corpses collapsed behind him in heaps.

He was right next to the stairs.

There was one Pokémon guarding the stairs however.

It was a Graveler. It stood there fiercely despite the knowledge that all of its comrades were slain.

It would still fight. It would still prevent these travelers from finishing the dungeon.

King gave the feral an agitated glare.

He held up his blades that were coated with the fresh blood of wild Pokémon.

The blades gave off a malicious glint.

SLASH! SLASH!

All four of the feral's limbs were sliced off its body in a mere second.

SLASH!

A blade struck it in the face, cutting through the Pokémon as if it were made of butter rather than rock.

It split into two pieces.

Each severed body segment fell over to the ground as King dashed through the empty space where the Graveler once was.

With the exit finally open, King plunged down the final stairway of Jolton Cave with his recruits in tow.