Chapter 11: Challengers, Recruits and Ice, OH MY!

"Aw, come on! The path is under da water?!"

"Under the water" was exaggerating a bit. The path was submerged, yes, but only to about ankle-depth. Also, you could clearly see the shadow where the path was and where it forked.

I put a hand on his shoulder, "Meowth, a little water never hurt anybody."

He looked at me, "Clearly, ya've never been hit with a point-blank Water Gun. Besides, I'm a cat; cat's hate water."

"Really?" Vlad chuckled, "I'll be sure to remember that for my next prank."

Meowth looked over his shoulder, "Try it, an' you'll find out how a Shadow Claw feels."

"Oh, come now! Can't you humor me and at least pretend to be scared or nervous?"

"He knows that if he does, then you'll just keep doing it," Damus added.

I sighed, "How about we just move on? We have a long path to cross."

Damus turned to me, "I second Rio's plan; this banter is getting us no closer to completing our goal."

Meowth pointed forward, "Alright then, let's go. I'll dry my feet off when we get to da island…"

-Dash's POV-

"Hold still, will you?!"

I chuckled as Cathy kept chasing me, trying to pin me down. After a bit of training in the Dragon Maze, she learned Growl, but she found herself getting stuck on learning Quick Attack. So to help her get past this wall (and have some fun on this training session), I gave her the challenge of hitting me with an attack. By my understanding, if she used Quick Attack, she should be able to hit me.

But nobody ever said I had to make it easy for her, did they? I sure didn't.

"C'mon, Slowpoke! I can see those Tackles coming yesterday! Pick up the pace!"

"Did you leave your eyes behind? I'm over here!"

"I swear, you're getting slower as we go. Are you sure that you can do this? Maybe we oughta go someplace more your speed, like Beach Cave."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed at me. She tried tackling me again, but I dodged. As she went by, something set off my static electricity. I looked down and there were drops of water on my leg. Then I heard a sniffle. She was facing away from me, but tears were falling to the ground.

Oh, no… I didn't mean to insult her that bad.

"H-hey, come on, I didn't mean it."

"Maybe, but you're right. How can I be useful to the team if I can't do this?"

I took a step closer, "No, really, I was just making that stuff up; it's how I fight."

"What?"

I took another step closer, "Everybody on the team has their own fighting style. Rio fights to his last breath with moves like Endure and Reversal, Meowth strategizes and out-predicts (seriously, the guy can think circles around me), Siltram has his sludge body to work with, Hogan is a well-rounded fighter that can take as much as he dishes out, Savage is just plain brutal, Damus has his super-serious can-do attitude that helps him focus, Rose has her psychic attacks and is working to sharpen her physical ability, Vlad has his confusing moves and ghost-body, and I have my trash-talk and speed."

Sniffling again, with a bitter tone, she said, "How is this supposed to make me feel better? You're just reminding me of how inadequate I am compared to everyone else…"

I walked up next to her, "The point is, every member of the team figured out what to best use to their advantage. You'll find yours. I'm sure of it!"

"I already did."

"Huh?"

Out of the blue, she tackled me, sending me sprawling on the ground. My jaw fell open, not from having the air knocked out of me, but from the shock. She was looking at me now and her face was completely dry and she had a triumphant grin on her face, "One attack, right?"

I slowly got up and walked over, towering over and looking down at her. She looked up, completely unafraid and unashamed, her grin never slipping.

"You tricked me."

"You said one attack; I landed one attack. Never said it had to be Quick Attack. Plus, you're the one that said to find what to 'best use to my advantage.'"

I tried to keep a serious face, but it started slipping. I let out a chuckle before going into a full-tilt laugh. I wiped away a tear, "Yeah, I did say that, didn't I? Oh, boy, I'm never going to hear the end of this. I've created a monster."

"Aw, relax; I was pulling stuff like this in Mystifying Forest too. I just never thought to use it in a fight."

"Seriously, though, it won't work on just anybody. You're lucky that it was me training you and not Damus. He wouldn't have been affected by your little display; that guy always means serious business. He'd probably give you a lecture about 'maintaining composure'."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now can we keep training in these mazes, or are you going to keep trying to pass the time with challenges?"

I huffed, "Well, excuse me for trying to have some fun instead of just going in and out of the mazes."

-Hogan's POV-

Well, well… Looks like this challenger likes some type diversity.

Steelix didn't have other similar-typed allies; he had a Houndour and a Gengar. I thought hard about how to approach this.

What would Meowth do?

In my mind's eye, I imagined Meowth pacing back and forth talking, "Dat Gengar is big trouble, ya know how Vlad has a ton o' moves ta mess wit' others. Take 'im out first." My image of Meowth readied Shadow Claw. (AN: Hogan is a simple fellow. Images help him think.)

The image poofed away. Don't have Shadow Claw… What would Rio do? Wait! I got it!

"Savage, you take-" I looked to my side to see that Savage had already charged in and was taking on Houndour, unafraid of the flames.Well, at least he's taking on the right one. Now to track down my target.

The Gengar had already disappeared. I charged forward, pretending that I was going for Steelix, and activated Foresight. Everything I saw had a red tinge now and I looked around as I kept running. I spotted him sneaking up on Savage, so I changed my direction and made a beeline for where he was.

I readied Brick Break and jumped, hitting him in the side of the head. He screamed in surprise and tumbled as he fell to the ground. Suddenly, a sandstorm whipped up and I got sand in my eyes. After I cleared the sand out, Gengar was gone.

Dammit! Where'd he go?! Alright, think! What would- What would Vlad do if you were fighting him? He wouldn't come back into the open, that's for sure. Not if his opponent had Foresight.

"WHAT THE F*-"

Oh no! Savage!

I ran over to where I last heard him and blocked a Flamethrower. Savage was on the ground asleep. After the fire stopped I charged forward and hit the Houndour with Revenge, knocking him back. I took a quick look around and saw Gengar hovering near Savage with a glowing purple pin. I ran and took a leap, using Cross Chop and finished him off, the pin disappeared and Gengar slumped unconscious.

I stomped over to Savage and slapped him square on the side of the face. (AN: Yes, I know Wake-Up Slap is supposed to do more damage to sleeping opponents, but I'm having it as a non-damaging 'ally' move, because why would you want your enemy to be woken up?)

"OW! What the f***?!"

I pointed to Houndour, "He did it." Then I charged off to find Steelix in the sandstorm he whipped up. I ran for a while, until I heard a swishing sound. I crouched low to the ground and ducked as a giant tail swung over head. One fringe benefit to holding off the evolution; you're a smaller target.

I grabbed onto the tail and climbed up the Steelix, I used Brick Break on his neck and jumped off as he fell to the ground. I heard him scraping against the ground as he got back up.

"S***! Hogan! Look out!" I turned halfway before I got hit by a Flamethrower. The flames hit my left arm and once they stopped I saw that I had a bad burn. I tried moving my arm, but I winced.

"You motherf***er!" I heard a muffled yell, which was probably the Houndour. I tried moving my arm. It hurt a bit, but I could still move it. Sort of. Odd thing was, I felt my adrenaline start pumping faster. The pain in my arm was pretty much forgotten as I felt fresh power fill my body. (AN: Guts, Raises attack if Pokémon is suffering; i.e. no pain, no gain.)

I looked up as I heard the swishing noise again. Steelix's tail was coming straight down at me. Instead of dodging, I held up my arms and caught it. The ground under me caved slightly, but I stayed standing. Grinning, from the achievement or the absolute mad rush I'm feeling right now, I can't tell, I pull on the tail and spin him around, flipping him over my shoulder and jumping as his head falls to the ground. Using the whiplash on his tail, I slam it onto his head using Submission, knocking him out.

"Alright! Alright! I give! Your friend beat the boss! Just… stop!" Rubbing my arm, I looked over and Savage was still beating up the Houndour, who already had a bunch of bruises on him.

"Savage, we won. Quit beating up the Houndour." I raised my hand, but winced. With the rush gone, I could feel all the pain I was ignoring, including the new bruises I'll have for that Submission stunt.

Ow… Hehe, I'll be feeling this tomorrow. Was a good fight, though. I oughta see Chimecho while I'm waiting for Steelix to meet with us about the reward.

-Meowth's POV-

"Brrr! They don't call it 'Blizzard Island' for nuttin'."

We stayed at the shore of the island and there was snow on top of the sand. The water leftover on my feet was already frosting. I shook it off, trying to keep my feet from freezing to the ground. Two frozen trees marked the entrance to the dungeon.

Rio's breath fogged in front of him as he said, "How long do you think Vlad will take?"

"He's going for stealth, just to make a quick reconnoiter, so it shouldn't be much longer," Damus said.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Vlad warped in front of us, using the Escape Orb we gave him. Weird thing was that he seemed a little rattled.

"Th-there's-" He cleared his throat and put on his usual confidence, "There are a multitude of Ice-types, of course, Piloswine, Sneasel, Snorunt and Smoochum; nothing that our friend Rio can't handle. A few Water-types, Golduck, Marill, Azumarill, and Piplup; might be a little troublesome, but not if we work together. There are a few odds and ends in Azurill, Swablu, Vigoroth, Nosepass, Castform and Delibird. All in all, this shouldn't be all that much trouble with the enemies, but this dungeon runs deep over a large expanse."

"Didja make it to the end?"

He shuddered, "Yes. There's a cave at the other side of this dungeon, but… there was something there. Something watching me from within, like it knew I was there; I didn't want to be found out, so I used the Escape Orb to return here."

Rio raised an eyebrow, "Something 'knew' you were there? Wouldn't you have been hiding yourself for reconnaissance?"

"That's precisely what I was doing. But I couldn't shake the feeling that it was following me with its gaze. I didn't want to be caught alone, so I returned here to bring the rest of you."

So there's sumpin' powerful at da end of dis here island, prob'ly in dat cave. If Scizor came through here an' went missin'…

I turned to everyone else, "Well, we're all here now, an' I didn't travel to dis here island just ta get cold feet." Everybody groaned, but I went on, "C'mon, Vlad came back ta bring da rest of us over ta dat cave, so let's shake a leg!"

"I don't have legs; can I shake one of Damus's?" Vlad asked with a grin.

"Just go," I deadpanned. I liked 'im better when he was nervous.

We went between the two trees and, like always, they disappeared behind us, telling us that we were in the dungeon.

One thing that Vlad was right about was that the dungeon was huge. After 15 floors, I stopped counting. Sometime in the dungeon, Vlad learned Shadow Ball, giving him a move with some range and Damus learned Sucker Punch.

On the 17th (or was it 18th?) floor, we were called out, by what was probably the most ridiculous challenge ever.

"Hey, you!" A Piplup jumped in front of us (from the sound of her voice, a girl.), pointing at us, "I challenge you to a fight!

"Huh?" All of us stopped, and looked at the one who just spoke. Usually, the locals to dungeons never officially challenged us, they usually just attacked. I finally remembered that I could talk, "Uh, kid? Are ya serious?"

"Of course I'm serious! I challenge all of you to a fight; right here and now!"

Rio stepped forward, raising his hands, "Look, I really don't think that it's a good idea for you to challenge us."

She glared, "Why, because I'm a girl?!"

I quickly waved my hands, "Oh, no, we're not openin' dat can o' worms. (We got girl members on our team anyway.) We're just sayin'-"

She charged forward, apparently not wanting to listen anymore. Damus stepped forward and held her back with one leg on her forehead. "We're saying that you don't stand a chance. We're an experienced exploration team." Ouch. I was gonna put it more gently.

"I won't know until I try!"

Rio leaned over to me, "I think I like this one."

Damus narrowed his eyes, "Then try to get past me." The Piplup growled and her flipper glowed as she used Pound to slap Damus's leg away. Damus's eyes glowed blue and flashed before returning to normal. His shoulders tensed up for a bit, but he got ready again as Piplup charged again. She shot a Bubble attack, but Damus used Double Team to disappear and surround her.

Piplup looked around and then span, shooting bubbles everywhere. She listened carefully and turned when one of the bubbles popped on one of the clones.

Clever girl; so dis one's not jus' full o' hot air.

She rushed over and jumped, slapping Damus across the face with Pound. Damus took a step back, but just looked down at Piplup with a red mark on his face.

The wind started picking up, blowing some of the snow around, "You've lost."

She scoffed, "You're kidding. You haven't thrown a single attack!"

"Haven't I?"

A giant ball of energy flew in and hit Piplup, sending her flying. She fell to the ground and started struggling to sit up. Soon, she flopped back to the ground, trying to catch her breath. The rest of us moved closer. I went to Damus, "Didja hafta go wit' Future Sight?"

He looked at me, "I saw that she would be all right. Besides, I saw something else; something that I loathe to admit we need."

Piplup took a deep breath and sat up, "Good fight. So you're saying that you need a Water-type? Then I'm your girl. How about it?"

Rio and I looked at each other. It was true that we didn't have a Water-type team member yet, and Piplup can learn some Flying-type moves. That'll let us search out Midnight Forest, soon as we get her up to speed. 'Course, we'll need to send someone with her to protect against Grass-types. Rio nodded and I shrugged my shoulders.

I turned back to Piplup, "Alright, you're in. Now, your nickname… is Penny. Welcome to da team." (AN: Just a pun on the word "penguin".)

Penny jumped up, "All right!" The light shone down and a badge appeared on her chest. "Sweet! All right, I'll see you later!" She warped out of the dungeon back to Treasure Town.

"Alright, Damus, why'd ya say dat ya hated ta admit dat we'd need her in da team?"

He turned and started walking toward another hallway, "Because, that's yet another hothead on the team. But I know that we need one. At the very least, she's not another 'Savage'."

Rio and I snickered, and Vlad gasped, "Damus… W-was that a joke?!"

Rio and I laughed as Vlad threw a hand over Damus like he was a long-lost brother and annoyed him the rest of the way to the stairs. He backed off when Damus's eyes started glowing again, though.

After a few more floors, Vlad got quiet again as we got to a massive crack in the face of a rock cliff. We took a look at it and I leaned forward, seeing that it went down underground. After a bit, I felt a chill and leaned back. My "creepy needle" was going off the chart.

"Dis is da place where ya turned back? Can't say I blame ya; I feel it too. How 'bout you Rio?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head, "If there's something down there it's too far down for me to detect it."

I rubbed my arms, "I can see why ya wanted all of us here, Vlad. There's a Kangaskhan Rock over there. Let's drop off the extra stuff we found and stock up on supplies."

While we sorted through our stuff, I could see what Vlad meant earlier. It felt like I had a pair of eyes on me the whole time. And I had a nagging feeling that I'd felt this before, but I couldn't put my claw on it.

For those who actually care, here are the current levels of the team members (excluding Penny) as of reaching Crevice Cave. I honestly don't know why, I just felt that maybe some would like to know:

Rio: Lv. 48
Meowth: Lv. 47
Siltram: Lv. 38 (Forgot to mention, he learned Sludge Bomb)
Hogan: Lv. 39
Savage: Lv. 37
Dash: Lv. 39
Damus: Lv. 44
Rose: Lv. 28
Vlad: Lv. 36
Cathy: Lv.17