Chapter 21: Nerves of Steel

-Dash's POV-

So far, the mission was going well. The meeting place was way deep into World Abyss, but I'd been through longer journeys on Sky Peak. The only difference is that I have to keep an eye on Team Hothead.

Soon, we finally got to the challenge room. Aerodactyl was waiting with a Raichu and a Magmar.

They must have been trying to cover Aerodactyl's weaknesses, and Meowth must have known this. How does he do that? Alright, Dashie-boy, think.

While I was trying to think, the other team and Penny and Savage rushed forward.

Both of them were taking on Magmar, and I was only stunned for a second before I charged Aerodactyl. I used Thunderbolt on him, but it wasn't as good as I'd like.

Suddenly, I felt electricity go into my side. Raichu must have tried an electric attack. I turned in time to see Raichu charging me with his fists glowing. Recognizing the Brick Break attack, I jumped back. But he used Agility to catch up with me. Right when he was about to punch me in the face, Savage appeared and caught the punch.

I heard him growl, "You want a fist-fight? Let's duke it out, motherf***er."

He and Raichu started fighting and I turned back to Aerodactyl, seeing Penny attacking Magmar with Brine.

Aerodactyl dove down towards me. I tried another Thunderbolt, but he disappeared and reappeared closer. Figuring out that he used Agility, I jumped out of the way and barely dodged his teeth, but he still knocked me in the gut with his wing, pitching me into the air.

I charged my body expecting a bite, but it never came. I looked at him as I hung upside down falling through the air. It would have been funny if he weren't charging up a Hyper Beam. He fired and I couldn't do anything to stop it from hitting me, blasting me into the wall.

I managed to keep myself from fainting, but I wasn't in any shape to run at my usual speed. I struggled to stand up. If I fail, I'm not taking it lying down. When I looked up and saw Aerodactyl quivering, I remembered that Hyper Beam needs a recharge time. I started charging up a Thunderbolt and shot it at him. It hit dead-on, but he shook it off after I finished and started flying towards me again.

He was stopped by jagged rocks flying towards him. Penny jumped in front of me and fired an Ice Beam while Aerodactyl was stuck in the air. He managed to fly up, but the beam still caught him and froze his leg.

I looked over and saw that, during my fight, Penny and Savage managed to finish off the other two opponents. Savage was standing by the fallen Raichu and two rings of light surrounded him before turning into jagged rocks as he used Stone Edge.

The rocks flew and hit Aerodactyl, knocking him to the ground. Both Penny and Savage stepped forward, but Aerodactyl rose his hands, "Whoa, whoa, I give up." He pulled out his badge and it shone, "I'll meet you at the guild for your prize." He warped out with his two partners.

I turned to Savage, "You helped me? Not to be rude, but you helped me?"

He crossed his arms, "What, did you want me to let him beat the s*** out of you?"

I shook my head and Penny laughed out loud, "Ha ha! Looks like Mr. Grumpy finally learned something about team spirit!"

"F*** off. We leaving or what?"

I looked at our now glowing badges, "Yeah, let's go home."

-Meowth's POV-

Rio finished off Regirock with a Focus Punch in the face while Rose, Hogan and I held him in place with Psychic, Shadow Claw and Hogan grappling one of its legs.

Cracks spread across his face until he turned into a ball of silver light and went into all of us. Then, same as before, a voice went off in my head.

You have my permission.

The back wall opened and we started moving forward. While we were walking, it gave me time to do some thinking.

We already knew that Team Charm moved forward already. After we got back from our first run, they left a note in front of the stone that was blocking the way to this room. I still remember what it said.

"To Team Righteous:

"As we promised earlier, we have already solved this mystery. We're going on ahead. This is a race to see who can get the treasure first, you know!

"-Team Charm-"

I don't know how they could've moved forward when the marker was still there. Maybe it reforms behind us, and we never noticed. Or maybe it's only open for those who get the stones. Either way, it doesn't matter.

Another thing; I'm really starting to get sick of the "voices in my head" shtick. If somebody's got something to say, you'd think they'd say it to your face. I haven't had a voice in my head since I got to this world. I wonder if the big voice in the rainbow has been too busy to talk. I've got a few questions about the whole space distortion thing.

My train of thought was cut short as the cave turned gray and we got to the next room with a stone marker. It had the same Unown letters carved in that I thought they would.

While we were in the rock part of the cave, I told the rest of the team about Registeel and about what the stones we'd need looked like. We managed to find all of them while we were looking for the R, O, and C stones (we already had the K). Unfortunately, only Rio and Hogan will be able to do any real damage against it. Rose will be there for healing, but I'll only be sitting on the sidelines.

I dunno, maybe I could trip 'im up wit' a Shadow Claw.

We lined up and Rio took out the five stones, setting them down. We closed our eyes and the marker started shining. It absorbed the stones and disappeared in a flash. Rio and Hogan took the lead, while Rose and I followed.

When we got into the room, sure enough, Registeel was waiting.

"IF YOU WANT TO GO ON, SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER."

Rio dashed forward and jumped up to use Force Palm on Registeel's face. Registeel started raising its arm to swat Rio, but Hogan was right behind to use Low Kick, knocking Registeel off-balance.

Rio's Force Palm hit and Registeel was pushed back about half a foot. It stood up again and its body shone blue before it shimmered white. The earlier scrapes from earlier were gone, and its body looked like it just got a polish.

Remembering the move, I called out, "Hogan, dat's Iron Defense! Direct attacks won't do much anymore; use Focus Blast!"

Hogan looked over his shoulder and nodded, putting his hands together. But instead of firing it normally, he opened one of his hands, making the ball float above it and started winding up for a punch. Hogan slammed his fist into the Focus Blast and sent it speeding toward Registeel.

The attack hit Registeel solid in the side and he shook a bit before taking a step forward and holding its hands forward. Electricity started charging between them, and he fired a Charge Beam at Hogan. He tried to dodge, but he got zapped. I looked and Rose was already on her way over to heal him.

Won't be enough time. Somebody needs ta stall 'im.

I looked at Rio and he was charging for a Focus Punch. I thought about what I could do. Then I remembered something and couldn't keep a grin down.

'Course. There's always my old team specialty.

-Rose's POV-

I ran over to Hogan as fast as I could, using my psychic powers to speed myself up a little bit. I still wasn't entirely used to this body, so I could only double my speed. He was on the ground and electricity buzzed across his body.

Once I got there, I got on my knees and held my hands over him, starting the incantation. I heard Registeel's ground-shaking footsteps and saw it advancing towards us with its fingers sharpened into claws and glowing. I just remained at Hogan's side and continued the chant. It started running forward and I looked at Rio. He had his attack ready now, and was running towards Registeel, but he was too far away. Still chanting the Wish, I looked for Meowth, but saw that he was nowhere to be found.

Registeel was almost on top of us when suddenly the ground crumbled underneath its feet and it fell into a hole up to its arms. Meowth dug his way up from underground a few meters away and slapped both his paws on the ground. Shadow Claws extended and wrapped around Registeel's upper body. It wasn't holding on very well, but they tangled up its limbs decent enough. Just then, I felt the healing energy go through my hands, removing all of Hogan's burns and injuries. Rio was almost about to reach Registeel and Hogan jumped to his feet and started charging forward as well.

Both Rio and Hogan wound up while running, their fists glowing with Brick Break and Focus Punch, and delivered a double attack that sent Registeel flying out of the hole and thudding to the ground on its back. It shook for a bit before turning into an orb of blue light and dividing into us. A voice spoke in my mind like the other two times.

You have my permission.

The wall at the back opened up, allowing us to go forward. But, before we could, three golden lights started glimmering in front of us. They flashed white and the unconscious forms of Team Charm were in front of us.

Rio gasped and rushed forward, skirting around the hole in the ground, "Team Charm! Are you all right?!" The rest of us ran forward and Rio started going through the Treasure Bag, probably for Oran Berries, but they started stirring.

Lopunny groaned and sat up, holding her head, "Wh-what happened to us…?" Medicham and Gardevoir started getting up as well.

Lopunny said, "Oh! We were fighting Registeel here… Then Medicham got into trouble…" She looked down, "…After that, I just don't know. I don't know what came next."

They turned to us and Lopunny said, "I can see that you saved us though, Team Righteous." She smiled, "Thank you! We were in a bind!"

Medicham added, "We owe you one, Team Righteous. If you didn't show up in time to save us, that would've been it for us."

"That is so true," Gardevoir said. "I'm afraid we can never repay you for this…"

Rio waved his hands, "Really, you don't have to-"

Lopunny clapped her hands, "I know! How about letting us back you up at some point, Team Righteous? Yes, I think we've already failed on our own exploration. Tee-hee! Don't worry! We won't try to steal your glory. Or your treasure!"

I heard Meowth mutter, "We didn't suspect ya would, but-"

"Let's go!" Lopunny interrupted. "Our goal can't be far off now!" They led the way forward and we had little choice but to follow.

-Damus's POV-

Everyone was starting to get concerned now.

I had returned from my rescue mission. Dash and Penny gave a sparkling report about how they "beat the tar" out of the challenger. Siltram and Mel and Vlad and Levi turned in their respective outlaws. Cathy finished the day's training with a strangely serious look on her face, having learned the move Baton Pass. Savage got back from his post-mission sparring match with the local Primeape.

But Rio, Meowth, Hogan and Rose remained unaccounted for.

Wigglytuff's guild members Loudred, Corphish, and Bidoof returned, according to Chimecho, approximately four hours after leaving for the exploration.

Now it was sunset, and our four members and Team Charm have yet to return.

What Team Charm does is their business, but for Rio and Meowth to remain gone for so long without advance notice is simply unprofessional.

"What do you think they could be doing?" I heard Siltram whisper.

"Beats me," Dash whispered back. "Knowing them, they're probably tied up in some important fight."

Mel held two fingers side by side and drew them apart slowly, tilting her head questioningly. (AN: I don't actually know sign language; I just do semi-easy-to-interpret things. Sorry if I offend anyone who knows sign language.)

Vlad shrugged at Mel, "Who knows how long they'll take? Maybe they got pulled into another dimensional hole."

Siltram slapped Vlad's side, "Don't joke about that! We were all worried sick when that happened!"

Levi raised his wing, "You know, they could just still be exploring Aegis Cave. Time in mystery dungeons can be… different."

"Guess you'd know, bookworm," Savage jeered.

Levi smirked, "Why, yes I do. You'd know too, if you ever picked up a book in your life, hothead."

"Nerd!"

"Ignoramus."

"The f*** does that even mean?!"

"Exactly."

Ignoring them, Cathy smiled, "Well, I'm sure they'll be fine. Rio and Meowth were training like maniacs the past week, so they're super-strong."

Deciding to take that opportunity to enter the conversation, "In any case, I have heard all of your reports, so you're all dismissed for the day. Get rest and report back here tomorrow. I will check the mission boards and have assignments for you tomorrow until Rio, Meowth, Hogan and Rose return."

Levi turned from his argument, "Oh? And who made you acting captain of this ship?"

"Rio and Meowth," Dash answered.

I couldn't help but allow a small smirk to slide across my face.

Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, but I'm making progress! I also altered things slightly by making the trip through Aegis Cave take over a day, cuz let's all face it, it takes a long time to find all of the right stones. Posting this at midnight.

Also, an "advanced notice". After the Aegis Cave arc, I'm putting in a few filler chapters because reasons. To sweeten the pot, I'm willing to take requests if there is a particular occurrence you want to happen, within reason. It can be something happening among the recruits, or a made-up one-shot story arc. But not a new recruit; that ship has sailed. Also, it's only two or three filler chapters, so it's first come-first served.