Author's note: IM NOT DEAD! :D Sorry it has taken so long for me to update! I have had the WORST case of writers block I have ever had... and writing how ever many stories... on top of stress at work... I can' find the time to even sleep (which I really SHOULD be doing now, since I got work tonight...) Anyway, though I had this story somewhat planned up, I think I may tweak the direction it was going a bit It's been so long since I updated, I can't remember if there is any other issues I need to address... oh well... the usual... R&R, And I'll try to continue working on both my stories!

--

The tunnels were no less icy than the huge chamber they had left, but they were rather cramped. There was only enough room for one of them to get through at a time.

"Oy... I can't see, it's so dark," Monica confessed, "You mind leading the way, Charming?"

"I guess I can," the charmander replied. The small tunnel made it difficult to wiggle past the hard squirtle shell, despite Monica's efforts to make room. Finally, the charmander managed to squeeze through and the two Pokemon were on their way again.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Monica wondered aloud as Charming led the way, tail swinging from left to right, lighting up the tunnel a bit.

"Well, the way it was explained to me was that there are supposed to be stairs that will lead to the next floor," Charming answered, "These stairs are supposed to appear only in rooms."

"Well, that's good. We'd never find any stairs in a tunnel," Monica smiled.

"Why not?" Charming asked, confused, "It could happen! We really don't know that much about mystery dungeons..."

"Yeah, but your tail doesn't light up more than a few feet ahead or behind you. We'd fall down the stairs before we ever saw them!" the squirtle laughed.

"Hey, you wanna get up here and lead, instead?" the charmander threatened with a laugh.

"Oh, but you do such a good job!" Monica said with a malicious grin, "Besides, if we run into anything bigger than us, it'll go after you first!"

The charmander stopped considering her comment.

"Oh, I was only kidding! Besides, I got your your back!" the squirtle reassured.

"Yeah, right..." Charming pretended not to be fully convinced. It was weird how well they got along, he thought. It was like they had been friends for years, the way they were joking with each other. yet they had only met the other day. And if that wasn't weird enough, this Pokemon was a girl! He was always uncomfortable around girls... though, he wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that most of the girls he met were usually princesses, many of which were candidates for being his consort... he didn't even want to think of getting married. It was hard enough trying to learn to be a king...

"Hey, you look a little out of it," Monica said worriedly.

"Uh... it's nothing," he smiled, realizing that he had gotten lost in deep thought.

"Are you sure there are any stairs here?" Monica asked, "It seems like we have been walking in circles, and there has been no sign of any."

"There has to be. Maybe we haven't looked everywhere yet?" Charming suggested.

"Well, I hope we find a way out soon... I keep getting this feeling that we're being watched." the squirtle shuddered.

"Hey, I think I see another room up there!" the charmander pointed ahead, "Come on! I don't think we've been in there yet!"

The two Pokemon hurried into the room, the charmander's tail illuminating the entire area. In the middle of the room was a dark space in the ground. The charmander and squirtle approached it cautiously, not sure of what it could be. Charming swung his tail in it, but not without worry. What if there was something in there that grabbed it? He shuddered at the thought.

But nothing made a grab for the little fire lizard's tail. Instead, the light revealed a set of old looking stairs.

"Hey! We found them!" Monica exclaimed happily. She stepped onto the them and hurried down. Charming, not wanting to be left behind, hurried after her.

--

"Hey wait up!" Charming cried when he stepped from the last step. Monica turned around to laugh and tell him to hurry, but all that escaped from her mouth was a small gasp.

"Charming--the stairs are gone!" she managed choke out.

The charmander turned around and looked at where the stairs had been, "I guess there really isn't any going back..."

"Oh my gawd! this is awful! what if we get attacked or something," the squirtle panicked.

"Hey, you were the one who said we should go!" Charming growled at her, "Look, we need to find the exit in order to get out. Waiting for something to come and find us will be no better than us running into something."

Monica stopped bawling for a bit to listen. Of course he was right... what had come over her? She was normally the one who kept her cool... but this whole mess, turning into a Pokemon and such... it was really too much for someone like her to understand. Her head hurt.

"Alright," she said weakly, "Got any plans?"

Charming nodded, "Just keep looking for the exit."

Monica looked around the room that the stairway had been. There were three exits. They could all lead to different places, or they could just circle around back to the room they were in. Either way, she didn't want to spend any more time in this dungeon then she had to.

"Let's go this way," She pointed to the leftmost door.

"Okay," Charming led the way. The tunnel wasn't quite as cramped,but there was still hardly any room to maneuver... Monica hoped nothing would attack them...

The two small pokemon stepped into a room larger than the one they had left. The wandered into the middle, squinting in the dim light, trying to see if a door could be found.

"I think it's a dead end," Charming said finally, "But it looks like there is something on the ground over there..."

The charmander walked over to the 'something' and picked it up. It was about the size of his hand and a brilliant shade of blue.

"It's a blue gummi," he murmered.

"What's a blue gummi?" Monica asked, peeking over his shoulder to see.

"It's food that Pokemon eat to make their IQ go up... It helps them learn more advanced battle strategies. I used to get them given to me as gifts all the time... I prefer the red gummis..." Charming handed it to Monica, "They're really rare. I don't like the blue ones so much, so you can have it."

"But this was sitting on the floor..." Monica protested, "That's kinda gross...you can't expect me to eat it."

"You're really picky, you know that?" Charming laughed, "I think almost all the gummis you find will be on the ground. It's not like they're gonna make you sick... not unless it's covered in grime or something..."

Monica looked down at the gummi... it didn't LOOK dirty, but what about bacteria? It could have some pretty nasty stuff on it anyway... and who knows WHAT it might have been sitting in before... not too mention how long it could have been.

"Oh, will you just eat it!" Charming grabbed the gummi and stuck it in the squirtle's mouth, trying to keep her from spitting it out.

Monica swallowed hard. It tasted pretty good, but...

"Charming!" She shrieked, "What if that thing makes me sick!"

"Then I'll drag you out of here myself if I have to!" He joked, "You'll be fine. Now lets find a way out of here."

The charmander led the way back, and they took the next door. It took them to a new room, this one having a set of stairs.

"Ha! Another floor down!" Monica grinned.

"And who knows how many more to go..." Charming said gloomily, "We really don't know how big this dungeon is... it could be a hundred floors."

"Well, if that's the case, killjoy, then we better star moving!" She shoved him towards the staircase.

--

About 3 floors later, Monica and charming reached an old statue.

"This looks like a resting area... there's even a Kangaskhan statue..." Charming said, examining the old, crumbly stone.

"A Kangaskhan statue?" Monica raised a brow, "What's so great about that?"

"It allows teams to save what progress they've made through a dungeon... It's usually found in fairly long dungeons..."

"Saving progress?" Monica sounded even more confused.

" Oh, well, These statues are kind of magical in a way. I've been told they offer protection to teams who enter the floors that they are on from attacking pokemon on the floors above. I've also heard that they make whatever floor they are on kinda like an new entrance to another, smaller dungeon... so if you go on and get knocked out by attacking Pokemon, you end up here instead of all the way back at the begining of the dungeon. Kangaskhan Statues have saved many an explorer in some of the toughest dungeons, so reaching one in called 'Saving your progress,'"

"Huh..." Monica cocked her head.

"You look like you understand it about as much as I do..." Charming chuckled, "This is the first time I've ever seen one. I'm a bit skeptical, but if it's true that it's like a new entrance, then maybe we can go back... if ya want..."

Monica shook her head, "No way. There's nothing for us back at that beach, and besides the cold, really don't mind the dungeon crawling."

"Alright then, we should rest up here and get started as soon as possible," Charming smiled, "And the bright side? This next stretch shouldn't be near as long, right?"

"If what you say is true, then yeah, you're right..." Monica yawn and leaned up against the old statue, shutting her eyes, "I'm looking forward to it..."

The squirtle was soon snoring softly. Charming blushed. This girl was looking forward to traveling with him... he tremored. Perhaps he was beginning to really like this Pokemon...