Chapter Two: Minor Tests of Strength
The sunlight quickly faded as Cobalt stepped into the cave. Immediately, he felt like something was… off. He turned around, only to find the entrance had disappeared, replaced with a solid wall. Before he had time to wonder what was going on, however, he heard the sounds of something scuttling behind him. He turned to see a Clauncher and a Staryu, staring him down from the opposite side of the room, a passageway past them.
...Okay, Cobalt. Calm down. I'm sure they're not- But before he could finish his thought, two jets of water slammed into him, shoving him back into the wall face first. "Augh, what the hell?!" he exclaimed, "I'm gonna get you for that!" While sliding down onto the ground, his Aura Sensors rose, and a chill went down his spine. W-what's happening, I feel like...something's coming!
He rolled to the side instinctively, narrowly dodging a large blast of pressurized water from the Clauncher. Cobalt flipped around and dashed forward as it readjusted its aim, sliding under a large object hurtling towards him. The Staryu flew past, landing near the corner of the room as the Clauncher fired at where he was only a second prior. With the Staryu at the other end of the room, and the Clauncher within striking range, Cobalt slammed into the crustacean with a one-two punch combo, straight to the carapace protecting its face. The pistol shrimp stumbled away from Cobalt, the force of the blows leaving it dazed and confused.
"Hey, wait up, Cobalt!"
Violet! His Aura Sensors fell to the sides of his face as his adrenaline rush faded. He turned to face his new acquaintance. "There you are! I was wonde-" A blast of psychic energy sent him skidding backwards, he crouched down and held his head in pain.
"Cobalt!" Violet called out, before turning to the Staryu and growling threateningly. She crouched down, putting her weight on her haunches, and took deep breath before leaping up over Cobalt. Hot flames flew across the ground towards the Staryu, forcing it to back off. "I'll take care of this one, go take out the other!" she yowled, weaving around blasts of water from her opponent.
"On it!" Cobalt shouted. He shook his head to regain his senses. He turned towards the Clauncher, who had finished recovering from before. Bubbles flew past Cobalt's face in a straight line before exploding upon contact with the wall behind him. The Clauncher swung its massive claw in a large, sweeping arc, and a wave of bubbles hung in the air.
Cobalt grimaced. He had to bite the bullet and waste time with the wall. He surged forward and prepared to push his way through with brute force. However, Staryu was sent careening through the giant bubble field blocking the way as Violet gave chase. He skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding a collision with his ally. "Watch it!" he hissed, although Violet paid him no mind. He stormed forward after she passed, rushing to get a hit in before the shrimp could attack once more. He was met by a thin stream of highly pressurized water from point blank range.
Cobalt reacted with speed, moving his left leg behind his right and throwing his left arm off to the side to side-step the attack. But, being at such a close range, the edge of it sliced into his side, leaving a thin, long gash in its place. The Clauncher looked to confirm its kill, but found the Riolu staring down at him from above. His eyes were wide in pain, his fists were shaking in anger.
With a primal shout, Cobalt arched his back, raising his left arm up into the air behind his head, and twisted around to wind up his counterattack. He forced all of his weight into his right foot, twisting his torso back around, his muscles releasing all of the pent up energy into this single, solitary blow. With a loud, reverberating crack, his fist crashed into the Clauncher with the speed of a bullet. Cobalt followed through completely, smashing the crustacean down into the sandy floor. The shellfish was splayed out flat against the ground, unconscious, with the frontal half of its carapace seriously damaged. The Riolu's legs wavered, nevertheless, he stood proud and victorious over his opponent.
Violet squared off with her own opponent. A glowing, pulsing orb of light formed in front of her. She leapt to the side of Staryu as it recoiled in pain, losing sight of the fox. It blindly fired off a stream of star shaped projectiles to shatter the distraction, unaware of the real danger right beside it.
A torrent of flames shot the starfish violently through the air, sending it crashing through the wall of bubbles right as Cobalt was moving towards it. Violet wasted no time thinking about him; there were more pressing matters to attend to. She rapidly gave chase. However, a blinding wave of sand was kicked up into her eyes. Involuntarily, she yelped out in pain and fear. She stumbled backward, unsure of what to do. Stars slammed into her flank, and sent her tumbling through the sand. Violet groaned in annoyance, rising to her paws and hissing angrily. Flames spewed forth from her mouth, intercepted by water. The resulting collision sent steam and boiling water up into the air, creating a smokescreen that clouded Staryu's vision.
Water flew past Violet's ear as she slinked to the side, rubbing the sand out of her eyes. It must be getting antsy to finish her off, but that same impatience gave Violet a moment to restore her vision. She got a running start, and vaulted up into the air, twisting around to land straight on the Staryu's back, biting hard. Fire was sent straight into it at point blank range until it gave up the fight and fell unconscious.
"H-haha! Yes! I-I did it!" Violet shouted, trotting around with pride. "Cobalt, I-" Violet's breath was cut short. Cobalt was bleeding heavily from a cut on the side of his abdomen. "Cobalt! Are you okay? You're bleeding!" she wailed, rushing over to make sure he wasn't grievously injured.
"I-I'm okay, Violet, really," Cobalt stammered.
Violet inspected his wound, praying that it was not serious. His nervous breathing told her that he was silently hoping as well. After a few moments she silently praised Arceus—he was going to be alright, the wound was shallow. It would heal quickly. "Stay still Cobalt. Take a moment to calm down and rest," Violet insisted.
"B-but the bag..." he mumbled, backing into the wall for support.
"I said take it easy, Cobalt," Violet restated firmly. She slowly sitting him down on the floor. "You were already knocked out for Mew's sake." Violet gently sat him down, leaning him against the wall for support.
"B-but-" He tried to rise to his feet, but Violet hissed at him in frustration.
"Wait five minutes, dammit!" Violet snarled, "You are in no condition to argue with me. Take a moment to think before you start running off again like an idiot!"
Cobalt stammered, before abruptly cutting himself off and staring down at the ground. "...I'm just trying to help," he murmured up at her, looking back down at the ground dejectedly. His ears drooped in sadness. "I'm sorry…"
"Your help won't do any good if you end up dead. I'd rather not have that on my conscience," Violet responded in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. Cobalt's ears lay flat against his head as he sat in silence, unable to respond. Violet looked at his regret filled face and sighed, realizing she may have been too blunt. "I'm sorry, that was harsh of me to say. I really appreciate the gesture, but… don't go running off like that again. Okay? Just… promise me you'll be careful?"
Cobalt sighed, before nodding his head. "Yeah, I get it. I'll try my best."
"Thank you," she exhaled. "Can you walk?"
Cobalt stood up, and took a breath in through his teeth. He held a paw over the wound in his side as best he could. "Y-yeah, I can…"
Violet beckoned him over, heading deeper into the cave herself. "Here, I'll explain some stuff on the way."
Cobalt listened to the Vulpix explain the bizarre properties of the cave as they made their way towards the deeper, lower parts of it's interior. "So, this whole place is just a weird distortion in space-time?" Cobalt inquired, still not quite having grasped it fully. The gash had finally stopped bleeding, though he walked stiffly as they padded down the sloped floor.
"Yeah, basically," Violet confirmed, "Mystery Dungeons always shift around from one visit to the next. As a result, many Pokémon have ended up lost in these halls without a means of escape."
"Yeah, it certainly sounds crazy to have amnesia when shit like this happens," he stated crossly.
"Well that's not normal around here, this is," Violet flicked her tails irritably, "Can we just let that go and focus on what's important?"
"Alright, alright," Cobalt relented, "Those two got lost and ended up like that?"
"Yep," Violet nodded her head, "Those two must have found themselves lost here and have fallen prey to the Dungeon." Cobalt raised an eyebrow, unsure of what exactly she meant. Violet took that as her cue to continue. "The Dungeon warps everything inside it. Bizarre phenomena can occur as a result. Hurricanes in calm waters, pitfalls in giant chasms. Those are all physical distortions as a result of the Dungeon. But, that's not all that can change. Even the inhabitants of a Dungeon can become warped by it. And, if you spend too long in one, you are reverted into a primal state, unable to think or act in complex or rational ways."
"WHAT?!" Cobalt shouted. "A-Am I going to be okay?!" He looked down at himself in worry, panicking heavily.
"Calm down, you're going to let the thieves know we're here!" Violet snapped back at him. Cobalt closed his mouth quickly, though his fear was still palpable in the air. After listening for any noises, Violet deemed it safe to continue talking at a low volume. "It takes far longer for that to happen. You'll be alright." Cobalt put his left paw over his heart and sighed in relief.
After some time the two entered a split in the path, unsure of where to go next. Cobalt listened carefully for noises. Fluttering wings, rustling cloth, and puffs of smoke could all be heard off to the right, towards what looked to be the deepest part of the cave. Violet sensed it too, and the two stalked their way over to the next room.
Violet peered her head around the corner. The two thieves were rummaging through her stuff, sorting through her seeds and food and shoving the food into their mouths as they worked. Her fur bristled in anger. They were eating her stuff, acting like it was theirs. Cobalt looked as well, and responded accordingly. No words needed to be said; even with their differences, they both knew what the other was thinking. They would stop the thieves here, and do so quickly and efficiently.
The Koffing and Zubat, unaware of the two, continued their miniature feast. Before suddenly, in the corner of their eyes, a bright orange flash raced towards them. "Awk! The Vulpix!" Zubat cried and flapped wings rapidly to back away from the approaching fire, sending uneaten berries rolling across the ground. The Koffing, was unable to move out of the way in time and took the whole blast head on. It flew across the room, slamming into the back wall with a heavy wheeze.
Zubat let loose an ear splitting screech as he dived towards Violet, causing her to lose focus and cringe in pain. He bared its fangs, ready to strike. However, before Zubat could score a hit, Cobalt had already sprinted across the room, Zubat squarely in his sights. He smashed his foot into the ground, rocketing up into the air towards his target. Then, he shoved his knee deep into the Zubat's soft belly, transferring all of his momentum into the bat as it let out a squeak of pain. The impact sent him crashing into the adjacent wall with a loud and hearty smack. He tumbled down, rendered instantly unconscious upon impact.
"Ugh, thanks Cobalt…" Violet moaned, shaking her head. She gently rubbed a forepaw into her forehead to alleviate the pain.
Cobalt skid to a stop on the sandy floor, almost losing his footing, before turning to respond. But suddenly, he stopped. A familiar chill lanced through his spine, his danger-sense tingling. He quickly dove off the side, rolling out of the way of a barrage of gunk pellets. "Violet! Look out!" he shouted, trying to warn her before it was too late. She was not focused on her surroundings, as she shrugged off the effects of the Zubat's cry. The globs of waste collided into her side, sending her flying back out of the room with a loud grunt of pain. Cobalt called out to her, running to help her, before a sinister laugh echoed out from behind him.
"Not so fast, Riolu!" the Koffing chortled, rising back up into the air. "You have more pressing matters to deal with right now!"
Cobalt snarled angrily at the toxic ball, his fur bristling as he squared off with his opponent. He glanced back at Violet. She was growling in frustration, trying to get unstuck. All of the slime was pinning her against the wall. She was safe for now, but he couldn't run into the narrow hallway to help her with the Koffing still in play. He needed to give her time to get out, and he had to take care of the threat and get that bag back. He stepped forward, the Koffing's malicious smile growing larger, before he hesitated. He couldn't help but think back to the earlier conversation he had with Violet, stressing out as he slowly shuffled around the room, keeping his eyes on the ball. But before he could continue planning, a large wave of slime pellets flew through the air towards Cobalt. He slid under the attack, scrambling back to his feet quickly. The Koffing laughed, clearly toying with the Riolu—it didn't register him as a threat. Cobalt backed up, out of options, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a half-decent plan. Suddenly, a squishing noise came from under his foot. He quickly checked, fearing he had stepped in the gunky residue and was stuck. But, to his embarrassment, he had merely stepped in a runaway berry by accident. Koffing laughed wildly, amused by this. "Watch your footing! You'll just make this easier for me!" Cobalt huffed with annoyance and kicked it off to the side, sending it splattering it against the wall. After seeing that, his eyes widened before shifting his focus back on Koffing.
Cobalt slowly shuffled around the room, the Koffing keeping his eye on him as he did so. He nonchalantly moved right next to another berry and sent it flying towards the Koffing, sending the mushy remains straight into Koffing's eyes. Rushing, he performed a one handed cartwheel, and picked up the bag in the middle of the room with his free hand. He hissed in pain, reopening his wound from before. A gunk shot ruffled his fur as it zoomed by—missing its mark. Cobalt prayed to Arceus, grabbed a few seeds in his paws and quickly threw the bag to the side. He wound up his fist back behind his head, instinctively entering a pitcher's stance. Finally, with all his might, he flung the seeds with a full body throw, and they tore through the space between them. Upon contact, a loud explosion shook Cobalt to his core, the shockwave sending him flying backward. The cave rumbled violently from the force of the blast. Sand kicked up by the shockwave fell back down after a few moments. Smoke hung in the air between them. Even Violet was affected, being dislodged from the gunk by the vibrations of the cave.
Cobalt landed on the floor and panted heavily, the tension of the moment keeping him on edge. After a few moments, he realized that neither of his opponents were going to be getting up anytime soon. He stood and dusted himself off. Violet had freed herself, and was padding her way towards him. As she put the bag on, she sighed audibly in relief. "Come on, I think you promised me some answers and I promised you some food."
"Yes please, that would be great," he remarked, stomach growling. With that, the two set off to find the exit, in high spirits at a job well done, and eager to get some rest.
END CHAPTER TWO