Has it seriously been three weeks since my last update? You can blame Phoenix Wright for being so damn epic. I'm actually getting character ideas from those games, lol.

Serpent's Ballet: Wow, long review. Well, I'm glad you like it so far. Those OCs… Damn, that will be hard. I try to avoid fluffy crap whenever I can, so I don't see myself writing any "buttering up" anytime soon. Just goes to show how much I need to learn. I'll be sure to do something with these two, but perhaps in the distant future. And I choose masquerain: milotic are too obnoxiously big to be thieves :P Oh, yeah! *Ding! Ding!* OCs accepted.

the book master: Heh, heh. If you have time to ask me in a review and wait for me to reply, you could use that time to run to the other side of the planet. If all else fails, the green one. ;)

DelinquentDuo: *Ding! Ding! Ding!* OCs accepted.

Skroy Horitz: If you hadn't noticed, clothing had already been mentioned a few times, so it's not that sudden. Lol. Heh, heh.

EkaSwede: …*whistles innocently* I'll probably try writing my own songs in here one day, but like Valas, poetry and verse are among my weaker skills.

ShadowDragoon32: Well, that will be explained later (that's my answer for everything, isn't it?) Specifically, next part. It's the only part that I have already fully figured out. This part, I'm just setting myself a scene to help introduce two major characters and from there, winging it. :P

Evil*Pikachu: … This is my WTF face. Remember it.

ScytheRider, Jeanne Reveur,and CIaD, thanks for your reviews!

A note: I realize that, unlike the Naruto fanfic readers, not as many of you have much of a grasp on basic Japanese vocabulary (and by basic I mean words you can figure out by watching anime subs :P) so I'll explain new ones as they are used.

Also, Karuu has been renamed Kaoru (didn't know how it was spelled lol), and Dalton has been promoted to monferno. The appropriate edits have been made to last chapter.

OBJECTION!! Your honor, there is an obvious contradiction in the witness's statement! It is clear that I do not own Pokémon or any related franchise! Therefore, the witness must be lying!!

000

"A pain in the ass," Pace spat, kicking the unconscious rattata away. He turned around, walking through the dirt ground, held together by interwoven wooden rods. Meanwhile, Luma was holding off two of the rat pokémon on her own. "You too, may I add," he said dryly to Clay as he shoved a leafy branch out of his way.

"Shut up. It's not my fault I got stuck," he grumbled back, half is body covered up by the ground.

Pace rolled his eyes as he pulled the bucket hat, which hung on his neck by the chinstrap, back on top of his head. "Just hold still," he grumbled, before grabbing Clay by the base of his arms and tugging up. "You're too… damn… heavy…" he grunted out as he pulled.

"That's not my fault either," Clay growled as he attempted to wiggle out of the hole, pushing against the larger roots and branches around him. Suddenly, something smacked the back of Pace's head.

"Damn it!" he grunted, twisting around and smartly punching the rattata, which was already unconscious. He glared over at Luma, who dodged another one of the last rattata's bites. "What the hell are you chucking them here for?!" he shouted at her.

"Then don't stand there! Stupid!" she shouted back as the wild lunged again. She quickly dove right by it and swung her tail, unleashing a mass of stars at it. The rattata turned around to receive a face-full of swift at point-blank range and was quickly knocked out.

"Finally," Pace mumbled before turning back to Clay. The larvitar was no longer there. "…Damn it," he muttered, "he fell through." Luma walked up by him to look at the large hole that marked Clay's previous location. "Hey! You still down there?!" Pace hollered down.

"That hurt! Why did you suddenly let go of me like that!?" his voice echoed from below, obviously really pissed.

"A real pain in the ass," Pace mumbled, ignoring him. "Now we have to go through the ground level with him." Luma nodded and quickly hopped into the dark hole. Pace sighed, adjusting his new yellow shoulder bag, before jumping after her. "Are all mystery dungeons this weird?" he mumbled after falling about twelve feet and roughly landing on the dirt. He could hardly see in the dim light, but he was plenty aware of his surroundings nonetheless.

"No, I wouldn't call Jigsaw Sky as weird as this," Clay replied matter-of-factly, though his voice still sounded annoyed. The mystery dungeon, Stack Wood, was basically two forests stacked on top of each other. The dark ground level, where the trio was now, was the bottom forest. The branches of the trees, sporting a variety of broad green leaves, extended into a thin layer of soil above, and supported the roots of the trees of the forest above. So simply, the top forest grew straight into the bottom one. The sunlight only broke through the layer in a few, sparse holes, yet Pace had enough light to see his surroundings. The small group stood for a bit, surrounded by absolute silence of the forest.

"So…" Clay began.

"Shit!"

"Huh?" he blinked, glancing at Pace, who was already dashing away.

"Move!" the buizel roared, as he sped away. Luma, blinking, nimbly followed.

"What do you mean by that!?" Clay called as he trotted after him. "And slow down! I can't run that- GWAAAUUUGH!" Suddenly, a… something, an eerie, wicked, looming head rose from the ground and wailed right in his face. Overcome with fear, Clay tripped backwards and rapidly tried to scoot away from the apparition, before pausing. "Wait a minute," he mumbled. A diglett blinked back at him before disappearing back into the ground.

"Astonish," Clay breathed, mentally kicking himself for falling for the move. He growled lowly as he stood up. "Hey, Pace! …Where is he?" he blinked, then sighed. "I guess I… I…" His train of thought ran out of power as the dreaded sixth sense kicked in. A shiver passed up the larvitar's spine as he got the feeling something unpleasant was behind him. He gulped, slowly turned his head, and saw four shadowy faces, all grinning malevolently. As one, they all let off piercing shrieks into his face. This time, Clay let out no cry. His mouth only moved emptily as his lungs pushed out incomprehensible noises. He backed up unsteadily, and again tripped. He continued to stutter incoherently even after all the diglett had disappeared. Come on, he thought furiously to himself. Move! The earth around him began to rumble. Suddenly, clear waves rose in the dirt, surrounding him from four sides. Move!!

"Earthquake!" Clay snapped out of the daze with a roar and slammed down on the ground with his arms. The immense shudder cancelled out the earth power attacks surrounding him with massive eruptions of black dirt. In front of him, a single diglett appeared to check on him. He immediately attacked. "Dark Pulse!" he shouted, releasing a black, pulsing wave from his maw. The wave spread out, striking the mole pokémon squarely. With a cry, it cringed, allowing Clay to strike again. He planted his hands back into the ground. "Rock Tomb: Grave Marker!" A chunk of rock suddenly sprang up behind the diglett, and immediately fell over, smashing it back into the ground. Clay, refusing to give it a chance to regroup, jumped and stomped on the dirt. Another earth-tearing shudder rocked the forest. And one more for good measure! he thought furiously, driving a last earthquake through the ground.

He stood in the dark forest for a few seconds, breathing heavily from the three consecutive earthquakes. Seeing that none reappeared after the final attack, he heaved a great sigh. "I guess… I… should find… the other two… now…" He gasped out. When he caught his breath, he walked through the forest, in the direction he guessed the other two went.

000

Pace glanced back, slowing down in his dash. "Where the hell is he?" He grumbled. "Don't tell me he got trapped already." He skidded to a stop and made a sharp u-turn back where he came from. Luma, still blinking in confusion, turned with him, and quickly caught up to him.

"What are we running from?" she asked. Pace didn't answer, but, suddenly called up a spray of water. He launched himself forward, heavily slamming into a phantom-like apparition in front of them. It squealed as the eerie face disappeared, and the diglett slowly fell back into the hole, out cold.

"These things," he growled, pushing the bag towards his back, out of the way, and taking a battle stance. Luma nodded, not questioning its simple appearance. She already knew not to underestimate enemies, and that weak wilds such as that one never travel alone. She warily scanned the forest for any others. "Don't use your electric attacks," Pace breathed. "Just wait for one to show up and throw any other attack at it." Luma nodded again, not taking her eyes from the ground. She saw motion, and struck.

"Wait! Damn it!" Pace roared as Luma disappeared for a quick attack. Images of her dashing momentarily appeared randomly as she made her way. The dugtrio that had appeared reared all three heads back and swung them forward, seemingly pulling her out of thin air. The sucker punch sent her flying, forcing Pace to catch her. "Damn it," he growled again, setting her down. "I only expected another diglett." He quickly glanced over Luma to check her condition, and determined she was fazed, but fine. She growled weakly, rubbing her head.

"Trio-trio! Dugtrio!" the wild shouted out.

Pace glared back at it. "I'd say that you've been digging your own grave," he said quietly, adjusting his hat, "but I'd rather not be guilty of making such a damn awful pun." Luma stood by him, small sparks flying from her cheeks. Immediately, the dugtrio reared its heads back again, this time, shooting out three beams of fire, ice, and electricity. Pace and Luma easily avoided the tri-beam, and Pace burst forward in another aqua jet, splashing water across the dirt. The dugtrio quickly retreated into the dirt, causing Pace to let out a growl as he cancelled the attack. Before even a second passed, the wild appeared ten meters away, calling out its name as it created a shockwave in the dirt. Luma dashed out of the way, behind a tree, as the wave passed. It quickly lost power, so Pace easily leapt over it when it got to him. By then, the dugtrio had disappeared again.

"Luma! Get into the trees and attack from there!" Pace barked out. She immediately obeyed, dashing up the tree to a low branch. The dugtrio resurfaced again, saw her, and began to fire another tri-beam. Pace immediately used pursuit, the dark energy practically pulling him forward. When he got close enough, he quickly punched all three of the heads back into the ground. "Perfect," he said, and slapped his paws together, building up a surge of water between them. Soon, he had a swirling orb of slightly foamy water. "Brine!" He thrust it into the hole the wild left, and gallons of salt water began to pour out of it. Hopefully, the last attack would daze it until...

"Dugtrio-trio!" Pace quickly glanced back to see the dugtrio, rearing its heads back for another attack.

"Idiot," he muttered, the gush of water never wavering. It shot another tri-beam, but a barrage of stars slammed into the dirt in front of it. The swift attack easily cancelled out the tri-beam, and Luma swung her tail again, creating another round of glowing stars. The dugtrio burrowed back into the earth as the stars followed it inside. "A complete idiot," Pace spat, moving to another hole and pouring water down there. After a while, he stopped and tested the soil, pressing into it with a foot. "Soaked," he murmured. "If that one comes back out, it'll be too weak to do anything," He said as Luma jumped down from the tree.

"So we won," she grinned at him.

Pace glared at her silently before letting out a sigh. "Honestly, that smile shit they've fed you," he grumbled.

"Hey!"

They turned their heads towards Clay.

"You should've warned me about those diglett!" the larvitar grumbled at Pace, just loud enough to be heard, as he walked towards them.

"Careful," the buizel muttered.

"Careful what!? I almost became..." he paused, and realized that he was sinking in the dirt. "What is this, some kind of bog!? Hey! Don't just stand there!"

"It doesn't help that he weighs more than a hundred pounds," Pace grumbled to no one as the larvitar continued to sink. "He really is a pain in the ass."

000

"In the mud?" Luma asked, blinking curiously at the box Pace was washing. By now, a bronze gleam could be seen under the thick layer of mud that encased it.

"Yes," Clay sighed. "When I sunk to the bottom of the mud pool, I felt something hard. It definitely wasn't a diglett, or the dugtrio you said you fought," He said skeptically, "So I picked it up. Quite a stroke of luck, coming across the diglett horde that had it… But still, I had to chew about twenty gallons of salt water to get out…" He muttered, gagging. "Couldn't you have flooded the place with another attack?"

"How about twenty gallons of spit?" Pace answered briefly, not looking up from the box. By now, he had uncovered the varnished wood the small chest was made from.

Clay stared at him blankly before turning away, his eye twitching. "Please… don't…"

"So we finished our second mission?" Luma asked.

"Looks like it," Pace said, peering at the bronze lock. "Yeah, there's that symbol. The head of an articuno."

Luma walked up to the box and lifted it up. She shook it, making a minute, thunking rattle. "What's inside?"

"Only the client knows that," Clay answered. "It's not our business. Our job is to bring the box back to the client."

"Seems shady," Pace muttered as he took it from Luma. "I think we should at least check it ourselves," He said as he casually tossed the box into the air and caught it.

"We can't do that. We'd be breaking our client's trust," he muttered as the buizel tossed and caught the box again. "…Don't be so rough on the target!" he growled.

Pace let out another sigh, catching the box a final time. "So now that we've recovered the box, can we leave now?"

"Yes," Clay answered, pulling his bag off again. He dug an arm through it and pulled out a small glass orb, barely three inches across. "Escape Orb, activate!" Clay said loudly, making his voice as clear as possible. The effect was immediate. The orb exploded, sending torrents of shimmering energy all over the three of them. Waves rippled through the air, the world began to waver, and sparks were dancing across their bodies. It was indescribable, and in moments, their very environment had vanished, being replaced by a hard, dirt path surrounded on both sides by trees. Just regular trees. The three had been forced right out of the mystery dungeon.

Pace sighed silently, shaking his head to clear out the chaotic patterns his senses were still throwing about. Luma was even more disoriented, though she struggled not to show it. Clay was, predictably, the least affected, as he was likely quite used to the sensation. Orbs, Pace thought. Curious crystal balls that had somehow formed from the chaos that mystery dungeons were composed of. Each had odd powers that could assist anyone traversing or battling in a mystery dungeon, ranging from throwing enemies, warping the user to the staircase, and even petrifying mobs of wilds. However, the orbs had absolutely no effect outside of the dungeons. According to what he had been told, all attempts to reproduce them had utterly failed. The only way to get them was to collect them within a dungeon, or buy them off traders.

"This really is a weird world," Pace muttered, adjusting his grip on the wooden, elaborately decorated box, so that it rested on top of the shoulder bag.

Clay chortled. "You haven't seen half of it," he grinned.

A few clouds blocked the sun from view.

000

A loud crash tore through the sky. Clay stared at it dismayingly. "Rain," he sighed as water began to fall from above. "Come on," he said, "let's get back to the client and return the box. The sooner we get out of this torrent, the better."

Luma nodded, quickly walking after the larvitar along the dirt road of the city. Pace, meanwhile, didn't budge. He only stood in the center of the street, still as a statue.

Clay paused, and glanced at him. "Hey! Aren't you coming?" He suddenly brought his arms up, catching the chest as Pace threw it at him.

"Go on," Pace called back, just loud enough to be heard. "I'll meet you two back at the inn."

The larvitar blinked, then sighed again. "It can't be helped, being a water-type…" He continued to stride briskly through the now-muddy street. Luma was more indecisive, taking a second glance at Pace. The buizel nodded at her, a silent command to leave him. She hesitated, but eventually nodded shortly and dashed up to Clay.

Pace watched them disappear into the heavy rain. Droplets of water hit his body, easily flowing down his waterproof fur. He pulled the hat off again, letting the rain flow down his exposed features. "…Rain…" He muttered, almost in a whisper. He closed his eyes.

Raindrops continued to tap noisily against the tall stone buildings. He stood for at least twenty minutes, letting the water patter his body. Eventually, he glanced behind himself. A nidorino and a glameow stood behind him.

"Why hello, there," the glameow said to him loudly. "What, may I ask, are you doing outside, alone, at this hour?"

Pace glared at the duo silently. "What's wrong with 'this hour'?"

"Well, you see," he continued, slowly slinking closer to him, "that's not quite the point. My point is, it is inadvisable to stand in the middle of the street, by your lonesome self."

"Why?" He gruffly asked.

The glameow let out a chuckle, which the nidorino reciprocated. "You might fall prey to certain outlaws, certain villains," he smiled grimly, "such as ourselves!"

He activated a shadow claw, but before his claw even began to glow, Pace grabbed him by the tail and neatly swung him around, slamming him into the muddy street. "You really aren't all that smart, are you?" he sneered. "Attacking a water-type in this weather. P.S., your little introduction speech sucks big-time."

The glameow quickly shook out of his grasp, jumping behind the nidorino. "You'll pay for that!" He hissed. The nidorino silently lowered his head, pointing a deadly horn straight at the buizel.

Pace glared at them, putting his hat back on. The street was silent for a few seconds as the two sides leered at each other.

The nidorino acted first, firing a small barrage of glowing violet spikes at Pace. He immediately ducked down and dashed forward, passing right under the poison sting. The glameow leapt in front of him and swiped at him, his claws extending and taking on a purple aura. Pace only jumped over the shadow claw and swung his tail around, creating a shock wave that bashed the glameow back into the mud. "Brine." Still in midair, he began to form an orb of water in his right paw, absorbing some of the rainwater. As soon as it was larger than his paw, it began to swing it at the nidorino, who was preparing his own attack. "Horn Attack!" He lunged forward as his forehead spike glowed and suddenly extended, forcing Pace to twist his body to avoid it. The horn grazed his side, but he nonetheless hurled the brine, now as big as his head, at the nidorino. The orb of water pounded the thug in the shoulder like a cannonball, throwing him into the side of a building.

Pace finally landed, glancing at the light scratch on his side from the horn attack. "That's it?" He mumbled. He flexed his paw casually. This rain… I feel bursting with power now… That must be my ability kicking in: Swift Swim. He thought. When surrounded by water, my speed and strength multiply… Though I still feel like I could win without the rain.

"It's far from over!" Pace ducked, barely avoiding the glameow's second shadow claw, aimed at the back of his head. Just as quickly, he leaned back, twisting slightly. "Aqua Jet." With a surge of water, he propelled himself straight into the glameow, ramming shoulder-first into his chest. The thug was thrown into the building on the opposite side, though he quickly got a grip with his feet and leapt forward, forming a crackling black orb within his mouth. Just as he released the shadow ball, Pace stepped to the side, avoiding the nidorino's poison sting attack from behind him. The shadow ball collided with his barrage of poison stings, easily absorbing the few it hit, but most passed right by. Both thugs' eyes widened when they realized what was happening.

"Yeah, not smart at all," Pace said flatly. The shadow ball hit the nidorino squarely between the eyes, exploding in a wave of chaotic energy. He was again hurled backwards, sliding across the muddy street. Meanwhile, the swarm of poison stings flew into the glameow, who then crashed awkwardly into the ground. His skin was peppered with small flecks of blood, and for each, a drop of poison seeped into his body. Before either of them recover, Pace quickly formed two rough orbs of water in his paws and flung them at both of the thugs simultaneously. While neither were as strong as the first brine, the final attacks hit both of them while they were completely off-guard, finishing off the battle easily.

"You…" the glameow gasped out, trying to bear the pain where the brine had slammed him. He struggled to his feet, the poison quickly sapping at his strength. When he looked up, the buizel was in front of him, one-handedly conjuring another brine above his head, and lifting him up by the neck with his left hand. "No... please, stop..."

Pace ignored him. "It's over," he said, as the orb of water swelled. Suddenly, it burst. "What?!" he dropped the glameow, clutching his right arm.

"That's enough!"

000

Holy crapomoly long chapter!

I went through at least three versions of this chapter before settling on this scene. Ugh, now if you will excuse me, I have an essay to write. By tomorrow. Tell me, how can I hate essays so much, yet be an author?! Madness, I tell you!

Review!

Edited 9-6-09

Altered Clay's battle slightly, changed the escape orb, clumped on another fight at the end. I just seem to like writing about pokémon beating the stuffing out of each other. :P Actually, the events of this fight were supposed to be "hidden", for lack of a better word, until later on, but I decided there was little point in that.