Hey readers! Sorry for the giant wait if you're still interested in this story, I've recently been having a looooot of stuff on my hands. Regardless, I'm debating moving my main base of operations for the story to deviantart as opposed to here, under the username Angellus-Socios. All of my chapters are also loaded up onto there as well. Anyway, enough chatting, lets get to the disclaimers and the action.
Pokemon is copyright Nintendo and developed by Game Freak. I take no credit for its creation.
PMD: Five Phases is my story, as are the characters.
The young trio of Pokemon dashed out of Crescent town, making due haste towards the destination of their mission, Tugley Woods. They had been travelling maybe an hour at a reasonably good pace. Or, so it would be said, if one of them wasn't taking so long walking down the road with a heavy bag slung across his shoulders.
Cade gasped with heavy breaths as he struggled to keep up with his two teammates, who were a good two dozen yards or more ahead of him. He stopped for one moment and put his hands on his knees, bending over and attempting to catch his breath. So far, his job of 'team mule' was not leaving a good impression.
"This…sucks…" he muttered quietly with what little breath he had. He couldn't waste too much of the precious oxygen though if he was going to make an honorable attempt in catching up with Kaim and Ziggs. Speaking of them…
"Hey, Cade!" Ziggs called from afar. "You just gonna stand there all morning? We have to get to Tugley Woods first if we plan on helping that Minun!"
"Huff… Yeah, alright!... I'll be right there!" Cade dashed down the road as fast as his burdened legs could carry him. Upon finally catching up with Ziggs and Kaim, he took another moment to lean over and catch his breath before looking up to the other two. They both looked generally fine, though if either of them looked better off it was probably Ziggs. Kaim at least seemed to have broken a sweat from running some.
"I know that you're new Cade, but we gotta keep the pace up!" the Bulbasaur told Cade. "Look at it this way; it's still morning right now, so the sun isn't that high up in the sky. But the more time passes, the higher it gets, and soon enough it's gonna get real hot. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be carrying my bag in the shade of a nice forest by that time."
"Aaaauuuuggghh… do we really need this heavy of a bag, Ziggs?" Cade asked desperately.
"Hey, you say that now, but you'll be happy we packed what supplies we did once we get to the dungeon," was Ziggs reply. "Plus, what do you expect us to do with some of that stuff now that we're on the road? Toss it aside and waste it, nu-uh!"
Cade's head fell forward in utter defeat. Kaim came up and tapped him on the shoulder then, and Cade looked up.
"Perhaps it's my turn to carry the bag now Cade," he suggested holding out a hand.
Cade frowned and then stood straight, ignoring the weight of the bag as best he could. "No, it's fine. I got it, thanks. I won't get any better at this job if I don't practice," he told Kaim, faking relief. His shoulders were shaking a little from stress though, making his façade an obvious bust.
"Hmmm. Ok, how's this," Kaim began. "Being as your job is actually helping to rescue Minun, if you keep carrying the bag now you'll be too tired to be much help once we get to the Mystery Dungeon. Lemme carry it, and I'll let you carry it whenever you want once we get to the dungeon. If you want, I'll let you carry it the entire way back home even."
Kaim offered his hand again. Cade glanced at the gesture, and then sighed. "Fine, you have a point. Take it." He hefted the bag off his shoulder, practically letting it drop to the ground, and then held the strap out for Kaim. The Charmander smiled, took the strap and strapped it over his shoulders with a lot less effort than Cade had put into the chore.
"Geez, it seems like you're a lot stronger than I am!" Cade remarked, impressed with his friends apparent strength.
"Oh please, it's not that amazing!" Kaim laughed. "I lift much more than this when I'm in the smithy working on commissions. This is a good weight, but imagine having to carry a bundle like this, only full of metal."
"Aaah, no thanks. I'm good NOT imagining that kind of work," Cade replied and laughed with his Charmander friend.
Ziggs rolled his eyes and grinned. "C'mon guys, let's get moving!" he beckoned optimistically for the two others. And so they continued their trek down the road towards the hills. Their speed was greatly improved now that Kaim was carrying the bag. He seemed hardly phased by its weight, and the group didn't have to keep stopping for a tired member now. Plus, Cade could enjoy joining in on their conversations, which was basically guessing what they would encounter in the woods. Ziggs imagined there would mainly be Bug and Grass types in the wood, and maybe a few Ratatta or Patrat would be seen here or there along with a few bird Pokemon. He ironically assured Kaim that there would be no Rhydon, at which Kaim hardly muffled out a sarcastic laugh and glared at Ziggs who mentioned over and over that he meant it only as a joke and that it was a relatively bad one at that.
Soon enough, the trio approached a valley in between two hills. It stood out not just by its size but also by the vegetation that grew within it. It seemed as if the trees on the rolling hills grew towards this place and in greater concentration inside it. They looked to be mostly pine trees, and they were particularly taller and wider at the base of the trunks. Sometimes they grew in a twisted, roiling fashion that made it hard to distinguish one from the other. The warped growth patterns made it hard to see inside the mass of trees from the outside, except through an unnatural and much too obvious arc of trunks that the path the trio stood on disappeared into as the light from the sun could hardly penetrate the canopy.
"Welp, here we are folks! Tugley Woods!" Ziggs announced to the team as he approached the entrance. Kaim and Cade walked up to Ziggs, staring at the forest.
"This is a mystery dungeon?" Cade asked as he stared at the forest.
"Yep. Can't you tell from the landscape?" Ziggs asked. He gestured with a nod towards the forest. "The trees look weird here compared to the ones on the hills. Either there was a dungeon here before and the forest grew around it, or whatever causes them to appear in the first place actually warped the trees to become the dungeon itself."
"You certainly seem to know what you're doing, fearless leader," Kaim quipped as he took the pack off his back.
"You know it!" Ziggs exclaimed with a proud smile. "Alright, let's get ready for the mission. Open up the bag Kaim."
Kaim unbuttoned the cover of the bag, revealing the many compartments within. Kaim reached first for the 3 black and white scarves, handing each of his teammates one. Cade took a scarf and looked it over, unfurling it to look at the shining star badge pinned to the corner as well.
"What are these for exactly Ziggs?" Cade asked.
Ziggs had taken a shorter scarf with his two vines and began to use them to tie the scarf onto his right front leg. It was then Kaim had noticed the tattoo on his right leg. The markings looked familiar to him. Again, Cade's mind was teased by his lost memories, but he shook his head. As much as he wanted to think about it, now wasn't the time.
"The scarves aren't really much more than show, though there are some special ones made with tinctures sewed into them from certain plants that can help you, or made with resilient or enchanted material. But these scarves are just designed with our squads colors and let you pin the rescue badge to something," Ziggs explained. He finished tightening the scarf to his leg, and retracted his vines.
"Rescue badge? You mean this little star pin thing?" Kaim asked as he looked over the golden star shaped badge on his scarf.
Ziggs nodded in affirmation. "These are the badges that signify we are a rescue team from Guiding Light," he explained. "A long time ago, badges like these were imbued with power by psychic Pokemon to allow for a quick escape out of the dungeon in an emergency, but nobody remembers how to bypass the dungeon's 'grip' anymore."
Cade nodded his head in understanding. Granted, he still had many questions, but he again decided that the situation was too pressing for that. He wrapped the scarf around his neck, made a loose knot, and let the end fall in down his front. It covered up the Mystic Water and almost touched the ground.
"Yeesh, do these come in smaller sizes than this? I don't want it to get muddy or something…" Cade remarked. "I hope I don't trip on it either. Why is mine more… scarf like anyway. You have more of a bandana Ziggs."
"Yeah, that's a stock scarf for our group. We probably should have asked for one more your size or a bandana while we were at Nanna's," explained Ziggs. "We can get you a different size when we go back if you want."
"If you think you'll trip, you could try wrapping it around your neck twice," Kaim suggested as he started tying his own giant stock scarf around his neck. For a moment the Charmander debated burning the ends to shorten it, but figured that was a little destructive for such a simple problem.
"Nah, I think I'll live. Also, knowing your guys' pace, I don't know if I'd be able to breathe while keeping up with you and having a scarf constricting my neck."
Kaim then started rummaging through the pack, looking at what else they brought along, and began listing them aloud. "Ok, it seems like we got 6 apples for the trip to keep us well fed, a Safe Passage Orb, and 2 each of Pecha, Cheri, and Chesto berries in case one of us gets an affliction of sorts. Plus, we have 3 Oran berries… gee, that would have been nice to know a few days ago," he remarked, remembering what task got him into the mess of trouble to begin with. "Ah well, what's passed has passed I guess."
"So it was the orb that was making it so heavy…" Cade muttered to himself, glaring venomously at the clear and shining sphere. It was, after all, about the size of a small coconut and made of solid glass. He bet himself they probably wouldn't even use the thing.
"Alright, if either of you need one of those berries, or if I ask for one, don't hesitate to use them," Ziggs told the two Pokemon. "This is a relatively low leveled mission in a small dungeon, so we shouldn't have to take the conservative approach."
"Got it!" Kaim exclaimed.
"Understood," Cade mumbled. He was nervous about this, but he tried not to let it show.
Ziggs nodded with a smile. "Then let's do this!" And with his valiant and smug determination, he rushed headlong into the dungeon. Soon enough, he vanished into the shade of the warped trees.
Cade watched Ziggs run into the dungeon, and began breathing deeply. He still had apprehensive thoughts about this whole ordeal, reflecting back upon the Rhydon incident.
'No, I can't keep thinking about that,' he thought to himself. 'If I'm gonna be of any use…If I'm gonna repay Kaim… I have to do this.'
"You ok Cade?" Kaim asked him. "You're shaking like you're still carrying the pack."
Cade blinked as he realized his friend was right. He glanced down at his clawed hand and saw it vibrating violently. He curled his stubby little fingers into as tight a grip as he could form. The shaking steadied some, but didn't quit.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just nervous," he admitted to the Charmander.
"Mmmm… me too," Kaim admitted in kind.
"What?" Cade exclaimed doubtfully. "You're kidding me, you seemed to be taking this like a pro!"
"Not really. This is my first actual mission, and to be honest…I'm sorta scared."
Cade was silent with his thoughts. Kaim had a much more pressing reason than himself. Granted, Cade still wasn't used to the body of a Totodile, and probably would not be that useful in the event of a battle. But Kaim…Kaim was impaled by a rampant beast! One really needed to try to get a worse fate than that.
Cade growled deeply, angry with himself. Gathering up his will and filled with renewed determination, he reached down and picked the bag up off the ground and slung it around his shoulders quickly. He almost lost his balance, but he maintained it in the end.
"Hey, are you sure you can carry that?" Kaim asked.
"Absolutely. C'mon Kaim, let's go save that Minun!" Cade's reply was loud and positive, and Kaim smiled. The Charmander felt that he would be able to do this with Cade's help. And Ziggs' too.
'I shouldn't worry too much,' he thought, smiling even wider. "Alright!"
And so, with reckless courage welling in their hearts, the two dashed into the shade of the forest.
TUGLEY WOODS – F1
The change in atmosphere was immediate, but it came with such small differences that it was almost unnoticed. The shaded earth within the woods was cool to the touch and a fragrance of grass and pine needles lingered on every breath Cade took. Small flecks of light dotted the ground and the trunks amidst the shaded terrain. The chirps and clicks of insects echoed from all directions through the trees.
Cade and Kaim entered the woods and found Ziggs already looking towards their direction.
"Well, here we are then," said Ziggs cheerily. "Let's get to rescuing!"
"Do we know what floor of the dungeon the Minun is on?" Kaim asked the Bulbasaur.
Ziggs opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly closed it with a frown. "Well, I guess I don't have everything under control…"
"You don't know where the Minun is?" Cade asked bewildered. He also thought that Ziggs had everything under control. Honestly though, it really wasn't that horrible of a mistake. "Well, Minun's in here somewhere right? We'll just have to look extra hard on every floor we come across."
" Fraid so. Sorry 'bout this guys," Ziggs apologized, smiling sheepishly. "All the better to help train you though I guess."
Kaim chuckled a little. "There's a good way of looking at it!" he remarked, humored.
Cade nodded with a smile. "Right, lead the way Ziggs!"
Ziggs lead the three set out through the forest. The path began to break off into forks and take sharp turns. Because of how thick the brush and the trees were, most of the time it was almost like walking down a corridor made of wood and greenery. The trio would shout out for the Minun into the trees, but as they kept walking, Ziggs would occasionally bring up a helpful tip to Kaim and Cade or spot a specifically dangerous plant that sported irritating needles or poisons with nasty side effects. After about 30 minutes yelling for the Minun, they still had no luck. Their throats had also grown a little dry from the yelling.
Cade grumbled quietly. "This forest sure is deep," he mumbled. "You'd think the Minun would have been able to hear us by now though."
"Maybe this means he's on the next floor," Kaim suggested.
"Or she. I remember the mission request didn't say whether the Minun was a male or female. Or even give me a name for that matter," Ziggs said peeved with the lack of information and with himself for forgetting what little there was.
Cade let out a disgruntled sigh, but perked up suddenly when he heard a rustling in the leaves above. He squinted, trying to make out what made the sound. The leaves rustled again, and his gaze darted in the direction of the sound in time to see the leaves shake violently. But what made them shake he didn't see.
"Guys, are you hearing that?" he asked the rest of his group.
Kaim nodded his head. "I just heard it. It might be a wild Pokemon," he affirmed with his friend. He put on the goggles and started scanning the tree tops.
"Keep together, back to back. That way it won't be able to jump us," Ziggs ordered the team.
The three stepped back until they formed a ring, all of them facing outward. Cade noticed two vines extend themselves from the bottom of Ziggs' bulb, and Kaim's claws began to shimmer brightly as light reflected off of them. Cade still was unsure of how to prepare an attack properly, as he had only ever fired off one (though he thought it was a pretty good shot). He simply braced himself for whatever might come at them.
A third rustling of the leaves sounded silently above Ziggs.
"Minun, is that you? We're a rescue team! We're here to help you," Ziggs called cautiously to the rustling leaves. No reply came. Ziggs' eyes narrowed suspiciously as his vines retracted just slightly towards the bulb.
"Ziggs, I'm not sure, but its aura doesn't really look…Minun'ish." Kaim informed the leader. "It's shaped like it has 6 legs!"
The leaves rustled again, and Cadence saw a green blur as Zigg's vines reached beneath his bulb and a flurry of blade like leaves zoomed towards the canopy. They severed the leaves and branches, and a chunk of foliage fell from above. In its place was a green spider-like creature, its abdomen raised up showing off a disturbing face like pattern and hissing in an attempt to threaten the three. Ziggs harrumphed. "Just a wild Spinarak."
Cade recognized the Pokemon. "A Spinarak? That should be an easy target for you Kaim!" he suggested with a positive grin to his friend. A quick shot of fire and the bug would be toast.
"I don't think I should use my fire attacks so much in a forest like this Cade. It might end badly for the trees. And us," he explained to Cade.
"He's right. It's better that Kaim keeps with hand to hand fighting in this place," Ziggs agreed. "Me, on the other hand…" Again, Ziggs flung two more sharpened leaves up towards the Spinarak. They collided with it head on, and the Spinarak hissed loudly. But otherwise it seemed unfazed.
Ziggs frowned in disappointment. "Tch, grass attacks are pretty useless against these guys…"
The Spinarak hissed and clicked, and with the sound of it the tree tops began to rustle once more all over. The hissing was joined in by another hiss as a second Spinarak revealed itself from the leaves. More hissing, followed by a third Spinarak. Then a fourth, and a fifth.
"Guys…" Kaim muttered to his teammates nervously, "Th-The Spinarak are starting to swarm in the trees. What are we supposed to do now?"
Within moments there were about fifteen Spinarak up in the trees. Their hissing sounded like a giant frying pan cooking some slab of greasy meat, and it began to hurt the ears of the rescue team.
"You act like you're afraid of spiders or something," Cade mumbled back.
"Well I can say that I'm not exactly fond of them," the Charmander admitted.
"Quiet you guys!" Ziggs hissed… though very much unlike the Spinarak. The spider pokemon stopped their hissing, and without warning began to shoot threads of sticky web from their fangs.
Ziggs reacted without a glance. "Quick everyone, separate!" He ran away from the two other pokemon. However, Kaim and Cade did not have such trained reflexes. Kaim did not get very far before he felt the webbing capture his leg, causing him to trip mid-escape, and Cade didn't manage to dodge at all as the web began to wrap over his arms. He wasn't completely bound, but it certainly hampered his ability to move. Plus, the web was slimy and adhesive. He tried to get it off, but as he struggled the web wrapped over him more.
"Ah! What is this stuff made of, duct tape!" Cade asked in a fit as he continued to struggle.
The Spinarak noticed Cade was the weakest target so far. Though he was already practically captured by the web, they aimed to bind him further and spat more thread at the Totodile. But before the Spinarak could catch Cade in a second layer of webbing, a flurry of leaves flew in from the side and intercepted the webs. The Spinarak, angered and hissing again, turned their attention to Ziggs who had protected their prey.
"Kaim, get you and Cade out of that mess while I hold them off!" he told the Charmander. Ziggs stood up on his front legs, aiming his bulb at the Spinarak hoard. Small glowing seeds began to rapidly shoot from the bulb and hit the Spinarak. They cringed in annoyance and minute pain, some of them even getting pushed off of the branches and into the brush below. Now fully enraged by Ziggs, they began to target him. They fired off more String Shots and poisonous needles at the Bulbasaur. Ziggs was able to keep the attacks at bay with Bullet Seed, but eventually Ziggs couldn't keep the attack going, and was bound to the ground by the sticky web and hit multiple times with the poison stings. Because of his poison typing, he was more annoyed than harmed, but it was slowly beginning to sting.
"Gaaaaah, friggin' bugs!" he yelled, retracting his vines from his bulb again and pushing outward against the web that bound him, occasionally using Razor Leaf in order to sever it as well. Within moments, he was free, and began dodging and defending against the attacks once more.
Kaim had managed to use his tail flame to burn the webbing from his foot. He turned to Cade, who was now almost completely covered in the gray thread. It was hardening now, mummifying Cade within the cocoon trap.
"Hey Kaim, buddy ol' pal… a little help… please?" he muttered from within the webs.
"Yeah, just gimme a sec," he reassured Cade. He looked all over the mess for a place where he could dig his claws into. He found a reasonable gap in the webbing and used Metal Claw in order to rip through it. Even with the razor sharp claws it was no easy task though, and Kaim found the web to be almost hard as rock after it settled. If he had maybe an hour to try and rip through this junk, it wouldn't be so bad. But he didn't, and while he was struggling with this problem, the Spinarak were now beginning to surround the two of them.
They hissed and raised their abdomens in fierce resistance, hoping to frighten the two explorers. But Kaim was just about fed up with their hissing.
"Back off!" he shouted, and with his exclamation a strong flame flowed from his mouth as he spoke. He didn't mean to aim it at the bugs or in their direction since they were still near the trees and shrubs, but they got the message and began to retreat back into the brush.
Cade was impressed, and he got an idea seeing the flame.
"Kaim, you think you can burn through this stuff instead of ripping it?" he suggested to the Charmander. Kaim looked at his friend with a questioning gaze.
"Uhh, you sure? I mean it's already hard as stone. I might burn you too. I don't know, it doesn't seem like a great idea."
"Well, no offense, but clawing at it isn't getting us anywhere fast either," Cade told him, struggling a little as he did. "And besides, I'm a water type. What's a little fire to me, huh?"
Charmander frowned and sighed. "Fine, fine, you win. You might wanna look away though."
Cade turned his face away as Kaim took a quick breath and blew a steady stream of fire over the webbing. Fortunately the webbing seemed to be burning away now. Cade didn't feel much more than a little warm and a slight sting as the flame finally pierced through the cocoon. He stretched a little outwards and he was free.
"Alright, I'm out! Glad that worked!" Cade exclaimed with a smile. He checked the pack quickly, and was relieved his burden was not scorched by the fire.
Kaim smiled too, glad the Totodile was ok. "Yeah! Quick, let's go see if we can help Ziggs now!"
The Bulbasaur in question was beginning to slow down some from the onslaught of attacks and webbing aimed at him. Ziggs had already been caught in two webs, but managed to successfully break free before it hardened over him. Yet he was beginning to pant some from all the dodging and blocking. He had to admit that he wasn't used to moving around so much.
"Stupid bugs! Can't you just go bother something else?" he yelled at the Spinarak, crouching defensively with his two vines extracted.
The bugs hissed once more at the Bulbasaur before a bright flash of orange and red lit up the trees. Kaim had breathed another small ball of fire in an attempt to scare away the bugs without lighting the trees on fire. It seemed to be enough for the Spinarak as they cowered into the trees and retreated from the fray.
Ziggs stared at the spots where the Spinarak were for another couple of moments before finally sighing and relaxing his stance. His vines slowly slinked down beneath his bulb, and he turned to the two other Pokemon.
"Well, wasn't that exciting everyone?" Ziggs asked with witty sarcasm drenching his voice. Still, even then he smiled. Kaim returned the smile nervously as he removed his goggles while Cade merely stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"I'd rather not go through it again," replied the Totodile replied. "What did we do for them to get so angry anyway?"
"I figure we're just in the midst of enemy territory now is all. Specifically their territory," Ziggs answered.
"So we were trespassing on their nest?" Kaim asked.
"Mmmmaybe," Ziggs said in pensive thought. "But I really don't think this is their nest. Not enough webs, y'know what I mean? Although it DOES mean we're probably close to it, so we should be careful for that."
"It's a shame we're in a forest. Kaim would've burninated all dem Spinarak otherwise, right Kaim?" Cade claimed enthusiastically to the Charmander with a pat on the back.
"If that was the case it would have been a lot easier. But it wasn't," Ziggs mentioned. He sniggered for a bit. "This is prolly where Reiki would say something like, 'And this is why you shouldn't rely upon type advantage alone. The environment changes with each battle, and it can be to your benefit or your misfortune,'" he said, mimicking Reiki's somber and serious voice. "Er, somethin' like that."
Cade laughed lightly before noticing a flicker of green fall from the canopy towards Ziggs.
"Ziggs, watch out!" But Ziggs didn't have enough time to react any more than glancing behind him. He saw the Spinarak, attempting to pounce on his blind spot with fangs bared, and then that same Spinarak being shot away by a jet of white water. The Spinarak was shot all the way back into the brush, and didn't come back out. Ziggs looked back towards the only water Pokemon in the vicinity to find Cade actually choking some on the water he just expelled, with Kaim shouting worriedly and patting him on the back.
'I just witnessed a water pokemon choking on water…' Ziggs thought to himself, his eyebrow cocked and doing his very best not to laugh. He managed to get out of it with a little smirk, and was too distracted by the hilarity to question how odd it was for a Totodile to choke on its own water.
"Hey, are you ok Cade?" he asked the Totodile, who had just gotten over his coughing fit. He was still breathing deeply and held a finger up in response to request a moment. Kaim, smiling as if he should be embarrassed, turned to Ziggs.
"I think the only thing hurt is his dignity- ouch! Ok ok, I was just joking." Cade, despite his choking episode, was still able to kick things as demonstrated. All in good fun of course.
"Me and my dignity are perfectly fine… e-hem!" Cade muttered before clearing his throat.
"Well, if you're coughing fit is over we should probably start looking for the passage to the next floor." Ziggs suggested. He turned towards a path deeper into some brush. "Let's try down here."
The path itself was straight with no deviations. Cade was half expecting some more Spinarak to jump out at them. Fortunately, that never happened. After travelling down the path for another 10 minutes, it opened into a clearing. It was a circle formed by the forest, the trees all bowing into the middle as if in reverence. And if that was the case, they would be bowing to the giant tree in the center with a trunk as thick as the team's hut back in town. Unlike the other trees, this particular one grew straight up and didn't sport any branches until the canopy. But the most unusual part about it was that there were stairs grown into the tree. Not carved out, but actually grown naturally.
Cade was enamored by the sight. Not only were there intricate stairs growing along its sides, but the sheer size of the tree was enough to impress him.
"Hey guys," Cade started, his gaze beginning to wander up the tree as he tilted his head back, "Is this kinda thing…normal?"
"If by normal you mean 'mystery dungeon normal' I guess so," Kaim replied, staring just like the Totodile.
"Well it solves one mystery," Ziggs cleared up. "Those stairs will lead us to the next floor I'm betting. Let's get climbing."
The trio approached the tree and began their ascent up the trunk. After the first 30 steps or so, Cade was beginning to feel the burden of the pack weigh even heavier. Thankfully, the stairs grew into a wide limb of the tree, big enough for all three Pokemon to stand on without any problem. There was also another oddity of the tree; another dark passage that was too door like to look natural but still apparently grown into the tree.
"This tree is just freaky," Kaim muttered unsuredly. As if to reinforce this, a gust of wind blew through the tree tops, rustling the leaves and smaller branches and causing some of the trees to creak and moan.
That was enough freaky for the whole team, and decided to hurry quickly into the dark beyond the door.
TUGLEY WOODS – INSIDE THE FREAKY TREE
As light filled Cade's eyes again, he saw even more oddities that he knew trees should just not ever have. First of all, trees were not hollow like a cavern. Second, limbs didn't grow on the inside of trees… that should not be hollow in the first place! And thirdly, there shouldn't be spider webs and Spinarak all over the walls and ceiling. The entire team cowered at the sight of all the Spinarak.
"Ooooh Shiftry…" Kaim mumbled. "I think I found the nest Ziggs."
"No, ya'think?" Ziggs whispered back violently.
"Both of you shush!" Cade ordered with a sharp whisper of his own. "Look, they're not reacting to us at all. Maybe they're asleep." Cade was still looking in the webs when he spotted a fleck of blue amongst the green. Focusing harder, he could make out two long ears and a little round head with blue cheeks.
"Hey… I think I found Minun you guys!" Cade exclaimed relieved. He pointed up in the direction of the blue, and Kaim and Ziggs followed the direction to see it too.
Ziggs grumbled, annoyed with the situation. "Dangit, it looks like he was caught by the Spinarak. Good thing we came when we did or he'd be their next meal."
"That… was better left unsaid," Kaim told Ziggs, disgusted with the prospect.
"Well, let's not all go at once to the rescue!" Cade made a motion to step forward, but his arm was quickly wrapped by a vine and pulled until he fell back on his tail.
"Hey, what gives Ziggs?" he asked as he got back up.
"This place is a Spinarak nest. They wouldn't all just sleep like this without leaving it unprotected," Ziggs explained, his face deadly serious. "Watch…" He knelt down and puffed a small cloud of green spores from his bulb. It floated out in front of them and slowly began to expand. As the cloud dispersed, some spores still lingered in midair in linear formations.
"There are practically invisible threads all over the place," he pointed out. "Most likely, each one is connected to the main web. Touching one will send vibrations through the whole nest and wake them up. That's more bug than I want to deal with."
"Well then how are we gonna get up to Minun?" Kaim asked.
"We could keep using Ziggs spores to point out the webs, and then climb our way up the branches," Cade suggested.
"That would work if we weren't walking into the spores," Ziggs answered. "Then you'd be sleeping too."
"Wait, Cade, didn't we have a Chesto berry in that bag?" Kaim asked.
Cade quickly opened the pack and shuffled through the contents.
"Hey pass me an apple while you're at it," Ziggs mumbled eyeing the plump red fruit greedily.
Cade offered the apple to Ziggs and took one out for Kaim as well. Kaim took it and nibbled on it happily, but Cade nearly lost some fingers when Ziggs chomped down on the fruit while it was still in his palm. He finished the whole thing in three bites. Ignoring his near loss of digits, Cade dove back into the bag and took out an apple for himself and the Chesto berry.
"Ok, what's this for?" he asked before taking a bite of apple.
"Well, maybe if we split and share this between the three of us we'll be resistant to the spores' effect." Kaim explained. He took another bite of his apple. "Chesto are known for keeping Pokemon wide awake."
"Not bad Kaim! You're thinking like an adventurer now!" Ziggs complimented. "Though I think it'd be best if it was shared between the two of you. I'm pretty resilient to my own spores."
Cade nodded, and then took a bite out of the Chesto berry. Memories of coffee beans surfaced instantly from the bitter taste and crunchy texture. It was also very dry and seemed to soak up all the saliva in his mouth. Needless to say, it was a little hard going down.
"Ick, ok Kaim you're turn." Cade motioned for Kaim to take the other half. Kaim did so, and ate the rest of the berry. Cade imagined he had the same disgruntled face Kaim had now when he ate the berry.
"Bleck. Chesto berries are never any good," he commented before quickly scarfing down some more bites of apple to rid his mouth of the taste.
Cade noticed then an odd feeling well up inside his whole body. He wanted to say queasiness, but he wasn't sick. It felt like his very cells were shaking, and he found the effects of the Chesto berry really uncomfortable.
"Oh,I wouldn't say never good Kaim," Ziggs replied. "But anyway, let's get this over with. I'm gonna burst a whole bunch of spores throughout the tree. Hopefully it'll help keep the Spinarak asleep too. Cover your mouths with your scarves just in case."
The two did as told and quickly covered their mouths with the fabric. Kaim, still enamored with Lumen's gift, pulled the goggles down over his eyes once more.
Ziggs then released an even greater cloud of spores throughout the entirety of the tree. Even with the Chesto berry, Cade couldn't help but feel himself uncontrollably relax. But the jitters the Chesto had given him kept him on his toes. Soon enough, the spores had rested upon surfaces throughout the tree, and thin lines of green were stretching all over the room.
Ziggs looked in every direction, trying to plot a course to the web at the top where Minun was.
"Ok, here's the deal," he started. "I'm gonna grapple myself up there and cut Minun free with a Razor Leaf. Unfortunately it will mean Minun is gonna fall."
"Wait, what? That's not good! He'll just hit the ground!" Kaim exclaimed.
"And trip all the threads stretching across the middle of the tree," Cade added.
"That's where you two come in. You'll wait down here ready to catch Minun. Cade, if you use Water Gun you should be able to slow the Minun's descent."
"But Ziggs, I-" Cade started.
"No buts, this is how it's goin' down. It'd be easier if Minun wasn't suspended over mid-air, but that isn't the case. Can I count on you guys to catch Minun?"
Cade was, of course, unsure that he could even fire off another Water Gun. The last one was completely on accident. He looked nervously from Ziggs and Kaim, unsure what to say.
"We'll catch 'em Ziggs," Kaim answered for the both of them. Cade turned to Kaim wanting to shout, "Perhaps you forgot. I am an inept Totodile who can drown on his own Water Gun!" But he couldn't bring himself to say anything at all, and in the end ended up agreeing. "Yeah…we'll catch 'em."
"Great. I'll get up there. When you see me at the top, give me the signal you're ready to catch Minun. Once we've got the little guy, we gotta bolt out of this tree like our lives depend on it…" Ziggs looked up again at the swarm of Spinarak. "Which they most likely will."
Ziggs flicked his vines at a thin but sturdy branch. They wrapped around it, and Ziggs pulled himself up to it. He continued using his vines to get higher and higher up the tree.
"…Ok that's cool," Cade muttered in amazement. "Ziggs can be pretty covert when he wants to be."
Ziggs made it to the top and looked down from his branch. Kaim and Cade weaved themselves through the threads to the center of the room. Before they gave the signal Kaim looked to Cade.
"You think you can do this?" Kaim asked his friend.
Cade didn't reply. He really was not sure he could pull it off.
"I don't Kaim, I really don't," he finally said. "I'm scared. What if I screw up? What if…"
"Cade! You're a Totodile! Believe me, you can use water attacks," Kaim told him, reinforcing something normally obvious. "I know, KNOW you can do this. Alright?"
Cade still wasn't too sure, but he nodded his affirmation. "Ok. You give the signal," he said, readying himself as best he can.
Kaim nodded back, and then gave a thumb up to Ziggs at the top. Ziggs waved a vine signifying he got it. Ziggs looked closely at the webs covering Minun, and picked out the weaker strands keeping him suspended on the web. "Here goes nothing. Sorry we didn't wake you up first little buddy, but get ready for a real ride."
Ziggs shot razor leaves at the webbing, effectively severing Minun from capture and setting him free falling to the two other members below. Minun's fall picked up more speed. It fell straight through many of the trap webs, cutting them and sending vibrations across the Spinarak's web. All this happened in slow motion for Cade, who was still trying to use Water Gun.
'I have to do this! They're counting on me! They need me!' he thought to himself, his emotions all haywire.
At the last moment, Cade felt a rush of cold from the Mystic Water. He grasped that feeling with his mind. It anchored his thoughts, and he suddenly felt in command.
Cade removed his scarf and opened his mouth. Out shot a rush of water as he exhaled. It hit the Minun, who splashed through the fountain. It plunged through the water and crashed right into Cade's gaping maw, knocking him back despite the cushioned fall and sending water everywhere.
"Cade! Cade you alright!" Kaim asked, flailing his arms around frantically. He was also trying his best to stay dry.
"AAAAAAHHHH, HELP!" came a high pitched squeal. "HEEELP! I'm being eaten alive by a wild Totodile! Somebody help please!"
"Mphmphr! Umfpmhphrefr!" Cade replied eloquently, trying to force the bundle of web and thrashing Minun out of his mouth. It did little to help calm down the Minun unfortunately, who was still yelling.
"AAAAAAAH! AAAAaaaahhh..haaaaa…zzzzzz…" And then, just as quickly as Minun had woken up, the squealer had fallen asleep.
"Must have been Ziggs Spores," Kaim figured. He then grabbed onto the Minun and helped Cade pry it out of his mouth. With a sound 'pop!' Cade's mouth was empty and he quickly put the scarf over his mouth again.
"Kaim, I did it! I did it, I used Water Gun! Yes, yes, yes!" Cade, for the first time ever, did something completely characteristic of a Totodile. He began to bounce, and then dance ecstatically. "Who's awesome? I'm awesome! What's that, who's awesome? I'm aweso- Kaim, whats with the face? I like my awesome dance."
Kaim would have been all for sharing in his friend's excitement if it wasn't for the mass of Spinarak descending down behind Cade. They slid down on webs and crawled off the walls and across the floors. They made little sound, except for the occasional quiet clack of fang against fang.
"C-Cade… C-C-Cade… S-Ssssspinaraks…" he mumbled in sheer terror, a shaking finger pointing behind the croc.
It didn't take Cade long to realize what this meant. He turned slowly to see the swarm of green, now all hissing violently at the intruders.
"…Oh balls…" was all he could mutter before a storm of web and poison barbs was shot at the three Pokemon.
Cade, now with a mediocre hold on his attack, took off the scarf and fired off Water Gun at the hoard of bugs and their attacks. The water sprayed over the webbing and needles, taking attacks aimed directly at the party down and a few Spinarak with it. Offended, the Spinarak remaining continued their assault. Again, Cade countered with his Water Gun and took down another couple Spinarak. This continued on until there were significantly less Spinarak remaining. But it was taking its toll on Cade, who was getting worn from firing off so many Water Guns and breathing in the spores.
"You'd think the spores Ziggs released would have had at least some effect on them!" Cade yelled in frustration. "You guys must have had a pretty nice nap!"
"It's one good way to get practice on an attack you're not good with I guess," Kaim replied mockingly.
"We have to get out of here before the Spinarak from the outside come crawling back in!" Cade exclaimed.
"Well then where is Ziggs? We can't lea-"
"TIIIIMBEEEEEER!"
A large limb fell in between the party and the hoard of Spinarak, knocking up dirt and making a loud bang. The log even shattered in some places. When the dust cleared, Ziggs was standing triumphantly on top, his vines wrapped tightly around the limb, and the Spinarak were now stuck between a limb and the tree wall. Ziggs looked down underneath the log.
"…Hope nobody was under that… " he muttered looking down from atop. Webs and Poison Sting were his only reply. "Yipe, time to disembark!" he retracted his vines and hopped off towards his comrades.
Cade's mouth was on the floor. "Ziggs…how did… Why are you so awesome?"
"I eat organic, how's that for an answer?" Ziggs retorted. "Kaim, forget being conservative!" he ordered the Charmander. "Light that log up like the sun!"
Kaim didn't hesitate, instantly removing his scarf. With a blast of heat a stream of fire licked across the log. The fire spread across the log, forcing the Spinarak to stay far away from it and preventing a simple climb over. The spores littered across the ground and floating mid-air became shining embers.
"Ok, now let's quick get the heck out of herrrre hello!" Ziggs turned towards the exit to find not Spinarak but a huge Ariados guarding the door, a thick web spun inside the archway already preventing any easy retreat. It glared at them, its purple eyes an even deeper black, and drooling venom from its fangs. It was most definitely a Forgotten One.
Ziggs growled, fed up with the tight situation. "Just great, as if the Spinarak weren't enough, now I have their overprotective mom in front and my best friend fire on my tail. Kaim!"
"On it!" Another blast of fire jetted towards the Ariados. But just as it was going roast the bug alive, a jet black wave of darkness pierced through the fire and slammed right into Kaim. It knocked him off his feet and rolling across the floor until he hit the wall of the tree.
"Kaim!" Cade yelled out to his friend, who was struggling to get onto his feet. "Ziggs what was that attack!"
"The Ariados can use Night Shade! It's more effective the more powerful the user is," Ziggs explained. "If it can knock down Kaim in just one shot, we've got one tough cookie on our hands!" Ziggs stood up on his front legs and fired off a Bullet Seed at the Ariados. It hit successfully, and suddenly the seeds rapidly sprouted all over the Ariados. They gave off a faint green light as they sprouted more shoots, and glowed even more as Ariados began to hiss and screech in discomfort.
"Alright! Bullet-Leech Seed is a success!" Ziggs cheered. "Cade, get over there and help Kaim out! Give him an Oran berry if he needs it! I'll hold off Fatty over here as long as I can, but we need fire!"
"Ah, right!" Cade realized that he was actually being called on to do something. He was still busy taking in the attack, but cleared his head and dashed over to his friend. Kaim was still trying to stand, but Cade put a hand on his shoulder and knelt down to him. He looked kind of comical with his goggles all askew.
"Hey, hey. Take it easy, alright?" Cade told Kaim. He reached into the bag and pulled out an Oran berry. "Here, eat it this."
Kaim took the Oran berry and popped the whole thing into his mouth, chewing softly and then vigorously as he gained back his energy. Cade took the moment to concentrate, and then used Aqua Ring. The arcs of water materialized and rotated around themselves and over the two Pokemon, glowing blue like the sky.
"Well, isn't this déjà vu for you?" Kaim joked at the situation.
"Hey, be thankful I can heal in the first place. We have to hurry now though, those flames on the log are spreading and I don't know if Ziggs can take that Ariados on by himself," Cade explained.
"No, I can tell you he definitely can't face it himself! Look!" Kaim pointed towards the Ariados, who now had Ziggs wrapped in his very own personal cocoon. Its fangs, dripping green slime, were poised dangerously close to the Bulbasaur's horrified face.
He didn't really know what he was thinking when he did it, but Cade charged at the Ariados and left the Aqua Ring to heal Kaim before the Charmander could dissuade him.
"Hey Bug Eyes!" Cade yelled at the spider pokemon as he rushed forward. The Ariados looked up in time to get a face full of water, pushing him away from Ziggs. When it opened its eyes again, it saw no assailant.
That's because Cade was behind Ariados.
"I'm the only one doing the biting here!" Cade opened wide and bit down hard on the Ariados' abdomen. It shrieked in a mixture of shock and pain and flailed its legs wildly in all directions.
"Blechk! Jou know muggy, yur mud dathes awfol!" Cade shouted with a mouth full of bug. He bit down harder, much to the Ariados' infinite displeasure. Fed up with this, it flipped its back side up into the air, flicking Cade off. He fell down hard on the ground, but stood back up refusing to give in.
'Keep it up Cadence!' he told himself in his mind. He started bouncing on his feet to keep mobile, his heart filling with adrenaline and his Totodile instincts telling him to keep moving.
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd like that. You should think about that the next time you sink your fangs into something. You got nothing on these chompers!" he mocked the spider Pokemon.
"Cade, you can't take that thing on by yourself!" Ziggs warned the newbie Totodile.
"Don't worry, Kaim'll be ready to join me soon enough! Just look at him!" Cade told the Saur.
"I can't kinda. I'm a Metapod at the moment."
"Haha. You sooo funn- ahck!" Cade dodged out of the way before a ball of purple goo almost slammed into his face. The Ariados had now taken to propping its abdomen up with the appendages on its back. It fired the purple goops over and over from the stinger on its rear, but Cade managed to dodge them all.
"Is that all you got, Bug Eyes?" Cade kept taunting as he danced away from the sludge bombs. He shot a few forceful balls of water at it, and it seemed to be doing some damage.
Ariados eventually had enough. It got back into a normal position, and Cade saw the horn on its head glowing with a deep dark purple. There was little warning otherwise before it started screeching loudly and fired off Night Shades in number at the Totodile. Cade was still managing to dodge, but it was much harder. This attack was faster. He tripped mid-dodge on his scarf and fell flat on his face, looking up to see Ariados charge a Night Shade that would surely hit. But at the last moment, and explosion of flame engulfed the whole spider. When the flame died down, Ariados' charred body dropped to the floor.
Cade looked up to see Kaim by Ziggs, breathing heavily. "Got 'im!" he announced triumphantly.
Cade ran over to the two, now quarrelling on whether Kaim should burn the web. Ziggs, despite his weakness for fire, allowed Kaim to burn it away with his tail flame very gingerly before he moved onto the Minun. Meanwhile, Cade was keeping the fire climbing up the tree in check with his water. He didn't want to destroy the Spinaraks' home, but he made sure he didn't douse the log in order to keep the hoard in check.
Finally, Ziggs and Minun were both free from the webs. Kaim picked up Minun and held him on his back, and burned through the webs in the exit. Cade put out the last of the flames in the tree, and the team rushed out of the tree without wasting time to say anything.
Darkness blanketed Cade's vision as he trudged through the tunnel in the tree. And then light pierced his sight, and he shielded his eyes as he came into the bright daylight outside Tugley Woods.
"Wait, we're… we're outside the forest! Ziggs we exited the dungeon!" Cade claimed happily.
"Ufffff…excellent…" he groaned as he collapsed on a patch of warm grass.
"Ah, quick Kaim. Put Minun next to him. I'll heal them both." Cade told his friend.
Kaim nodded and leaned Minun up against Ziggs' bulb. The arcs of water danced and swirled into existence once again.
"Geez, that really is handy," Kaim muttered. "I don't think I would have been able to keep fighting otherwise."
"Aaahh, you give me too much credit," the croc replied modestly. "You did have an Oran berry at the same time y'know?"
"Well, yeah… but still!"
"Mmmm… water…" Ziggs mumbled with a goofy smile.
Cade chuckled a little. "I wonder how we got out of the forest in the first place?" he asked Kaim hoping for an answer. The Charmander shrugged his shoulders.
"Well… there you go treating it like a normal forest again Cade. It is a mystery dungeon," Ziggs explained from his place on the ground "How and why it does those things is a mystery!"
"Oh, you really are conscious. I thought you were just mumbling before," Cade giggled.
"Mmmm… don't care. Need food please,"
Cade reached into the bag to pull out another apple for Ziggs and handed it off to a vine. Ziggs chomped down on the apple and got back up, gulping the fruit down quickly. Within moments the fruit was gone, and Ziggs was smacking his lips.
"Much better!" Ziggs explained with a smile before noticing the arcs of water surrounding him. "Cade, you didn't tell me you could use Aqua Ring. That's awesome, how'd you learn it!"
"Ohhh… you know…I don't remember…hehe," he mumbled in reply.
"Man, that amnesia really got you didn't it? Sorry buddy," Ziggs apologized with a concerned frown.
"Hey, don't let it get you down too. I'm sure it'll come to me eventually."
"Alright. Well, let's talk about it later. Right now though, we have a Minun to wake up." Cade was happy to oblige, though he hoped he could dodge the discussion later as well. It was really annoying not wanting to give answers he didn't have in the first place.
Kaim had started looking over the Minun once the Aqua Ring surrounding the little mouse dispersed. A few good shakes and soon its eyes were blinking open.
"Wha, huh? Wh-where am I? Who are you?" asked Minun. Then suddenly it started looking around for something. "Ah! The bugs! Where are they, they had me! The Totodile, the webs, the teeth! Oooh!" Kaim had a good idea that it was a young girl by now, judging from how shrill and squeaky her voice was.
"Hey hey now, it's all good!" Kaim consoled the little one as he offered the other Chesto berry. "We're a rescue team. We got you out of the tree. You're safe now."
"Really?" she asked gleefully as she took the Chesto berry and started chewing it. "Oh…oh thank you so mu- AHHHH! THE TEETH! He tried to eat me!" she screamed jamming a finger at Cadence utterly horrified. She scrambled to her feet and hid behind Kaim. "Please mister, don't let 'em eat me!"
Cade grumbled a little at first, annoyed by the accusation. It really wasn't even his fault.
"Listen, I'm sorry that happened. I was trying to help catch you bu-"
"But what? You ended up feeling starved at the last second, you beast!" Minun shouted accusingly.
"But he's telling the truth you know. I was there too, and I can tell you it was a complete accident," Kaim attempted to explain to the Minun.
She stared harshly at Cade for a few moment before turning her gaze from him.
"You have my thanks, Totodile. But not my favor," the Minun retorted.
'Who does she think she is, a princess?' Cade thought rashly, but he kept a calm attitude on the outside. "You're…welcome? And it's Cadence if you're wondering."
The Minun made no reply. For a moment there was awkward silence between all four of them.
"So, uuhmmm, what's your name?" Ziggs queried in order to break the silence.
"Oh yeah! My name is Meena!" she explained, suddenly all giddy and happy again. "Meena Alice Aretha Carol is my whole name. But I just go by Meena. I hate being called Meany, that's rude, and sounds like a boy's name! So please, if you have to ever call me something, call me Meena!"
Meena continued on the etymology of her name and why her mother named her that, while the three rescuers merely looked at each other with clueless faces.
"Well, Meena, could you tell us…Meena… Meena," Ziggs kept calling her name in order to get attention.
"…And then one day my mom mentioned something about my name and a writ- Oh, yeah? What is it?"
"Could you tell us why you went into the woods to begin with? It's a little dangerous to be in there alone," Ziggs got in before she could start talking again.
"Oh, easy! I had an assignment from my teacher to do a report on the Tugley Woods. I was going on a self-assigned field trip to gather research," she explained rather matter of factly.
Cade face palmed. He couldn't help it; how could she sound so stupid and yet so smart in the same sentence?
"Well, did you get the info you were after?" Cade asked grudgingly.
"Oh yes! That nest the Spinarak caught me in within the tree was fascinating! And the way the bugs all moved as if the whole of them were all a single mind was incredible!" she exclaimed happily. "I had absolutely no chance for escape. By the way, who are you guys?"
"We're a group of rescuers from the Guiding Light Exploration Guild," Ziggs introduced. "My name is Ziggs, and I represent Team Wuji, my leader Reiki, and Guild Master Lumen. These are my partners Kaim and Cadence." Cade and Kaim both couldn't help notice how odd Ziggs sounded when he spoke so formally.
"We were sent by a Plusle named Kros to rescue you. Do you know him?" asked Kaim
"Ah! That was my brother," she explained. "He's such a worry-wart, having to hire a rescue team to come and get me only after about a day."
"Meena!" Cade exclaimed. "You were about to become Bug-Lunch!"
"Oh, and I'm sure you would have been completely adverse to that idea you blood-thirsty monster!" she shouted viciously in return.
"Ooookay! I say we stop this idle chatter and get a move on back home, whaddya say Ziggs?" Kaim suggested to the Saur enthusiastically while keeping a firm grip on Meena's head so she didn't charge at Cade.
"Yes let's do so, right Cade?" Ziggs replied happily trying to convince a now growling Totodile. "You guys just go on ahead and we'll catch up!"
"Oh, ok. See you in a sec. Meena, let's go ahead and start back home."
Meena smiled kindly, ditching her vicious air in a flash. "Okey-dokey Mr. Kaim!" And so the two started down the road back to Crescent Town, Meena continuing on about her class project and how she called the big tree she was in the Tummy Tree… of all things.
Cade glared at the Minun's turned back. "Well, she's certainly a grateful one isn't she?" he spat.
"Well, can you blame her? She did kinda wake up in your mouth," Ziggs reminded him. "Still, I have to admit… she sure has a mouth of her own. But so it goes with rescue missions. Sometimes the clients are just…difficult. But as for the adventuring part, I'd say you handled yourself pretty nicely."
Cade smiled happily. "You think so?"
"Of course! For one, it's always good to have a healer on the team. That was a nice surprise! And the way you fought with that Forgotten Ariados was rather impressive, even if it was a little foolish for doing so alone."
Cade grinned wider yet, taking into full consideration that he had tackled a Forgotten One on his first mission and came out of it more or less unscathed. "I'm glad I was able to help!"
"You did more than help bud. You rocked! You're gonna do the team some good for sure."
Cade scoffed. "Phht, sure. This coming from the guy who rode a falling tree limb into the ground."
"Ahhhh, I have my moments," Ziggs replied modestly.
"Heeeeey! Are you guys coming or what!" Kaim called from a distance. "Trust me, you definitely want to hear all about Meena's collection of tree leaves! You can't miss out on it!"
Ziggs and Cade chuckled for a moment.
"I think we should go help him," Ziggs suggested.
"Ha! I really would be a monster if I didn't," Cade joked.
The two ran quickly to catch up with Kaim and their client, eager to fully complete their mission and get home as soon as possible.