Review response: Dear Shadow-Snivy, hello! I deeply apologize for this being so late. However, something happened in my Fanfiction account that prevented me from posting. Has anyone else noticed the missing options bar in the copy-n-paste? Not only am I unable to find the line breaks, but all of my italics and bolds automatically reset and I can't get them back. Anyway, Sekani and Ahanu are cute aren't they? I love writing them together, they make such an insufferable pair! You are a very astute reader by the way, I don't think there is a single hint in my story that you've failed to mention in you review. Dale is one of the most interesting characters I write in this story, he is the logic and compassion of the group and just what Mira needs. Castor and Cora are close, there is no mistake about that. However, I can't help but wonder how a relationship of the nature you are suggesting would work out, they are opposing types after all. I misspelled something again? Oh dear. Thank you for this review, it does indeed inspire me to write. All my reviews do.

Dear Alice-Chan123, greetings! I think I may have unfairly confused you in the last chapter, so allow me to clear that up. Mira does not have amnesia, that was simply Sekani opening his big mouth again. If you are referring to her lack of knowledge about her scar, anyone who underwent that much trauma in a single night can't be expected to remember it in logical, painstaking clarity. Yes, Sekani was not talkative as a child, but not because he didn't have anything to say, he simply couldn't figure out what to say first! I know someone like him in that respect, actually. On a last note, not everyone who has high energy likes sweet things, I personally despise things that are overly sweet but am about as energetic as Sekani. Enjoy the new chapter!

A/N: I don't own Pokemon and since I can't figure out how to italicize the character thoughts, from now on they will be marked by this, ~what a lovely day!~ see? Good, enjoy! -

A/N Update: Thank you AmorphousExplorer for your solution! I will be fixing chapters 9 to 11 immediately.

Chapter Nine: The World Underground

Castor stared at the looming mouth of the cave and swallowed a little bit. It's so ... dark. Even in the daytime the light barely reaches past the first few feet of the cave entrance. He looked over a Leal, "Are you sure this is the entrance to the Dugtrio den?"

Leal rubbed his head, "Well, not exactly. This is the entrance to a network of underground caves and tunnels that houses many different clans. Including the Dugtrio."

Sekani fidgeted nervously, "Uh, you do know the way through the caves, right? Right?"

Leal shrugged, "I thought that was Ahanu's job." All eyes turned to the Wobbuffet in question.

Ahanu quailed, "What? Me? I come from a different set caves! I don't know where anything is in there!"

Sekani threw his paws into the air, "We're doomed! If we go in there we will never come out and no Pokemon will ever know what happened to us! Mothers will tell stories of how we disappeared and starved to death and how we wander the desert still as lonely spirits who moan and wail and-"

Cora smacked him on the back of his head, "Do you ever not overdramatize everything that happens to us? Honestly! You should have been born as a traveling entertainment Pokemon!"

Sekani whined loudly, "Will you stop doing that? It hurts!"

Mira shook her head and marched into the cave, "One, we won't get anything done if we simply stand here. Two, you forget, Sekani, that Leal just stated how all sorts of Pokemon live in those caves. If we get lost, we can always ask one of them for help. Let's go."

Castor watched as she lit up a little bit of the cave with her cheek pouches. She seems to know what she's doing. Plus, she hasn't led us astray thus far. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for the others to follow him inside, "Come on guys! The sooner we get in the sooner we get help for Nagai Kusa!" Cora nodded and followed him in, however, he noticed that she looked more then a bit nervous as they proceeded farther into the cave. He smiled comfortingly at her and raised the power on his tail flame a little bit, "Don't worry, I'm sure the Pokemon in there are friendly."

Cora returned the smile weakly, "Yeah, friendly." Leal, Ahanu, and Sekani huddled close to the light cast by his fire, each one tense and alert.

Ahanu wrapped his arms around Sekani, "It's scary in here!" He whispered emphatically to his recently chosen best friend.

Sekani nodded sympathetically at first, but suddenly looked at Ahanu oddly, "Wait a minute!" He wormed out of Ahanu's embrace and shook a paw at him accusingly, "You're a Wobbuffet! Wobbuffets live in caves just like this one! How can it be scary?" he humphed, "And Cora calls me a coward..."

Ahanu defended himself sulkily, "I've never been in these caves! I heard that the Gengar clan home den is in here and they scare me. Besides, you're scared too, remember? Mister 'I'm going to die and become a Poke-legend."

An argument might have erupted between the two tense Pokemon if Castor hadn't shoved his tail between them, "Enough you two! Get along of I'll make you walk in the dark. Keep your eyes peeled for someone who can give us directions." Sekani and Ahanu grumbled softly but apparently took Castor's threat seriously because they didn't restart their argument.

Castor rolled his eyes and kept walking, keeping his eyes firmly on Mira and Dale. He felt a tiny frown crease his forehead at the sight of the Eevee. Ever since Dale had met the Pikachu, he had been spending more time with her then with Castor and his friends. Not that he really minded, but it was confusing for him.

And then after that fight with the Fearow, the two of them have been disappearing together before dawn and reappearing completely sweaty and excited right after the rest of us wake up. Castor had asked Dale about the disappearing act, but his friend had simply shrugged and said something about her giving him tips on increasing his endurance.

That was all well and good, but Castor couldn't help feeling just a tiny bit miffed at how Mira had singled Dale out for training and yet remained aloof and business-like to everyone else. That, and his constant hanging around with Mira was making Cora strangely depressed and snappy.

A strange skittering noise yanked his attention back to the present. He tensed and swung his tail a little bit in the direction of the noise, "Did you hear that?" He whispered.

Cora nodded and inched closer to him, "What do you think it was?"

Leal faced outward and stretched out a paw to shield her, "Do not worry, Cora. If it is hostile, I will ensure it does not harm you!" Whatever it was that lurked in the darkness seemed to find Leal's statement amusing. An eerily echoing giggle seemed to come from all around them, sending chills up Castor's spine, Oh for the love of-! We're barely an hour's walk inside and already we're encountering trouble!

Ahead of them, Mira had straightened and exuded more electricity, bathing the expanse of the tunnel they were walking through in yellow light. Nothing, no matter were they looked, they couldn't find the source of the eerie giggles. Sekani began to whimper in fear, "Do you think it's a ghost?"

A Ghost-type maybe, they are rumored to be the kind to love pulling pranks like this. Castor drew himself to his full height, knowing perfectly well that it would be unimpressive to any Pokemon larger then Ahanu, and called, "Who's out there?" There was no response other then the sudden silence. Maybe we accidentally wandered into someone's home without knowing.

He glanced around and called, "I'm sorry if we wandered into your home or disturbed you in any way. We're merely looking for the Dugtrio home den." Silence was still his only answer. Swallowing a little bit to wet his fear-dried throat, he continued, "If you could just be so kind as to direct us in the direction we need to go, we'll be on our way."

Sekani suddenly screamed shrilly, Castor whirled to see his Aipom friend floating in the air for seemingly no reason. There wasn't even the telltale gleam of a Pokemon using Confusion. Leal jumped forward and grabbed onto Sekani's foot paws, "I've got you!" Laughter that didn't seem to have an owner filled the air and Leal was lifted up as well.

Castor felt his heart pound in fright, I might hurt them if I use Flamethrower! He leaped to one side and shouted, "Cora use WaterGun!" Cora obeyed shakily, water sprayed out and soaked the two mysteriously floating Pokemon, but Castor didn't see or hear any reaction from their attacker.

Ahanu waddled forward and wrapped his arms around Leal's waist, "I told you these caves were spooky!"

Sekani squirmed and wiggled, screeching frantically, "Okay, okay! These caves are terrifying! Now help me! I don't want to become a ghost!"

Whatever was lifting them apparently couldn't handle Ahanu's weight added to Sekani's and Leal's. It dropped them with another creepy giggle. Sekani clutched at Ahanu, wailing unconsolably like a newly hatched Pokemon. Leal clambered to his feet and glared all around, "Where is it? Why can we not see our attacker?"

Castor strained his eyes but still couldn't make anything out. To add insult to injury, their mystery assailant began to sing in a lonely lilting, high-pitched voice.

I knew a Pokemon who once said,

I'll never be afraid of darkness and death!

He went to the caves,

Where the moon forever glows.

And claimed that he would conquer,

For the light that he so loves!

But that Pokemon,

Is now gone.

Swallowed by the darkness,

That I live on!

Sekani wailed loud enough to drown out the rest of the song, "Get me out of here! I don't want to swallowed by anything! I'm too young and handsome to die!" Ahanu covered Sekani's mouth, attempting to muffle his panicked wails.

Mira ran over to them and shouted in an authoritative voice, "Leal! Your clan learn Foresight at an early age, use it!"

Leal looked surprised, "Oh, that's right!" He squeezed his eyes shut for a second. When his eyes opened, the emitted bright red beams of energy. Leal swept his eyes around the cave passage, his brow furrowed in concentration. His eyes swept over something that wasn't part of the rock formation and he focused on it.

After full second the 'something' was revealed to be a small Pokemon. Castor huffed air out of his lungs, well if she isn't a Ghost-type, I don't know what is! Their attacker was a dark bluish-green, ghost-like Pokémon. While she had no visible arms or legs, her lower half had several small appendages and resembled a ruffled Kirlia dress. She had several round, red gems around her neck and long, flowing lilac-tipped 'hair'. Her large eyes were composed of yellow sclera with red irises.

She glared at Leal, "Now look what you've done! You've ruined my fun you stupid Riolu!" She pouted in mid-air, seemingly unaware of the disbelieving and angry looks directed her way.

Mira crossed her front paws over her chest, "Fun? Fun? How is nearly giving Sekani a heart attack and trying to scare the willies out of the rest of us, fun?" Her gaze became hard, "Here's a question to ask yourself, Misdreavus. Now that Leal's used Foresight on you, what is to keep me from having 'fun' with you? Thunderbolt style."

The Misdreavus tilted her chin upwards and tried to look regal, "You wouldn't dare. Not in these caves, when you're obviously lost, not when I could call my family down on you."

Castor glared at the Ghost-type, "Some Ghost-type you are. The moment you get caught and need to take responsibility for your actions, you threaten to call down your siblings. Look what you did to Sekani! You think he was having fun?" The Misdreavus followed his pointing paw with her eyes and studied Sekani.

The poor Aipom had always been afraid of Ghost-types, and after getting trapped in the rubble of his home had developed a fear of dark enclosed spaces. Now that both of his phobias had seemingly ganged up on him, the poor Pokemon was actually sobbing his tiny heart out on Ahanu's non-existent shoulder.

Her gaze softened and became slightly remorseful, "Oh," She floated down so that Sekani could see her. He quailed and Leal leaped between them, the Riolu's glare warning her to back off. She stared at the ground, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he'd get that scared. It's just ... my brothers and sisters talk all the time about how fun it is to pull pranks on anyone who wanders in here, so I thought I'd give it a try ... I didn't realize that I was being that scary."

Cora apparently refused to go easy on her, "Well, congratulations. You have successfully taken an already Ghostaphobic and claustrophobic Pokemon and made him cry like a hatchling. I hope it was as fun as your siblings said it would be."

The Misdreavus sank so low to the ground that the tips of her dress-like appendages were brushing the dirt, "I really am sorry. Please don't yell at me anymore, I honestly didn't mean to hurt anyone." She sniffled and Castor felt a touch of sympathy for her. She probably was using all of tactics needed to scare a native cave Pokemon and didn't realize it only takes a tenth of that to scare non-cave dwellers.

Mira took control, "Well, if you want to make it up to us, and believe me you do, then you can direct us to the Dugtrio home den. If you don't, I'll make sure you're sorry, got it?" The now terrified looking Ghost Pokemon nodded hastily. Mira looked her up and down, "Now, what's your name?"

The Misdreavus dipped her head politely, "My name is Lilith Misdreavus of the Mismagius clan. I'm really sorry about scaring you so badly. Here, follow me." She lifted into the air and began floating off down the cave tunnel. Mira glanced at Castor, he shrugged, and they all set off after her. Leal, Ahanu, and Cora all working on calming down Sekani as they went deeper into the network of caves.

Castor approached Mira quietly, "How did you know that the Misdreavus was there and that it wasn't a real ghost?"

Mira snorted contemptuously, "Because in all of time I've traveled and been alive, I've never seen a 'real' ghost. Only Ghost-types. Besides, the song she sang? It's classic chant for when a Ghost-type is pulling a prank, I'm surprised you didn't recognize it." Castor made a soft 'oh' noise.

Dale piped up, "Have you traveled long?"

Mira's ears flattened defensively, "I ... suppose you could say that. Enough talking, we need to keep alert for any more surprises."

Castor fell back a bit so that he walked abreast of the now cognitive Sekani. Wow, talk about privacy oriented. You'd think someone who's apparently so well traveled would be friendlier. I wonder how can Dale stand to spend so much time with her when she's so ... curt.

Sekani's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Hey, Castor? How do we know that we can trust that Misdreavus? I - I mean ... she's a Ghost-type."

Castor gently patted his friend's shoulder, "Don't worry, Sekani. I think she's on the level. Plus, if she isn't, we can always fight her off. Leal used Foresight, remember."

Sekani nodded but still didn't look at all happy about following Lilith. Everyone walked in silence, no one felt much like talking. The quiet in the caves, normally interrupted only by the dripping of moisture, seemed too heavy to break with speech. The very sound of their paw steps seemed almost like a crime.

Castor swallowed hard, how long have we been walking? There's no sense of time in here. Keeping his voice to a whisper for an unknown reason, Castor said, "Hey, Lilith? How much farther is it to the Dugtrio?"

Lilith glanced over her shoulder at him and then turned her eyes forward, "I'm not sure. It depends on what routes are open today."

Cora frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Are cave-ins frequent around here?" Sekani squeaked at the thought.

Lilith shook her head and looked slightly nervous, "There's a group in these caves, they used to be just the neighborhood jerks, but after all the recent rain and that earthquake we had a while back, they've become an actual gang. During all of the chaos and hubbub of repairing everything, they managed to steal a lot of stuff and used the stuff to get more powerful. These days everyone has to be extra careful to avoid them."

Mira glanced back at the group, her green eyes questioning. Castor, guessing what she was thinking, nodded approvingly. Everyone but Sekani and Ahanu nodded their assent to her silent question, instead they shook their heads emphatically.

However, the two were clearly outvoted and, with a slight ear flick of acknowledgement, Mira turned back to Lilith, "Take us the shortest route, Lilith. We'll deal with the gang if they try to give us any trouble."

Lilith looked shocked, "Really? Are you sure? The leader is a very good battler and her gang is totally loyal to her." Her? The leader is a girl? That's new. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after all, Queen Absol is a female.

Leal spoke up, "A lady leads the gang? What type is she?"

Lilith glanced around nervously as she led them down a slightly altered course, "She's a Steel/Fairy-type. A Mawile to be exact and she has a very vindictive temper. Most of the types in here can't do much damage to her and everyone else is simply too low of a level. A couple of Ghastly joined her and after that, no one has dared cross her." She sighed, "My mom says that things used to be much more peaceful around here. But after the flash floods and earthquakes started hitting more often, well, Pokemon are starting to look out more for themselves then for others."

Castor frowned to himself, A Mawile huh? I think I've heard of those. They're known as the Deceptive Pokemon clan because they look sweet and easygoing but they have a pair of steal growths that act like huge jaws when they get angry. I hope we haven't bit off more then we can chew ... no pun intended.

Trying not to worry, Castor told himself that in a cave network this large, they probably wouldn't run into any trouble whatsoever. For a while, the silence seemed to prove him right. Mira had, as a precaution, lowered her light to a small circle so as not to attract attention. Everyone was quiet, and since Lilith appeared to be leading them honestly and not deceiving them, Castor almost found himself semi-relaxed. Almost.

It wasn't until they stopped for lunch that Castor's nervously twisting gut proved correct instead of his mental denials. A single pair of paw steps sounded in the darkness, drawing steadily nearer. Ahanu looked up and instantly went on alert, "It's a Mawile! Coming straight for us!"

Mira and Castor turned up their lights, throwing illumination upon the approaching Pokemon. It was indeed a Mawile, who smiled at them timidly. Castor studied her. She was a short, bipedal Pokémon with a pale yellow body and black arms and feet. Her legs had a thick, fur-like covering resembling the bottoms of bells with slits all along the lower edge. Her most notable feature was the pair of large black jaws emerging from the back of her head, still visible even though they were half hidden behind her body.

Castor knew from the descriptions he had heard that the jaws had an oval yellow spot on their top surface and contained ten teeth - six on the top row and four on the bottom. While he knew that the jaws were actually transformed steel horns, he also knew that Mawile could articulate them at will, using them to bite enemies and chew through iron beams.

She cocked her head to one side, staring at them cutely with her red eyes and making the two black ear-like extensions on either side of its head bob softly.

Mira kept her voice neutral, as if she hadn't noticed how Lilith was hiding in fear behind the biggest Pokemon of their group, Ahanu. With almost menacing courtesy she said, "Hello, can we help you with anything?"

The Mawile lifted her head slightly and sniffed the air with her invisible nose, "Excuse me for disturbing you, but are those Pecha Berry poffins I smell?"

Mira nodded slowly, "Yes," reaching into her satchel, she pulled one out and offered it to the newcomer, "would you like one?"

The Mawile smiled adorably and skipped forward towards Mira, "Oh, yes please!" Taking the poffin from her paw, the Mawile nibbled on it delicately. Castor found himself slowly letting his guard down, she sure doesn't seem like the leader of a bullying gang.

Lilith seemed to notice how the others were beginning to relax and shouted frantically, "Don't let her fool you! That's the one I told you about! She's just trying to lower your guard before stealing all of your supplies!"

The Mawile stopped nibbling and whirled in the direction of Lilith's shrill voice, "What? What are you doing here you little-" Her composure returned and she smiled, "Oh, sorry about that Lilith. I didn't realize you were here." The crafty look that flickered across her face for a split second was enough to put Castor on high alert again.

She continued munching on the poffin casually, "Have you been making up stories to tell strangers again? You know that your mother will be worried sick about you. What with the recent flooding and all. You shouldn't be wandering around telling Pokemon such awful lies."

Lilith cringed and hid behind Ahanu again, her voice was a tiny murmur, "It's not the flooding she's worried about..."

The deceptive yellow Pokemon turned to Castor, "Let me guess, what did she tell you I was? A gangster? A ghost in disguise? A human who mutated in an attempt to infiltrate the Pokemon world?" She laughed, "Sweet Lilith is always making up the wildest stories and convincing herself that their real. I suppose she means well enough but, take my advice, don't believe everything she says."

Castor glared at her, "Uh, huh. Didn't sound like she was making anything up to me."

Again, the Mawile laughed. Her laughter reminded Castor of the tinkling noise tiny raindrops made on the ancient metal pan his next door neighbor kept. When her laughter had died down she replied, "Of course she didn't sound like she was making it up! That's because she honestly believes every word she is saying!"

Breaking off a piece of her poffin, the Mawile leaned over so that she could see the cowering Misdreavus and held it out coaxingly, "Come on, Lily, it's me, Cassandra. You know that I'm your sister's best friend."

Lilith shook her head emphatically, "No you're not. You just try to use my sister like you're trying to use me and these other Pokemon. Leave me alone!"

Leal stepped forward, "That is enough, Mawile! I can sense your dark thoughts, what Lilith say's is true! Begone foul temptress, before I run you off by force!"

Cassandra Mawile looked startled, then her expression soured. She threw the remains of the Pecha poffin on the ground and snarled, "Oh, really? Big words coming from a first evolution Pokemon! Let's see how you back them up."

She took several backwards steps away from them and turned so that her steel 'fake' jaws were mostly pointed at them while leaving just enough angle for her to look over her shoulder. She smirked and clacked the huge jaws together menacingly, "Come on out, boys! Lunch is on these gentlefolk and they've promised us a show!"

On her call, three Ghastly and a Haunter floated though the wall and formed a square formation around her. All them were grinning and chuckling. Castor tensed and slid into a fighting pose. He was mildly surprised when Mira suddenly barked out orders, "Leal, use Foresight! Castor, Mawile are weak to fire attacks! Dale, Sekani, she's also weak to ground type attacks! Cora, help Ahanu protect Lilith! Move it everybody! Go, go, go!"

Within seconds, the cave they had stopped in was in chaos. Before the three Ghastly had time to register which Pokemon was Leal, the Riolu had already used Foresight on them, preventing the Ghost-types from going invisible or changing their matter density to avoid attacks. The Haunter was quicker, it dodged the Foresight beam and tried to paralyze Leal with Lick attack.

Leal yelped and leaped to one side, quickly passing his Foresight over the Haunter just before its second Lick Attack hit home and he went down with a strangled cry. Castor focused on the scowling Mawile, If I take out the leader, the others might give up. He sucked in air and opened his mouth wide, "Try this on for size!" His Flamethrower attack surged out of his mouth like a raging fire demon.

Cassandra leaped to one side, her expression tense and angry as she began to dodge his repeated Flamethrowers. Darn she's fast! I only just learned this move, I don't know how to speed up! There was a blur in the corner of his eye and Castor realized too late that Cassandra was going on the offensive. She ducked under the flames gushing from his mouth and spun artfully so her steel jaws were facing him.

Castor hastily tried to adjust his position but Cassandra was faster. Her jaws clamped painfully around his midriff, knocking the wind out of his lungs and threatening to crush his ribs. He weakly cried out as stars exploded in his vision and his stomach began to painfully throb. He heard a sudden thump and the Vice Grip attack instantly loosened.

He dropped to ground gasping and helplessly watched as Dale circled the Mawile, the Eevee's hackles were raised and he was snarling viciously at Cassandra. Castor wanted to cry out a warning about how fast she was, but could only manage a loud wheeze and a not-so-rewarding throb from his ribs and chest.

Cassandra spun and snapped her jaws at Dale, trying to clamp him in the same Vice Grip attack that she had been using on Castor moment's before. To the surprise of both Castor and Cassandra, Dale dodged it with apparent ease and retaliated with the same figure eight pattern that he had used to confuse Sekani so long ago.

Cassandra spun in circles, her steel jaws snapping wildly in an attempt to catch Dale. Dale suddenly reversed his pattern and careened full tilt into his opponent's midriff, slamming his head into her stomach and then flicking it to send her flying.

What kind of attack was that? Castor, having finally regained his breath, stood up and hurried to Dale's side. All around him, Thunderbolts and WaterGun attacks flew everywhere in combat against the Nightshade and Confusion attacks unleashed by the Ghastlys and the Haunter.

Much to his surprise, Cassandra had already picked herself up and was backing up into the fray. Her red eyes gleamed furiously as she glared at Dale and Castor over her shoulder and clicked her fighting jaws menacingly, "You are so going to pay for that Eevee!"

There was a wild yell from the left side and Sekani suddenly barreled into her, scratching and biting for all he was worth. Cassandra reeled back and shrieked in surprise. Castor and Dale exchanged glances, what got into him? Dale smiled a little bit, "Look's like he learned Astonish." Oh, Castor looked back towards were the Mawile was frantically trying to turn around and use her main weapon against the wildly scratching Aipom. So that's what a raging Sekani looks like. Yikes.

Castor sensed something behind him and whirled. Haunter! Without thinking or preparing, he used Flamethrower on the would-be ambusher. The Haunter howled in pain and held up it's seemingly disembodied hands to cover it's face.

Castor poured on more Flamethrower, scorching the Haunter until, to his great surprise, it fainted right at his feet. Panting slightly, Castor grinned, wow! I took out a Haunter! Dale's voice cut through his inner back-patting, "Castor!"

The Charmander whirled, Cassandra had finally fought off Sekani's Astonish attack and was buffeting the poor Aipom in a strong Fairy Wind Attack. Dale hissed desperately at Castor, "Quickly! While she's busy, hit her with Flamethrower!"

Castor growled and his tail-flame flared with rage at seeing the scratches and bruises Fairy Wind was inflicting Sekani. His mouth opened and he poured all of new-found rage into the Flamethrower that seared through air and slammed into Cassandra's back and fighting jaws. The Mawile screamed in pain and the Fairy Wind stopped immediately. She fell flat on her on stomach, whimpering as smoke tendrils curled up from the scorched area.

A stunned silence fell. The three Ghastly, seeing that they were the only ones who remained, huddled together defensively. They were no longer wearing their clan's trademark grin. Castor snarled at Cassandra, "Surrender, or I flame you again."

She looked up, tears streaming down her face, she answered him, hiccups sometimes interrupting her words, "Okay ... okay I surrender. Just don't ... don't hurt me anymore ... please."

Castor nodded and started to reach out a paw to help her up, when Dale yanked him back hastily. Castor half turned to ask what Dale was doing when he spotted Mira standing a few feet away, her cheeks sparking dangerously. She isn't! "Mira wait! She surrendered!"

Mira snorted, "Fake Tears." Without another word, she unleashed a Thunderbolt attack upon the wide eyed Mawile. Castor winced at the high pitched scream that the Thunderbolt caused, he slapped his paws over his earholes and wondered if he should do something to stop Mira, at her level? Not likely I'll be able to do anything.

When the flow of electricity stopped, Mira marched over to the whimpering Mawile and stood within her line of sight, "Surrender for real this time?" Cassandra nodded weakly, her fur was smoking and static sparks were arcing and hissing around her limbs, paralyzing her. Mira leaned down so that she was eye-level with the prone Pokemon, "Good, now listen up, Mawile. I have no quarrel with your clan, but if you continue to bully and extort the other clans who live in these caves," she bared her sharp little teeth and sparked her cheeks warningly, "then I'll make you wish that Castor had flamed you again. Understood?"

Cassandra twitched her head in a weak affirmative. Mira stood up fully and faced the three Ghastly, "You three, take your two friends and get out of my sight." The three Ghastly glanced at each other and then timidly used their Confusion abilities to lift the Mawile and Haunter and float hurriedly away. There was a thick silence, everyone holding their breath in case the former attackers attempted to return.

Lilith suddenly broke the silence, "You ... you did it! You said you could handle them and you did! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She flew forward and happily hugged the nearest member of the team ... who happened to be Sekani.

The Aipom yelped in surprise, "Hey, hey! Watch the bruises, Misdreavus!" He froze for a second when she snuggled him, his eyes bulged and he looked down at her nervously. I guess getting hugged by your phobia is not the most comforting experience Castor mused slightly.

Mira shifted uncomfortably, trying to inch past the pack of young Digletts that were crowded around her and her friends excitedly. Note to self, never underestimate the speed at which gossip can travel. It's been barely an hour since we fought that stupid Mawile and her gang and already we're celebrities!

It would seem that the Dugtrio had been especially harassed by the gang because the moment the seven companions had entered the Dugtrio home den, they had been mobbed by literally hundreds of newly acquired adoring fans. Even Cora, a Water-type who would usually been looked upon with suspicion, was being given the 'adored superhero' treatment.

Mira was privately hating every second of it. It was taking all of her willpower not to unleash panic-powered Thunderbolts at the mass of tunnel loving Pokemon all around her. The expressions on the others faces showed that similar thoughts were running through their heads. A whoop to her left made Mira roll her eyes, Check that, most of the others are having similar thoughts. Sekani is enjoying every horrible second of this.

"Enough! My clan, let them through! I wish to gaze upon the young Pokemon who had the courage to finally put Cassandra in her place." Almost instantly the clog of Mole Pokemon receded, clearing a path to the far end of the large cavern where a Dugtrio poked out of the ground, watching them intently.

Mira mentally ran over what she knew of Dugtrio. No one had ever really explained to her how a Diglett could evolve into a three-headed Dugtio, so basically the extent of her information was: they're small, brown, can tunnel like no Pokemon's business, and are generally friendly.

Her companions bowed deeply to the Dugtrio. Dale nudged her lightly with his tail, signaling that she should too. Mira simply dipped her head politely. "So," mused the Dugtrio, "You are the travelers who stood up to Cassandra. What brings you to our cave? Only one of you is a cave dweller by nature. Please, tell us of your travels."

Mira remained silent while Castor artfully explained why they had come, starting from the earthquake in his village, the trip through the plains, the river crossing, meeting Mira and her friends, how they joined forces to find the Dugtrio caves, all the way to the fight with Cassandra and her ghost-types.

After listening to the story, the Dugtrio turned to her, "And what is your side of this tale, Mira Pikachu?"

Mira shrugged, "Not much to tell before meeting Castor, I got washed away from my den during a storm, met Ahanu-"

Ahanu popped in, "She saved my life!" Mira shot him an irritated look that shut him up.

Mira continued, "Yes ... I did kind of save his life. Later, I met Leal and he asked to accompany us. Our journey was mostly uneventful until we reached Airmd Town and the rest is history."

The Dugtrio bobbed its heads up and down in understanding, "An amazing tale. Please allow us to be your hosts for the rest of day while we deliberate on your bold plan." Wonderful, politics. A strange scent of newly cut grass wafted over her nose and Mira's instincts suddenly cried, behind you! Mira ignored Castor's thank you's in favor of glancing over her shoulder, nothing but Digletts and Dugtrio ... huh, then what was that smell?