"I don't ever want to go on a boat again," Fennekin grumbled from behind Ethan in the long, thin coastal grass.

"We're going to have to take it to get back to Pokéopolis," Houndoom responded gingerly. "Still that bad? We've been off the boat for hours."

"I still feel like I'm rocking. Back and forth...back and forth...back and forth…" She shuddered.

"Well, if you come here a lot, you'll get used to it." Houndoom chuckled lightly. "We were the same when we started out, but over time I don't even notice. Getting your sea legs, that's what Floatzel calls it."

"What are we even looking for?" Ethan spoke up. "You said you've never even been here, right?"

"Yup. Just look for something that doesn't look natural...strange caves, parting trees, anything that looks like nature isn't working right."

"Why do mystery dungeons act like that?" she asked. "Why are mystery dungeons even a thing, too? What causes them, and how do they choose to appear?"

Houndoom shrugged. "Beats me. I first started hearing about them when I was a kid, but everyone thought they were just a rumor, and all the stories were from way out west, past the Stellar River. Pretty soon they started getting closer and closer to Pokéopolis, though, and there doesn't seem to be any reason why they started spreading or even what locations become mystery dungeons. Some Pokémon have theories, but so far nobody's found anything concrete. It's all kind of guessing at this point, but most people think something happened in the west that kickstarted this."

Fennekin said nothing, so Ethan spoke up. "There's nothing in common at all?"

"Not that anyone can tell. Towns seem less affected by it, but some still have turned into mystery dungeons. It's awful for the Pokémon inside...they grow violent and mindless, attacking anyone who wanders into one. Sometimes they can come to their senses, but most times they run away or you knock them out, and they just recover." A deep, sad sign came from him. "That's the hardest part of exploring, for me. Those Pokémon aren't bad like when we chase down criminals, they just don't know any better. I'm sure if they weren't warped by the mystery dungeons, they'd all be good Pokémon."

"And that's why everyone's worried about them spreading," Ethan inferred. "What makes Pokémon come to their senses and want to leave?"

"Nobody knows, not even them. But once they get far enough away from the mystery dungeon, they go back to normal, so something about the dungeons themselves are doing this."

"Why don't they just send teams to go get as many Pokémon away as they can, or do they have to want to leave?"

"A few teams have tried, but nothing organized or official. And the Pokémon don't want to leave, so they couldn't get any out."

"What's that up there?" Fennekin asked before Ethan could respond. Looking ahead along the shoreline, there was a spot nestled amongst some trees that seemed...out of place, almost. There were dunes and small hills here, sure, but the one there seemed unnatural. The incline on the hill was too steep and too drastic, and it looked like it led into a cave despite not going back far.

"That might be it," he thought out loud. "Houndoom, is this where you heard that the entrance would be, or is this a different place?"

"I've never been here, so your guess is as good as mine! Why don't we go in and find out?"

"What if it's the wrong place?" Fennekin asked with some worry in her voice. "How will we know?"

A few chuckles came from Houndoom. "We won't! But if not, then we just found somewhere else to go exploring. Wouldn't that also be fun?"

"You wouldn't be mad? We came out here on your recommendation, after all."

His chuckles grew into full laughter. "For you two. I don't mind if we end up accidentally exploring a different dungeon, so long as you two get some experience and have fun doing so."

As they got closer to the mound, Ethan stepped into the sand and felt a strange sensation against his feet; instinctively, he sidestepped, but where he landed was the same. Was this just what sand felt like? If so, it was strange.

"Never been on a beach, I take it?" Houndoom laughed. "Always does feel a little weird the first time."

Ethan picked up a foot, then gently placed it back down on top of the sand, then dug it in slightly. It did feel odd — not quite solid ground, yet it felt solid under his feet. It wasn't quite like dust, either. He looked back to Houndoom to respond, but saw that Fennekin was acting very similarly to how he just was. Guess she also had never seen a beach.

When she noticed that both of them were looking at her, she stopped and snapped her head to the side, cheeks starting to grow pink. "I don't really know what I thought a beach would be like is all. I've heard of them but...yeah, never been. Is it true Pokémon will just come here for fun?"

"Here specifically? Probably not, it's too far away from the city. But yeah, lots of Pokémon like to go to beaches for fun when they get time. Or used to, I guess...most Pokémon are too scared to leave Pokéopolis now that mystery dungeons have started appearing so often and this far east. And a lot of the Pokémon that live outside cities are usually either moving into a bigger city or just not leaving their houses at all."

Ethan wasn't sure if Fennekin was sighing or if it was the grass rustling in a sudden gust, but her eyes drifted to the ground. "Are things really that bad?"

"Well, not really, but a lot of Pokémon are scared. The ones living outside the cities in small towns or on their own are the most scared, since they don't really have much in the ways of protection. They can send mission requests to the Society, but that takes time, and then somebody has to even take the mission. You can imagine that anyone would be scared in that situation."

"Yeah…"

After walking in silence for a few awkward moments, Ethan cleared his throat just to break the silence before speaking up. "Maybe we could do some missions like that with you, Houndoom. After we get today's treasure, of course."

"Yeah, that sounds great! We usually take some of the harder missions or the ones further away, but I'm sure that we could find some you could help out with."

As they came up to the mound , Ethan moved around to its front and confirmed that it was the entrance to something below; the hard compacted sand looked like stairs, so it was likely that this was the dungeon they were looking for. Or at the very least, a dungeon. "You guys ready?" he asked.

Both Fennekin and Houndoom nodded. "Lead the way!"

Sandy Point

B1F

"What is this stuff?" Ethan asked, picking his foot up off the strange, semi-sludge they were standing on. It looked like the sand outside, but darker and a strange texture.

"Still sand," Houndoom confirmed, "just wet sand. It can be kind of hard to move around in, but it's not awful. I just always make sure to wash my feet after being in it."

"Yuck," Fennekin gagged, violently shaking one of her front paws. "It's sticking to my fur! I am going to need a bath or something when we get back to town."

"That's probably salt water in there, too," Houndoom continued. "Also not good for fur, or so Meowstic tells me. He cares way more about his fur than I do, so I just go off what he says."

Fennekin moaned loudly as she brought her paw up to her eyes. "I can feel it! And I haven't had time to find any good fur shampoo since we got to Pokéopolis!"

Ethan looked down at his own body; should he buy a fur shampoo? He thought he had heard Fennekin mention something about buying some a few days ago, but he was still getting used to having fur so he hadn't even thought to get some as well. Wait, she had bought some, does that mean she bought bad fur shampoo?

Questions for another time. Looking around the room, they were in a sandy cavern with some small grasses like what they had seen outside, and the occasional pool of water here and there. There seemed to be no Pokémon in the room, and no items either. The room had two exits, one to the right and one to the left. There seemed to be no indication of what was down either hallway, so he just decided on the right one and started walking. The sand slowed him down a bit and stuck to his legs, but truth be told he was getting used to it. Small moans coming from Fennekin told him that she was not; he had no idea she was that concerned with her fur. Sand and saltwater should just be able to be washed off, though, right? And what was so bad about saltwater as opposed to regular water? He would have to ask her when they got back to Pokéopolis.

The hallway turned to the left and quickly emptied into a small rectangular room, an exit opposite them. In the middle was a small orange Pokémon, curiously walking sideways towards them; if he was not mistaken, it was a Krabby. He walked towards it, cheeks bristling with electricity, and hit it with a Thundershock once it came in range; just one hit was all it took, as it quickly turned and started fleeing.

"...There's going to be a lot of water types in here, right?" Fennekin asked.

"Probably," Houndoom responded. "Maybe a few ground types given all this sand, but I'd say it's a good guess that there's a lot of water types. Good thing you're here with us, right Ethan?"

"Yeah, for sure...what should we do if we find a ground type, though? You're a fire type too, right Houndoom?"

"Yeah, so we'll have to be careful. I guess this is a good learning opportunity; what should we do if we encounter ground types?"

Ethan thought it over for a quick moment, then looked to the rest of the group. "Well, Fennekin and I both know normal moves, so those will work. Do you know any non-fire moves, Houndoom?"

"I do," he nodded.

"Well, then if we find any ground types, we'll all use other type moves, not fire or electric. And we'll try to surround them, that way we can take them together and not have to take too many ground attacks if they have them."

"Good plan," he nodded. "Fennekin and I can use our fire moves, though, assuming they don't have any other types. Fire moves do normal damage to ground type Pokémon, and they'll be even stronger since we're fire types."

"Same type attack bonus!" Fennekin blurted out. "That's where moves of your own type are more powerful than similarly-powerful moves of a different type!"

"Right! Ethan's electric moves won't work on a ground type, but fire moves do."

"Between my normal and your fire moves for ground types and my electric moves for water types, we probably should be fine. Right?"

Houndoom shrugged. "Probably. I don't know for sure what types of Pokémon live here, so there's always a chance that there are non-water or ground types, but I think it's safe to assume that most of them will be."

Ethan thought for a moment. "Normal moves work on most types, right?"

"Most. They won't hit a ghost type and aren't very effective against rock or steel, but they're a good option if you have no other moves that would work."

"By the way, Houndoom, what moves do you know? That could help decide who should fight a Pokémon."

"I know Crunch, Flamethrower, Sunny Day, and Sludge Bomb."

Fennekin's eyes grew wide. "Wow, those are all really powerful moves! I figured you'd be strong, but I had no idea!"

Houndoom laughed and waved a paw dismissively. "I've just been adventuring and training for a long time, you'll get there too someday. We should probably get moving, though; we've been in this room a while."

"Right." Ethan turned back around and looked towards the room's exit, which thankfully did not have any Pokémon coming through it. He started down it, and before long came to a fork in the road, one going right and the other continuing on straight. They continued straight, then right when the hallway turned.

The hallway eventually emptied into a large, long room with various items scattered about. Another Krabby was near the stairs, and further down the hallway was a Pokémon he didn't quite recognize; it looked like a pile of sand with a face, and what appeared to be a small shovel sticking out from its head.

"You two get the items near the stairs," he commanded as he started moving towards the Krabby. As soon as he got close enough, he fired a jolt of electricity at it; with a quick sidestep, however, it dodged his attack and lunged forward with one of its claws and raked him across the chest. It didn't hurt as much as he had thought it would, and looking back at the Krabby he realized why: its claw was shiny, almost metallic, meaning it had used Metal Claw. Being an electric type had its advantages!

As it was recovering from its attack, Ethan quickly used Thundershock on it, landing a critical hit and knocking it down. Fennekin was carrying some kind of seed and Houndoom an orb, so he quickly opened their adventuring bag and let them drop them in before all moving towards the other Pokémon.

He leapt forward with a Quick Attack once they got close, but landed in the sand face-first. As he rolled over, he could see that he was...inside the Pokémon? He was able to roll over and get back to where he had been, but not before it used Absorb and drained energy from him.

"Your normal attack didn't work!" Houndoom called out. "What does that mean?"

"Ghost type," he muttered to himself. Given it was made of sand, it was likely it was also a ground type. "Houndoom, switch places with me and use Crunch!" Before even waiting for a response he stepped back to where Houndoom was, and thankfully saw him jump forward and sink his teeth into the strange Pokémon, who then seemed to almost melt into the sand and disappear.

Ethan looked around the room, and once he was confident that the coast was clear, walked towards the final item in the room, an orb lodged in the sand. "What Pokémon was that? I didn't recognize it."

"Sandygast," Fennekin said quickly, before Houndoom could respond. "Ground and ghost type."

"Yup," Houndoom confirmed. "Good thinking to have me go use a dark type move on it! A lot of new explorers wouldn't be able to think that quickly on their feet."

"Thanks," was all that he was able to get out. He wasn't sure what to think of the praise, if he was being honest; he was just doing what he felt he should be. Apparently, what he felt he should be doing was the right thing to do.

Deep in thought, he almost tripped over the orb wedged into the ground, thankfully catching himself and getting a solid footing. Upon picking it up, he looked into it and saw what looked like blue smoke floating around, a few lighter blue arms stemming out from the center. Three, to be exact.

"That's a spurn orb," Fennekin said as she looked over his shoulder. "If you use it, all the hostile Pokémon on this floor will be brought to us."

"I'll pass." He opened the bag and dropped it in just in case, then picked up the other items Fennekin and Houndoom had found: the orb had a bright light in the center, an escape orb. The seed was small, and a tiny little sprout was coming out of it. "I know the orb, but what type of seed is this?"

"A tiny reviver seed!" Fennekin blurted out. "They're super useful; if you take enough hits to where you're going to faint, the seed can bring you back to full health! You don't even need to eat it; as soon as you hold it, that little sprout latches onto you and restores your energy."

"You know your items," Houndoom smiled. "Someone's clearly done their studying."

Fennekin blushed, then nervously giggled and moved her head to the side, clearly now trying to avoid eye contact. She really didn't know how to take compliments, did she?

Ethan cleared his throat and closed the bag. "Well, the stairs are right here, so we should probably get going."

Sandy Point

B2F

They descended into a very similarly-shaped room to the one above: not very wide, but long. There was a blue and white-striped Wingull not far from them, but a quick Thundershock from Ethan sent it packing. A quick look around showed exits in front and behind them as well as to the left, none with any indication of where they lead. There was some Poké near the exit behind them, so that seemed as good a place to start as any.

The hallway continued on straight, soon dumping into a small, dead-end room with the stairs and nothing else.

Sandy Point

B3F

"We're making good time," Houndoom thought aloud as they descended another floor, into another small room with only one exit to their right. "If we keep up like this, we might be able to make it back to Pokéopolis before it gets too late. Tea at Polteageist's if we do, on me! It's the Team Sunstriders tradition, so our mentees get to get that, too."

Fennekin's ears perked up. "Really, you'd do that for us? You'd let us take part in one of your traditions?"

"Sure, why not! The more the merrier, right? We might catch Leafeon and Meowstic there, too; it's one of our favorite places in the city. It'd also be a chance for you to meet Meowstic and get to know Leafeon a little bit better, too, since neither of them were able to make it to this exploration today."

"Leafeon said something about meeting an Espeon and an Umbreon," Ethan replied. "Those are all other evolutions of Eevee, right? Is he related to them or someth—"

"Ethan!" Fennekin yelled as she jabbed him sparkly in the back. "You can't just assume two Pokémon are related because they're in the same evolution group!"

He stopped walking just shy of the room's exit and turned around; Fennekin was some strange mixture of angry and embarrassed he couldn't figure the exact proportions for, and Houndoom looked like he was seconds away from bursting out in laughter. "What's so funny?" The question sent him into a fit of deep, hearty laughter, which promoted Fennekin to whip around at him.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed b between laughs, "I don't know why it's so funny!" He continued for a few moments longer, then calmed down but kept a wide grin. "A lot of Pokémon don't like it when you assume they're related, yeah, but they actually are; they're two of his older sisters."

"Two of?" Fennekin repeated. "He has even more?"

"Oh, yeah! His family's huge. He's got, uh…" Houndoom trailed off, tilting his head and tapping a toe in the sand almost rhythmically. "Seven sisters. Five older, one younger, and one twin."

"Seven?" she exclaimed. He wasn't sure how many siblings was normal, but if her reaction was anything to go off of, his gut was correct in telling him that that was a lot. "That's...I...I don't even know what to say. That seems so weird."

"Walk and talk," Houndoom said, gesturing his head towards the hallway. "But yeah, I can't even imagine it. I don't have any siblings and neither does Meowstic, so Leafeon and his sisters just joke that they all adopted us as extra brothers."

The hallway came to a T, paths leading to the left and the right; Ethan chose left. "You're close with his family, then?" he asked.

"Yeah, sort of. They're all good people, don't get me wrong, but some of them are, uh…" He chuckled nervously. "Better than others, I guess. And not all of them live in Pokéopolis, so that also makes it harder to see some of them."

The hallway exited into a small room, an exit to their left and one straight ahead. In the center was a strange Pokémon; it had a base and connected to that was what looked like a jar with either petals or tentacles sticking out of it. A Lileep, if he remembered correctly.

"I think that Pokémon's part grass type," he mumbled to Fennekin as he cautiously entered the room; the Lileep, if he was correct, started moving towards them as well. He jumped forward with a Quick Attack when it grew close and, while he hit it, he confirmed that it was a rock type as the attack appeared to not do much damage to it and caused Ethan to grit his teeth. He was fine, but running straight into a Pokémon made of rock was enough to rattle anybody.

As he got back closer to Fennekin, he could feel the heat of her Ember flying over him. It landed, but the Lileep continued advancing, seeming almost unfazed by the attacks. Once within range he let out a Thundershock, but the attack seemed to have a similar effect to Quick Attack; another Ember quickly flew past him, but the Pokémon threw its head to the side.

As its head began springing back around to normal, the petals started glowing. "Duck!" Houndoom yelled. Before Ethan could even process what was going on, he felt Fennekin pull him down to the damp ground, a stark contrast to the hot jet of fire that was flying over him and landed square on the Lileep. It fell over, and both he and Fennekin looked back to Houndoom. "Sorry for jumping in, but those Pokémon can be really hard to defeat, and it looked like Ethan doesn't have any moves that aren't weak against it."

"That was so cool!" Fennekin beamed, quickly jumping back up off the ground. "Was that Flamethrower? I've always wanted to be able to use Flamethrower!"

"It was!" Houndoom sounded almost as excited as she was. "I'm not really good at teaching moves, though. Luxio might be able to, even though she can't use it herself. There's also Beartic's gym, but he mostly teaches the super powerful moves. And he charges a lot more…"

"Maybe we can work on it together? I hear every Fennekin gets to a certain point that they can master it, maybe you can help me!"

"I'm willing to try!" he smiled. "I don't know how much help I'll be, though, since teaching how to use moves is really hard. And you get stronger mostly through battle, which is also how you can learn to use different moves."

"Can a Pikachu learn any fire moves?" Ethan thought out loud as he started walking towards the room's exit. "Actually, wait, do I need to? Fennekin will probably always know a fire move, so should I as well? Or do I let her handle those?"

"You probably don't need to," Houndoom answered. "I don't even know if a Pikachu can, even. But if you can, she'll probably be able to handle any situations where you need fire attacks. It's best to know lots of different types between you and your teammates so you're rarely caught off guard."

"Coverage!" Fennekin said quickly, almost as if she was trying to get into the conversation before Houndoom could continue. "It's when you and your partners know moves that give you a lot of different types of moves so you can be prepared for all different types of Pokémon. Types you're strong against, types you're weak against, even types you don't have an inherent advantage or disadvantage over!"

"That's right! A team like yours, you already cover water types for her, but she's weak to rock types and you're both weak to ground. Those two share some common weaknesses, however, so you might be able to cover them both with one move."

"I think I can learn a grass move," Fennekin said. "It would help us, but I have no idea how to learn it! It's not a normal move that I can learn, I don't think."

"Talk to Luxio. Even if she can't teach you or you can't afford to, it doesn't hurt to speak with her and see if it's something you could do in the future."

The hallway they were in continued on for a while before turning to the right and going for even longer, eventually dumping out into a large, square room with the stairs close to them.

Sandy Point

B4F

The stairs were in the room that they were currently in, but so was another Pokémon which Ethan was sure was a Tentacool. The water in this room looked a little deeper than normal, which would explain why the Tentacool was able to be in there with them. It was a water-type, though, so he wasn't worried.

He went up and used Thundershock, but the attack was quickly evaded. As he prepared another Thundershock, however, it made a strange, high-pitched wail that for some odd reason made him lose his footing. He stepped back to correct it, but felt himself overcorrect and lean dangerously close to the ground.

He couldn't quite make out what was happening next to him, but there was a Pokémon right next to him, so he used Thundershock on it. It seemed to ignore him and attack what looked like a different Pokémon in front of it, so the Tentacool must have decided to go after one of the others instead. He tried to move to flank it, but felt himself falling forward again so swung the upper half of his body back and corrected himself.

"Ethan!" He wasn't sure where Fennekin was calling from, but that was definitely her voice. It felt like her paw on his shoulder, too. After rubbing his eyes and using the paw to stabilize himself, he saw her looking rather beat up, the Tentacool nowhere to be found.

"Did we defeat it?"

"Well…" She tried to force a smile. "Houndoom and I did. You got confused and, uh...attacked me."

"Attacked you? I'm so sorry Fennekin, I didn't mean it! I just saw a Pokémon and thought it was that Tentacool!"

"It's okay." Her voice was oddly calming. Her tone itself wasn't odd, but it for some reason felt odd coming from her. "That attack it used was Supersonic, which confuses you if it takes effect. As you probably now know, being confused means you'll sway around randomly, and you might mistake your allies for enemies, or the other way around."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. The two of them stood there, staring at each other, for a few moments before he reached into his bag and pulled out an oran berry. "It's the least I can do for attacking you, I suppose."

The awkward smile on her face was replaced with a tiny but warm one, much more sincerity evident in her eyes. "Thank you."

Sandy Point

B5F

Almost immediately, Ethan could see multiple Pokémon in the small room they were in; a Lileep in the corner, and what he was sure was a Staryu in front of them, both about the same distance away from where they currently were. "Stay here," he ordered, preparing electricity in his body. "You two take that Lileep, and I'll handle this Staryu. Try to stay out of range of its water attacks!"

"On it!" Fennekin responded, followed by the crackling that always preceded an Ember of hers. He didn't hear a response from Houndoom, but out of the corner of her eye could see him bracing himself for a fight.

As the Staryu got closer to him he let out a Thundershock, but in one swift movement it leapt off the ground and began spinning rapidly, avoiding his attack and hitting him square in the chest, causing him to almost lose his footing and get the wind knocked out of him. That felt like a critical hit! He couldn't let it use the opportunity to come back with another attack, so he quickly hit it with a Thundershock. That was all it took; he started charging for another attack should he need it, but it jumped up and spun its way out of the room the same way it had attacked him.

A great feeling of heat on his back let him know that Houndoom had used Flamethrower, and when he turned around, saw that the Lileep was also fleeing. "Good work," Houndoom said before anybody else could say anything. "Seriously, you're really good at leading. You didn't even hesitate to tell us what to do! You sure you were never an explorer before?"

"I guess technically I'm not sure," he absent-midedly responded as he surveyed the room. It was a small square room with three exits: one directly in front of them, and one each to the left and right. "You know, not remembering and all." He decided on the right exit, and started walking there.

"Right. Sorry...I keep forgetting."

"Oh, it's fine! I mean...can't miss what I can't remember, right? And I'm sure I'll get my memory back somehow, right?"

"Never met anyone with amnesia," he admitted, "so I'm not sure. You said you saw Togetic though, right? And she said you seemed to be fine?" The group reached a dead end, so they all turned around and started walking back towards the room they entered in.

"It's what she said. I feel fine, too. I mean, I guess I have no idea how a Pikachu is supposed to feel, but I don't feel like anything is immediately wrong."

"Not sure how a Pikachu is supposed to feel?" he asked as they all walked back into the initial room. "What do you mean by that?"

"He probably means he doesn't remember anything before losing his memory and so doesn't know what feeling normal and feeling sick are like!" Fennekin blurted out before quickly turning to him, eyes wide in desperation. "Right?"

"Uh-yeah," he sputtered. "I haven't really felt any changes since losing my memory, so I guess I don't know what being sick or being fine are like since I guess I don't know what I am. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, makes sense to me!" With a sign, Fennekin's eyes calmed down. He had almost forgotten that she told him to not mention he was a human...he'd have to ask her about that sometime.

The next path he chose out was the one that had been right in front of them, but the hallway quickly turned left a few times and came to a T...with the room they were just in being on the left. Only one way to go forward, he supposed.

The hallway soon emptied into a very small room with an orb...no, a berry? Sticking out of—no, growing in the sand in the corner. He went over and picked it, a bright blue berry growing out of a sandy brown plant. It looked similar to an oran berry, but was much softer. Not as soft as a pecha berry, but he still felt the need to be careful handling it. "I've never seen any berry like this, what is it?"

"That's a passho berry!" Houndoom exclaimed. "Those are great for me or Fennekin, since we can eat it to lessen the effects of the next water-type attack we get hit by. It wears off quickly, though, so you have to be careful about when you use it. It'll also only work if water-type moves are super-effective on you, too, so you wouldn't be able to use it."

Definitely interesting; he put it in their bag, making a mental note of it in case they ever went up against a strong water type and he wasn't able to protect Fennekin.

They exited the room, and before long saw the stairs in a medium-sized rectangular room, an exit to their right. Like Houndoom had said earlier, they were making good time, so he just walked towards the stairs and descended them.

Sandy Cove

"This doesn't look like a mystery dungeon," Fennekin mused as they descended into a wide cavern with a ceiling far above their heads. "Do you think we've gotten to the end of the dungeon?"

"Sure looks like it," Houndoom agreed. "We heard that the treasure would be here, so keep an eye out for it."

"And you were told nothing about what the treasure might be, correct?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, so just be really careful with where you're looking so you don't miss anything." Houndoom wandered off a bit to the right, so he and Fennekin looked along the left side, finding mostly sand and muck.

"Do you think there's no treasure?" she asked after some time searching the cavern.

"Hey!" Houndoom yelled before Ethan could respond. "I found something, I think it's the treasure!"

The two ran over to Houndoom, and in front of him was a large pile of pastel, translucent stones of varying blues and greens. "Wow!" Fennekin exclaimed. "...what is it?"

"These look like seastones," he began explaining, walking up to them and reaching a paw towards the pile. "Not the most expensive treasure ever, but you c—"

"Hands off our treasure!"

Almost immediately, all three of them jumped into battle poses, ready for whatever was coming. Out of the shadows came three Pokémon: a small white one with bright yellow eyes in the front, and in the back a short yellow one with a massive jaw on the back of its head and a tall, brown one with fluff all over its body. The one in front was scowling at Houndoom, but the yellow one in the back smiled and waved. "Hi, Houndoom!" she called out.

The white one whipped around. "Mawile! He's trying to take our treasure!"

"Come on, Meowstic," he pleaded. "I think we found it around the same time. Can't we split it?"

"Okay!" the fluffy one beamed before Meowstic could respond.

"What?" She turned from Mawile to the new one. "Lopunny, no! We've been looking for this dungeon for days, and it's not like seastones are the most expensive treasure out there. If we split it, we aren't really walking away with a lot to show for this exploration!"

"Come on," Houndoom continued. "It's not like you're gonna get a ton more money if you keep it all for yourself."

"And he's got kids with him, too," Lopunny pointed out. "They're so cute, too!" She looked at Houndoom, then blushed and giggled. "They're not yours, are they?"

"They're our mentees at the Academy, and this is our first mission with them. I don't even want any of the treasure, we hoped to just let them keep it. Please?"

Meowstic scoffed, then turned away from both Houndoom and the other two Pokémon with her and stared at the ground. "Fine, take half. We'll take the rest once you get your share."

Ethan looked to Fennekin, who seemed almost distraught, then walked up to the pile of stones and opened his bag. "You seem to know them," he whispered to Houndoom. "Who are they?"

"They're—"

"Team Moondancers," Fennekin answered. "You know, the team I told you about. The one Luxio was a part of."

"Your heroes?"

"Don't say that!" she hissed, much louder than a whisper. "They're right there!"

"They'd love to meet a fan," Houndoom quietly laughed as he began shoveling stones into their bag. "Sorry this is how you had to meet them, by the way. Meowstic's nice, but she's...uh...super competitive. She honestly seems embarrassed that she tried to keep the treasure for herself, she probably didn't realize you two were here."

"Lopunny and Mawile seem nice," he noted as he put a handful of stones into the bag.

"Leafeon and I hang out with them a lot when our Meowstics are busy. Their Meowstic thinks there's some rivalry between them, but I think she just wants to do better than our Meowstic. She's even more competitive with him than with anyone else, it seems."

"You're a three star team," Fennekin pointed out. "They're two star, so she might just really want to beat him for some reason."

"Probably," he shrugged. "I don't think they really knew each other before we all got to high ranks, though, so I'm not sure." The pile seemed to be about half as large as it had been when they came down, so Ethan closed the bag and they all stepped away. "All yours, now. We'll probably see you later, I imagine."

"Yeah," Meowstic mumbled. "Bye."

"See you, Houndoom!" Mawile waved again.

Lopunny smiled broadly, then covered her mouth with her hands. "Bye, Houndoom! I hope to see you again!"