Shale Depths: F1

"Jeez... it's so c-cold in here. And dark, too..."

"If you're worried, you can head back Elias." The Riolu's head snapped up towards the older boy, pointing a digit at him.

"I'm not about to turn my back on Mr. Tera! Or on you, or Ms. Cass! We're a team, we do this together!" Kaguya's smile caused the boy to falter, he looked almost proud.

"You're right, of course. I just don't want you to be in any danger. You're still young, so I'll just have to watch your back. That's all there is to it."

"And I'll be watchin' yours, darlin'. We don't know what ta expect in this place. Nor do we have any clue where them damned bandits might be hidin'." The Primarina commented as the group marched into the unknown. A rumbling growl erupted from behind them, causing the Riolu and Primarina to spin, ready for a battle-

Only to see the Graveler that had issued the challenge already collapsing to the ground, clearly knocked out cold. The pair turned their heads to see the icy spears surrounding the Glaceon dissipating into the air as he continued into the darkness of the cave, never once turning back to look at them. "Like I said. I'll watch your backs. Nobodies getting hurt today. Not while I can still prevent it."

Shale Depths: F6

The trio cautiously moved deeper, having become accustomed to the dangers they were poised to face. The previous 5 floors had been chock full of rock and ground type Pokemon, with the occasional steel and fighting types mixed in. This meant that the team were at a mixed advantage. They didn't resist many of the different attacks being hurled their way, but most of their team also wasn't incredibly threatened by any specific attack. Expect for their appointed leader, who was at a major disadvantage against 3 of the 4 types they'd encountered thus far.

"Kaguya, darlin', you really need to take a break. That Onix really got a brutal hit in on you, hun'. You can't keep pushin' yourself." The Glaceon was clearly in pain. As they'd made for the stairs on the previous floor, an Onix had ambushed the team. Seemingly, the ferals deeper down in the dungeon had recognised that growling and roaring at your enemies before attacking was an idiotic plan, and had begun to use stealth to their advantage. Leading to the Onix, incredibly, making almost no noise at it closed the gap and was able to launch a Rock Slide upon the unsuspecting trio.

Elias had been able to dodge the hit due to his small size, Cass had been hit, but had taken the blow well. Kaguya, on the other hand, had taken a critical hit to his left hind leg, leaving it hanging limply as he staggered on undeterred. "I'll be fine, Cass. Just gotta... find a berry or something. We've been seeing them sporadically, so I just gotta keep pushing on 'til we find another one. Ugh... not gonna lie though, this hurts. Bad."

The ice type scowled. 'Of course that dumbass would come to a place loaded with stuff that has effective advantages over me, AND himself. If he'd just cool his jets for 5 seconds we wouldn't be in this mess.' The boy sighed softly, shaking his head as he limped forwards into the dark, hearing Cass finishing off another would-be assailant to their right. 'Dammit, Tera. You'd better still be alive, or I'll never forgive myself...'

3 agonising minutes of wandering into the darkness later, the Riolu's eyes widened happily, his tail wagging excitedly as he exclaimed "Oh, over there!" Elias ran forward, grabbing the gold coloured berry off the ground, dusting it off before running back over to his teammates.

"Alright, now you're gonna park your behind and rest that there leg, ya hear me darlin'? You're in no fit state to be goin' any further until you've eaten that berry and rested for a bit. Don'tchu think for a second I won't slap ya silly if ya don't, got it?" The Primarina blocked the path forward, angrily berating their leader.

"Cass, come on. I made it this far with my leg in a state, surely I can eat the berry and keep-"

"Ms. Cass is right, Mr. Kaguya. You can't take much more of hobbling around like that, we can both see it. Please, you won't be able to help Mr. Teravolt if you're too injured to even stand, let alone fight!"

Kaguya let out a soft sigh, resigning himself to his allies whims, he carefully lowered himself to the ground, resting his injured leg. The Riolu sat beside him, offering the Sitrus berry he'd procured for the injured ice type.

The Glaceon regarded the berry cautiously, still unsure what to make of the fact he was about to eat a berry off the floor of an ever changing labyrinth. But when a sharp jolt of pain tore through his leg, suddenly that thought did not matter anymore.

As he sat there, munching upon the berry, he found the soft, sweet fruit brought thoughts of a blushing Leafeon. A Leafeon who was probably panicking at the thought of him being in such a dangerous place. Word will have spread by now, wouldn't it? About a runaway trainee and his would-be teammates rushing off to save him. The boy sighed again, shaking his head to clear those thoughts away.

'I'll have to go see her tonight, let her know I'm ok... ugh, I'm sorry Juniper...'

They were gonna be in so much trouble.

Shale Depths: F14

Upon entering the next floor, Kaguya's fur stood on end. "Wait." His voice was sharp, but quiet as his teammates stopped dead in their tracks. "Listen."

Silence pervaded their ears, as the two strained their ears to hear what the ice type had. Cass was the one to break the silence, albeit quietly. "I don't hear anythin', hun'."

"Exactly... where are the sounds of distant ferals shuffling around? Where are the sounds of territorial squabbles like the previous 13 floors? For it to be so silent means one of two things... one, they've gotten better at hiding again..."

Elias gulped softly. "Or we're not alone here..." he whispered softly, catching on quickly to what the Glaceon was suggesting.

Deathly silence.

The cold filled the air.

His eyes fluttered open, confusion swirling in his now waking mind.

The sound of approaching paws.

A door swinging open.

The rattling of chains behind him as he backed away from those sadistic grins.

A dull thud as his back collided with the cave wall.

Trapped.

THEY REACHED FOR HIM.

*CRACK*

The Glaceon's paw flew to his head, grasping at it with sharp, pained hiss.

"Kaguya, are you alright darlin'?!" Cass rushed to the boys side, raising her voice only as much as she dared.

"N-nnghh... I'm fine... j-just a headache. I'm ok." He was lying. This all felt too real. All felt too similar. It was like he was back there again.

Shaking his head to clear away the painful stabbing of his memories, the boy composed himself. "We've got to move. Now. Fall in step and keep quiet. We don't know who's listening for us..." The group marched into the silent caves, watching every possible angle. They weren't alone here. Not anymore.

Shale Depths Pit

True to his assumption, the previous 5 floors of the dungeon had been inhabited solely by the bandit group that had taken up residence within the cave. They'd battled against waves upon waves of the brigands, forcing their way through to the deeper floors. As they rushed down the stairs of the last floor, they fully expected to be greeted by yet more bandits.

What they found was so much worse.

Cages upon cages lined the open space they'd found themselves in. Filled with an assortment of Pokemon of all ages and types. The space between the cages was filled with tables. Many held used plates and tankards, half full of whatever foul smelling alcohol the bandits drunk on the daily.

But two tables in particular caught the attention of the Glaceon as he passed by. One was covered in an assortment of crude looking tools and weapons, interspersed with some medical supplies here and there. The other was a long, wide table covered in leather straps. One for each of a Pokemon's paws and two the hold them down around the waist and chest. He recognised this awful creation for what it was immediately.

A torture rack.

Trapped.

Pinned to a table on his stomach.

His paws locked in place once again by chains.

He screamed.

In fear.

In anger.

In pain.

THE BLADES AND CLAWS CUT DEEPER WITH EACH SCREAM.

*CRACK CRACK*

Elias leapt out of his fur when the Glaceon roared out in pain, his paws flying to his head as he writhed in agony, clenching his fangs as he wrestled with whatever was wrong. "Mr. Kaguya! W-what's wrong, are you alright!?" The little Riolu rushed forwards towards the boy only to freeze when he heard another voice call out from the darkness before them.

"Elias...? Kaguya...? No, dammit... Run, you need to run! Get away from here, now!" The voice of Teravolt echoed from the dark as the Glaceon's ragged snarls ebbed away, leaving laboured breathing in it's place. He took a step forward towards the voice of the one he'd come to rescue, resolving himself to breaking those cages open with Tera's help afterwards and dealing with all the bandits here.

Only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a razor sharp claw pressing against his throat. "I think we've let them get far enough, don't you boys~?" Laughter echoed around the open space as seemingly from every shadow, more and more Pokemon appeared, surrounding the three.

"So, you're the three who've been messing up my boys up above, are you? I gotta admit, I'm thoroughly impressed~ That one back there got taken out so quickly, it was no fun at all~" The Weavile smirked as she wandered around in front of the Glaceon, her claws just seconds away from taking his life. "Oh, but you three. My, my, what a catch we've got ourselved here! Three strong, brave specimens. So heroic, so naïve~"

She gestured with her free paw around the room, pointing towards all the cages around them as she giggled at the snarling ice type. "Not even one of them put up half as much a fight as you have. And we've been at this whole gig for months now! Nobody has ever fought back, nobodies every challenege us. They've always been too afraid~! Oh, but for you to have had us on the backfoot this hard! Oh, I might just die of happiness!" She gently scratched under Kaguya's chin, winking flirtatiously toward the trapped boy. "Such a strong, brave man you are. You'd make some rich, uppity snob real happy once we break that will of yours, cutie~"

The Weavile closed the gap between them, smirking as she eyed up and down the Glaceon's body with a soft purr. "Or who knows~? Maybe I'll just keep you all to myself~? You might make a good little pet, don't you think~?"

Screaming was pointless. Crying was pointless.

And yet, silent tears still fell upon the cave floor.

He couldn't move. He couldn't feel his paws.

All he could feel was the intense burning within them.

It was all pointless. All he felt was the burning of his paws and the biting cold surrounding him.

"What are we gonna do with him? It's been months, and people are starting to ask questions. Of course they're pointin' the paw at you, you were lovers after all."

"We find a way to distract them, obviously. They'll forget he even existed soon enough."

"And what about him then? What do we do about him?"

"Oh, that's easy. He'll be my little pet for the rest of his days. I'll treat him well~"

So that was it then? He was to remain here forever? In the dark and the cold?

It really had all been pointless... Then life had no meaning if this was all his life was to be.

'Then let the cold take me... anything... to be free...'

*CRACK CRACK-*

*SNAP*

All he could see was red.

He could hear screaming.

Was it his own?

He wasn't sure anymore.

In the midst of the screaming and the swirling memories.

The world faded to black.