Updated 9/8/2023. Thanks for the massive review, Saad!
It started out on a night like any other. The moon shone bright in the sky, hidden from view by the storm clouds gathered serenely below. In the forest all around Mount Steel, Pokemon were cosied up in their homes, sleeping to the sound of the raindrops crashing outside.
Somewhere far away, a Sandslash sat holding a torch, a Pelipper napping by his side. Keeping watch. Staring into the night.
He... hoped that the night wasn't staring back.
This story, however, is not about them. Nor any of the Pokemon spending their night under a roof, safe and sound and decidedly not exposed to the torrential downpour outside.
No, this story is about the Pokemon brave enough to face the sheets of rain and howling winds head-on. Brave enough to weather the crackling lightning strikes, the treacherous, muddy ground, the roaring flash floods...
Well, 'brave' was one way to look at it. If asked, the Pokemon in question would use a very different word to describe themselves. A rather scathing word, actually. Namely, that they were-
"Idiots. We're idiots."
A bedraggled Zorua mumbled as he laid, shivering, in the entranceway of the Mount Steel Mystery Dungeon. His fur stuck to him like a second skin, slowly dripping water onto the ground below.
Beside the Zorua, an equally miserable-looking Vibrava turned around in indignation. Or at least, he tried to. As soon as he rose, his waterlogged wings weighed him back down.
Right on cue, the adrenaline from the frantic flight wore off as well. Roughly an hour's worth of delayed pain crashed into the Vibrava all at once.
He decided to settle for a half-hearted glare instead.
...Alright, alright. Maybe they were idiots after all. With a dash of crazy to boot. No sane Pokemon would willingly dash through a dark forest while being pelted by what was essentially a waterfall. For an entire hour straight.
And for what? The opportunity for a single Dungeon dive?
The Vibrava slumped back down. He laid still, wings twitching slightly, basking in the feeble but warm light of the Mystery Dungeon's entrance.
After a moment, he simply sighed. "Hey, Kleis?"
"...Yes?" came the weak reply.
"Can we... not do this again?" he said. "Ever?"
A shaky nod was the Zorua's only response. It was more than enough to get the sentiment across.
For a minute, the duo just laid there, their heavy breaths blending into the backdrop of the crashing rain. Trying to regain their marbles, though Kleis suspected they had been already been lost for good, somewhere in the forest's dense foliage. Dense, and dark and wet and muddy...
At least the rain had washed most of the mud away. That was... something, Kleis supposed. Although the water itself was a pain of its own.
Another minute passed before the Zorua recovered enough to shake the water from his fur. Yet another before he properly caught his breath.
It was with a slight grunt that Kleis heaved off the old, worn messenger bag draped over his back. His paws, not quite steady, fumbled over the bag, reaching past the pair of Rescue Team badges pinned securely to the strap, then to the clasp holding the bag closed. Undid it.
The Zorua breathed a sigh of immense relief. 'Waterproof' was right. Not a single drop of water had touched the items in the bag.
...The items, which consisted of a single Oran berry and a Blast Seed, along with a few essentials for travelling. Hardly adequate for a Dungeon dive. Ironically enough, that was why the duo was here. The Mount Steel Dungeon had been close by, and both Pokemon had still been energetic enough for a quick resupply run.
That was, of course, before the storm swept in and rained... well, water, on them both. Although frankly, Kleis thought it felt more like hailstones than rain.
Actually, nevermind. At least hailstones had the courtesy to leave you alone after hitting you once. Kleis could still feel the water soaking into his bones.
...He could curse the weather later. For now, Kleis reached further into the bag, grabbing onto a large package. It was carefully wrapped with waterproof fabric, another barrier against the elements.
Kleis hesitated. Then, carefully, he peeled open a corner of the package. Just to check. Just in case something had happened to the contents during the frantic run. If something had, he'd have to...
A thin sliver of paper peeked out, a little crinkled, but otherwise undamaged and dry. Kleis spared himself a brief sigh of relief before quickly covering it back up and returning it to the bag.
That was everything in order. Kleis pushed himself up.
"Hey," he said, nudging his teammate.
No response. The Vibrava continued to lay still.
"Ahem. Mirage?" A harder poke. "Come on, wake up. It'll be warmer in the Mystery Dungeon."
Well, that got an eyelid to open. It closed quickly after, though. The Vibrava whined.
"Five more minutes, please? My wings hurt."
"The sooner we get this over with-" Kleis paused as he took in Mirage's limp wings. His own drenched fur. Really, though, the Dungeon would probably be better. Staying exposed to the humid air would hardly help dry them out-
But Mirage's miserable expression made for a compelling counterargument.
"...Alright. Five minutes, then we go."
Ten cold, wet minutes later, Mirage finally floated off the ground. Kleis hitched up his bag before giving him a nod.
The light of the Mystery Dungeon beckoned. Together, the duo passed into it.
Mt. Steel - 1F
The first step into a Mystery Dungeon is always the most disorienting. Although individual experiences vary, there is always a common thread. Always a split second of emptiness, the feeling of being nowhere, before entering into the Dungeon proper.
In a blink, the world changed. The sound of pouring rain vanished, and the tunnel-like entranceway to the Mystery Dungeon disappeared along with it. Instead, Kleis and Mirage found themselves in a sprawling cavern. Giant stalagmites jutted from the floor, piercing into the air. Patches of glowing moss lined the walls, casting the rocky ground in a dim, otherworldly light. High above, indents dotted the walls, no doubt passageways leading into the unknown.
Higher up still was the ceiling, shrouded in darkness. Far from the light of the moss. Kleis thought that he could make out a few vague shapes moving on it. Although... he squinted. He gave the Vibrava floating beside him a small nudge.
"Can you see anything up there? Your eyes are better then mine."
"Up there? You mean-" Mirage looked. He blinked. "Oh, that's- a lot of Zubats. I don't think I can see the ceiling."
The duo exchanged a look. By unspoken agreement, both of them promptly shut up.
Quietly, they started navigating through the caves. The chittering calls of the Zubats followed the duo as they made a beeline for the closest passageway, Kleis cautiously taking the lead and Mirage bringing up the rear.
It wasn't too hard, not quite yet. This was the first level, after all. Few Dungeon Pokemon were out and about other than the swarm of Zubats, and fewer still crossed the duo's path. There was that one Geodude guarding the middle of a passageway, but that was hardly a problem. Not for this team.
The Geodude only heard a quiet buzz as a shadow darted over it. It snapped to attention, scanning the tunnel, but whatever it had heard was already gone.
Yet it reached out. Confused. It was certain it had heard-
For an instant, the Geodude thought its arm brushed up against something... soft? It lunged forwards in a grab, but its hand only found thin air. Whatever it was had already slipped away.
Down the passageway and around the corner, Mirage nervously waited for his partner to catch up. Soon enough, a furry patch of air brushed by beneath him. In a shimmer the illusion dissipated, revealing a panting Zorua.
Mirage shot Kleis a concerned look. He waved it away. "I am - fine. Just ran too fast at the end, I think. That Geodude almost broke my illusion."
"...Oh." The Vibrava glanced at the still-panting Zorua. "You're... actually okay, right? We can take a break if you want."
"Mirage. I'll be fine."
"If you say so."
The rest of the floor proceeded as normal. Kleis steered the duo away from other encounters, ducking through a side passageway whenever a Pokemon blocked their path. Quickly but stealthily, the duo navigated their way through the maze of hallways, keeping an eye out for stray items all the while.
Berries, Orbs, Seeds, Scarves; all of them could be found throughout Mystery Dungeons, hidden behind patches of rocks or simply sitting out in the open. They rarely appeared, though they became more common the deeper into a Dungeon you went.
Because of that, the duo weren't too disappointed when their casual search turned up with nothing. They'd find more as they went deeper. Speaking of which-
Kleis and Mirage entered yet another cavern to find a stairway right in the middle of it. Well, 'stairway' wasn't quite accurate. The stairs only consisted of a dozen steps or so, each one looking as if it had been carved out of the cave itself.
There was only one way to go. After a shared glance, the duo began to climb. Up, up, up, a dozen steps, then two dozen, then three. Still, the staircase stretched on.
The duo kept moving upwards as the cave dropped away beneath them. That familiar feeling of emptiness surrounded them again as the forces of the Dungeon carried them deeper.
...Although for a moment, Kleis thought he caught a twitch of movement in the nothingness. The slightest of spasms. Before he could focus on it, the void ended, leaving them in-
Mt Steel – 2F
Another cave greeted the duo, much like the first one. Same ceiling, same walls, same glowing moss. Usual stuff, really.
On instinct, Kleis checked the ceiling of the cavern again. Squinted.
"...Hey, Mirage. Take a look up there?"
"Again? I mean-" Mirage looked up, then paused. "There's... There's nothing. I don't see any Zubats at all."
The steady drip of water from the stalactites filled the silence.
"I'm guessing that's not normal, Kleis?"
"I- I don't know."
Mystery Dungeons had their oddities, after all. 'Normal' was quite the subjective descriptor when it came to them. Even so, Dungeons in general did follow certain rules. The number of Pokemon per floor stayed roughly the same, for one.
Still, there were exceptions to the rule now and then. Kleis stared up at the ceiling, as if re-checking it again and again. Was it his imagination, or...?
Perhaps it was the exhaustion setting in. Because no matter how much Kleis looked, only the shadows of the stalactites met his gaze.
"It's nothing, probably. Let's keep going."
This floor went about the same as the last. Only a few Pokemon, which the duo easily avoided. No items, not yet.
Soon, the stairs were in front of them again. Sitting in the middle of a cavern, as they had the floor before.
A step up, then another. Buzzing wings followed close behind.
The familiar nothingness returned. And along with it...
There! There was something there! A squirming, dark spot, obvious against the empty void.
Kleis watched, eyes narrowing, as the spot paused. Turned, ever so slowly-
Mt. Steel – 3F
The duo reappeared in a cavern not unlike the previous two. Rocky ground, high walls, glowing moss. Kleis looked up. No Zubats on the ceiling.
Although, there was something else off this time. Kleis narrowed his eyes, but he felt like the realisation was just out of reach.
"Kleis? Is it darker here, or is it just me?"
Ah, right. Night vision. Kleis glanced from the nervous Vibrava beside him to their surroundings.
Now that he really looked, there was definitely less of the glowing moss than before. Where there had been a dim but steady light permeating the cave, there were now only sparse islands of luminescent moss glowing in the dark.
"It is."
Mirage fidgeted, gaze shifting around the empty cave.
"I- I don't think we should stay here. When we went up the stairs, there was... something there."
"Something the- you saw something too?"
"Yes! Like... something moving. I think it... saw me."
Kleis's fur began to raise. Unconsciously, his paw moved towards the Rescue Team badges attached to his bag. Hesitated. The badges could only be recharged at a Rescue Team headquarters, and those were few and far between.
Then again, there was definitely something off with this Mystery Dungeon. Something wrong. Exactly how wrong, the duo didn't quite understand. They hadn't been a Rescue Team for that long, after all.
And yet... A memory floated to the surface of Kleis's mind. His parents' parting words.
"First rule of adventuring, remember. Know your limits. Push them, yes, but give them respect. There will always be dangers that you cannot face; knowing when to run is as important as knowing when to fight."
"Ha! Yeah, what your dad said. Run if you have to, alright? Stay safe."
Perhaps Kleis didn't know exactly how wrong the situation was, but that was enough to tell him that facing it wasn't a good idea.
"We're tired and low on supplies. We can always come back later."
With a nod from Mirage, Kleis detached one of the egg-shaped Rescue Team badges and lobbed it over. He then reached for his own, pushing and holding the button in the middle. The badge lit up with a click, illuminating a circle around the Zorua. Another click followed, and a second circle flared to life around Mirage.
...
For a second, nothing happened.
...
Another second.
Three. "Um?" Mirage shook his badge. The circle around him didn't budge.
Four.
Five. Kleis held tight to his own badge. It should've warped him out of the Mystery Dungeon right after the glowing circle emerged. Maybe it just needed a while to-?
Six.
Seven. The circles began... wobbling, like a drop of water on the edge of a leaf.
Eight. An alarmed yelp. In the corner of his eye, Kleis saw Mirage blur out of his circle. The circle, which was-
Nine. Shaking faster and faster. Perhaps it was him mirroring Mirage's reaction. Perhaps it was his own instincts. Either way, Kleis found himself already flying backwards, the green glow of a U-turn fading from his front paws.
Te-
For a moment, a sort of static force filled the air, prickling Kleis's skin. Slowly, unhurriedly, the circle wobbled towards him, barely grazing his tail, before violently pulling back in a-
Snap.
Where there was once a glowing circle, only shadow remained. Wisps of darkness, which evaporated as the Zorua crashed onto the ground.
Dead silence filled the cave.
Then, Kleis groaned.
"Kleis! Are you okay?" Mirage dashed to his side.
"I am - I'm fine. Just..."
Kleis froze, staring.
"Just...?" Mirage followed his gaze. "What- Oh."
Kleis's tail looked remarkably... flat at the end. As if someone had recklessly shaved a chunk of it off.
"That's-" Mirage looked back at the circle that Kleis had been in, just a few seconds ago. The ground was smooth, the top layer sheared off. A slightly charred scent permeated the air.
"Uh. Ha. Hahaha." Mirage's nervous laughter stretched into the cave, never echoing back. "Good thing I taught you U-turn, huh Kleis? I mean, if-"
"Yes. Good. Please shut up."
"Ahahaha, yep. Shutting up." Mirage stopped himself before any more laughter could seep out.
The duo stayed there for another minute, silent as a grave. Then, Kleis stood up.
"Let's... not try that again. Mirage, could you...?"
Kleis held a paw out. Mirage carefully deposited his badge onto it.
Both Rescue Team badges went back onto the bag. As much as Kleis wanted to throw them away right then and there, logic prevailed. The badges were valuable. And, well, they were theirs. A sign that they were a Rescue Team.
And what did Rescue Teams do when faced with danger? When faced with an uncertain situation? They didn't cower in fright, that was for sure. They took action.
"Looks like we're not running away."
"Yep. So... old fashioned way, then?"
"We've only been doing this for four months, Mirage."
"Doing this together, you mean. I know I've had practice before."
"So have I," Kleis responded mildly.
"Not with Dungeons, though," came the half-cheerful retort.
"...Mhm, fair. Old fashioned way it is regardless. Let's get to the end of this Dungeon."
Mt Steel – 4F
Kleis released the breath he had been holding. Thankfully, the transition between floors had gone by smoothly.
Although, the dark spot had seemed just a tiny bit larger...
That was something to worry about later. Now, in the relative calm of the change in floor, Kleis noticed something else wrong. Something defined by its absence, like the moss was.
"Mirage. Can you land for a while?"
"Uh? Okay."
Kleis's ears twitched. There had been sound in the Mystery Dungeon, however faint. The chirps of the Zubats, barely audible. The sound of rock grinding against rock as Geodudes and Onixes moved about. Water dripping from stalactites.
None of that could be heard now. Although... Kleis strained his ears, trying to make out any sound at all. His eyes narrowed.
"I... think I hear someone crying?"
"You do?"
"I think so, yeah. From... that way." Kleis frowned. Which was... remarkably strange, even by the standards of this Mystery Dungeon. At least silence would've fit with the pattern of things disappearing. Crying... threw a very awkward variable into the mix.
"Then- what are we waiting for? We can't leave someone else in here!" Mirage shot up. "Come on!"
"Mirage-" What if it was some sort of trick by the Dungeon? What if-
Too late. The Vibrava was already down the tunnel and quickly drawing further away. Kleis cursed.
"You- Hey, wait for me!"
Mirage had flown back after realising that Kleis had much better ears than him. A quick argument later, Kleis reluctantly took the lead. They were a Rescue Team, after all. They had a responsibility.
But they were going to carry it out the safe way.
Meaning that five minutes later, Kleis carefully peeked out from behind the corner of a passageway, cloaked in his illusion. He held a Blast Seed between his teeth, ready to crack its shell and spit out fire at any moment.
Only a small, dimly lit cavern came into view. Dimly lit, although not from the light of the moss. Most of the light came from the Pokemon slumped against one of the cavern walls.
A Chinchou. Sobbing. Immediately, Kleis saw why. She was bloody from a dozen different wounds on her body. Some of them were covered in a thin film of water, half-closed. From the rest fresh blood seeped, exposed to the stale cave air.
Kleis yanked his illusion down and ran, Mirage dashing after him a split second later.
The Chinchou hadn't yet noticed either of the Pokemon rushing into the same room as her. Although she now turned, looking up to the sound of hurried steps and rapidly approaching wings.
And- she flinched. "Get away from me!" came the shriek, filled with such terror Kleis paused. She tried to back up, but only managed to bump into the cave wall.
"Wha- we're here to help! We're, uh-" Mirage quickly gestured at the badges on Kleis's bag. "We're a Rescue Team! Team Phantom! Don't worry, you're safe now."
Kleis rushed forwards, Oran berry already in paw. He held it out to the Chinchou while Mirage flittered around her worriedly. She shied away from both of them, practically hugging the wall in the process. It would have been almost hilarious if not for the naked fear on her face.
"You- you can talk?"
"...Ah. What."
"Whaddya mean? Of course we can talk!"
For a moment, everything ground to a halt. Mirage tried not to crash into the wall. Kleis froze in place as his thoughts were clotheslined into the ground. The Chinchou herself looked blank, as if her fight-or-flight response had taken one look at the situation and resigned then and there. The two softly glowing bulbs hanging over her head stopped trembling, frozen.
A solid five seconds passed before Kleis remembered the Oran in his paw. And the total silence permeating the Dungeon. He thrusted the berry at the Chinchou again.
"Oran berry. Should heal your wounds. Eat it."
The Chinchou looked at the berry warily as if it might bite her. At last she obliged, awkwardly grasping it with her fins.
The Oran vanished in three quick bites. Within seconds, the Chinchou's wounds began closing up. The films of water over her wounds withdrew, leaving only blue scales behind as they healed.
And - that was that. Not a trap after all. Just a strange Chinchou. Kleis instinctively reached for the Rescue Team badges before he jerked his paw back. Right, that wasn't going to work.
What then? Escort the rescuee out of the Mystery Dungeon, probably. Only, the rescuee in question still seemed somewhat uncomfortable around them, nervously shifting from side to side. Kleis tried not to stare at her too oddly.
The silence was quickly becoming awkward. Mirage floated down, preparing to say... well, something. Anything.
"So... how'd you end up here anyways, uh...?"
...Better than nothing.
"Maia. I'm- Maia."
"Right. Maia." Mirage said, rolling the name around in his mouth. "Pokemon don't usually go into Mystery Dungeons unprepared, y'know? Or at night."
"I'm not-" Maia stopped. Hesitated.
"You're not...?" Mirage prompted, encouragingly. At least, that was how it sounded to him. Maia hurried to answer.
"I mean- I- I just thought I'd be safe here. I saw the light in the cave, so I thought there was someone..."
Kleis and Mirage exchanged a look. Notably, the Dungeon entrance had been nowhere near any sort of water body. Which Chinchou tended to hang around. Kleis furrowed his brows at Mirage. He pointedly buzzed his wings in return.
...Right. Best not push the jumpy Chinchou further. Although, the silence was getting a bit awkward again. Uncomfortably awkward. Kleis blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"Uh, Maia. What happened to you?"
A very poor choice of words, for multiple different reasons. Mirage glared at the Zorua, furiously gesturing at Maia's still-healing wounds. Meanwhile, Maia looked as if she had been struck in the soul.
"I- A lot."
"In the Mystery Dungeon. Not - before. How did you get hurt that badly?"
Kleis ignored Mirage's glare this time, eyes focusing. There was something strange here. The wounds looked fresh, which, considering how there weren't any Dungeon Pokemon on the floor...
"I don't...? It was Zubats, I- I just got away from them twenty... thirty?... minutes ago. I thought they'd never leave me alone."
Maia trembled, and Mirage floated down to her, laying a reassuring leg against her side. Kleis pushed on.
"...That was on this floor, specifically?"
"Y-yes...? You mean, after the stairs, right?"
"There are no Zubats here now. Or any other Pokemon."
"What? That... that can't be right. There was this whole swarm of them chasing me..."
Maia looked troubled. Kleis's mouth began to dry.
"And- leave you alone...? Did you manage to hide?" Kleis stared at the Chinchou's stubby leg-like hind fins. She couldn't have run away with those. Perhaps, if she'd found a small alcove...
"N-no...? They just - stopped chasing and flew away."
"...Dungeon Pokemon don't... do that. They're not intelligent; they attack until either they faint or you do. And they don't just... disappear into thin air."
In fact, Mystery Dungeons floors as a whole didn't change, not while outside Pokemon occupied them. Not even in the fables of Purity Forest, or the mysterious Zero Isle. And the final piece of the puzzle...
"Maia. Look around. Is there anything else different from twenty minutes ago? Something about the Mystery Dungeon?"
"I- I mean-" Maia stopped. "I don't know if..."
"Anything, even the smallest detail. Anything you've noticed."
"I think- there's less light than before? There was definitely more than-" Maia pointed at the lone patch of glowing moss, "-this."
Lone...? Kleis and Mirage exchanged a look. There was indeed only a single patch of the moss left, barely enough to light the floor of the cavern. Less still than when the duo had first entered. Either all three of them were crazy, or...
An unnatural calmness descended on the adventuring duo, a precursor to the storm that would surely come. Kleis felt distant, far away from the words tumbling from his mouth.
"So. So this isn't a property of the different floors. This is something which is happening as we speak."
And- it's getting worse by the minute.
The implications were... Kleis snapped himself out of it.
"We should go. Now."
"Wha- What's happening?" Maia said while Kleis stuffed the Blast Seed back into his bag, then slung it over his back.
"Way too much weirdness here, so we're leaving. Fast. Oh, right! We haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Mirage, and my partner here's Kleis. We're a Rescue Team! Team Phantom. Nice to meet you."
"Can you run?" Kleis cut in.
"N-no?!"
"Then, ah. I could-" Kleis hesitated a second longer than he perhaps should have. "...carry you in my bag?"
"...? What?"
"It is the fastest way," Kleis said, as much to convince himself as to convince the Chinchou. Having a water-type in his bag didn't sit well with him, but there wasn't much of an alternative.
Precious seconds ticked by. Maia looked from the two talking Pokemon in front of her, to the physics-defying cavern around her, to the two glowing bulbs hanging just above her head. She took a moment to consider how both of said bulbs were attached to her butt.
"Give me a second."
Maia breathed, turned, and with the deliberate grace of a martial artist, smashed her head into the wall.
She counted to ten as the dizziness faded away, then spun back around.
Nope. She hadn't woken up yet. The world was still right where she left it. Except for the two Pokemon, who were giving her some very strange looks.
"...Um?" Mirage raised a leg. "Maia, are you-"
"I'll get in the bag."
Kleis held it out without a word. Cheeks flushed, Maia climbed in. Headfirst, but with a bit of wiggling she managed to poke her head and bulbs out from the opening.
The Zorua stared at her, a few dozen different questions knocking on his mind. But it wasn't the time or place. He hefted the bag back up and turned away without another glance.
"...Don't use any water-type moves in there, please."
"O...okay."
The Mystery Dungeon was dead silent as three Pokemon traversed its hallways. A Zorua swiftly guided the way, dropping caution in favour of speed. A Chinchou rode on his back, her bulbs casting a dim light on the cave walls. Behind them both a Vibrava followed, watching the rear.
Ten tense minutes later, the stairs came into sight.
Nowhere to go but up. The duo- now trio, climbed on.
For a split second, they were greeted by the same patch of darkness, undulating, expanding. Searching. As fast as it appeared, the view vanished again.
Mt Steel - 5F
The darkness crept in. Only the occasional patch of glowing moss remained now, just enough for Kleis to navigate by sight. Mirage flew low and precisely, following Kleis's steps through the maze as closely as he could.
Thankfully, the stairs were close by this time. In the meagre light of Maia's bulbs, they almost seemed monolithic. Foreboding. Or perhaps, beckoning.
A hemisphere of darkness greeted them, straining through the void. Like a weed overwhelming a barren field.
Mt Steel - 6F
No more moss. No more light, save for the slight glow of Maia's twin bulbs. Even then, they only illuminated a small ring around the trio; the darkness dominated anything past that.
"I can't see. Let me-"
An orb of green-yellow light began gathering above Mirage's head, growing little by little. An orb that Kleis recoiled from violently, almost sending Maia flying into the back of his head.
"Ahh!"
"...Sorry, sorry. Mirage. Should you... really be using your Solar Beam in here?"
"Wha- It's a small one!"
Kleis stared at the green-yellow orb, now half as wide as Mirage's wingspan. And still growing. Maia peeked out from above Kleis, then immediately ducked back down.
"Only you'd call that small."
"Yeah, you bet! Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm not going to blast it at anything! Uh, well, not yet."
Indeed, the orb had stabilised at around two-thirds of Mirage's wingspan, gently lighting up the cave as if it was a campfire burning in the night.
...Kleis didn't believe that image one bit. He'd been on the receiving end of Mirage's Solar Beams way too many times in their sparring sessions. Even reined in, those hurt like mad. And Mirage had the unfortunate tendency to pull one out whenever he could. Both in and out of battle.
Granted, it was impressive that he could charge them that fast, but...
Mirage ignored the look that Kleis shot him.
"What? It works! Now let's go!"
Kleis gave the orb of light one last look before starting down a passageway. Mirage flew above him, holding the makeshift lantern high.
...At least it was bright. It made navigation much easier than it otherwise would've been. Kleis couldn't imagine running through pitch darkness through the Mystery Dungeon.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had run through pitch darkness before. About an hour ago, in fact, and through an arguably even more treacherous forest.
Sometimes, unfortunately, the world argued right back. 'Even more treacherous'? It was as if it had heard Kleis's thoughts and taken offense. For at that very moment, Maia urgently tugged at his fur.
"What is it?"
"Um. Kleis? That's your name, right?"
"Yes."
"I think I-" Maia hesitated. "I think I saw something moving. Above us."
"Something...? What did you see?"
"I don't know! Just, something moving. It's too dark-"
A yelp sounded out from above them, quickly followed by the light going out. Kleis skidded to a stop and whipped around, just in time to see a black glob floating where Mirage once was. Instinctively, he charged up a Shadow Ball-
A pillar of green blasted upwards through the glob, piercing through the darkness. It lingered for a second, covering the cave in light, forcing the shadows to retreat.
Then, it faded. All that was left was a smoking dent on the ceiling and an unsteadily floating Vibrava.
"Mirage? Mirage!" Kleis dashed forwards. The swaying Vibrava caught himself before he hit the ground.
"Oof. Think I put too much power into- What was that?"
Kleis didn't give an answer. Even in the most extreme of extremes, even if he took the wildest stories and interpreted them more fancifully still-
"Um. Guys?" Maia said, interrupting the duo. "It's... coming back."
Mirage's Solar Beam had banished the darkness once, but the dripping globs were already beginning to return, seeping out from cracks in the walls. Sapping light from the caves. Sapping light...
One of the globs twitched towards the trio, towards Maia and her glowing bulbs. That was enough.
"Run!"
Kleis didn't know who shouted it, only that a second later, he was in a mad sprint through the Mystery Dungeon, with Maia yelping from the sudden acceleration and Mirage furiously buzzing behind. Another Solar Beam was being gathered above him, although it was actually a small one this time. Just enough to light the way.
Kleis had to force himself to slow down a little. His muscles were beginning to strain from exhaustion, in large part due to the Chinchou weighing down on his back. Said Chinchou let out a yelp as he turned on a dime, jetting around a corner with a U-turn fading from his paws.
The tunnel itself was beginning to creak, the shadows of the stalactites growing longer and wider.
"Stairs! There!" Kleis shouted to Mirage. He rushed forwards and up, up, up...
The void was no longer a void. It was dark. Pulsating. A cold chill ran through Kleis, carried by a nonexistent breeze. The shadows stirred.
Mt Steel – 7F
Maia let out an 'oof' as Kleis hit the ground running. A split second later, the sound of buzzing wings joined him.
Left. Right. Straight. Those things blocking the path... through the side tunnel there. Maia clung on tight as Kleis darted through the maze of hallways, navigating as best as he could by Mirage's light.
Crap. Dead end. Kleis did a 180, meeting the shadowy figures behind him.
No need for words. A Solar Beam shot through the tunnel from above Kleis, clearing a path.
Back through. Dodge there, dash here, leap at wall, U-turn. As Kleis bounced back to the ground, one of the shadows clipped him, sending a jolt of numbness through his legs as he fell down and down, landing in a heap-
And the shadows were behind him. Getting closer. Closer. A tendril of nothing drawing a line across his haunch - The Zorua blasted a Shadow Ball at his hind legs, pushing himself away with the blast. He limped up from the ground, jerking himself forwards, shaking the numbness away as he regained his pace.
"Mirage! Don't get tagged or you'll crash!"
Another Solar Beam blasted through the tunnel, revealing a shaking Vibrava. Light was gathering above him again, but... slower.
Was it the exhaustion? "Save them for later! Maia, can you make your light brighter?"
"I- don't know..."
"I'm fine. I can keep going..." With a force of will, Mirage summoned another small orb of light.
"You... huff... sure?" Kleis slowed down a little, waiting for Mirage to catch up.
"I'll be fine, Kleis." Mirage's tone made it clear that there was no room for argument there. Nor did Kleis particularly want to argue while running for his life.
"Alright. Alright, but - go easy, okay?"
"Okay. Now let's go."
One minute... Two minutes... The trio rushed through the Mystery Dungeon, the silent shadows sneaking up behind them. Occasionally, when a lone blob of darkness blocked the way, Kleis would fire a Shadow Ball into it. Although the darkness absorbed the move like nothing, the force was enough to bump it to the side. Enough for Kleis to slip by safely.
Just like in the forest, ducking and weaving through the trees. Blasting through thin foliage with well-aimed Shadow Balls.
The trick to it was that you didn't ever stop running. Didn't stop, or the pain of rain on your fur caught up to you, slamming you to the ground. Didn't stop, even if unknown, unknowable things grasped at your legs, threatening to yank you back with the slightest touch. At some point, your stamina failed you, but you kept on going. Kept on pushing. Kept on running towards the light at the end of the tunnel, however distant it might be.
Stairs. There. Up.
On, and on, and on. The darkness stretched on forever.
Mt Steel – 8F
Where the darkness crept in before, it now lunged. As soon as the trio landed they had to dodge to the side, avoiding a patch of darkness which leapt at them. As the blob landed on the ground, it shifted, becoming a misshapen, slightly melted-looking imitation of a...
Zubat? A Zubat, with two small wings and a gaping mouth, which shifted constantly between having too many teeth and having none at all.
The trio weren't there to see it. They were already gone.
They were about to hear it, though. Slowly, gradually, Kleis noticed something off. His ears twitched, picking up the slightest hint of...
Chirping. Not actual Zubat chirping, but a echoing, ghostly imitation of it. An almost... taunting imitation. As Kleis listened, more and more chirps began to sound out, not just from behind, but in front of them too, and-
"Mirage, above you!"
A lone, shadowy Zubat dove through the space where the Vibrava had been a second ago. A Bug Buzz and a Shadow Ball tore it to shreds. Mirage... made the mistake of looking up.
"Uh, hey, Kleis? Remember the first floor, when I said I couldn't see the ceiling?"
Kleis did not want to remember. The rapidly increasing frequency of the chirps painted a clear enough picture.
Maia, however, wasn't so wise. She sneaked a peek upwards, and was greeted by a roiling wave of shadowy Zubats, each one melting into the ones around it. Descending like a breed of twisted rain.
Maia ducked down and shut her eyes tight.
One last Solar Beam cleaved through the darkness, buying the trio precious seconds of time. Kleis led them down a side passageway, leaving the frenzied chirping behind.
And then- the light winked out. In the darkness, only Maia's bulbs provided any sort of visible landmark to navigate by. Mirage flew closer, hiding within the fragile dome of light. Kleis strained his eyes, trying his best to see a way, any way out of the dark.
The chirps began to draw closer. Kleis breathed. Quickly, quickly, quickly...
Grinding rock from ahead. Kleis looked at Mirage, then gestured to his back. Two taps on the rock floor, a quick sign of his paws-
Thankfully, the Vibrava got the message. He landed on Kleis before going still.
Kleis concentrated. With an effort of will, he blocked out the sounds of rock in front of him, and the chirping- no, screeching, behind him.
Drawing closer. It didn't matter. Kleis focused his exhausted mind, his spent energy, into a single point. A single idea.
That he was nothing. That they were nothing. Only a breath of air lost to the wind, a phantom unseen against the night sky.
Light? What light? Kleis stared the darkness straight in the eye, and stepped... around...
The slightest grasp at his fur, before his momentum tore it away. A scream from the things in the dark, echoed again and again around him as he shifted his trajectory.
A wet squelch right next to him; where he would have been had he continued his path. A scream again, and Kleis dodged once more.
He was flagging, he knew. The illusion wouldn't last for much longer. That didn't matter.
It had lasted long enough.
The illusion collapsed soundlessly, revealing the light of Maia's bulbs once again. Mirage sprung back off of Kleis's back, lessening his load. Screeches and grinding rock sounded out, both sounds now behind the trio.
And in front of them- the stairs. Only three dozen steps away.
Two dozen...
One...
Nothing. For the final time.
Mt Steel – 9F
Distant thunder. A slight drizzle. The storm had passed.
Kleis skidded to a stop, taking in the fresh, crisp air. They... were alive. They'd gotten out of the Mystery Dungeon intact. Escaped from all of the-
Wait a second. Was that...?
"Kleis...?"
Mirage weakly pointed to a patch of ground on the mountaintop. An unassuming patch of ground, with only a single small crack marring the surface.
Something was... leaking out from it. Something dark.
As the trio watched, a tremor shook the mountaintop. The crack widened, just a tiny bit.
Rumble.
Crack.
Rumble. Crack.
Rumblerumblerumblerumble-
After all that... Kleis could feel his legs buckling, his tail trembling. So close. So close.
But that was how those stories always ended, wasn't it? An adventurer, clawing through mud and blood, blindly yanking themselves forward and forward, ever further away from safety. Or another, wandering in the desert, addled from the heat of the sun, never seeing the town just over the horizon as they trudged on forever. Another still, lost at sea, slowly fading. Too weak to fight against the waves as they carried them away from shore.
Yet as Kleis's breaths slowed and the last dregs of his will began to dry, Mirage raised a determined wing.
"I can- I can help us get down there."
"By flying? Not like that, you aren't." And it was true; Mirage's exhaustion showed in his every movement, in the droop of his wings, in the way he trembled as he held himself up. The Vibrava was still standing, yes, but only by determination and the barest, slightest sliver of energy. Nowhere near enough to fly all of them down to the forest below.
Not... all of them.
...
Ah. So that was what had to happen.
The Zorua opened his mouth, preparing to say something stupid, something noble...
But he... wasn't quite brave enough. The words stuck in his throat, choking his breath, and Mirage continued on.
"I can do it! I just..."
"U- Um. Excuse me?"
That didn't come from either of them. But instead, from... Maia. She clumsily pulled herself from Kleis's bag before stepping up. Laying a fin on Mirage-
"Hey! What are you...?"
A thin film of water began coating her fin, soaking onto Mirage's scales. She rubbed it around, coating the water- the Aqua Ring, wherever she could. A bit on the body, then a bit more on the wings...
It was a solid minute before she stopped, slumping back down. The crack was noticeably big now, spewing a steady stream of darkness.
"...Is it... working?"
Mirage moved his sore wings around, testing them. Sore - but it was the soreness of a refreshing exercise, not exhaustion at death's door. The tiredness had faded. Mirage blinked, surprised.
"Yeah. It is. It is! I'm-"
Then, he looked back at the crack. It was still growing.
"I'll- We'll thank you properly later, Maia. Now come on! We gotta go!"
Kleis hurriedly guided Maia back into the bag before securing it, weaving the straps around his legs so that the bag sat by his side. He gave Maia a faint, tired nod, hope twitching the sides of his mouth upwards. Then, he held on tight.
With a final look back at the oozing crack, Mirage grabbed onto Kleis.
"We're doing this?" Kleis asked.
"Yep. Just don't look down, and you- should be fine."
"That... is not reassuring at a- Ahhh!"
So it was that under the light of the moon, beneath the serene clouds, a trio of Pokemon began their descent from the top of a mountain. One was screaming. Another was trying not to scream. The third would've screamed, if not for the fact that she was biting into a bag, hanging on for dear life.
Meanwhile, on the mountaintop, a darkness... grew. Spread. A Mystery Dungeon sat, plagued.
It was not the only one to crack on this night, to collapse under the weight of shadows. Throughout the world, Pokemon were waking up to the sounds of silent screams. Somewhere, a Sandslash shook a Pelipper awake before bolting for the Rescue Center, shouting to sound the alarms now.
A disaster was about to strike.