You wake up in a cell, again. The sunlight flits in through the open window, too high to climb out. The rays unfortunately don't reach low enough for you to open your frills, but you appreciate the warmth they bring anyways. There's very little to come by in this isolated place.
A Meowstic is wandering the corridors, dragging a Growlithe. The canine is trying desperately to break away from her grasp, but to little avail. You already know it's futile as the pair disappear behind a corner. Escape from this place is impossible, you've tried it so many times before…
A meal has been left on the ground for you, though it's only a few berries. Though you find them disgusting, you need to eat anyways. Whatever goes on today, you need to keep your strength up.
"Psst, lizard!" a fellow prisoner across the hall whispers. "They broken you? This is our chance! Slide over that plate!"
You ignore him, munching on your berries.
"Come on, don't leave me hanging! I can break us out of here!"
Before another word is said, you flinch at the sound of rattling bars, then the wailing of a rusty door. Some barks from the Growlithe follow, before the corridor goes silent. Meowstic walks back through, beginning to collect the dishes as though nothing happened.
Your prison door opens. Wearily, you look up to see Meowstic. She tries to grab your arm, still full of berries. You yank it away, scuttling into the corner.
"Now now, Subject Omicron, a new day, a new experiment. I trust you're well-rested? Today's will be exhausting."
You give no answer, cowering in the corner. She scares you most of all. She acts so kind and caring, but won't raise a paw to protect anyone. At least Gallade and Reuniclus are very open about what they're going to do…
"Come now, you won't be hurt today. It's just a test. Do it well, and you'll be rewarded." She walks towards you. A few other Pokemon in the background try to stand up for you, but Meowstic quickly silences them. You're alone… So… alone…
You look up shakily, with a single blink. Is she telling the truth this time? Is it really just a simple test? No… You know better. They want to keep hurting you.
"If you won't come with me, then things will only get worse. You don't want things to get- AGH!"
A spray of water blasted her over, leaving the cage exit unguarded. Without really thinking, you hurry towards it, snagging Meowstic's brown jacket off her body. She shivers from the wind, the dankness of the cell you had long grown used to.
"Lilith, what's taking you so long? Omicron is scheduled for essence testing!" That was Reuniclus. You don't have a lot of time left, so you slam your cell door shut and sprint down the corridor. Before long, the walls are a blur. You round one corner. Then another. And another. You don't know where you're going, but anywhere is better than the testing room."Lucifer, Subject Omicron's escaping! Lock the facility!""Escaping!? How!?"
You blot out their voices as the ground below starts to feel wet… And your body is suddenly lifted off the ground by a wave of water! The wave continues to gain speed, though you find it impossible to control…
The wave rushes through the remaining corridors, washing away many of the locks on the walls. Pokemon of all shapes and sizes start hopping out of the facility holding cells, wading and flying to your side. You don't recognize all of them right away. But you do recognize the voice that comes from in front.
"That's quite enough, now! Cease this at once!"
But you don't listen. The exit's right behind him… The wave keeps going. Gallade slices it in half as it gets closer, sending everyone flying back a bit. And yet… You're filled with a new determination. This is the furthest you've ever come to getting out of this forsaken place.
"You, of all subjects, should know better, Omicron. But this time, we're ending things for good. Goodbye."
You close your eyes…
Suntren sat up with a jolt, rubbing his aching head. The last thing he remembered was getting sucked into the formation of a dungeon, after throwing Fortran outside the last exit so someone would survive…
He looked around. The walls certainly resembled that of a normal dungeon chamber, with four exits leading out. Was he… in the dungeon, and not its end? No, that couldn't be right. He'd have gone feral if that was the case. He shook his head. Best just to get it on with…
Wait a minute. He rubbed his head. Hadn't he been wearing an air helmet? Surely rubbing his head should be impossible with that on. He looked around, and saw broken bits of glass partially buried into the lakebed. There were larger pieces on top, slightly rounded. Certainly looked like his…
"How am I breathing without my air helmet?" Suntren questioned, staring at the remains. "I'm not a water-type, after all… Is it maybe just… a property of this place? Or… Then again, I'm still sane, too. But why…?"
He shut his mouth and jumped back as a stream of bubbles passed right where he'd been standing.
"Not just an everyday Rescue Heliolisk, are you?"
Suntren turned to face the direction of the voice. A group of three… One blue Gastrodon, a Klawf… a Whiscash. They were in battle formation, with Gastrodon in the front. "Don't think we didn't see what you did there. Where're your friends? That ball? We're here for them."
He growled, opening his frill and raising his tail to his side in preparation to defend himself. He scarcely noticed the new, deep blue patterning on it, nor the fact his frill had developed gills through which he was breathing. All he was focused on was who attacked first.
It happened to be the Whiscash, slamming down on the lakebed. Cracks appeared from its landing point as the ground began to shake.
The cracks were all aimed at him as bits of the ground shot up, crashing and crumbling into each other. Suntren shot up into the water to try and avoid the worst of it, but was pushed down by the mysterious magic dungeons were known for. Bracing for the worst he…
Barely felt the quake ripple through his body. Suntren blinked. It wasn't sucking out some of his electric reserves like Earthquake normally did, nor was it putting him out of action immediately. Was this also the work of the new dungeon?
He tried to fire off some counter Thunderbolts, to buy time to disappear. To his dismay, he couldn't even get a spark to shoot out of his tail end. He quickly searched his own power to find out what was going on…
And then his Hydro Pump hit Gastrodon, pushing the slug back quite a distance. He looked up at the surprised gasps of the opposing team, and then at the trail Gastrodon's foot had left behind. He didn't have long to wait in shock, though, as Gastrodon was retaliating with a bunch of rocks.
He swam quickly towards Klawf, who was also prepping himself to attack. He stretched out his arms, and grabbed his pincers. Using a quick blast from his tail, still lacking in electricity, but now pushing out a beam of bubbles, he used Klawf as a shield. Klawf wasn't quite happy with that, and began trying to snap at Suntren's face.
The rocks bounced harmlessly off of Klaw's hard shell, landing with a series of thuds on the ground. Suntren wrestled with Klawf a bit more, before ultimately throwing him forward. The crab didn't go very far, and did catch Suntren's jacket.
He slid out of it in time to avoid a glomp of mud from Whiscash. It sailed right in front of his left eye, before Gastrodon tackled him. He grunted. The slug nibbled and bit, trying to pin him down with his own sliminess. Suntren wriggled and wrestled, but he was too sticky…
He closed his eyes, and suddenly a ring of pure water formed around him. The slime almost immediately fell off. He shook Gastrodon finally. Some rocks slammed into the side of his head. His tail instinctively shot to his side and fired.
The result saw Klawf fly directly into Whiscash. It canceled out both of their next attacks, causing another explosion. With that, Klawf's legs sunk into and got stuck in the sand, pinning Whiscash with him. Suntren grinned, but Gastrodon wasn't done yet.
"Gah, you're tough…" Gastrodon growled, getting up. "Unique too, among Heliolisk… What's up with you!?"
Suntren shrugged, preparing to keep attacking. "Don't ask me, I'm not telling. I don't have Porygon2 with me anymore, and even if I did, I wouldn't be handing him over."
Gastrodon snarled. "You will if you want to escape from this place in one piece. Unique or not, you can't defeat three outlaws on your own twice!"
"Weel, then tis a guid thing he's nae alone then, isnae it, Gastrodon?"
Suntren looked behind him to see…
"Rocttryn? What are you doing here?"
"Cam tae rescue ye, o' coorse, Sun!" he grinned toothily. "Planing oan huvin some fin wi'oot me, wur ye?" His wings flapped furiously. "Shall we git stairted, then?"