Gastrodon snorted. "Yeah? What's a rock-type like you going to do to us? In case you haven't noticed-"

The Aerodactyl didn't give him a chance to finish. With a nod at the Heliolisk beside him, the duo rushed forward. Rocttryn's head glowed a bright silver, and he slammed into Gastrodon. The sea slug barely had any time to react to the Iron Head, as Suntren barreled into him, sending him skidding back once more. He slammed into a rock, and collapsed.

Whiscash immediately let out a battle cry. The fish swung its tail at them with a roar, though Suntren was able to swim just out of the way of the Pulse. Rocttryn was less lucky, taking it head on. He growled a bit, but was ultimately pushed back. Thank Arceus he was underwater; if this had been on land he probably would have felt a lot more pain!

Suntren gazed at the Klawf. It was likely the crab would be the biggest foe to Rocttryn's aid, even in his mega state. Thinking fast, he placed his feet on the dungeon wall and pushed off. Pulling in water around him, he aimed for the crab. His aim would have been true too, if it hadn't been for Whiscash immediately turning around firing a retaliatory Hydro Pump at him.

The lizard was blasted backwards. It didn't sting nearly as much as the Stealth Rocks that Klawf threw into his new heading, however. It chuckled. "We can work together too! You may have taken the boss down by surprise, but we're-"

He was picked up by a strong set of jaws, and hurled to the seafloor. "Aight, that's enough gloating oot o' ye, crab!" Rocttryn grunted, swirling around. Whiscash immediately fired off three more Hydro Pumps at him; the Aerodactyl felt two whizz by his ears, then ducked as fast as he could to avoid the last one. It grazed one of the rocks on his head, and he winced a bit. Still didn't hurt nearly as much as on land.

Klawf scuttled towards him. With a malicious glint, he picked up several rocks. "I'll gloat as much as I want when you're done for!"

The Rock Slide he had prepped never got a chance to launch. Suntren popped out underneath him, sending the crab hurtling upwards through the water. His tail then glowed silver as he bolted up with him, leaving Rocttryn to deal with Whiscash.

This, he did with pleasure. Flapping his wings thanks to the mobile scarf, Rocttryn moved upwards. With a quick follow-up, he dove straight for the Whiscash. His opponent opened his mouth to fire another Hydro Pump… To no avail. Evidently, it had alreadyexhausted the energy for the move trying to get some fast damage in. Rocttryn didn't feel a thing as he barreled down, hampered a bit by the water in front of him. Instead, the catfish began to furiously swing its tail around to create a few dangerous Muddy Waters.

The Aerodactyl felt himself slowing down. As a result, he turned around and quickly flapped his wings. Faster, faster, creating a small current that he could ride down to his goal. When he felt himself begin to speed up, he turned back around. "It's aboot time fur mah killer combo…" he muttered to himself. Lifting his head up and glaring right at the Whiscash in front of him, he yelled "Tailwind 'n' Giga Impact!"

He crashed into the catfish before it had a chance to react. The force of his speed slammed them both into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and shell debris. Whiscash howled against the pain of being slammed into the ground by a heavy bird. How could this possibly be happening!? He had a type advantage, and still managed to lose! The last thing he saw was a bright flash of light, and then his world went dark.

Suntren glared at the Klawf. Despite pulling him away from his friends and the bigger fight, the outlaw was still refusing to admit defeat. Panting heavily, with a broken claw, the crab glared at his prey.

"If you won't surrender, then I'll just have to beat you into submission," Suntren growled. "Gastrodon's down, and I have faith that my partner can beat Whiscash. You're on your own."

"Words aren't going to save you here," Klawf retorted. "You've broken my precious claw, and now you're going to pay the price! You're a fool to continue this fight!"

"Then it's a good thing he doesn't need to!"

Suntren squawked. Hurrying back as fast he could, he barely avoided a giant set of green jaws descending on them and snapping the crab up whole.

"I trust you're well, Heliolisk?" the same voice called. "Hop on, I can have the Dungeon Master get us to the bottom of the lake.

"...The what now?" he asked, confused. "Who are you, and what are you talking about?"

"Call me Jetfin. An Aerodactyl going by Edin recruited me to help rescue you." A tall and lean Floatzel swam down to meet him. The weasel winked, spun around, and extended his hand. "I hope we didn't take too long, I do pride myself on being timely, handsome~"

Suntren crossed his arms. "Slightly slow. Probably could have avoided this whole outlaw nonsense if you had been quicker with that fish."

"Hey, don't blame me!" Jetfin spoke, twirling his tails. "I had to nurse it back from near death. Seems like your friend really did a number on it… I don't blame him; self-defense is perfectly valid."

"But based on what you're doing… His entire battle could've been avoided?' Suntren guessed.

"Thaaaaat's right," the Floatzel grinned. "You catch on quick. Care for a ride?"

"...Nah. There's just a Whiscash left to apprehend. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Don't mention it! And here, grab on. You might look a little odd for a Heliolisk, but I'm still a beast in the water. I'll have us down there lickety split!" Jetfin turned back to the giant fish first. "Thank you, Basculegion. You've made our lives that much easier. I'll make sure to alert the nearby town to treat your land with respect!"

There was silence for a few moments. The Basculegion opened its mouth and quietly roared at him, sending one of its Basculin to shake. After it was satisfied by the terms of the contract, the fish turned and swam off.

"He seemed nice," Suntren commented.

"You'd be surprised how many Pokemon are friendly towards you if you treat them right," Jetfin replied. "Come on, let's get going."

Rocttryn stared up at the descending form of a Floatzel, grinning. He saw Suntren hanging onto it. Immediately, He flapped his wings and hurried to meet him. "Suntren! Ye'r safe! A'm glad tae see it!"

Suntren grinned in turn, launching himself off of Jetfin to hurry to his partner. "You're okay as well! I worried for you while I was separated from you, partner!" He looked down to the ground, observing the two water types. They were both knocked out, and restrained to the best of the Aerodactyl's abilities. "And you finished them off too, to boot!"

"Hurt mah wing a li'l, bit ah will heal," Rocttryn replied. He took a closer look at Suntren, and opened his eyes. "Bit enough aboot they outlaws! Lookit ye!"

Suntren tilted his head at Rocttryn, not really understanding. Once his brain finally clicked, he turned to himself. All his nice orange spots had turned into a deep blue. His frill had seemed to sport gills, that probably explained his breathing prowess as it stood. Most notably, his hands and feet had grown webbing.

The lizard jumped. Without wasting a second, he looked around. Despite the familiarity of the situation, there definitely weren't any laboratory walls closing in around him, nor were there a bunch of cages along the wall. His tail flicked a bit, a few weak Water Guns shooting every couple seconds. With heavy breaths, he willed the moves to stop, then studied his hands a bit.

"Ye a' richt, partner?" the Aerodactyl asked. "Ye look a micht worried, thare."

Suntren shook his head. He clawed at the webbing on his feet, not believing it. It couldn't be true. He'd locked those memories, those experiments far away. If they were coming back to haunt him again, then what was going to become of him?

He screamed in pain as he drew a bit of blood. No, he certainly wasn't dreaming. "Rocttryn, we need to get out of here, now! I need to see a healer…"

Rocttryn fluttered back. "Awright, awright, calm doon, calm doon! Kin ye tell me whit's gaun oan, first?" The Aerodactyl shifted his weight. "...This aboot yer secret, pal?"

Suntren growled. "Yes, it is, And… I'm still not overly comfortable telling you what exactly. Just… Please…" He walked towards Rocttryn. "Get me out of here."

"You've got a secret, huh?" Jetfin replied, landing near them. "No need to worry, it's none of my business. The important thing is that you're safe and sound." He extended a hand. "And this rescue can be considered successfully completed!"

Suntren nodded. "Thanks for coming to look for me. While I had a plan in place, I don't know if I would've been able to defeat all three outlaws on my own. Whatever I've got isn't super useful against water types."

"Ye seemed tae be haudin' yer ain juist fine whin ah git 'ere. Sure ye weren't going to finish thaim aff yersel'?" Rocttryn teased. He shifted, tightening the saddle straps a bit.

"I'm sure. Three on one isn't very fair, I couldn't have hoped to hold them off forever."

He grabbed his bag, and looked inside. He reached to Rocttryn, grabbed the Ball, and breathed a quick sigh of relief. "Still have everything that needs to be brought back. How are we getting out of this lake, and how are we gonna take these two with us."

Jetfin chuckled, and tossed a small badge at him. "Here, take this explorer's badge. When I tell you to, press the center of it -with a lot of pressure, mind you- and it should activate the warp function. Edin, you do the same with your own badge. Wherever Razorfang is, it should activate there too and he'll be wherever we end up." The Floatzel grabbed two more badges, going towards the outlaws. He affixed them to the scurffs of their bandanas, and tightened them up a bit. "Destination: Crosat Town. We'll hand the outlaws in immediately, then we can talk about what comes next."

"Gah. Dat went horribly," a Feraligatr grunted, coughing. "Never thought I be taken out by a giant fish." He struggled to get up with a few groans. A searing pain shot through one of his arms. The alligator growled, collapsing back down.

He squeezed the spot, trying to numb it. "Next time I see dat dino, I'm punchin' him for not realizing I was in trouble. I mean, really…

Grumbling, the alligator stood up again, still squeezing his injured arm. He didn't have very far to go before a bright yellow light shone in front of him. From it, descended five figures. Immediately recognizing two of them, he growled loudly and stormed up.

"Woah, there, Razorfang!" one spoke, one arm swinging around a quick water blade. "No need to be so aggressive!"

"Shut it, Jetfin!" he yelled, pressing his toothy face up to the Floatzel. They were almost touching, with how close they were. "Where were ya when dat giant… monster ate me!? If it 'adn't been for the emergency function uh thuh explorer's bayudge, I'd probably still be down dere. Give me a solid reason Ah shouldn'-"

"Hey!' Rocttryn shouted. "If ye'r aff tae be mad at a'body, be mad at me! A'm th' one wha wis wi' ye, 'n', in case ye didnae notice, ah killed th' thing!"

"No, no you didn't," Jetfin replied, whirling around to face him. "I get self-defense, I really do. But had I not been there, the Dungeon Master probably would have died, and who knows how that could've affected the dungeon? Not to mention that same Dungeon Master helped finish off those outlaws for good while you were busy with that Whiscash!"

Noytrun skidded to a halt, scrunching his brow up. "Now whut in sam hell izza Dungeon Master, Jetfin? Ahv nevur heard uh anythin' like thet."

"Nor ah," Rocttryn concurred. "Thay sound important."

The Floatzel sighed, and crossed his arms. He glared at the two explorers, tails twirling ferociously. "That's because they are. Tell me, how do Mystery Dungeons form?"

"Thay're formed by sudden waves uh loose energy, raht?" Noytrun recalled, scratching his head. "Whuts thet gotta do with anythin'?"

"Not quite," Jetfin replied, sitting back. He dug around in his bag for a few moments, pulling out his Connection Orb. "Consider this as our planet, alright?" He placed it on the ground, and activated its holo-functions. Once a big sphere of light surrounded the group, the weasel drew up a small land shaped mass on the side facing them. He pointed to the hill he'd drawn on it. "That's Mt Horn. It used to be a regular mountain, and then…" Jetfin put a finger in the middle, pushing the surface of the hologram outside. "Loose energy from the Reverse World spilled out from beneath it. From the outside, it looks normal…"

"Bit oan th' inside, it changed dramatically?" Rocttryn finished, looking at the little divet left from the pressure. It slowly bounced back into place.

"Exactly," Jetfin finished, with a nod. "Tunnels and chambers formed, local wildlife went mad… That's where ferals come from. The leftover energy from transforming is still found there, and it manifests in the items you can find."

"Ah still don't git it. Whuts thet gotta do with Dungeon Masters?" Noytrun asked. "Hif ferals is gist locals who got drahvn mad by thuh Reverse energy…"

"Well, Dungeon Masters are rare Pokemon who actually absorb all the Reverse Energy when it breaks free," Jetfin replied. "And they don't go mad, either. It takes a really strong pokemon to do that. However, that also means that this Dungeon Master can channel that energy, and create a dungeon on their own. A much more volatile dungeon, since it's not being held in place when energy from outside, such as explorers, enter." The Floatzel picked up his orb. "Dungeon Masters themselves are a relatively new thing, in any case. First discovered by Team Raiders about six months ago. Not surprised you haven't heard of them before. The knowledge isn't really widespread yet."

"Then how do you know?" Suntren asked, looking up from his notebook. Rocttryn had brought it with him, something he was thankful for.

"SImple. Alongside Wigglytuff, Team Charm, and the Explorer's Federation, my team, Tsunami, was one of the first contacted about the discovery. My friends actually helped out with the research for a while. Most Dungeon Masters aren't inherently aggressive… That Basculegion back there was just trying to protect its territory." Jetfin stood back up, and nodded. "Let's get back to my team's base. They'll be able to tell you more about them, if you're interested in the topic."

Suntren shook his head. "Thank you, but no thanks."

"We've... Uh, git some introductions tae dae. Noy 'n' Sun have ne'er met," Rocttryn replied. "Bit we'll keep th' offer in mynd, Jetfin."

"Suit yourself. You can always find us in Treasure Town, if you're ever in the area." Jetfin winked, and bounced up. He was holding a weird stone. "Have fun, and don't forget to turn those two in!"

In a bright flash of light, the Floatzel disappeared. He left behind only a single badge; likely meant as a calling card if they needed to see him again. Suntren walked forward, and picked it up. He examined the golden badge closely, before pocketing it in his jacket.

"So, Rocttryn, Noytrun," Suntren spoke after entering a private rented building. He closed the door once they entered, and dug around in his bag for Fortran's ball. "I have a little announcement of my own to make, as well. I made… a discovery."

The Feraligatr blinked, crossing his arms. He snorted, tapping his foot on the ground. "Uh discovery. Yore gunna hav tuh bay uh bit more specific than thet, Suntren."

"I'm well aware, I was just about to give you a demonstration, in fact." Suntren pulled out the Poke Ball, and let Noytrun inspect it. "Rocttryn and I found this in one of the city ruins some months back. He was convinced it would be important. And I have to say… He was right. Observe."

Both of his teammates stepped back as he pressed a button on front. A red beam of energy shot out in the middle of the three. Suntren grinned, watching it take the shape of a duck. Once the beam disappeared, he stepped forward. "I'd like you both to meet Porygon2."