"So. You're a human, you say?"
"Yup. Full-blooded human."
"From what little I remember, I do recall that humans are stuff of myth. And… no offense, but you look like a regular old Inkay to me."
Flip paused in the middle of the hallway he was leading Janus through and turned, causing the Ninjask to skid to a halt. His large black eyes reflected the faint sunlight that streamed through the thick trees that lined the hall, but they weren't pleading. They were dead serious, shining with a sort of certainty Janus had never seen before. For a brief moment, one that felt like eons, the two amnesiac Pokémon stared at one another without a word, before Flip faced forward again and kept moving.
"What's your story, pal? If you're so quick to judge mine, yours better be good," Flip then said.
"I'm not too sure myself," Janus replied. "I woke up here… a few hours ago, from what I can gather, and a Grafaiai came by claiming I was a member of the Rescue Legion in town and that my partner has been looking for me. But I don't really remember much of anything from before I woke up. My name especially, I kinda just made one up on the spot."
"Janus isn't even your real name, then?"
Janus uttered a soft chuckle. "Probably not. But it sounds cool, right?"
"Hah! I guess it does."
The Ninjask slipped back into his own thoughts as he continued following Flip through the Dungeon's second floor. Having a temporary name was all well and good, but the thought of it potentially not even being real concerned him. Would he even remember his real name if it was presented to him? That was what scared him the most: the idea of being called true name by someone he once knew and couldn't recall.
He wondered how much Flip actually remembered from his alleged time as a human. The Inkay had stated he was content with his current life despite still learning the ropes of his new form, but Janus couldn't help but feel a little bit of concern for his new companion. Something deep inside of him trusted Flip's story. Was it that serious expression from before? His earnestness in explaining himself when they first met? Janus didn't know.
The chamber ahead was tiny and suffocating. A few berries were strewn around, half-eaten and most likely left behind by feral Pokémon that had passed through. Flip dipped down, picking one up with his front tentacles and examining it.
"These bite marks…" he muttered. "They're so… animalistic. I mean, it's kinda to be expected from Pokémon, but it's like whatever ate this demolished it."
"Damn, they even bit into the core and some of the seeds. That can't be good for their teeth," Janus added. "It looks like a Tamato berry. Those don't have much nutritional value, nothing like Oran or Sitrus berries… and they're spicy too. The closer you get to the middle, the more seeds there are clustered in there. The seeds hold all the capsaicin —"
"WOAH, dude, slow down, you're giving me a headache," Flip interrupted. He sniffed the berry curiously, then took a bite. His face instantly scrunched up in surprise and disgust, and he tossed the berry into the bushes again. With a cough, he continued, "Okay, yeah, you're right. How'd you know that? I thought you didn't have memories?"
"I… don't," Janus replied slowly. How did he know that…? "Seeing the berry must've triggered something, some kind of knowledge that's ingrained in me."
"That's cool though," Flip said. "You're like… a berry encyclopedia. What's this one?"
He held up a magenta berry, wrinkly and tapered on the end, with a cluster of green leaves on the top. This one also had bite marks in it; much of the juice had been sucked out of it, leaving it shriveled and dull.
"A Persim berry," Janus replied. "Those are said to cure confusion. They're pretty sweet, and the chemical that makes them pink is what balances the neurotransmitters that cause confused Pokémon to hallucinate."
Janus examined it a little more. It wasn't just devoid of juice — it was completely hollow on the inside. There were no seeds, and the fruit had been cleaned completely off of the skin. The skin itself was torn in places, where whatever ate it was scratching at it with its teeth to get whatever was left.
The Ninjask shuddered. "Whatever ate this must have really needed it," he murmured.
"It's scary," Flip replied. His tone was unusually hushed in mute horror. "We're small Pokémon. What if… we're mistaken for berries?"
"We won't be. At least, I hope we won't."
Janus pat Flip on the back and scanned the room, looking for a way out. Thankfully, he spotted a hallway to the right, at the farther end of the small chamber. With a wave of his forcep, he ushered Flip forward, and they continued on through the Dungeon. Janus was leading now; this hallway was much shorter, and he could see a little bit better now that some of the fog had lifted. They turned at the corner and were faced with another chamber, one much bigger than the last and housing a sleeping Minccino at the far corner.
"The next hallway is right by it," Flip said, pointing with his tentacle so Janus could get a better look. He was right — the Minccino was practically right in front of it. "What do we do?"
"Not sure," Janus replied. "If it wakes up, we'll probably have to fight it."
The Ninjask slowed down. The faint buzzing emanating from his wings dulled; he could feel himself floating dangerously close to the ground, but with Flip's blossoming psychic powers, he assumed it wouldn't be an issue. The Inkay was keeping a close eye on him, evidenced by the sinking feeling of someone watching that, despite being a bit unsettling, was reassuring.
Slowly, carefully, they floated across the chamber, watching the Minccino closely. It didn't look like it would wake up, but Janus didn't want to take any chances. They crept towards the next hall, they were almost to the mouth of it, they were so close to continuing on…
AWOOOOO!
A chilling howl reverberated throughout the chamber, shaking the floor. Snow fell from the ceiling and hit the ground with a whump, and the Minccino stirred, opening one of its eyes to look around. Janus's breath hitched in his throat as he froze in place; he could feel Flip tense up behind him, as well. Not good.
It wasn't long before the little gray rodent spotted them. Its fur bristled, and it got on all fours, baring its teeth and raising its fluffy tail in warning. The Minccino then launched forward, turning in the air and whacking Flip in the face with a Tail Slap.
One, two, three, four hits sent Flip flying across the room and into a snowbank before the bushes. He landed hard, flopping to the ground with a grunt, and before Janus could fly over to assist, he too had landed to the ground, the Minccino's tail smacking him hard in the back where that splotch of bright blue paint was. His recovery was quick, but shaky; that spot on his back was going to be an issue.
As Flip rose back up again and shook the snow from his bulbous head, Janus spotted something behind the Inkay — another opening! The snowbank must have been hiding the entrance to another hall. Now was their chance to escape, before the Minccino —
Whack! This time, a hefty Swift attack from the Minccino sent Janus flying. This time though, he was able to stay airborne, and he zipped forward, attacking the Normal type with a Fury Cutter that sliced through its attempt to use Grass Knot to trip him up.
"Flip! Behind you! There's a hallway, keep going!" Janus paused to slash with another Fury Cutter, one that sent the Minccino hurtling into the wall. "I'll catch up. I've gotta beat this thing before it knocks either of us out."
"WAAAAY ahead of ya! I'll catch up with you near the stairs!" Flip replied, picking himself up and floating down the corridor.
The Minccino stood back up, using its tail to brush off the flakes of snow that were settling in its fur. Its eyes were narrowed, locked on to the bright spot on Janus's back, and it launched forward wildly again with a Quick Attack. But it missed, tumbling to the side and landing on the ground, and as Janus darted out of the way he started towards the stairs. The Minccino stood again and jumped, grasping Janus's leg with its teeth, latching onto him and locking its jaw much like the Dachsbun from earlier had, but its teeth were too blunt to draw blood or stay attached for too long. While it was still terrifying, Janus managed to kick it off of him and hurry down the hall after Flip.
This hallway was much more dim. The fog was more dense, restricting the Ninjask's vision, and he struggled to discern what was up ahead. There looked to be chambers on both his left and right, as well. Which one had Flip gone down…?
"Janus! On your left!"
Well then, that was convenient. Through the left hall he traveled, and as the mist cleared, he hovered in the entrance of the chamber that hid the stairs.
"Hey, you found them!" Janus commended. "Are you ready to keep going?"
"Ready as you are," Flip replied. "You heard that howl from earlier, yeah? I think that dog Pokémon is following us. I've been getting a real bad feeling."
"So have I. We have to stay vigilant."
The staircase leading up was nearly identical to the one the duo had come across on the previous floor: same amount of steps, same stony material, same curling vines and frosty flower buds that bloomed the farther up they went. Upon reaching the third floor, the stairs were sealed once again, leaving them with no way to return to the one below.
This floor felt much different than the previous two. The air was thick with malice, and that sensation of someone watching felt much more real, much closer. Janus shuddered, and though he couldn't see Flip that well behind him, he could tell the Inkay was just as scared as he was. Regardless, they had to press onward, had to keep going to find the peak, the exit.
"Up ahead," Flip whispered, using a tentacle to gesture toward the back of the chamber they had landed in. "Who's that?"
Sure enough, there was an unfamiliar Pokémon at the back of the room. It was fairly large, much bigger than the duo that had just entered the floor, with a round, white body and flippers for arms. Its tail swished frantically, and its large black eyes were welled with tears. As it caught Janus's gaze, it trembled, backing itself further up into the corner it had jammed itself into.
Janus recalled something from earlier.
"M-my friend Cetoddle… he went missing three days ago…"
So this was Cubchoo's friend.
He moved forward, not even bothering to wait for Flip to follow. Cetoddle whimpered again as Janus inched closer, cowering as the Ninjask hovered over him.
"Hey, it's okay," Janus murmured, nuzzling Cetoddle in an effot to comfort him. The whale-like Pokémon just sniffled in response, allowing Janus to continue. "We're… not quite from the Rescue Legion, but we heard something from your friend, Cubchoo. She's been worried sick looking for you for a while now. If you follow us, we'll bring you home."
"You're strangers…" Cetoddle mumbled through his tears. "You don't have Rescue Legion badges… Why should I trust you? How do I know you won't attack me like that thing did?"
Janus's heart sank to his stomach. "...What thing? What happened, Cetoddle?"
AWOOOOOO!
At the sound of the howl, the same bloodcurdling sound from before, Cetoddle blubbered, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. As Janus glanced behind his back, he saw Flip on edge, readying what looked to be a Psybeam.
"Something's coming," Janus said. "Please, Cetoddle. You have to trust us. Whatever's up here with us hurt you, and it'll hurt you again if we don't hurry out of here."
"Janus, backup please," Flip requested through a grit beak.
The Ninjask nodded, floating away from Cetoddle. "We've got you covered, Cetoddle. Don't go anywhere. We'll wait for it to come to us, and then we'll defeat it so we can get you out safely."
"Snuff… okay… thank you, Mr. Ninjask…" Cetoddle mumbled. "Thank you… for helping me."
Now that he was waiting at the entrance to the chamber with Flip, the silence that followed was almost excruciating. He could feel his heart racing, hear it thumping heavily in his chest, and he almost didn't want to find out what was slowly approaching. He wanted to fly away, to turn tail and not return. His sense of duty outweighed everything, however; his overbearing will to protect the Cetoddle and lead him out of the Hazy Highlands trumped everything else.
Shuffle… shuffle…
"Get ready, Flip."
"I'm always ready."
Shuffle shuffle…
A tuft of orange peeked around the corner, and soon, what entered the chamber was not at all what Janus expected. It looked to be the Pawmo from earlier, the same dreary-looking one from the Rescue Legion. Her bronze badge shimmered as she turned into the chamber, and her satchel bounced with every trudging step she took.
As she caught Janus's eye, she stopped.
"Holy…" she murmured, nearly dropping the Oran berry she was carrying. "No way, it really was you earlier… Domino was just messing with me. He had to have been!"
She sprang forward, arms outstretched, and gleefully wrapped Janus in a tight embrace.
"I can't believe I finally found you, Cam!"