THE OLD FOREST
1F
Within seconds of passing through, the two now found themselves in what can only be described as a metaphorical room within the forest, with halls extending in front of them and the sides. The ground around them was laid with a thin layer of grass, while the trees around them stood tall enough to cover the sky above them with leaves.
"Alright, so we gotta look for the stairs to the lower floors." Chester explained, his voice taking on a determined and commanding tone. It wasn't perfect, but it got the point across.
Row simply stood and listened. He mentally prepared himself for the dangers to come.
Chester took the lead, with Row following behind. They crossed through a hall into another "room", this one with an apple lying on the ground.
"...We should have brought a bag." Row muttered, picking up the apple. As he did however, he noticed movement in front of him. Out from another hall came shuffling a pair of Caterpies. Row responded by yelping and chucking the apple at one's head. It collided with a very hard *clunk* and made the bug-type nearly lose its balance.
Chester gasped, "W-Wait, what are they doing here?! There isn't supposed to be anyone here!"
"Guess that changed!" Row ran back to his side.
"This isn't good..." Chester muttered, eyeing another path. "Come on, we don't got time to mess around with them!"
The two dashed down the path, hoping the Caterpies wouldn't catch up to them. But when they got to the next room, they were greeted by another Caterpie and a Weedle. They began to approach the duo, looking not too friendly.
"Urk..." Chester raised his fists reluctantly, "We're gonna have to fight our way forward!"
Row cringed. He really didn't have confidence in his fighting ability. And as if to test that, the Caterpies from before had already caught up. Fast things they were. Now they were all surrounded, with two in front of Chester and two in front of Row.
Chester acted first, rushing forwards to deliver a good punch towards the Caterpie, knocking it out in one hit. The Weedle in turn striked with the spike on its head, scratching him up. Row followed in turn by striking one of the Caterpies in front of him, the same one he threw an apple at in fact. His blow staggered the bug-type, but not enough for a good knockout. The Caterpies both headbutted him, but he raised his arms in time to cushion the blow.
"You ok?" Chester looked over at his ally, noticing his struggle.
"Y-Yeah. I got this." Row reassured him, though his shaky voice gave away his true feelings. He threw another punch towards the injured Caterpie, finally knocking it down. Chester turned to the Weedle and a hard blow to it. It managed to hold on despite the heavy hit, and scratched at him again. The last remaining Caterpie smacked Row with its tail. He once again raised his arms to block it, softening the blow.
Chester quickly went in front of him, knocking the Caterpie out in a single hit. He quickly grabbed Row's arms and examined them, "Light bruising, but you'll be fine." Chester wasn't a medical expert, but he was confident enough to make it sound alright. Row nodded, "Y-You're pretty strong!"
Chester grinned, "You know it!" He stepped forwards, "Now come on!"
The two once again rushed forwards, passing through the paths and checking the rooms. It wasn't long before they found the stairs. Chester dashed ahead, calling over Row to head down together. Row walked down the stoney steps, only to somehow end up in yet more forest with the stairs seemingly gone. They don't call them mystery dungeons without reason...
THE OLD FOREST
2F
There was no time to gawk. They hurried forwards, making sure to avoid getting into any scuffles with more Caterpies and Weedles. They ended up in a room with a bunch of berries lying around, which Chester quickly picked up.
"Here, eat this!" He offered it to Row.
Without thinking, Row crammed it into his mouth. Within seconds, he felt his bruised arms heal up, leaving behind only a few scratches. "What the-"
"Oran berries. Heals you up." Chester popped an oran into his mouth, healing up the scratches he got.
After recovering, they pressed forwards down a winding path to the room containing the stairs to the next floor. But before they could run to it, a Weedle ran in front of them with intent to attack. It ran right up to Row, who held up his arms for yet another block.
"Row!" Chester called out, "Try dodging instead!"
Dodge? Row lowered his arms as the Weedle prepared to jab at him with its horn. The second it got close, Row suddenly sidestepped it. It was almost effortless, and it surprised even him. Chester took this opportunity to knock it out in one hit. Row just stared down at himself, almost speechless.
"D-Did I do that?" Row patted his legs.
"Yeah! Try doing that more often!" Chester cheered before directing him towards the stairs. They both ran down the flight to the next floor.
THE OLD FOREST
3F
"Come on, there's only one more floor before the bottom!" Chester cried out, rushing forwards with more haste.
Row's legs ached as he pushed himself forwards. And within only a few seconds they found the stairs.
THE OLD FOREST
4F
The two caught their breaths on the bottom. Row, hunched over and panting, noticed another apple and a few more oran berries.
"...Wish we had a bag." Row sighed.
"I have one, but it's for books." Chester shrugged.
Row just picked up a berry, tucking it into his green bangs. They ran off down another path. They were starting to get winded from the constant running down these lanes of grass and trees. Even the far more fit Chespin was sweating. But luck was on their side, as they stood in front of the stairs. And down these stairs...
THE OLD FOREST
5F
Rocky the Riolu laid on the ground, wounded and grunting. Lilly the Budew tended to him, tears in her eyes as she tried to get him up. And in front of them both stood tall a Krokorok with a mean look in his eyes and sneer on his snout.
"Darn brat..." He whined, rubbing his wrist. "Scratched me good. Your mamma ever told you not to tussle with strangers?" His tail thumped against the ground as he huffed. "Now you two are gonna stay nice and quiet, before I-"
"HEY YOU!" A brave sounding voice called from behind him. His eye twitched as he turned around and growled.
Chester and Row stood with their arms crossed, an idea from the former to try and look more intimidating. Didn't seem to have any effect on the larger Pokemon, who merely let out an insincere chuckle. "Oh goooooood, more BRATS!" His tail smacked the ground with enough force to bring up some dirt. "Now you just made me reaaaaal mad."
Row was worried. This figure before him was giving off a feeling of pure unfiltered rage. He could just sense how evil this guy was. Chester, meanwhile, kept his upset expression and frowned at the Krok. "You aren't getting away with this!" He said, angerly.
"Ooooh, I'm so scared!" The Krokorok grabbed the sides of his head in a mocking manner. He then crossed his arms. "Fine, wanna be a hero? Come on, take a swing!"
"You first." Chester sneered.
...
The Krokorok's eye twitched. "If there's one thing I hate more than brats, it's SMART BRATS!"
He slammed his foot down hard onto the ground, causing a massive crack to spread forwards towards the two Pokemon in front of him. Row dived out of the way, while Chester opted to instead use the force of the cracking ground to launch himself upwards. He dived downwards, fist first with amazing force right into the Krokorok's face. The sandy Pokemon screamed out in pain as he stumbled backwards. Chester landed backwards, stumbling a little. The Krokorok growled; he was beyond angry now. He charged forward, mouth agape ready to bite down. Chester stood at the ready, waiting for him to get just close enough for him to crouch down and sweep out his leg, tripping up the Krokorok. He fell down onto the ground, slamming his mouth shut.
Row watched all of this go down in awe. He pumped his fist upwards, "Y-Yeah go Chester!" He cheered awkwardly. However, it was at that moment the Krokrok turned the tables by slamming his tail down hard while he was still prone. The resulting shockwave knocked Chester into a nearby tree. "Gah!" Row screamed. The Krokorok took this moment to turn his attention towards the Ralts, and began charging towards him. Row's brow furrowed as he prepared himself. He took a deep breath, focusing. The Krokorok swiped forward with his claws, only for Row to dodge out of the way by stepping to the side. The Krok swiped his tail to try and trip him, but Row simply jumped over it and delivered a punch to the thigh. The Krokorok barely flinched and simply swiped down, to which Row dodged again.
The Krokorok screamed, "Stay still you BRAT!" He stomped on the ground, sending Row flying into the air. Before the Krokorok could take advantage, Chester pulled himself from the tree and came from behind, slamming into his back hard. Row, falling back down, readied up a fist. He aimed it right at the thug's face. It wasn't until it impacted against the target's face that he noticed his hand was now ice cold. The Krokorok let out an ear piercing screech of pain as clutched at his face.
The two intrepid fighters regrouped in front of him, side to side. "Good move!" Chester cheered his partner. Row stared at his hand, did he really mean to do that? How long could he do that?
The Krokorok finally recovered enough to stand still. His eyes were twitching nonstop. "You..." He growled in a tone of pure venom.
Chester leaned and whispered into Row's ear, "On my count, we give him one final punch together." He winked.
"YOU BRAAAAAAAAAATS!" The krok charged forwards, jaw wide open.
He got closer, and closer... Until...
"Now!" Chester yelled.
With him just barely in front of the two, they both thrust forwards blows straight into his chest. The Krokorok yelled out, and was launched a good few inches off the ground. He did a full flip in the air and landed on his head, flopping onto his front. A silence fell over the area as he let out a long, pained groan before finally falling unconscious.
"D-Did we win?" Row gulped.
Chester nodded, then grinned ear to ear, "HECK YEAH WE-"
From out of their view, the two baby Pokemon suddenly hugged them both in a big squeeze. Rocky and Lilly both cried their little eyes out. "Thank you so much!" Rocky sniffed, "If you hadn't been here..."
Chester patted him on the head, "Hey, you were really brave too protecting Lilly!"
Row pulled out the berry from his hair and handed it to the injured Riolu, who ate it happily. "So what happened? Why did he attack you like that?"
Lilly suddenly spoke up, "Rocky wanted to show me this cool quiet place! But when we got here there was this big dirt pile and a sack badly put into a hole. Then that big jerk showed up and started yelling and..." She went quiet.
Row nodded, then paused. "Sack?"
Row and Chester both took notice of said dirt pile and sack, in the corner of the area far outside of their view. Seemed like in the commotion neither had noticed it. They walked over and examined the mysterious sack. It was burlap, and kinda smelt funny. Chester opened it up, revealing a ton of gold nuggets inside.
"Wooooah! Look at all this!" He leaned in, eyes sparkling.
Row closed it up right in front of him, "No."
"Aww, I wasn't gonna take it! ...Just a little bit."
Row rolled his eyes, it seemed like for all his valor and justice Chester still was a goofball.
"I'll carry the bag, you grab him." Row gestured towards the krokorok. Chester nodded, and using his grass type to its fullest, pulled out a bunch of vines and wrapped it around the ground/dark type.
"So how do we leave?" Row asked.
"We just go back the way we came." Chester answered, pulling the thug behind him.
"...Mystery dungeons are weird huh."
"Mhm."
And so the two, plus two youngsters and one unconscious krokorok, left...
Back at the entrance, two lean and tall Pokemon stepped forwards. On the right, a Tsareena with a lovely choice scarf on her neck and a purse over her shoulder. On the left, a Lurantis with a heat rock necklace.
"This is it." Said the Lurantis, a stern tone to her voice.
"Two missing kids, plus two troublemakers. Find out what happened and bring them home safe before my beauty sleep." The Tsareena flipped her hair back, much to the Lurantis' displeasure.
"Can you please take this seriously?"
The Tsareena simply huffed.
They both took a step forwards, but then the Lurantis held out one of her arms in front of the Tsareena.
"Wait, someone's coming..."
In the distance, two shadows were coming into view. No... four?
The two Pokemon watched in amazement as out from the darkness of the trees came a Ralts and Chespin, accompanied by a Riolu and a Budew.
The Tsareena gasped, "Well goodness. That's a first."
Chester and Row walked up to the two Pokemon, both wondering who they were. The answer came when the Lurantis pulled out a badge. It was a shiny lapis blue circle with a spiral pattern leading to a golden center, adorned with two wings pointing outwards.
"My name is Leaf, and this is my partner Falina." She introduced herself and her partner, "We are Team Beauty of the Sacred Strength Explorers Guild."
Chester's eyes widened so hard they nearly fell out. He and Row both dropped their loads, allowing the explorers to examine them.
"Some brute and his ill gotten gains it seems." Falina scoffed, picking up both and slinging them over her shoulder. She looked over at the kids, "Come, let's get you two to your parents. Take it from here hon, I'll see you at HQ." She walked off, with the kids waving goodbye to Chester and Row.
Leaf turned her attention to the heroes in front of her, crossing her arms. Her expression was quite unhappy. Row felt a massive lump in his throat, if emotions could hurt hers would be putting a hole through him.
"What were you thinking?"
Chester spoke up, "I couldn't just wait for you guys! Those two were in trouble and I couldn't let them-"
Leaf spoke over him before he could continue, "Neither of you were even close to prepared. No badges meant if you got hurt, the situation would've been a lot worse for all of you. You're lucky it was just one individual. What if there were more down there?"
Chester choked up, "I-I'm sorry..."
Row was dead quiet. There wasn't anything for him to say. But then he felt her emotion change. It stopped being harsh and became a lot lighter.
"Allow me to at least offer you this:" Her expression grew less stern, but still serious, "You two did save the day, so for that you have my thanks." She then knelt down towards them, "But please don't do things like that so hastily. Be brave, not reckless."
They both nodded. Leaf stood up and sighed, "Consider this an official request: Go home and rest. Maybe have some ice cream." She turned and walked off, leaving the two by themselves. They just stood there, unmoving and unsure of how to process what just happened. Row looked over at Chester to discern his feelings. He felt upset, yet there was a lingering sense of happiness. It just needs a little push to the surface.
"Hey Chester?" Row spoke up.
"Yeah?" Chester looked over at him, a sad look in his eyes.
"I think I like helping others. It feels... right."
Chester smiled, the sadness on his face fading away. "Come on, let's go home."
The two wrapped their arms around each other and walked on.
Later that night, Team Beauty stood in an office room. It was pristine, with a dozen shelves of files filled with papers that could stack a mile long. It was also mostly dark save for a small light on the ceiling.
"That ends our report." Said Leaf, bowing. Falina joined in, albeit in a more fantastic motion.
They stood in front of a big wooden desk, and behind it was a Palafin with flippers under his chin staring and listening intensely. "I see." He said. "Dismissed."
Leaf and Falina both exited the room. Leaving the palafin alone with the other pokemon in the room: a Leaveanny. He turned to her, expecting her to comment.
"...Well," She spoke, clearing her throat. "Interesting story, isn't it?"
The Palafin nodded, "Not something you see often." He took a deep breath as he pondered, "Wish I could've talked with those boys, would've loved to hear how they handled things in there."
"Oh yes, what a story that'd be! Reminds me of our days as explorers!" The Leavanny sighed. "I was much less composed back then..."
The Palafin stared off toward a nearby window. It peered into the quiet city with light posts lighting up the dark road.
"Remember before we even were explorers? Just two Pokemon helping out around our little town?" He smiled. "Cleaning the shops and giving aid to the old Pokemon living there?" He tapped his flippers onto the desk, "Then that Weavile came and started trouble with one of the item banks there. Me and you, still young and naive, tackled him to the ground and knocked him out cold."
The leavanny laughed, "You stood so proudly, it was cute!"
"Oh stop." He took another deep breath. "We do rash things when we want to do what's right, don't we?"
He paused.
"Miss Daisy?" He asked.
"Mister Messa?
"Fetch me some paperwork. I have a request to send out." He grinned.