VGS2's sausage notes: Hello, everyone! Time for some more dungeon action! :P
... Uh, for real this time. :s To be honest, the last time I updated this fic was to take advantage of the site not actually bothering to post up anybody's new chapters, though still putting them at the top of the list of updated fics.
The reason for my little stunt was to make sure that people knew I was on AO3 (the fanfiction website where everyone likes plastering silly tags onto their fics, for some reason) and, admittedly, for more attention on this fic, because even I'm not above whoring myself out for views, I won't lie. XP
If nothing else, when the site fixed itself, you got to see me derp and say in the fake chapter: "If you want more Mystery Dungeon action, then go and read Questing For Respect!" when I meant to say 'Questing For Comrades', instead. So yeah, basically, I told everyone to go and read the fic they were already reading, and not my other fic, instead. I'm not a smart man... XD
Ah, on that note, you should go and read Questing For Comrades! It has three fun one-shot chapters for you to read right now! Such as...
1. A little Donphan backstory and lore, with an embarrassing ending!
2. An extended fight with Marowisp where he gets a very special surprise in the end!
3. Four new (at the time of writing, cough) characters on one spiky mountain. One of whom is very important indeed!
I hope you get tempted! :D For now, though, I've rambled enough. Enjoy the chappie!
(Just so you remember... last time, Buneary and the gang were surprised by a huge explosion that blew down a wall and donked her on the head with a rock, knocking her out. RIP)
Chapter Six: The Sword and Shield
A murky, blurry void was the first thing to greet Buneary as she came to. Huh...?
Looking around, she saw bright, colorful flashes of light randomly blinking in and out of her vision. Soft whirring and humming assailed her ears from all sorts of different directions. The cold, hard feeling of metal could be felt under her feet.
Blinking, she tried to make out where she was. No matter what, though, everything remained blurry at best. Was she really that out of it?
She saw a tall figure of several plain colors in front of her, equally as hazy as its surroundings. It kept saying something in a constant mumble, but she couldn't understand. Even with her good hearing. She tried to take a step toward it, but she couldn't move her feet.
She began to feel nervous. No, really, what was going on?
The figure suddenly went quiet and reached forwards, startling her. It touched the top of her head with an appendage. It was warm and strangely comforting.
"...nywa... I've ra... enough, haven't...? S...r...!" the figure said, its voice echoing through her ears. It was annoyingly incomprehensible. "Don't... about a... Once everything... over, you're goi...g to ...ng... Just... gotta..." The rest of its speech came out as pure gibberish Buneary couldn't understand at all.
She was so confused. Had she officially lost her mind!?
Strange metal jaws began to move in on her, just above her head. Her fear hit a fever pitch as they closed around her, trapping her in total darkness.
A horrible, harsh coldness suddenly came over her, chilling her to the bone. As her vision whitened out, however, the sensation faded away, replaced by a wondrous warmth...
Buneary blinked her eyes open. She gave a light shake of the head. Oh... that dream again. She'd been having it a lot, lately, but she still didn't get... it?
... Oohh, what was that wonderful warmth~?
She suddenly realized that she was sitting neck-deep in some lovely hot water, very similar to the hot spring in her old home. Unlike that one, though, this spring was just a hole in the floor, cut into a huge, perfect square and filled to the brim with hot, green water.
She couldn't stop herself from letting out a big sigh, eyes rolling into the back of her head as she leaned against the wall. Oh, goodness, that was heavenly...
Some laughter and chuckles rang out around her, snapping her out of her bliss. She looked around at her surroundings and immediately felt embarrassed at the several faces staring back at her.
Corsola - being one of them as she floated on the water - giggled. "You know, I kind of thought you'd do something like that," she chimed. "You're so precious, Buneary."
Buneary hid her face behind her paws. "W-Well... I... Ohh...!" she mumbled, mortified. Curse this lovely water...
"Glad you're liking the wonder tile, Miss," Snorlax said, sitting on the edge of the hot spring to dip his feet in. "Back when me and Donphan were in Wigglytuff's Guild, they were just healing panels to step on. These days, they actually turn into hot springs, of all things!"
"Huh, cool!" Yamask said, sitting in the water across from Buneary. She was relieved to see that he wasn't surrounded in those ghostly flames anymore. "Dungeons are so mysterious with this stuff."
"Damn right," Octillery added from beside him, partially submerged. His twisted, blue and white headband was on the floor behind him. "Man, wish all fuckin' traps were like this..."
"Um, y-yeah..." Buneary replied, thankful that the topic of her embarrassing herself seemed to have moved on. Letting down her paws, she leaned back into the wall of the wonder tile. It was strangely soft and cozy against the back of her head, pleasing her greatly. "Say, um... what was the deal with the explo-? Eep!"
While looking around, she noticed with a start that she was sitting next to someone she'd never met. Someone who had its black and purple tassel-like arm wrapped around her while it lounged, its other arm around the back of its spiky head as it leaned back.
The long, metallic pokémon looked at her with its single, purple eye. Though it didn't have a mouth, she could sense its amusement. "Haha. Ciao, bella!" he said in a masculine and smooth, yet cheeky voice. "Finally noticed I'm here, eh?"
"... Y-Yes...?" she replied, nervous. "W-Who are...?"
Snorlax chuckled sheepishly. "Don't worry, I know him," he said. He brightened up. "In fact, he's the one we've been waiting for! The leader of Team Specter... Dynamite Aegislash!"
Aegislash chuckled. "Not as good an introduction as my explosive entrance earlier, but yup. Here I am!" he said.
"Oh, um... h-hi!" Buneary replied, a little uncomfortable with the lack of personal space. "Umm... did you cause that explosion?"
"And the cuts in the wall, too? Guilty as charged~ If you can't arrive with a flash of pizazz, then what's the point of even showing up?" He laughed. "First time I've made someone faint while showing off, though. I guess I should count it as an achievement, shouldn't I?"
"Eheh, um, yeah..." she mumbled, holding back the urge to pout. Oh, for crying out loud, that made her feel so pathetic...
"That's... not the best thing to feel proud of, is it?" Yamask asked, cringing.
"Yeah, you bastard!" Octillery snapped. "You're lucky it was an accident, or I'd kill you dead!"
Aegislash laughed. "That so? Well, with what you did to Marowisp, I guess I'd better believe it, eh?"
Buneary grimaced while Yamask and Corsola chuckled awkwardly. Octillery nodded sharply with a huff.
"Er..." Snorlax asked, looking perplexed. "What was that, exactly?"
"Octillery just had a bone to pick with my teammate, that's all," Aegislash replied, still amused. "Oh, and on that convenient little pun, better watch your backs. Quite literally, even, knowing Marowisp. He put the word 'spite' in the dictionary, so don't think he'll forget what you did anytime soon~ Haha!"
Buneary grimaced even more. "Oh, dear..." she murmured.
Snorlax scratched his head. "... Um, okay, then?" he said. Shrugging, he smiled. "Well, don't worry. Aegislash always reins him in, don't you?"
"Yup," Aegislash replied. "It's a fun challenge, keeping him from getting his scaly tail thrown in the slammer." He hummed out a chuckle. "I don't always succeed, though, so watch your backs...!"
Buneary frowned in worry. Oh, that couldn't be good...
Well... at least Aegislash would keep him from doing anything too bad... right?
"Haha, and that's not even talking about Golurk," he continued. "You knocked him outta the sky while he was flying about, didn't'cha? That's what he said, anyway."
"I... I did?" she asked, staring at him with knitted brows.
"Apparently! Got him while flailing about in the air, from the sounds of things."
She stared at him, very much confused.
Aegislash chuckled again and continued. "Oh, you'll be in for a good time if you meet him again."
Her worried frown came right back. Ohhhh, but she didn't even remember hitting him! Why would he think...?
... Wait. Unless it was while she was being launched through the air, by that gust trap...
Buneary screamed as colors and shapes whizzed past her vision. Aghhh, she was going to die!
Pure adrenaline pumped through her veins and she went into a full on panic. She activated Dizzy Punch and Bounce to swing at the air with her ears and feet, desperate to stop herself.
She sensed something huge and black flying near her. Frightened, she lashed at it with her foot. It grunted and fell, causing a humongous crash below.
Buneary made an 'O' shape with her mouth at the memory. Well, that explained things...
She felt a small spark of pride at being able to knock down such a behemoth of a pokémon. It was quickly squashed by the thought of having to fight the same behemoth later on, however.
... Oh, dear, oh, dear.
"Um, l-let's talk about something else, why don't we? H-Haha..." Corsola interjected with a smile that was visibly cracking.
Aegislash huffed in amusement. "Well, I was enjoying myself scaring the teddy bear over here, but sure, "
"T-Teddy Bear?" Buneary spluttered. "You... mean me?"
"'Course. I don't see any other teddies here, do you?"
A laugh escaped Corsola. "I don't think I see any at all. She's a rabbit, Aegislash!"
"Yeah! Like those old animal things, from the legends!" Yamask added. "People always draw them with big ears, and cute noses, and big feet, and... uh, things like that. Just like Buneary!"
Buneary smiled lightly. Cute? She liked hearing that. Not so much the 'big ears and feet' comments, though...
Snorlax let out a sigh, though with a small smile. "Nice try, but once Aegislash decides what your species is, that's pretty much what you'll be to him."
Aegislash snickered. "Right you are, Kitty. They might call you a bear, but that's not what I see."
"Oh, what am I?" Yamask asked, looking very curious.
"You know about hieroglyphics? You're the spitting image of those things! Not to mention your evolution's an ancient tomb-styled coffin, so..."
"Huh. Neat! ... I think."
"Do I even wanna know what I look like?" Corsola asked jokingly.
"Heh, well, I'll tell you, either way," Aegislash retorted. "With four legs and two hands, I think you make a half-decent centaur!"
She tilted her head. "... Huh?"
"Ever heard of those fictional beasts, humans and horses? It's an extra fictional beast that's half of each, just for the sake of it~"
"... Okay?" she replied, no less confused.
"Haha, yeah... fictional..." Snorlax mumbled.
"Aghh, calling everyone weird shit's fuckin' weird and annoying!" Octillery said, gripping his head like he'd hurt it from thinking too hard. "Just call 'em what they friggin' are, so we can tell what you're going on about!"
"Oh, you're way too serious!" Aegislash chastised. "You'll never have fun in life following rules and doing the same thing as everyone else, so I think I'll keep on keeping on, Cannon."
Octillery huffed. "That's friggin' weird-" His eyes flared up in extreme bewilderment. "... Cannon!? The Hell's that mean!? What's a 'cannon'!?"
"Ever watched a movie at the Meow Theater in Lively Town? You look like one of those cannons in Forest of the Bandits!"
"O-Oh, I watched that one with my team!" Yamask chimed. "Haha, I can kind of see it, now!"
Octillery calmed, though he still looked confused. "... Hah?" he asked.
Buneary tilted her head. Movie...? Theater...? She... didn't know what those were at all. She knew what cannons were, though, thanks to the fantasy books she'd read to her little brother back in the day. Were they related...?
Before she could ask, Aegislash ruffled the fluff on her rolled ear, surprising her. "Heh. Anyway, speaking of bears, you're carrying out a mission today, yeah, Teddy Bear?" he asked her.
"Um... y-yeah!" Buneary replied, nodding. "How'd you know?"
"We brought him up to speed while you were recovering," Snorlax explained.
"Ah, okay..."
"Cute," Aegislash said, sounding amused. "Well, color me curious! Take me with you down these last floors, won't'cha?"
Everyone made a sound of surprise.
"You too, Aegislash?" Corsola asked.
"Are you wanting to help us out?" Buneary asked happily.
"Nahhh, not especially," Aegislash replied, making her deflate in disappointment. "See, I'll do anything for a good laugh, and this is far more fun than finding some silly dough seed. So I'll be coming with you to stir up trouble~"
"Sounds like you..." Snorlax mumbled. "Well... alright. We haven't adventured together since you were a... doublade, I don't think. Might be fun!"
"Gee, er, I-I dunno..." Yamask piped in. He reached for where his mask usually was, but - as Buneary just noticed - it was on the dry floor behind him. Noticing himself, the wisp just awkwardly stopped and carried on. "Um... no offense, but you're, um... your team's kind of... bad news."
Aegislash chuckled and shrugged. "And yet you haven't seen the worst of it! Believe me!"
Yamask stared. "... Err..."
"Yeah, the dweeb's friggin' right!" Octillery added, earning some light protest from Yamask. "Why should we trust you after the Hell you and your shitty team put us through? We don't want any legenddamned worse!"
Aegislash laughed. "So serious, aren't you?" he teased before shrugging. "Well, our 'worst' won't be coming today, I'm afraid. I don't fancy my chances against Kitty, here, so he'll probably keep me in check."
"Quite the compliment, coming from you..." Snorlax mumbled with an exasperated smile.
Aegislash let go of Buneary's shoulder and suddenly leapt out of the water.
Yelping, she turned to look and saw him come down spinning toward the floor. Landing, he kept on spinning from momentum as he picked up a big, golden disc and attached it to his arm. It looked like a... shield, from those old fairytales about knights she would read to her brother at night.
In fact... as he stopped spinning to put a hand to his bladed hip, she noticed that he looked like a sword from those very same stories!
She stared in awe. Wow, a living sword with a shield! How amazing~
"On that note, let's move out," he said. He yawned with his shielded hand. "Sitting around for so long's made me bored witless, so it's time to fix that, wouldn't you say~?"
"Oh... so hot tub time's over, then?" Corsola said dejectedly. "This was so lovely, too."
"Yeah... b-but I guess we should get going anyway, huh? " Yamask said with a sigh. He floated out of the water and went towards his mask on dry land. "If my teammates wake up before I get back, I'll get an earful! And didn't you say Whimsicott's waiting for you, too?"
"Hmm, no doubts about it, I guess... She hates being late, so I've gotta be back before she is, or she'll grumble. And it's been over an hour already, so..."
"Ey, same for my team," Octillery added. "Later, we're s'posed to be goin' after some outlaw bidoof douche, who's been choppin' down trees outside Apple Woods."
"But... they'll grow back quickly because of the dungeon, won't they?" Buneary asked.
Octillery jumped out of the water to land on the dry land. "Not out of it, they won't!" He slapped a tentacle against the floor in irritation. "Aghh! I fuckin' hate outlaws! I'll kill her!"
She almost wanted to suggest that the bidoof might not have known any better... but, knowing Octillery, it might have just riled him up, so she decided to keep it to herself.
Corsola climbed out of the wonderspring, as Buneary decided to call it. "It's settled, then, isn't it? The adventure continues~!" the coral sang.
"Yeah~" Buneary replied, jumping out of the water. On dry land, she noticed her small bag of money and... a lump of clear glass?
... Wait, no, even better! It looked like some kind of crystal! In fact, it was exactly like the ruby she had in her fluff, but clear!
She smiled gleefully and picked it up. "Ooh! Ooh~! I found something really nice earlier, I just remembered!" she said, deciding to show them off.
Everyone's attentions turned towards her.
"Oh, what's that?" Yamask asked, eyes lighting up in curiosity.
Faltering lightly at all the attention, Buneary swallowed and nodded. "Um, y-yeah!" she replied, shuffling through the poofy part of her fluff. After several seconds of finding nothing, she grew concerned. Odd... Because her fluff was short, it wasn't like she had many places for her ruby to hide away. "Er... it's here somewhere, anyway..."
"Oh no, did you lose it?" Corsola asked.
Buneary frowned worriedly. "Umm... I-I hope not..."
"I'll help you look if you want!" Yamask suggested eagerly. "It's in your fluff, right? So I just have to look in there, and... uh..." He stopped, as if realizing what he'd just said. His face went horribly red. "... N-Never mind!"
Corsola and Aegislash reacted with laughter. Snorlax and Octillery, instead, just reacted with bemusement.
Buneary chuckled sheepishly, face going warm from second-hand embarrassment. "... It's better than what you offered before, but... maybe not this time," she replied, offering him a small grin.
"Y-Yeah...!" Yamask replied, holding his mask to his face to cover his blush.
"Legenddamn, you're a mess, man!" Octillery shouted, sounding more baffled than annoyed. "Do ya even think before you speak?"
"... S-Sometimes!" Yamask replied. "I-I dunno, it just slips out!"
"Oh, Yamask, you're so special," Corsola said, calming down from her giggles. "I think I'm starting to see why everyone always calls you Calamity Yamask."
Buneary looked at her in shock. "What? Oh, that's a bit much, isn't it?" she asked.
"No, it isn't... Ugh, but I wish it was!" Yamask grumbled.
Buneary offered him an apologetic frown. Poor Yamask. Well, at least it sounded cool.
"You recruit 'em quirkier every year, Kitty," Aegislash chuckled.
Snorlax sighed with an exasperated smile. "... You're not wrong." He turned towards Buneary, smile going natural. "Anyway, no worries, miss! The thing you're probably looking for is that spent gem you're holding. After all, that came out of your fluff."
Buneary stared at him. She blinked and looked at the crystal in her paw. After a second she shook her head. "N-No, that's not..." She held up the crystal, looking at it in disbelief. "I mean... the thing I found was a beautiful ruby! This isn't..."
A look of realization came over Snorlax before he looked sympathetic. "Ohh... No, sorry, miss, but, um... that wasn't a ruby. I think you picked up one of those 'boost gems,' and, er... used it."
"... Huh?" she replied, looking at it in worry. "U-Used it?"
"Oh, I know about those things!" Yamask piped in. "While you're holding it, it boosts an attack of the same type as... well, it! It works the same way as scarves and stuff like that do!"
"Does that make it lose its color?" Corsola asked, tilting her head.
"Uh... yeah..." Yamask mumbled, sounding somewhat apprehensive.
"Oh dear..." Corsola said sadly. "Well, the mystery's solved, I guess. Sorry, Buneary..."
Buneary's ears dipped. "... Oh..." she mumbled. So that's why her Reversal had been so powerful, even though she hadn't been panicking, or doing too badly for injuries. It must've been a fighting-type gem. "... Oh, fudge."
She stared at the clear gem in extreme disappointment. And here she'd thought she'd found something amazing and cool. Now, because of her, it didn't look as nice, anymore. Phooey...
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Octillery shouted. "This is why I hate consumo... er, consummybal shit! Always way too good to friggin' use!"
"Yeah..." Buneary mumbled. Her eyes went wide open. "... Wait... b-but if it's like scarves, well... I can't use scarves, because of Klutz!"
"Um..." Yamask started. Looking at him, she saw him fiddling with his mask awkwardly, "I think my ability, Mummy, was affecting you, right? It stops abilities when that happens... and you did that really awesome attacking combo while the bandages were still on you, so..."
Buneary blinked. She sighed. And here she'd thought she'd actually overcome her cruddy ability somehow. "Ah... okay," she mumbled.
Aegislash laughed and clapped. "All of you sure know how to make an excellent drama theater, don't you? Maybe I should've brought one of those video cameras," he joked.
"H-Hey, don't laugh when she's down," Snorlax chastised.
"Yeah, ya bastard!" Octillery added irritably. "Don't'cha care?"
The sword huffed and waved them off. "Oh, you're too serious." He gestured towards a corridor he was hovering near. "Oh well. Now that the case is closed, are we off? I'm just itching to see my future rivals in action!"
"Urf... you haven't changed a bit, huh?" Snorlax sighed, to which the sword only shrugged playfully in response. Turning, the bear smiled at everyone else. "Well, er... maybe we'll find another gem as we go along? They're not all that rare, so you never know!"
"Maybe..." Buneary mumbled, dejectedly looking at her transparent gem, now devoid of all its vibrancy. Well... it could be worse, she supposed. At least it hadn't shattered like orbs did, or anything like that. And it still looked sort of pretty.
Of all times for her ability to wear off, though. Tsk...
Buneary and the rest of her friends continued travelling through the moist caves of the dungeon, all their belongings on hand. Though the rabbit had given her spent gem and bag of money to Snorlax for safe keeping.
Because they hadn't encountered any wild pokémon in a while, their trek was mostly spent quietly moving through the many tunnels of the bluff, watching their footing for puddles and large ponds.
Because Aegislash was hovering close by, Buneary saw him apathetically playing with a pretty bangle on his wrist, instead of watching out for hazards and wild pokémon.
On seeing it, Buneary decided to break the silence with some conversation. "Th-That's, um... a very nice piece of jewelry you have there, Aegislash!" she praised with a smile.
"Hm? This thing?" he asked, holding it up. It was blue with golden highlights around the edges. It also had lots of empty indents, which looked like they used to have something in them. "Well, don't get too excited. It's just a looplet. And a plain one, at that. So nothing crazy."
"Oh... well... i-it's still pretty!"
"Oh, I know what that is!" Yamask chimed, floating closer to him to have a look. "My uncle from Lively Town used to give them away for..." He swallowed hard, "... g-gold bars. Ugh..."
"Your uncle, huh?" Aegislash huffed amusedly. "Well, you're absolutely right! He's probably the one who gave me mine for his precious 'sparklies'."
Yamask smiled sheepishly. "Eheh. Sounds about right..."
Buneary didn't really know what they were talking about, but it sounded so charming that she couldn't help but grin happily.
"What do looplets do?" Corsola asked. "Are they like scarves, but much nicer on the eyes?"
"Si, amiga, you got it!" Aegislash replied. Holding it up, he indicated towards the indents. "They're weaker than scarves... especially this one that does jack, but... hmm..." He looked around. Eyeing up the wall behind Snorlax, his eye seemed to light up in a grin, and the blade making up his body glowed green. "Hey, Kitty, think fast!"
"H-Huh!?" Snorlax yelped.
The sword rapidly spun around to slice at the air, sending sharp green projectiles flying.
With a cry of surprise, Snorlax barely managed to twist around to avoid them as they flew past. Hitting the wall, they slashed it apart until a blue pebble flew out to land by Aegislash, who picked it up and presented it.
"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Octillery yelled, moving up to him. "You tryin' to hit him!?"
Aegislash waved him off. "Oh, don't be so serious. If he couldn't dodge that, I'd have questions on how he saved the world ten years ago, or whenever."
"That doesn't mean any-!"
Aegislash took hold of Octillery's tube-like mouth, stretched it and let go. It slapped the octopus in the face, making him swear loudly.
Snorlax sighed. "Tsk, it's just like when we started this guild, all over again..." he grumbled.
Buneary frowned awkwardly. Looking at the others, she saw Yamask and Corsola reacting just as sheepishly.
"Anyway, see this?" Aegislash replied, holding up the blue, egg-shaped pebble.
Buneary squinted. Actually... on closer inspection, it was transparent with a dark blue glow shining within.
"The fuck is that?" Octillery snapped, grumpily rubbing his snout.
"An emera," Aegislash replied. He indicated towards one of the three indents on it. "You just slot 'em into one of these holes, then it'll do whatever it likes, depending on what emera it is. And if you have space for it, you can fit in as many as you like."
"So... like tiny scarves for your wrist!" Buneary said.
"Yup~"
"How'ja know what they all do?" Corsola asked.
"You don't. You shove it in, and hope for the best. If you don't like it, that's tough cookies, 'cos it ain't coming out. Even if it ruins your whole day, you're stuck with it, 'till ya lose it somehow."
"Yeesh... sounds kinda risky," Yamask said, eyeing up the emera with a concerned gaze.
"Heh, no worries. He's another fun thing to do with it." Aegislash held it aloft in the palm of his hand... and crushed it.
Everyone reacted with surprise. Octillery, especially.
"Y-You're wastin' it!? The Hell!?" he yelled.
Aegislash laughed. "Oh, chill. They're only good until you're ready to leave the dungeon. At that point, they'll be as useless as a magikarp."
"Oh... that right?" Octillery crossed his tentacles and huffed. "It's still a legenddamn waste."
"Is it?" the sword replied. He held up the shattered remains of the emera, revealing a pile of sparkling blue dust. Holding it in front of his face, he - despite having no mouth - blew the dust onto Octillery.
The octopus flailed around angrily. "Aghh, you fuckin' son of a-" He paused. He seemed strangely blissful after. A blue tint even showed on his skin. "Ey, y'know, that feels real friggin' nice, actually."
"Oh, wow, it does?" Yamask said, surprised.
"Yeah, it's, like... refreshin', or summit."
"Well, hope that solves the riddle," Aegislash replied. "Crush 'em, then use 'em to have a good time."
"... It's not a drug, is it?" Corsola asked, sounding both concerned and intrigued.
He laughed again. "Why, were you hoping?"
Her eyes widened. "Uh, n-no! I'm just saying what I heard, y'know?" she replied, smiling sheepishly.
"Haha, sure, sure. Anyway, it's just a power boost that changes with color." He turned towards Octillery, whose skin was still shimmering blue. "Yo, Cannon, brace up!"
Octillery didn't immediately react until Aegislash held a glowing hand towards him. "Aww shit, what're you doin' now-!?" he began.
A destructive-looking beam of gray energy fired out of his hand, completely overpowering the octopus.
Buneary and Snorlax called out his name in surprise. However, instead of screams of pain, Buneary could only hear pained grunting come from the octopus, up until the attack dissipated. Even stranger, once she could see past the bright energy, she noticed that he looked mostly fine, even with smoke pouring off him.
"Voila~" Aegislash chimed. He tenderly rubbed his hand, which was glowing red. "If it weren't for that emera, you wouldn't be sitting pretty right now, no doubt for sure."
"Ohh, did you have to use poor Octillery to demonstrate, though?" Buneary whined, looking at the man in worry.
"Yeah, you bastard!" Octillery yelled. The blue tint surrounding him faded away, though his face was reddened from anger, instead. "If you attack one of us again, I'll friggin' kill ya!"
"Haha, noted!" Aegislash replied unapologetically.
"I wish this wasn't as nostalgic as it is..." Snorlax sighed. He frowned. "Anyway, cut it out, you. If you keep going on, you'll scare Buneary away, for sure."
The rabbit let out a small huff of air from her nostrils. She wasn't that easy to scare off...
Oh well. While she disapproved of his teaching methods... she would make sure to take note of the whole business with emeras. Though... if they required something that worked like a scarf, would she even be able to use them?
She frowned lightly. A disheartening thought...
"Tsk, so serious!" Aegislash replied to Snorlax. He stretched out his arms, causing an audible crack from each of them. "Well, either way, sensei's done preaching." He stuck a thumb at Snorlax. "If you want more lectures, talk to Principal Kitty."
"Hey, I don't know anything about emeras," the bear argued, his frown becoming an awkward one. "They only started popping up all around the world from the Water Continent last year, so anything you say is all news to me..."
"Reminds me of how you had no idea of what a V-wave was," the sword teased with a chuckle.
"You didn't?" Yamask asked. "But they're all over the place, now! Randomly popping about in dungeons whenever they like, instead of just being this weather... thing!"
Snorlax embarrassedly scratched the side of his head. "... I've never cared much for the news, gimmie a break," he mumbled.
Huh. Buneary remembered V-waves from her book, Gates To Infinity. Mysterious energy that would coat the Mist Continent. Changing like the weather, they would become a different type of V-wave each day, making certain types of pokémon and moves stronger, depending on what the V-wave of the day was.
To be honest, she mostly remembered them because of the eccentric pokémon from Paradise called V-Wheel Victini. In the book, he was obsessed with a game involving spinning his V-Wheel. If someone won, Victini would change the day's V-wave into a type of the winner's choosing.
The whole thing sounded so cool! Sadly, though, the book also mentioned that Victini'd had to give up his job at some point, because V-waves worked differently now. Only appearing when they felt like showing up in dungeons, instead of affecting all the continent's dungeons at once. It sure was a pity for Victini, poor guy...
Buneary and her friends continued their travels since Aegislash's little demonstration. They hadn't encountered any wild pokémon in a while, so they'd taken the time to talk about how the adventure had been going so far.
After Buneary and Corsola had mentioned their time in the Water Rock Gang's monster house, Aegislash had been quick to tell them, with great amusement, that the orb Buneary had used wouldn't have just laid down one trap... but several all around the room.
Corsola had laughed it off, but Buneary was greatly disturbed that they could have stepped on another trap at a moment's notice. She had to remember that orb effects covered a big area, unlike wands, which she assumed would just hit one thing, from her earlier 'use' of one.
As the topic of the pokémon tower came up, Aegislash piped in with a surprising comment. "Stacking on top of each other to combine your moves, eh...?" he asked, using a finger to scratch his, um... chin?
"Yup! Unbelievable, isn't it~?" Corsola chimed.
"It totally works, though!" Yamask added excitedly. "And it's so cool!"
Buneary's face warmed from bashfulness. "It's, um... it's just something I learned from someone else," she said.
"Heh, that so...? Well, color me curious!" Aegislash said. "Show me, next enemy that pops up for a fight."
She smiled. "Oh, okay!" She turned to the others. "Um, if everyone's okay with it...?"
"You bet'cha~!" Corsola responded, hopping up and down happily.
"Uh, s-sure!" Yamask replied.
Octillery shrugged. "Fuckin' sucks for whatever comes up next, but sure, whatever," he added, moving over to Corsola, likely ready to get on top.
"Thanks, guys~" Buneary chimed in appreciation.
With Yamask on her head, and while standing atop Octillery - who was on top of Corsola, himself - Buneary kept a keen eye out for a wild pokémon to fight. A hostile one, anyway.
While they hadn't had much so far, she had no doubt in her mind that their luck was going to change, soon. It was sort of sad that wild pokémon were always so quick to start some conflict, but at least it made seeking out fights easy, when necessary.
While glancing into a particularly wide corridor as they passed it, her eyes lit up when she spotted a lileep.
Ooh, this was promising! "H-Hey there!" she called out, failing to avoid giving it a friendly wave, even though she wanted to fight it.
Everyone turned to face it, including Snorlax and Aegislash as they came up from behind.
As the lileep looked at the group, its eyes widened slightly in what looked like... recognition? "Oh... hey, it's you guys," it said in an oddly familiar, monotonous voice. It frowned lightly. "Finally, I've been searching ages. You still owe me food, so hand it over."
Buneary frowned in concern. Oh no... she recognized this pokémon, now. The one they'd encountered during the chaos involving the confusion wand.
"... Who the fuck is that?" Octillery asked. "D'you know him?"
"Um... not really," Corsola replied. "It sprayed Acid on me earlier, until Snorlax threw it."
"... Oh yeah. I wanted revenge on the fat, squinty one, too," the lileep said. "You owe me double food, for cheating."
"... Huh?" Snorlax muttered. He stalled for a second until he clicked his claws. "Ah, I get it! Because I threw you, even with those Suction Cups of yours."
"Yep. Fat, squinty cheater."
Snorlax pulled a face. "... Hey..."
"... I don't remember any of that," Yamask muttered, sounding confused.
"You... wouldn't," Buneary muttered. She fidgeted from embarrassment. "Because you were hit by the... Yeah."
"... Oh yeah," he replied with an awkward chuckle, making her fidget harder.
"You guys sure had a fun adventure before you met me, eh?" Aegislash said. He yawned exaggeratedly. "Anyway, all this serious talk's making the day drag. Let's see some arms getting twisted, already, why don't we?"
"Yeah, let's get this over with..." the lileep grumbled.
"Uh, y-yeah!" Yamask replied quickly. He held out his hands, causing a frosty mist to envelop them until icicles emerged, much like the ones Corsola was fond of using. They fired at the lileep in a steady stream.
Following his lead, Octillery fired out rings of darkness from his mouth. They zipped forwards faster than when Yamask had used the same attack.
The lileep fired a large jet of white water out of his mouth, intercepting the incoming attack. The projectiles were kept at bay until they dissipated, leaving the water to head straight for the tower.
Buneary yelped and braced herself when she saw it coming her way. It slammed into her with such force that she nearly went flying back, but she stood firm. Even as it subsided, her fresh injuries began to sting horribly. Ouch...
While spitting out water that had gotten into her mouth, she noticed that it tasted kid of salty, like seawater. Was it that move, Brine?
"That all?" the lileep asked as the last of his attack left his mouth. "Guess it's my turn, then." He held up an orb Buneary hadn't noticed until now. It let off a bright light.
"W-Wonder orb! Uh oh!" Yamask shouted. He quickly fired more icicles at the lileep.
The icicles hit the lileep and passed through, shattering against the ground behind him as he disappeared into thin air.
Dozens of lileeps suddenly appeared in the large corridor, all facing the team with a frown.
Everyone reacted with surprise.
"M-Monster house!?" Buneary cried, rattled. Oh no, oh no, oh no...!
"W-Whoa, cool it, Buneary!" Yamask yelped as the tower began to wobble. "If you freak out, we'll fall over!"
She shook her head and tried to calm down. The tower became stable again. "Um... s-sorry," she replied, embarrassed.
"Haha, oh, this got more exciting than I thought it would!" Aegislash said, clapping gleefully. "How will our heroes cope?"
"Oh, shut up, this is nothing!" Octillery snapped. He inhaled deeply and, after a pause, fired out a large icicle.
While flying through the air, the icicle split off into lots of fragments, which flew into many of the lileeps. As they were hit, they, too, disintegrated.
"Ah, it used an evasion orb!" Snorlax piped in. "Watch out for those fake clones!"
Buneary's eyes widened. Fake clones? Why, that reminded her of Double Team! Oh, she wasn't a fan of that move at all.
"Well, whatever, just attack 'em all!" Octillery yelled, choosing to fire more icicles afterwards.
"A-Attacking!" Corsola said. She murmured in thought for a short while before unleashing a barrage of large seeds. They flew in a general direction, scattering as they went.
Yamask joined in by firing off smaller seeds of his own from his hands, though in a more concentrated pattern than Corsola was.
The attacks continually pelted the lileep clones, causing them to dissipate one after the other. Before they could all be destroyed, however, some of the clones started spraying pressurized mud at them.
As muck sprayed all around them inaccurately, Buneary steadied herself, expecting Corsola to start dodging. When they didn't move, Buneary worriedly looked down and noticed the coral frantically looking about at all the incoming projectiles, clearly in a panic.
Uh oh. "C-Corsola, they're not all real!" Buneary cried out.
"O-Oh, well, w-which ones are real!?" Corsola responded worriedly. Her panicking made the tower feel unsteady, which wasn't good for business.
"Dunno, but move, woman!" Octillery yelled. "We're-!"
One of the mud jets hit Corsola. It passed through harmlessly, clearly being a fake, but it still spooked Corsola enough to make her leap a foot in the air from surprise.
Buneary felt herself tumble off Octillery and crack her head against the floor. Owww...!
Although dazed, she picked herself up and quickly looked around. There were still a dozen or so lileeps, all staring intently. Yamask was flat on his front, seeming just as dazed. Corsola had landed safely, and Octillery was on top of her, tentacles stuck to her sides.
Corsola looked at Buneary and Yamask with a hand to her mouth in shock. "Umm... whoops," she mumbled.
"Damn right, 'whoops!'" Octillery yelled. When Corsola squealed in fright, he sighed heavily and shook his head. "N-No, it's fine, never mind!"
"Y-Yeah, it's good!" Yamask added. "Um... b-but what now?"
"Uh..." Buneary started. A spray of mud hit her square in the chest, knocking the wind out of her as she went flying. She smashed into Snorlax's bag and carried on, accidentally taking it with her. She smacked against a wall and slid down it to land on her bottom.
She groaned. The bag had wrapped around her and cushioned her crash, but everything still ached horribly. Ughh...
Pulling part of the bag off her face, Buneary saw Snorlax looking between her and the others sheepishly. Aegislash just had his arms around the back of the hilt that made up his head, lounging in mid-air.
"Umm... you know, if you need a hand, I won't judge," Snorlax offered. "Don't be afraid to ask!"
"We're fine!" Octillery replied, still riding on Corsola as she ran around the wide corridor, dodging mud. A click suddenly rang out, and a pitch black glow appeared beneath them. "We're- Shit!" he shouted, eyes widening in shock.
Yamask, who was flying through the air, gasped. "Ohhh shoot! Trap! W-Watch out!" he shouted.
Sure enough, Octillery began to glow black and shrink. Oddly, though, nothing happened to Corsola, even as she looked down at the ground in horror.
Even the lileep illusions had stopped shooting mud jets, seemingly curious as to what was going on.
Seconds later, the glow dispersed, and a blue fish appeared where Octillery had been.
Buneary's eyes widened. "W-Where's Octillery!?" she cried out.
"Uh... I think that is Octillery!" Yamask replied.
Buneary blinked and stared at the fish. ... He was?
"The Hell d'you mean!?" Octillery yelled, sounding very worried and a fair bit ticked off. "Where's my tentacles!? Where-" He tumbled off Corsola with a yelp.
"Um... s-sorry, Octillery!" Corsola said, looking extremely sheepish. She murmured in thought. "Um... I mean... Remoraid?"
The octopus-turned-fish looked around at his body, eyes widening. "Awww shit," he snapped. His voice had the same high, yet masculine and gravelly pitch to it, though it was a little strange, now, coming from his 'new', smaller body.
"Wow, so they have devolution traps now..." Snorlax said in amazement.
Octillery... er, or rather, Remoraid began to flop around angrily. "Damnit! I fucking thought I was through being a fucking fish!"
Yamask snorted out a laugh. When Remoraid shot him a look, he tried to stop. "Um... sorry," he apologized, covering his mouth.
Aegislash didn't offer any comments on the situation... but by the way he was pulling gummis out of his bag to eat them while chuckling, Buneary imagined he was enjoying things a bit too much.
"You guys are pretty bad at this, huh?" the lileep said. Him and all of his clones spoke at once, so Buneary still couldn't easily tell which one was real. Drat. "Well, whatever makes things easier..." Him and his clones began to blast mud around again, forcing everyone to panickingly start dodging once more.
Buneary sighed. Ughh, this was going all wrong. Would they have to ask Snorlax for help, after all?
Brushing mud off her chest, she frowned determinedly. No, they could do this! She just needed to think!
She racked her brains for a solution. Something to help defeat the real lileep, and get past the clones...
Still in pain, she struggled to her feet. As she did, Snorlax's bag fell to the ground. Upon seeing it, something clicked in her mind. Wait, she had it!
She reached into the bag and pulled out the TM for Swift she'd earned from the zubat, earlier. She quickly held it to her forehead and closed her eyes to concentrate.
... Oh yeah, she already had four moves. To get a new one, she would have to replace either Dizzy Punch, Bounce, Endure, or Reversal.
She thought it over. She'd had the first two moves since birth, and they were very useful, unlike the other two birth moves she'd once had. She'd learned Reversal purely to help her brother learn it, but it was still useful, if not tiring.
Endure... She'd only learned that to avoid being a burden to her brother and her old squad mates by fainting all the time. But she was trying to improve and become independent, so...
She nodded to herself. Sure! She focused on that move as the TM glowed against her head. With a small flash, she could feel it. Swift was hers!
Dropping the TM back into the bag, she hopped to her feet and held a paw out. It glowed white. "Th-That's enough!" she cried out, firing off a flurry of stars.
They flew through the air, whizzing past her friends. Even though she'd only aimed at the lileep clones in general, all of her stars gravitated towards one in particular.
She and everyone else watched on in interest. While some of the stars missed, leaving large dents in the rocky floor, many of them pelted the lileep, eliciting yelps of pain.
"Oh, wow, that hurt it!" Corsola said in surprise.
"Th-That's the real one!" Yamask shouted. "Get'em!"
Everyone charged attacks and aimed for the lileep, who was looking around worriedly.
"... Aww shit," the lileep grumbled. "Welp, guess I tried."
He was blasted by Buneary's stars, Corsola's icicles, Yamask's dark ghostly rings and Octil- um, Remoraid's rapid-fire seeds. The combination of attacks launched him far down the corridor, into the darkness of the cave. All of his remaining clones faded away into nothing.
Stopping their attacks, everyone celebrated with a cheer.
"Thank fuck for that!" Remoraid said, flopping around animatedly.
"Wow, you actually made it!" Snorlax chimed. "Well done, everyone!"
"It's all thanks to Buneary's awesome Swift!" Yamask said.
"Sure is!" Corsola praised. She hopped about while waving her arms. "Woo, woo, Buneary! Wooo!"
Buneary bashfully fiddled with her paws. "Umm... thanks! Hee~" she said, smiling gleefully. She guessed getting rid of Endure for Swift had been a good idea after all!
"Haha, aww. Guess the chaos is over," Aegislash complained. He stretched. "Ah well. Congrats, rookies~"
Everyone moved over to stand near each other. As she went along, Buneary got a good look at the devolution trap. It depicted a distraught-looking eevee with various evolution stones flying out of it on wings. Strangely creative for a trap design. Had they gotten more detailed, lately?
Corsola giggled. "Well, here's hoping that's enough of a hint for it to stop pestering us for food," she joked.
"How'd you even know that bastard, anyway?" Remoraid asked. "Did he steal your food earlier, or somethin'?"
"Not really. It's just doing what wild pokémon love to do," Snorlax replied. "Stirring up trouble for no real reason."
"How'd you know it's a he, Remoraid?" Yamask asked. "It's, er... not all that obvious."
"Fuckin' beats me!" the fish replied. "Could be a freakin' genderless alien for all I know."
Buneary shook her head. "No, you're right, it's a he. I checked while Snorlax was throwing him!" she piped in cheerfully. She only realized what she had said when everyone gave her varying amounts of strange or amused looks. She began to sweat. "W-Wait, no..."
"Oh my, Buneary~" Corsola said, grinning cheekily. "Why were you looking down there, hmm~?"
"I-I... err..."
"Oh, Hell, don't tell me you're perverted, too..." Remoraid grumbled.
"N-No, I was just curious! I promise!" Buneary pleaded.
"You, er... don't always look at a boy like that, do you?" Yamask asked awkwardly, holding his mask in a specific spot.
Buneary pulled her ears down to cover her face. "Noooo...!" she replied. Even though it was a little bit of a fib...
Corsola's chuckles turned somewhat sheepish. "Oh well, hey, it's okay. How else are you gonna tell what someone's gender is? Right, Buneary?" she asked.
Buneary let go of her ears to look at her, smiling in appreciation. "Y-Yeah!"
"How else? Their voice, for starters..." Snorlax joked. He rubbed the back of his head. "Er, unless they're a bit hard to tell like that lileep, I guess."
"Y-Yep! It's the best way to avoid any mistakes, absolutely! Even if it's, um... a bit awkward, haha~"
Yamask, Remoraid and Snorlax murmured along in agreement, apparently shrugging off the whole thing.
Buneary let out a breath. Oh, that'd been a close one. As if her reputation wasn't bad enough, she didn't need to be known as the village pervert, too...
Glancing at Corsola, she saw her wink at her with a cheeky grin, causing a spike of embarrassment to go through her. Well... at least not everyone would think she was, anyway...
"Nice save," Aegislash said, seeming as amused as ever. "Well, if you don't mind me changing the topic... now I've seen that 'pokémon tower' of yours in action, even if just for a bit... I think you're onto a winner technique, Teddy. No doubt."
She beamed and asked, "Really?"
"Like I said, no doubt! I do have one question about it, though. Just one."
She hopped up and down excitedly. Wow, she felt so special! "Yeah, ask away~"
He balanced his shield on one finger while looking at it, seemingly in thought. "So... how'd it happen?" He tossed the shield into the air, catching it on his finger after it flipped around. "Abandonment? Running away? Oh dear, or maybe... death?"
Buneary stopped hopping to stare at him, completely bewildered. "... Er... w-what?"
"Hey, you threatening her, or what?" Remoraid snapped, flopping closer to him. Clearly an act of intimidation, but it just looked adorable when he did it as he was.
"Pfft! Not at all," Aegislash responded, putting his shield back on his arm. "Just wondering how she became an orphan, is all."
Buneary's blood instantly ran cold. "W-What...?" she muttered.
Everyone else looked between her and the sword in a big mix of either shock or confusion.
"An orphan!? R-Really?" Corsola yelped.
"What a weird thing to think," Yamask said, scratching the side of his head. "How do pokémon towers make you an orphan?"
"Heh, glad you asked~" Aegislash replied. "Ever heard of Wellware Island? An island somewhere in the seas of the Sand Continent. That's the origin of the pokémon tower. Passed down by Elder Slowbro, or whatever it was."
"Umm... is that 'Elder Slowking'?" Snorlax asked. "Buneary mentioned someone like that, earlier."
Aegislash clicked his fingers. "Well, if that's not the incriminating evidence I needed, then I don't know what else is!"
Buneary cringed. Yeesh, she'd forgotten she'd ever even mentioned anything regarding Slowking...
"What the Hell has any of that got to do with orphans?" Remoraid asked irritably. "Just get to the point!"
Aegislash huffed in amusement. "Serious as ever! Well, alright, fine. As the stories go, Wellware Island is an island of orphans! They're brought from the world over to live at one of its three villages, or at least in one of the nearby dungeons. Once they grow up, they can stay, leave, wander into the wilderness, or..." He huffed again, pointing a thumb at Buneary, "or I guess go looking for a guild to join, eh?"
Buneary recoiled. "Er... hmm..." she mumbled, really not sure what to say. She saw Corsola looking at her in shock, making her feel more awkward than ever.
"... Huh. The more you know," Snorlax said. His face went slightly red. "It's embarrassing how much I'm learning today, even with all my worldly travels. Eheh..."
"Wow, an island for the world's orphans..." Yamask started, looking starry-eyed, "that sounds like something you'd see in a story! Cool!"
"Yeah, it's all fictional and bullshit!" Remoraid replied. "That damn Sneasel back at the guild's all too happy to tell us about his shitty life in the slums. Why didn't they take him in!?"
Buneary looked at him in worried interest. The slums...?
"Guess they missed him," Aegislash said with a shrug. "I mean... it's only a two-person team of Elder Slowking and Orphan Saver Walrein. One looks after 'em, and the other fetches 'em over if they hear of any."
"W-Walrein?" Snorlax gasped. "Manaphy was taken under the wing of a walrein..."
"Haha, oh, you mean Gummi Manaphy? Yeah, if she's the one who used to be at the guild, then I guess you've learned more about her today, huh?"
Snorlax put his paws to his hips. "Huh... so that's where she ended up. Can't believe I never asked..."
Aegislash hummed out a chuckle before shrugging exaggeratedly. "Anyway, now that you know what I'm going on about..." He looked at Buneary, "... gonna answer the question? Where's Mom and Dad, hmm?"
"... I... don't know," Buneary admitted, ear dipping. "My dad's... I don't know him. And my mom, Monferno... a-abandoned me and my little baby brother in Thirsty Desert..."
Everyone but Aegislash gave her wide-eyed stares.
"... I don't know where that is, but it sure didn't sound nice," Corsola said.
"Heck no!" Yamask said in disbelief. He turned to Buneary with a sad frown. "Aww, why'd she abandon you? And there of all places?"
Buneary rubbed her arm. "Some people were chasing her, so... after a while of taking us with her, she just... ditched us."
"Oh no..." Corsola mumbled, "just like that?"
"Freakin' Hell, why were they chasin' her?" Remoraid asked. "Better have been some damn nasty people to make her do that! Dialga in fuckin' Hell..."
Buneary paused. "W-Well... I was only one year old, so I didn't pick up on why they'd chased her. When she left us behind, I just freaked out, grabbed my brother and took him through the dungeon..." she explained in a sort of half-truth.
"Aww, that's so sad..." Corsola said, to the others' agreement.
"It's okay..." Buneary replied with a small sigh. "At some point, Mr. Walrein found us and took us to Wildfire Village on that island, where Mr. Slowking looked after us. After my brother was old enough to look after himself, I came here to the Grass Continent. To Venture Village. Um... and to the guild."
"'Kay. Fun little tale," Aegislash said. He, somehow, clicked his tongue. "Still, so serious, too! Here I was hoping you would say you were one of those mysterious 'capsule children', or whatever they're called these days. Pity."
Her disappointment at him not seeming to care much was interrupted by confusion. Capsule children...?
"Oh, belt up, Aegislash," Snorlax replied, annoyed. He gave Buneary a sympathetic look. "Umm... sorry to hear about what happened, Miss."
"Thanks..." she said.
"Aghh! Your mom's a bitch!" Remoraid yelled. "I'll kill her!"
"Y-You don't have to do that..." Buneary replied sheepishly, though admittedly a little happy that he cared so much.
"Wow, though..." Yamask said. He clenched his fists, looking very inspired. "You must be made of some tough stuff to have gotten through that place! Were you really just a kid?"
She blinked. "W-Well... I suppose, but it's not that impressive, is it?"
"Yeah! I only went there once, after meeting my team leader, but... jeez, it was harsh!"
"I'd believe it," Snorlax interjected. "Deserts aren't exactly most people's favorite places to get lost in. And wild pokémon are sometimes even mean enough to beat up kids." He smiled. "So you know what? Yamask's onto something! Well done, you!"
Buneary was overcome by a wave of pride she hadn't expected at all, but still greatly welcomed. She beamed back. "Th-Thanks!" She put her arms behind her back and kicked at the ground shyly. "I don't know if it's all that well deserved, but..."
"I'll admit, Teddy, it's even gotten my interest, now," Aegislash added. He floated past the wide corridor they'd fought the lileep in. "Show me more of that as we keep on, eh?"
"S-Sure!" she replied, following behind him. Everyone else followed suit, going to Aegislash's sides.
Hanging behind them, Buneary smiled lightly. Despite that, she couldn't help but sigh. It was nice that everyone was so supportive, but... it was still kind of depressing, remembering what her mother had done.
She'd really looked up to her, and yet... all the rabbit had to remember her by these days was one simple momento: an orange scrap of cloth she'd apparently used to wrap her egg up in, before she'd hatched.
She pulled a face. Honestly, on top of that, she'd wanted to avoid people learning about her past, and seeing her as nothing but a poor victim afterwards. Not to mention the reason her mom had been chased was something the rabbit definitely wanted to keep under wraps. Though it seemed that was still a secret, thankfully.
"Hey... Buneary?" Corsola asked quietly, coming to her side.
Buneary started. "Oh! U-Um, hey, Corsola," she replied, trying to be just as quiet.
"Hey~ Uh... just by the by..." Corsola offered her a comforting smile. "It's okay if you're an orphan, too. It's all good and you're no less of a person. So don't be sad~"
Letting a quiet breath escape from her nose, Buneary smiled back at her. "Thanks. I appreciate-..." She blinked. Her eyes widened. "... Too? You're an orphan, too?"
The coral gasped. "N-No, not me! I meant..." She gasped again. "Wait, I-I'm already saying way too much!"
Buneary stared at her, confused. "... You are?"
"Definitely! 'Sides, she's not even an orphan anymore, because-" She clasped her hands over her mouth. "... Crap. "
A giggle escaped Buneary's lips. "I'm... not sure who you mean, but it's okay. I won't tell a single soul!"
Corsola smiled in appreciation, even through her obvious blush. "... Thanks. You're a pal."
Buneary gave her a smile in return. "You too~"
As she sped up to catch up with the others in front - with Corsola following suit - Buneary felt her mood improve. She'd expected the whole 'orphan' thing to paint a big sympathy target onto her back, or at the very least be extremely awkward. That didn't seem to be the case, though. In fact, she'd even learned that she wasn't the only one without parents in the guild!
She was certain, now. She'd definitely joined the perfect guild.
Well... saying that, she had yet to meet the other guild members. She hoped they were as friendly as the ones she'd met already, and weren't mean like Golurk or Marowisp. That would make things less than pleasant...
She huffed, mentally dispelling those thoughts. No, those were bad thoughts! She was sure her guildmates would be lovely.
Only way to find out now, though, was to get through this dungeon!
With that in mind, she ventured forth with her friends.
Bradley's gaze never left the floor as Ben moved around nearby, investigating the fainted bodies of the stunky and the 'spiritomb'. A name the stunky had yelled out at some point.
Well... the plan had been a success. With their combined efforts, these pokémon had been 'punished'.
"My, you've done well, haven't you~?" Ben praised suddenly.
"I guess..." Bradley replied, still staring at nothing but the floor as a grimy feeling went through his veins.
"You hurt them very badly, didn't you, you little monster?"
"... I guess."
A brief pause went by before Ben continued. "Do you think they deserved what happened to them?"
"... Maybe..."
"No. Definitely," Ben replied, his voice growing an air of irritation to it. Bradley flinched when, from the corner of his vision, he saw Ben harshly kick the stunky onto her back. Despite groaning, she still seemed unconscious.
Bradley looked at Ben when he noticed the older pokémon pointing at the stunky. Following his gaze, he felt his face heat lightly when he saw how big her breasts were. Especially for a quadruped. Jesus...
"Do you see on her chest?" Ben continued. "A badge. She's an explorer."
Bradley looked at the gleaming object pinned to her chest. Oh... right. Whoops.
Trying to push aside his embarrassment, he raised an eyebrow at Ben. "... What about it?"
"Explorers and rescue teams are the biggest hypocrites in the world, without question," Ben explained. Though he was still smiling, he seemed to be glaring daggers at nothing in particular. "Such horrible creatures... Pretending to care for each other when they secretly loathe each other's guts. ... When we hate each other's guts. Each and every one of us..."
Bradley sighed. Pretending, huh...?
"So this is good," Ben continued, going into a ramble. "It's good when the little bastards suffer. They love suffering so much, so it's only good when it happens to them." His breathing started to come from the throat, quickly and heavily. "H-Heheh... it's only good..."
Bradley stared at him in concern. What... the fuck? Was he feeling okay?
When Ben glanced over at him, Bradley hesitantly said, "You're... acting strange."
Ben blinked. He took a deep breath, which seemed to calm him back into his usual self. "... Don't worry about it."
"It's... hard not to."
Ben's eyebrows knitted, smile stretching. "... My mistake. I..." His gaze trailed away, eventually coming to a stop on the stunky. His eyebrows relaxed. "... I suppose I just realized how... pretty the stunky is. Even I'm not above a pretty pocket monster like this~"
Bradley raised an eyebrow. "... I... don't really follow."
Ben huffed. "You wouldn't, would you?" He pointed at the stunky. "As pokémon, it's in our DNA to find other pokémon attractive. Otherwise, we wouldn't want to breed. We'd need heat cycles, like regular animals once did."
"Um... I guess...?" Where was he going with this? And heat cycles? What? ... He didn't understand.
Ben looked back at him from the corner of his eye. "Do you find this stunky attractive?"
"... I guess..." Bradley replied, not exactly wanting to say anything else...
Ben's gaze briefly went intense. "... That's always your answer, isn't it?" He turned back to the stunky and grabbed her chest. With some swift, harsh yanks, he tore open her chest coverings, properly revealing one of the stunky's breasts. "How about now? Do you not find this sexy?"
The second he saw her large, pink nipple, Bradley's entire face went hot and his stomach went cold. "... W-What are you doing?" he stammered, staring in shock.
"Isn't it obvious? This lump of fat is a trait pokémon stole from the humans. It's considered normal to be aroused by this." He picked up the breast, which wobbled lightly in his hand. "... Come here and feel it."
Bradley's stomach dipped. "... Why?"
Ben's fingers lightly kneaded the stunky's breast. "You'll never be a normal pokémon if you can't even be aroused, properly~ Come and feel it until you have a proper erection." His gaze went intense. "... Now."
A breath caught in Bradley's throat. Squeezing his eyes shut, he slowly moved forward, step by step. He reached out a finger until he felt something soft and furry, which squashed under the force.
Immediately feeling uncomfortable in every way conceivable, he quickly withdrew his paw. Despite feeling horrible, he was thankful it was over now. Especially as adrenaline rushed into places that made him feel shameful.
"... That's not enough," Ben said, killing any relief Bradley may have felt. "Do you want to be a proper pokémon, or not?"
... A proper pokémon... Being a proper pokémon meant being like this, did it? Doing awful things to others who might deserve punishment?
Bradley's frown deepened to the point it strained his brow. "... No," he growled reaching into his bag while focusing on the stunky and spiritomb. His paws felt the warp orb he'd been saving, so he lifted it up and used it without a second thought.
The orb emitted light which shined over the stunky and spiritomb. As it shattered, the two pokémon turned into red lights and flew elsewhere into the dungeon, hopefully far away from here.
As his adrenaline wore off, he suddenly realized what he'd done. His heart lurching in his chest, he looked anywhere else that wasn't at the nearby fox, who'd gone strangely quiet.
"... Let's... train," Ben said slowly, leaving a horrible chill to linger in the air.
Bradley let his eyes close in resignation. "... Alright," he replied.
... Why had he done that? Any good will he may have finally built up with Ben was now gone, he was sure of it. Had he done the right thing? Or was it all just completely pointless, after all?
Those questions and more remained on his mind as a horrible, slashing pain erupted in his face.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 05/12 (December)/2020
Word count: 10,285
VGS2's sausage notes: Drat. I wanted to finish up this adventure on this chapter, but I had a lot to say. Nothing new, I guess, eh? XP Ah well, for reals, the next chapter is the final one for Drenched Bluff! So look forward to it! :D
Incidentally, the Meow Theater is actually called 'Meowth Theater' in the actual game, but ehh, it's a bit boring, so screw it. You get a pun, instead. XP
On that note, there'll be a lot of artistic liberties for this thing when it comes to stuff from the Mystery Dungeon games, so if you see something that seems similar but has a different name or works/happens a bit differently, it's probably because of that.
...
... Y'know, because I wrote all of these authors' notes before writing up the sections with Bradley and Ben in them, it feels like a huge elephant in the room, doesn't it? XD Ah well.
Today's shameless promotion: The Queen Visits Alola
Author: Ri2
Universe: The game world (Mostly Kalos and Alola)
Main species: Humans, Delphox
Summary: Serena Yvonne Gabena, future Queen of Kalos, decides to visit the Alola Region. This has nothing to do with her finding out her childhood friend and crush is engaged. Nothing at all.
Romance: A fair amount, though with a bit of cuckoldry, as the summary promises!
Wackiness: Random! (When it wants to be wacky, it's extremely wacky! When it wants to be serious, it's equally as serious!)
Lewdness: Nothing shown, but goddamn, the characters do like their gay lesbian sex!
Action: A very big amount!
Grittiness: When it wants to throw down some edge, it delivers!
Length: Fairly long!
To be honest, I wondered for a while if I should give this fic a shout out, seeing as it's more of a human fic than a pokémon one... but aww, fak it, who cares? The pokémon are important characters, too, so I'll count it. XP
Not only is it action packed, dramatic and amusing, but it's also got some extremely grand and pretty descriptions for... well, pretty much everything. So it's worth reading for that! Its headcanons, however, are... pretty out there, I won't lie. XD
They're entertaining, though, and it certainly puts them to good use! So hey, if you're looking for a good imagination massager, I'd recommend this one, for sure! :P
Fun mistakes of the day: #1: 'A horrible, harsh coldness suddenly came over, her chilling her to the bone.'
(That feeling when the Winter Weather kicks in.)
#2: 'not unlike the hot spring in her old home. Unlike that one, though, this spring was just in a hole in the floor,.'
(So, uh... it is unlike it? Hurp.)
#3: 'She couldn't stop herself from leetting out a big sigh'
(Lol, reminds me of that weird slang word I've been seeing a lot lately. 'Yeet'. Sounds really soft for a throwing word, and also like something middle-aged men would say in an attempt to sound cool, but alright, then. XP "Wow, my main man! Look at this epic yeet I did! I am absolutely down with this cool yeeting! Poggers, big chungus, absolute unit, duuude!")
#4: "If you can't arrive with a flash of pizzas, then what's the point of even showing up?"
(Cowabunga! I wonder if a certain bad guy from Difference Maker would appreciate this mistake?)
#5: 'Buneary made an 'O' shape with her arms...'
(Lol, what? Is she doing some sort of YMCA dance, or something?)
#6: '... Oh, dear, or, dear.'
(Which dear is that, dear? Also, what's with all the commas?)
#7: "Well, don't worry. Aegislash always reigns him in, don't you?"
(Lol, wrong 'reins'. Though they do say that Aegislashes are often taking control of kings, if I remember right. So it's still sort of appropriate!)
#8: "Take me with you own these last floors, won't'cha?"
(Yeah, you pwn those last few floors! 360⁰ no yeetscope! *Airhorn* *Obligatory Mountain Dew and Doritos .jpeg*)
#9: "Sitting around for so long's made me boring"
(2020 in a nutshell.)
#10: "I guess we should get gong..."
(Everybody's favourite instrument. Though using it in a cave filled with water is going to lead to bad acoustics. Silly Yamask...)
#11: "And didn't you say Whimsicott's be waiting for you, too?"
(Yarrrr! Don't be keeping them waiting, matey!)
#12: "Later, we're s'posed to be goin' after some outlaw douche, whose been choppin' down trees in Apple Woods."
(Whose 'been choppin' down trees in Apple Woods' are we talking about? Also, chopping wood inside a dungeon would be fine in this universe, seeing as dungeons repair themselves, so... not much of an outlaw, this one. XP)
#13: "All of you sure know how to make an excellent drama heater, don't you?"
(Is it a dramatic heater, or is it a name for someone who stirs up drama? Or perhaps another name for a Soap Opera, which we Britbongs are obsessed with for some reason? Who knows?)
#14: '"Stacking on top of each other to combine your moves, eh...?" he asked, scratching his, um...'
(Lol, I stopped writing to talk to ravengal at just the perfect time, leading to a very awkward moment all men can relate to. XP)
#15: 'She had to remember that orbs a big area,'
(Imagine using a giant 'big area' sized orb.)
#16: '"Dunno, but move woman!" Octillery yelled.'
(*Shoves the woman* There you go!)
#17: 'The One of the globs of mud reached them'
(What a grand way of speaking. Reminds me of a sort of pretentious fic I once read where the main character would respond to a sappy statement with "And I, you...")
#18: '*While attacking Lileep with the others* Remoraid's steaming hot water.'
(Uh oh... Lileep's Hidden Ability is Storm Drain, so, uh... fak. XD On that note, always make sure you research a pokémon before you use them in a fic, kiddies!)
#19: "After my brother was old enough to look after himself, I came "
(I can't believe I forgot to finish this sentence for ages. O,o Good job I found it before uploading, jeez. XD "I came when my brother beat the Elite 4!")
#20: 'or at the very least be extrememely awkward.'
(Is that what happens when the memes are too dank? I think that calls for another nice round of yeeting! (Alright, I'll stop. ... Eventually. *Airhorn*))
#21: 'he felt his face heat lightly when he saw how big her breasts were. For a quadraped, anyway.'
(Oh dear... XD)
#22: "I guess..." the little monster replied,
(Whoops. Because I ported a lot of this from the Comrades chapter with Bradley and Ben in it, I've made Bradley's self-esteem even worse, somehow. Sorry, mate!)
And that's that! Thanks for reading, and thanks for the favourites, follows and reviews so far! :D Please keep 'em coming! I'll love you forever!
And if you have any criticisms, too, then feel free! :P (I say that knowing I'll regret it, but yeah, seriously, it's good to know people's gripes, so go ahead. Just no Farla-tier nitpicking, you. XP)
Hopefully, the next chapter won't take quite as long to make. This one just took a while because of various non-specific life things, and whatnot.
I'd joke and say laziness, too, but I've actually been working on this at least a little bit each day, so naww, mate. I'm dedicated to this shit, now! This and Comrades, which you should read! XP
Either way, thanks again, and tata for now! :P
