Got a big one here to make up for the shortness of the last chapter!
"Er… ahem."
Three days had passed since Chatot had eavesdropped on Sean and Rai. He had spent those days in deep deliberation. Several mysterious areas and dungeons had been considered, all but one had been discarded.
He was nervous about assigning this to them, the difficulty may be too much, but nothing else suitable was around. He only wished he had thought to assign them something special one day earlier, having already planned and then sent Sunflora and Loudred out on an expedition to a waterfall.
As true explorers they had discovered its secrets, and even got a dip in the Hot Springs for their trouble. The Guildmaster had been most pleased and they'd worked together well.
His planned assignment wasn't the only thing he was nervous about today, however.
"Everyone, listen up." The apprentices all stood at attention, picking up on the brevity of Chatot's words. It was very, very, uncommon for him to differ in how he addressed the guild each morning and even Wigglytuff was frowning. "I have an important announcement to make."
There were a few shared glances as Chatot hesitated. Chimecho had her head bowed in sadness. "Far to the northeast." The bird found his words. "And farther into its outermost reaches… there lies a place named Treeshroud Forest. In Treeshroud Forest… time has apparently stopped."
The sheer bafflement in Chatot's voice was drowned out and forgotten as the entire guild, bar Wigglytuff and Sean, all jerked back in horror.
"Huh?" Diglett was the first to speak.
"Eek! What did you SAY?" Sunflora shrieked.
"You're saying time stopped?" Corphish asked, minus his usual verbal tic.
"Yes," Chatot answered, nodding. "That is correct. Time has come to a standstill in Treeshroud Forest. The wind has stopped." Chatot shivered, he had only heard reports, but the idea was still terrible. "The clouds are motionless in the sky. Dewdrops lay suspended on leaves, waiting to drop, but never do."
Chatot shuddered and shook his head sadly. "In Treeshroud Forest, time itself has truly stopped." There was a raw aspect to his voice, still stunned from shock of what he had learned, unable to understand why such a tragedy had occurred but burdened with the knowledge of how.
The idea of a blighted land like that, it left him feeling chilled to the bone to even contemplate.
"T-time has stopped?" Dugtrio asked this time, all three heads blinking as he tried to make sense of what he was hearing.
"But," Rai spoke up. "How could something this awful happen?"
Sean turned to his partner. A small frown on the shinx's face was the only notion that something was wrong, something he wasn't quite understanding. "It's unthinkable! How?"
"Yes," Chatot agreed. "The unthinkable has happened. Why has time stopped in Treeshroud Forest? Well… it's because Treeshroud Forest was home to a Time Gear." A bad feeling swept into the stomachs of every pokémon in attendance, even Sean. "It's because Treeshroud Forest's Time Gear was… was stolen!"
"Huh?" Bidoof gasped.
"The Time Gear was stolen?" Croagunk asked, disbelief staggering his expression. "Who would do something like that?"
"I heard it was possible," Chimecho spoke, shivering in mid-air. She had been the one to receive the message on the Psychic Network, a call of panic waking her in the night. "But now it's really happened!"
"I don't get it!" Loudred roared, turning to rage. "Why would ANYONE take a Time Gear?"
For once his bellowing volume was both appropriate and helpful, working to snap everyone out of the stunned confusion the mere concept had left them in.
"Quiet everyone," Chatot hushed, for once not giving Loudred the stink eye. "Officer Magnezone has already started an investigation. The Clefable Guild will be leading the hunt for whatever vile creature dared to do this."
"The reality is indisputable. With no guardian remaining, no one was there to prevent the theft of the gear." He and Wigglytuff both twitched just slightly. "And if one Time Gear has been taken, then others may be at risk. The guilds have been asked to keep an eye out for any suspicious characters and to be notified immediately if we have any leads."
The apprentices all glanced around at the others, sharing determined nods.
"So, keep that in mind. Let us know if you notice anything. Anything at all, even minor suspicions, even dreams or feelings you may have, anything could be possible due to the unknown nature of the Time Gears. That is all." Chatot breathed out, feeling a weight leave him as he had done his duty. "All right everyone!" he said, far more animated than earlier. "Here's to another day of work!"
"RIGHT!" Everyone yelled, choosing not to say hooray after such horrible news.
"Corphish, Shinx and Meowth stay behind," Chatot called before everyone could thunder out.
Corphish offered a curious, "Hey-hey?" as he stepped into line with them but neither pokémon had an answer for him.
"You two have become quite good at your work," Chatot said to Team Ion, making Rai beam happily. "The Guildmaster and I are impressed with your defeat of Litleo as well as your work in dungeons overall. There has been no job that has proven too much for you and this is an admirable trait in a pair of apprentices."
"Thank you, sir," Sean said, unable to stop himself from smiling along with Rai. It was nice to receive a compliment, especially from the rather critical Chatot.
"So, you will now be assigned a mission worthy of a proper exploration team!"
Rai lit up, literally sparking, with glee but he managed to restrain himself from hopping around. Sean grinned but had a sort of tightness to his smile. Loudred and Sunflora had talked about their adventure in the Waterfall Cave. That was meant to be their thing.
"Hey-hey?" Corphish asked, reminding the pair he was there as well. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Well." Chatot hesitated again, and the fire lit within Team Ion spluttered for a moment. "There have been some differences of opinions regarding what mission the guild is sending Team Ion on. It HAS been agreed, however, that assigning a more experienced apprentice to accompany them, assist them, but not do the work FOR them, would be beneficial to their success."
Turning back to Rai and Sean he stretched a wing to Corphish. "It has been decided that Corphish will join you on this mission. Keep in mind that this is still YOUR exploration, you cannot expect him to do the work for you and we will be speaking to Corphish later to judge a fair report on how it went."
Swallowing in relief, Rai nodded. "That's fine, that's really fine. I just can't believe we're finally doing a real mission! Where are we going, what do you need us to do?"
"Let me see your Wonder Map," he politely asked, and Sean quickly pulled the object out of the Treasure Bag. "Treasure Town is here." Chatot pointed then moved his wing, along, and along, and along. With each passing moment, the nerves grew. Finally, his wingtip came to a stop. "Here is where we want you to explore."
"That's… far," Sean said feeling his entire mouth go as dry as ash. That was not the Waterfall Cave, he was certain of it.
"This dungeon is known as the Boulder Quarry," Chatot explained. "Within it is claims of a grand treasure, but no one has ever managed to find it. There is a puzzle to it, as you will find, that no pokémon has yet seemed to have solved. As apprentices of the Wigglytuff's Guild, we expect you to discern the mystery and find the treasure. Failure will be reviewed, success lauded."
Sean and Rai exchanged a nervous glance, this was not what either of them had really expected.
"That is a far distance for a pair of newbies, hey-hey," Corphish commented and Chatot nodded.
"Indeed. Normally you would need to pass through at least one other dungeon to even reach the Boulder Quarry, however, to alleviate the pressure of making it there, Wigglytuff's Guild has called in a favour and acquired a teleporter to move you straight to the entrance and to retrieve you when you are finished."
Corphish and Rai jumped at that, Sean was simply curious.
"T-Teleporter?" Corphish gasped.
"For US?" Rai squeaked.
"Yes," Chatot drawled, looking down his beak at them. "As you could perhaps tell, this is normally expensive, and we used a favour to get this for you, so we are expecting great things from the pair of you. You too Corphish, this will not be easy, not even for you."
Rai looked spooked, so Sean put a gentle paw on his back, and he relaxed. Taking a breath, he nodded firmly to Chatot. "Right. We will not let you down Chatot sir."
"We would not give you this mission if we believed you couldn't do it," Chatot said. "The Guildmaster himself seemed greatly positive on your chances here, it was his suggestion, do not disappoint him."
"We'll do our best," Sean and Rai said exactly together.
"Alright. Do you understand what this mission entails?" Chatot asked, just for confirmation's sake. He received a positive from all three and nodded happily. "Good, you'll find Alakazam waiting at the crossroads when you're ready. I'll leave you all to thoroughly investigate the Boulder Quarry then."
He turned to hop away but then noticed Rai's expression. Frozen. "A-are you alright?" he asked with growing alarm as Rai began to shake.
"Y-yeah," the shinx said, tears pricking his eyes. "Just a little overwhelmed and just so happy that I'm getting given this chance." He furiously rubbed his face until it was clear of tears and turned to Sean. "Right!" He spun to Corphish. "Right! Let's do this!"
"Hey-hey, just try and stop me!"
Chatot watched them depart before breathing out a hard breath and turning to the Guildmaster. They had talked in tense air about Treeshroud Forest, and both knew the matter weighed heavily on the other's mind.
Wigglytuff smiled sadly at him and the two stood in silence, thinking of old, soothing, memories.
"So, Corphish?" Rai asked as the trio entered Treasure Town. "What kinds of items do you take on explorations?"
"Food is important for sure," Corphish answered. "And depending on where you go I'd suggest two to six oran berries as well!"
"So… six for this one?" Sean asked.
"Yeah. This is going to be a tough one, so as many items as we can take should be the goal."
"I want a blast seed," Sean said immediately.
"Blast seeds, sleep seeds, stun seeds. Even x-eye seeds!" Corphish thought for a moment before nodding. "Orbs too. Can't forget them. Any that you can pack, you never know what might come in handy at an inopportune moment."
"I haven't used an orb yet," Rai admitted, causing Sean to wonder how the objects worked. "They seemed a bit excessive, but it might have helped when we had to fight Litleo."
The Electric-type and Water-type chatted away as Sean drifted off into his own thoughts.
"Did one day really mess things up that badly? What changed that is causing us to go somewhere else? And where are we even going? Boulder Quarry? Isn't that the Team Charm special dungeon?"
Unmindful to the thoughts the meowth of the group was experiencing, Rai and Corphish walked almost directly into a white, fluffy, stomach.
"Oof," Rai grunted as his head smacked into the surprisingly muscled abdomen of a larger person. "Zangoose!" Rai gasped. "Sorry for running into you like that."
Zangoose scratched the point where both pokémon had run into him with his sabre-sharp claws. "Whatever," he said to Rai, to Corphish, however. "Long time no see Corphish."
Zangoose's tone brought Sean out of his reverie and the expression on his face made him uncomfortable. The other members of Team Razor Wind were wearing dark expressions themselves, calm Scyther and cheerful Sandslash were all glaring right at Corphish.
"What have you been up to?" Scyther asked, scythe arms held firmly by his sides. "Throw any other pokémon out lately?"
The other time he had seen them, Sean hadn't been bothered by Scyther. He was a gigantic insect, but overall fairly friendly. He was getting some phobic reactions with an unhappy scyther though.
"Hey-hey," Corphish said, but his eyes were cold as steel. "Not lately though. Haven't had any ruffians about for a while since."
"Ruffians, are we?" Sandslash asked, crossing his arms and showing off his own deadly claws. "What's that make you?"
"Now-now guys," Zangoose said, waving down the anger of his teammates. "Let's give little claw here a chance to speak."
"I've got nothing to say to you, hey-hey," Corphish said sharply. "Now we've got work to do."
With that, he stepped past Team Razor Wind and gestured for Team Ion to follow.
"What are you hanging around with him anyway?" Zangoose asked as Corphish grew impatient. "Pretentious prick. Almost as much of a jerk as that hoity-toity Chatot."
"Shut your mouth Zangoose!" Corphish snapped, drawing some attention from other pokémon. "You won't speak of me, Chatot, or anyone else in the guild like that. Leave."
Zangoose made a dismissive noise but did jerk his head to his fellows. "Whatever. Have fun." He gave Sean and Rai an unpleasant smile before walking off with Scyther and Sandslash.
Corphish huffed but said nothing as Sean and Rai joined him. They continued walking in silence, but it could never last.
"So," Sean drew the word out. "What was up with that?"
"Those jerks insulted the Guildmaster one too many times," Corphish said immediately. "Chatot and I had to throw them out of the guild. They clearly are still furious about it, arrogant all three of them." He turned to the pair with a dark glare in his eyes. "You want nothing to do with either of them. You hear?"
Sean nodded quickly, Corphish was surprisingly intimidating when worked up, but Rai didn't, and they exchanged a glance when he turned away satisfied.
Little more than chatting was made as they stocked up on as many items as they could.
The day was quite busy despite the early morning. Team Ion and Team Razor Wind were not the only teams out this day and the Kecleon Market was receiving quite the boon of business.
"Hey-hey, do you have anything in storage that might help?" Corphish asked Rai as they waited in line. The ears of the shinx perked up and he brightened.
"Oh yeah, I do!" He beamed and turned to Sean. "I haven't introduced you yet to Kangaskhan. She's really nice, I think you'll like her."
"Go ahead," Corphish said, waving a claw. "I'll settle the supplies on this end. You get what you need."
Rai nodded and pulled Sean out of the line after he handed the Treasure Bag to Corphish. They walked the way they had on Sean's first day, heading in the direction of Sharpedo Bluff. Neither had gone any farther than Kecleon Market since joining the guild. It wasn't a far walk to Kangaskhan Storage, but certainly longer than Sean ever would have guessed.
"Good morning dears," Kangaskhan said to them as she spotted them coming up. "Oh! Is it, Shinx? I haven't seen you in days, dear." Smiling brightly, Rai trotted up to the large pokémon, Sean trailing behind.
Kangaskhan was enormous. She was thickly muscled, the pure power in her body barely contained by her skin, despite that she spoke with a maternal warmth that was easing to hear.
She waited on a small stand and laid out behind her was a considerable building. A warehouse was the best Sean could put into words, one that seemed to sink into the ground very quickly.
Scooping up Rai in a hug as soon as she could, Kangaskhan cooed for a moment before setting her sights on Sean. "And this must be your friend," she said, holding out another arm to grab him with. "I've heard a few good things about you Meowth, I've been hoping to meet you for a while now."
"Nice to meeee-" Sean squeaked as the breath was physically squeezed out of his lungs with just her affection. He realised how it was to really be small compared to someone tall and felt sudden empathy for all the people he dwarfed when he was human.
She soon set them down, Sean never more grateful for land in his life, and set her hands by her side. "Now what can I do for you. I cannot imagine this is a social visit for such exciting new apprentices of Wigglytuff such as yourselves!"
Smiling bashfully, Rai nodded. "I was hoping to get my Max Elixir and Defence Scarf from storage?"
"Of course, dear," Kangaskhan answered and turned to the door behind her. Sean noted that her pouch was empty as he regained enough oxygen to make rational thoughts again.
Kangaskhan disappeared into the complex and left the pair waiting. "She's really quick," Rai said to fill the silence. "And boasts a perfect protection record. She's never lost something, never been stolen from. No one would dare."
His expression was brighter than Sean had seen him yet. Ever since their first day, there was something lacking in the shine in his eye, even when he suggested joining the guild together, the raw emotions of having lost his treasure had weighed him down. Right now, however, Rai was positively glowing, and it was making Sean happier just to see it.
"Here we are dears." Kangaskhan had already returned with the items in question. "Would you like me to put it on for you?"
Rai glanced to Sean inquisitively and it took him a moment to gather what he might be asking. "I've got this bow," he said, flicking the silver fabric with a claw. He was quite sure of what it was and knew that the bow was best for him now. "I can carry the Max Elixir though."
Kangaskhan handed the drink to him before picking Rai up and expertly tying the scarf around his neck. "Now you look even cuter," she laughed, scuffing Rai on the head. He made a disagreeable noise, but Kangaskhan only chuckled and set him down. "Do well out there today," she said and sent them off with a smile.
"She's very nice," Sean commented as they returned to the marketplace. Rai fidgeted with the scarf and seeing his chance, added. "And you do look absolutely adorable in that."
"I'm not cute!" Rai snapped back, nose going red. "I'm not. You're the one who's cute with your bow!"
"Am I?" Sean grinned, adjusting the bow. "Why thank you, I guess it takes cute to know cute." He winked and laughed when Rai growled, running forward to dodge a pounce from the shinx.
"Get back here!" he yelled, but Sean just ran faster.
They laughed together as Rai did manage to tackle Sean but rolled off him immediately. There were a few pokémon watching, but Sean found it in him not to care. He helped Rai up and decided to care about possible social embarrassment later.
"Hey-hey, looking good," Corphish commented when he spotted them.
Rai immediately flushed. "I'm NOT cute!" he insisted, Sean snorting in amusement.
Corphish cocked his head slightly and clicked a pincer. "I didn't… anyway, you ready to go?"
"We're ready," Sean said, presenting the Max Elixir, Corphish held out the bag in response and sheepishly Sean took it. His paws were better at holding it than Corphish's pincers.
"So, who are we meeting again?" Sean asked as the trio began the walk to the crossroads.
"Chatot said a pokémon by the name of Alakazam," Corphish replied, leading the charge. "Said he used a favour for it too. Wonder what?"
"Guildmaster Wigglytuff and Chatot were explorers together," Rai said cheerfully, still brimming with energy. "I'm sure they met and helped many pokémon we haven't even heard of."
"Have you heard of Alakazam then?" Sean asked.
"Nope." Rai popped the p, and his overall cheerful dismissal gave Sean a laugh.
"It's difficult to tell who they may be," Corphish muttered. With a clearer voice, he explained. "Without a title or anything it'd be impossible to tell who this 'Alakazam' may be. I can think of a couple of famous alakazam, and since it was a favour..."
"We'll just ask them ourselves then," Rai said and trotted forward. They exited Treasure Town and spotted their target.
Sean also noticed a small bear-like pokémon staggering about drunkenly. "Uh?" he said, realising the species of this pokémon.
"Don't mind Spinda," Corphish advised. "He's fine, just perpetually dizzy."
"Hellooo explorers," Spinda said, waving at the bush that they were passing. "Good luck… on your adventures." Even his voice sounded dizzy, each word a struggle to articulate.
"Thank you," Sean said politely as they passed.
"Excuse me," Rai said, walking up to where an alakazam rested against a tree, with eyes closed. "Are you the alakazam, the guild hired for us?"
Alakazam opened their eyes, and with a baritone voice he said answered with a question, "Are you Team Ion plus Corphish?"
"Yep." Rai nodded.
"Then I am here to transport you to Boulder Quarry, yes." Alakazam stepped off the tree and walked to them, holding up a pair of silvery spoons. "Are you prepared for your task?"
"We're ready." Rai turned to Sean and Corphish questioningly, receiving two nods in response. "Yep. Send us now please."
"Once the matters are resolved, would you tell Chatot that I have done my duty?"
"Uh… sure." Rai exchanged a glance with Sean, Alakazam seemed to be speaking only in questions.
"Very well, gird yourselves, will you find what you are looking for?" Alakazam chinked his spoons together and summoned a great amount of Power, channelling it through his focuses.
"Oh wait," Rai said, remembering he wanted to ask something. "Are you?" His question would go unsaid, as Alakazam judged his interruption to be for trivial reasons and completed his move.
The four of them vanished into thin air, leaving Rai's voice only on the wind for a brief moment.
"Totally wicked." Spinda staggered his way over to where no one was anymore.
"I feel parched," Spinda hummed. Looking blearily at the water hole.
"Oooh!" Spinda's whole body shook. "I've given me… a fantastical…. Tremendous… exciting… superb… spectacular…." Spinda kept rambling off large words for a few minutes yet.
"Gah!"
The sentiment was shared between all three pokémon who were knocked sprawling from the teleport. Travelling through space was neither pleasant nor gentle.
"That felt…" Rai moaned, falling to his side.
"Ooh did someone get a mark on the metagross that hit me?" Corphish groaned, upside down with his legs all twitching in disturbing manners.
Sean couldn't even speak, just repressing all the urge to vomit after that. "Note to self. Never teleport again. I bet Alakazam did that on purpose." Thinking mutinous thoughts towards Alakazam helped and eventually he was able to stand without toppling over.
"Are we here?" Rai pushed himself on all fours and glanced around. Trees. Lots and lots of trees.
"Yes," Alakazam replied. "I will wait for you to return." And that was a dismissal, not a pokémon who was in the mood to chat.
"Thank you," Rai said politely. He got a nod for that.
"This is a forest," Sean said, he also noticed the many trees. Also, shrubs and bushes. It didn't bring to mind either boulders or quarries.
"Ugh, bleh." Corphish coughed and flipped himself onto his legs. "There was a forest dungeon on the way to Boulder Quarry," he said, remembering the map better than the pair.
They were situated in a pathway breaking a line between the ever-expansive trees. The Water-type in Corphish made him uncomfortable with so much plant life and the plant monsters that could come along with it.
"Which way should we go?" Rai asked, looking both ways. "We don't want to go into the dungeon."
Alakazam pointed with a spoon and gave them each a light Psychic tap to get them moving.
"Bit pushy," Corphish muttered as they walked.
"Um, excuse me?"
Corphish paused, each leg freezing in place as a voice that was very much not Sean or Rai, spoke up. They all turned in the other direction, spotting a bellossom quickly walking up to them.
"Uh, greetings kindly stranger," Corphish said, returning to Team Ion's sides.
"Greetings kindly team," Bellossom said, giving a curtsy. She spoke with a clearly feminine voice. Shyly, she turned away from their stares, covering her face with her dress. "I thought I'd do you a favour."
"What kind of favour?" Rai asked, cocking a head.
"Don't go to Boulder Quarry."
Team Ion plus Corphish all blinked once before glancing at each other. Sean decided to be the one to speak up, something here was off and was tickling some old memory. "Thank you for the warning, but we've got a job to do there."
"Right." Rai nodded. "We've been sent on a mission to find the treasure hidden within."
Bellossom shrugged and turned around. "It'd be best you give up," she advised. "I've lived in this area for a while, and I've learnt a thing or two about this dungeon. Trust me, the longer it's taking for this 'treasure' to be found, the more excited all you adventurers are getting. It's leading to rowdiness and violence. Do you really think it'll be worth it? If it even exists?"
Without waiting for an answer, she walked off.
"A little rude," Sean said after she was well and gone.
"Hey-hey, she may just be frustrated with having to deal with so many explorers," Corphish said, rationalising the event. "Especially if we've got some frustrated pokémon who may not be happy to see us here."
"Should we go?" Rai asked, taking a hesitant step forward. His earlier confidence hadn't completely burned out, but he was less jubilant than he was earlier.
"Of course," Corphish said, stepping forward. "We cannot let down the guild!"
Rai nodded and stepped into line, Sean catching up a few moments later. As they walked the forest path grew wider, the trees began to thin, and the grassy ground began to turn rockier.
"Looks like the right way," Sean said, wincing as his paw pads were poked by stones.
The trees ended almost immediately. Simply stopping at one flourishing point. The change from green life to sandstone rock was almost rude in its bluntness.
"Has this place been mined?" Sean muttered as they stepped into a clearing.
"Or just torn apart by pokémon?" Rai said equally as quietly.
Stepping into the clearing was like stepping into a room filled with tense people. There was no room, but there was a respectable amount of pokémon loitering about, all of which stared right at the trio as they walked in.
A few pokémon scowled and turned away in a huff and each of the trio stepped a little lighter as they realised the mood was quite dour at the moment.
"Hey-hey," Corphish said on reflex, waving a claw. "We should just go straight in."
"Agreed," Sean and Rai said in chorus. The entrance to the Boulder Quarry, a cave dungeon it looked to be, was right in front of them. There were a few spot-camps about, a few pokémon nursing injuries.
Sean, feeling extra vigilant due to the negative attitude the entrance of the dungeon was soaked in, took in every pokémon, keeping a careful eye for any sudden movements. His tail went straight, not that he even noticed, and each whisker quivered in the air.
Gurderr.
Ninetales.
Riolu.
Golem.
Hitmonchan.
Tynamo.
Grovyle. He couldn't help but glance twice at that, a bit of a scarred creature chatting amicably to someone else.
Staraptor.
Diglett.
Diglett, dig, diglett, dig! Trio-trio-trio.
The pokémon's name repeated in his head, hearing an old memory of the anime now playing in his head like an earworm. There was also a diglett approaching him.
"Hello," the diglett said, cheerfully and Sean's mind stopped repeating the earworm.
Blinking rapidly, he shook his head to clear out the fuzzies, his claws retracting and tail going limp. "What the hell was that?" he wondered as Rai greeted the only friendly pokémon in the area.
"Hello, Diglett. What can we do for you?"
The diglett looked over the three of them, saw Corphish and Sean, and ducked into the hole it dug a little until only its eyes were peering out. Oddly small for a diglett.
More comfortable speaking to the pokémon it had a strong advantage over in battle, Diglett turned back to Rai. "I can guess you are here to look for the treasure of Boulder Quarry?"
"That's right." Rai nodded, as Corphish took a small step back, gesturing Sean to do so as well.
With them farther back, Diglett seemed more comfortable, and it spoke a little louder. "I won't give you the tired warning of not going in, but I just want to make sure you're ready for what's in there."
"Is the dungeon filled with strong pokémon?" Rai asked.
"Y-yes, but that's not what I want to warn you about." Diglett shifted uncomfortably, fascinating for a pokémon that was mostly head. "See, since no one has been able to find the treasure for so long, some adventurers are getting frustrated. Th-there's one team here that is really angry lately, going too hard on the feral pokémon in the dungeon and even bullying other teams to try and drive them off." Lowering their voice to a whisper, the diglett said. "See Team Charge over there?" It gave a bare nod to a heavily bandaged trio. "Had a run-in with Team Gazer, they can't even leave yet because they wouldn't make it out there in their state."
Sean and Corphish shared a concerned look as Rai frowned. "Who is Team Gazer?" he asked, thinking it'd be best to know who to look out for.
"A really nasty team consisting of Beldum, Electrike and their leader, Beheeyem. They are really angry lately and might attack you if you run into them."
"Thanks for the warning, Diglett," Sean said with a smile, glancing at his teammates. "But we'll be okay. Right guys?"
"For sure, hey-hey," Corphish agreed, snapping his pincers. "If they try to cause trouble with us, we'll give them the old what for!"
"So, we'll be, oh." Rai blinked, he had turned back to finish talking to Diglett, but the Mole Pokémon was already gone. "Wow. Did you see Diglett leave?"
"Hey-no."
"I blinked, and it was just gone," Sean answered, rather surprised himself. He frowned as this seemed familiar to him, he didn't have time to ponder, however. Too many things going on around him.
"Guess the rumours are true," Rai muttered before shaking it off. "Let's go then!"
"Right."
Sean deftly stepped between Rai and Corphish as they headed to the dungeon entrance. It was simply pragmatic, plus he really didn't like the looks he was getting. Could pokémon smell weakness? Fear? These were questions he was afraid of the answer.
Boulder Quarry was unlike the dungeons Sean had entered earlier. Being either underground caves, mountainous regions or forests, he was frankly more comfortable in the plain, rocky, walls that made up this dungeon. Looked more normal.
The ceiling was a little cracked, enough to poke through some angry red glows. That was still creepy wherever he went. Oran Forest, Mount Bristle, all the dungeons seemed to have it.
He was even less comfortable when they were attacked. Immediately.
A ninjask, absurdly fast bug came with only the warning of its wings beating, swooped them right as soon as the light from the entrance of the tunnel was obscured.
A Slash right for Sean knocked him flying, back stinging harshly from the surprise attack. He let out a high cry of surprise and pain before the wall he was slammed into shut that up.
The ninjask had moved so quickly, striking Sean with a Slash and then beating into him, all in the space of half a second.
Sean felt the old familiar feeling of blood on his face as the ninjask pulled a limb back for another Slash, getting bombarded with a Bubblebeam for its daringness.
Sean grunted as he was slammed into the wall again, Corphish's bubbles had quite a concussive force to them and had knocked the ninjask into him again, but the pressure on his back was alleviated when it pried itself off him and flew back into the air.
Rai tried striking it down with a Thundershock, but the ninjask was too quick and it zipped away.
"Sean!" Rai cried once he had finished growling in the direction the attacker flew off. "You alright?"
"Screw that thing," Sean groaned, peeling himself off the wall and grabbing his face. "Ugh, that's a feeling I haven't felt for a while. Is my nose bleeding?"
"You are bleeding!" he shrieked, causing Sean to wince.
"Ow, that hurt almost as much." Rai wilted for a moment, but perked up again, recognizing the annoyed comment for what it could mean.
"You're probably okay if you are sarcasm talking," he said, peering over Sean. He grabbed the meowth's head with his paws and pulled his down, examining his back. Thankfully the Slash had left only a mark in his fur, it wasn't bleeding like it felt it was. He didn't have much padding on his back though, so his bones stung as well.
"You look alright," Rai said, affirming his check-up with a nod.
"Thank you for that," Sean said, rubbing his face. Being pulled down was not a pleasant experience after being attacked.
"You're welcome," Rai said brightly, either missing or ignoring Sean's sarcasm.
"Hey, if you're alright we should keep going." Corphish gestured with a claw and the pair quickly stepped into line with him.
"I want to be in the middle," Sean said, squeezing between them. "If I'm going to be a target, they are going to have to get through you first."
Rai nodded, but Corphish rolled his eyes. "I'm weak," Sean complained and Corphish sighed.
Still rubbing his face, he hated the feeling of bleeding, they continued on their merry way.
"This place is horrible," Rai whined, an hour later. "It's so hostile!"
It wasn't merely the pokémon who were incensed, although they were attacked an unusual number of times, the real problem lay in the dungeon itself. It seemed like it was breaking down, either from age or to spite them. Rocks would fall from the ceiling, cracks would open up in the ground, walls collapse, blocking their path, and a stone bridge they found collapsed two-thirds of the way across, only quick meowth-senses saved the trio when Sean yelled for them all to jump.
While the dungeon was terrible, it was not the biggest issue. Even when they ran into eighteen different dead ends. What was truly offensive was the ninjask.
It showed up far too often. Appearing from the ceiling, zipping in from a pathway, descending upon them like a bug out of hell.
After the third attack, all seemingly focused on Sean, he started spitting in fury whenever it appeared.
After the eighth, all three of them were jumping at the slightest noise.
Then this time, the fourteenth time one particular ninjask had attacked. They were certain it was the same one as it always, without fail, attacked Sean first. No matter the threat level the other two presented, it went for him.
It was only then did they learn why.
"Wha? NO!"
The ninjask achieved a sharp Slash, cutting not through Sean, but through the strap of the Treasure Bag. Quick as lightning and ten times as shocking, it grabbed the Treasure Bag and flew off with it.
Rai unleashed enough electricity to be considered a Thunder attack and Corphish blasted Bubblebeam all across the dungeon, but even when taking multiple hits, the ninjask did not relinquish its prize.
They did not see the ninjask again.
"What even IS this place?" Rai growled. His enthusiasm had lasted longer than anyone had predicted, but eventually, frustration got to him. "Why is everything against us today? Do you really not want us here oh high and mighty dungeon?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sean almost raced forth into the unknown, and had to be pulled back by his tail by Rai. He yelped, still not used to that thing always being there.
"Okay. Okay. OKAY!" Corphish snapped, grabbing both of his partners by the tail and dragging them forward, ignoring their cries of pain and fury. "Let's just get through this horrible place and find this legend-damned treasure. Hey. HEY."
"Ow, okay, okay, ow, enough." Sean managed to free his tail from Corphish's unfairly tight grip. Part of him was thankful Corphish's pincers weren't as sharp as a yabby's, those would have sliced right through his tail.
After glaring at the odd limb for a moment, he still could barely fathom having this fifth limb, Sean turned to a wincing Rai and a calming Corphish.
"This bloody sucks," he said, rubbing some dried blood off his face as if to accentuate his words. The dusty fragments disappeared off his paws as he flicked it. "But think of the story we'll get to tell when we beat this fricken place!"
"It will be nice to beat this place," Rai grumbled.
"That's true, heeey," Corphish muttered. Both pokémon shook their heads and stared up at the walls, fury burning in their eyes.
"You will NOT beat us!" they said together, firing off water and electricity at the dungeon's ceiling.
"That… is probably taunting murphy," Sean deadpanned as the dungeon rumbled. He began to move. "For the love of – RUN!" he called as the dungeon began crashing down, Corphish and Rai shouting out and tearing after him in moments.
They made it out of the room of pure spite as the entire pathway collapsed, blocking any ability to backtrack from here.
"Let's hope this doesn't lead to a dead-end," Sean said cheerfully. "Or we might die."
Corphish stared at him in horror as Rai stepped into line with him. "How do you go from more optimistic than me to straight up depressing?" he asked, a little disturbed himself at the cheerful manner of discussing one's death.
"With sweet, sweet, denial," Sean answered, as peppy as he was before. "Can't let it bother you if you pretend it's not an issue." He smiled and continued walking, eying Rai's summersaulting of facial expressions through the corner of his eye. "Although, I AM an optimist," he said honestly. "That's why I think we've gotten through the worst of it."
"You think so?" Corphish asked, joining Sean's other side. It had been a bit of a joke at first, but both Rai and Corphish walked with Sean in the middle. It had shown to be much safer that way.
"Not in the least," Sean answered, receiving twin sighs from his companions. "We've lost the Treasure Bag. That sucks."
"Yeah," Rai said and then nodded harshly. "It DOES suck."
"Sucks terrible," Corphish agreed. "Sucks, sucks, sucks."
"Okay. Has the word sucks lost all meaning to you both now?"
"Yep."
"Your reputation would disagree, hey-hey."
"Hilarious. Anyway, look." Sean pointed, the ground was changing. "That's a good sign. We may be further into this, finally."
"Hey-HEY!" Corphish cheered, scuttling forward quickly. "Looks like we've reached the deep of the Boulder Quarry." He thought for a moment before clicking a pincer. "Didn't Chatot say that we'd come up to a right and left path soon?"
"Right and left…?" Sean said as his eyes suddenly widened.
"Oh, I'm an idiot," he thought before actually pressing a paw right into his forehead. He wouldn't hit himself, that would hurt. "Oh, my legendary pokémon, god, Arceus, Dialga, GAH! I. AM. An. IDIOT! There's a Time Gear here!"
It was all coming back to him now. The name of the dungeon had rung only the faintest of bells. He wondered if it had been a random dungeon you could find later at the end of the game.
"Team… the weavile one. That… was a past thing, wasn't it? Um, ditto! Duh, bellossom. Probably that diglett too. Good grief I am an idiot! Ah, what else, there was something else, wasn't there?"
"This is a charming place," Rai noted, looking around. His voice snapped Sean out of his rapid panic-thinking, and he glanced around himself. Looser earth, large stone cliffs narrowing slightly into a choke point. Bad feelings all around.
Sean's tail went still again as his pawpads felt the tiny rumblings from below ground. "Run," he said quietly, not moving.
"Pardon?" Rai asked before squeaking as Sean grabbed him and Corphish and tugged them forward.
"RUN!" he bellowed and tore off running, dragging them until they caught their feet and joined him. The walls exploded out as the ground shook. Sean leaped on reflex, narrowly avoiding a great horned head tearing itself out of the ground.
"Gyah!" Aggron roared. "WHO DARES-"
He blinked, the lairon who tore their way out of the walls blinked. There was no enemy.
"Hey?" He turned to see the interlopers running. "HEY!"
"Hey-nope," Corphish said, sending a Bubblebeam behind him. It distracted Aggron long enough for them to escape the area without the far slower and bulkier pokémon trying to pursue them.
"Uh… what do we do now?" one of the lairon asked.
"Just… go." Aggron jumped back underground, deeply disappointed. The six lairon exchanged glances before slowly shuffling away, all just as put out.
Huffing and puffing as the trio began to slow down, they all glanced back multiple times, but nothing seemed to be thundering its way over to them.
Slowing to a crawl, Sean, Rai and Corphish took a moment to catch their breath.
"Good… call," Corphish said, panting for breath.
"Yeah," Rai agreed. "Thanks."
"You're both," Sean puffed, "welcome."
Each of the trio breathed a sigh of relief before they began to laugh. "Help."
"Good lord," Sean laughed. "Did you hear how high my voice went?"
"My ears are still ringing," Rai giggled.
"I hope neither of you heard what I was chanting," Corphish said, abashed. "Those words are not fit for youths such as yourselves."
"Oh, you're not THAT old," Sean said, waving him off. Corphish accepted that until it clicked.
"Hey, hey! I am NOT old in the slightest!"
They broke into giggles again.
"Help."
Only to come up short when a tinny voice finally reached them.
"Huh, who's there?" Rai stood, prickling with electricity.
"Hey-hey, show yourself."
"I'm hurt, please help me." That got them moving, Rai and Corphish rushed off without hesitation, and Sean took a slightly longer moment to join them.
"Oh," Rai's voice was high and soft as they came into a new clearing. There were stones, as usual, a surprising number of boxes, mostly pillaged of their contents, two paths stretching into unknown dungeons.
And a beaten and bloody shinx.
For a brief, horrifying, moment Sean saw Rai, but he could still see Rai standing frozen and purged that idea from his mind.
"A-are you… oh gosh!" Rai rushed forward, kneeling by the other shinx's side and looking over it in worry. "What happened to you?"
"It… hurts," the shinx said, a slight feminine undertone to its whimpers.
"Hey, I have this." Corphish stretched out a claw, opening it up to reveal an oran berry. "I found one earlier in the dungeon, saving it for a needed moment. You look like this is needed."
The shinx, she, looked up at Corphish with a shaky smile. "Thanks, but I don't think that'll do me much good. I just want to get out of here, but I can't make it past… them." She nodded back the way they came, images of a big aggron flashing through everyone's minds.
"We'll get you out of here," Rai said, laying a careful paw on the other shinx's shoulder. "Right guys?"
"How did this happen?" Sean said, ignoring Rai's question and looking straight at the shinx. She was curled up, barely moving as they came up to her, paws clasped over her face. Even then, he could still see her eyes.
"T-Team Gazer," the shinx squeaked. "I refused to give up on my own search for the treasure and they beat me up and left me here."
"Those CROOKS!" Corphish yelled, causing everyone to jump. "I am sorry miss, we will help you very soon, but this is going too far now."
"Are you sure?" Rai asked, stepping back slightly from the shinx. "She looks in bad shape."
"I don't think we can turn back just yet." He glanced to the other shinx. She averted her eyes when she saw him glance her way. "It shouldn't take us very long to get through this and find something to get us back. Like an escape orb!"
"Oh but, no one has managed to find the way forwards," the shinx squeaked, attracting their attention again. "Maybe it'd be better if we all gave up and tried again some other time? Going through either path just leads you back here pretty quickly."
"It shouldn't take us long to try them out then," Sean said, taking the oran berry from Corphish. It was a bit squished now, but still edible. "Have this, stay safe, we'll be back for you soon."
"O-okay," shinx muttered, sinking into herself more. "I'll find a spot to hide I guess, thanks."
She forced herself to her feet, licked up the berry, and slunk away. Rai still looked conflicted, so Sean put a gentle paw on his back.
"She'll be fine," he insisted. "She's walking and everything, mostly just worried I think."
"Maybe I should stay with her?" Rai asked, and Sean felt a small flash of something go through him.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah. She just… I guess sort of reminds me of my sister. She shouldn't, my sister wouldn't ever ask for help." He blinked and shook his head. "Just daydreaming, sorry."
They had to go forwards. And forwards brought them to a path.
"Which one should we take?" he asked, Corphish still muttering angrily coming up behind him.
"The right path," Sean answered. "And I mean the actual right path, not right as in right-right."
Both pokémon gave him a confused look and Sean pointed. "Right."
"Riiight," Rai said, and giggled. "Heh."
"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Let's go," Corphish positively growled. Sean joined Rai and they stared after Corphish as he scuttled forward, pincers clicking repeatedly.
"He's really upset," Sean said lowly.
"Bad news. For Team Gazer."
They ran forward, not wanting to lose Corphish.
An angry Corphish made Team Ion realise just how he participated in throwing a powerful trio like Team Razor Wind out of the guild. Bubblebeam's and Razor Shell attacks knocked pokémon aside like tiny bugs, not there were many pokémon around.
"What is going on with this place?" Rai asked ten minutes into Corphish's rampage, he was thankfully calming down now.
"After that beginning, I wasn't looking forward to coming in here," Sean said. Currently, only a few pokémon even attacked, most either laying around unconscious or fleeing at the mere sound of them.
"Someone's been through here recently," Corphish muttered, shaking his head to clear the anger. "And I bet it was Team Gazer."
Sean and Rai tensed, but Corphish didn't start muttering angrily and blasting the walls again. He did take a long moment to do anything, but the muscles in his legs relaxed for a bit and he sighed.
"Hey-hey, sorry for that. I think I lost control a little there."
"Maybe a bit," Sean agreed. "You okay now?"
"Yeah, yeah. When we find those crooks, I'll show them what for, I can't waste all my energy on these pokémon."
He still held a dark glint in his eye, but Corphish had calmed down. To Sean and Rai, the steely anger was just as intimidating.
Sean urged them on, knowing that this dungeon wasn't particularly long, and indeed a few minutes later they spotted natural sunlight, rather than the odd illumination dungeons consisted of.
"Yes," Rai cheered as they all sped up. "See, that wasn't so hard."
They exited, only to find themselves back at the beginning.
"Huh?"
"Hey-huy?"
"Looks like we're back at the beginning," Sean said primly, stepping out of the shadow of the right-sided dungeon. He walked halfway to where the second one beckoned and stopped, standing in front of the large stone wall that separated them. "And I bet the same thing will happen if we go through that one."
"Then what is the trick here?" Corphish asked as Rai sniffed around for the shinx that they had left.
"I bet that most exploration teams keep searching these two pathways," Sean said, pacing back and forth. "And get nowhere. If the solution was one of these paths, then someone HAD to have found it by now, right?"
"Hey guys, Shinx is gone," Rai called, catching their attention. "I can't smell her at all. Not even a path or anything. With her injuries I should be able to smell something." Rai was frowning but looked more perturbed than worried.
"Maybe she found an escape orb?" Corphish suggested, walking over to Rai. "Or someone helped her. Pokémon don't just vanish otherwise. There'd be signs of a scuffle in anyone else happened." He said this assuredly, he was the most experienced of the three of them after all.
"Hmm. Yeah, you're right." Rai was still frowning, but he shook it off to step up to Sean. "I heard you talking about this mystery. Do you have any idea on what to do?"
Sean smiled. He had been thinking over exactly what he was going to say as they explored the right-side dungeon. The right things to sound smart, but not too in-the-know that'd bring suspicion.
"I think there's another path," he said grandly, turning his back to Rai and Corphish and right to the wall. Walking forward slowly, Sean continued speaking. "So many pokémon must have gone back and forth, back and forth, and different times, trying different pathways in combinations, to find some key to unlock something they couldn't find. But I think they were looking for this key, and forgetting that not all paths are so obvious."
He'd been rehearsing this in his head, he hoped he sounded smart and not like an ass.
Stopping in front of the stone, Sean wondered how so few pokémon had ever thought to press against a few walls, or even just stumbled through it like a platform nine and three quarters.
He pulled a paw up and paused for a moment. Frowning slightly, Sean just stared at the paw that was now his limb. It gave him a sudden feeling of vertigo and he nearly stumbled.
"Sean?" Rai called, concerned, but Sean turned back with a smile.
"I'm fine," he said, turning back to the wall. "And I think, THIS." He blinked the feeling of incorrectness away and pressed forward, sinking the rest of his harm through the so-called solid stone. "Look!" He grinned and moved out of the way to allow his companions to see.
"Is your paw going THROUGH it?" Rai gasped.
"That's the entrance!" Corphish cheered. "Good work Meowth, you found it!"
Sean grinned and waved down their accolades. "It's nothing," he said, still grinning widely. He pulled his paw back and waited for the pair to join him. Corphish scuttled up eagerly and stuck his own claw against the illusion, whistling as it passed through as if there was no stone at all.
Rai, however.
"Shinx?" Sean asked, the shinx had frozen and was trembling in place. "Rai, are you alright?"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine," he insisted, looking every but fine.
"Seriously?" Sean pulled back and stepped to his side. "Rai, what's wrong?"
This didn't seem like the excited shakes from earlier, his brow was quivering, and he couldn't look at them. He didn't seem to realise Sean was calling him by his name, neither did Sean and Corphish was firmly looking away.
"Just a bit nervous I guess. Haha," he chuckled humourlessly. "Sorry, I'm going to get over this. Right. Now." He forced a step forward, and another, until he was right before the illusory wall.
"This is just so weird. I'm looking at solid stone, I need to step through solid stone," Rai explained, still shaking. "I can't help but be afraid halfway through it's going to not be stone and I'm going to be stuck."
"That won't happen," Corphish said immediately, but Rai just gave him a weak smile.
Swallowing slightly, Sean did his best to be mindful here and not sweet and patronizing. "We won't leave you, even IF that did happen," he said, Rai glancing up at him. "We'd get you out of the wall and you'd be fine. Alright?"
Rai took a deep breath and let it out with a shudder. "Yeah. Alright." He nodded and met Sean's eyes, he was still shaking slightly but not as bad. He even smiled something that reached his eyes rather than being a blank mask. "Can we all, you know, jump. Together?"
Sean nodded. "One," he said, looking to Corphish.
The crustacean got what he was going for. "Two."
Rai smiled, seeing they were leaving the final decision to him. He took another breath and braced his back legs. "THREE!"
"Jump!" Sean yelled, just in case Rai needed just a little final push. They all leaped forward, passing through the stone illusion and onto cool stone on the inside.
"Hoo wow," Rai breathed, finding his breath returning to him. He glanced over himself, checking that no parts were missing. "I'm in one piece. Oh." Rai let himself crumple to the ground in relief. "I did it."
Right as Sean knelt down to pick him up, Rai pulled himself up. "I'm okay now. Better than okay actually." He grinned at Sean and Sean grinned back seeing both the spark back as well as a glint of pride. "Let's find this treasure!"
"This whole place is covered in limestone," Corphish said, ten minutes into their new exploration. There were pools of water, constant dripping sounds, an unfortunate number of echoing screeches, all the standard cavern-fair noises.
Unlike the right path, there were fewer pokémon around. Unlike the right path, the pokémon that were about were angry that they were there.
It was down to Corphish and Rai for the most part. Sean was still uncomfortable in battle, he much preferred having a stock of items to make up for his inexperience, but the Treasure Bag was gone, and he was unhappy about that.
"Good grief, what it with this slowking?"
One particular enemy proved to be quite a challenge. Capable of shrugging off Rai's Thundershock attacks and Corphish was unable to get close enough to strike him with a Knock Off.
"Ah, blast it!" Corphish cried as he was thrown back by a Psychic attack.
"I don't have any blast seeds," Sean yelled back, ducking around Rai being thrown at his head.
"Oh haha," Corphish grumbled as he righted himself. "Okay, new plan. Sean, distract it!"
"Wha?" Sean spluttered, his heart made an uncomfortable flip. He didn't like being as close to the slowking as he was right now. Blank eyes, gaping mouth, the eyes of its crown all rolling about unseeingly. It was one of the creepier pokémon he'd seen, due to the extra eyes. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Scratch it or something, Rai and I need one good shot!" Corphish helped Rai up and whispered something Sean wasn't of the mind to hear. He carefully edged forward, fur going stiff and tail poking right up.
"Uh, nice slowking. My liege." Sean performed a delicate bow and then a rather poor curtsey. He had no idea what he was doing.
To his credit, the slowking did hesitate at the odd movements, but this didn't stop it from grabbing Sean in Psychic.
Sean made an awful sound as the feeling of the very air around him seemed to constrict around him and squeeze before lifting him up. That was the best he could gather about how it felt to be under a Psychic attack, and he wheezed as the slowking began squeezing the air from his lungs.
He tried to thrash, but even those movements weren't enough to break the hold of the slowking. Massive electrical trauma, however, was enough.
The slowking made a terrible screeching roar as Rai hit it with all the electricity he could, causing it to drop Sean ceremonially before twitching as electricity continued to arc over its body.
"Perfect," Corphish said, scuttling up as fast as he could, one claw descending into darkness. "It's Paralysed!" He slammed his Knock Off into the stomach of the slowking with all the force he could muster. Its eyes bugged out from the impact before it was thrown back by some extra concussive impact.
"Type advantage," Corphish scoffed, blowing on his claw. "He's not getting up quickly after that, let's get out of here."
Rai helped Sean up and supported him as the meowth forced air back into his bloodstream.
"That was," Sean managed before choking and needing to breathe rapidly again. "Not fun."
"Nope." Both Corphish and Rai said together.
Sean nodded and really hoped they wouldn't encounter any more obnoxiously strong enemies.
They did. One painfully durable marill rolled right over Sean. A dragonair blasted him with a Dragon Pulse attack. He was wrapped up by a seviper and blinded by a pair of volbeat and illumise.
"What is this day?" Sean groaned, beaten and battered, and without any items to cover the pain and exhaustion with.
"I'm kind of impressed with just how bad your luck is hey-hey," Corphish said, looking over the meowth with new respect. "They all seem to be going for you. And you are managing? I'd be down and out if I went through all that with no oran's, hey-hey!"
"Corphish is right," Rai agreed. "You're a bit clumsy but wow you can take a hit and keep going."
"At this point, I run on the power of spite," Sean growled, but the compliments were helping a little. "Spite to beat this goddamned dungeon!" Sean hissed and swiped at the ceiling, claws out and shining with Power.
"Calm down, hold it for later," Corphish said, and received a disbelieving stare in response.
"Who went psycho on the dungeon earlier?" Sean scoffed.
"Hey-hey!" Corphish clicked his pincers, trying to find words. "Hey… hey."
"Oh look." Rai pointed, desperate to move the subject away from potentially hurtful words being said. "That rock looks interesting."
"That is one perfectly flat rock." Sean nodded.
"Flattest I've ever seen," Corphish agreed.
They exchanged a look and then continued, leaving that in the corridors behind them.
"The room is widening," Rai pointed out as they walked. It was true, things were growing more circular, the dripping was even louder, and there were more pools of water around.
"Brighter too," Sean noted. "I think this might be it."
"Hey-yay, let's hurry up!"
They sped up. The exhaustion made by the trek being forgotten for a moment in the thrill of excitement.
"Oh wow, LOOK!" Rai squealed before rushing off with a Quick Attack. "Treasure! Treasure!"
Corphish whooped as he spotted the box as well. Sean was more subdued, he was sure he remembered this fairly well.
Up a few steps, presented proudly as if it was just for them, laid a gorgeous green and silver chest. It was huge, being wider than all three of them side by side and even Sean, the tallest of the three, only reached the clasp of the box with his head.
"What's in it!" Corphish demanded, jumping right onto the box and scuttling over it, clicking his pincers uncontrollably. "Open, open, open, hey-hey-hey."
"Calm your jets," Sean said, shooing Corphish off. He examined the lock on the chest for a moment, it was very simple: just a press and it would open. Touching the wood was a little odd, it was almost spongey but not quite.
Due to the dampness of the room? Sean wasn't completely believing that.
He pressed down and the box lid almost sprung open, not even needing them to push it up. Putting two paws on the brink, Sean hoisted himself up and glanced inside it.
To his surprise, there WAS something inside it. He wasn't sure about crawling into the box to get it, he was getting mimic vibes from this. The fact that he could feel air moving in there was just creepy.
"WELL?" Corphish couldn't contain himself any longer and he climbed the box. "WHAaaa?"
He paused, unbelieving, before slowly letting himself fall in. "Hey-Corphish!" Sean snapped and grabbed him. "Don't just throw yourself in there!"
He pulled Corphish out, finding the crustacean to not be too heavy, and let him fall on the outside.
"It's just a blast seed," Corphish said, voice flat.
Rai gawked and tried to jump up and into the chest himself. "What? No!" Sean grabbed him before he could fall in as well and held him steady until he let himself slip back. With no one else risking falling in, Sean let go and buried the creepy, not-wood, feeling touching the chest left on his paws.
"Is it a blast seed?" Rai asked softly. "Are you sure?"
"No mistaking it," Corphish said, still flat. "I've handled enough to know." He sighed sadly, and Sean slipped over to retrieve the seed from him. "Should have guessed it really," Corphish muttered. "A treasure hidden for THIS long? A puzzle you just had to walk through a wall for? Of course, someone's found it already."
"Someone's found it?" a new voice yelled out, attracting their attention.
"Wha? Who?" Rai began before a trio of pokémon stormed into the room.
"YOU!" The four-legged one roared. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"
"Statement: You three are thieves, bullies, and troublemakers," the floating one said.
"Team Ion, I presume?" the third, the bipedal one, the leader, the beheeyem asked smoothly. "I would like to say well met, but nothing would be farther from the truth.
"Wait," Rai said lowly.
"Electrike, Beldum, Beheeyem," Corphish growled. "It's Team Gazer."
"So, you know of us?" Beheeyem asked, reaching his arms forward as he settled into a competitive position. "Then you'll also know we are the ones who deserve the treasure. What have you done with it?"
"There was nothing here when we arrived," Rai answered, voice barely shy of yelling. "Just a box and a blast seed."
"Accusation: Lies," Beldum said, voice echoing around the cavern. "Directive: We shall stop you and bring you in for what you have done."
"You're not taking us anywhere," Corphish yelled. "We'll be taking cruel creatures like YOU in! How dare you harm Shinx?"
"How dare YOU harm Elgyem?" Beheeyem shouted. "Enough of this, you're going down!"
"THIS IS FOR EVERYONE!" Electrike yelled before he unleashed a torrent of electricity on Corphish. Rai jumped in the way of it, taking the hit, and sent his own Thundershock back.
Sean opened his mouth to cry for them to stop, but it was already too late. They were enraged and attacking and neither Rai nor Corphish seemed open to talking this out either.
Corphish aimed his sights on Beheeyem and nothing else, firing a Bubblebeam to start things off. The Psychic-type deflected the attack with a Psychic and backed away, throwing a Hidden Power barrage back.
Sean backed away as the situation devolved into a brawl. Team Gazer was not listening, even as he tried to shout above the chaos.
"Directive: You are going down."
Sean's whiskers twitched, and he dove to the side to avoid being slammed with a Take Down from Beldum.
"Woah, woah, woah," he said rapidly, backing away from the massive gouged hole Beldum's attack made in a wall. "I don't want to fight you!"
Behind him, a war of electricity, water bubbles, and Psychic attacks reigned dominant.
"I uh… don't want to fight in general," Sean corrected.
Beldum stared at him coldly for a moment. "Accusation: You are an outlaw and a coward." With that it rushed him again, however, Sean dodged the attack again.
"If nothing else," he thought to himself, nearly panicking. "I'm faster and I think Take Down is all it can do?"
While Sean was busy dodging, Rai fought Electrike with electricity. Twin beams of sparking power met in the middle of the two quadruped Electric-type pokémon as they tried to overpower the control of the other.
"Pokémon like you," Electrike growled, straining against the lightning battle. "Never win."
"Good guys… always… prevail," Rai grunted, pushing harder and harder. Sparks of electricity danced out every, leaving small burns all around them and on their fur.
Using jets of Bubblebeam's, Corphish blew himself out of the way of any attack Beheeyem tried, dodging over everything and even slipping through any Psychic grabs, all the while pinging him with whatever he could.
"Arg, enough!" Beheeyem threw out a pulse of power, knocking Corphish back before he raised his arms. "Everyone, GET READY!"
Electrike grinned and broke the electrical surge while Beldum waited patiently. From Beheeyem's flashing fingers a box began to take shape.
"No!" Corphish yelled, sending a torrent of explosive bubbles at Beheeyem. He took the hit unwavering as he channelled the bizarre powers he was tapping into. "Everyone, attack now!" Corphish demanded, Rai fell into a Quick Attack while Sean kept on staring fearfully at Beldum.
"Trick Room!" Beheeyem crowed as the move finished and a bizarre set of hexagons spread over everything, seeping into the walls, covering every inch of the area.
"Trick? Oh no." Sean grimaced as it felt like his entire body was subsumed by tapioca. His speed and agility abandoned him while Beldum now sped forward like a freight train.
Beldum's Take Down slammed right into Sean's chest and he was sure something cracked, knocking him flying off the small raised area he had stuck to and into the thick of the brawl.
Rai found his own speed, not severely decreased, but enough that Electrike now out sped, slamming him with a Tackle.
Beheeyem staggered as the toll of the Bubblebeam reached him and was still too slow to avoid Corphish's Razor Shell attack. He fell down with a cry, giving Corphish further opportunity to strike him with his other pincer, coated in Dark-type energy. The Knock Off was caught, however, as Beheeyem suddenly surged in speed.
He was not very strong, however, and Corphish swiftly overpowered the grab to strike him head on. Knocking him out.
"Leader!" Electrike yelled, splitting his attention for a moment long enough for Rai to Thundershock him.
"Re-evaluation: Target Corphish," Beldum said, switching gears stoically and rushing forward to smash into an unprepared Corphish. There was a nasty crack as Beldum's weight, speed, and deadly attack knocked Corphish into a wall before he collapsed.
"Okay, everyone stop right now!" Sean shouted but was ignored as Beldum turned to stare at Rai.
"Risk Assessment: Meowth is weak. Target adjusted."
"Oh no you don't," Sean jumped in the way as quickly as he could. He wasn't liking Trick Room. Gravity still worked the same, and every moment wasn't difficult, simply sluggish. Like his brain was taking its time directing the nerves to do things. "You're fighting me!"
He unleashed his claws and swiped at Beldum, harmlessly chinking off the sturdy Steel-type. The round head of the Beldum swivelled to him, single eye staring listlessly at his own.
"Inquisitive: You would protect him?"
"Yes, I will!" Sean declared, slashing Beldum over and over. "I'm your opponent, leave Rai alone!"
Beldum turned his whole body to Sean and then headbutted him. It wasn't even a move, not even a tackle, but the weight and hardness were still enough to knock his breath out.
"Declaration: Stop embarrassing yourself." Beldum swivelled back to Rai, who was staggering as Electrike headbutted him, and prepared another Take Down.
"Dammit!" Sean uncurled his other paw and threw the blast seed he still held, missing Beldum completely as the seed exploded harmlessly against the wall of the Trick Room.
Sean groaned.
Then Trick Room shattered.
"W-woah!" Rai gasped as he suddenly dodged, moving at his normal speed again.
"Rai, DODGE!" Sean yelled, warning of Beldum's rapid approach. But not as fast as before, and Rai was able to duck under the heavy pokémon.
Sean cheered as Rai blasted both pokémon with Thundershock, then was hit by a flying shinx when Beheeyem got back up and tossed Rai at him, slamming their heads together and sending Sean down.
"Oh, come on," Rai growled, rolling off Sean. That last hit finally seemed to do it and Sean did not look like he was getting up again, laying limply. Rai felt a burst of anger surge through his body, Sean was scared of fighting and he'd still jumped in to protect him from Beldum and now THIS?
"We will bring you down," Beheeyem declared and raised his arms again. "TRICK-"
For the second time in the same manner, Beheeyem was blasted with Bubblebeam.
"Room." Beheeyem coughed, Power fading before he slumped.
"Leader!" Electrike shouted.
"Concern: Beheeyem, what is the damage?"
They were also blasted with Bubblebeam.
Corphish had gotten back up and he returned to Rai's sides. "One more hit?" he asked, breathing heavily. Rai nodded savagely, crackling like a storm.
"One more hit?" Beheeyem asked, being supported by Beldum. Sean began to stir, and he raised his head and saw what was going on.
"ENOUGH!"
Rai, Corphish, Beheeyem, Beldum, and Electrike all paused as Sean yelled hard enough for them to hear him. Pulling himself up, using Rai as a brace, Sean continued without taking a moment to breathe. "Don't you all SEE what is HAPPENING HERE?"
He panted for breath, each inhale burning as he was sure his ribs were at least bruised for this entire mess. He was angry, both at the situation and at himself for letting it descend this far. He had the answer, and he had been too smug to give it away immediately.
"First!" He pointed a claw up. "WE were told that YOU Team Gazer were the bullies."
Team Gazer all exchanged a look. "But," Electrike began, but Sean was talking again.
"TWO! You were told that WE Team Ion were the bullies, right?"
"Well, yeah, that's what Elgyem said."
"THREE! We met a shinx at the split circle path that said YOU had attacked her."
"That's where Elgyem-"
"FOUR! Someone is OBVIOUSLY trying to turn us against each other."
"Wait," Rai began. "Why would?"
"FIVE! That person is HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Pushing himself off Rai, he stomped back up the steps as the five pokémon watched in abashed confusion. He walked to the treasure chest who looked impressively nervous for something without a face. Like a soggy box.
He extended his claws and raised a paw. "Now do I have to carve my name into you or are you going to give it up?"
There was a pause, Rai feared Sean had lost his senses in the anger, and Sean growled and began to slash.
"Okay!" the chest squealed, and Sean caught his paw before impact.
The five watching pokémon all gasped as the treasure chest rocked to the side several times before it seemed to melt, turn pink, and grow a face.
"That face," Beheeyem said quietly, putting the missing piece together.
"Doesn't that look like?" Corphish muttered.
"Okay, you got me," Ditto said, shamefaced and very nervous as six pokémon stared at it.
Sean narrowed his eyes at it but took a few breaths to calm himself down. "I'm beaten, tired, bloody and really, really, upset over all this," he said, causing Ditto to cringe. "Why did you do this to us? Why turn us against each other? Why everything?"
He knew why. Even in anger though, Sean knew the role he was meant to play.
"I," Ditto began before sighing. "It'll be easier if I just show you. Follow me." It sighed and turned around before pulling itself along the ground like a slug. Lots of rhythmic contractions.
Team Gazer exchanged a confused set of glances before following Rai and Corphish, Sean was already right behind Ditto, and he still had his claws out.
"First, I want to apologise for what I've done," Ditto said as they began walking a thin path, raised between a lot of clear water.
"Query: What have you done?"
"I told each team that the other was a set of crooks and bullies, transformed myself into bellossom and diglett to try and warn you off, ninjask to steal both of your Treasure Bags, shinx and elgyem to turn you against each other, and have been doing this for years."
"You have the Treasure Bag?" Sean snarled, causing Ditto to cringe.
"Y-yeah, sorry. I thought without your bags, you'd give up. A lot of teams rely too much on them and back off when they lose them. Don't worry, I've got them up ahead."
"Why have you been doing this? Hey-hey."
"I'm protecting the real treasure here," Ditto admitted.
The five other pokémon shared a set of looks, some suspicious, others grim.
"Why would you be leading us to it then?" Beheeyem asked, guarded for another trap.
"Because you'll understand why you can't take it," Ditto said before slowing. "We're here. Look up ahead." Along a craggy path lit with cerulean blue led to a treasure of a sight.
Sean felt the air rush out of his lungs for a whole different, much more pleasant, reason. Shining with a cerulean light, turning softly as if it was a cog that ran part of the world, the Time Gear was utterly enrapturing.
He vaguely heard gasps from behind him, only Rai's really penetrated the overwhelming feeling of want that gripped him suddenly.
"Look at that," Rai whispered, coming up against Sean and rubbing against his side. He felt the sheer tenseness of Sean's muscles, as he was beginning to spring forward. "Sean?"
Rai's small voice and innocent question managed to clear his head, and Sean blinked for the first time in a minute before bowing his head, forcing his eyes away from it. "It's beautiful," he said, unable to say anything more. He averted his eyes, even seeing it out of the corner of his eye was beginning to overpower his sense of reason again. He felt tears in his eyes, a sheer feeling of need to run over and grab that. He wasn't prepared for amnesia to still affect him like that.
It had to be. How long was he in the Dark Future? The sun of the day still stung his eyes a bit, he was still adjusting. How long in the darkness, only to see the key out of it in front of him?
He couldn't take it. He couldn't. He couldn't he couldn't he couldn't he couldn't.
"Astonishment: A Time Gear is the treasure?" Beldum asked, clearly amazed in the face of the Time Gear.
"Yes." Ditto nodded. An odd move for them to make. "And I have protected it for a long time. Only one other time has anyone actually found it, and thankfully no one was intending on taking it. Still, the fewer people who know of my Time Gear the better, it was part of the warning I was given. To guard it as best as I can."
It bowed its face in shame. "But I can't stand watching pokémon tear each other apart. I couldn't the first time, not this time. I shouldn't have shown you all, so you have to promise me you won't reveal this!"
"O-of course," Electrike said.
"Hey-hey, my lips are sealed. Especially with Treeshroud Forest having its Time Gear stolen, this one has got to be protected!"
"What about Wigglytuff?" Rai asked, frowning. "Shouldn't the guild know so we can help protect this one?"
"Wigglytuff?" Ditto asked suddenly. "Pink chap? Loves Perfect Apples? Much smarter than he looks?"
"That's the Guildmaster," Corphish confirmed. "Wait? You know him?"
"Indeed. He was the one who caught me out the first time, breaking up the feuding teams, and led to the first time I showed the Time Gear to anyone."
Rai and Corphish started back in shock as Team Gazer all exchanged one more look. Beheeyem had retrieved the Treasure Bags. "We swear we will not reveal the Time Gear," he said. Turning to Sean, as he was the only one not blinking in shock, Beheeyem continued. "Team Gazer apologises to you, Team Ion. In any other situation, I'm sure we would have been allies." He offered their bag, the broken strap being held together in Psychic.
"Thank you." Sean nodded back, and Team Gazer left.
"Wigglytuff has been here before?" Rai whispered, expression twisting as he wasn't sure how he should feel. Annoyed? Happy he'd done what the Guildmaster himself had managed? "Why were we sent to look for the treasure here then?"
"He… could he have forgotten? Hey-hey. The Guildmaster CAN be… no, the Guildmaster is not THAT forgetful. How would one forget a Time Gear?"
"Does he know where we were being sent?" Sean added in. "I mean, Chatot was the one who arranged it right?" Turning to Ditto, he asked. "Did you meet a chatot with Wigglytuff?"
"No." Ditto shook its face. "It was years and years ago though. There was no guild Wigglytuff had back then, I'm certain of that."
"Ages ago. Maybe he DID forget?" Rai wondered and sighed. "Well. We found the treasure, we just can't take it with us. I hope Chatot will understand."
"It's a Time Gear," Sean said brightly. "This is exactly what he'll like to hear with the trouble going on. Maybe that's what it was, to check it was still here?"
"Hey-hey, you're right. We should get back to the guild quickly, alert them." He looked to Ditto. "We'll send some guild operatives to help protect you? Okay?"
Ditto hesitated. "If Wigglytuff thinks it'd be the right thing to do… I guess. They'll need to be careful though, the less attention on this place the better."
"We better get going then," Sean said, receiving nods from his companions.
"Take care," Ditto said as they left the limestone cavern.
"What a day?" Sean said as they walked out of the dungeon.
"What a story!" Rai smiled, much more positive now.
"What an adventure. A Time Gear hey-HEY!"
It was with smiles that they left the Boulder Quarry. Sean wouldn't grow concerned until they were back at the guild, realising that a heavily guarded Time Gear could cause problems for later.
"So, it was a path in between the two entries? How fortunate for us."
"Don't get too smug just yet, we've still got to find the Time Gear and the day is going."
"We know it's in there, YOU know it's in there. We'll find it, the night is better for this anyway."
"Ha. Let's just get going."
"That meowth, however…?"
"I noticed too. He looked right at you for a moment, but… if it was him wouldn't he have come over?"
"Skinny though. Just like..."
"We'll find him, let's just get this done."
So, you may have been wondering, why Corphish of all the apprentices? To that I say, why not? In all seriousness though, he's got the least characterisation and reason to being there out of everyone. Dugtrio has more personality than him. And has a role at the guild. Corphish is the only one out of everyone you're most likely to not really care for, so I thought I'd give him some spotlight here!
And here we also get a revelation that Sean may not remember everything from the games too well. He's played the games many times, yes, but he can't remember every little thing. He figured out where they were eventually, but not everything is going to come to him right away. And as things change, it becomes even less reliable.