03 - 06
A large beam of light falls down from the cave's ceiling, landing on the craggy ground, and quickly disappears, leaving behind three Pokemon who immediately look around to study their surroundings.
"It's pretty dark in here," Cindy remarks before firing up her back, lighting up a wide area for her team to see.
A loud screech from above startles them. They immediately look up and see a horde of Zubats flying wildly towards them. A beam of ice strikes one of them, and it continues firing, freezing a few of them but most are getting closer towards them. The ice attack stops. Vixie takes a moment as Cindy takes a step and breathes out a large torrent of flames at the oncoming horde.
A few bats manages to fly through the wall of fire.
His body sparking in electricity, Shino tackles them one by one in a blinding speed. As the fire dies down, Vixie takes a deep breath, takes aim, and fires bolts of ice at the remaining bats in the air, until a few of them starts flying away in random directions, leaving behind their fallen brethren either frozen, burnt or paralyzed.
"Not the kind of welcome I was hoping," Shino says. He turns to his two companions and wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Whew, good job, team."
Cindy and Vixie share a smile and both bump their paws.
One of the fallen Zubats suddenly spring up, flapping his wings wildly and...'staring' at them.
Vixie looks at it warily.
Cindy approaches the bat and pokes it. "Huh... Looks like this one wants to come with us."
The Zubat slowly flies toward the nervous Vulpix and settles on her back.
Shino chuckles. "It seems to like you, Vixie."
"Well how about that?" Cindy says with a smirk. "We found you a partner before the festival!"
Vixie glares at her laughing friend as Shino opens the bag she's wearing and pulls out their badges.
"Hm..." Shino hums in thought, blinking at their three badges. "Yeah, looks like the Zubat wants to be with you, 'Xie."
"Lucky me," Vixie says and sighs. She looks over her shoulder, trying to glare at the bat sitting on her back. "You better not bite me or you're going back to being a popsicle."
"Kinky," Cindy remarks, snickering.
"I have no idea what kind of thoughts are running around your perverted head, Cindy."
Shino rolls his eyes. "Neither do I, and she calls me the perverted one."
"Wow, you two are ganging up on me now?" Cindy asks, shaking her head.
The yellow Shinx shakes his head. "Anyway, let's move on."
The Cyndaquil nods and strengthens the flames on her back, illuminating more of their rocky surroundings. "I'll take point."
Shino nods as he and Vixie follows her. "Triangle," he says, and he and Vixie then walk side-by-side behind the fire-type.
The Zubat's ears twitch, and it then turns toward the noise.
"I feel the Zubat twitching," Vixie quietly says.
Cindy snickers.
Shino looks at the bat on her back. "Hm... Maybe it's hearing other wilds."
"I don't hear anything though," Vixie says.
"Neither do I, but maybe it's sensitive to noise," he remarks, eyeing the bat's large ears.
"And light after the loud welcome its friends gave us," Cindy adds.
"It doesn't seem to react to the light," Shino remarks. "But anyway, it hearing other wilds should be useful."
Vixie nods her head. "They won't be able to spring up on us in surprise?"
Shino nods in agreement as Cindy spots the stairs up ahead.
"Heads up," the fire-type says as she takes a step, but the ground underneath her foot gives a little, startling her and making her stop. "What the...?" She looks down and see the ground under her has transformed into a flat and smooth metal-like surface with a large marking on it.
"Shit," Shino says. "That's a trap!"
The trio stay still, barely breathing.
The seconds fly by.
The Cyndaquil scratches her head. "But, nothing seems to be happening?"
Vixie throws a concerned look at the yellow Shinx. "Maybe it failed?"
Shino sighs, his ears drooping as the Cyndaquil jumps out of the trap. "Lucky us."
"What kind of a trap is this anyway?" Cindy asks. "And it's right next to the stairs, too."
Her other two friends look at the markings and try to figure out what it is.
Shino shakes his head. "No clue, but," he looks back at her with a frown. "We should be more careful."
"Obviously," Cindy says, 'rolling' her eyes. She walks toward the stairs. "Let's just go to the next flo—"
She steps on another trap, also right next to the stairs.
"Are you fucking kidding—?!"
The trap suddenly springs up, launching the screaming fire-type away. As the trap breaks into nothingness, Shino and Vixie wince as they helplessly watch the screaming spec of fireball fly through the darkness until it lands somewhere far away in the dungeon floor.
"S-should we go after her?" Vixie asks as Shino lights up the star on his tail.
He shakes his head. "I'd like to, but we all will be sent to the next floor anyway if one of us manages to climb up the stairs." He gulps as he looks at the stairs. "I just hope she's not hurt too bad."
No other traps are activated as the duo climb the stairs up, sending them and their other friend to the next floor.
"I thankfully landed on a sleeping Snorlax," Cindy comments as she takes point, her two friends following close behind. "I would have broken something if I landed on hard ground."
"I think those kinds of traps will always make you land on a wild," Shino comments. "I'm not one-hundred percent sure though." He frowns. "I shouldn't have skimmed through the list of traps this dungeon has when we were in the library..."
Cindy sighs. "Maybe I should start getting used to stepping on traps if I'll continue taking point." Another sigh. "There's a dirty joke in there, but I'm just not in the mood."
"You want to switch places?" Shino asks.
Cindy shakes her head. "Nah. I can still manage." She throws a smile at him. "Besides, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"And I don't want to see you get hurt, either," Shino replies with a frown.
Vixie simply smiles at their quiet argument.
A Diglett emerges from the ground in front of them, startling the two arguing Pokemon. Vixie quickly fires a beam of ice at the wild, freezing it in place.
As they continue on their way, Shino turns to the ice-type. "Did your Zubat friend sense that?"
Vixie shakes her head. "Not until it popped out of the ground."
"So it can't sense wilds underground."
"Probably applies to wilds underwater, too," Cindy adds as she spots a quiet stream up ahead.
"Heads up," Vixie suddenly says as she feels the bat on her back start to twitch.
They stop and turn to the Zubat, and look towards the direction where it is facing.
"I'll check it out," Cindy says. She takes a deep breath and spits out a small yet fast and bright ball of fire.
The bright fireball sails through the air, illuminating a large portion of its path...
...and revealing two Rhyhorns fighting each other in the distance.
"We should leave them alone," Shino says.
They continue heading towards the stream, only to discover it being a somewhat large body of water, with a small islet on the very middle.
"Looks tempting," Cindy says as she and her team stop a few paces from the water.
Lying on the islet are a number of items, their smooth surfaces reflecting the fire-type's burning light.
Cindy looks over her shoulder, staring at her friends. "Should we go grab them?"
Shino smirks. "We could sell those." He looks around as the fire-type sighs and shakes her head. Seeing no path for them to take, he quickly runs back and prepares himself.
"Shino, really?" Cindy asks with a frown.
"What if there's a trap in there?" Vixie adds.
"Relax," Shino says as sparks start to fly out of his body. "I'll be out of there in a zap."
"We can just ask Vixie's bat friend to fly there and pick them up," Cindy suggests but falls on deaf ears...
...as Shino starts running in great speeds, and jumps at the very edge of the rough ground.
His two friends watch him sail through the air with bated breaths. He quickly lands in the middle of the islet, and grins as he looks at the many items lying around him.
"Jackpot," he says as he approaches the closest item—
—and steps on a trap.
The trap breaks, and the yellow Shinx yelps as the five items around him start to glow and morph into different kinds of Pokemon, all looking at him.
"Get out of there!"
The Machoke quickly throws a glowing punch at the startled Shinx.
A bolt of ice hits the fighting-type, pushing it enough to miss the Shinx by a hair, breaking the ground beneath the electric-type instead.
"Shit—!" he curses after snapping back to his senses, his ears twitching to the four other wilds. He quickly runs in between the Machoke's feet as the ground behind him erupt from the combined attacks of the other wilds.
In front of him, an icy path on the water forms, which he quickly runs over as a fireball sails through the air and erupts on the ground behind him, stopping the Machoke from giving chase.
Finally reaching the other side, Cindy quickly fires another ball of fire at the ice bridge, preventing the wilds from crossing over.
"Are you okay?" Vixie asks as she runs and stops beside him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Shino replies, and chuckles nervously.
Frowning, Cindy approaches him and hits his shoulder. Hard.
He winces as he rubs his newly-acquired injury with a paw. "I deserved that."
"Glad to know you're aware," Cindy says, 'glaring' at him.
Vixie sighs. "Let's just move on and..." she trails off as she feels the Zubat twitching. "Huh?"
One of the wilds, a Graveler, lands hard beside the startled trio, breaking the ground underneath it. The large sentient boulder quickly throws its rocky arms around, hitting the rescuers and throwing them in different directions.
Skidding to a stop, Shino quickly goes back up on all four and shakes his head. He then lights up the star on his tail and glares at the—
With a yelp, the yellow Shinx quickly jumps away in time just before a Rhyhorn lands on him, breaking the ground it landed on.
"What the heck? Are they flying?!"
The earth shakes, and his ears twitch to the sound of rolling rock approaching him. Gritting his teeth, he takes a glance and jumps out of the way of the rolling Graveler, slamming itself on the Rhyhorn.
"Heads up!" Cindy shouts as Vixie fires a beam of ice at the two rock-types.
He follows where the fire-type is pointing, and in the islet, he sees the Machoke grabbing one of the wilds, this time a Mawile, and throws it at him.
"Why are they only after me?!" Shino asks as he jumps out of the way, the Mawile landing hard behind him.
Fire engulfs the Mawile. It struggles in place, trying but failing to put the flames out.
The earth shakes once again. Shino turns to look and sees the Rhyhorn running towards him, its horn at the ready.
A beam of ice freezes the ground in between them. The yellow Shinx runs away as the Rhyhorn slips and slides on the smooth ice, and falls into the water.
"Heads up!"
Hissing, he looks back and sees the Machoke throwing the rolled-up Phanpy at him. He jumps out of the way. The Phanpy turns toward him before landing, and quickly rolls, slamming and running over him.
Vixie and Cindy wince as the rolling ground-type circles around them and goes back towards the rising Shinx.
Eye twitching, his entire tail glowing, he waits and spins in place, slamming his iron-like tail at the rolling elephant, sending it rolling in the air and lands back on the ground. Still rolling, it quickly rolls toward him.
"Damn it," he groans and delivers another iron tail attack, this time sending it towards the water. "And stay there," he yells as the Phanpy lands on the water with a splash.
"Whew," Cindy says with a smile as she and Vixie approaches the panting electric-type. "Now that was something," she says, nuzzling him.
"Wait," Shino says as he takes a step back. "What about the Graveler?" he asks, looking around until his gaze lands on the frozen boulder. "Oh."
Cindy chuckles, and gestures behind the Shinx. "Behind you."
Shino looks at her, and raises a non-existent eyebrow. "What? Did the Machoke throw itself at me, too?"
"No," Vixie shakes her head with a smile. "But it looks like you made a new friend."
Shino blinks, looks back and sees the Phanpy staring at him. Startled, he jumps and growls at it, making his two friends laugh.
"Relax, you dumdum," Cindy says as she approaches the blank ground-type. She stands behind the wild and looks under its tail.
"Cindy, really?" Shino asks with a frown as Vixie blushes and tries but fails to look away.
"It's a guy," Cindy says with a smirk. "Too bad for you, lover boy."
"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Shino snarls. "This thing was trying to turn me into a pancake earlier!"
Cindy shrugs and climbs on the Phanpy's back. "Don't be jealous now."
Shino rolls his eyes as Cindy commands it to move, which it did. Shaking his head, he and Vixie ignore the Machoke standing still on the islet as they follow along the Phanpy-riding Cyndaquil.
"I could get used to this," the fire-type says, and chuckles. "At least I won't be stepping on traps now."
Vixie chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm reminded of a certain someone who will not like this."
"Huh?" Cindy asks, looking back at her. "Who?" A 'blink'. "Oh, him." She smirks at her. "Why, Vixie! Why is he suddenly on your mind?"
The ice-type frowns at her. "What? Am I not allowed to talk about him?"
"Speaking of our grumpy friend," Shino starts, tilting his head a bit. "I wonder if traps also work like stairs."
"What do you mean?" the Cyndaquil asks.
"Do you mean his sapient theory?" Vixie adds.
Shino looks at her and nods. "Yeah." He throws a frown at the fire-type. "So if you're riding on—"
The yellow Shinx steps on a newly-revealed trap, and his immediate surroundings suddenly explode.