EPISODE I - ALWAYS AUDACITY

CHAPTER XII - BROKEN DUNGEONS

The journey took about an hour, the group cutting through the trees that surrounded Robinswood before emerging onto a grassy plain. It was only once they were there did Sam finally get a glimpse of the world beyond a forest. The plains were long but narrow, as just about twenty metres away from where they emerged was a long, sandy beach that stretched as far as his eyes could see. Ocean water lazily lapped onto the shore before it retreated back into the ocean, where further still to the east he could make out the shapes of other islands, jutting out of the deep blue sea.

They continued on northwards, headed further inland as they covered the plains. During the whole time, Sam quizzed Aidan on these so-called Mystery Dungeons. What were they? Where did they come from?

"We don't really know what they are, but in certain places of the world, entire locations get… changed."

"Changed?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, the insides of forests, caves, glaciers… even a few towns, they all get warped into these mazes, each one with a bunch of floors in there."

The Scorbunny frowned, "You serious?"

Aidan shook his head, "I wish I was joking. Dungeons can appear anywhere. Hell, they can basically replace the entire area they form in, and they are often filled with ferals and Pokémon driven mad. But those same dungeons often come with treasures and the like to discover."

"So our job would be diving into those. I'm guessing it's not easy to get out."

"Without badges, using an exit or orbs. No, it's not easy. Plus, you can't map them, as every time you go in, the layout changes. Many folks end up getting lost in the dungeons and lose themselves whilst they are there."

Sam felt a chill settle into his chest, the description of the Dungeons themselves didn't disturb him. But the relaxed, casual way Aidan explained it did. Have… have these Dungeons been such a common occurrence for so long? Is that way Pokémon treat them the way they do?

"Well, we won't have to deal with them for very long." Aidan said, eyes focused on the road. "I mean, last year there were four Dungeons that were left from collapse of the big one at Broken Wood. Now we have three." He managed to pull a shrug, "Wouldn't be surprised if they were all gone in a couple of years."

Keeping his eyes back on the road, Sam tried to take some small comfort in that.

Soon enough, they pulled off the beaten road and into another set of woods. Unlike the lush, green mix of predominantly evergreens and several deciduous trees back in Robinswood, the trees here were darker, greyer and visibly damaged. Large branches had been snapped clean off, bark had been peeled away and stumps were left with jagged, sharp points.

They weren't kidding when they called the place Broken Wood alright.

"Alright! We're here."

Sam stiffened to attention as the Rhydon led the group into a clearing in the trees. It had clearly been forest itself once before, but all that remained of them was a handful of stumps and the churned-up ground and boulders where they once stood. A rock wall rose up before the party, and it was there that a dark cave beckoned before them.

The Pokémon began to spread out, filling in the space as Esper, Jack and the Rhydon settled into place in front of the group, blocking the path into the dungeon. "Okay, listen in everyone." Esper started, "I'm only going to say this once."

She waved a hand at the cave entrance, "This is the first of three different dungeons here at Broken Wood. You will be going through all three of them, and you will come across a few tests along the way. They will echo the missions we normally take when we go through Dungeons, but also in normal, everyday locations as well."

The Morpeko raised one hand up, "Excuse me, but what kind of tests?"

"We'll inform you of each one as you reach each dungeon." Esper confirmed, "But for the first one, there will be an item you'll need to find.".

Reaching into her satchel, the Meowstic pulled out what appeared to a four-pointed star, a little bit larger than her hand. It flickered from one colour to the next, reds, yellows, blues… the entire spectrum. Nia rubbed her paws together, looking comical as she brought her wings in to do so. "Ooh! An emera right?"

"Sorry kiddo, not quite!" Jack explained, touching down for what seemed to be the first time since Sam had met him. "Emera's can only exist in Mystery Dungeons."

Another Pokémon in the group, a Starly, tilted his head in confusion. "Then… what is it? How can it be like an emera and yet it's not?"

The crystal floated up above Esper's hand, a faint glow in her eye indicating that she was doing it with her own psychic ability. "This is actually an Dynis."

"First I've heard of that." Alice noted, arms still crossed. Sam glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow.

Is that like… her default position or something?

"I've heard of these…" Aidan mused.

Sam swivelled his head round towards him, something ticking in back of his mind at the Froakie's knowledge. "Go on then."

The frog placed a hand against his chin, as if trying to drag the memory back to the surface. "Normally emera's break up, but very rarely when leaving a dungeon, they can condense into a star shape like that. No one knows why, but they lose the bulk of their properties." He waved a hand at the crystal, "All they do is glow like that. They're a bit like gold nowadays, pretty, but aren't really useful for a lot of things."

The Dynis continued to pulse, shifting with all the colours of the rainbow. The fire rabbit found his eyes drifting to settle back onto it, drawn to its light. A faint warmth settled into his chest, as if trying to draw him closer. Why… why does that seem… familiar…

"There will be one of these for each team." Esper explained, "These are the only Dynis we have, so don't lose them. We have them scattered across each of the six floors. You need to recover one, and clear the dungeon."

Sam frowned, dragging his gaze of the crystal, "That's it? Seems simple enough."

He suppressed a growl as Alice shook her head slowly, retaining that same bored expression from before. "Nothing 'bout a Dungeon is easy."

"And for once, I agree with her." Aidan added, bumping the Scorbunny's shoulder with his own, more out of support than anything else.

Sam could only roll his eyes as Esper spoke back up. "Alice is right." She explained, returning the Dynis back to the satchel. "Just because these are weakened dungeons doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Some of the tunnels have collapsed, and there are still hostile Pokémon and ferals inside."

A cold fist clenched his chest, the Scorbunny stiffening up. He was about to ask why, but it soon clicked once again. Ah… some of the Mons in there can go mad…

"Should we… help them?" Sam asked, wondering if that was genuinely a stupid question or not.

The Meowstic took one hard look at him, enough that felt one of his feet slip back. And yet, her yellow eyes didn't seem like they were piercing him, instead, he could only feel… a faint presence at the very edge of his mind. Not as if it was looking in but rather… it was hard to describe… hanging there?

Of course, that could just be him.

"If you can, by all means." Esper said, nodding at him, "But most of those Pokémon may be too far gone. Don't be afraid to fight back if you must. Understood?"

Sam hesitated, tapping a pair of digits against his side, and finally nodded back in silence.

Esper turned her gaze across the entire group, "You'll find one of our aides at the end of the first dungeon. They'll check if you have the Dynis on hand, that is your pass to the next test. You should be fine in there, but just in case, we will give you an Escape Orb. One for each of you."

The Rhydon stepped forward, pulling out small, blue orbs that were barely bigger than baseballs and passing them over to the different Pokémon. Sam had a closer look at his orb, it's surface featureless save for a faint symbol on the inside that resembled an arrow. "If you are in so much danger you have to flee, use that orb to escape the dungeon." Esper explained, "But if you do, then you will be effectively forfeiting. If we don't find you at the end by midday, we'll be following up behind you. Understood?"

A few calls of confirmation later, and the Guild members stepped to one side, "Then without further ado, whenever you're ready." Esper declared with a little smile.

Nia immediately squealed with delight, bouncing into the air with a flap of her wings. "Oh, we are so going get the Dynis first!"

For the first time since he met her, Alice seemed shocked, a flash of alarm rushing across her face as the Noibat flew into the cave entrance at speed, the Morpeko scrambling to follow her. The Buneary looked looser, just for a moment as she untied her arms, before her features tightened back up. Letting out a heavy sigh, she slowly walked after her two teammates and into the Dungeon. Across the way, the Bulbasaur Bruce flashed his teeth, "Heh! Not if we can help it!"

He looked round towards his two teammates, a Yanma and Ducklett, who were stood alongside him. "Let's get that crystal lads!"

With a shared cheer, Team Forest followed close behind. And then one at a time, the other teams scrambled to follow them. Sam took a step forward, only for Aidan's hand to settle onto his shoulder. "Hang on, let them rush through first, get into a mess, then we follow up once they clear out the first room."

Sam glanced over the Froakie, flashing his buckteeth, "But they'll get a head start on those crystals!"

"And whilst they're stumbling on top of each other, we can slip ahead."

The Scorbunny tried to counter, something about it smelling… fishy almost. No pun intended. But in the end, he could only shrug. It was probably Aidan only being tactful, try and give them the best chance to secure their objective. Aidan was pretty smart after all.

He watched as one after the other, the teams moved through and into the cave. But the rabbit and the frog held back, the seconds ticking as Aidan glanced at some invisible watch on his wrist. Jack and the Rhydon looked between themselves and towards the two recruits. "You two… still want to do this?" questioned the latter.

Sam nodded sharply, "Yeah… Aidan?"

The Froakie tapped once, then twice, then clicked his tongue. "Alright, let's go."

He hopped on ahead, and Sam jogged after him and into the darkness of the cave.

And by darkness… well, it became impenetrable, Sam's footsteps fading into silence as Aidan faded from his vision. Panic began to settle in, as his senses vanished. Wh-what's happening!? He gasped, trying to suck in breath, W-

Light blinked back into life, Sam's vision blurring as he stumbled back, trying to shield his eyes. "A-Aidan?!"

"I'm here. First time's always rough."

His eyes refocusing, Sam could only let out a little gasp as he found himself inside a well-lit, oddly rectangular cave. Its walls looked like they had once been made of stone brick… well… used to be anyway. Entire chunks of rock were missing, boulders littering the ground where they sat. Sam turned, trying to find the exit-

That was when he realised. The cave entrance was gone. Aidan had pre-warned him on the journey over that the entrance could vanish without a trace. But even so, he wasn't ready for such a sudden change. "Geez…" Aidan stated, eyes looking over the walls. "No wonder these dungeons are fading away, just look at the walls."

He turned back towards Sam, lips tight, "You okay?"

Taking a breath, steading himself, the Scorbunny nodded. "Yeah… let's go and find ourselves a crystal."

They didn't encounter anyone as they started their sweep across the first floor, checking each room with a glance as they went round. Aidan led the way, keeping the pace up for Sam to quite easily follow. Sam narrowed his eyes at the sight of each room. Of how stripped bare they were. Maybe it was the first teams to scramble in that left it like this, or maybe it was just the poor condition of this dungeon. Either way, it almost seemed... as if this entire place was some icon to an age that was beginning to come to an end.

Granted, he barely knew much on the world. He would have to find a library at some point and try and read up on everything that had happened. Right now though, we've got a dungeon to clear.

He was that deep in thought, that he nearly tripped on the steps.

Blinking, he took a step back, eyes fixed on the crumbling but uniform stone steps that rose up into the cave ceiling. "The hell…"

Aidan patted the Scorbunny on the back, "Funny for some weird, unknowable place to have steps huh?"

One of his ears dipped far enough that it now hung in front of his face, a little flash of warmth running through his cheeks. "Yeah… you can say that."

They kept going like that, ascending through each floor, checking each corner, corridor and chamber. And yet, none of the teams appeared. Nor did any hostiles show themselves.

And still, no Dynis crystal could be found.

By the third floor, they started coming across other items scattered throughout the rooms. A couple of blue oran berries mainly, but they came across a seed too, marked with a tiny star. A Reviver Seed, Aidan explained to him. Capable of reviving a Pokémon from unconsciousness or the brink of death. That was pretty handy, he had to admit.

What caught him off guard was a few coin bags of all things. "Really?" Sam questioned, scooping up the golden coin out of one such bag, marked with a struck-through P. "Berries I can get, but cash?"

Aidan rubbed the back of his head, tossing one of the bags into his satchel. "No idea, but hey, some free Poke can't hurt right?"

Sam bit down on his lip, eyeing the coin in his hand. "I suppose you're right. But we still need that crystal."

It was when they reached the fourth floor when they noticed something else. A faint dripping noise coming through the corridors. Sam's ears perked up, trying to trace the sound. "Water?" he questioned.

"Could be." Aidan replied, "Want to check it out?"

Sam nodded, ears swivelling round to lock onto the source. "Yeah, follow me!"

They pushed through another pair of corridors, tracing the dripping as they pushed through to a new chamber. At first glance, it looked just the same as the others, only now, a pool of water was settled into one far corner, the clear liquid dripping in from the ceiling. "Didn't think we were going to find any water at all in here." Sam mused, stepping up to the water's edge, seeing that white rabbit stare back at him in the reflection. "Not with the state this place is in."

"Maybe it was already here." Aidan said, stroking a hand through the water. "It doesn't really help us either way."

The Froakie's hand clenched, "Ugh! Where the hell are those Dynis supposed to be? They aren't on the floor." He started scanning the walls, eyes narrowing, "But… where else can they put them? They can't start digging out the walls of a Dungeon…"

Looking down into the water again, Sam let out a sigh. Both of them had suppressed their worries and doubts about finding the Dynis crystals. At least, that's what Sam had figured. But to see Aidan worrying about it now… "Maybe they've already been collected, there'll be one-"

Something flickered in the corner of his eye. One ear twitching, he turned back towards the water. Huh? A trick of the lig-

He caught the briefest flash of red light in the reflective water.

Oh shit…

"Aidan! I think I've found it!"

The two shuffled closer to the water's edge, the source of the light glowing at the far side of the pool. Deeper below the surface. "That's a bit cheap." Sam grumbled, leaning forward and dipping his fingers into the cold water. "Well, I suppose it's a place to hide it." He dipped a foot into the water, hissing as the chill sank through his skin.

Aidan's hand clamped down on his shoulder, "Hold on! What'd you think you're doing?" he barked, a little bit of panic settling into his voice.

Stiffening, Sam rolled his head round, "Swimming over. Obviously." He said with a faint hiss.

"As a fire type? The water in dungeons is pretty deep."

"I can swim just fine."

"Can you?"

"Yeah!"

Sam couldn't quite hide the hesitation in his voice, judging from Aidan's raised 'brow'. That, and his shivering leg. The Scorbunny tried to hold his nerve for a moment longer… only to groan as he pulled his foot out. "Okay… even if I could… doing it here is probably not the best idea."

"Amnesia right?"

"…yeah."

Sighing, Aidan let go and stepped into the water, "I'm a water type anyway, just keep an eye out, I'll get that out in a jiffy."

Sam nodded back, a hand resting against his hip, "Be careful now."

The Froakie could only flash a grin in reply before he dived straight into the water, dipping underneath the surface. Taking a step back, Sam narrowed his eyes, trying to track his partner's movements through the water. But soon enough, with the light bouncing off and refracting through the surface, Aidan had disappeared.

The Scorbunny let out a heavy sigh, plopping himself down by the water's edge, his muscles slowly unwinding. Well, at least we found a Dynis… I hope so anyway. But still… this still feels pretty easy. No mons and that despite this place looking like it was falling apart. Maybe everything has already left-

A low, snarling growl rumbled out from one of the corridors. A shiver ran down his spine, and his gut clenched at the sound. …I just had to open my stupid mouth didn't I?

He picked himself back up, his ears already locking onto the closest corridor as the growl crept forth again, only serving to reveal its origin. Sam ground his feet against the rock floor beneath him, feeling the warmth begin to build up in first his feet, then his chest as he willed the emotions from before to surface. The joy, relief and anger… the whole lot as he braced himself for the new threat.

He didn't have to wait long. A green, canine Pokémon emerged from the corridor, marked with yellow marks that streaked across it's spiky surface like lightning bolts. An Electrike.

It's bloodshot eyes swivelled round towards him, locking on him as its teeth slipped into view, glinting in the light. As it began to turn towards him, another colour flashed, just around it's front left leg. A flash of… white? Sam leaned an inch to the side to get a better view. It was an armband, completely white, save for a purple symbol sketched onto it. A diamond with a jagged bolt going through it. They're an explorer?

He slowly raised his arms up, palms facing the Electrike. "Hey… I'm on a rescue team… are you lost? We can help you get out."

The Electrike's mouth widened, the teeth glistening further as the Pokémon shuddered. Its pupils widened as it stepped closer, twitching as it did.

And with it, came a familiar dripping sound that softly echoed across the room. Not water this time. But the red droplets falling free of the Pokémon's mouth.

Sam slid back, his heel nearly slipping into the water the only indicator that he was stuck with his back against the wall. Swallowing the saliva in his throat, Sam steeled himself, and raised his hands up further. "Listen… I can help you-"

The Electrike roared, the Scorbunny's heart nearly bursting out of his chest as the canine Pokémon shot towards him, electricity crackling around it's body. Eyes widened and nearly blood red.

Ready to murder him.