~ Lorde's Path, Gullveria ~

-6 hours later-

Both teams walk in a cluster of Pokemon. Team Nova, despite their disdain for Team Pixie, reluctantly travel together in tense silence. That is, until…

"This is so boring!" Ivy shouted, "Do you brutes just fight in silence all the time?!"

"Shut it." Kruler growled, "We don't need commentary from snobby brats."

"Hey!" Pico snapped, "That's no way to talk to the boss lady!"

"Oh? Is that so? Then I'll settle for snapping at you!"

The Croconaw snapped her jaws at the Meowth, who gave a yipe and settled back immediately. Ivy rolled her eyes and grunted, "You aren't supposed to cower in fear, Pico! You're supposed to be my right-hand man!"

"Can't we just talk this out like civilized Pokemon?" Lena asked, "Like, I, for one, appreciate the extra help we're about to get on our mission."

"On that, we can agree," Traximus nodded, and then turned to Ivy, "So what job brings you guys to a place like Tardis Swamp anyway?"

"Escort mission," Ivy explained, "An Appleton mother is missing her child and she said that the last place she was seen was in the swamp. So that's where we're looking."

"Aww, I didn't think you were so soft-hearted." Kroto chided, "After the University, it's a wonder you have a heart."

"Excuse me?!" Ivy bellowed, "We're not like you. We actually care about our clients and take care of them! How could you say such a thing to a Pokemon like me?"

"Come on, let's try to leave the past behind us," Palla complained, "We can't devolve to infighting."

"She's right, you know," the Hattrem agreed, "Ivy, please stop. It's not helping our situation."

The Kirlia grumbled obscenities under her breath before striding ahead of the group. "Come on, girls, let's just get to our destination," she then pointed to Kroto, "You. How close are we to our destination?"

Kroto, rolling his eyes, sighed and peered at the map. "We're nearing a place called Yashibura Town. From there, we might be able to take a caravan to Tardis Swamp."

Pico scratched his face with his left paw, "Why didn't Agent Wayne just give us a caravan to our destination? We wouldn't have to walk there on foot!"

Kroto ushered his teammates to his side, "This is probably why. There's a mystery dungeon between this point on the map and an opening to Yashibura Town. Walking around takes too long, so he probably expected us to take the mystery dungeon through."

Traximus looked between his crew, "So that's why he had us stock up so much. Any clue on what Pokemon we might find there, Kroto?"

"Based on the geography, and the fact it's labeled 'Yashibura Forest', probably grass and bug types."

"Alright gang!" Traximus glared ahead, pointing his nub forward, "Let's speed through this!"

The group pressed forward, coming to the edge of a forest. The pokemon sized up the situation, making sure to inspect all their items. With a collective nod, the group headed into the forest.

~ Yashibura Forest - 1F ~

The trees in the forest heavily obscured the light coming from above, casting dark shadows onto the ground below. Ivy and Traximus took the lead, leaving the cluster of pokemon behind them to watch their backs. Ivy, noticing the darkness, gestured to Traximus to follow her to the edge of the forest lining. Noticing that Ivy picked up a stick, Traximus caught on to her line of thinking.

"You want me to make a torch, right?" The Bagon asked.

Ivy looked at the stick and back to Traximus, "If you will."

A small bit of dragon fire was spewed from the Bagon's mouth, covering the top of the stick with the energy. After the fire passed, a warm, orange glow appeared on the tip of the stick.

"Good. After you," Traximus gestured ahead.

As the group continued forward, Palla took notice of some distorted colors in the thickness of the trees. She tapped Kroto on the shoulder, and pointed at the thicket of the forest.

"Hey, Kroto. Don't the colors of the forest look a bit off to you?" Palla asked, huddling closer to the group.

"Now that you mention it, didn't the forest look a bit greener before we entered? Now it looks almost like-"

Kroto's train of thought was stopped when Traximus and Ivy came to a complete stop. In front of them was a larger, open area, but something was off. No ferals were to be found around this area.

"Hold that thought Palla," the Passimian looked around the area, scouting any possible entry points or exit points, but found no ferals. "Guys, this place is empty…"

"Good!" Ivy cheered, "The less trouble we have, the better!"

Kruler rolled her eyes, "Ugh… So boring! Where's the action at?"

"We're only at the beginning, there could be more," Traximus looked around and found a pathway extending to his right, "Look. There's an opening this way. I think."

The group, following the direction of the Bagon, headed through the passageway. Ivy, carrying the torch, found herself at the front of the group when she was jumpscared by a black shadow that raced across the group, causing her to drop the torch. When the stick hit the ground, the flames extinguished, causing the lining of the trees to return to the native dark colors.

"Ivy!" Traximus screamed, "Why did you drop the torch?!"

"I-I saw something! It raced across the tree lines!" The Kirlia shouted.

Kruler balled her fists, "Lovely! So we lost our sight because you got spooked! You're useless!"

"Kruler, come on! We can make another-"

"Guys!"

Everybody turned their attention behind them. A looming black shadow hovered directly above Rico, dumping a miasma of ooze onto him.

"Team! Whatever that thing is above Rico! Hit it!" Traximus ordered.

"I've got it!" Kruler shouted, coating her fists in rushing water. She dashed to a tree, jumped off it, and launched a waterfall attack towards the shadow. Unfortunately, the shadow fell straight downward right before she could hit it.

"Guys! It's after Rico! Somebody do something!" The Croconaw shouted.

Rico rolled out of the way, but rolled into Lena. The Hattrem, startled, jumped left instinctively taking cover in the bushes. When the shadow lunged at him again, Rico was more ready for the attack. He leaped up in the air, allowing the shadow to travel into the bushes.

'Wait, didn't that Hattrem just hide in those bushes?! Shoot! I've got to-'

"Too late, squirts…"

The group's attention was brought to the shadow, which now had a strange face attached to it. It had red eyes, a goofy grin and blended in almost perfectly in the shadows of the forest.

"You're crossing our territory now," The shadow spoke, "So now you gotta pay the toll. A simple exchange."

"What?! An exchange?!" Traximus shouted back, "What do you want?!"

"Easy." The shadow held up the now sleeping form of the Hattrem, "We keep this one, and you can pass through unharmed."

"Huh?!" Rico exclaimed, eyes widening, "How did she fall so quickly?!"

"You monster!" Ivy cried, "Release her this instant!"

"Funny, I was aiming for the Froakie, but this result is more entertaining!" The shadow laughed, "Now, do we have a deal or not?"

A cold sweat went down Ivy's neck. Kroto instinctively pulled Palla into a defensive position and Kruler had her waterfall attack at the ready. Team Nova prepared themselves for a fight, but the remaining members of Team Pixie simply stood on, stuck at an impasse.

"How about option C?" Kruler growled, "We cave whatever you call a skull in, and take our cohort back, then pass through unharmed?!"

Ivy glared daggers at the Croconaw, "What are you doing?! Are you considering the fact that he has a hostage?! Let me spell it out for you! H-O-S-T-A-G-E!"

"Yeah!" Pico echoed, "Not just any hostage, but our teammate! You get her killed and we'll tell Wayne!"

"Tell him what? The fact that you're so incompetent that you let your teammate get captured and killed?!"

"So you all are part of an exploration team? Not just some random pokemon?" The shadow began cackling, "Oh! This is good! Very good! Let's play a game!"

As the shadow floated backwards, its body became more visible from the dim lighting provided by the area behind the group. It was short, fat and largely purple.

"A Gengar!" Kroto shouted, "Most of my attacks are useless here!"

"That's right, Passimian. Say, don't you remember me? Don't I look familiar…?"

"Familiar…?" Kroto looked at the ground for a moment, then snapped his head back to the gengar, "You! You're from the university!"

"What? You know this guy, Kroto?" Rico asked.

"Long story. Basically, he's a terrorist!"

"Dawww!" The gengar gave a malicious smile, "Your words make my non-existent heart swell! But enough of this! If you won't take my deal, then this one is mine, and what's yours is a dungeon of pain!"

A swirl of shadows surrounded the group of pokemon after a snap of the Gengar's fingers. "My name is Therian of Team Blackhand. If you survive this dungeon, you're gonna have a bad time…"

Therian vanished. In just a moment, the forest's naturally occurring green hue was replaced by a deep purple one. The group of pokemon within huddled closer to each other, bracing themselves for what potential threat looms over them.

"Croconaw!" Ivy shouted, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't provoked him, we could have saved her!"

"MY fault?!" Kruler snapped back, "I was going to take action and actually rescue her but you just had to run your mouth and now look where we are!"

"Hmph! I wanted to talk things out first before you decided to go nuclear! You probably were prepared to sacrifice her in the name of the mission!" The Kirlia's eyes then began to glow a bright blue color, concurrently with her voice, dripping with ire, "I bet you would do the same to anybody else on your team, so long as you get to fight!"

Kruler felt her feral instincts take over as she tackled Ivy. Noticing the tensions flaring up, Kroto sprung into action, pulling Kruler right arm back, which had been nearly instantaneously coated in a waterfall attack.

"What are you DOING?!" The Croconaw shouted, "Let me at her!"

Kroto worked hard to pull Kruler off Ivy, "Stand down! As much as I don't like them, they're our allies for now!"

"I can't let her trash-talk us! Not when we've been through this much hell already!" Kruler grunted, "Let me GO!"

Kroto wrapped his long arms around Kruler's body, "I can't let you go if you're gonna go berserk on us! Come on! Get a grip!"

"Ugh! Fine!"

Kroto gently placed Kruler away from Ivy and stepped in between the two. Everybody's gazes then fell before the Kirlia.

Traximus cleared his throat, "Now, we need to devise-"

"Ghost!" Ivy shouted, pointing behind Traximus.

Turning around instantly, Traximus instinctively used Dragon Breath, causing a Gastly to emerge from the shadows and fall to the ground. The pokemon twitched and shuddered before dissipating into the shadows.

"Was that a feral? It doesn't look like one…" Palla commented.

"Who cares!" Ivy screamed before running off into the pathway, "Lena I'm coming!"

"Boss lady! Wait for meeeeee!" The Meowth took off running after her.

Kruler rolled her eyes and went to Traximus's side. Kroto, Palla and Rico all followed suit and eventually the group huddled together.

"Okay, our teamwork's been blown and we have a hostage pokemon," Traximus looked down the pathway, "But I still think we can handle this. We need to save Team Pixie, from their own stupidity if anything else."

"Why?" Kruler chided, "If anything they reap what they sow."

"Honestly, I'm with Kruler on this one," Kroto relented, "If we chase them, we could get into danger ourselves. But on the other hand…"

"We can't leave them behind!" Palla shouted, commanding the attention of her comrades, "I mean, that's not what rescue teams do, right Traximus?"

"That's right." The Bagon shut his eyes, "But I'm worried about Team Blackhand. If they get to that key first, then our mission is a failure, and they get a god."

"Then I'll do something about it!"

All eyes befell Rico. The rest of Team Nova looked on, expectantly.

"I-I mean, as a human, I have powers beyond that of a normal pokemon, right? I proved it, didn't I?" The Froakie sank within himself.

"Uhh, yeah?" Traximus tilted his head, "But…"

"So I think we can do this! I'm all for Saving Private Lena!" Rico joked, drawing confused stares from the rest of the party.

"I think we got a broken human…" Kroto facepalmed, "But he's got a point. Humans do make naturally stronger pokemon, evidently."

"Really Kroto?" Kruler leered at him, "I can't be the only one who thinks we should just leave them!"

"Okay, we'll leave it to a democratic vote." Traximus offered, "Everybody in favor of saving Team Pixie from their horrendous mistake, raise your… appendages?"

Traximus lifted his right nub. Followed by Palla raising her hand. Then Rico, and even Kroto lifted his hand after a few seconds of silence. Everybody looked to Kruler, who just scoffed.

"Fine, I guess I'm outvoted. You win." She grumbled as she reluctantly raised her arm.

"With that settled," Traximus set his sights back down the passageway, "Stay together, and if you find a good enough stick, let me know so I can light it."

Team Nova filed their way down the corridor and eventually came across a staircase. They ascended it in anticipation of their next challenge.