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Gemstone Mines (Entrance)

The opening to the mines stood before the two Pokemon, like a giant mouth with raw, uncut gemstones for teeth. Cracked and rotting support beams barely held up the entrance to the cavern, a fact that did little to soothe Armand’s nerves. He gulped, “Well…this is our first mission. We have no idea who our client is, no idea what’s in it for us, and we have to finish two thirds of this dungeon. Who’s idea was this anyway?” His single eye wandered over to his partner, Veronica the Larvitar, who just stood there, arms crossed in front of her chest, a triumphant smirk on her face, ”Heh, yours , smart one. I told you we should’ve gone with saving that poor Chikorita from the big bad lava,” she shook her head, voice filled with false pity as she said ‘poor.’ Armand glared at her, and proceeded to the Mine’s entrance. He examined the stray crystals that lay littered around the area. He shook his head, “We won’t be finding any Everstones here… despite how much I would like to…better get go-” Armand was cut off when he realized that Veronica was already inside the mines, halfway down the first flight of stairs, and was waving back at him with that annoying smirk of hers, “Come on you Slowpoke! What are you afraid of? The dark?!” She continued to laugh all the way down the stairs, Armand silently in tow.

Gemstone Mines (BF1)
Belly Slots: 5
Pokemon: 0

Despite being only the first floor, the Mines were surprisingly dark, only lighted by glowing crystals that littered the walls. Veronica marched triumphantly ahead, Armand floating not too far behind her, hands behind his back, deep in thought. (Who could be this mysterious client? What would they want with an Everstone…? Could it be possible that they want to use it for…) Armand vaguely registered that his name was being called. His single eye zoomed around in his skull, searching for any sign of his partner. “Armand! Dammit, come help me!” Armand finally pinpointed the angsty Larvitar, pinned against a wall by a Vulpix who looked as if it had a horrible case of rabies. Armand brought his arms around in front of him and concentrated. Within a matter of seconds, a small ball of yellow light had formed, he shot it at the Vulpix. At first, it seemed as if the move did nothing, but then the Vulpix backed away, and promptly smacked into a wall, over, and over again. Veronica righted herself, laughing. She walked over to the Vulpix and punched the wall beside her, hard. A shock wave was sent up the wall, and a small pile of rocks fell on the Vulpix’s head, knocking it unconscious. “You know, for a wimp, you ain’t that bad at fighting. Come on, let’s go.” she proceeded into the darkness as Armand sighed and followed.

Gemstone Mines (BF2)
Belly Slots: 4.5
Pokemon: 1

The two Pokemon, walked side by side through the winding corridors. It was quiet in the cave, and that made Veronica nervous. She craved noise, some sort of action, calmness was just too….calm for her. Armand gave her a curious glance as she fidgeted with her hands, wondering what could possibly be wrong. As if on cue, a sudden jet of water pegged Veronica in the back of the head, pushing her face first into the ground. Armand looked behind them, only to find a Shellder, laughing hysterically at Veronica as she righted herself again, an angry glare on her face. She looked ready to fight, so Armand held out a hand, “No, allow me. You’re at a disadvantage.” Veronica looked as if someone had slapped her, but she just let out a huff and crossed her arms defiantly. By Now the Shellder had stopped its laughing fit and was ready to go. It let out a low growl, but Armand stood his ground, concentrating on some unseen force. The Shellder suddenly leaped at Armand, but it didn’t get far. Behind it, a shadow version of Armand was holding the Shellder, and promptly threw it against the nearby wall, knocking it unconscious with a sickening crack, for it had hit a hard crystal. Armand winced as the Shellder slid down the wall, he hadn’t meant for it to get hurt that badly. He shrugged, Shellder had strong shells and he knew it’d be fine…eventually.

Gemstone Mines (BF3)
Belly Slots: 4
Pokemon: 2

Again, the tunnels had fallen silent, the only sound was Veronica’s feet against the gravelly surface of the cave floor. Veronica stopped, looking very alert, as she stared down the dark hallway. Armand looked back at her, curious. “Armand…get close to the wall…” Veronica’s voice was so serious, Armand actually didn’t know what to do.
“Wha-?”
“OUT OF THE WAY!”
Veronica brutally shoved Armand out of the way just as he heard it. It sounded like a small stampede of Tauros, and it was getting close fast. Veronica landed with a thud, just as a round pink ball barreled into view. The Larvitar struck a steady stance and took the Rollout attack head on, grabbing the wild Jigglypuff by its sides to slow its velocity. As it slowed, Veronica savagely bit its head, over and over again, until it had finally stopped, fainted from the sheer force of the bites. Armand was speechless, he had never seen Veronica fight like that before. Veronica just looked at Armand, a smile on her face, “You’re welcome. Now get a move on.” Veronica trotted off into the darkness. Armand just blinked, and followed wordlessly.

Gemstone Mines (BF4)
Belly Slots: 3.5
Pokemon: 3

Veronica sighed, arms limp, “Are we there yet?” she whined. “No. We still have about sixteen floors left, at least that’s where the mission said the Everstone would be…” Armand gave Veronica a look that said it was better not to continue this conversation. Normally, it would have done nothing to stop her, but another voice had joined the conversation, “ Everstone, eh? I doubt you’ll be getting that far, ‘cause your mission ends here, a’hyuck” Armand’s eye snapped back to the darkness at the end of the corridor, which soon revealed the source of the noise. A Lombre, flanked by two Poliwhirl, came into their line of sight. The five Pokemon stared down each other, knowing the only way this would end is with one party being knocked out. Armand made the first move, he had been silently charging a new Confuse Ray, and fired it at the Lombre. Unfortunately, the erratic flight pattern of the ball of light made it hit one of the Poliwhirl. The Poliwhil staggered back, before looking at his comrades, an obviously possessed look on his face. “Paul, what do ya think you’re doin’?!” the Lombre’s attention was fixated on his bodyguard, who just looked at the Lombre, before jumping in the air and smashing him, and the other Poliwhirl under a massive Body Slam. Veronica, who had been silent this whole time, let out a battle cry, and shot at the group, limbs thrashing and flailing in every direction. She jumped and landed in the middle of them, hitting each of them several times, before she fell to the ground, confused from the exhaustion. Armand looked at the other three, who had fainted from the many blows Veronica had given them. He smiled, or at least he would have if he had a mouth, picked up Veronica, and headed for the stairs.

Gemstone Mines (BF5)
Belly Slots: 3
Pokemon: 6

“Oooog, my aching head…” Veronica moaned, rubbing her head furiously, as if enough force could remove the pain. Armand didn’t even bother looking at her, “You of all people should’ve known that using Thrash like that would leave you Confused…” Veronica glared at him, prepared to retort, but a cackle broke through the darkness, and a wild Sableye walked into the light of the crystals, “Kekeke, looks like this is a good time to strike…” Armand would’ve raised an eyebrow if he could, why were Pokemon so intent on stopping them all of a sudden? Veronica looked at Armand, a grimace on her face, “You’re gonna have to deal with this one Armand, I’m still a little disoriented…” Armand nodded and looked at the Sableye, a little too late. As he turned his head, he got a face full of Shadow Ball, which flung him to the ground. The pain was intense, now he knew what it was like to be at a type disadvantage. Armand got up, to the sound of the Sableye cackling again, he righted himself and began to charge up some power. Armand’s body began to swell, larger and larger until he almost completely filled the tunnel. At the climax of his height, he looked down at the Sableye, who was just staring at Armand, a look of complete disbelief on its face. Armand continued to stare at the Sableye, until, at the least expected moment, he let all his energy release in one, big, “BOO!” The sheer force of his words blew the Sableye over. Armand slowly returned to his normal size, and when the Sableye showed no signs of getting back up, he floated over to Veronica, who was dusting herself off. “Wow, I didn’t expect Night Shade to be that effective…guess that Sableye was more of a coward than I initially anticipated…” Armand just nodded, glancing over the Sableye with little interest, before continuing to the next floor, Veronica following close behind.

Gemstone Mines (BF6)
Belly Slots: 2.5
Pokemon: 7

Armand admired the sparkling gemstones; they seemed to get more colorful as the Mine got deeper. Veronica absent mindedly chomped on a random rock, chewing thoughtfully about something that was a mystery to Armand. Frankly, Armand didn’t care what she was thinking about, he had his own issues to contemplate. Although, that would have to wait, because they had more company. Armand and Veronica struck a battle ready pose, making sure whatever came their way would know what they were up against. Unfortunately, instead of some dark, scary monster, a small Happiny came skipping into view. Armand relaxed, but Veronica remained tensed up, she looked at Armand, an evil grin on her face, “I want to hit it.” Armand barely gave her a passing glance, “No.” He turned his attention to the Happiny who had stopped and was looking at the pair curiously, “Excuse me, would you happen to know anything about an Everstone here?” The Happiny regarded Armand curiously before answering, “ Oh you mean the spotty stone? Skitty was playing with it farther in, around the eighteenth or twenty first floors…I don’t really remember. Nice meeting you though~” The Happiny waved good bye before skipping passed them, singing of magic spotted stones. Veronica sighed and started walking, silently. They had a long way to go, Veronica knew it, Armand knew it, now if only they could find a faster way to that Everstone.

Gemstone Mines (BF7)
Belly Slots: 2 Getting hungry…
Pokemon: 7

Veronica turned to her partner, a pained look on her face, “Armand…I’m hungry, can we please eat?”. Armand glanced at her, trying his best to ignore her “innocent” face, “No, the guild only gave us a few items to work with, besides, I’m sure you can hold out a bit longer. Just munch on a few of the stray crystals here. I hear they’re good for growing Larvitar.” He did his best to hide the patronizing look he wore, but Veronica saw it in full, and gave him a vicious glare. Nevertheless, she walked over to the wall and used Rock Slide to knock down a bright pink rock, and started chewing on it thoughtfully. Out of nowhere, a sound resembling rapid gunfire shot through the darkness. Veronica was the first to move, narrowly avoiding a stream of seeds, which obviously had a lot of power behind it. Armand wasn’t so lucky, getting hit square in the face with the next set of seeds, severely hitting him. (A critical hit?! This is just not my day!) Armand righted himself to see that a Nuzleaf, flanked by two Gloom had walked into view. (Looks like traveling in groups of three is a common trend nowadays…) The Nuzleaf looked them over, a smirk on his face, “Tch, such weak Pokemon, not even worth my time…get rid them Gloom.” The Nuzleaf smirked, clearly not at all worried about Armand and his partner. The Gloom moaned creepily and began to advance, seeping what looked like Toxic from their mouths. “Uh, Armand? A little help?” Veronica was backing away slowly, a disgusted look on her face. Armand struggled to get up, something was not right with those Gloom, but now was not the time to dwell on that. Propped up with one arm, Armand fired off a Confuse Ray toward the Nuzleaf. Unfortunately, a Leaf Blade saw to the fact that it never made contact. Armand looked toward Veronica a hopeless look on his face. Veronica just rolled her eyes and smashed the ground causing a small Rock Slide to bury the Gloom. Armand just stared, apparently the Gloom were all looks and no brawn. The Nuzleaf flinched, surprised at the Larvitar’s ferocity and strength. As fast as the weakness was revealed, the Nuzleaf regained its composure, remembering the fact that it had the type advantage. It took a ready stance, sharp Leaf Blades sprouting from its arms, “Now you’re dead!” The Nuzleaf charged at Veronica, his gaze screaming bloody murder. Veronica, being the stubborn spirit that she is, took a stance saying she was ready for anything. Fortunately, Armand was as ready as he could be, a thin shadow stretched from where he lay about a foot in front of Veronica. Just as the Nuzleaf let loose a loud battle cry, a small hand shot from the shadow and grabbed its leg, causing it to plummet face first into the ground. The Nuzleaf grunted as it struggled to remove its Leaf Blades from the ground. Veronica on the other hand, chuckled heartily and smashed the Nuzleaf’s head into the ground with a balled fist. Armand let out a sigh of relief, he tried to get up but pain shot through his body and he fell once again. Veronica walked over with an Oran Berry in hand and let out a sigh, “Don’t move. Here take this, it’ll help.” Veronica tossed the Oran berry at Armand who caught it in his mouth. He let the sweet and well balanced flavors cover his mouth before swallowing. He felt his body warm from the inside as the berry delved deeper into his system. Armand soon realized that he was floating again! Those things must really be powerful…

Gemstone Mines (BF cool
Belly Slots: 2 Getting Hungry…
Pokemon: 10
Items Used: Oran Berry x1

There were now large crystals jutting from the wall and earth, several of them resonating with different elemental powers. Veronica munched on a small green crystal that sparked as she chewed, “Mmm, you really should try the Thunderstone, it’s simply divine~” Armand rolled his eye and was about to retort when the sound of singing interrupted him. (Oh come on! Can’t a guy start a simple conversation in this place?!) Armand fumed silently as a Togetic fluttered into view. It suddenly stopped singing when it noticed the duo, “Oh well hello there~ Would you like to play with me?~” The Togetic fluttered happily above them, seemingly harmless. Armand looked at the Pokemon suspiciously and shook his head, “Um, no…we really don’t have…” “Oops, too bad~”The Togetic waved it’s hands back and forth, causing them to glow. Veronica and Armand tensed, Metronome was not something to take lightly. Finally, the move finished, and the Togetic aimed at Veronica, almost instantly, a large beam of Water struck her point blank. She barely had time to utter, “Hydro Pump?! OH SHI*” Armand watched in horror as his partner was slammed against a wall, and couldn’t get up. The Togetic turned to him, “Whee~ Your turn!~” It winked at Armand and blew him a kiss that actually took on a physical form. Armand quickly charged a Confuse Ray to counter the Sweet Kiss, the two collided, creating a sharp noise that bounced off the walls. Armand was lucky enough to not have eardrums, the Togetic was not so lucky, “ Owie wowie~ That hurts!~” The Pokemon covered it’s ears as it fluttered frantically to try and outmaneuver the sound waves. Armand quickly took advantage of the temporary confusion to analyze the Happiness Pokemon using Foresight. His eye darted around quickly inside his skull, scanning the Pokemon for any sign of weakness. “Got it!” Armand took a ready stance, and suddenly, the crystals seemed to lose a bit if their glow. The cavernous hallway was bathed in an eerie dim light and Armand’s shadow seemed to crawl across all surfaces towards the Togetic. Without warning, the shadows struck out, like stalagmites and stalactites made of a dark and foreboding energy, and stabbed through the frantic Pokemon. It shrieked and fell to the ground, unconscious. Armand panted heavily, what in the world could’ve possessed him to act in such a…uncivilized way? The sound of a stone hitting the floor awoke Armand to the fact that he was not alone. He turned to see Veronica staring at him, mouth agape, a half eaten Moonstone on the ground at her feet. “Um, wow? Creepy much?” Veronica raised an eyebrow at Armand, who in turn, blushed. Or well, he would have if it wasn’t for the fact that he was a ghost.

Gemstone Mines (BF9)
Belly Slots: 1.5
Pokemon: 11
Items Used: Oran Berry x1

Armand floated silently alongside Veronica, trying desperately to forget the incident that had recently transpired. Thankfully, Veronica was busily munching on a newfound evolutionary stone, one that Armand didn’t bother identifying. As if this cave hadn’t already been predictable enough, the hallway started shaking vigorously, causing Veronica to stumble, “What the hell?”. The shaking intensified and just when it felt as if the cave was about to collapse, it all stopped. Veronica and Armand looked around suspiciously, anticipating the worst. Suddenly, the floor in front of the duo opened up and three Diglett popped out, looking quite mad. “Hey, this is our tunnel ya see?! Ain’t no one allowed down here but us!” Veronica looked at the trio, a disgusted look on her face, “Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?” She crossed her arms, making her look even more defiant. Armand slowly slipped into the shadows, he decided it’d be best not to interfere. The head Diglett glowered at Veronica, “Oh yeah? Well come on boys! Lets Dig!” The trio disappeared into the earth instantly, and the tunnel was plunged into silence. Veronica was stagnant, using all of the senses that being a Ground-type gave her. Finally, she smirked, raised her foot, and lowered it hard on to the ground, causing a massive Earthquake to resonate throughout the tunnel. The three Diglett popped out of the ground, looking quite hurt, but very much conscious. “Oi, is that all you got? Mud Bomb!” The three Diglett made a disgusting sound, like the sound you here when someone gets ready to “hock a loogie”, and spit out three giant spheres, all filled with murky water. Veronica easily dodged Mud Bomb number one and two, but three hit her head on, slamming her against a wall. With a grunt, she stood, looking furious that she let her guard slip so much. She glared at the trio who were snickering at her in obvious amusement. Unexpectedly, Veronica found herself surrounded by a strange dark aura,A new move? Sweet. She concentrated on the new dark power and released it in the form of a swirling Dark Pulse. It completely consumed the three Diglett, and they did nothing but stand there, and absorb it, despite the fact they were obviously in pain. When the darkness cleared, the trio was motionless. I guess being rooted to the ground meant they can’t show that they were obviously unconscious. Veronica walked over to the three Diglett and smacked them a few times, testing to see if they were truly unconscious. When everything checked out a-okay, Veronica smirked and continued walking along the tunnel, and was soon joined by Armand. “Now who’s the creepy one?” Veronica just glared.

Gemstone Mines (BF10)
Belly Slots: 1
Pokemon: 14
Items Used: Oran Berry x1

The monotonous hallway opened up into a vast circular clearing, barely lit by a few scattered crystals that dimly shone in the darkness. Armand and Veronica slowed their steps, learning from their previous endeavors and using extra caution. Armand in particular studied the gemstones on the walls carefully. Were they moving? Armand turned to say something to Veronica only to find she had stopped walking a few feet behind. He began to say something, but Veronica just glared and put a finger to her mouth in the well-known “Shush” sign. He just looked at her in confusion; Veronica rolled her eyes and pointed to the shining gems on the ceiling. Armand narrowed his eyes at said gems and watched…they WERE moving. Armand did his best to hide his surprise and took matters into his own hands. With little concentration, he let loose five small Will-o-wisps into the cave, each of them moving toward the small five clumps of moving gems. As the balls of fire reached the ceiling he heard Veronica gasp, the light from the move had revealed that there were several Sableye. All of which were staring at the duo with intense curiosity, each of them having that same cynical grin. Veronica cracked her knuckles in obvious readiness to knock down the five Sableye with a swift Rock Slide. Due to their nature, the Will-o-Wisps made contact with three of the Sableye, and knocking them down to the ground with a thud. The other two dropped their grins and followed suit, but with more grace, of course. The three that had fallen righted themselves with a wince, angry red welts were apparent on their bodies. “Kekeke, you actually made it this far…impressive… too bad this is where it ends!” The middle Sableye lunged himself at Armand, his claws emanating a dark purplish shadow. Armand dodged as quick as he could, only to be hit from behind by a pulsating Power Gem. “Armand! Get up quick!” Veronica raised her fist high in the air, halting only to give Armand enough time to avoid her attack. He quickly rose in the air, away from the ground as Veronica’s fist made contact and the room suffered a major Earthquake. Armand looked around nervously, could this old mine shaft take so much punishment? “Veronica! Be careful with those moves! This is a very old tunnel!” Armand rushed over to the Sableye which hit him with Power Gem, for a little Payback, which seemed to work nicely on the beat up Pokemon. A stray Sableye launched itself at Veronica, causing her to skid back a few feet, the Zen Headbutt causing a fair amount of damage. Veronica jumped at the Pokemon and punched him in the face with a dark infused punch; just the kind of Payback Veronica enjoyed most. Meanwhile, Armand and one of the Sableye were having a stare-down, both of their shadows creeping toward the other, until they both reached their target and knocked them sideways. Veronica tossed the unconscious Sableye aside and rushed to Armand’s aide, Thrashing at any Sableye that stood in her way. Dazed and confused, Veronica finally reached Armand and propped him up. The remaining four Sableye gathered in front of the duo, reading themselves for the final blow. “Quickly, throw me at them.” Armand’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Veronica heard him anyways. Without hesitation she hurled him at the group of oncoming Sableye. The sudden outburst of offensiveness startled the Sableye and sent them running, but Armand followed in hot Pursuit. Eventually giving each of them a swift punch in the back of the head, sending them face-first into the soft dirt. Armand made a swift u-turn back to Veronica’s side, just in time to see two of the four Sableye to get back, ready for more, but obviously hurt; the other two remained in their face down position, each having their own scar where their burns had finally healed. The two Sableye’s eyes glinted with hate and fury, obviously not ready to go down just yet. They lunged themselves at Veronica and Armand, one readying a powerful Shadow Claw, and the other’s head glowing with the power of its Zen Headbutt. Veronica was still dazed from her little Thrashing tantrum, and Armand had used up most of his energy to use that last attack. All they could do was hold up their arms in defense for the pain to come. Oh boy, did it come, the two were hit hard with the full brunt of the two Pokemon’s attacks, and sent flying into the wall behind them. Malice glinting in their smiles, the Sableye began closing in for the kill. Armand struggled desperately to find his Explorer’s Badge, only to see it some twenty feet away, it was too much, and Armand just slumped down against the wall. Veronica was muttering something, that soon became loud enough for Armand to hear. “Not like this…not after we’ve made it so far…not this soon!” a force was building inside Veronica, “Not,” one that grew, “Like,” and grew, “THIS!” until it was released in the form of an enormous beam of pure energy, and completely engulfed the Sableye, until they were promptly flung clear across the large clearing, where they slammed against the wall, and fell unconscious. The Hyper Beam had burned a new entrance in the clearing, revealing a set of stairs that looked as if to lead farther into the mines. Veronica struggled to get up and helped Armand to his… floating position. She chuckled, slightly hysterically, “Hey look…the stairs,” For once, Armand was speechless.

~~Omg magical shortcut time~~

Gemstone Mines (BF20)
Belly Slots: .5 (Getting Dizzy from Hunger)
Pokemon: 19
Items Used: Oran Berry x1
Apple x3
Big Apple x 1
Again, the boringly similar hallway spread out into a clearing, although this one was smaller and felt less intimidating. Armand and Veronica strode into the middle of the clearing, none the worse for wear aside from their growling stomachs.[ color=#be8f3c] “Dammit, where’s that Skitty with the Everstone? I swear if I have to go through one more floor…” Veronica was cut short by a rather surly looking Kirlia walking into the clearing with a frightened looking Skitty in one hand and an Everstone in the other. It tossed the Skitty to the side, who quickly got back up and hid behind Veronica, “You can’t have this Everstone you hear?! There are NO Dawn Stones in this god forsaken mine, and I’m a GUY! I refuse to evolve, ya’ hear?! I WON’T!” the obviously deranged Kirlia’s eyes began to glow a bright blue, and shimmering leaves appeared out of thin air and launched themselves at Veronica and Armand. Quite calmly they both dodge the attack, the Kirlia’s aim was horrible, to say the least. Armand sighed and sent his shadow out to hold the struggling Kirlia still while Veronica charged her Dark Pulse attack. The Kirlia screamed hoarsely as the Dark Pulse hit him square in the face, knocking it unconscious. Armand tossed the limp body a few feet to the right and proceeded to pick up the Everstone the Kirlia had dropped. “Finally, now we can get out of here.” Armand tossed the shining grey rock into the air a few times before readying his Explorer Badge to send them home, sadly he was interrupted by the Skitty that had been hiding behind Veronica, “Hey! That’s my pretty stone! You can’t have it!” Veronica glanced at the small pink cat, obviously too tired to be angry. She tossed a small glowing gem at the Skitty, “Here kid play with this. Come on Armand, get us out of here.” The Skitty grabbed the gem with its tail and made a sound that sounded very much like, “Squee!~” before running off, probably to go show her Happiny friend. “ You know, I really think we bonded on this little venture.” Veronica glared, “Shut up and press the damn button,” Armand laughed and pressed the button, sending a beam of light down on top of the two Pokemon and making them instantly vanish.

Veronica just stared, mouth agape at the Kirlia, "But you, and we, and that, and him?!" Her arms twisted every which way as she tried to grasp just what the heck was going on. Armand just smiled tiredly, "Yes...thank you, and you're quite welcome..." He took the items from the Kirlia in his back, along with a few other goodies that had been found in the dungeon. "Why you little! I'm gonna kill you!!!" Veronica launched herself at the Kirlia only to land hard on the ground, for the Kirlia had teleported away before her attack could hit. On their way back to their room, they spotted the Skitty, Togetic, and one of the many Sableye they had faced on their adventure. Armand pointed at the Sableye, "You, come with us. And please help me with her." The Sableye let out a cry of happiness before running to join Armand. He grabbed Veronica's other hand and together, the two dragged the rather pissed off Larvitar from the prying eyes of the public.

((Thanks so much~ And I'll continue to do my best sir! o3o))

This mission is hereby claimed for Team Blacksteppe! Hoo-rah!!

I talked to Sammy in the Chat and he doesn't feel good for thirty floors so he's unclaiming the mission.

~Cysic

Imiti looked over the bulletin board. One mission in particular caught his interest. “The Gemstone Mines. That’s in the southern territory, isn’t it? We haven’t actually been there, have we? ”

“Isn’t it the place where they used to mine evolution stones? ”

“Yeah. Apparently a Swalot’s been eating them, and the other inhabitants aren’t pleased. ”

At that moment, a Poliwhirl walked up to them. He had a fairly calm demeanor, and spoke softly. “Excuse me, but are you thinking of taking that mission? ”

Imiti answered, “Yeah. Do you know who posted it? ”

“I did. ”

“Oh. Alright, what exactly happened and how’re you involved? ”

“I was there to get a Water Stone. I’ve been wanting to evolve into Poliwrath. And I was just trying to find a Water Stone, when I see this Swalot eating gems! ”

“Do a lot of Pokemon need those stones? ”

“Yes. There are quite a few Pokemon in there that need stones to evolve, and the gems are already pretty rare. ”

“I see. ”

“Will you take the mission then? ”

Imiti looked behind his back at Celsus. “Sure, why not? ”

* * *

The mine entrance stood before them, an entrance to a dimly lit artificial tunnel. There were the remains of a mining cart on the ground just inside the entrance. They couldn’t really see very far into the tunnel.

“Alright, what are we waiting for? ”

* * *

The tunnels of the Gemstone Mines were artificial, with a slightly rounded square cross-section. There were rusted rails along the ground for mine carts. As Imiti walked inside and Celsus just sort of floated there in the bag behind him, they began to notice a slight purple tint in the floor and walls. In addition, there were conspicuous marks on the walls, as if something had dug not very deeply into them. When they got to the first split, only the left path had the purple colour and marks.

“Swalot trail? ”

“Probably. ”

They progressed through the mines, torches lighting the way. Whenever they got to an intersection or a split, they simply followed the purple stain.

They hadn’t gotten very far, however, when interesting things happened. There was a split, and the side with the Swalot trail had a rather sharp downward slope in the tunnel, sharp enough that Imiti nearly fell forward when they first got to it. At this point, it stopped looking like a tunnel and seemed more like a cave, with stalactites and stalagmites on the floor and ceiling. After a while of walking along this sloped path, they reached a hole, maybe two metres wide, filled with water. Imiti grabbed a torch off the wall, moved it close to the water, and noticed that there was a cavern full of it under their feet. Apparently the Swalot had managed to swim underwater.

“…Huh. ”

“Well, what do we do now? ”

“You could always just go on ahead and tell me what you find. ”

“Sure, that works. ”

“Then again, given how fast you agreed to that, I’m a little scared of the idea now. ”

“Hey, screw you. ”

* * *

When Celsus took his first breath of the underground water, he very nearly spit it back out. This stuff was just—ugh. The water smelled and tasted like there had been nasty things dumped into it. For his own protection, he enacted an Aqua Ring to filter the poison out of the water he was about to breathe. Obviously, the Swalot had been there and left something behind.

Before long, though, Celsus ran into trouble. Out of nowhere, a Lombre and a Shellder came at the Magikarp from opposite sides, both apparently looking for an easy meal.

Celsus turned the other way and swam as fast as he possibly could. He was not well equipped to handle this sort of thing. Maybe Imiti could do something.

* * *

Imiti was just sort of sitting there when a familiar Magikarp Splashed out of the water to land in the water-filled backpack. Now that he was soaked, Imiti got up in time to see the Lombre and Shellder shoot up out of the water. He quickly Teleported a few metres back as the two other Pokemon landed on the edge of the underground pool.

“Brought back friends? ”

“I think they’re hungry. ”

Imiti sighed. “Every. Single. Trip. ” He faced the two belligerent Pokemon. “Excuse us, we were just passing through; could we maybe—” He never got to finish the sentence; the Lombre charged. “…Whatever then. ”

Imiti teleported another fifty feet back into the tunnel to buy himself time, and took out one of the TMs that he had on him. “Here, take this, ” Imiti said as he dropped it into the water-filled bag.

“…Huh. Turn around and point me at those guys. ”

“What? ”

“Hurry up. ”

Since Celsus apparently had something in mind, Imiti complied. Celsus then made eye contact with the two charging Pokemon, which were now very close. All of a sudden, he heard a crash behind him, as if the Pokemon had suddenly become absolutely terrible at balance. Using his minor psionic abilities to look behind him, Imiti had to laugh. The TM had been Teeter Dance, and it was being put to use by a fish. Basically, Celsus was causing the attackers to try to imitate the motions of a Magikarp.

After a minute or so, both of the attacking Pokemon were on the ground, groaning. Finally satisfied, Celsus relented. “All right, let’s continue. ”

So, they proceeded exactly as they had before, with Celsus in the water with an Aqua Ring up and Imiti sitting at the side of the underground pool. Half an uneventful hour later, Celsus returned, this time in much less of a hurry. Imiti scooped him up, put him in the backpack, and inquired, “So, what did you find? ”

“The next dry area is straight forward, five hundred twenty six of my length away. ”

“Are you sure? ”

“Positive. ”

“Does it go up or down at all? ”

“Down a bit, but not enough that you need to adjust anything. ”

“Alright, here goes. ” Imiti teleported to the point Celsus had indicated, and found himself at the top of a cavern about twenty feet high. Having expected this, he enacted a levitation effect and brought himself to the chamber floor. Celsus’s instructions had been precise. The Swalot trail was still there.

They continued following it, finally reaching another large, rather nondescript chamber. The apparent culprit was still there, a Swalot that had just downed a Fire Stone. Imiti walked forward with the intention of apprehending the Pokemon when he heard footsteps from behind.

“Incoming! ”

Imiti whirled around to see a charging Eevee, still a child. It seemed to be looking for an easy meal and had apparently found one. “Oh dear Arceus, why does everything want to eat you? ”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! ”

Imiti teleported a bit further into the chamber and grabbed another TM at random. Sing. Well, at the rate that Eevee was approaching, it would have to do.

The Abra opened his mouth and let out a single note in his pre-pubescent voice, one that he held for a good few seconds. As the magical effects took hold, the Eevee slowed, its charge became a walk, and it curled up and fell asleep. Imiti walked up, picked the Eevee up, and placed it further down the tunnel where it came from, fishing an apple out of his bag and putting it beside the Eevee. He then turned back to the Swalot—

—who was eating evolution stones in its sleep.

“That…didn’t entirely work, did it? ”

Imiti walked up to the Swalot and poked it rather hard in the back.

“OI! Wake up before we hurt you! ”

“whuh? ”

“Thank you. Now, would you please stop eating evolutionary stones? Other people need those, you know. ”

“dave no stop eating. dave like pretty rocks. pretty rocks yummy. ”

Imiti sighed. “Dave, there are plenty of other things a Swalot can eat. Why don’t you let us take you outside? ”

“dave no want outside. dave like here. dave want you go away. ”

With that, the Swalot shot a blob of whatever it had in its stomach. A single drop grazed Imiti on the arm and AAAAAUUUGGGHHH THE PAIN. The few brain cells that Imiti had that were not busy screaming realized that that move was Gunk Shot. This was quite the Swalot.

Hearing Imiti scream, Celsus enacted an Aqua Ring. The wound was probably very dirty and contained quite a bit of acid, but it was a small one. A few minutes with Aqua Ring active should be enough.

Feeling the healing properties of the water come into effect, Imiti relaxed noticeably. Seeing as how his current move set apparently wasn’t enough, he grabbed one of his two remaining TMs at random. The move was Fire Blast. Sure, that would work.

Having absorbed the TM’s energy, Imiti created a ball of fire in his hand, testing his newfound ability. Backing up a few steps, he threw the ball at the Swalot. In response, the Swalot opened its mouth and swallowed it. Imiti waited for the explosion—

—but it never happened. The Swalot had apparently extinguished the attack with its face.

“dave like spicy food. dave think spicy food spicy. ”

The Swalot fired another Gunk Shot at the team, this one headed straight for Imiti. Specifically, the middle of his torso area. There was no conceivable way he could fully dodge that, not with his physical ability. So he simply put his entire mental strength into make a wall between me and the attack.

And it worked. The attack still forced Imiti and Celsus back a couple of meters from the impact, but it worked. “Wait, what? ” Had Imiti really blocked the attack with nothing but sheer mental strength? He’d…never actually done anything like that before.

“Hey, nice job with the Barrier. ” …Never mind. Though the fact that he knew Barrier was a surprise.

Imiti created another Fire blast and sent it at the Swalot, and then, when it ate that, he fired yet another one at a point just above the Swalot’s head. When the Poison type tried to eat that one, the explosion happened just above it. Half the blast hit the Swalot. It left a bright magenta burn mark.

“dave think you mean. dave no like you! ” The Swalot fired another Gunk Shot, which Imiti blocked now that he actually knew he could.

A third Fire Blast followed, this one aimed at the Swalot’s feet. The Swalot wasn’t able to open its mouth low enough and got a mouthful of fire.
“you bad. dave mad! ”

“Oh, now you’ve done it. ”

“Hey, you be quiet. By the way, that thing you did earlier? ”

“Yeah? ”

“Do it again. ” Imiti pointed Celsus at the Swalot. There was a loud WHUMP as the Swalot hit the floor rather hard.

“hey. you cheating. ” The Swalot got back up and readied yet another Gunk Shot, before falling down again.

“Hey, I’ve got him on the ground here, trying to imitate me. Please hurry up and finish the mission. At this point I really don’t care how. ”

Imiti complied, teleporting right in front of the Swalot. A ball of fire appeared in his hand. “Move and I’ll burn you.”

The Swalot, not exactly being an intellectual, decided to move anyway. He didn’t move fast enough though—Imiti touched the Exploration Badge and they were at the guild, prisoner in tow.

"Alright," Imiti said, looking at the Poliwhirl. "Sure. Why don't you join us? And you,", he said, turning to the Lombre, "Why don't you start a new team? I'm pretty sure the Guild would be happy to take you in. Especially since the Guildmaster's not all that cautious from what I've seen..."

I'm going to take this mission just for fun, and because I think it needs to be completed by someone, and since so many people have backed down I figured I'd give it my best shot. ^ ^

The closer the group got, the more visible they became, revealing that they were Lombre, and that each wore a red band around his forehead. ”Well, lookie what we got here boys,” said the first one, identifying himself as the leader. The other two thugs gave a couple of grunts that were clearly meant to be laughter, and the head Lombre came closer to Era and Ethfael. ”A pretty little lady and her defender; how sweet.” The Lombre's expression changed to a leer as he leaned over them, ”Why aren't you two lovebirds in the square with everyone else, huh? Orders were everyone.”

Era and Ethfael exchanged a glance, clearly the Lombre thought that they were some of the children who lived here. Clearly they weren't the brightest if that was the case; any normal person would know at an instant that a Pichu and a Dratini didn't belong in these mines. Era took the offered gambit and ran with it, hoping Ethfael would catch on, and that it would glean them some information. ”We-We're sorry Mister,” she said in a high pitched voice, ”It's just that we didn't know what to do! We didn't hear the news!”

The Lombre looked at her suspiciously, ”What do you mean you didn't hear the news Missy? We went to every house and told everyone that they was s'posed to go to the square pronto, or we'd start killin' the kiddies, just like yourself.” He took a threatening step forward and his comrades gave their grunting laughs again. ”Maybe we should start with you two, huh?”

Ethfael took a step forward trying to mimic the childish speech that Era had used, ”We weren't at home!” he protested, pulling off a pout marvelously, ”I wanted to show her this neat place I'd found! There were lots of sparkly things there and I thought she'd like it!”

The Lombre paused, looking at him, ”Sparkly things, eh kid?” he said, a sly look coming into his eye. ”Say, maybe if you show us where it is, we won't kill you after all. The Boss has already started his message anyhow, we were just sent to make certain nobody was laggin' behind. We'll just miss the first few battles is all.”

Era took a step forward, putting the innocent curiousity of a child on her face. ”What battles Mister?”

The Lombre chuckled and the sound sent shivers down Era’s spine, ”Oh, nothing you need to worry your little head about sweetheart,” he replied, ”You’ll get your chance to join the others soon. We’re havin’ you all duke it out, mano a mano, and if you’re strong enough, you get to survive.” In a stage whisper to his henchman, the Lombre added, ”Honestly, that mite doesn’t have a chance, I might bet a bit of money on the Dratini kid though; he looks like he’s made of tougher stuff.”

Ethfael had played his part for long enough, and his anger was building, once the last words were out of the Lombre’s mouth he bashed into the other Pokemon with a Slam. Having children fight each other was just wrong, and he needed no more prompting once the fool insulted Era. Sure they could have played the façade a bit longer, but what was the point, they had all the information they needed. ”Enough games,” Ethfael said, speaking in normal tones instead of falsetto now, and firing a Dragon Rage at the Lombre who ducked, only to have it hit the face of his companion. The unfortunate victim of Ethfael’s wrath shrieked with pain as he was blinded momentarily by the flames and began running about frantically trying to put out the fire.

Era had about had it with the jerks too, and when Ethfael attacked, she took the closest underling. Electricity rising to her cheeks she fired a Thundershock at it which caused it to squeal almost femininely. She aimed a Swift Attack at its leaf which sliced off the edges, causing it to become furious. It lashed out at her unexpectedly making a gruesome face and punched her with a Fake Out causing her to flinch from surprise and pain, long enough for it to follow up with Fury Swipes, clawing at her viciously. Once Era recovered from her initial shock, she jumped back in with a Quick Attack, causing it to lose its balance ever so slightly. With a smirk, she smacked him upside the face several times with a Doubleslap. The Lombre moaned and reached out a hand to touch her, beginning to Absorb her energy. Era winced as she felt her energy sapping slightly and sent a Thundershock through the Lombre once more, the close quarters and the water on him conducting the electricity giving it and extra spark which caused him to fall to the ground, not to rise again.

Ethfael looked to the running Lombre with scorn rather than sympathy. Leaving the initial Lombre he’d attacked, he used Extremespeed to collide with the Lombre and knock it to its knees. It blindly thrashed about, and then paused for a moment. Ethfael summoned his magic, preparing to end the Lombre’s misery when it hit him squarely in the head with a Zen Headbutt. Ethfael winced, slightly dazed by the attack, only to be hit by the other Lombre with a violent Astonish attack which startled Ethfael even more. Era dashed over to help, on the first Lombre with Quick Attack in a moment, leaving Ethfael with the still burning Lombre. Not showing any mercy any longer, Ethfael aimed an Icy Wind at the Lombre which chilled it to the core and caused its fighting to cease as it froze over thanks to the water all over it.

Era and the Lombre leader were locked in fierce combat back and forth. She aimed a Swift Attack at him which he responded to with a set of Fury Swipes. Grimacing, she took a step back, hitting him with Thundershock. The Lombre laughed through his pain showing that he, in fact, wasn’t entirely sane. ”You messed with the wrong Lombre, girl.” he said, lifting his hands and then slamming them into the ground. The earth moaned in protest and began to quiver as the Lombre called on Nature’s Power, and Era winced as chunks of earth smashed into her over and over. Ethfael noticed her trouble and aimed a Dragon Rage at the Lombre causing the deranged Pokemon to turn on him with a Hydro Pump that Ethfael took the brunt of, being forced back a few feet from the force of the water. Era meanwhile gathered her electricity as soon as the attacks weren’t trained on her, bringing it around her to form a ball of electrical energy. She pounded into the Lombre with a Volt Tackle, the display like a deadly show of fireworks.

The Lombre fell to his knees at the force, breathing cutting short and his fight clearly lost after the hits he’d taken. He began to cough and his breathing rasped slightly, his eyes beginning to glaze with the pain. As Era and Ethfael came closer to ensure that he wouldn’t try to pull anything else the Lombre looked at them appearing to be impressed. ”You aren’t kids, are you?” he said as a last remark, laughing with the last of his breath before he fell unconscious like the others.

Era shivered slightly, it wasn’t pretty what had to be done to the terrible Pokemon of the world, but then again, what they did was inexcusable. When the Lombre woke up, hopefully they would think twice before doing anything like that again. It would take them a while to recover from the trauma and wounds from this battle, longer than they’d probably ever experienced before. ”They’re horrible,” she whispered, ”We’re in for more than we expected I think. If these were any sign of how the Nuzleaf will be.”

Ethfael nodded, ”We need to be on our guard,” he said, ”But we also have to stop this.” Opening the bag slung around his neck, Ethfael pulled out an Oran Berry for himself and Era. ”Here,” he said and she took it gratefully, both of them allowing the healing juices of the Oran Berries to heighten their strength once more and soothe their wounds.

Riley bounded out of the house trailed by the sniffling Togetic, ”You two are really amazing, you know that?” he said to them, ”Your battle was awesome.” The Eevee’s eyes shone with admiration as he spoke, then he added to Era, ”I especially liked how you pretended to be kids, it was so cool! What made you think of it?”

Era blushed a bit at the praise, ”It just came to me really,” she said, ”But it did give us the information we needed.” Growing solemn, she went on, ”We need to get to the center of town as soon as possible. This gang is worse than we thought, they’re having the children fight each other, and the whole town watch.”

Riley looked alarmed and the Togetic let out a moan of despair. ”No! Why? Why must they do this? I should have been able to stop it…”

”There was nothing you could have done,” Ethfael said soothingly, ”And if we get there soon enough, hopefully we can stop any real damage from being done.” He didn’t say the thought that everyone was thinking: clearly the Nuzleaf planned to have the children fight to the death for their own amusement, and that had to be avoided at all costs.

The Togetic attempted to pull herself together, stemming her tears a bit, ”Yes, you’re right, you’re right…” she muttered, ”I’ll take you there.” The Togetic led on, their pace very urgent now as they went on. They walked so briskly it bordered on a run, all of them grimly silent, knowing what awaited them. The closer they got to the center, the clearer it was that there was trouble. Muffled shouts and cries were able to be picked out, and the noise got louder and louder until at last they reached its source.

The very area was appalling. Jigglypuff, Happiny, Clefairy, and Skitty were all around the edges of the square, about 15 in all, which had been turned into an arena type area blocked on all four sides by Nuzleaf. The kids had expressions of horror on their faces as they were forced to look on as two Skitty fought in the center ring. The four Nuzleaf on the edges of the ring would Torment the children if they came too close, or if they didn’t attack for long enough they would hit them with Razor Winds to force them to fight. Both of the pair were already quite beaten and scraped, but one was clearly hurting more than the other. Looking closer, the group made out another figure: the Kirlia who the Togetic had called Lydia. A fifth Nuzleaf sat on an almost throne of sorts, watching the ongoing events with a sadistic grin on his face.

Era, Ethfael, Riley, and the Togetic looked on, all mortified. The Skitty both were mewling pitifully, but the Nuzleaf hit them both with Razor Winds and they circled Lydia, both trembling; this had apparently been going on for a while now judging from Lydia’s bruised appearance. The Kirlia was talking to them, trying to soothe them, but a Nuzleaf commanded her to pipe down and the Skitty began using Tackle on their beloved mother figure. Paralyzed with disgust the group didn’t move for several moments, and the first to jump in was Riley. Fur bristling in fury, the Eevee bolted through the children and up to the Nuzleaf, where he hit the first one he came to with a Quick Attack. After that mass panic ensued.

Era and Ethfael jolted out of their horror as they watched the Nuzleaf begin to converge upon Riley. Ethfael used Extremespeed to hurtle through the crowd of children and hit the Nuzleaf which was grabbing at Riley in the chest, and following through with an Icy Wind to finish the job. Era bolted after Ethfael, jumping in right beside Riley and aiming a Swift Attack at two more Nuzleaf in front of them. The children began openly crying and milling about and the Togetic began to rush around to them trying to soothe them, while Lydia and the two Skitty watched, unable to move from shock as they watched the battle commence around them.

The trio of Nuzleaf remaining were all ready to put up a fight. They fired Razor Leaf simultaneously, the slicing leaves stinging as they cut into the trio’s skin. Ethfael attacked with a Slam, the force causing a domino effect as the grunts fell, one on top of the next. Era aimed a beam of Swift Attack at them as they tried to get up, forcing them all to the ground again. The Nuzleaf facing Ethfael gave him a Pound to the face, causing him to stagger back enough for the Nuzleaf to get up. Riley hit the Nuzleaf with a Tackle, and Era pelted him with Swift Attack again, causing that Nuzleaf to keel over, unconscious as the first.

The other two Nuzleaf had regained their footing and were concentrating as if they were preparing an attack. Era and Riley hit one with a double Quick Attack, their teamwork flawless, as if it had been planned. Ethfael shot an Icy Wind at the other Nuzleaf, freezing it over as Era and Riley took down the other with a Thundershock and a Take Down.

The fifth Nuzleaf looked at them in distain. He wore a red bandanna around his head like all the others, and a black cloak fell behind him. Clearly he felt like a king in his own right; presiding over a corrupted court. ”Look who’s come to save the day,” the Nuzleaf said, ”A Pichu, a Dratini, and an Eevee, what a pointless endeavor.” Pulling a blade out from under his cloak he announced to the square, ”These will be the first to go!”

The Nuzleaf jumped down and thrust the knife towards Era, just missing her. She sent a Thundershock at him and he twitched but didn’t react otherwise. Ethfael hit him with Dragon Rage, and Riley bit down on his arm to try and force him to release the knife. The Nuzleaf shook his arm to get Riley off, and hit him with Faint Attack, the punch causing Riley to wince, but then he retorted with a Quick Attack, darting in and back as fast as he could. Era backed away from the knife pointed at her as Ethfael jumped in with an Extremespeed averting the Nuzleaf’s aim. With a vile curse, the Nuzleaf sliced across Ethfael’s cheek with his knife before occupying the others with a Razor Leaf. Blood dripping from his wound, Ethfael blasted the Nuzleaf with an Icy Wind, making the Pokemon wince as ice began to layer itself on his skin. As the Nuzleaf got ready to attack, Era and Riley exchanged a look and he gave her a Helping Hand to reach the Nuzleaf with her Quick Attack in time to keep him from hitting Ethfael.

The Nuzleaf glared at her spitefully, and without a second thought snatched her up off the ground and held the knife to her throat. ”Nobody move if you want the Pichu to live,” he snarled, pressing the knife against Era’s throat hard enough to draw blood. The reaction was immediate, both Ethfael and Riley halting in their tracks, and even the children fell silent, watching with still evident terror. The Nuzleaf chuckled menacingly and looked down at Era, ”So, you’re the head of the group? A Pichu?” he scoffed and laughed, ”To think that you thought you could defeat me; no one can defeat me!” He spun her around to face him, tilting her head up with the blade of the knife, ”So…The only question is what to do with you. You should be fine payment for your companions’ mistakes.”

Era glared back at him bitterly and raised her chin defiantly although she was being held off the ground like a small child. ”You can’t do anything to me,” she retorted, her voice a whisper thanks to the blade at her throat, ”I bring justice, and justice will be your doom.” Era brought the electricity coursing through her to a concentration in her fist which was unwisely left free, and made the Thunderpunch collide with the Nuzleaf’s blade. The knife crackled viciously with electricity and was knocked from its owner’s hand straight into his torso. With a howl of pain the Nuzleaf released Era who watched him coldly as he slumped to the ground. His breathing grew harsh, and then stopped altogether, his eyes glazing over, as Era’s welled up with formerly concealed tears. She wasn’t coldhearted, and she hated killing, but some criminals could never be reformed, and this Nuzleaf was one such criminal.

Ethfael came up to her first, patting her on the head with his tail gently. ”You did what you had to do,” he murmured. They had both killed before, being in the Guild made that almost mandatory, but Era had never really watched a death at her own hands like the one she had just caused; gruesome and filled with pain, and horrible. Closing her eyes she leaned against Ethfael, tears streaming down her face, unable to speak. He simply stood there, providing silent understanding to what she was feeling. Both of them were so preoccupied that they didn’t happen to notice the gasp that came from the Nuzleaf as he pulled the knife from his ribs and pulled back, aimed directly at their hearts until it was too late. Era and Ethfael both watched the knife as the Nuzleaf prepared to throw it, certain that it would mean their death, and knowing that they were powerless to stop it now.

Luckily for them, a certain Eevee did see it in time, and drew the figure of a card in the air which materialized a moment later. The instant before the Nuzleaf managed to release his lethal attack Riley threw the card which hit the Nuzleaf and embedded itself in his flesh right over his heart, ending its life. The Trump Card was almost hidden in the blood, but an Ace of Diamonds was visible for all to see. Riley shivered at the sight and collapsed to the ground in shock, appalled by what he had just done.

Both Era and Ethfael looked at their client in amazement, and Era walked over to him mutely and simply placed a paw on his back. ”You saved our lives,” she whispered to him, ”Thank you.” Those simple words meant more than anything else could in this situation, creating a bond that could never be broken; a bond of battle, blood, and solidarity; a bond of loyalty and faith; a bond of fate.

Riley looked at Era with a weak smile, ”What else would I do?” he said, ”You guys are my friends, and that’s what friends are for.” Unable to restrain herself any longer, Era hugged Riley tightly, tears falling again. He joined in the tears after a moment, and both of them mourned the loss of life that had taken place, and the necessity for it to happen. Riley’s Ace of Diamonds shimmered and then faded into nothingness, leaving only a body as a sign of what had happened.

”Help!” a shaky young voice cried out, and the trio turned around to find the children gathered around Lydia, the Kirlia shuddering and bleeding as she lay on the ground, life flickering. ”Please, somebody save her!” The voice came from one of the two Skitty who were forced to fight. His lip trembled and tears began to spill as he looked at them. ”You have to…” he said, ”She’s our mama! She can’t die!”

Era swallowed nervously, making her way over to the Kirlia. The children parted to allow her to go through, all their young faces looking up at her in hope and desperation; if she couldn’t save Lydia, these children would be even worse off than they were before, but Era wasn’t the best healer, she just had to rely on faith which is what she did. Lydia raised her head in such a manner that it was painful to watch, and looked at Era gratefully; ”You saved them,” she murmured, almost dreamily, ”The children will be alright…”

”Yes,” Era replied softly, taking the Kirlia’s hand in her own, ”The children will be fine, I promise.” The Kirlia looked at her, eyes brimming with unspoken gratitude and Era felt a lump form in her throat which made it difficult to swallow, ”Hold on for them,” she whispered to the bleeding Kirlia, ”These children need you.”

Lydia sighed, her energy exhausted, ”I’m not strong enough,” she said, her voice so soft that only Era could hear her.

Era shook her head furiously, ”No! You are!” she protested, ”You know that you are…They know that you are. You’ll get better, I know you will.” Lydia sighed and shut her eyes going limp as she fell out of consciousness. Bowing her head Era held on to her hand. Please… she thought fervently, If anyone’s listening, if there’s any possible way, don’t let her die. These children have nothing; don’t rob them of her too.” As she made her Wish a silent tear trickled down her cheek falling down to touch Lydia’s hand where she held it, and something glimmered very faintly, before vanishing entirely.

Era felt a light touch on the shoulder and saw the Togetic there, the contact seemed to give her strength, and another, slightly more visible glimmer appeared, lingering a bit longer before vanishing. One by one, the children came over, pressing against Era; reaching a paw or hand out to touch her, until they were all gathered together, eyes on her, and her eyes were closed, concentrating. The combined Wish grew more and more powerful, until a visible glimmer began to dance around Lydia, sparks of white leaping around across her skin and sealing her wounds. The children gasped, and Era opened her eyes to see the white sparks spiraling around Lydia like a beautiful sort of constellation, making her appear pure white. There was one last brilliant glow, and then the sparks receded into Lydia, their healing job done. The result was an entirely healed, angelic looking Lydia who now was colored was white and silver, her normal green gone, and her eyes glimmered with gold. Elegantly, she stood, eyes on Era and a gentle smile on her face; ”Thank you,” she said, voice chiming slightly, and Era went weak with relief, Riley bolting over to catch her as she slumped to the ground from fatigue.

The children surged over to Lydia who greeted them each individually, soothing them as they sobbed, overwhelmed by everything that had just happened, and as they left, Ethfael hurried over to where Riley was supporting Era, Oran Berry ready to be given. ”Eat up Era,” he said, ”I think you’ve earned a bit of selfishness.” The cut on his face from the knife was still bleeding and Riley set Era down gently to eat the Berry so that he could help Ethfael bandage it. Pulling the bandage out of Ethfael’s bag, Riley tied it securely around Ethfael’s head, to which the Dratini didn’t protest. Riley was clearly the one most capable of action right now; no one could deny that. ”Thank you,” Ethfael said as Riley finished, which the Eevee simply shrugged off, insisting it had been nothing.

The three of them watched the Togetic reach Lydia and begin sobbing into her friend’s shoulder; it was a touching sight, especially with all of the children surrounding them adoringly. Era, Oran Berry finished, and a bit of spirit restored to her managed a smile. Being the head of a Wish of the power and intensity of the one she’d just led had taken its toll, but the Oran Berry was enough to give her the strength to move again, and remind her of the other things they still had left to accomplish. Still for now it was rather nice to simply watch the happy children and their keepers, and know that they really had managed to restore some semblance of peace to this place. ”They’ll be alright,” Era said, ”I’m sure of it.”

With the battle over, it was clearly time to continue on with their original mission, and all of them knew it. As the fuss began to die down slightly, the trio made their way to the Togetic and Kirlia, ”I’m afraid it’s time for us to continue on our way,” he said, and both Era and Riley nodded. ”We’re glad that everything was able to turn out for the better here, and wish you both the best of luck in the future.”

The Kirlia nodded, her newly silver locks bouncing as she did so, ”And we wish you the best explorers. You have saved not only myself, but all the children and Ielena as well. So long as we live we will be eternally grateful.”

Era smiled, shaking her head, ”We never would have done anything less,” she said. ”Goodbye. May Arceus watch over you; all of you.”

The Togetic, who had at last been introduced as Ielena smiled, ”And you as well,” she replied, tears in her eyes again. ”Take care, and thank you…Thank you for everything.”

The three turned to leave but Lydia beckoned Ethfael over to her and whispered something in his ear, ”I was going to tell you this before,” she said softly, ”And it seems almost out of place now, but I thought you'd appreciate it.” She whispered something to Ethfael and the faintest tinge of a blush came over his cheeks before he went back to join the others.

”What was that about?” Era asked him.

”Nothing,” Ethfael said quietly, his blush even more evident now, ”Nothing at all.”Lydia and Ielena both waved goodbye and the children joined in, all of them bidding the trio farewell as they headed back through the village and out into the mines once more.

The trio walked in silence for a while as they traversed the mines which now seemed emptier than ever. They were consumed in their thoughts and as a whole the atmosphere was altogether gloomy. After this had gone on for a while, Riley took it upon himself to lighten the mood once more. He paused and waited until Era and Ethfael turned around to see why he’d stopped, and without warning, turned back to pull at his tail. Era and Ethfael exchanged a glance, wondering what exactly this was about, only to look back to find a colorful red scarf in his mouth. Grinning at their looks of surprise, Riley continued pulling at it; the scarf being knotted to another scarf, which was knotted to another, and so on. Soon the line of scarves had formed a large pile at his feet in a multicolored spectrum of fabric. Reds; oranges; yellows; greens; blues; purples; and all the colors in between made up the rainbow of scarves and even Ethfael couldn’t hide how much he was impressed: the scarves were coming from seemingly nowhere. When at last Riley turned back, the end of the scarf rope in his jaws, Era applauded with pleasure, and Ethfael nodded his agreement, unable to clap.

Riley let the scarf drop and bowed gracefully for his audience. ”Thank you, thank you!” he said, the same grin from before flitting across his face as he imitated an announcer’s tones, ”But wait, there’s more!” Picking the end of the scarf up in his teeth again, he began to spin around rapidly, the scarf lifting entirely off the ground and forming a ribbon-like pattern, trailing after the spinning Eevee. The other two watched as he spun, and when Riley stopped again, only one scarf with the cascade of colors from all of the other scarves on it.

Era applauded again, thoroughly pleased with the trick. ”How did you do that Riley?” she asked, touching her paw against the soft fabric of the scarf Riley held.

”A good magician never reveals his tricks,” he responded cryptically and then laughed, flourishing the scarf in the air before rolling it up into a ball and taking it in his paw. ”What can I say? No one can stand to be constantly depressed; it’s not good for you.” He cupped the scarf in his paw, and then reopened the paw to show that it was gone. ”A little magic is good for lightening up the mood, if I do say so myself.”

Smiling still, Era nodded, ”I guess you’re right,” she replied, a slight bit of optimism in her tone, ”Thanks Riley.”

The carefree Eevee laughed again, ”Anytime.”

They continued on in a more peaceful silence than before, more at ease with the situation now, having been blissfully distracted. However peace, as it is hard to get, is even harder to maintain, and so it was of no surprise to any of them when they came across something to further deter their path. As they went further ahead, they encountered a fork in the path; both of them dark and unlit by torches until further on. Looking from right to left, there was almost no way to distinguish them except for their respective directions. ”Which way do we go?” Era asked, and Riley shrugged, both of them looking to Ethfael for guidance.

The Dratini looked back and forth at the two tunnels, seeming to be keenly searching for something that wasn’t to be found. After a full minute of this endeavor he sighed, ”I don’t know,” he said. ”They’re both exactly the same.” The three looked back and forth helplessly before Ethfael stepped up and drew a slash mark across the dividing wall. ”There, now we can choose a way and come back if necessary.” He doubted there would be much need for it, but it was far better to be safe than sorry.