Emancipation

Here they were, Stargazing Ravine. According to Gren, the dungeon went down into the ground, but each floor still had the environment of the surface, similar to how Poison Garden went up without really leaving the ground level. The only problem now was finding the entrance to said dungeon.

It was weird having so many Pokémon at once, it was like an army, everyone with their strengths and weaknesses complementing each other. The teamwork really showed when any feral that stepped in got dealt with in mere seconds.

“I think I see it!” Siobhan shouted as they flew for an overhead view.

Sure enough, a huge wooden hatch door lay on one side of the ravine. Randall and Lance worked together to lift it, revealing the too familiar stairs leading into the unknown.

“Remember the plan, everyone. We scatter, and we reunite at the end. Be extra careful with everything. The floor, the walls, you don’t know where a trap can be.” Gren said. They took a deep breath to prepare themselves. “Supernova Guild, let’s go.”

With the cue, everyone entered. Immediately, it was clear they were in a Mystery Dungeon, even though it was supposed to be a ravine, the two huge hills that made its border weren’t consistent. Everywhere they looked, the mountains would be at their sides, like if they were following their sight and moving to seem in place. But of course, the illusion faltered with so many people, everyone had a different view.

What was also unusual, was that even though the dungeon followed the same grid and hall layout system, it wasn’t bordered by walls of any kind. Instead, there were only tall bushes that let Pokémon get through them. Or at least, feral ones, as they soon discovered. They still had to obey the classic dungeon rules.

“Before everyone advances, I need all of you to look at this.” Gren announced. They looked around, making sure all of their guild members were behind them. They then took one step forward, but leaning back so their body didn’t move. They stepped on a stone that had a slightly different color than the rest and an arrow flew through at top speed, only stopped by the trunk of a nearby tree. “These are the traps I’m referring to.”

They took the arrow, and showed it to everyone else. The point of it was familiar to Mark, and it seemed like Simon was thinking the same thing as he opened his mouth. “This… We found something like this on Unraveling Fortress, didn’t we?”

“You did? Interesting. Whatever the case this is a material forged from type energy. What does that mean, you may ask? It means that it isn’t like any other physical thing. It can harm anyone and everyone, and it can’t be destroyed unless you’re extremely powerful. That’s why it’s usually found in sacred places, these were made by Legendaries themselves.” They approached Verm, arrow in hand. “As a demonstration, Verm, I’m going to drop this arrow on your head, not too much distance, just enough so you can feel it. Try to make it phase through you.”

The ghost nodded and the arrow got dropped, the wooden shaft along with the feathers at the other end phased through him without a problem, but the head was still on him, doesn’t matter how much he tried.

Gren took the arrow again and dropped it on the ground. “It doesn’t matter how invincible to certain forces you might think you are. Are you a ghost? Made of water? Completely intangible? It can still hurt you. Do not underestimate this dungeon, you got me? Go slow if you need to, don’t take risks. Everyone clear?”

With a unanimous nod, Gren dispersed the group. It was up to them now.

“How is this place so huge?” Rachel said. It had been twenty whole minutes and they still hadn’t found the stairs. “Everyone else has to have moved deeper in.”

“Doubt it, we crossed paths with Luka and Nikki not too long ago, and then again with Chorus and their team a bit after that.” Simon replied, moving carefully as he inspected every single portion of the way forward. “I think this dungeon is just… that massive. We made a good decision in bringing everyone.”

“If you say so… This dungeon is not giving me good vibes, that’s for sure, and I’m not talking only about the traps. We’ve had like… what? Four? Five ferals? There hasn’t been any kind of consistent typing at all. Everything seems… random.”

“Even more than usual?” Mark scoffed. “Nothing about this whole thing has ever made any sense. At this point, this is just another thing to add to the list.”

“Dungeons may be random but they have some consistencies, this one seems to break all of them, though.” Simon added. “Wait, careful!”

He stopped Mark on his tracks, Rachel behind them. Simon plucked away a leaf from the nearby vegetation and waved it sideways in front of him. It made some spikes appear from the floor. “I saw a silk line in the way, it seemed like a trap, and it was.”

“Yeah, well, the bright side is that the stairs are right there.” Rachel said, pointing a bit further ahead. There was a hole in the ground, with the stairs leading down.

“Finally. Let’s hope this place doesn’t have many floors, at least.”

Upon seeing the environment change, a familiar team appeared into view, along with one of the staff.

“Oh, welcome to Floor 2.” Dot said. Team Acolyte was there, along with Lily. “We’re just taking a break.”

“Did you just get here? I thought there would be more teams around.”

“We did, and we’re actually the first ones to arrive.” Verm chimed in.

“How do you know?”

“Lily said something about psychic-types being able to sense the device thing Gren gave us. So either we’re the first ones here, or there’s a team already on the third floor. Which, I doubt if all floors are like the one we just went through.”

“So this place really is that big, huh?”

They took the chance to rest, this was going to be a challenge.

Four hours. That’s how much time it took the team to get to what looked like the end. Turns out Stargazing Ravine had a grand total of ten floors. Which wouldn’t be terrible normally, but with such massive mazes, it was an endurance test. At least they were good at dodging traps, only one of them got past their attention, but Rachel had quick enough of a reaction to push the other two to safety.

And now, they were going down what looked like the final set of stairs. How did they know? This one led to a door, not another floor. The door, however, triggered bad memories. It was similar to the one in Unraveling Fortress, decorated with the express purpose of looking like a sanctuary.

Mark knew what was coming, if it was like last time, Arceus would be in the next room, waiting for them. “Guys, it’s… it’s happening again… that feeling…” He tried to regulate his breathing, his stress was getting higher and higher and it was starting to control him.

“I know, I’m feeling it too.” Rachel said. “Whether we win or lose here, this is the end of this cycle. We just need to make sure there aren’t any more afterwards.”

Simon got in front of him, grabbing his shoulders and locking his sight eye-to-eye. “Mark, whatever happens in there, I’m with you. I believe in you, okay? We can get through this.” Mark was shaking without even noticing, the fear was strong. “We’re so close. We can’t give up now. We can do it.”

He closed his eyes and hugged his boyfriend as tight as he could. He knew he had to go forwards, but he needed that moment of weakness to remind himself what he was fighting for. He was fighting for his future, a future where he could just be happy.

When he let go, he took a deep breath. “Let’s go.” And he opened the door.

The room was eerily similar to that of Dialga’s, with the main difference being the size. It was almost three times bigger, and it had multiple statues of what Mark assumed were other Legendaries all dispersed through the place.

But of course, the main attraction wasn’t the room, it was the deity waiting on the other side. They really wanted to make this as similar to the Dialga encounter as possible. Either that, or all Legendaries had the same method, he couldn’t rule either possibility out.

“Ah. Finally.” The team got slowly closer, until a familiar set of bars closed the entrance they just came through. It was made of that material again. “Don’t worry, the whole room is protected by those. There’s no way out for you.” They stepped forward, little by little. It was clear they were trying to intimidate the team. “Now then, shall we?”

Mark didn’t hesitate. He pressed the button on his bandana. A white light enveloped them, as multiple footsteps were heard around them. They were here, confused for a moment before realizing the beast in front of them. It only took seconds for everyone to stand ready.

It was weirdly satisfying to see Arceus stumble back, not even they were expecting the guild’s surprise strategy. “What?! How did you-” They stopped, their head expressing an angrier stance. “Emmeline! Even now, you keep tormenting me!”

‘Emmeline? Wasn’t that the last human? What did we do for them to remember her?’

“This is not your battle, guild. Do not get in the way of my affairs. This is a fight between me and the two humans.” 

“And those two humans are part of us. If you go against them, you go against all of us.” Gren said proudly. “Supernova Guild! Ready for battle!”

Every Pokémon was on guard, waiting for the first move. The silence was deafening, the only sound Mark could make was the one of his own heartbeat, and it was going fast. Very fast.

Eventually, Arceus roared, and all hell broke loose. Mark quickly found his way behind one of the statues while the entire guild fought. There were projectiles flying all across the room while Arceus got surrounded. But even surrounded, they weren’t getting hurt. Every slash, every fireball, every vine, none did more than stunning the deity for maybe a second.

With just a peak, he was able to see Simon run around the beast, launching torrents of water as much as he could. It was clear that he was a target, as Arceus kept trying to have him in sight. Mark had to do something, this wasn’t going to last long if Arceus tanked all of their attacks like nothing.

Simon suddenly appeared next to him, panting and taking cover. He was bruised, but nothing heavy, for now at least. Mark went through his backpack, he had items for this, he just needed to find them and-

A sudden noise broke that train of thought. Before he could realize what had happened, the statue they were hiding behind collapsed over them. The pain was strong, he felt blood come out of his skin in multiple places, but he was alive, he was fine. A look to the side showed that Simon had the same thing happen to him, but again, he could stand.

He stood up as fast as he could while the others kept trying to stagger Arceus. But that look back revealed something, Arceus was charging something. Something he knew very well from their last encounter, and it was again directed at Simon.

He ran, tackling the Squirtle just in time for the beam to miss him… But this time, there was no miracle. The one in the line of fire was none other than Mark, and as the beam hit, he knew he had made a mistake. A mistake he wasn’t getting out of.

He screamed, he yelled out of his lungs as hard as he could. The pain was too much, his whole skin felt like it was burning, disintegrating around him. His internal organs moved, and Mark could feel them shrink, threatening to implode. His eyes could only see light, an extreme light that slowly blinded him.

He heard the yells from the others, but his ears were ringing too much to make out what they were saying. In his mind, there was only a place to remind him that he’d lost. There was no coming back, no miracle, no sudden move to suddenly survive. And as his consciousness faded, all he wanted to do was apologize to Simon. He didn’t protect him, and now he was going to forget about him.

As the beam stopped, Mark was nowhere to be seen. On his spot, there was only a familiar helmet, and a lime bandana spread on the ground.