Chapter 5: The Catacomb Expressway
by dust_scoutWe made our way through more streets in the northern part of town. Plenty of pokemon were staring at me. Unlike the day before though, these glares were far more judgmental. I heard how rumors can spread quickly among a town, but even I knew the knowledge about my earlier Plasma Fist backfire couldn’t have spread so fast. There was something else at play.
I had to ask Kalea, “What’s with everybody? That explosion couldn’t have-”
“No,” she promptly responded, shaking her head, “You’re an Electric-Type. A land-dwelling Electric-Type at that.”
“Is it about-”
“Yes, it’s about the air thing, Zera. It’s the price Electric-Types end up paying for living here. It’s scary when it comes to being us.”
I kept my arms crossed and started thinking to myself. The thought of living in this place would be unsettling. Who would want to live here? If the air’s such a big risk, why bother making it work? And then a thought popped into my head. What if you were an Electric-Type born here? I could easily guess this: You would have to live in fear of your own power, power that could severely hurt someone or even kill them. And if that’s the case, how many took advantage of Silspring’s air to…
The thought of such criminals made me sick.
I finally piped up after seeing a few pokemon sitting near the street corners. “Why not just leave then?”
Kalea looked down as she continued crawling along. “Water-Types, sure, but what about the rest? What about those born here? How would they leave?”
I was about to suggest Wailords, but then I realized that my opportunity was courtesy of Lugia. I stopped myself from saying anything.
“Yeah, not as easy as you think, huh?” the Primarina commented, “Not everyone has the choice, and so they have to…go on with life here. Heck, many of these folks have never once seen the surface, and those that did had a rather rough time.”
“Like, how?”
“Imagine this: you’re born here. After a short lifetime, you get used to the very humid air here and then try going to the surface where the air doesn’t have nearly as much water. So with the lack of water on the surface and your body being used to breathing in most of the water here, what do you get?”
“A sloshy feeling?”
Kalea stopped and gave me a deadpan look.
I grimaced, “So, they dry up quicker…I don’t want to imagine going to a desert with that kind of dependence.”
“Now you figured it out,” she said, continuing on her crawling pace.
We stayed silent for the rest of the trip until we came close to a large pool area. It consisted of a circular body of water surrounded by a large ring of sand. Connected to this ring were more roads.
Coming up to the ring, we stopped.
“Here we are,” Otto declared.
“So…now what?” I asked.
Kalea piped up. “Well-…shoot!”
I raised a brow at the Primarina. “What?”
“I forgot, we need a Breather Seed for you and it’s back at the house.”
“Not a problem!” Lucy declared, skipping over to us, “Got you covered.” The fledgling once again held up the wallet for Kalea. “Look inside.”
After a brief glance at the contents, Kalea narrowed her gaze at the fledgling. “Where did you get those from?”
“Bought them a few weeks back,” she answered.
The Water-Type simply maintained her stare. “…Why?”
“…Uhhhh, I dunno. Uh, I mean look at them. Kind of cool, ehh?”
“…Suuuure.” The Water-Type grabbed and tossed one to me. “Bite into it once you’re under. It’ll make a bubble to breathe with.”
I caught it. “Okay then…”
“And don’t swallow it before the bubble forms for goodness sake,” the Primarina grumbled, stuffing the wallet into her hair. “Otherwise, you’ll be blowing air and belching for days.”
Before I could ask anything, the retainers quickly crawled into the pool without another word.
I glanced at the seed. It was rather bulbous in shape, almost Igglybuff-like in roundness, yet surprisingly hard despite it all.
Lucy turned me around and began whispering, “Don’t turn your head. Sibling secret, but I just bought them today.”
“Today? But from who?” I whispered back.
“From the old guy to your right. Shift your gaze around and you’ll see.”
I did so and saw who she was talking about. It was an old Oranguru wearing some rugged rags. The white color of his fur could barely be noticeable. (For the non-pompous, it was a homeless guy.)
I shifted my gaze straight back to the youngling. “Seriously?” I shot back in a whisper.
“Don’t worry, he’s nice too,” Lucy assured.
I rolled my eyes and gave off a mocking tone. “Oh yeah, he’s nice.” I then pointed at the youngling. “You don’t just do that.”
“I know that, but it’s fine, really.” With that, she skipped away to the water, much to my displeasure. But then I noticed something held in the youngling’s wing.
I called to her. “Hey, Lucy. What’s that thing you’re hold-“
But the fledgling was already gone.
Left alone, I took a moment to charge myself up by rubbing my paws together before stepping foot on the sand. I wanted to charge myself up real good before doing anything with the water, just in case.
Sparks of course flew around, causing some nearby Silspringers to hastily back away and stare. (It was understandable of course. The charging process looked like something that would raise red flags of every kind, not just dwellers of the strange town.)
Some of the folks began to murmur, mumble, or, in the case of most, berate me for my behavior. Feeling a bit awkward and anxious, I decided enough was a enough and proceeded to head over to the shore.
I begrudgingly stepped foot into the pool. Though they were warmer in comparison to the basement, the waters were still far colder than I liked. “Gosh, that’s still so cold.” Every step deeper made the shivering worse. First, the water was above my ankles, then above my hip, and then half-way up my chest before I couldn’t step any further. I was close to the drop-off now. I had a tight grip on the seed given to me.
“Ok…ok, ok, ok, how do these Water-Types deal with this? I hate this, I hate everything about this.”
Lucy splashed her head out of the water with an annoyed look.
(“I hate everything about you right now, Lucy.”)
The youngling would have none of it. She took the seed from my paw and stuck it between my teeth in a quick fashion. “Oh for crying out loud. Bite it!” She then pulled me off the drop-off and down into the water.
With virtually no breath or choice, I bit into the seed which quickly blew air from my mouth. After a few moments, the bubbles stopped and the water around my head was mostly gone. I opened my eyes to discover a large bubble had formed around my head. I let out a few breaths, verifying that I could to a small extent breathe. I looked and I saw that I was pretty far below the surface now. I glanced at my hands, the fur of which was still flowing like they would underwater.
I was about to touch my head when Lucy shot up from below. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said with the water muffling her voice, “That bubble will break if you poke at it with your claw or go to the surface now.”
I was still blown away at the sight of the pool. My breathing was still heavy. “Oh gosh! Oh gosh! Oh gosh!” I repeated with panicked breath. (I knew this nonsensical panic was part of my instincts. I was fine. So…) (“Breathe, Zera, Breathe. You’re fine.”) Following this thought, I took a deep breath or two. Even still, I couldn’t help, but exclaim, “Whoa.”
Lucy appeared from below, seeming a bit antsy. Her voice though a little garbled by the water, still sounded somewhat clear. “Are you done yet? That bubble isn’t going to last forever you know. Let’s go before someone bonks you on the head or something.”
I nodded and slowly followed Lucy downward. I hardly ever swam below the surface, and even then, I could barely do it. There was hardly a need.
It wasn’t long before Lucy noticed my absurdly slow pace with a sigh. “Hang on…” She turned around and swiftly swam back to me.
She turned her back to me. “Grab on, we’re already behind schedule.”
“Uhhh…” I didn’t like the idea, and that’s not even covering how it would look to some folks. The size difference didn’t help matters either.
“Either this, or the wings.”
I sighed. “……….Fine, I’ll ride,” I answered, wrapping my arms around the fledgling’s neck.
I noticed the posture seemed off until I felt Lucy’s wing bump against my leg. It was gripping something, but I couldn’t see it, despite my attempts to. (“Curse you, limited view.”)
Afterwards, Lucy pulled me along the tunnel. It wasn’t too quick of a pace, but it was certainly better than my current swimming speed. Before long, we caught up to Otto and Kalea.
“About time,” Kalea commented.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m slow with your horribly horrible cold water. Now can we go before someone gets any horrifying ideas about Lucy and I?”
Otto laughed at my embarrassment. “Hah! What’s so bad about hanging onto little Lucy?”
“…A lot of things,” I growled behind my teeth.
Kalea nodded. “And I for one agree.” With that, she pulled Otto away.
And so, we began our trek through the large underwater tunnel.
The tunnel itself was spacious, just as vast as the pool we entered from. As expected from a town, the tunnel was jam-packed with pokemon going to and from their business. I would have said it was just the Water-Types, had it not been for numerous non-Water-Types passing by, a lot of which weren’t using a Breather Seed like me. Oddly enough, they weren’t bothered by the fact they were holding their breaths…they almost acted like Water-Types.
Seeing this, I had to ask, “Um, what’s with these pokemon? They’re just-”
“Doing their business, Zera,” Otto stated, “Water-Types aren’t the only ones that can breathe underwater you know. Lucy can, I can.”
I irritably narrowed my eyes. “That’s not what I was referring to.”
The retainer glanced behind himself. “Oh, you mean the non-Water-Type Silspringers. They just know how to hold their breath for a long time. They can’t do it forever though.”
“Oh, if that’s the case…” I turned my gaze to the youngling. “…Lucy, then how did you confuse my abilities with that of a Water-Type?”
The retainers glanced at Lucy, probably just as curious as I was. Lucy glanced around awkwardly as she swam. “Oh, uh, it’s been too long since I thought of that,” she answered.
I couldn’t believe what she was saying. (“Are you kidding?!? You can’t be that forgetful.”) “You only met me yesterday, Lucy.”
“Hey rider, you know I can just shake you off, right?”
“And I can electrocute you.”
“And everyone else in the vicinity,” Otto added.
“And then you would likely deal with guilt and a death sentence on top of all that,” Kalea finished.
I sighed. (“It’s always the technicalities to watch out for, huh. It’s just Cal all over again.”) I raised a brow when I thought that. (“Hmm…I wonder how she’s doing…”)
Lucy then piped up before I could finish my thought, “Anyways, I uh, I think it was the way you ran on the water or something?”
“You mean you mistook me for Keldeo?!?” I said in an outburst.
“Oh! That’s the one, the water-walker, right?”
The retainers groaned upon hearing that.
“How?!?” I shouted hysterically, “He’s a horse!”
“Probably not as much as you are right now.” Kalea commented.
I promptly pointed at the Water-Type. “Ohhh, do you want to go there, Miss Pyroar?”
Otto then posed a question. “Say, Lucy. I can’t help, but notice you’re holding something.”
“Huh?” the Fledgling blurted slowing her pace. “What thing?”
Kalea swam alongside the youngling and grabbed whatever she was holding. A seashell. “Really, Lucy?”
Lucy glanced at the two retainers before saying, “What? I just found it.”
Otto shook his head. “Oh no, that’s definitely one you have on display in your collection. Besides, you have enough trinkets at home.”
I straightened my posture and let the conversation play out.
Of course, Lucy noticed the change in my posture. “Brotherrrr…”
I rolled my eyes. “Kalea, be honest with me. Do you really think she’ll get away with running with a seashell?”
“No,” she answered with a grumble.
“Are you really that cautious about her? Is she really that bad?”
“I am obligated to say no.”
“Well?”
Bubbles foamed from Kalrea’s hard breath as she gave the seashell back to Lucy. “Just do us a favor and don’t drop it.”
We continued down the tunnel which passed by several intersections, or rather tunnels all of which probably led to a different part of town.
Finally, we were forced to stop before a large barricade. Beyond, the tunnel ran downward. There were large metallic looking pillars in the way with what looked like a net running around and past them. In front of this net were three kinds of pokemon in an organized group, all of which wore some kind of uniform. On the ground were some more Barbaracles while some Seadras and Mantines held the aerial defense (if one could call that an aerial defense anyways). Regardless, there was no going forward.
Otto and Kalea swam ahead with Lucy and I not too far behind. I listened in on the conversation.
“Hey! What’s going on?” Kalea called to one of the Seadra.
“Sorry Ma’am, but the Underside Tunnels have been closed for the time being,” the Seadra replied.
“All of them?” Otto asked.
“No one goes in or out. No exceptions.”
“This is ridiculous,” Kalea stated, clearly frustrated at the inconvenience. “The city can’t just close off a whole section of town. What in the world is it this time?”
The tone Kalea used, though muffled by the water, conveyed a knowing annoyance. That’s the best way to describe it. A sense of sickness in response to repeated circumstances.
“That is something I cannot say to a citizen,” the officer said.
Kalea pressed a flipper on her own face. “Let me guess, more police business, another riot you guys just happen to encounter.”
More Seadras gather near the duo of retainers as the officer shot back, “I must ask that both of you leave now.”
“Tch! Great, another day ruined,” Kalea muttered, turning back to Otto.
“Apologies for such bad luck and inconvenience, but you must leave the area for the time being, now.”
It was at this point, I noticed myself and Lucy moving backwards away from the group.
“Fine, be that way,” Kalea said, backing away, “Let’s go.”
“Uh guys?” I muttered.
Otto glanced at me for a moment before noticing the distance between him and I.
Just after, Lucy rushed to the right, pulling me along in the process.
I held on tightly as the fledgling swam through a series of tunnels. The turns were abrupt and sharp, nearly flinging me off occasionally.
During this frenzy, I shouted to Lucy, “Stop! Lucy, what are you doing?!?”
“Something very important!” she answered playfully.
The abrupt changes in direction made it difficult to speak out. “In what world…does this…seem…important?”
Eventually, I looked ahead of where Lucy was going, straight toward some old barricade. “Lu-Lucy no!”
The fledgling chuckled devilishly, “Lucy…yes!” She sped up her pace as she rammed through the barricade.
“No! No! Nononononnonono! NOOO!”
The barrage of junk coming my way caused me to let go of the fledgling. Debris nearly caused my bubble shield to pop as my momentum dwindled. I watched as the youngling kept swimming until she disappeared into the darkness.
“Lucy!” I called out. No response, just my echo. After a while, I noticed something familiar about this tunnel. The darkness of the tunnel reminded me of something too dreadful…a mystery dungeon. (And that reckless brat just swam right into it!)
Kalea and Otto finally caught up to me at that moment.
“You alright, citizen?” Otto queried, placing a tentacle on my back.
“Where’s Lucy?” Kalea demanded.
I took a deep breath before pointing in front of me. “In…In there. That mystery dungeon.”
“The Catacomb Expressway, that’s not good,” Otto stated grimly, also looking into the entrance.
“I can assume so.”
“That area’s been closed for a long while. Now it’s home to Wild Pokemon.”
“And Lucy is in there, all alone,” Kalea added. “What is she thinking?”
I clenched my fists. “We gotta find her now.”
“Zera, I agree, but you can’t breathe underwater like us,” the Primarina pointed out. “Look, your bubble shield sustained some damage.”
I noticed my shield was starting to fade.
“Here. Bite into it.” The Water-Type handed me a seed, which I quickly shoved into my mouth. Doing so however caused my shield to pop for a moment, letting water into my mouth during the new shield’s startup.
I coughed out water for a brief moment.
“Get a breath before you do that next time,” Kalea advised.
“Ack! N-Noted.” I began to swim toward the entrance before Grappleoct blocked my path. “Out of the way.”
Otto only shook his head. “Zera, I understand you’re worried, but this dungeon is mostly flooded.”
“But-”
“You’ll only slow us down, Zera.” Kalea interjected. “That shield won’t last against enemy damage. We only have so many spare seeds left.”
“No, I’m going in. I don’t care if Lucy tricked me into this promise, that’s no reason to not keep my promise. I’m going to be there for her, like it or not.”
The Water-Type let out a geyser of bubbles in a huff. “Fine! Stay close and don’t use Electric-Type attacks! Got it?”
I nodded. Otto was a little hesitant, but I believe even he knew that arguing was only delaying us, making it even harder to track the youngling down.
I swam slowly before Otto made a suggestion. “Spread your arms, cup your paws, and make wider kicks. You’ll push more water behind you that way and swim faster.”
I made larger sweeping motions with my limbs and was surprised at the results. I was certainly moving faster through the water. At the same time, I felt an odd sense of familiarity until I remembered. (“Oh yeah, it’s been too long…never had a need to do that for a while. I guess running on water all the time made me forget my swimming skills. This is something I was taught. Still doesn’t change the fact I don’t like water.”) (I couldn’t believe this lesson had to be relearned. It was honestly frustrating to be treated like some kind of beginner who can’t fend for himself. Although, this situation we all found ourselves in certainly fitted with that description.)
That aside, we all proceeded into the darkness of the dungeon.
Catacomb Expressway:
Area NE
After a short distance we found ourselves in a dimly-lit and empty tunnel, whose ground was filled with stone rubble and other nasty junk.
“Whoa…” I commented, “This is a dungeon alright, but right underneath the city? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not to worry, citizen,” Otto explained, “This place has been here for years now. In fact, some of the feral meat on the market wanders from this very place. A sort of self-sustaining source of meat…Well, for the underside.”
Kalea piped up. “The point is, Zera, this place hasn’t harmed the city yet and we all highly doubt it will. It’s just another part of Silspring now, for better or for worse.”
“Dare I ask what the ‘worse’ part is?”
“Hopefully, you won’t have to find out. Come on, let’s just find Lucy and get out of here as quickly as possible.”
I nodded. “Right.”
With that we began our slow trek through the tunnels, maneuvering our way through the junk and rubble. Parts of the walls we passed by were worn down, much of the polished and sleek aesthetic had long since broken off.
There wasn’t much to see above the ground. On the ground, there was what looked like some kind of…device? Err Devices? They seemed metallic, but now nature had started to overtake it all, like some type of venom. It was unsettling to look at.
On occasion, the tunnels seemingly pushed themselves together, leaving only some narrow gaps. These openings often had debris strewn across the gap from wall to wall. This debris ranged from broken stone to pinched pipes.
One gap in particular was quite narrow. Otto and Kalea slowly started crawling through, with the former having relative ease. I, on the other hand, heard my breathing intensify with each slow stride forward. Some of the pipes and other debris got uncomfortably close to my bubble shield. At one point, the walls were almost touching the bubble’s boundaries no matter which way I faced. So I ended up awkwardly weaving through some tangled and grounded debris in an Ekans-like fashion.
Thankfully (after bending backwards and all around more times than one cares to count), I managed to reach a point where the retainers could safely pull me through the rest of the way.
We soon reached a large room with more deteriorated mechanisms and ruins. On the floor was a large pit with some kind of current running into it, a weak whirlpool of sorts.
The pit piqued my interest. “Is that-”
“The way to the next floor of this place,” Kalea interjected. “I hope Lucy’s okay.”
I looked around and found something shiny near the edge of the pit. I swam to it and picked it up. It was Lucy’s seashell.
Otto came down to where I was. “What did you find?” he asked, taking the shell. “Wait, this is Lucy’s.”
Kalea turned toward us and noticed the shell. “Oh great, she dropped it.”
The retainer swam over and snagged the shell from Otto’s grasp.
I was about to rub my chin when I remembered the bubble shield, almost popping it; so I settled for crossing my arms instead. I wondered out loud. “You think she might have left it here? Like a breadcrumb?
Otto shook his head, “Maybe, but why would she do that? That would mean she wants to be followed.”
I shrugged. “It would be a way to force us to come along.”
Otto glanced away. “It doesn’t make sense though. Whenever she runs off, she usually doesn’t want to be found. This is completely different from her usual antics.”
“Who cares why she did it? We can figure that out later.” Kalea said, gesturing to the pit. “Right now, we need to follow her trail and fast.”
Otto and I reluctantly agreed and followed the Primarina into the pit.
The Next Floor…
The pit pulled us down through the darkness until we made a hard and solid landing on the floor of the next area. There were some old flickering lights above, but it was hard to tell whether or not the light was from the city above or some other source.
Nevertheless, we wasted no time swimming our way through the partially-wrecked tunnels ahead. I glanced around to see several clouds or…something. Dirt? Waste? It was better not to think about it. There was no telling what made its home here.
As we approached another intersection, I noticed something off about one of the clouds there. Sure it was gaseous, but it was too dark. It then pulsated, triggering a sense of danger.
“Get down!” I whispered strongly, pulling the others down with me. We hid behind some machinery.
“What is your deal?” Kalea complained, fighting against my grip.
“Hush!” I replied, pulling the Primarina down, “That’s a feral.” I glanced through one of the gaps and sure enough, the gaseous body turned to the right. The huge eyes and vaguely purple haze gave it away; it was a Ghastly for sure. Soon after, a Haunter joined up with the feral.
They just seemed to be meeting up or something. It didn’t make sense, wild pokemon in dungeons were mindless. (Then again, Ghost-Types were always an enigma. Never bothered to understand them. Some of those guys were just…creepy.)
I grabbed one of the pipes, which jostled the structure a little. The shake was enough to drop something onto the metal, causing noise. Upon the first clink, I dropped below, assuming the ghosts heard as well.
I pushed everyone back and down. We had a feeling the ferals were going to check the area after making noise. I gestured for everyone to shut up as we all felt a chill. Yep, the ghosts were nearby.
I winced as I heard the ghosts make breathless growls. The Haunter grabbed one of the pipes as it checked over the top of the machinery.
I held my breath and winced. (“Go away, go away, go away. Just go away please.”) I clenched my teeth once I heard more noise. Scratching pipes, guttural growls and breaths. Normally, I wouldn’t care much, but if what Kalea and Lucy told me was true, even these goofballs were a major threat. I had to wait and pray they would buy the idea that nothing was there.
I had no idea what Kalea and Grapploct were doing, but I could assume they were more worried about me than they were afraid. After all, they could take on those pokemon no problem. It’s their job after all, but I was certain they didn’t have to worry about my breath before.
After a nightmarish amount of time, a whoosh of water sounded out. I opened my eyes and saw the ghosts moving past us. My breath blew through my nose. Breaths of relief cautiously sounded out from within my bubble shield.
Kalea slowly handed me the other Breather Seeds (wallet and all), wordlessly communicating, “Take them, just in case.”
I hastily took the wallet and placed it within a tightly-packed tuft of fur, hoping that would be good enough.
Once the coast was clear, we hurried along the tunnels, trying our best to steer clear of any ferals.
During our rush, I had to ask. “Why? Why are there Ghost-Types in the water like this?”
“Why do you think?” Kalea answered hastily, “It’s abandoned. Nobody comes here. Now let’s hurry. Swim like you mean it!”
“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to hang onto you Kelea?”
“No way, Zera! No way! Shut up and swim!”
We finally reached another whirlpool pit and promptly entered soon after. I hoped we would find Lucy before my shield’s timer ran out or worse fight ferals.
Catacomb Expressway:
Old North Plaza
After yet another floor of long winding corridors and no sign of Lucy, we found ourselves in a vast room filled with devices. Upon entry, we watched as a gate closed itself above us. Further observation showed that the other exit points were also closed. We were effectively trapped.
It wasn’t long before I saw Lucy speeding around in a seemingly aimless fashion.
“There she is!” I exclaimed, pointing at the youngling.
The fledgling heard my statement and noticed the three of us. “Oh! Uhhh, hi guys. Great adventure, wasn’t it?”
Kalea groaned in frustration. “Lucy.” The Water-Type swam up to the fledgling and grabbed her shoulders. “We talked about this before. Why do you always have to wander away like that?”
The youngling laughed in a rehearsed manner before gesturing to herself. “Look at me, I’m fine. No harm done.”
“Except for me,” I added, “Your little stunt almost killed me! I could’ve drowned.”
“Brother…”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Who’s going to hear us in a dungeon? Besides, Kalea and Otto weren’t too far behind.”
“I don’t know about that, young lady,” Otto doubted, “If Zera hadn’t sounded out and I didn’t look back, we might not have made it in time.”
I nodded in agreement.
Kalea grabbed the fledgling’s upper wing, “We’re going to have a long talk.”
“Uh um,” the fledgling stammered, pointing at me.
The Primarina rolled her eyes, “…in breathable air, we’ll have a long talk. You’re lucky we’re submerged with a cat right now.”
“Y-Yeah,” I blurted out, “Maybe let’s focus on finding the nearest exit soon?”
“Agreed,” Otto stated, “We’re stuck with no air pockets.”
“Mmmmmmmm…I dunno what to say but… Maybe that Western Gate might open?” the youngling suggested, pointing toward one of the closed doors.
Kalea reluctantly went and examined the gate. “Maybe, but…it’s our best shot.” She then glanced at the other doors. “Looks more usable than the other doors.”
“Let’s split up and search for something to help pry that open,” Otto suggested, “And for our sake, don’t touch anything sharp, Zera.”
“Alright, alright,” I grumbled, swimming toward one of the corners in search of something to use.
So we all searched the room and not much could be found apart from some solid poles and two charge stones. In the middle was a device sticking out of the ground. Near one of the walls was some kind of observation deck with a solidly stuck lever. So far there was almost nothing useful and I already had to refresh my bubble shield with another Breather Seed. I had six left.
I needed to think. There had to be a way out…somehow. The Western Gate, our most usable door, was shut tight with no way of levering it. While the other doors either had too much heavy rubble in the way (both in front of the gate and behind it) or were far too broken to be moved.
Lucy came up to me with a fair amount of concern. “Um…”
I didn’t give her a chance to say anything. “What? You’re worried? Oh suuuuuure you’re worried.” I turned to the fledgling and pointed at her. “This is your fault we’re in this mess at all! Now why don’t you do me a favor and leave me alone!”
“But-”
“No! I’m not going with another stupid suggestion.” I swam away.
“Fine!” Lucy shouted back, “Go to that lever and look down! See if I care!”
I rolled my eyes. (“Haha, ‘go to the lever and look down.’ If that’s what she calls a comeback, then she’s got some stunted growth.”)
I sat near the lever and leaned over it. (“Darn it! What kind of unfair dungeon floor is this?!? This is how I’m going to die, stuck in room with water breathers.”)
After a couple of blinks, I noticed something odd below the floor. I couldn’t reach it, but it looked like a darkened rainbow. I picked myself up and glanced around the room. The whole area was filled with these odd lines, each similar to that rainbow. All of them were behind the walls too.
A singular word came out of my mouth, “Wires?” Images of a similar arrangement came up. This headache didn’t hurt too much at all…if it was a headache. No, it was more like a vision. (“Did Volant see these before? Power? Electricity?…Hold on.”)
I gestured to Otto, “Hey, come check this out.”
The Fighting-Type came up to me, wondering what I had to say.
“Say, do you or anyone else see all these wires?” I asked, “I think these devices are powered by those Electric things.”
“Shock cores?” the retainer asked.
“Yes, those. Can you…err you all take a look. Maybe that Itallo guy at least?”
Otto sighed, “He’ll take a look, but only a look. Just go speak with Kalea or something while we do this. Even Itallo isn’t exactly fond of you.”
“Huh? Why? Didn’t he say he saw me as uh, a student of sorts?”
“Oh yes, he did. But, he now says, and I quote, ‘You broke my trust thanks to that explosion stunt you pulled. So, you’ll have to earn my trust as well, the hard way. Hence why I said you got a freebie earlier.’ e-end quote.”
I awkwardly glanced away for a moment. “Is that a no then?”
Otto crossed his arms. “Not when you’re around to touch and ruin things…I think?”
My eye twitched from the almost literal Confuse Ray this response gave me. “I- What? What do you mean you think? You share the same head.”
“If you want to complain, do it with Kalea. But that’s all I’ll say.”
I shrugged and sighed. “Ugh, fine. I’ll do it. Just let me know when Itallo’s done and tell me what he thinks.”
With that, I swam to Kalea who was accompanying Lucy as she looked at the middle device. The Water-Type was pretty adamant about accompanying Lucy. I didn’t blame her. Otto, the alters, and even I couldn’t keep her from wandering off recklessly so far these past two days.
The Primarina noticed me approaching. “So what’s going on over there? Find something worth looking at?”
“Wires,” I replied, “I wanted to get a group opinion, but…he said he needed space. Or the group needed space?”
The Water-Type waved off my guess. “Oh, that. They needed space.”
“So, I thought Grapploct was a guy.”
“They are, as a collective in public. When we’re in public, we use he. But, if we’re in the house or alone in an isolated space like this dungeon, we more or less use they, as in plural. Since Grapploct is a group, not just one.”
I crossed my arms. “Yeesh! That sounds needlessly complicated.”
The Water-Type shrugged with a pensive expression. “Yeah, it does. Don’t worry, even I don’t get all the details.”
“All the details? How much more could there be?”
The fledgling nervously chuckled. “Hehe…waaaaaay more than you can believe.” She noticed my narrowed gaze. “Well uh, don’t look at me like that. Itallo’s the main expert. Ask him when you get the chance.”
Grapploct swam past us without a word and started examining the floor below.
“I thought Itallo needed space,” I commented.
“Quiet quiet, let me listen,” the Fighting-Type said.
I shrugged. (“Listen? Like…oh. Of course, his alters. I wonder what all that actually sounds like. If it’s anything like the ever-popular telepathy most of the higher-ups just loooove to use, then I hope I never have to deal with it.”) (Just thinking about the idea would make the head hurt.)
After a few moments, Otto just floated there with their arms crossed. I found it so much harder to tell who was fronting at the moment. On land, sure, there’s his stance and posture. But underwater like this? It looked like Otto, but all of his arms were spread out like Tentacruel limbs. I wondered if every alter did that or what.
Finally, the retainer turned to the three of us; it looked like Otto and Itallo were finished.
I spoke up. “That was some fast switching I guess. So-”
“Nah,” Otto said, “Itallo didn’t front this time. He just saw the wires you mentioned.”
“Then why-”
“First, swapping places is exhausting for the body. And secondly, Zera, he didn’t want you touching anything at random.”
“Pfft I wasn’t going to touch anything,” I scoffed, “That’s your assumption or whoever made it.”
“Regardless, you found something very interesting. The wires are still operable. So if we can find a way to power the lever and this turn-wheel, then we can open the Western Gate Lucy pointed out earlier. We just need some place where we can place the charge stones.”
Kalea looked at Lucy. “Hey, didn’t you say that you saw some boxes with wires earlier?”
The youngling pondered for a moment before she had an epiphany. “Ah! That’s right! I did see that, a couple of them before you three came in. Follow me.”
The fledgling led us to the south-western side of the room where there was a large and open metal box.
“Right here,” she stated, pointing at the box.
Otto glanced at the box and the connected wires. “This might work. And where was the other one?”
Lucy then led us to the south-eastern side, where yet another open box could be seen.
I glanced at the wires this time and saw that they ran over the gate and all the way to the lever area.
“And right here,” the fledgling gestured.
Otto followed suit in analyzing the wires. “Atta girl, Lucy. This could work out after all.”
“So what are we waiting for?” I queried.
“Kalea, Lucy, grab the poles and insert them into the turntable in the middle.”
“Hey, what about me?” I asked irritably.
“You just move the lever when I tell you and for goodness sake don’t break it.”
As I processed the information, a thought crossed my mind. (It was a bright idea that was far simpler in theory.) I was an Electric-Type for crying out loud. “Hold on, if this requires electricity, why do we need the charge stones again?”
“Because you’ll fry us all to oblivion, knowing your uncontrollable tail,” Lucy said, swimming with a pole in her grasp.
“You don’t know that!” I retorted
“I do!” Lucy sneered back, “In more ways than one. Remember Market Street? That hurt by the way.”
I raised a fist until I thought about it. (“Darn it, she has a point. If my snap from earlier today said anything, I might fry the whole room or something.”) (And that wasn’t talking about what Lugia would do if he found our corpses down here, if at all…eugh!)
I gritted my teeth and nervously glanced at Otto. “I’ll just go ahead and do what you say.” I then swam to the console area.
Just after I arrived, I looked toward Otto, who was holding one of the charge stones in one of his tentacles. He was preparing himself. For what? I could imagine one thing and I wished it was me to do it instead (to an extent).
The retainer stared at me expectantly. With a breath, I grabbed onto the lever and awaited the signal, whatever it may be.
He called Kalea over and whispered to her.
The Water-Type then swam up to me in order to lay out the plan.
“Okay, here’s what he wants to do,” she explained, “When Grappleoct puts in the charge stone, move the lever. I need to keep an eye on the switches and mechanisms. I’ll signal to you with a clap once it’s lined up. Once you’re done, pull Otto away from the wires.”
I nodded slowly, “Okay, but which way?”
“I don’t know. We’ll just have to experiment. Also take it easy with the lever.”
“I know that, just go! Go!” I waved the Primarina off as she swam away.
Once everyone was in position, Otto shoved in the charge stone. Some lights were zapping off of the Fighting-Type. I couldn’t waste time. I just had to stick to the plan and pray the retainer didn’t have to suffer for long.
First, I tried the right side. Using my strength, I slowly moved the rusted lever to the right up to the first notch. A quick glance at the center showed Kalea shaking her head. Nothing yet. The far right notch, also nothing. I then tried to pull the lever the other way.
As the lever reached the middle, the metal began to bend. (“Oh come on, not now.”) I pulled to the left up to the first notch, nothing as well. It had to be the far left, of course it was.
As I pulled at the lever once more, the high part of it snapped off. (“Uh oh.”) There was now only a small pointy part of the lever left. In a brief panic, I bent down and started tearing at the flooring where the lever stood. Once there was more room, I gripped the remaining piece of the lever, firmly pushed it into the left-most notch.
Afterwards, I stood up and saw Kalea, giving me the clapping signal. (Thank goodness.)
I swam to where Otto was. He was still shaking from the shock. Without delay, I grabbed the retainer, quickly feeling the voltage in the process. With me as a filter, Otto was free to let go and topple over. I wish there was something else I could do, but he was pretty much the best candidate to safely get us out.
After recovering, the Fighting-Type made his way to the other box, where the charge stone was lying and waiting. Lucy and Kalea placed the poles into the holes found on the device. This mechanism reminded me of some kind of old historic concept. Unfortunately, the exact name eluded my mind. It was a wheel that was manually turned for some reason or something like that. I just left it as some unknown human concept I’ll never understand.
Otto gave us the following instruction: “When power comes up, turn the wheel until the door is open enough, then we go through it.”
We all reluctantly nodded and readied ourselves. The Fighting-Type placed in the stone, twitching rapidly at the shock.
Without hesitation, we slowly managed to unjam the wheel and turn it. It was mostly my strength doing the work though. Kalea and Lucy were more or less moral support, despite their pushing. I wished I could wipe the sweat away, but that would have wasted yet another Breather Seed.
Nevertheless, the gate was raised very high or about as high as my heated head could stand. “G-Go! Go!” I said.
Kalea rushed over to Grapploct while Lucy swam close to me, ready for the sprint.
Just as I was about to leave, I noticed the wheel pushing back. Something was wrong. I pressed my back against the bar and planted my foot.
Lucy noticed my hesitation and was quick in figuring what was happening. She placed herself in front of me, ready for a sprint. “Jump off and hold tight,” she hastily told me , “On my mark. 1…2…3!”
On that mark, I placed my feet on the bar and pushed from it, buying me an ounce of time. I then wrapped my arms tightly around Lucy’s neck as she swam forward. We hurried to Otto’s side within moments.
I barely pulled the retainer away from the wires when Kalea grabbed him. With that, we rushed past the gate just before it closed.
I was panting and I couldn’t take the sweat any longer. I shook my head and took a deep breath. I popped the Bubble Shield to cool my head off and give myself an opportunity for the sweat to wash off. I then bit into my fourth Breather Seed, with at least ten to go. I was certainly surprised at how many Lucy bought from that Oranguru. Did she really get that lucky with a good deal? (No, I didn’t think so. She must have met him several times before, but then there’s whole secrecy thing of hers. Why hide it? Would the fact make them worry? Maybe.) A question for another time I thought.
After several breaths, I remarked, “Alright, let’s hope I don’t have to do more of that heavy lifting.”
Otto was also feeling a bit worn out…at least by the look of things. Still, without items we had no way of healing our injuries.
…Or so I thought.
Primarina then started shining a light from her flippers. When this light came into contact with the Fighting-type’s body, Otto’s movement perked up. It was most likely a healing move.
I blurted out, “Was that-”
Kalea interrupted me before I could finish, “Life Dew. It’s not the best since I have to share my energy, but…it’s better than nothing.”
I fell silent after the response. (There was no arguing with that.)
After a short time, Otto seemed refreshed as he stretched himself.
“Whew…thanks for that,” he said.
We were about done with this area, so we continued silently.
A Couple of Clustered Floors Later…
After a long hallway, we found ourselves in a new part of the dungeon. Some areas of the wall were glowing. This reminded me of a forest almost, something one would see in a mushroom area.
Otto noticed my curious glances and spoke up. “The glow’s got your interest? That’s our algae for you. Don’t be surprised to see some weird stuff at this point.”
I rolled my eyes at that comment. I just wanted out of the water at this point. We came across a three-way fork in the path and took a chance by turning left. After another short and round corridor, we exited the tunnel and were partially blinded by the brightness.
Once our vision cleared up, we found ourselves outside of a broken pipe and in a massive room. The walls and surroundings were covered in this algae. In some ways, I thought we were swimming in the night sky. A large number of Morelulls and Shiinotics were on the walls as well, unbothered by the obvious presence of water. I was baffled until I remembered, (“Oh right, Silspringers basically don’t care as much…which begs the question, there had to be an air pocket somewhere, right?”)
We swam forward, bewildered at this oddly pleasant area.
“There’s something wrong here,” Kalea muttered, “There shouldn’t be Grass-Types down here.”
“I agree,” Otto added, “these tunnels should all be flooded.”
“They’re not Grass-Types,” Lucy said fearfully, “I…We took the wrong tunnel.” The fledgling stopped and turned around. “We gotta go, now!”
Before the retainers had a chance to ask why, the youngling started to rush back the way we came with me in tow. However, the tunnel seemingly disappeared. She stopped her pace when this happened and recoiled after experiencing a sting of some kind.
I blinked and watched as the whole room twisted and bubbled around us. Before we knew it, we were completely surrounded by a hoard of Frillishes and Jellicents in every conceivable direction. Their blue and pink glows swirling about made it difficult to see without wincing. In fact, it was an eye-sore. The water swirled and twisted around the four of us, virtually disorienting our sense of direction. None of these compared to the feral cries sounding out and echoing throughout the cluster. (Actually, no. These weren’t just cries, but rather a chilling moan, a chant of many voices of varying tones. Quite literally an outcry of the dead.)
“A Monster House?” I blurted.
“No,” Lucy replied, shaking her head. “We entered a Monster Nest.”
Fragment of Knowledge:
Electrical Power:
This fairly recent discovery was courtesy of Glimmer’s power. It was discovered that certain elements can send the previously unpredictable power of electric-types down a linear and much safer path. Though efforts started with classic metallic ropes, or wires, Silspring would eventually find more sustainable means of providing light to the city, methods far more effective than the natural algae.
Continuous efforts to improve energy production would eventually lead to the invention of charge stones, which can release electrical charges upon contact with metallic surfaces typically found in wires.
The longest standing example of these efforts are by the Sound District, which doubles as a major source of electrical energy distribution thanks to its more concentrated population of Electric-Type pokemon.
Special Thanks to TheSnapDragon for beta reading and providing valuable feedback.
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