Inferno’s Maw
by MalwareBirb404Walking ever closer towards the fortress-like structure, the members of Team Lightwood were on edge. They passed by a few tents that were sitting outside the desert city’s walls, with each one they passed only seemed to increase their sense of dread as the pokemon residing in said tents glared at the passing newcomers. Crash quickly glanced to the side before hastily looking ahead once again, drawing the attention of a blue, frog-like pokemon with a red air sack on their throat. The Toxicroak’s eyes followed Crash from inside the beige tent, prompting the Scraggy to quicken his pace.
“No Crash… We can’t do that, not here…” The yellow lizard thought.
“Just… try to act like you do when you’re anywhere else you don’t belong… Act like you do…” Crash then took a deep breath before straightening his back. However this didn’t change the fact that his heart was racing, and his breathing was heavy.
Cinder turned her head towards Crash as she heard the reptile’s low, borderline hyperventilating. “ Hey .” She loudly whispered, getting his attention.
“Try to calm down, alright.” The Vulpix said rather forcefully.
After a second or two, Crash nodded in response. It was clear to him that Cinder didn’t want to raise any suspicion from the locals, but there was something else in the fox’s tone that was a tad more friendly than normal. With that, Crash felt a bit calmer as he continued to walk alongside his ‘teammates.’
Reaching the base of the buildings lodged within the cliff, a similar feeling to that of Regirock’s ‘throne room’ came over Team Lightwood. Being made to feel exceptionally small in the presence of the stone and metal behemoth that loomed over them. However their attention was shifted towards Mellan, as the Luxray lightly batted at each of the trio with the prong of his tail to get their attention.
“The heck was that for?” Crash spat, swatting the lynx’s tail away. But the Scraggy got his answer as Mellan kept walking.
As they all approached the gate, Hickory noticed Cinder glancing around as if she were searching for something. “Cinder?”
Shaking her head, she looked up at the Bayleef. “Sorry… It’s just- I thought I might see the guys from yesterday…” The Vulpix said with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
“Well we still just got here. We can still try to figure something out.” Hickory said as he and the others followed Mellan and Ivan past the steel gates and into the city.
“Well a Skuntank and Venusaur shouldn’t be too hard to find in a place like this…” Mellan added, glancing back at the team behind him.
Crash tilted his head. “When did-”
“Hickory brought it up yesterday while you three were talking, correct?” Mellan answered. “Once I heard ‘Gliscor’ I figured you may have run into those idiots…”
“Hold on, you know them?!” Cinder aggressively asked as she quickened her pace.
“We’ve had… run-ins with them before.” Ivan said, showing a hint of irritation. “Usually with them causing some kind of problem, but through some manner of taurosshit they always seem to get away.” He continued.
“And you’re just now telling us this?” Crash asked, giving the cat an annoyed glare.
Upon passing the gate, the group of five were met with a bustling scene of pokemon moving throughout the stone and dirt streets. The difference in the amount of light was quite drastic as well, with the city becoming significantly dimmer as they had basically stepped into a massive cavern.
The entire space was bathed in a lavender light stemming from the top of a stone tower in the distance, supplying for the lack of natural light to a degree. Houses and other buildings seemingly made from the same stone making up the cliffs outside lined the roads. Though, it was easy to notice that a select few were built better than others, as hastily put together scaffolds made from wood and metal beams and panels were holding a majority of the structures together. What wasn’t as immediately discernible, however, was the other side of the city that was on the opposite end of a massive, round gap. The entirety of Inferno’s Maw was built upon a massive ring of stone .
“This is not what I was expecting…” Hickory quietly said.
“And what exactly were you expecting?!” Crash loudly whispered.
“I don’t know, just-”
“Can we not do this now?!” Cinder forcefully said, stepping between the two.
“Yeah, yeah I know. ‘Don’t forget why we’re here’ and all that.” Crash huffed as he crossed his arms.
The trio’s focus was then turned towards Mellan, the Luxray having cleared his throat. Both he and Ivan stared back at them, without saying a word. And at this point it was clear to Team Lightwood what the two wanted as they glanced at each other in silence. “Yeah, we’re done here.” Crash remarked as he and the others looked back up at their guardians.
Feeling Cinder side eyeing him, Crash’s brow furrowed. “Arceus make this quick…”
As the group walked down the busy street, Cinder couldn’t help but continuously glance around at her new surroundings. “This place is huge… Dammit, they could be anywhere…” The Vulpix thought as she only grew more desperate to find her mother’s box. But Cinder was soon pulled from her thoughts when a sudden commotion erupted ahead of them, as there was a group of irate pokemon who seemed to be gathered around someone.
“What’s going on over there…?” Hickory concernedly asked as he pointed a vine at the squabble in front of them.
“Something that’s none of our business, that’s what.” Crash hastily said as he looked to the side.
Hickory looked away from Crash, and back at the scene in front of him. The yelling amongst the pokemon as the yelling only seemed to escalate. “…Maybe, but-”
“Things work a bit differently here kid.” Ivan said as he turned his head back.
As the five were about to turn into the next corner to go a different way, Hickory glanced back at the altercation. “It just feels wrong… I mean, I doubt everyone here is some kind of evil maniac.”
Hearing this, Cinder could feel a bout of heat welling up in her body, but chose to puff out a bit of hot air from her mouth as she didn’t want to cause a scene. “I’d like to kindly disagree with that…” The Vulpix muttered.
“Yeah, I don’t know Hick…” Crash answered as he felt his body tense up. “Take it from someone with experience.” The leaf atop the grass type’s head drooped as he let out a sigh.
Seeing this, Crash rolled his eyes and continued. “It’s just best not to get involved in these type of things unless-”
The Scraggy was then cut off as the sound of a blast shook the surrounding area, signifying that a move of some kind had been used. Crash flinched as he and the others quickly turned around. A large cloud of dust filled the area before something quickly shot out and up into the air. Looking up, the group was able to get a better view of the unidentified entity. To Team Lightwood’s surprise, they were met with a familiar but very unwelcome sight.
Now airborne, the Gliscor then glared down at the pokemon that had attacked him. “Listen you bunch of assholes, I was having a good day today!” The flying arachnid spat.
“Get your ass back down here!” A Haxorus yelled, the dragon type aggressively slamming his tail against the ground.
The gray, winged scorpion then cracked a wicked smile, showing off his fangs to his angry adversaries. “So be it…”
Diving down, the Gliscor shot a sludge-like glob from his mouth. This made direct contact with the Haxorus, hitting the reptile in the face and causing him to recoil in pain. However unlike the olive green dragon, the Heracross behind him was still able to fight. And as the Gliscor got closer he crossed his claws over each other, the flying type aiming for the Haxorus’ stomach.
But what he wasn’t expecting was for the large, blue beetle to push the dragon aside, and counter attack with their pronged horn. “You and your stupid fucking freinds said that you split whatever you got this time with us!” The blue bug growled.
“What can I say? You got outbid… ” The gliscor snarled back. He then felt the Heracross suddenly push forward, only too late realizing that the base of his right claw had slipped between the dual points of the Heracross’ horn.
Turning towards a small building, the Heracross charged forwards and pinned the winged arachnid to the wall before quickly twisting his horn to the side. Hearing a crack, the gray scorpion winced in pain as his breathing grew heavy. Whether it was out of anger, pain, or some combination of the two, the Gliscor’s demeanor soon grew more eerie as a wide smile grew on his face.
“You really shouldn’t have done that…”
Before the Heracross could react, the Gliscor’s tail shot up from against the wall and plunged itself right in his abdomen; carrying a thick purple aura as it did.
Seeing this, the Haxorus charged towards the two. “You little-” But was then cut off as his colleague was suddenly pushed into him. As the two dropped to the ground, the Gliscor seized the opportunity and scrambled across the ground as he tried to take off into the air.
Getting a running start, the gray scorpion leapt up and spread out his wings. He didn’t reach the altitude he wanted, but he had gotten away and that’s what mattered. Slipping down the first street he saw, the Gliscor smiled. “Heh, what a bunch of- ack! ”
Feeling something cold and sharp grab his tail, the flying type then felt himself get violently pulled back before being slammed into the hard ground. “What in the fuck was-” He spat before a set of black paws came into view
“…Shit.”
“Still think that ‘not everyone down here’s some evil maniac’ ?” Crash sarcastically asked, raising a brow towards Hickory.
Hearing this, the Bayleef’s eyes shifted to the side as the leaf of his head drooped. “I gave you a chance.” Crash momentarily froze, as if he were about to say something in response. Instead, the Scraggy crossed his arms before turning to the side in silence.
Catching this, Hickory quickly turned towards the yellow lizard. “I-I’m sorry, was that-”
“It’s fine…” Crash groaned.
Looking down at the Gliscor, the two watched as Ivan and Mellan restrained him after dragging him into a nearby alley; hogtying the arachnid’s pincers to his long tail. “OWOWOWOWOW!! Easy! That claw’s crippled!” The Gliscor yelled, along with a slew of various expletives. However the Snorlax and Luxray simply ignored him, and Crash swore he saw Ivan further tighten the rope out of spite.
“What are ya lookin at?!” The winged scorpion yelled towards Crash.
The Scraggy then glanced back and forth before looking back at the Gliscor. “Me?” Crash asked, pointing at himself.
“You see any other dead-eyed idiots around here?!“
“I’m looking at one.” Crash shot back with a slight smirk. A smirk which quickly went away as both Mellan and Ivan quickly turned their heads, giving Crash the ‘shut up right now’ look.
“ You little- …Wait. Yeah, wait… You’re those kids from the other day right?” The Gliscor asked as a shit-eating grin grew on his face. His attention soon turned towards Cinder, who stood further away. Her head turned the other direction as she thought even glancing at the scorpion would make her erupt with rage.
“You want that box back, right? That’s why you came here isn’t it?” Cinder heard the flying type ask. His tone was snide, but there was a hint of something else in there. The fox’s breathing grew heavier as the bandit’s words taunted her, feeling a surge of heat welling up throughout her body as her paws dug into the ground.
The Vulpix then let out a sigh that was a bit more flame than air. However upon seeing this, the Gliscor showed off a toothy grin. “ Oh… does that make you mad?” He asked, the malice in his voice less subtle. “Well I-”
Quickly turning her head, Cinder was greeted to the sight of Ivan having slammed the bandit’s head into the ground, knocking them out.
Although she was standing a few feet away, Crash and Hickory could feel an intense heat radiating off of the Vulpix. The two briefly looked at each other, and then at Cinder who frankly looked like she was about to explode.
“Uh… Cinder…?” Hickory hesitantly asked, steadily raising a vine from his neck. “…Are you-”
“I’m fine.” The fire type quickly said before a heavy breath. Her teammates watched as the fox’s body grew a bit less tense, feeling that the heat she gave off was dying down as a result.
“Really Cinder, are you… okay?” Hickory hesitantly asked. He’d never seen Cinder this enraged before, and the Bayleef was only growing more concerned for the state of his friend. Though the grass type only was met with a slow, albeit shaky nod from Cinder.
Feeling the sensation of heat across his body waning, Crash shook a bit as the thought of an angry Scorch briefly entered his mind. The yellow lizard then shook his head, trying to get his mind back onto the current situation.
“I’ll see what I can get out of him.” Mellan said, turning his attention to the Gliscor.
“Yeah… you do that.” Crash muttered before glancing back at Cinder.
Hunter and Bella sat beside each other on the floor of the wetlands temple, the two having something to eat before the day’s trip began. However Hunter sat half-facing away from Bella, as the Garchomp couldn’t help but continue to think about what happened in the arena the other day. He then noticed Bella scoot closer towards him, feeling the Salazzle’s body brush up against his side. Hunter didn’t respond, the dark blue land shark refusing to acknowledge the lizard.
Bella didn’t take kindly to this however, deciding to further lean against the dragon type in an attempt to elicit something from him. But to the Salazzle’s dismay, Hunter simply stood up before slowly walking away.
“Enough of this…” Bella grumbled to herself, an annoyed scowl sitting plain as day on her face. The poison type had noticed that ever since yesterday, Hunter had been acting weird. He’d become much quieter, which by itself wasn’t saying much. But whenever the Salazzle got close to him, Hunter would shift away.
Getting up, Bella quickly followed Hunter to a spot near the temple’s scaffold where he had sat back down. Staring at the black and purple lizard, Hunter soon let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. “…What?”
“You can’t still be mad about yesterday!”
“Why shouldn’t I be…?” Hunter retorted, giving a scowl.
“Well you didn’t seem to have a problem with me using my mist when you fought fishface in the swamp!” Bella argued, crossing her arms.
“That was different.” Hunter groaned as his body stiffened in frustration. Bella sighed as she leaned against the wooden scaffold, rubbing her temples.
“So I’m the bad guy now… Is that it?”
Before Hunter could respond, Bella continued. “You know, I was gonna split the money with you if you’d won.” The Salazzle said, feigning hurt at Hunter’s actions.
“Everything I’ve done has been for us, and you know that…” Bella said softly as she gently put a hand on the Garchomp’s shoulder.
“You know I love everything about you except for that thick head of yours…” The Salazzle said almost passive aggressively as she brushed her hand down the rough scales coating Hunters upper body. Bella’s demeanor was masked with an aura as sweet as the scent of her mist, but there was a hint of something lingering beneath the surface. Despite this, Hunter couldn’t help but give a slight smile.
But that smile soon faded as the Garchomp remembered why he was upset with the poison type. Bella paused midway before turning her head towards the exit. “We should probably get ready before Scorch has a fit. I hear he’s not too happy about this trip.” The Salazzle groaned before looking back at Hunter.
Bella then rolled her eyes and smiled. “I’ll make it up to you, okay. I’m pretty sure there’s a place there we can go to. Just you and me… ” The Salazzle said before giving Hunter a peck on the cheek.
Hunter seemed to be thinking a bit before he stood up looking less agitated. “Fine. Just… don’t do that again.”
“Alright, alright, fine.” Bella nonchalantly said as she fanned her hand.
As the two stepped outside, they saw Scorch who appeared to be staring at his arm. And though he was facing away from the duo, they could see a gold band being worn on the appendage. Though the longer he stared at the metal trinket, the more the flames around his neck would dance about in a fury.
“After how long it’s been…” The large pig thought as he clenched his fist. Scorch then huffed, his flames quickly shooting up before returning to normal.
“Another special occasion?” Scorch heard Bella ask.
Turning around, Scorch gave the Salazzle an all too familiar scowl. “Told you he wasn’t happy…” Bella quietly said looking up at Hunter, but still loud enough for the Emboar to hear. Scorch began to mumble every profanity under the sun before turning his head in search of his ghostly colleague.
“Umbral, get your ass out here!” The Emboar demanded.
“Say thy name, and thou shall appear.” The Gengar said with a grin as he floated up and out of the ground. “Though I’d appreciate it if you were a bit more polite next time…” Umbral said as he feigned being upset.
“Besides, we can’t have you acting like that in front of the big guys.” The Gengar added as he jokingly scolded Scorch. “We’re business partners now, so what you do reflects on me. And I can’t blow this with them.” Umbal said as he pointed up at Scorch.
“Umbral… Shut up.”
“Good. Everyone’s here.” Umbral said, clapping his hands together as he noticed Bella and Hunter. “If we move now, it should still be morning when we get there.”
Bella and Hunter both gave the ghost type a confused look. “What the hell do you mean by ‘still be morning’? At the very least we’re probably talking like a week-long trip there.” Bella remarked.
Umbral simply blinked in response. “Did I not mention the shortcut…?” He said before turning towards Scorch. “Oh, and uh… Where’s your third one? The Inteleon… Have him come too.”
Bella rolled her eyes at the mention of Brine, as she didn’t want the water type to come. Seemingly catching this, Umbral turned towards the lizard and gave a knowing smile. “Look, I know you know the place. And while I know you’re probably capable, you never know if shit could go sideways…”
The Salazzle felt a slight burning in the back of her throat as she stood more upright. She let out a sigh before turning towards Hunter. “Do me a favor and find Brine…”
“Right, that’s his name!” Umbral said with a snap of his fingers.
The five pokemon later approached what looked to be the edge of the wetlands, as the surrounding area began to take on a more forested appearance. With the overall silence between the pokemon as they continued to walk, Hunter began to think. He wasn’t able to put his claw on it, but something felt different. The dragon type fiddled a bit with the metal cuff around his neck as he thought back to his spat with Bella, reasoning that this odd feeling was because the two of them hadn’t really ‘fought’ before.
But a small part of the Garchomp felt like there was something else. However Hunter brushed it aside as what was seemingly the group’s destination was coming up, an incline in the woods with a path that snaked through the trees.
“So where is it?” Scorch asked with a huff, glaring down at Umbral as he did.
“Calm now, my fiery friend.” The Gengar said, floating off the ground as he pointed at Scorch. “We just need to keep going up that way.”
“I still don’t get how we’re gonna get to Inferno’s Maw from here.” Bella remarked as the five scaled the hillside. “I mean we’re talking about a trip damn near halfway across the region.”
“For once I agree with Belladonna.” Brine chimed in. ”Forgive me, but you’ve been awfully quiet about what this ‘shortcut’ of your’s actually is.”
“Just know it’s nothing life threatening.” Umbral replied.
Eventually, the team of bandits reached what looked like a passage of some kind on the side of the incline. However the entrance was blocked off by a number of boulders. “Welp, we’re here. Hope everyone’s happy now.” Umbral said, crossing his arms.
“Normally I’d say we just go right though, but I doubt you share my… physical properties .“
Rolling his eyes, Scorch then beaconed Hunter over towards him. As the two began clearing the rocks, Brine noticed Bella was a bit more tense than normal, her foot rapidly tapped the ground, and her tail whipped across the ground like a writhing serpent. But above all, Brine saw her eyes were laser focused on Hunter.
“Trouble in paradise I presume?” The Inteleon quietly asked.
“It’s none of your business.” Bella snapped.
“If it has the chance of affecting me, then it is my business.”
“It’s not gonna.” The Salazzle hissed, snapping her head towards the water type. “ Everything’s under control- ”
The two were soon interrupted by a series of loud thuds as the boulders were cleared out of the way. “Alright, let’s go.” Umbral said, clapping his hands together. “Oh, but I’m kinda gonna need you to put those back…”
Inside the cavern, the darkness was virtually cut through by the flames around Scorch’s neck. “Well would you look at that!” Umbral said. “I mean I can see in the dark just fine, but having you around like this is pretty convenient.” It was then that the flames began to dance a bit more wildly before quickly returning to normal as the Emboar attempted to calm himself.
“So who’s ready to see the ruins that’ll take us where we need to go?!” Umbral asked.
“Ruins?” Bella answered, crossing her arms as she made a skeptical face.
“Well you see-”
“Just shut up and move.” Scorch groaned, pushing past the Gengar as he marched further into the cave.
Relic Hollow Floor B1
As Scorch led the others though the oddly luminated cave, walking quickly and looking straight ahead as he ignored Umbral’s content yammering. Stone pillars that appeared as if they were carved out of the cave system lined the dungeon’s halls. With each one the Emboar passed, he contemplated swinging his arm into one and shattering it to bits. But he knew better, as the last thing the fire type wanted was to cause a potential cave in.
“He’d just find a way to slip out anyway…” Scorch thought, giving a sigh.
However it was then that the Gengar decided to take another approach. “You know what, I feel you should be thanking me…”
“…”
“I mean how else were you gonna grow that extra spine to see the-”
“I am going to give you until the count of three to stop talking !” Scorch yelled as he snapped towards the purple ghost type, the flames around the orange boar’s neck shooting up.
To his own surprise, Umbral found that he had flinched at the pig’s outburst. His wide smile quickly flipped as he instinctively took a step back. “Y-You know, if you didn’t want to come…” The ghost type stammered, putting up his hands. After a moment of pause, Scorch seemed to calm down a bit as his flames died down.
After a few deep breaths, Scorch looked away. “It’s complicated…” He huffed.
A long, tense silence hung over the group. Brine, Bella, and Hunter stood off the side. With Bella blowing out some air as she drummed her fingers against her thighs. Umbral however began to float a bit off the ground as he tapped his claws together. “…You wanna talk about it-”
“No.”
It was then Bella remembered something Umbral had mentioned before they left. “The ‘big guys’, huh…? So they will be busy…” She thought before looking up at the Garchomp beside her. Giving a smile, she managed to elicit a few glances from the blue and red land shark.
“This might just be a fun trip after all…”
Relic Hollow Floor B20
“Not much longer now.” Umbral said, floating alongside Scorch.
Brine didn’t give a response as he followed his bosses, but as he continued walking the Inteleon couldn’t help but feel like something was off. “I find it odd that we haven’t run into that many dungeon pokemon throughout our time here…”
“Honestly, that’s pretty much par of the course here.” Umbral responded.
Soon, the five pokemon approached a large opening at the end of a long passage. A lavender colored light seemed to fill the other side, and only grew more prominent as they got closer. Stepping through into a large open space, Scorch, Umbral, and the others stared out at what stood in front of them.
The moment they entered, it was plain to see what was causing the glow they’d seen from outside. As the walls of the large cave were lined with luminescent cracks that faded between light blue, and a pale lavender.
On the other end of the room stood two large statues resembling bipedal figures clad in thick armor. The one on the left was different shades of pale blue, and the one on the right bore tones of gray. A large, faded amber fissure with a band holding it shut sat on the middle of the former’s rounded chest. While a dull green one branded the other. But most notably, embedded in the shoulder of each were large crystals. For the one on the left, lavender. The right, sky blue. And between the pair of statues was an opening in the cave wall, just wide enough for the group to go though one or two at a time.
Brine, Bella, and Hunter were in awe of the sight, their eyes widening as the three took it all in, Hunter in particular seeming the most enamored with the scenery. He felt… happy. Almost forgetting about what had happened earlier in the day. Though the Garchomp was soon brought out of his own little world as he felt something brush up against him. Looking down, he saw Bella’s tail slip past his leg. Raising his gaze to meet the poison type’s eyes, the expression on his face turned. Noticing this, Bella sighed and rolled her eyes as she turned towards the statues.
Scorch however remained rather irritated, but a slight glimmer shone in his eyes as the Emboar scanned the open space. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Umbral remarked as he looked around as well. “I just can’t help but look around whenever I come here…”
It was then the Emboar let out an annoyed snort, as he had to admit to himself that he found agreeing with Umbral for once. “Let’s not waste anymore time…” He grumbled before stomping towards the gap in the wall.
As the large fiery pig approached the gap, the crystal attached to the metal band around his arm began to glow; causing the crystals on the statues shoulders, as well as their eyes to do the same. A violent shaking started to reverberate throughout the room, catching the bandits off guard.
“The hell?” Scorch muttered as he and the others looked around the cave.
The five then noticed the statues’ hands ball up into fists before they each took a step forward. “Umbral! What is this?!” Scorch yelled.
“H-Honestly, I don’t know. They’ve never done this before.” The Gengar hesitantly replied as he and the others all gathered in the center of the room.
“And here I thought you said that this wouldn’t be ‘life threatening’ ” Brine remarked as he side-eyed Umbral.
As the duo of ground types stomped closer, the five bandits readied themselves for a fight. “Let’s not get too hasty.” Umbal said as he began to float. “Maybe they’re friendly-”
“ELIMINATE THE INTRUDERS.” The Golurks cut him as they each raised a fist.
Scorch raised his fists in turn, setting them ablaze. “Umbral…”
“Hm?”
“I hate you.”
Scorch turned his head towards his three subordinates, before gesturing towards the blue Golurk. Brine, Bella, and Hunter got the message, getting the ground type’s attention and turning it towards the side of the room. The Emboar then quickly looked back at the gray Golurk, only to see the lumbering golem-like pokemon unnaturally zip to the other end of the room with seemingly little effort. Scorch’s gaze narrowed, the orange boar steadily positioning himself into a more combative stance as he locked eyes with the ground type. All the while, Umbral readied a shadowy orb in his hands.
“Now.” Scorch commanded. Following this, Umbral then quickly launched the orb at the Golurk, only for them to rapidly slide out of the way. It was then the crystal in their shoulder flashed with light before charging towards the duo, nearly becoming a complete blur as they zig-zagged closer.
The gray Golurk then reared its fist back as it gained a black aura. But just before Umbral could react, Scorch suddenly zipped in front of the Gengar much in the same way the Golurk had. His flaming fist connected with the Shadow Punch that was hurled towards them. As the two pushed against each other, the flames coating Scorch’s fist began to burn more ferociously before a detonation occurred, sending both parties skidding back. When the smoke cleared, Umbral saw the blue crystal on Scorch’s arm pulse with light, which was followed by something he never thought he’d see. Scorch was smiling.
The grin on his flame collared face was accompanied by a faint spark of blue flashing in his eyes. Shooting a puff of fire from his snout, Scorch could feel things around him begin to slow as the Golurk barreled towards him. He then positioned his arms back, before creating a large flash of fire with his hands that sent him up and out off the ground. Once he was close enough, Scorch let loose a flurry of burning punches to the Golurk’s face and chest. The last of which sent the ground type flying back.
Landing on their feet, the crystal in the Golurk’s shoulder flashed again. It stomped the ground and used Stone Edge, causing a series of large, pointed rocks to shoot up from the cave floor towards the bandit leader. The Emboar quickly pulled in his arm before swinging it out in front of him as hard as he could to smash the rocks. However just as quickly as this occurred, The orange pig’s assailant leaped up and out, tucking its legs into its own body. Scorch’s eyes widened as the Golurk briefly disappeared from his vision, only catching a burst of energy from the ground type’s bottom half before their fist made contact with his chest.
Scorch was sent flying back into the cave wall hard enough to visibly crack it, leaving the boar panting for air as the wind had been completely knocked out of him. Scorch winced as he steadily rose to his feet, his surroundings returning to their normal speed. He watched as the Golurk continued to zip around, its focus now on Umbral.
The Gengar tried his trick of sinking into the ground, but was almost immediately ejected from the cave floor by the Golurk’s Stone Edge attack. Falling on the ground next to Scorch, Umbral slowly looked up at the Emboar. “You got any ideas?”
Watching the Golurk prepare Shadow Ball in its large hands, Scorch got an idea as he saw the glow in its crystal begin to flicker to fade. “When I say, use Shadow Ball.” He said as his fists ignited.
Umbral sank into the ground as the crystal on Scorch’s armband glowed, once again his surroundings beginning to slow. Hoping to make an impact before the Golurk could activate their crystal again, the Emboar’s entire body became engulfed in flames before shooting forwards at his adversary’s legs. Just as Scorch predicted, the Golurk’s crystal once again activated, though not quick enough to avoid the impact. The ground type fell forwards, putting out its hands to stop itself.
It was then that Scorch turned and viciously swung his arm, sending forth a fiery projectile that hit the Golurk’s shoulder gem; causing the light coming from it flickered as a result. And while the gem wasn’t broken, a connection of sorts seemed to be disrupted.
“Umbral, now!” Scorch yelled as he returned to his normal state.
It was then the aforementioned Gengar shot up out of the ground, shadowy orb in hand. “Take this!” He yelled before forcefully tossing his attack down square on the Golurk’s back.
“Ha!” Umbral cheered as he leapt in the air, floating above his fallen foe. However the Golurk wasn’t done, as it was struggling to pick itself up.
Seeing this, Scorch narrowed his gaze as the blue shine once again appeared in his eyes. Although this time a look of annoyance on the large boar’s face is what accompanied it. He walked towards the Golurk with an oddly calm demeanor, both of his hands igniting as he did.
Umbral watched as the Emboar got closer, passing him as he approached the fallen ground type. “Hey buddy, what’re you doing ther-”
However he was cut off by Scorch slamming his flaming fists down on the large golem-like pokemon as hard as he could. “Well, I guess that’s that.” Umbral said with some sense of relief. But then Scorch did it again, and again, before slowly lifting his fists once more. But after some pause, Scorch then shook himself free of the almost blank state he was in before extinguishing and lowering hands.
Catching his breath, Scorch turned his head to the other side of the cavern. He could see that Brine, Bella, and Hunter were fighting the other Golurk. But rather than go to their aid, the Emboar made the decision to watch instead. Wanting to see If Bella would actually pull her weight after offering to come on the trip.
Scorch theorized she had some kind of ulterior motive, as he felt the Salazzle was becoming something of a headache as of late. However despite this, she was still far from useless to Scorch. Bella had her own set of talents that the Emboar saw as an asset, however he had come to realize that the poison type had a tendency to use those same talents to cause problems. Add to the fact that wherever Bella went, Hunter followed. So sometimes said problems would become messier than they needed to be.
He and Umbral observed that the blue Golurk stayed relatively stationary, as the crystal in its shoulder held a constant glow. Looking closer still, one could see what appeared to be tinted ripples in the air surrounding the large ground type.
Hunter was the closest to the Golurk, standing between the opposing ground type and his teammates. The land shark breathed heavily as he was growing annoyed with his opponent, as even without much movement the Golurk had been avoiding his attacks and flinging him around each time without even touching him. Like Brine and Bella, Hunter had noticed the surrounding ripples. But the Garchomp was never really one for strategy, as he only continued to try and rush his adversary again.
Brine leaped to the side as Hunter was flung out of a ripple, landing on his feet beside the blue lizard. Bella soon regrouped with the two, as the three had been fighting the Golurk from different angles to try and surround it. “This isn’t working!” Hunter growled.
A shot of water then rushed past the dragon type’s head, almost hitting the Golurk as yet another ripple quickly formed in front of them. Another distortion formed just as rapidly above the trio, firing the Snipe Shot attack right back at them. Hunter took the brunt of the hit, as Brine and Bella managed to leap out of the way. It was then that the Golurk began to take action, readying a glowing orb in their hands.
As the Golurk used Focus Blast, another two ripples appeared on either side of the trio. They readied themselves, Brine and Bella leaping back as Hunter went forwards as he used Dragon Rush. Once the blast cleared, Brine could see that Hunter had knocked the Golurk backwards; giving him an idea.
“Get on Hunter’s back, and get him to charge again.” Brine said, turning his head towards Bella. Before the Salazzle could respond, Brine was already making his way towards the cave wall.
“Wai- egh , son of a-” Bella muttered before running towards Hunter.
“Hunter! Do what you did again!” Bella shouted as she quickly climbed onto the Garchomp’s back. He let out a slight growl, gritting his teeth in response to taking an order from the poison type. But nonetheless, Hunter did as he was told and used Dragon Rush once again.
As the two went forward, Brine clung against the cavern wall as he raised his arm. Making a ‘finger gun’ with his hand, the Inteleon began firing off several shots of water at the Golurk. Brine’s aim was a bit less focused than normal, but it didn’t matter to him as the water type’s goal was to keep his adversary’s attention. Several ripples appeared around the Golurk’s upper half, redirecting the shots back towards both Brine and his teammates.
Seeing this coming, Brine was prepared to start dodging as he swiftly moved side to side to avoid his own attacks. Meanwhile Bella leapt off of Hunter, flipping through the air as she used Flamethrower; the stream of her flaming breath countering the small blasts of water.
Bella’s display wound up being just enough to gather the Golurk’s attention away from Hunter, who then landed a direct hit; knocking them over and causing the remaining distortions to vanish. Brine didn’t hesitate to take another shot at the Golurk, firing a jet of water from his finger at the crystal in their shoulder as they fell. As the glow from the lavender colored shard faded away, the general mood seemed to calm; with Bella and Hunter looking over their fallen opponent. However Bella then flinched as another jet of water flew past her head, and into the Golurk’s.
“…Gonna give me a fucking heart attack!” She exclaimed as she snapped her head back at Brine, the Salazzle being less than amused.
Brine gave no response other than a sigh, before walking towards the center of the cavern. And while he wouldn’t say or show it, the Inteleon took some pleasure in startling Bella; the unintentional petty slight toward his ‘teammate’ bringing a semblance of joy to his day.
Meeting back together, the five then made their way towards the gap in the cavern wall. Umbral led the charge though the passage, gleefully humming a tune to himself as he floated towards the next opening.
“The hell are you so happy about?!” Bella exclaimed. “What was that back there?!”
“ Keh, heh heh… ” Umbral ominously snickered as his already wide smile broadened out. “Well you said you ‘knew’ Inferno’s Maw, right?
“Yeah, and?” Bella answered as she crossed her arms.
“Then I thought it would have seemed a bit familiar to you.”
Bella began to think for a moment before looking back at Umbral. “What, you mean like that thing at the top of the tower?”
“Yep.” The Gengar said as he turned and raised a claw. “As for the rest of you, need not look further than your own leader.” Bella, Brine, and Hunter all turned their heads back towards Scorch, the Emboar rounding out the back of the line.
“Scorch, would you be so kind as to volunteer and tell us all about the power stored away within those gems…” Scorch said nothing, only huffing in response to the ghost type’s jab.
Exiting the passage, the five bandits found themselves inside of a mostly rectangular space. The walls and floor were made up of oddly patterned pieces of gray rock being held together by a mortar of some kind. However, in the center of the room was a large, round platform whose rim was broken into three rings. Each one displaying various symbols that were foregin to the group.
Above the platform was a large, mauve colored crystal embedded in the ceiling, with smaller versions of the rings below surrounding it. Four pillars stood around the platform as whole, each one having small, lavender shards of crystal jutting the surface. All of it looked ancient, like something out of a storybook from days old. And while it still held an air of something that remained frozen in time, something about the room seemed as if it were waiting for someone to happen upon it.
Umbral quickly floated forwards, landing on the platform. He turned to face his colleagues before raising both his arms. “Lady and gentlemons! I present, our shortcut.”
“So… what is it ?” Bella asked as she raised a brow.
“Think back to that Golurk you fought, the way it harnessed the power of space to face you in combat.” Umbral said. Leaping towards the back of the room, the purple ghost pushed down on yet another set of encapsulating rings on the wall with the same set of symbols. In the center of the rings was a small lavender shard that began to glow as the Gengar began to focus.
A short moment later the crystal on the ceiling came to life, illuminating as it began to crackle with energy. Umbral then began to turn one of the rings, carefully shifting it as he paid close attention to each of the images etched into the stone. As they turned, the others watched as the rings on the floor and ceiling turned as well. The sound of grating stone echoed throughout the room, stopping and starting before a series of loud clicks signaled they’d come to a full stop.
“Is this… safe ?” Brine asked as his eyes comed over the ancient device.
“Of course it’s safe. I’ve used it several times, and nothing’s happened.” Umbral said as turned back towards the group.
“But you’re you.” Bella remarked.
“Well I would volunteer to go first, but I assume none of you know how to work this thing.”
Growing annoyed, Scorch rolled his eyes and stepped up onto the round platform. “Aw, come on. Can you stop giving me that look?” Umbral said with a feigned tone of sadness upon seeing the Emboar’s scowl.
“We’re friends right… I mean if I wanted you dead, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“On that note, I wouldn’t get any ideas, big guy. The last ‘mon I saw mess with these gems, well… ”
“Just hurry up and get on here.” Scorch groaned, having had enough of the Gengar’s theatrics. He then glared at his three subordinates as if to say the same.
Hunter was the first to follow Scorch, which didn’t do much to instill confidence in Bella and Brine who were still weary of what laid before them. Brine however took a deep breath and carefully stepped up as well. Figuring that if this worked the way he thought, it would be no different then certain pokemon using the move Teleport.
“Just think of it like a ‘mon using Teleport.” Umbral said, trying to coax Bella forwards.
Giving a sigh, the Salazzle hesitantly stepped forward as she muttered a slew of obscenities. “That’s the spirit!” Umbral said before hopping on next to Scorch.
“Next stop, Inferno’s Maw! Also you may wanna close your eyes, it’s gonna get real damn bright.”
Once all five pokemon were on, the large crystal overhead began to glow more intensely. A light humming sound reverberated through the room as certain symbols on the platform started to glow with a mauve colored light. A blinding glow then burst from the crystal above, flooding the room as the stone rings surrounding the platform once again began to shift. All of which before a loud, grating click was the last thing heard in the room. The light then faded, and the room once again became the same quiet seclusion as which it had been found.
Opening their eyes, Scorch and company found themselves inside a large room almost identical in structure to the one they had last been in. The stone making up the room was a reddish-brown color, and the platform as well as the space itself were more worn by the sands of time.
“See, we’re all alive.” Umbral said as he turned towards the others.
“Umbral… What the fuck…” Bella replied though labored breaths.
“Yeah, the first time tends to-” Umbral said as was cut by the sound of retching echoing through the room. As everyone’s attention turned towards Hunter, they saw the Garchomp arched over in discomfort.
Scorch shook his head at the sight of his ailing subordinates before sitting down on the edge of the platform. He held his arm out and stared at the blue gem in his armband, thinking about what was likely to come. A faint glow emanated from the crystal before the same light blue briefly shown in the Emboar’s eyes.
‘You know you want to correct your mistake…’ A faint voice in the back of the pig’s mind whispered. Scorch groaned and shook his head as the sound of something wet splatting on the ground brought him back to reality.
The Emboar didn’t bother looking back, he knew damn well what that was and he didn’t need to see it. He simply got up and headed towards a tunnel that he assumed to be the exit. “Break’s over. Let’s go.”
The five soon found themselves inside of what Scorch could only assume were the remains of an abandoned mineshaft. Though it couldn’t have been that abandoned as lanterns alight with small violet flames hung throughout the area. Soon the five came across a stone wall, however Umbral kept going ahead. Watching the Gengar pass through the barrier in front of them, Scorch huffed before rearing his arm back as he prepared to demolish it.
But before he could, a section of the wall began to move. As the bricks shifted to the side, an opening formed before revealing Umbral standing on the other side, in what looked like a dingey, stone house. “What? You didn’t think I’d just leave you down there, right?”
“Sorry about the mess. It’s been a while since I had anyone over.” The Gengar said as the others stepped inside.
“This is… your place?” Scorch inquired as he glanced around at the assortment of wooden furniture that was haphazardly placed around the room.
“Yeah. It pays to be acquainted with Sable.” Umbral bragged.
Scorch let out an annoyed snort in response upon hearing this, however Bella showed some intrigue as she gave the purple ghost type ‘the look’. “You know Sable?”
“It’s kinda why we’re here actually.” Umbral answered. “How ‘bout you fill them in Scorch?”
“The elites want us to do something for them…” The large pig said with little enthusiasm.
“And what would that be exactly?” Brine asked, crossing his arms.
“Can’t really get into the ‘specifics’ on that.” Said Umbral.
“Just know it won’t concern you three.” Scorch continued. “You’re here to do what you do best if things go bad.”
“Very well then.” Brine said as he gave a slight nod.
“So… how deep are we?” Bella asked.
“We’re on the third.” Umbral answered before Bella headed for the door.
“Where do you two think you’re going?” Scorch loudly asked as Bella and Hunter motioned for the outside.
“Just taking a look around.” Bella said. “See how much things changed since I left.”
“We’re not meeting with them for a while.” Umbral remarked as he turned towards Scorch.
However the Emboar’s glare only intensified as he continued to stare at Bella. “If you do something stupid, and I hear about it… ”
The Salazzle swallowed upon hearing this, the poison type’s heart beginning to hasten as she glanced to the side. “Gotcha…”
After Bella and Hunter left the house, a heavy silence hung in the air before Scorch stomped his way towards the door. “You gonna follow them-” He heard Umbral ask before cutting him.
“I need a drink.”
The door soon slammed, leaving Brine and Umbral alone. Slowly turning towards each other, the Gengar’s eye’s landed on a small box sitting on a table behind the blue lizard. Floating towards it, Umbral picked up the box and opened the small chest. Taking out a few playing cards, he turned to look back at Brine.
“You play?”
“Where are the other two…?” Mellan menacingly asked before stomping his paw on the Gliscor’s broken wrist.
“Agh! Do that again, and I’ll shove my stinger right up your- AGH! ”
It had been a while since the group had come across the Gliscor. Crash, Hickory, and Cinder sat on the ground beside the alley where Mellan and the flying type were currently ‘having a talk’. Every now and then, Crash and Hickory would glance up at Ivan, who stood between the two parties. Both to keep an eye on them, but also because he felt the trio didn’t need to see Mellan do his work.
Cinder on the other hand, simply stared at the ground. Her pointed ears had folded over to the side as she sat in silence, as she tried to keep her eyes from welling up. “Why did I think this was a good idea…?” Cinder thought before her eyes shifted towards a nearby street before she felt something wrap over her back.
Taken out of her thoughts, Cinder slowly turned her head to find a vine stemming from under the leaves on Hickory’s neck. The Bayleef’s face showed minor discomfort, as the fox’s body had once again grown a bit hot to the touch.
“Before you say it, I- … I can’t just leave yet.” Cinder remarked with a scowl.
“Do you really want to keep going?” Hickory asked with a tilt of his head.
“…No, I don’t want to. But I have to.” Cinder angrily replied.
“Well if that flying nutcase is here then his friends probably aren’t far.” Crash said as he gestured back to the alley.
“Sparky gets him to talk, we find them, get the box, then we can leave.”
Despite appearing like she wanted to, Cinder didn’t answer. Instead giving Crash a quick glance before looking back at the ground. “ Finding them’s what I’m afraid of… ”
It took Hickory a moment, but after thinking back to what had happened it hit him. “Well whatever happens, we’ll be here.” The Bayleef then turned towards Crash, wrapping a second tendril over the Scraggy. “Right?”
Crash glanced up at the grass type before steadily standing up, his gaze narrowing as his head shifted to the side to face the two proper. “Whatever gets us out of here faster…” The yellow lizard thought.
But it was around this moment that Crash suddenly began to feel more driven to find the box. As much as he didn’t want to be here, and how every part of him wanted to be done with this place and find a way back to the guild as soon as possible. Seeing Cinder like this was enough to provoke a new sense of motivation to the Scraggy.
“…Sure.” Crash said before his eyes met Cinder’s.
“ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! STOP- OW!!!” The three heard the Gliscor yell. Hickory, Cinder, and Crash then looked up at Ivan, who simply looked down at the trio before half-glancing behind him.
“Soon.” Was all the Snorlax said. But he said so with near certainty, as if his partner’s ‘interrogations’ were a regular occurrence.
“Alright! We sold it to Sable!” The Gliscor exclaimed.
“Now was that so hard?” Mellan remarked before he leaned in closer to the Gliscor. “Now tell me exactly what she said…”
Feeling a tap on his back, Ivan stepped to the side as Mellan walked out of the alley. It was then Cinder rushed up towards the Luxray, desperately hoping for any kind of lead.
Staring into Cinder’s eyes, Mellan sighed. “Well, I know where it is…” The blue and black cat said in a disgruntled manner.
“But getting it back might be… difficult .”
“Wha- …what do you mean?” Cinder asked, sinking down as her ears fell backwards.
“In this city, there is a group of pokemon that run damn near everything. One of its members is a Mismagius named Sable… From what I’ve heard she fancies herself a collector, claiming she ‘has a sense’ for valuables.”
“And let me guess, she has the box…” Crash said with a scowl.
Seeing the Luxray nod in response, Cinder’s blood ran cold. The auburn fox was silent, slowly dropping into a sitting position as her glossy eyes remained wide in shock.
“Well maybe we can find her.” Hickory said as he rushed forward. “I mean, she still has to be around somewhere right!”
Mellan and Ivan looked at each other, before the former set his attention back on the trio of young pokemon. “Finding Sable isn’t the issue.” Mellan firmly answered.
“Then what is…?” Cinder dejectedly asked as she slowly lifted her head towards the Luxray.
“She drives a hard bargain for anything that’s in her possession.”
“Yeah, I think we got that part.” Crash remarked.
“Anyway. Sable bought the box off those twits for a large amount of poké, so I’d assume she may have some plan in mind for it.”
“There still has to be something we can do.” Hickory hastily said, as he stepped towards the Luxray.
“…I can’t promise anything. But my friend might be able to assist with this” Mellan proposed. “She lives on the third layer where Sable presides.”
“Third layer?” Hickory asked.
“There’s four more layers to the city below us.” Ivan said before turning around to pick up the struggling Gliscor.
Crash visibly grew a bit ill at the prospect of going deeper into the city, but a small part of him tugged at his brain just enough to agree with the new plan.
“Why do I keep doing this to myself…?” The Scraggy thought, giving a scowl. The dark type’s expression then softened for a brief moment as he glanced towards Cinder and Hickory, the latter having gone to the Vulpix’s side.
“Right… that’s why…”
Crash only grew more tense as he and the others walked further into the city’s top layer. “Just stand up straight… and act like you belong here…” The Scraggy thought as he walked alongside his companions, keeping a tight grip on the baggy skin around his waist as he held it up just a bit higher then he normally would.
His eyes however refused to stay fixated on the streets ahead of him, instead darting around at the various sights surrounding him. Although the scenery all kind of looked the same and wasn’t much to write home about. In fact it was actually starting to remind the yellow lizard a bit of his former home, the only difference being the amount of general activity when compared to the near dead atmosphere of his hometown.
“How much longer, Sparky?” Crash asked as he grew more uncomfortable.
Mellan glanced back at the Scraggy, giving a slight huff at the nickname the fighting type had given him. “We’re close.”
“Here we are. Take a good long look.” Ivan said as he directed Team Lightwood’s attention to the side. The trio were speechless as the near full view of Inferno’s Maw came into being.
The colossal round hole sitting before them displayed in full what Mellan and Ivan had spoken of earlier. The different segments of the city each sat below each other, forming somewhat smaller rings as they went down. However in the middle of it all was the massive stone tower that bore the city’s odd light.
However after a while the three had to look away as it all became too disorienting to keep looking at. Crash and Cinder both felt more on edge than they already were, as what they had just laid eyes upon made Regirock’s ‘throne room’ appear tiny in comparison. “ Just keep it together… ” The two told themselves before glancing at each other, each swearing they had heard the other say the same thing. As that the sooner this was done, the sooner they could leave. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of Crash’s mind that things might only get more complicated from here.
It was around then that a loud echo of shifting metal could be heard off in the distance. As the group got closer to the source, they came across a wider area that had a few pokemon standing around as if they were waiting for something. Most of them stared at a massive metal frame that stood over a large gap carved into the rim of the layer, as well as at the massive sets of gears and thick chains that pulled and spun above it.
Crash, Cinder, and Hickory stared in awe at the contraption before them. Crash’s eyes then followed the chains to what was a much more well constructed building than anything else he’s seen on the first layer so far.
“What is that…?” Hickory asked, unable to take his eyes off the display in front of him.
“Our way down to the next layer.” Ivan answered.
The five watched as a big metal carriage rose up into the larger frame, coming to a stop before the set of large doors slid open. As a number of various pokemon stepped out Crash quickly glanced between the carriage and Ivan, noticing the metal box swing in place.
“Is it… safe ?” He heard Cinder ask. But rather than answer, Mellan and Ivan walked towards the suspended carriage.
Much to the duo’s expectations Team Lightwood quickly followed, clearly not wanting to get left behind. However, looks of skepticism still remained on the trio’s faces.
“Well… other pokemon were just using it, right? And they seem pretty comfortable going inside.” Hickory said half to himself, and half to his teammates as he tried to create some sense of reassurance.
“They were comfortable taking us through a place with a sleeping legendary.” Crash remarked.
“Something I remember you not being too fond of.”
“Yeah, I know… I guess- it’s just after that, this doesn’t seem as bad.” The Bayleef said with a slight smile.
Crash’s gaze narrowed as he glanced to the side “…Fine. But only because I’m not gonna risk them ditching us.”
Catching up with Ivan and Mellan, the three took wide, shaky steps into the carriage along with the few other pokemon that were waiting along with them. All of whom seemingly paid no mind to the bound Gliscor that Ivan had dragged in across the floor. The first thing of note other than the slight sway of the large metal box, was the interior having the effect of appearing bigger than it did on the outside. Next were the few windows sitting on each side of the carriage that were a bit too high up for Crash and Cinder to look out of.
A part of Crash wanted to be able to see out, but he was sure that it might involve Hickory having to lift him towards the glass with his vines, much like a parent having to raise their child to the glass of an exhibit. Shaking his head of that embarrassing thought, the other part of the Scraggy was also glad he had such a bad view of the outside. As he’d rather not watch everything fly past his eyes in the event the carriage plummeted down.
As Crash, Cinder, and Hickory were still getting settled, another pokemon inside slid the doors shut. After a few minutes the sound of shifting metal echoed around them, causing the three to flinch as the carriage began to steadily descend. Hickory then took it upon himself to look out the window, as a bout of curiosity came over him. After carefully shifting towards the glass, the leafy sauropod gazed out at the surrounding underground city, however what he saw was a couple of more chains hanging in front of his view.
The Bayleef remained in place for a while, before taking a step back when he saw a second carriage identical to the one he was riding in. The grass type tilted up his head as he watched the second metal box rise past him. Turning away from the window, Hickory’s eyes met with that of another rider’s. A Krokorok. To which the Bayleef gave a somewhat sheepish grin, only to be met with a roll of the eyes from the tan and black crocodile. By the time the carriage reached the second layer, the Krokorok quickly stepped towards the doors and roughly slid them open, prompting everyone inside to walk out onto the metal platform below.
Once they were outside, Mellan and Ivan beckoned the three explorers towards the path leading to the next carriage system. Crash, Cinder, and Hickory took in their new surroundings, the first thing they saw being that many of the surrounding buildings were similar to the ones on the first level, but were for the most part bigger and appeared more structurally sound.
After a decently long walk down a mostly straight pass, they neared their destination as an open space with a carriage frame, and a stone building identical to the one from the layer above was nearing in their view. Approaching it, they could hear a series of thuds and smashing sounds coming from somewhere nearby.
“I thought I told you fuckers two to piss off!” The Krokorok from the first ride yelled, facing down what appeared to be a narrow alley.
“I wonder what that was about.” Hickory said as he and the others turned towards the scene in front of them.
“Hick… No .” Crash replied, glaring up at the grass type.
However, it was as the Krokorok turned around that a Quilava jumped out of the alley with their flaming quills ablaze. But before she could retaliate, a wall of light briefly appeared in front of her, stopping the flames that the green and beige badger spewed from their mouth mid jump. When the Light Screen dissipated, the Krokorok quickly used Stone Edge as they stomped the ground; making a pointed stone shoot up from the ground and into the fire type’s stomach.
“Come on!” Hickory exclaimed, waving the crocodile over with a vine. Crash, Cinder, and Mellan each gave the Bayleef a look before they all quickly made their way towards the carriage.
As they all boarded, the ground type’s face soon returned to the same disgruntled expression she had before, this time crossing her arms as they waited for the ride to start up. The second ride down wasn’t as bad for the team of explorers, though the feeling of unease still remained as the sound of shifting metal and the slight rocking of the carriage kept the three a bit on edge.
“Finally…” Crash thought, quickly stepping off the ride.
“Yep, must be new here…” The Krokorok thought, glancing at the fighting type as she stepped out of the carriage. However her attention then turned to Hickory.
“Why’d you do that back there?” She asked, sounding genuinely confused as she turned their head back towards the grass type.
“You looked like you needed help.” The Bayleef answered.
The crocodile stared at Hickory for a brief moment, as if she were deep in thought. “…I can handle myself.” The grumpy Krokorok groaned before walking off.
”What was that Bayleef thinking…” Sienna thought as she weaved into a path between a couple of stone buildings. “He’s just going to get himself in trouble…”
The overall atmosphere of the third layer was different from the top two. It was calmer, at least in the part that Sienna called home. Thus the Krokorok felt more comfortable taking ‘shortcuts’ through the maze of multi-storied stone buildings to get around. However this only reiterated the thought of what had happened on the second layer, as crocodile’s tendency of taking shortcuts through alleys to avoid others had become something of a habit. Sienna then sighed as she slinked out onto the next street, only to see the Bayleef and his group of friends.
“They can’t be going to see her, can they…?” The striped crocodile thought before giving a sigh.
“Then I guess there’s no point in dancing around them.” Sienna muttered to herself. That is before a new idea formed in her head as she slipped partially back into the alley.
“Or I could just wait for them to pass and tail them instead…”
After the group of pokemon continued to walk ahead, Sienna stepped out onto the street once again. The Krokorok watched the five intently as she trailed behind them, the thought of what the Bayleef had done still fresh on her mind.
“Why do I feel like today is going to be a bit more interesting than normal…?”
After a while, Mellan, Ivan, and Team Lightwood came across a street with a large stone arch built overhead, connecting the structures on either side of them. Two Incineroar stood inside the arch, the bipedal red and black tigers each leaning their backs against the walls. The one to the group’s left opened an eye, hearing them approach. He kicked a small stone towards his partner to get his attention, before gesturing his head towards Mellan. Rolling his eyes, the second Incineroar on the right mouthed out ‘fine’ before walking towards the Luxray.
“What is this?” The fire type asked as his clawed hands motioned to the trio of young pokemon behind Mellan. The tiger’s gaze then shifted towards the tied up Gliscor in Ivan’s custody.
“And should I even ask what that is?”
“It’s kind of a long story.” Ivan responded.
“Look, is she here or not?” Mellan huffed, already sounding aggravated.
“Yes, but you know how she feels about you bringing unwanted attention.” The Incineroar said, crossing his arms.
“And you should know how I feel about putting words in my mouth.” A dignified voice carrying a slight accent echoed from behind him.
A plump, gray and white striped cat with lavender tufts of fur on the tips of her ears sauntered up to the stone arch. “Might I ask what in the world is- …Mellan?”
The aforementioned Luxray gave a slight sigh. “Hello Leone…”
“I do say, I never thought I would see you take up a position in child care.” The Purugly said with a smirk, before her eyes panned across the team of explorers. However, Leone’s gaze lingered a bit on Cinder, the cat’s eyes focusing on the fire type as her face seemed to briefly take on a more curious expression. Picking up on this, Cinder took a few steps back.
Leone then quickly glanced away to the side. “My apologies child.” She said, catching herself. Shifting her attention back to Mellan, she tilted her head in a prying manner. “Well?”
“It’s a long story.” The Luxray remarked.
“Then perhaps you would like to tell me inside.” Leone said as she turned around and started walking back towards the three story building that stood beyond the stone arch.
The three storied stone building stood out from the others surrounding it, having a large sign above the entrance that read ‘The Silver Claw’. Spelled out with big letters cut out from metal. As the large wooden doors were opened, the members of Team Lightwood were met with the sight of something nicer than what they were expecting. There was an open space of wooden floor in the center of the large room, with a few tables and seating arrangements sitting in the far end.
Two bar counters sat on either side of the space, with each of them having a flight of stairs leading to a pair of decks that hung over them. But the most noticeable was the large chandelier holding numerous shards of glass and small violet flames. Several lanterns with these same violet flames hung throughout the room as well, somewhat giving the club the appearance of a haunted tavern.
Crash began to grow a tad uncomfortable as the group stepped inside, as an all too familiar smell permeated through the air. The Scaggy’s hands crept towards the loose skin around his waist, tightly gripping the rubbery surface.
“Let’s just get this over with…” He thought.
Making their way to the back, Leone hopped onto a large throne-like chair with a pale purple pillow laying on its seat. She then directed her piercing, yellow eyes across the group of technically six pokemon as they gathered around two different tables.
“Flint! Sol! Would you kindly take that away?” The Purugly asked, pointing a paw at the Gliscor. The two Incineroar did as asked, relieving Ivan of the winged scorpion.
“Now talk.” She said, turning her attention to Mellan.
The Luxray explained the situation, glossing over various small details as he wanted to get straight to the point. All while Cinder, Crash, and Hickory sat and listened. Cinder being the most uncomfortable of the three, the auburn fox’s breathing growing heavier as she shifted her forepaws around.
“He said she’d help… Mellan said she’d help…” Cinder thought. Though it was then that the fire type noticed Leone occasionally giving her that look again.
“This box…” Leone said as she turned her head towards Cinder. “What does it look like?”
“Uh… It’s um-”
“Wood, had some kind of flame symbol on it too.” Crash cut in, both wanting to make things go faster, and having a feeling that something was off with Cinder.
But to their surprise, the look on Leone’s face seemed to show some newfound concern. “Would you mind drawing it out for me?”
A small, green, ghostly dragon with big yellow eyes and red tipped horns soon approached Team Lightwood with a scrap of paper and a piece of charcoal. The three watched as the Dreepy then floated off without a word.
Taking both the charcoal and the initiative, Crash began to draw out the insignia from the box as best as he could remember. Cinder was practically looming over the Scraggy’s shoulder, fighting the urge to push the lizard aside and do it herself. But to both Cinder and Leone’s surprise, Crash had gotten pretty close to the stylized flame that decorated the wooden box.
“Oh no…” Leone thought before once again turning her attention to Cinder. “Darling, I- I need to ask you something… important .”
“Sure…” The Vulpix answered, sounding rather uneasy as she wasn’t entirely sure where this was going.
“Where exactly did you get this box from?”
“…It was my mom’s.” Cinder quietly answered as she turned her head away.”
“Hearth…” The cat said with a mix of shock and sorrow on her face. “You are- …You’re her daughter. Aren’t you? ”
It was at that moment time seemed to stand still as Cinder froze upon hearing Leone say her mother’s name. Her mouth and glossy eyes were wide in disbelief as a rush of emotions spiraled throughout the multi-tailed fox, the words spoken by the Purugly echoing in her mind. Hickory and Crash both turned towards Cinder before the Scraggy turned back to Leone. “Okay wait, what the hell is thi-”
“How… the hell… do you know my mom?!” Cinder cut in, her speech broken up by heavy breaths as her teary eyes glared at the gray and white cat.
“Cinder…” Hickory said, his voice wavering as his concern for the Vulpix was growing by the second. It was then that the room began to smell of smoke, as Cinder’s paws were searing the wooden table that she’d propped herself up on.
“We were friends…” Leone answered as she tried to retain her composure.
“Friends? You were friends …” Cinder said as her voice grew eerily calm.
Inside the auburn fox was seething. She wanted to yell. She wanted to incinerate the table and call the Purugly a liar straight to her face. Thinking that her mother could never- no, would never associate with the bandits and lowlifes of Inferno’s Maw. But something about Leone’s demeanor seemed genuine. Cinder then thought back to the several instances of Leone giving her weird looks since she arrived, and the way the cat’s face changed when she saw the insignia Crash had drawn.
Cinder’s breathing only grew heavier as she remained standing over the table. Though it started to slow after the fox felt something wrap around her. “Cinder, please don’t-” Hickory said, before seeing something he hadn’t expected. His vines slowly slipped away as he and Crash watched the Vulpix’s forelegs shake, the heat from her body steadily dying down as a teary eyed Cinder sunk down onto the table.
After a few minutes, Cinder found some strength to pull herself back up before rubbing at her eyes with a foreleg. “Give me one good reason why I should believe you.” The fire type demanded.
Leone sighed as she closed her eyes, as a single tear made its way down the Purugly’s face. “You know… I thought that the next time I would see you, it would have been alongside your brother.”
Cinder pulled herself back a bit, being caught off guard by what Leone had said.
“Though I suppose I shouldn’t blame you for not remembering me… You were still quite young when I last saw you.”
Sienna looked down from one of the upper decks, having snuck inside the club a short while earlier. As the striped crocodile quietly observed the pokemon below, she noticed that the Purugly looked uncharacteristically sad.
“I’ve never seen Miss Leone get like this…” The Krokorok thought, narrowing her gaze as she focused on Cinder.
“Please, allow me to explain.” Leone said.
“Then please, explain .” Cinder sharply remarked, not bothering to hide her contempt for the cat.
The Purugly took a deep breath and nodded. “I do suppose it would only be fair to give you the entire story.” Leone conceded.
“It was about thirty years ago when everything truly began… When your mother and I met an ambitious Pignite named Scorch.”
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