Dungeon 17 – Before The Storm

The two brothers woke up listening to the noise of several Pokémon talking loudly, coming from the street. Due to the number of different voices speaking at the same time, they could not discern the subject of the conversation, although they could faintly recognize them talking about the police and the mayor.

“What is all this uproar about?” Brian asked himself and went outside of his room, yawning.

After going outside of their room, Lance headed towards the nearest window to check what it was all about, with Zoroark right behind him.

In the middle of the town, they saw a crowd, with varied Pokémons, from a small Caterpie to a Tropius, the latter wearing a mask, who was looking at detective more exactly, at the pokémon on the side of the Arcanine, the former mayor and guildmaster Swalot, both in handcuffs.

“I would like to draw the attention of our citizens today…” the Fire-type said, looking at all the citizens.

“I wonder what happened.” A Weedle asked, looking at a Squirtle on its left.

“I don’t know, but they’re under arrest.”

“I heard rumors that it was a newly arrived exploration team!” A Minun said with a smirk.

Apollo coughed and took a deep breath. Rumors had spread fast, but he couldn’t tell the whole thing, as it might draw unwanted attention.

“I know you must be wondering why I called them here. I came to publicly announce the arrest of these two criminals, who worked with mercenaries, paying them and covering up their crimes.”

The citizens gasped and began to chatter amongst themselves, it was a shock for them and they needed a little time to process all that the officer had said.

“This is ridiculous, do you have any idea how much I did for you?!” the Alakazam growled, trying to use a move, but felt his energy deplete, panting.

“Prometheus,” the Swalot looked at the ground. “It’s over.”

A Furret got near the Arcanine, wearing a small hat on his head and, in his hand, a notebook. He was writing on it as he looked at Apollo.

“Sir! My name’s Walker, could you answer some questions?! It’s for the news! This is a big scoop!”

Apollo gave the reporter a big, toothy grin and chuckled. The Furret didn’t quite get what he meant by that, but didn’t mind it.

“I know you want to know how we got them arrested, I won’t go into details, but I had the help of some very special Pokémon,” Apollo smiled, wagging his tail. “It looks like life in this town is going to get a little better from now on. No further questions, please!”

Away from the crowd, the group of mercenaries watched the policemon’s speech in silence, attentive to what had happened. Atlas banged his tail on the ground, gnashing his teeth.

“It’s decided, we have to eliminate those brats, it’s a war for our survival,” he said.

“They are an exploration team. I doubt they’ll have the guts to kill us,” Flint answered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“But it’s not good to risk it!” the Empoleon gulped and looked at his companions.

“Well, let’s teach them what we’re made of,” the Aggron nodded and turned around, leaving with the other two.

---

Officer Apollo, after sending the criminals to prison, decided to visit the exploitative duo. He was already knocking on the door, waiting for them to open. When they did, he entered calmly.

“Thanks again, kids!” Apollo said, sitting on the floor.

“I already told you, it’s our job… anyway, it’s not over,” Lance got on the couch, crossing his arms. “We still have to arrest those three. Is everything ready for our plan?”

“Yes, I came here just to pass the details. Do you still want to do that?”

“We will!” Brian spoke up so the detective would listen.

“Okay. All right, then. Brian, get ready. They meet in a bar frequented by mercenaries. My informant is a Scrafty, his name is Bruno. He’ll be waiting for you in the lobby, so the guard won’t suspect,” he took a deep breath. “Now, this part is up to you. What will your cover be?”

“Hm… I know!” Laughing, Brian’s body shone in a red tone for a few seconds until wavering down, revealing a Garchomp where the Zoroark had been.

“Interesting choice,” Lance gave a faint smile, hopefully, the plan would work.

“Michael. This is my disguise’s name,” Brian nodded, undoing the illusion.

“Okay, and what’s the mission you’re gonna hand them off as a cover?” Apollo turned his face, looking at Lance.

“We’ll send them to a dungeon that’s north of this city, the same one Sigilyph sent us. I’m sure they don’t know we were there, and we’ll send them on an assassination mission,” Lance kept his gaze on the Arcanine. “The target: us.”

“Wouldn’t that… be too obvious, kid?”

“I thought about this possibility, but considering how much we hindered them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to take any chance to eliminate us.”

“I accept the risks…” Brian sighed, determined to fulfill his part.

“I understand. I heard that they’re there at night, so when it gets dark–”

“My brother goes there,” Lance finished the sentence.

“And for your sake, take care…” Apollo stood up, walking towards the door.

“We will,” Lance went to his room.

---

At dusk, the two left the condominium with serious looks on their faces. Brian was already cloaked in his disguise, he took a deep breath to prepare himself before going towards their destination. Outside, there was a Scrafty waiting for them.

“Brian, while you’re on that mission, I’m going shopping… When we went to that Watchog’s store, I saw some TMs. I’ll buy one for you. We meet here when I’m done?”

“Absolutely!” Nodding, the Garchomp went ahead.

“I admire your courage, kid,” the Scrafty said. “Let’s go.”

“Thank you…”

After a while walking, they arrived at the lower area of Bright Dawn. Brian gasped, as the place seemed to be poor, the smoke filled the air much like the other part, but unlike there, most houses they could see appeared to be made of wood. As they walked, both saw the bar symbol on the sign, a Snorlax holding a big glass of beer. At the entrance, there was a Roserade, who simply stared as she watched the duo approach.

“Good evening, Rosalina,” Bruno bowed to the Roserade.

The Grass-type stared at the dragon, going over his entire body. Since she had never seen the Pokémon before, the female was apprehensive about letting him in.

“Who is this Garchomp with you?” she prepared to attack, pointing at Brian.

“Someone who came here just so he could talk to the Crew. He’s with me,” the Scrafty shrugged, tapping his foot on the ground.

“Got it. What’s your name, dragon?” Still not convinced, Rosalina stared at Brian.

“Michael…”

“Okay. I’ll trust Bruno. But be aware I’ll be watching you, if you try anything, I’ll be watching,” the female said, giving way for them to enter.

---

The place was crawling with criminals, who were either drinking or talking with potential clients. The three Steel-type were at the very end, chatting. Thinking about how he would act, Brian sat at the table next to them, with Bruno doing the same thing soon after.

“How do you want to proceed, Michael?” Bruno waved to the waiter to bring a drink.

“I was thinking about you giving the idea, since… you’ve been here longer than I have,” Brian answered, looking lightly at the trio at the other table.

“Ok. Leave it to me,” Bruno got up and approached the trio, coughing to get their attention.

“What do you want with us?” Flint looked at him with a blank expression.

“I have a client for you,” he said pointing to Garchomp, who was drinking a glass of beer.

“A client at this hour!” Atlas grumbled, annoyed. “What the fuck do you want? We’re busy, and we’re not really looking for jobs right–”

“Atlas, don’t mind if I do!” Laughing, the Empoleon went to the table where Brian was sitting.

“He didn’t even consult us, but whatever,” the Aggron muttered to himself, but followed Napoleon.

Flint took longer than them, but decided to stand up too, crossing his arms he gazed upon the Garchomp.

“Ok, Bruno talked to me about your work and… about the last one you accepted.”

Flint crossed his arms. “Are you talking about the kids? I admit we didn’t do as well as usual, but we are still an efficient team…”

“I know. That’s why I’m here. You see, I met them back at Heavenwind, where they stopped a scheme with some comrades of mine, and got them in jail,” the Garchomp snarled. “However, I got away and when I found out they were here, I needed to take the chance!”

“Interesting. Tell us more…” Napoleon grinned, listening closely to what their client was saying.

“I bribed the Weavile from their apartment and… they’re going to a magma Dungeon next to this city.”

“That infernal dungeon!” Flint laughed, before turning to the others. “What do you think? It’s a perfect opportunity to get rid of them…”

“Wait a minute, you sadistic Bisharp! How do we know we can trust this guy?!” Atlas punched the table, even at this point, he didn’t want to risk his life on a suicide mission.

“Money can bring a lot of confidence.” Brian threw a handful of coins at the table. “I can give you fifty-percent now and the rest of the kids are dead. Of course, without anyone finding out.”

“Check it out! Finally something good for us! We’ll take it for sure!” Napoleon grabbed the coins in a firm grip, before tossing them in his backpack.

“What the fuck?! Don’t make decisions without consulting us first!” Atlas growled at him, suddenly getting up, and remained standing on his feet.

“But he’s right, it’s a good idea,” Flint laughed, enjoying the moment.

Atlas snarled and huffed. Those two knew that mission would be dangerous, especially since the dungeon was filled with fire-types; their weakness. Still, he was outnumbered, so he sighed and sat down, defeated.

“You two are going to get me killed me any day now… Garchomp, we accept your mission. When are we going to do that?”

“They will go tomorrow, from what I heard,” Brian stood up with a grin on his face.

“Then you can count on the Heart of Steel Crew. We are at your service,” Atlas nodded to him.

“Thank you,” Brian smiled and walked away from there.

---

Lance was walking through the street, holding some items in CD format. One of them had the color brown while the other, orange. Seeing a Zoroark from afar, the Riolu waved to him.

“Sup, Lil’ bro!” Brian smirked, ruffling his mane.

“I have the normal size of a Riolu, you idiot,” the fighting-type grumbled. “Did you do it?

“Yes! It wasn’t as hard as I imagined!” Brian suddenly whined. “As it turns out, it worked wonders, they’re very angry at us.”

They kept talking while going inside the apartment, discussing the next step of the plan. Showing his brother the TM, Lance then threw it to him, who caught it with one of his hands.

“It’s a Fire-type move. It’s for you.”

“Alright! What’s the other one?!” He asked, pointing to the CD in his sibling’s hand.

“That you might need to find out when we get there…” the Riolu laughed, teasing his brother.

As the night fell, the two brothers decided to practice during the little time they had to learn the new moves. After all this was the calm before the storm…