Chapter 5, in which I first meet the Nix League

We were quick to find that the road between Cordelia City and Verdant Town had been shut by the Imperial Guard — a minor nuisance, quickly resolved by presenting our Guild badges. A little chat later, we’d learnt that the closing of this route had stopped a lot of trade within the city; the Council of Emperors had already taken notice and started construction of a new road, within the day.

They’d equally noted the size of our bag today, laden with far more supplies than was typical, but that was a necessary precaution — as this was a new Dungeon, no Pokémon had fallen within before, so we could not hope to find additional supplies once we entered. What we had now would have to carry us to the end.

Our conversation was ended when they had to inform new passersby of the closure of the route, and light talk overtook Team Bravado once more. My finds from yesterday were a great topic of interest, and though they were as fascinated by my discovery as I, I was fortunate that we’d found the Dungeon early — I did not want to recall my disappointment over the journal’s yet untranslated pages. The Shining Crown still haunted me.

“I think this is it, guys,“ noted Nivas.

The entrance to the Dungeon stood out, clear as day. We were presently in a forest, like any other. One path to our right, though, was completely different — despite being mid-spring, the trees of the passage were fully red, orange, and yellow, as if it were autumn. Leaves were everywhere on the ground, despite there being none outside the path — it was clear this Dungeon had been affected temporally in some manner.

“Team Grasp really was right, you can’t miss that,“ added Elm.

While we stood, awestruck by the sight, Amber planted the sign outside the entrance.

“Well, I suppose we get started now,“ said Amber.

“Let’s go, LET’S GO!“ shouted Arc, now bounding his way in.

We followed him through the entrance of the Dungeon.

Humid Hollow
Forest, 1F

Once we’d entered, we found ourselves in a rectangular box of bushes — although we were in open air, Dungeons still stuck to patterns of rooms and corridors. I’d turned around to see the path we came from replaced by a ford covering half the room. The shore of the ford was far too straight, as is typical for Dungeons.

The Dungeon air had also overtaken us once more — the distinct shapes of the foliage in the trees blurred together into a mess of autumnal colours. The ground beneath us was covered in leaves, but the trees above us were still quite lush — it seemed as though the ones on the ground had come from nowhere. The ground beneath the leaves was springy and wet — to be expected of a Dungeon specialising in Water types.

The Dungeon seemed to have less of a grip on reality than was typical; usually, the only things really different from the environment a Dungeon is mimicking are the much-too-angular stretches of land, and the Dungeon haze. Humid Hollow, being a new Dungeon, was somewhat stranger — leaves could be seen falling from the sky, blown about by wind, though there was no wind to speak of. Nature’s habitual psithurisms were eerily absent, despite trees visibly swaying, a creek flowing near us.

“So… here we go,“ started Amber. Despite the minor oddities, there was not much to comment on — our toil began.

We found our way into the first corridor ahead of us, which was awfully reminiscent of an arcade — trees evenly spread at regular intervals on both sides of the path, branches arching above us. We would not be able to make our way off the paths laid out for us, as the bushes around us were incredibly rigid — they could not be moved, no matter how hard we would have tried. Every minor brush with them would be a constant reminder of this; the inflexible branches would scratch you rather than bend out of the way.

We’d been lucky to clear the first floor without finding any enemies, stairs now in view. As the rest of the team climbed them, they would dissolve into a flurry of leaves as they reached the top, transported to the next floor.

When it came my turn, as I found my way to the last step, I was buffeted by a storm of leaves that had come seemingly out of nowhere, blocking my vision. And yet, despite the torrent of leaves, there was still no wind, my cloak and fur completely inert. As the leaves fell to the ground, I was on the next floor, surrounded by Team Bravado once more, ready to continue exploring.

---

Humid Hollow
Forest, 5F

This Dungeon had been somewhat rougher than expected — we’d already started digging our way through our supplies. It turns out Elm had been right; the Dungeon Pokémon were better at fighting than the ones we’d fought before. We did our best to preserve our Oran berries, as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and we had far more seeds and Orbs than berries with us.

The Dungeon so far had been exactly what Team Grasp had described it to be — a forest stuck in autumn, with many patches of water here and there — creeks, brooks, and fords were aplenty, and we’d even spot an occasional river in the distance. Of course, Water types were our primary enemy, and we found ourselves facing mostly Magikarp, Mudkip, and Panpour. A handful of others showed up now and again, but that was typical of every Dungeon — nothing too shocking to be said about that.

We had been searching the fifth floor for a while now; the stairs on this floor had been quite elusive, so far.

“I’m pretty sure that Our Story recently started serving Liechi berry juice now, right?“ asked Nivas.

“I thought it was Leppa…“ replied Amber. “I’m really hoping it is Leppa, they’re pretty hard to find at the market.“

“I don’t care, they’re ALL good!“ added Arc.

“Sorry Amber, I think I saw Liechi too,“ replied Elm coolly.

The conversation had been interrupted when we exited upon a room with four paths. Nivas had already begun searching the bag for the die.

“This time, one is the leftmost, four is the rightmost?“ proposed Amber.

“Yeah, sure,“ said Nivas.

Rolling the die, it fell under the layer of leaves on the ground. As Nivas parted them to see the die, he uncovered circular metal disks as well.

“Hey, Ida!“ he called. “I think this is Unown!“

There were a couple of them, of varying sizes. Nivas was right — there were Unown characters on all of them, embossed on their surfaces. They were in incredible condition — a little rust was present, but the design on them was still quite visible. I’d picked one up, and flipped it over — one side held a depiction of a sailboat.

The other side looked like the head of one of those creatures in Dungeon Pokémon’s memories.

At that moment, I really wanted to believe Dungeons were messing with me, in some way or another. Not only a journal that contradicts history, but now coins that tell me that the memories of Dungeon Pokémon depicted actual humans? The only thing that prevented me from dismissing my Dungeon finds then and there was the fact that my finds had not disappeared, like Dungeon Pokémon did when pulled from their Dungeon — surely that meant the cube and the journal were staked in reality. Do Dungeons and their Pokémon really hold the secrets to humanity’s past?

“You’re right. Looks like we finally found human currency,“ I commented, guessing at its purpose.

“That was SOOO WELL HIDDEN!“ said Arc.

“We’re lucky we found them,“ noted Amber. “Makes you wonder just how many human relics get missed in Dungeons.“

As I started putting the coins in my bag, I heard Nivas say:

“Anyways, we rolled a one, whenever you guys are ready.“

He’d bagged the die once more, as we resumed our exploration, taking the leftmost path, per the whims of the die. I was now lost in thought, pondering whether it would be preferable for Dungeons’ contents to be accurate to history, or merely trickery.

“Hey, Ida, are you alright?“ asked Nivas, noticing my disheartened expression.

“Hopefully,“ I replied.

---

Humid Hollow
Forest, 9F

With every floor, our pack became ever lighter — every fight began with the usage of a seed or Orb, and it made every fight much easier for us. We now found ourselves on the ninth floor, our dwindling bag now about half-full. The Dungeon, according to Team Grasp’s notes, was seventeen floors, and we’d had no reason to doubt them so far — our item usage was well on pace.

We entered the ninth floor in a room with four exits.

“Looks like another quadrilemma,“ I noted.

Nivas pulled out the die once more. We had seen quite a few four-way decisions this Dungeon, and funnily enough, we’d always rolled ones so far. Amber had numbered our paths once more, and Nivas rolled the die, which had landed again on a one.

“What’s with all the ones today?“ asked Nivas.

“Good thing I’m not playing Eterna right now,“ joked Elm. “Just drop it on another number, maybe we can reset our luck.“

Nivas decided to play along. He grabbed the die, pointed the four up, and dropped it, without rolling it. The die, while in the air, seemed to be blown by an unseen and unheard gust of wind. When it landed, it landed on a one.

“WOAH!“ exclaimed Arc. “That’s so COOL!“

“Uhhhh…“ said Elm, “Note to self — don’t play Eterna in this Dungeon.“

Nivas, likely believing it to be a one-off, took the die back into his hand, and dropped it once more. The die flipped in the air to a one again.

“Well, that’s certainly interesting,“ I said. “I wonder if Vaya knows of this already.“

Nivas grabbed the die, preparing to try something new, when he was suddenly interrupted by Arc.

“HEY GUYS, THERE’S DUNGEON POKÉMON!“

We were suddenly attacked by two Panpour, a Mudkip, and two Butterfree. Caught unawares, we prepared to fight, when suddenly, a blast of water hit the Mudkip. It had come from an Inteleon in the distance, who was followed by a Jolteon and a Tinkaton. They were evidently not Dungeon Pokémon, as they wore scarves, pinned by badges, but they were not Guild badges — likely some new organisation.

The fight began. I chose to take on one of the Butterfree, and the Jolteon came to help me. I began the fight with a mental link, and noticed the Jolteon Charging in preparation for their first attack — we would make quick work of our assailant.

I managed to pull off the first attack in the form of a Psybeam, which hit the Butterfree directly in the wing. The Butterfree attempted to use an Air Slash my way, but before it had the chance to begin the attack, it was fainted by a formidable Thunder Fang from the Jolteon.

Turning around, I noticed that our allies were incredibly powerful — in the time we’d defeated the Butterfree, the fight had been won — no other opponents stood standing.

“I’m surprised to see they sent a Wanderer ranked team to this Dungeon,“ said the Inteleon, noticing our badges.

“We’re going to be Explorers SOON!“ boasted Arc.

I now had a little more time to examine our new friends. The badges that they wore were merely metal outlines of a fairly intricate shape, of which I’ll include a quick sketch:

Amber asked the question before I could.

“Say, what are those badges? I don’t think I recognise them.“

“We are members of the Nix League,“ replied the Jolteon. “We’re a group of phylakelogists looking for experience on the field.“

“The Guild can be awfully restrictive with escort missions,“ added the Tinkaton.

Guild-like organisations have always been a matter of minor fascination to myself. Every once in a while, a prospective businessmon would try their hand at competing with the Exploration Guild, and every time, without fail, they’d be forced to give up for monetary reasons — it was tough to fight not only the Guild’s popularity, but also their cheap commission. The money from the Council went a long way; it was truly interesting to see what approaches were tried to offset those costs.

At the time, though, I believed the Nix League would do better — after all, they are not competing with the Guild, but rather, running their own business that happened to be in Dungeons. Likely they were funded by research grants; only time would tell if they’d be able to last.

“In any case, we’ve just finished our exploration, and we’re about to use an Escape Orb. Perhaps you’d like some of our leftover supplies?“ offered the Inteleon.

“Absolutely,“ said Nivas, walking up.

“What were you looking for in this Dungeon?“ I wondered.

“Well, as it is a new Dungeon, it’s important to spot what’s different from a regular Dungeon. We don’t really need to clear the Dungeon for that, at least, not just yet,“ replied the Tinkaton.

“Spot anything?“ asked Amber.

“Not too much just yet,“ replied the Jolteon.

“Hopefully your research goes well, then,“ I noted.

“Thanks. Best of luck with the rest of the Dungeon,“ said the Jolteon.

We thanked them, only to head off deeper into the Dungeon. The trade had granted us a few more Oran berries and a few more Orbs. We were quick to find the next set of stairs, which we hastily ascended.

Humid Hollow
Island, 10F

“Uhhh… well, that’s new,“ stated Nivas.

We were no longer in a forest as we were before, but rather on an island, formed again of rectangular patches of land, straight paths connecting them in the labyrinthine form of a Dungeon. Around us, an unending sea, nothing on the horizon. Some trees, even now coloured in hues of red and orange, still stood standing on the island, and the ground was still covered in leaves — though I had the impression they were somewhat more etiolated than before.

The Dungeon air seemed to have doubled in strength. What used to be a minor blur, was now much more potent — only blurred shapes in the distance were visible. Focusing on anything could no longer fully dispel the illusion; it was maddening.

I had heard of Dungeons like these before — Polyphasic Dungeons, they were called. With every couple of floors came a new phase, where the Dungeon would change completely, and the Pokémon within would more often than not come in evolved forms. Since Team Grasp had marked the Dungeon as a Monophasic Dungeon, I was somewhat worried for us now — we were already burning through supplies, and the Pokémon would now be stronger. Not a good sign for us. Even worse, it was clear the Dungeon had changed — the seventeen floor ending was not as promising as it once was.

“This will certainly be a challenge,“ I stated.

“Well, waiting won’t do us any favours,“ said Elm abruptly.

At the very least, the stairs themselves were now visible in the distance — without any wall-like structures to block our vision, we would be able to take much more efficient routes.

---

Humid Hollow
Island, 15F

“Well, only two more floors, right? …ha hah…“ chuckled Nivas.

Exhaustion was now taking hold of us. Our opponents were much more powerful, and as a result, we were now burning through our items, with only two Oran berries left over, and only a couple of seeds left over — we’d used all the Orbs, save our Escape Orb.

One consequence of the new island-like disposition of the Dungeon we hadn’t thought of was the ocean around us — Water-type Pokémon were now able to swim directly at us, and jump out of the water at any time, taking us by surprise. I’m somewhat impressed we were able to make it this far, but all we could do was hope that the floor count hadn’t changed — we could not continue much further with only two Oran berries.

“I will attack Vaya the next time I see her. She could have chosen a Pioneer or even an Explorer team but NO — she had to choose us,“ complained Elm. “Why was she even so sure we would be able to complete it if she knows the Dungeon can just change?“

“It’s not that bad, Elm! We’re almost done!“ cheered Arc.

“Are we really?“

During this discussion, Nivas and Amber were whispering behind us. After their conversation ended, Amber spoke up.

“Let’s stop for a moment, there’s something I want to try.“

“What is it?“ I asked.

“Ever since the room with the dice, I’ve been curious if it’s specifically our die, or if all dice are the same. Since we’re here, why not test it?“

“But we don’t have any other dice!“ exclaimed Arc. Amber gave him a look, to which Arc replied. “OH, it’s TIME?“

“I would have wanted to wait until after the end of the Dungeon, but I think we can do it now,“ replied Amber.

“Do what? Do you have more dice?“ asked Elm.

“Yes, actually, we were planning to surprise you with this. We want to try playing Eterna with you,“ said Nivas, pulling out a set of dice.

“Oh!“ exclaimed Elm, surprised. “Yeah, sure.“

Her expression had softened from her burst of anger earlier. I was not too surprised at the muted reaction — the toll of the Dungeon was becoming quite much.

Nivas opened the box of dice, and tossed them all to the ground. All landed on one.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say the Dungeon is definitely doing something,“ noted Amber.

“I wonder why this happens,“ I said, as the dice were packed once more.

---

Humid Hollow
Subaquatic Passages, 16F

As the storm of leaves from the stairs gave way, only a murmur of awe was heard — or at least, it would have been heard, had the Dungeon haze not been as overwhelming as it was.

I think that’s the first thing I noticed — my vision was incredibly foggy, and focusing enough to even make out shapes in the distance was very taxing. The silence was deafening; although I could faintly hear the voices of my teammates, they were barely audible against what was an overwhelming quiet, overtaking all noise.

I took my time to look around at my surroundings, what little I could see. We were fully underwater, but the water gave way to the shape of rectangular tunnels of air, over platforms of stone, upon which we were stood. There were no more trees to be found, but the ground was still covered in foliage — it seemed the Dungeon kept a theme.

Looking out at the water around us, there was much to be noticed — most important of which were the Dungeon Pokémon swimming freely around us. Droves of Magikarp were ravenously circling the air tunnels we had, while Marshtomp could be seen here and there, surveying the floor.

More surprisingly, in my opinion, were the leaves falling through the water. Looking up, there was nothing to be seen, no source for these leaves, which simply fell through the water. Looking down, there were somehow trees on the seafloor, still sporting their autumnal hues.

I looked back up to our team. Amber was shouting something or other, but his voice was inaudible. Arc was poking his paw at one of the walls of our enclosure, to find that there was no barrier — Dungeon Pokémon could drop in at any time, and drag any of us into the water.

As the initial shock of the team wore off, we began walking down one of the corridors in silence — we were unable to speak to one another, so we did our best to keep our eyes peeled.

The floor was mostly uneventful, until I was prodded by Nivas, who then pointed out something in the distance. A big, long blob of pale blue, different from the colour of the surrounding water. We quickened our pace — we couldn’t hope to face anything that big, not with our supplies as they were.

In any other circumstance, this Dungeon would have been quite simple — all rooms would have easily been visible through the clear water. Unfortunately, the Dungeon haze was still overpowering, and the stairs could easily have been any of the blobs that appeared in our vision at a distance.

More worryingly, the pale blue shape seemed to only get closer as we moved through the Dungeon — it was moving directly at us.

When we’d entered a larger room with the stairs was when we finally encountered it. It was a Gyarados, towering over us all, ready to bring our exhausted selves down.

I managed to score a quick mind link on it, and noticed its intent to use Aqua Tail on Amber. I noticed the others preparing combat stances, while Nivas dug through the bag for any useful seeds.

I tried to warn Amber psychically of the attack, but the Gyarados was too fast. It landed a powerful Aqua Tail directly on the Breloom, who, despite the type advantage, was sent reeling. The Gyarados was then quickly hit by a seed, helpfully thrown by Nivas. I don’t know what the seed did — the Gyarados was not stunned, confused, nor asleep, and Nivas couldn’t call out any helpful remarks — we would have to guess its purpose.

I tried to follow up with a Confusion, and though I did manage to hurt the Gyarados, it was able to resist my attempt at twisting its mind. Elm also attacked with a Vine Whip, but even still, the Gyarados was able to power through the attack.

Nivas had already tossed an Oran berry towards Amber while the Gyarados had landed another powerful Aqua Tail on Arc, who had been trying to get closer to it all along. The Shinx was sent to the ground, and didn’t get up immediately.

I noticed its mind prepare a Surf.

Before anything else could happen, I psychically took the Escape Orb from our bag, and tossed it to the ground. We never even saw the Surf as we exited the Dungeon.

We had failed to fully survey Humid Hollow.