When he awoke the next morning, felt the cold ground beneath his fur, he still had to sit up, tilt his hat back into place, and study his hands. Study his paws, more like, he was still a Pokemon. The events of the previous day had not been a dream. He felt an odd mix of disappointment and relief at that. And then he shivered.
The fire had gone out at some point over the night, and exposed as he was to the elements, there was only so much the Oshawott’s fur could do to keep him warm. He stood up, ignoring the protest of his limbs and back, sore from sleeping on hard ground all night. Dirt was brushed out of his fur - he could use a bath, did Pokemon take baths? - and then out of his coat, its purpose as a pillow now done. He felt a little bit warmer once he’d put the garment back on, it would have to do until the sun came out in force.
Speaking of the sun, the top of it was just poking out over the top of the trees. Spencer had wanted to set out at first light, and, indeed, Archie could see no sign of him around their makeshift camp. A slow sense of panic started to build in some dark corner of his mind. Had he been abandoned? Scared Spencer off with his talk of being human, which surely must have seemed crazy to the Treecko. Or, had the Pokemon simply used him to get through a tough spot, and now had no further use of him?
He knew the way back to the road, and probably could continue on to Treasure Town himself, assuming there weren’t any more Mystery Dungeons in the way. If Treasure Town was even where that road actually went. He didn’t have any better options though. He turned away from the camp, took a few steps in the direction of the road, and immediately bumped into Spencer.
“Oh! Archie, you’re awake,” the Pokemon said cheerily, once he’d reestablished his footing. And just like that, the panic was gone, replaced with relief and shame. Clearly Archie had been too quick to doubt the Treecko. Had he been this distrusting as a human, or was this simply a product of his unfamiliar location and form? He quickly composed himself though, smiling and nodding hello at his traveling companion.
“Sorry, it must’ve been weird waking up in an empty camp,” Spencer said. The Treecko was perhaps more perceptive than Archie originally gave him credit for. Spencer continued, before the Oshawott had a chance to respond, “I woke up a bit ago, and went out to see about breakfast. I figured you were probably getting tired of apples.”
The Treecko dug around in his wonder bag, and produced a pair of berries. They were vaguely egg shaped, yellow, with green rings. Their thick brown stems were jagged around the top, the Treecko likely having snapped them off whatever plant they were hanging from himself. He handed one to Archie, and though the texture of the fruit was different, its firmness reminded him of the Oran Berry he’d eaten the other day.
“I really hit the jackpot here,” the Treecko said with a smile, “These are Aspear Berries. They’re super sour, but they’ll warm you right up.” As if to prove his point, the Treecko took a bite out of his fruit, and despite a slight shudder at the flavor, seemed perfectly fine. The Oshawott sniffed at it once or twice, but eventually took the plunge as well. The first thing that hit him upon biting into the berry was its taste. In fact, ‘hit’ was the perfect way to describe it, it was so sour it felt like he’d been bowled over.
The second thing he noticed, once he’d managed to fight past what must have been his entire face puckering - judging by the giggles Spencer was having just looking at him - to swallow the fruit, was the warmth. It started in his core, before working its way out to his limbs and then his digits. He could certainly understand why Pokemon fought past the flavor to eat it, he couldn’t imagine ever feeling cold again.
“It’s really good,” the Oshawott managed to choke after another bite, “Thank you.”
“You’ll get used to the kick,” Spencer said with a grin. Archie wasn’t so sure about that. Once they’d eaten their fill, and with the rising sun silently egging them on, they got started down the road to Treasure Town. Eventually, the treeline broke, revealing great plains for miles around. The road hugged the coast, a bay of shimmering blue water stretching out to their right as they walked, with the sun at their backs. It was beautiful, peaceful even. If the whole world was like this, Archie could understand why Spencer wanted to explore it so much.
As Spencer had predicted, the town came into view over the horizon as the sun reached its highest point. Built on a bluff overlooking the sea, the road weaved its way up hills and around clumps of trees and rocky outcrops. Archie hadn’t been sure what to expect for a town built by Pokemon, but he was blown away all the same.
The road they were following transitioned from dirt to sand colored cobblestones as they climbed. As they reached a crossroads, the town center was still a ways ahead of them, a cluster of buildings made out in the shape of various Pokemon. They were all clustered around a main street, a continuation of the road they had been following. Cutting across that road was another, which on one side lead down towards the beach, and the other up what must have been the highest point on the bluff.
Before them, sitting at the edge of the crossroads, was a tent. Colored tan, with red splotches, and decorated with a nose, spiral eyes, and large ears, it was clearly a Spinda’s head, and a well crafted one at that. Archie noted that you entered the tent through the Pokemon’s ‘mouth,’ and could hear the sounds of muffled laughter coming from somewhere within. Beside him, Spencer clapped his paws together.
“Oh! This must be Spinda’s Cafe,” he said, then turned to Archie, “Spinda’s family has run Project P going back generations, hiring out explorers going back generations. The Adventurer’s Guild was first founded as a for-hire exploration team by some of Spinda’s original contractors.” The Treecko looked back at the tent, crossing his arms.
“I knew it was here, but it is a bit smaller than I expected,” he added.
Still, exploring the town wasn’t their present task, so, rather than heading in, or down the road any further, Spencer lead them up one of the side roads. Sitting near the edge of the cliff was another building. An orange dome, with a red crest, windows in the shape of half lidded eyes with gray half circles painted above them, and, again, an opening where the mouth would be. This one was a Scrafty, clearly.
Archie’s eyes, however, were drawn to something sitting near that opening. A red and white ball, with a black band around its middle, complete with a smaller what circle in the center. A Pokeball? Here? What possible use would Pokemon have for one? And why would they leave it here? Archie leaned forward to grab it, his curiosity peaked.
As soon as he touched it though, it smacked his hand away! Spencer grabbed him by the arm, and threw him back, the Treecko taking the brunt of a cloud of spores the ‘pokeball’ spat out. Of course, it wasn’t really a Pokeball at all. It was a small, off white, mushroom, with a Pokeball design on its cap, a small pink mouth, a pair of beady eyes, and tiny limbs. A Foongus, a strange mimic.
“Waugh! Intruders!” The Foongus yelled, “Intruder alert!”
“What? Intruders? No!” Spencer stuttered, “It was just a misunderstanding, we’re sorry!”
Archie noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Movement, from within the shadowed opening to the building. Spencer, too busy trying to sooth the still screaming Foongus, did not see it. A flicker of light from within the building, and this time it was Archie’s turn to protect his partner, tackling the Treecko to the ground just in time for a jet of fire to launch out at them. The two Pokemon rolled to their feet as their attacker made himself known.
A canine stepped out into the light. Quadruped, with orange and cream fur, black stripes along its back and limbs. A Growlithe, teeth bared in a warning snarl with its tail lashed to and fro. The Foongus, still by the door, calmed immediately upon the other Pokemon’s arrival. Spencer put his hands up, palms out to show he meant no harm. Archie quickly did the same.
“Please, we mean no harm,” the Treecko said. Maybe this Pokemon would be more amenable to talk. Any hopes Archie had were quickly dashed however. The Pokemon’s hackles was raised, embers were already forming around its mouth.
“Then leave,” it commanded, embers spilling out of its mouth with every word.
Spencer looked almost heartbroken, “Leave? But we’ve come so far, we can’t go back now!”
“If you won’t leave, then I’ll make you!” The Growlithe roared. This time, Archie was ready for its Flamethrower, pushing Spencer one way while he dodged the other. It couldn’t focus on both of them, and he could handle the heat better than Spencer could. If this canine wanted a fight, Archie would give it to him! He fired a Water Gun, forcing the Growlithe to divert its attention from the Treecko and instead fire its Flamethrower back at Archie.
The two attacks collided, and petered out. No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. There was no rush of steam, no sizzle of drowned flames and evaporating water. A previously invisible barrier, what had really stopped the two moves, shimmered in the afternoon sun, before cracking and breaking.
“Now now, there’s no need for that,” a sing-songy voice rang out, seemingly from everywhere at once. In a beam of light, another Pokemon appeared. Primarily white, with what looked almost like a frilled dress around its waist. Beneath the frills, its legs were green, as was its ‘hair,’ while two red horns grew from either side of her head. She studied the four of them through red eyes. A Kirlia.
“But Gwyn, they’re intruders! They attacked me!” The Foongus whined. Archie wasn’t quite sure how a mushroom would manage to whine, but this one had found a way. The Kirlia rested its chin on its hand in an exaggerated thinking pose, studying the Foongus and Growlithe in turn.
“Really? To me, it looked more like two visitors waking up a sleeping door ‘mon, only to be attacked for their trouble,” the Kirlia said. The Foongus looked suitably shamed, but the Growlithe was furious. Thankfully, not furious at Archie and Spencer anymore though.
“Sleeping again, sentry!?” He yelled, approaching his fellow Pokemon. The Growlithe batted the Foongus towards the entrance, promising the mushroom “Viola will hear about this” before turning to look at the Oshawott and Treecko, “My apologies, it is my job to scare away any intruders the sentry’s Effect Spore does not handle.”
“No harm done, I’m sure,” the Kirlia said, smiling. The Growlithe nodded, before heading into the building, presumably to take the Foongus to whomever this ‘Viola’ person was. With him gone, that left the two of them alone with the Kirlia, who turned to them with a nod, “Welcome to the Adventurer’s Lodge, how may I be of assistance?”
Spencer shook himself, getting over the last of the shock of the sudden attack, before stepping forward, “Before that, I want to report a new Mystery Dungeon. It appeared on the road between Capim Town and Treasure Town, and seems focused over the river.”
The Kirlia’s eyes glazed over, as she seemed to focus on something far away that only she could see. It wasn’t long before she was back, however, with a reassuring smile on her face, “Thank you, your report has been received. Now then, you implied there was another reason you came?”
The Treecko nodded, standing up to his full height and throwing back his shoulders. “We’re here to take the Guild Entrance Exam,” he said seriously. He certainly cut quite the figure, trying to make himself look a bit stronger than he was. Archie smiled, and the Kirlia giggled, before her focus shifted to that far away look once again. She was gone longer this time, but eventually her focus, and smile, returned, and she nodded.
“You’re just in time, they’re waiting for you on the beach,” she said. Spencer seemed surprised at that, the Treecko apparently having lost track of the time. He nodded this thanks to the Kirlia, then motioned for Archie to follow has he raced back down the hill. The Oshawott gave the Kirlia a smile, which she returned, folding her hands over her stomach. As he turned to follow his traveling companion, the Kirlia added, “I can’t wait to see you boys again. You’ll do wonders for the Lodge.”
He looked back at the Pokemon, wanting to hurry, but his curiosity was roused yet again, “What makes you say that?”
“Because I can see the future, of course!” She said, with a wide smile.
---
He caught up with Spencer at the crossroads, the Treecko having elected to wait for him when the Oshawott didn’t immediately follow. The Kirlia hadn’t said anything else, and with her light and breezy tone, Archie wasn’t able to tell if her declaration of prognostication had been serious or in jest. Certainly, Pokemon were strange and powerful creatures, and fortune telling was far from the strangest thing one could do. But, here he was again, thinking about Pokemon as if he himself wasn’t currently one of them.
“So, that was the Adventurers Lodge?” He asked the Treecko as he fell into step beside him. To be honest, he probably should have asked the Treecko where they were before he’d gone and poked the Foongus. Thinking back, his conduct was already starting to embarrass him. He’d have to apologize to the little mushroom if he ever saw him again. Still, he thought he’d seen enough of at least those three to get some idea on the kind of Pokemon they were, “They’re a colorful bunch.”
Spencer was silent for a while again as they started down the hillside to the beach. Just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Archie started to get worried he’d possibly said the wrong thing, or worse, if his conduct back at the lodge had offended his partner. They had, after all, almost missed their chance to join the lodge because of him. The Oshawott opened his mouth to open the Treecko an apology of his own, when the Pokemon finally spoke up.
“Yeah, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting either, they seem like good Pokemon, though,” he said, before looking over at Archie, “Thanks for protecting me from that Growlithe’s fire, that was pretty scary!”
The Oshawott smiled, “Hey, no problem, thanks for protecting me from that Foongus’s spores, and, well, my own stupidity. Sorry for uh, sorry for almost preventing you from being able to join the lodge. I know this is really important to you, and I should take it more seriously.”
The Treecko playfully shoved him, laughing, “Oh, don’t worry about that! It all worked out in the end.” Spencer really was too good to him. Archie needed to work harder to return that kindness, he decided. The Treecko had already done so much for him, it was the least he could do in return.
Eventually, the terrain evened out, the cobblestones they had been walking on transitioned back to dirt, and then sand. First the trees, and then the grass, reached the end of their range. The two Pokemon rounded one final rock face, and then they were presented by a strip of golden sand, and the brilliant sea beyond it, glittering in the afternoon sun. There was quite the crowd of Pokemon milling about, in clumps of twos and fours. One, however, stood off on its own.
It had scales a blue shade of indigo, mixed with red on its torso and arms. Long pointed ears, a too wide mouth full of sharp teeth, brilliant golden eyes. Dangerous pincers on either arm, and another on its tail, with wings that hung behind it like a cape. This Gliscor cut an imposing figure. It didn’t help that it was looking right at them with barely disguised irritation.
“Form up!” the Gliscor ordered. The clusters of Pokemon hurried to follow the instruction, forming into two rows of what must have been over a dozen Pokemon each. Archie and Spencer found themselves on the furthest right, with the Oshawott in front of the Treecko behind. The Gliscor waited until they had all settled to continue, “Now that the final group is here, the exam can begin.”
“Your goal today is quite simple,” the Gliscor said. with one of its pincers, the Pokemon motioned towards a nearby cave, “Before you is Beach Cave, a Mystery Dungeon. At its pit, one of my guildmates awaits you. The first team of two Pokemon to reach him will be accepted into the Lodge. The rest of you will go home in shame.”
A wave of muttering swept through the applicants until it was cut off by a raised pincer, “This Mystery Dungeon is perfectly safe, your only obstacles in this exam will be one another. You may avoid one another, or you may attempt to fight. You will enter the Dungeon one group at a time, to ensure you all have a different starting point.”
The Gliscor motioned for the groups to follow it. Keeping their lines together, they approached the mouth of the cave. The Pokemon help up its pincer once again, preventing the first group of Pokemon from entering the dungeon. “One final thing. If your partner faints, you will also be considered a failure, this is a team exercise, and working together to overcome obstacles is a key part of being an Adventurer.” With that, the Pokemon allowed its claw to drop, “Now go.”
---
Being at the rear of the line, Archie and Spencer had of course been the last to enter the cave. The Oshawott hoped that that wouldn’t negative affect their chances. He couldn’t allow himself to be bogged down in worry though, this was it, they had to prove themselves. He had to prove himself. He wouldn’t let Spencer down.
“Okay Archie, I’ll follow your lead this time,” Spencer’s voice took the wind out of his sails. The Oshawott turned to study his companion, the surprise clearly visible on his face. The Treecko’s expression, by contrast, was resolute, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was shaking. The Pokemon forced a smile, “As you can see, I’m not in a state to make tactical decisions right now.”
“Spencer, are you certain? This is your dream, what if I screw up?” Archie asked. The Treecko clearly had more faith in him than he did. Spencer probably had more faith in a lot of things than Archie did, come to think of it.
“You won’t screw it up,” the Treecko replied, keeping his tone even, “Because I trust you.”
“Spencer, I,” he paused. He couldn’t doubt himself now. He wouldn’t doubt Spencer, either. He steeled his expression, and nodded, “I won’t let you down.
By contrast to the last Dungeon they had explored, Beach Cave was, well, a cave. The floor was a mixture of sand and rock, while rock walls enclosed them from either side, and above. Though all the Pokemon had entered from the same place, the sand around them showed no sign of disturbance. Just another way Mystery Dungeons were seemingly inexplicable to add to the ever growing list. Archie picked a direction and set off, Spencer following close behind.
In contrast to their previous endeavour, this Dungeon seemed quite a bit less maze-like. Passages twisted and turned but only rarely branched off. In fact, the narrow confines presented a whole new set of problems when the pair quickly ran into one of their fellow teams. Two Pokemon, coming down the corridor they were going up. All four of them seemed to realize at the same time that they were on a collision course with no room to maneuver, and both teams were certain that they’d need to get past one another to continue onwards.
The lead Pokemon was a fellow Water Type, blue and stocky with a protective tan and brown shell around its torso, and a curled tail: Squirtle. The other was a quadruped, yellow with long pointed ears and a pointed white muzzle. It had red tufts of fur coming out of either ear, and similar colored fur on the tip of its bushy tail, a Fennekin.
Archie met with the Squirtle first, the other Pokemon firing a cloud of bubbles at him, each of which stung as they popped against his fur. He pulled down his hat so none would be able to get at his eyes, and blind fired a Water Gun in return. Ahead of him, he heard the Fennekin cry out in shock, the Squirtle having evidently ducked his attack without considering his partner behind him.
“Archie, get down!” Spencer yelled from behind him. The Oshawott dropped to the floor of the cave while the Treecko launched over him, hitting the Squirtle with enough force to send the pair of them crashing back into the Fennekin, before pushing off the Water Type with enough force to hop back behind the Oshawott, “Now, press the advantage!”
Archie didn’t need to be told twice. He leapt to his feet, and with a Tackle of his own smashed the Squirtle back into the Fennekin. Clambering over the floored turtle to the now well and truly dazed Fennekin, the Oshawott brought down his paws onto the top of the Pokemon’s head, the Assurance slamming the Fire Type face first into the ground. And with that, the Fennekin was beamed out of the dungeon. The Squirtle looked at the spot his partner used to be, then looked up at Archie, and then he was gone as well, taken by another beam of light.
“I guess that Gliscor wasn’t kidding about that whole failing together thing,” Spencer said, hurrying forward to meet up with him. The battle seemed to have done wonders for the Treecko’s nerves, he seemed much calmer now. Of course, it probably helped that they’d won it.
“That attack you did, what was it?” Archie asked. The Treecko had flung himself forward with quite a bit of force. He hadn’t done that at all the last time they’d gone through a dungeon together.
“Quick Attack, did you like it?” Spencer grinned, “I learned it off that Masquerain, thought it might come in handy.”
The pair got started again, and eventually the twisting corridor opened up into a small chamber. There was an Oran Berry there, which Spencer happily brushed sand off of before adding to his collection. Archie hoped that they wouldn’t be eating that one any time soon. As the pair entered another corridor, the Oshawott thought back to their short battle. “Did those Pokemon seem kind of weak to you?”
“Pokemon of all skill levels try to join the lodge, that’s why the exam exists, to weed out the weaker ones,” Spencer explained, “Unlike us, those two have probably never gone through a Mystery Dungeon before.” That seemed sensible enough, getting through that previous Dungeon had been quite the ordeal. One they’d both learned from, between Archie’s general knowledge and Spencer’s new attack. He was thankful for the experience now.
“Hey Spens?” He asked after a few more minutes spent thinking of attacks, “You said my Assurance was a move that had to be inherited, right? Do you have any moves like that?”
“They’re called Egg Moves, probably because Pokemon come right out of the egg knowing them,” the Treecko replied, before falling into one of his usual silent spells. The fact that Pokemon came from eggs just gave Archie a whole ‘nother layer of questions. Those were, perhaps, better left for another time though. At length though, Spencer continued, “I never met my dad, though, so I don’t know if I have any of those.”
Archie cringed, hoping he hadn’t just broached a particularly painful subject. He let that topic drop, and just focused on not getting himself turned around when they reached a fork in the path. At length, they came upon another room, just in time to see a flash of light take someone out of it. The cause of that sudden eviction was the two Pokemon already in the room. They heard them enter, and turned to face them.
One was a Fire Type, this fact being readily apparent from the flames on its back. It had a cream and blue coloration, a long snout, and very stubby limbs compared to its head and body size. A Cyndaquil, joined by another quadruped, somewhat similar in appearance to the Fennekin, brown with a cream ruff around its neck, and a much less pronounced muzzle and narrower ears. Eevee. They both looked a little tired already, but the Cyndaquil was reaching into its bag, no doubt for an Oran Berry.
Archie lead with a Water Gun, but the Eevee leapt in front to take the brunt of the attack, and their chance for an easy victory was lost. The Cyndaquil, having had time to rejuvenate itself, followed up with a Smokescreen, spewing a thick cloud of black smoke from its flame vents that obscured the two opposing Pokemon and expanded out to blanket the room. Spencer grabbed him by the collar of his coat and yanked him backwards, until the two found a wall.
“This way they can only approach us from the front,” the Treecko explained. Then he was kicked in the head, as the Eevee turned his Quick Attack tactic against him, launching out of the fog at the Treecko, then using the Pokemon as a launch pad to disappear back into the obscuring smoke. Archie fired a Water Gun in the Pokemon’s direction, but it was already long gone, and he heard rather than saw the attack hit the ground.
“You wouldn’t have anything in that bag of tricks of yours for clearing this smoke, would you?” Archie asked, while the dazed Treecko came back to his senses.
“There’s a number of Orbs that could be used to clear or circumvent this attack, and would you believe me if I said I had none of them?” The Treecko groused.
“Guess our luck had to run out at some point,” Archie conceded. Again the Eevee launched itself out of the mist, this time striking Archie in the chest and slamming him back into the wall. Forcing himself to keep breathing despite the pain, he grabbed the Treecko’s hand and lead him out into the room, “Come on, we’re not going to make any headway getting repeatedly slammed into a wall.”
“You’re not getting away!” The Eevee taunted from within the smoke, before hitting Spencer in the back, knocking the Treecko over. Once again, Archie’s attempt at a Water Gun reprisal splashed against the ground. Archie was noticing something of a pattern here, but rueing his misfortune soon turned to a more productive thought.
“Why isn’t the Cyndaquil attacking?” He asked his partner, who was in the process of picking himself up again.
“Probably because he’s maintaining the Smokescreen,” Spencer replied. That set the Treecko’s own train of thought down the same path Archie’s was going. “If we could just find him somehow, we could stop this smoke.” A sudden look of realization dawned on the Treecko’s face, he turned to his partner.
“Archie, you’re a Water Type, can’t you make the area damp?” The Treecko asked, “That Cyndaquil’s got to have his fire going to produce this much smoke. If we can get some steam going I’ll bet we can find him!”
Could Archie do that? He felt like he could, in the same way he felt like he could use Assurance. An instinctual knowledge, perhaps, but now was not the time to ponder his Oshawott instincts. He fired a jet of water around the floor, splashing it into the air around him and Spencer. Then he ‘pushed’ it - gesturing forward and around himself - causing the water droplets to spread out over the entire room. This was Water Sport. He felt stupid for not doing it earlier.
Much like Spencer expected, they were soon rewarded by the sound of water meeting fire, and a sputter of surprise from the Cyndaquil. Archie keyed in on the source of the noise, and fired a Water Gun at it. A great burst of steam and another strangled cry revealed that this time, the attack struck home. The smog began to lift, the Cyndaquil’s fire was out.
Now it was the Treecko’s turn to lash out with a Quick Attack. The Eevee rushed to intercept, but another Water Gun from Archie kept it busy dodging while the Treecko slammed into the annoying quadruped’s partner. They had to press their advantage now that they had it. The Eevee might be able to continue dodging his Water Guns, but the Cyndaquil was clearly much less experienced in a fight, so used to standing back and maintaining its Smokescreen.
So the Eevee was left twisting in the wind, dancing around Water Guns more intended to keep it away than actually hit it, the Cyndaquil’s flailing attempt at a Tackle was met by one of Spencer’s Pounds, putting an end to that Pokemon’s struggles. Moments later it was beamed out. The Eevee managed a short “No!” before getting beamed out itself. To add injury to insult, Archie was finally able to nail it in the face with a Water Gun before it was removed.
The two remaining Pokemon shared a sigh of relief. Archie regretted commenting about how easy the first encounter had been. The Eevee and Cyndaquil had had a dangerous strategy, and if the Cyndaquil hadn’t been an inexperienced fighter it might have turned out much worse for them. As the two settled down momentarily to each eat an Oran Berry, one thing was clear: They could not afford to underestimate any further opponents.
“So uh, I know I’m not the most experienced at this whole fighting thing, yet,” Archie stated once they’d gotten started again, “But that Eevee seemed especially hard to hit.”
“My guess is, it was using Detect in combination with its Quick Attack to predict and dodge your moves,” Spencer replied, “The smoke would have given it a further edge. Why you weren’t able to hit it after the smoke was gone, I don’t know.”
“I wasn’t trying to hit it then!” the Oshawott said, defensively. Spencer chucked and waved him off, and Archie huffed in exaggerated annoyance. In better spirits then, they continued deeper into the cave. They had to be getting near the bottom by now. Though they’d fallen into a comfortable silence, both wanting to keep their eyes and ears open in case they were about to come up against another team, at length Spencer did speak again.
“So how did you know you could use Assurance?”
Archie thought back to the first time he’d called that particular attack forward. Really, there was nothing different about using it than there was any of the other moves he’d done. Much like Water Sport, once he’d realized he could do it, it came naturally to him. “I just kind of knew I could, I felt it deep down.” It sounded a lot dumber spoken.
“Just felt it huh? I wonder,” the Treecko trailed off.
Archie didn’t have a chance to press him further. They reached a room, and from a short corridor down it, they could see what had to be Beach Cave Pit, a hidden away little beach, with an opening letting water in and out. More pressingly, however, they were not alone in this room, as entering from another side of it was another team of Pokemon. One last and final challenge to overcome before they could join the guild.
The fire had gone out at some point over the night, and exposed as he was to the elements, there was only so much the Oshawott’s fur could do to keep him warm. He stood up, ignoring the protest of his limbs and back, sore from sleeping on hard ground all night. Dirt was brushed out of his fur - he could use a bath, did Pokemon take baths? - and then out of his coat, its purpose as a pillow now done. He felt a little bit warmer once he’d put the garment back on, it would have to do until the sun came out in force.
Speaking of the sun, the top of it was just poking out over the top of the trees. Spencer had wanted to set out at first light, and, indeed, Archie could see no sign of him around their makeshift camp. A slow sense of panic started to build in some dark corner of his mind. Had he been abandoned? Scared Spencer off with his talk of being human, which surely must have seemed crazy to the Treecko. Or, had the Pokemon simply used him to get through a tough spot, and now had no further use of him?
He knew the way back to the road, and probably could continue on to Treasure Town himself, assuming there weren’t any more Mystery Dungeons in the way. If Treasure Town was even where that road actually went. He didn’t have any better options though. He turned away from the camp, took a few steps in the direction of the road, and immediately bumped into Spencer.
“Oh! Archie, you’re awake,” the Pokemon said cheerily, once he’d reestablished his footing. And just like that, the panic was gone, replaced with relief and shame. Clearly Archie had been too quick to doubt the Treecko. Had he been this distrusting as a human, or was this simply a product of his unfamiliar location and form? He quickly composed himself though, smiling and nodding hello at his traveling companion.
“Sorry, it must’ve been weird waking up in an empty camp,” Spencer said. The Treecko was perhaps more perceptive than Archie originally gave him credit for. Spencer continued, before the Oshawott had a chance to respond, “I woke up a bit ago, and went out to see about breakfast. I figured you were probably getting tired of apples.”
The Treecko dug around in his wonder bag, and produced a pair of berries. They were vaguely egg shaped, yellow, with green rings. Their thick brown stems were jagged around the top, the Treecko likely having snapped them off whatever plant they were hanging from himself. He handed one to Archie, and though the texture of the fruit was different, its firmness reminded him of the Oran Berry he’d eaten the other day.
“I really hit the jackpot here,” the Treecko said with a smile, “These are Aspear Berries. They’re super sour, but they’ll warm you right up.” As if to prove his point, the Treecko took a bite out of his fruit, and despite a slight shudder at the flavor, seemed perfectly fine. The Oshawott sniffed at it once or twice, but eventually took the plunge as well. The first thing that hit him upon biting into the berry was its taste. In fact, ‘hit’ was the perfect way to describe it, it was so sour it felt like he’d been bowled over.
The second thing he noticed, once he’d managed to fight past what must have been his entire face puckering - judging by the giggles Spencer was having just looking at him - to swallow the fruit, was the warmth. It started in his core, before working its way out to his limbs and then his digits. He could certainly understand why Pokemon fought past the flavor to eat it, he couldn’t imagine ever feeling cold again.
“It’s really good,” the Oshawott managed to choke after another bite, “Thank you.”
“You’ll get used to the kick,” Spencer said with a grin. Archie wasn’t so sure about that. Once they’d eaten their fill, and with the rising sun silently egging them on, they got started down the road to Treasure Town. Eventually, the treeline broke, revealing great plains for miles around. The road hugged the coast, a bay of shimmering blue water stretching out to their right as they walked, with the sun at their backs. It was beautiful, peaceful even. If the whole world was like this, Archie could understand why Spencer wanted to explore it so much.
As Spencer had predicted, the town came into view over the horizon as the sun reached its highest point. Built on a bluff overlooking the sea, the road weaved its way up hills and around clumps of trees and rocky outcrops. Archie hadn’t been sure what to expect for a town built by Pokemon, but he was blown away all the same.
The road they were following transitioned from dirt to sand colored cobblestones as they climbed. As they reached a crossroads, the town center was still a ways ahead of them, a cluster of buildings made out in the shape of various Pokemon. They were all clustered around a main street, a continuation of the road they had been following. Cutting across that road was another, which on one side lead down towards the beach, and the other up what must have been the highest point on the bluff.
Before them, sitting at the edge of the crossroads, was a tent. Colored tan, with red splotches, and decorated with a nose, spiral eyes, and large ears, it was clearly a Spinda’s head, and a well crafted one at that. Archie noted that you entered the tent through the Pokemon’s ‘mouth,’ and could hear the sounds of muffled laughter coming from somewhere within. Beside him, Spencer clapped his paws together.
“Oh! This must be Spinda’s Cafe,” he said, then turned to Archie, “Spinda’s family has run Project P going back generations, hiring out explorers going back generations. The Adventurer’s Guild was first founded as a for-hire exploration team by some of Spinda’s original contractors.” The Treecko looked back at the tent, crossing his arms.
“I knew it was here, but it is a bit smaller than I expected,” he added.
Still, exploring the town wasn’t their present task, so, rather than heading in, or down the road any further, Spencer lead them up one of the side roads. Sitting near the edge of the cliff was another building. An orange dome, with a red crest, windows in the shape of half lidded eyes with gray half circles painted above them, and, again, an opening where the mouth would be. This one was a Scrafty, clearly.
Archie’s eyes, however, were drawn to something sitting near that opening. A red and white ball, with a black band around its middle, complete with a smaller what circle in the center. A Pokeball? Here? What possible use would Pokemon have for one? And why would they leave it here? Archie leaned forward to grab it, his curiosity peaked.
As soon as he touched it though, it smacked his hand away! Spencer grabbed him by the arm, and threw him back, the Treecko taking the brunt of a cloud of spores the ‘pokeball’ spat out. Of course, it wasn’t really a Pokeball at all. It was a small, off white, mushroom, with a Pokeball design on its cap, a small pink mouth, a pair of beady eyes, and tiny limbs. A Foongus, a strange mimic.
“Waugh! Intruders!” The Foongus yelled, “Intruder alert!”
“What? Intruders? No!” Spencer stuttered, “It was just a misunderstanding, we’re sorry!”
Archie noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Movement, from within the shadowed opening to the building. Spencer, too busy trying to sooth the still screaming Foongus, did not see it. A flicker of light from within the building, and this time it was Archie’s turn to protect his partner, tackling the Treecko to the ground just in time for a jet of fire to launch out at them. The two Pokemon rolled to their feet as their attacker made himself known.
A canine stepped out into the light. Quadruped, with orange and cream fur, black stripes along its back and limbs. A Growlithe, teeth bared in a warning snarl with its tail lashed to and fro. The Foongus, still by the door, calmed immediately upon the other Pokemon’s arrival. Spencer put his hands up, palms out to show he meant no harm. Archie quickly did the same.
“Please, we mean no harm,” the Treecko said. Maybe this Pokemon would be more amenable to talk. Any hopes Archie had were quickly dashed however. The Pokemon’s hackles was raised, embers were already forming around its mouth.
“Then leave,” it commanded, embers spilling out of its mouth with every word.
Spencer looked almost heartbroken, “Leave? But we’ve come so far, we can’t go back now!”
“If you won’t leave, then I’ll make you!” The Growlithe roared. This time, Archie was ready for its Flamethrower, pushing Spencer one way while he dodged the other. It couldn’t focus on both of them, and he could handle the heat better than Spencer could. If this canine wanted a fight, Archie would give it to him! He fired a Water Gun, forcing the Growlithe to divert its attention from the Treecko and instead fire its Flamethrower back at Archie.
The two attacks collided, and petered out. No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. There was no rush of steam, no sizzle of drowned flames and evaporating water. A previously invisible barrier, what had really stopped the two moves, shimmered in the afternoon sun, before cracking and breaking.
“Now now, there’s no need for that,” a sing-songy voice rang out, seemingly from everywhere at once. In a beam of light, another Pokemon appeared. Primarily white, with what looked almost like a frilled dress around its waist. Beneath the frills, its legs were green, as was its ‘hair,’ while two red horns grew from either side of her head. She studied the four of them through red eyes. A Kirlia.
“But Gwyn, they’re intruders! They attacked me!” The Foongus whined. Archie wasn’t quite sure how a mushroom would manage to whine, but this one had found a way. The Kirlia rested its chin on its hand in an exaggerated thinking pose, studying the Foongus and Growlithe in turn.
“Really? To me, it looked more like two visitors waking up a sleeping door ‘mon, only to be attacked for their trouble,” the Kirlia said. The Foongus looked suitably shamed, but the Growlithe was furious. Thankfully, not furious at Archie and Spencer anymore though.
“Sleeping again, sentry!?” He yelled, approaching his fellow Pokemon. The Growlithe batted the Foongus towards the entrance, promising the mushroom “Viola will hear about this” before turning to look at the Oshawott and Treecko, “My apologies, it is my job to scare away any intruders the sentry’s Effect Spore does not handle.”
“No harm done, I’m sure,” the Kirlia said, smiling. The Growlithe nodded, before heading into the building, presumably to take the Foongus to whomever this ‘Viola’ person was. With him gone, that left the two of them alone with the Kirlia, who turned to them with a nod, “Welcome to the Adventurer’s Lodge, how may I be of assistance?”
Spencer shook himself, getting over the last of the shock of the sudden attack, before stepping forward, “Before that, I want to report a new Mystery Dungeon. It appeared on the road between Capim Town and Treasure Town, and seems focused over the river.”
The Kirlia’s eyes glazed over, as she seemed to focus on something far away that only she could see. It wasn’t long before she was back, however, with a reassuring smile on her face, “Thank you, your report has been received. Now then, you implied there was another reason you came?”
The Treecko nodded, standing up to his full height and throwing back his shoulders. “We’re here to take the Guild Entrance Exam,” he said seriously. He certainly cut quite the figure, trying to make himself look a bit stronger than he was. Archie smiled, and the Kirlia giggled, before her focus shifted to that far away look once again. She was gone longer this time, but eventually her focus, and smile, returned, and she nodded.
“You’re just in time, they’re waiting for you on the beach,” she said. Spencer seemed surprised at that, the Treecko apparently having lost track of the time. He nodded this thanks to the Kirlia, then motioned for Archie to follow has he raced back down the hill. The Oshawott gave the Kirlia a smile, which she returned, folding her hands over her stomach. As he turned to follow his traveling companion, the Kirlia added, “I can’t wait to see you boys again. You’ll do wonders for the Lodge.”
He looked back at the Pokemon, wanting to hurry, but his curiosity was roused yet again, “What makes you say that?”
“Because I can see the future, of course!” She said, with a wide smile.
---
He caught up with Spencer at the crossroads, the Treecko having elected to wait for him when the Oshawott didn’t immediately follow. The Kirlia hadn’t said anything else, and with her light and breezy tone, Archie wasn’t able to tell if her declaration of prognostication had been serious or in jest. Certainly, Pokemon were strange and powerful creatures, and fortune telling was far from the strangest thing one could do. But, here he was again, thinking about Pokemon as if he himself wasn’t currently one of them.
“So, that was the Adventurers Lodge?” He asked the Treecko as he fell into step beside him. To be honest, he probably should have asked the Treecko where they were before he’d gone and poked the Foongus. Thinking back, his conduct was already starting to embarrass him. He’d have to apologize to the little mushroom if he ever saw him again. Still, he thought he’d seen enough of at least those three to get some idea on the kind of Pokemon they were, “They’re a colorful bunch.”
Spencer was silent for a while again as they started down the hillside to the beach. Just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Archie started to get worried he’d possibly said the wrong thing, or worse, if his conduct back at the lodge had offended his partner. They had, after all, almost missed their chance to join the lodge because of him. The Oshawott opened his mouth to open the Treecko an apology of his own, when the Pokemon finally spoke up.
“Yeah, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting either, they seem like good Pokemon, though,” he said, before looking over at Archie, “Thanks for protecting me from that Growlithe’s fire, that was pretty scary!”
The Oshawott smiled, “Hey, no problem, thanks for protecting me from that Foongus’s spores, and, well, my own stupidity. Sorry for uh, sorry for almost preventing you from being able to join the lodge. I know this is really important to you, and I should take it more seriously.”
The Treecko playfully shoved him, laughing, “Oh, don’t worry about that! It all worked out in the end.” Spencer really was too good to him. Archie needed to work harder to return that kindness, he decided. The Treecko had already done so much for him, it was the least he could do in return.
Eventually, the terrain evened out, the cobblestones they had been walking on transitioned back to dirt, and then sand. First the trees, and then the grass, reached the end of their range. The two Pokemon rounded one final rock face, and then they were presented by a strip of golden sand, and the brilliant sea beyond it, glittering in the afternoon sun. There was quite the crowd of Pokemon milling about, in clumps of twos and fours. One, however, stood off on its own.
It had scales a blue shade of indigo, mixed with red on its torso and arms. Long pointed ears, a too wide mouth full of sharp teeth, brilliant golden eyes. Dangerous pincers on either arm, and another on its tail, with wings that hung behind it like a cape. This Gliscor cut an imposing figure. It didn’t help that it was looking right at them with barely disguised irritation.
“Form up!” the Gliscor ordered. The clusters of Pokemon hurried to follow the instruction, forming into two rows of what must have been over a dozen Pokemon each. Archie and Spencer found themselves on the furthest right, with the Oshawott in front of the Treecko behind. The Gliscor waited until they had all settled to continue, “Now that the final group is here, the exam can begin.”
“Your goal today is quite simple,” the Gliscor said. with one of its pincers, the Pokemon motioned towards a nearby cave, “Before you is Beach Cave, a Mystery Dungeon. At its pit, one of my guildmates awaits you. The first team of two Pokemon to reach him will be accepted into the Lodge. The rest of you will go home in shame.”
A wave of muttering swept through the applicants until it was cut off by a raised pincer, “This Mystery Dungeon is perfectly safe, your only obstacles in this exam will be one another. You may avoid one another, or you may attempt to fight. You will enter the Dungeon one group at a time, to ensure you all have a different starting point.”
The Gliscor motioned for the groups to follow it. Keeping their lines together, they approached the mouth of the cave. The Pokemon help up its pincer once again, preventing the first group of Pokemon from entering the dungeon. “One final thing. If your partner faints, you will also be considered a failure, this is a team exercise, and working together to overcome obstacles is a key part of being an Adventurer.” With that, the Pokemon allowed its claw to drop, “Now go.”
---
Being at the rear of the line, Archie and Spencer had of course been the last to enter the cave. The Oshawott hoped that that wouldn’t negative affect their chances. He couldn’t allow himself to be bogged down in worry though, this was it, they had to prove themselves. He had to prove himself. He wouldn’t let Spencer down.
“Okay Archie, I’ll follow your lead this time,” Spencer’s voice took the wind out of his sails. The Oshawott turned to study his companion, the surprise clearly visible on his face. The Treecko’s expression, by contrast, was resolute, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was shaking. The Pokemon forced a smile, “As you can see, I’m not in a state to make tactical decisions right now.”
“Spencer, are you certain? This is your dream, what if I screw up?” Archie asked. The Treecko clearly had more faith in him than he did. Spencer probably had more faith in a lot of things than Archie did, come to think of it.
“You won’t screw it up,” the Treecko replied, keeping his tone even, “Because I trust you.”
“Spencer, I,” he paused. He couldn’t doubt himself now. He wouldn’t doubt Spencer, either. He steeled his expression, and nodded, “I won’t let you down.
By contrast to the last Dungeon they had explored, Beach Cave was, well, a cave. The floor was a mixture of sand and rock, while rock walls enclosed them from either side, and above. Though all the Pokemon had entered from the same place, the sand around them showed no sign of disturbance. Just another way Mystery Dungeons were seemingly inexplicable to add to the ever growing list. Archie picked a direction and set off, Spencer following close behind.
In contrast to their previous endeavour, this Dungeon seemed quite a bit less maze-like. Passages twisted and turned but only rarely branched off. In fact, the narrow confines presented a whole new set of problems when the pair quickly ran into one of their fellow teams. Two Pokemon, coming down the corridor they were going up. All four of them seemed to realize at the same time that they were on a collision course with no room to maneuver, and both teams were certain that they’d need to get past one another to continue onwards.
The lead Pokemon was a fellow Water Type, blue and stocky with a protective tan and brown shell around its torso, and a curled tail: Squirtle. The other was a quadruped, yellow with long pointed ears and a pointed white muzzle. It had red tufts of fur coming out of either ear, and similar colored fur on the tip of its bushy tail, a Fennekin.
Archie met with the Squirtle first, the other Pokemon firing a cloud of bubbles at him, each of which stung as they popped against his fur. He pulled down his hat so none would be able to get at his eyes, and blind fired a Water Gun in return. Ahead of him, he heard the Fennekin cry out in shock, the Squirtle having evidently ducked his attack without considering his partner behind him.
“Archie, get down!” Spencer yelled from behind him. The Oshawott dropped to the floor of the cave while the Treecko launched over him, hitting the Squirtle with enough force to send the pair of them crashing back into the Fennekin, before pushing off the Water Type with enough force to hop back behind the Oshawott, “Now, press the advantage!”
Archie didn’t need to be told twice. He leapt to his feet, and with a Tackle of his own smashed the Squirtle back into the Fennekin. Clambering over the floored turtle to the now well and truly dazed Fennekin, the Oshawott brought down his paws onto the top of the Pokemon’s head, the Assurance slamming the Fire Type face first into the ground. And with that, the Fennekin was beamed out of the dungeon. The Squirtle looked at the spot his partner used to be, then looked up at Archie, and then he was gone as well, taken by another beam of light.
“I guess that Gliscor wasn’t kidding about that whole failing together thing,” Spencer said, hurrying forward to meet up with him. The battle seemed to have done wonders for the Treecko’s nerves, he seemed much calmer now. Of course, it probably helped that they’d won it.
“That attack you did, what was it?” Archie asked. The Treecko had flung himself forward with quite a bit of force. He hadn’t done that at all the last time they’d gone through a dungeon together.
“Quick Attack, did you like it?” Spencer grinned, “I learned it off that Masquerain, thought it might come in handy.”
The pair got started again, and eventually the twisting corridor opened up into a small chamber. There was an Oran Berry there, which Spencer happily brushed sand off of before adding to his collection. Archie hoped that they wouldn’t be eating that one any time soon. As the pair entered another corridor, the Oshawott thought back to their short battle. “Did those Pokemon seem kind of weak to you?”
“Pokemon of all skill levels try to join the lodge, that’s why the exam exists, to weed out the weaker ones,” Spencer explained, “Unlike us, those two have probably never gone through a Mystery Dungeon before.” That seemed sensible enough, getting through that previous Dungeon had been quite the ordeal. One they’d both learned from, between Archie’s general knowledge and Spencer’s new attack. He was thankful for the experience now.
“Hey Spens?” He asked after a few more minutes spent thinking of attacks, “You said my Assurance was a move that had to be inherited, right? Do you have any moves like that?”
“They’re called Egg Moves, probably because Pokemon come right out of the egg knowing them,” the Treecko replied, before falling into one of his usual silent spells. The fact that Pokemon came from eggs just gave Archie a whole ‘nother layer of questions. Those were, perhaps, better left for another time though. At length though, Spencer continued, “I never met my dad, though, so I don’t know if I have any of those.”
Archie cringed, hoping he hadn’t just broached a particularly painful subject. He let that topic drop, and just focused on not getting himself turned around when they reached a fork in the path. At length, they came upon another room, just in time to see a flash of light take someone out of it. The cause of that sudden eviction was the two Pokemon already in the room. They heard them enter, and turned to face them.
One was a Fire Type, this fact being readily apparent from the flames on its back. It had a cream and blue coloration, a long snout, and very stubby limbs compared to its head and body size. A Cyndaquil, joined by another quadruped, somewhat similar in appearance to the Fennekin, brown with a cream ruff around its neck, and a much less pronounced muzzle and narrower ears. Eevee. They both looked a little tired already, but the Cyndaquil was reaching into its bag, no doubt for an Oran Berry.
Archie lead with a Water Gun, but the Eevee leapt in front to take the brunt of the attack, and their chance for an easy victory was lost. The Cyndaquil, having had time to rejuvenate itself, followed up with a Smokescreen, spewing a thick cloud of black smoke from its flame vents that obscured the two opposing Pokemon and expanded out to blanket the room. Spencer grabbed him by the collar of his coat and yanked him backwards, until the two found a wall.
“This way they can only approach us from the front,” the Treecko explained. Then he was kicked in the head, as the Eevee turned his Quick Attack tactic against him, launching out of the fog at the Treecko, then using the Pokemon as a launch pad to disappear back into the obscuring smoke. Archie fired a Water Gun in the Pokemon’s direction, but it was already long gone, and he heard rather than saw the attack hit the ground.
“You wouldn’t have anything in that bag of tricks of yours for clearing this smoke, would you?” Archie asked, while the dazed Treecko came back to his senses.
“There’s a number of Orbs that could be used to clear or circumvent this attack, and would you believe me if I said I had none of them?” The Treecko groused.
“Guess our luck had to run out at some point,” Archie conceded. Again the Eevee launched itself out of the mist, this time striking Archie in the chest and slamming him back into the wall. Forcing himself to keep breathing despite the pain, he grabbed the Treecko’s hand and lead him out into the room, “Come on, we’re not going to make any headway getting repeatedly slammed into a wall.”
“You’re not getting away!” The Eevee taunted from within the smoke, before hitting Spencer in the back, knocking the Treecko over. Once again, Archie’s attempt at a Water Gun reprisal splashed against the ground. Archie was noticing something of a pattern here, but rueing his misfortune soon turned to a more productive thought.
“Why isn’t the Cyndaquil attacking?” He asked his partner, who was in the process of picking himself up again.
“Probably because he’s maintaining the Smokescreen,” Spencer replied. That set the Treecko’s own train of thought down the same path Archie’s was going. “If we could just find him somehow, we could stop this smoke.” A sudden look of realization dawned on the Treecko’s face, he turned to his partner.
“Archie, you’re a Water Type, can’t you make the area damp?” The Treecko asked, “That Cyndaquil’s got to have his fire going to produce this much smoke. If we can get some steam going I’ll bet we can find him!”
Could Archie do that? He felt like he could, in the same way he felt like he could use Assurance. An instinctual knowledge, perhaps, but now was not the time to ponder his Oshawott instincts. He fired a jet of water around the floor, splashing it into the air around him and Spencer. Then he ‘pushed’ it - gesturing forward and around himself - causing the water droplets to spread out over the entire room. This was Water Sport. He felt stupid for not doing it earlier.
Much like Spencer expected, they were soon rewarded by the sound of water meeting fire, and a sputter of surprise from the Cyndaquil. Archie keyed in on the source of the noise, and fired a Water Gun at it. A great burst of steam and another strangled cry revealed that this time, the attack struck home. The smog began to lift, the Cyndaquil’s fire was out.
Now it was the Treecko’s turn to lash out with a Quick Attack. The Eevee rushed to intercept, but another Water Gun from Archie kept it busy dodging while the Treecko slammed into the annoying quadruped’s partner. They had to press their advantage now that they had it. The Eevee might be able to continue dodging his Water Guns, but the Cyndaquil was clearly much less experienced in a fight, so used to standing back and maintaining its Smokescreen.
So the Eevee was left twisting in the wind, dancing around Water Guns more intended to keep it away than actually hit it, the Cyndaquil’s flailing attempt at a Tackle was met by one of Spencer’s Pounds, putting an end to that Pokemon’s struggles. Moments later it was beamed out. The Eevee managed a short “No!” before getting beamed out itself. To add injury to insult, Archie was finally able to nail it in the face with a Water Gun before it was removed.
The two remaining Pokemon shared a sigh of relief. Archie regretted commenting about how easy the first encounter had been. The Eevee and Cyndaquil had had a dangerous strategy, and if the Cyndaquil hadn’t been an inexperienced fighter it might have turned out much worse for them. As the two settled down momentarily to each eat an Oran Berry, one thing was clear: They could not afford to underestimate any further opponents.
“So uh, I know I’m not the most experienced at this whole fighting thing, yet,” Archie stated once they’d gotten started again, “But that Eevee seemed especially hard to hit.”
“My guess is, it was using Detect in combination with its Quick Attack to predict and dodge your moves,” Spencer replied, “The smoke would have given it a further edge. Why you weren’t able to hit it after the smoke was gone, I don’t know.”
“I wasn’t trying to hit it then!” the Oshawott said, defensively. Spencer chucked and waved him off, and Archie huffed in exaggerated annoyance. In better spirits then, they continued deeper into the cave. They had to be getting near the bottom by now. Though they’d fallen into a comfortable silence, both wanting to keep their eyes and ears open in case they were about to come up against another team, at length Spencer did speak again.
“So how did you know you could use Assurance?”
Archie thought back to the first time he’d called that particular attack forward. Really, there was nothing different about using it than there was any of the other moves he’d done. Much like Water Sport, once he’d realized he could do it, it came naturally to him. “I just kind of knew I could, I felt it deep down.” It sounded a lot dumber spoken.
“Just felt it huh? I wonder,” the Treecko trailed off.
Archie didn’t have a chance to press him further. They reached a room, and from a short corridor down it, they could see what had to be Beach Cave Pit, a hidden away little beach, with an opening letting water in and out. More pressingly, however, they were not alone in this room, as entering from another side of it was another team of Pokemon. One last and final challenge to overcome before they could join the guild.
