Chapter 31: The Blackwater Stream

  The silence pressed close around them as Auri and Yuki moved deeper into the Blackwater Stream. Every step made a soft sound in the slick ground beneath, mud tugging at their paws and talons like it didn’t want to let go. The air stank of iron and rotten algae, heavy and damp, as if the whole Dungeon had been sealed shut for centuries.

  The path sloped downward, stone giving way to soft earth and shallow pools. Ripples moved across the black waterflowing along next to them, never quite matching their steps. The reflections didn’t line up either, branches and stones shifted in the mirrored surface, always half a second behind.

  Yuki tested a flicker of an [Ember] at her wingtips. The fire bent again, scattering into faint orange trails that swirled and vanished. She gritted her teeth and pulled the flames close, keeping them tucked tight against her chest for light and warmth. "I hate water-type Dungeons, especially combined with dark-type energy. It makes using my fire-type energy extremely hard," she complained.

  "I’ll take front then and make sure we have light," Auri murmured, his fur faintly sparking with electric-type energy in the dimness. The small arcs of lightning danced along the mud, sketching the edges of the path ahead.

  None of them spoke after that. There was no need. Every sound, the soft splash of water, the squelch of mud, the slow, distant drip from the unseen canopy felt too loud already. In a Dungeon where illusions, traps, and hidden Dungeon Pokemon lurked, they had to look out for every suspicious sound.

  They pressed on, close enough that the light from Auri’s sparks mixed with the soft glow of Yuki’s fire, two fragile points of color in a world otherwise completely drenched in unnatural darkness. Suddenly Auri stopped mid-step. "Wait. Look, at the left side."

  Yuki angled her fire just enough to check out what he meant, a patch of reeds that swayed from left to right, though there was no wind anywhere. And there was no flying-type energy surrounding them either. Suddenly, the reed stopped moving,

  "Could it be the water currents?" Yuki asked carefully.

  Auri nodded. "Maybe. Or maybe it's something else." He didn't look away as he moved a paw through the mud, tracing faint static arcs across the surface. The air snapped once, a [Thunder Shock] of his rippling through the puddle, but there was no reaction.

  Auri exhaled. "Okay, it's nothing dangerous. Let's continue."

  Yuki hums under her breath, more to fill the silence than anything. "i wish this place would pick an illusion and stick with it. How are we supposed to tell what's an illusion and what's not if literally everything in here looks off?"

  "We'll just have to be extra careful and double-check everything that even looks a little suspicious," Auri replied, though his tone remained distracted as he watched the rippling shadows on the walls of hanging roots. "And of course we'll have to continue to stick close to each other."

  Soon after, the ground narrowed into a shallow channel, with black water rising up all the way to their ankles. Then, they heard a sudden splashing sound in front of them and both froze instantly.

  Auri slowly rased a paw. "Step back. Slowly," he whispered. Before they could do so, however, the water in front of them rose.

  Black ripples gathered, twisting upward into shape. Two long, spined forms lifted from the current, scales glinting faint violet beneath the mist. Dungeon Dragalge with bodies that dripped shadow-like oil, their fins dragging trails of poison that hissed where they touched the ground.

  "Move!" Auri shouted, instantly following his own command.

  Yuki was already in the air, her wings flaring as the first burst of [Toxic] mist rolled out. The purple cloud thickened fast, swallowing the light around them. She dove left and, knowing just how ineffective her firey-type moves were, shot a [Sand Attack] twoards the Dungeon Pokemon, temporarely blinding them.

  "I'll keep them split and occupied as much as possible!" she called out, knowing that with her lack of ranged moves she couldn't harm such highly toxic enemies without hurting herself.

  Auri meanwhile charged up an [Agility] while electric sparks were crawling up his legs. The air cracked white as he launched a [Thunderbolt] towards the nearer Dungeon Dragalge. The hit landed, the thing jerking as light flaring through its shell, but as quickly as it came, Auri felt the electric current lowing back to him through the water before doing much actual damage.

  Instantly Auri surpressed his ability but the damage was already mostly done, with the electric-type energy having flown back to him. The Dungeon Pokemon was able to tank the remaining power of the move.

  "Time to switch position, the grounding's bad! The water will just carry my electric-type energy back to us!" he called out to Yuki.

  "On it!” Yuki banked, circling through the mist. “Hit left, I’ll blind right!”

  Auri slammed his paw into a slick stone, forcing the next [Tunderbolt] down through the rock before releasing. The bolt burst outward, following the wet ground and landed a perfect hit. The Dungeon Dragalge’s form convulsed before melting back, flickering like a reflection torn apart.

  The second one lunged with [Poison Tail] through the fog toward Yuki. She met it head-on, ducking below its attack, and bursting forward with a [Flame Charge] that turned the air to steam. Her voice cut through the hiss: "Now!"

  Auri’s tail flashed with a quickly charged [Electro Ball]. The attack snapped forward, catching the Dungeon Dragalge mid-turn. The [Electro Ball] exploded upon contact, hurling the Dungeon Pokemon away before it collapsed into dark water, gone for good.

  Steam rolled over them both. For a moment, nothing moved but the shifting light.

  Yuki landed hard beside him, feathers dripping. However that didn't stop her from releasing a quick burst of [Fire Spin] do dismantle the remaining [Toxic] cloud. "You good?" she asked between breaths.

  "Yeah," Auri replied. "But directing volatile electric-type energy through rock is hard. My reserves took a hit from that."

  "Figures." She gave a tired grin. "Still, your efficiency and control is incredible. You can tank that little hit to your reserves easily!"

  He exhaled once, steadying. "Keep the fire going. I'd prefer to recharge before we run into any more trouble."

  "Copy that!"

  Neither said anything else. The stream beside them rippled once, calm again as if the fight had never happened. They pressed on, silent save for their steps through the shallow mud, the faint hum of type energy thrumming all around them. Not long after, the path constricted all around them without warning.

  Roots thickened above them, merging into a dripping canopy that let only streaks of faint blue light through. Each drop of black water that fell echoed wrong, bouncing from walls that seemed farther than they were.

  "Keep your flame close," Auri murmured. "The Dungeon's clearly trying something again. We don't want it to disrupt your fire-type energy again."

  Yuki did, watching the light scatter weirdly across the walls. "Maybe we should take out the Luminous Stones?" she suggested. "We have more than enough, right?"

  Auri frowned. "I thought so too. In theory we have enough light for a total of five days. But we forgot to take into acount that this is a water-type and dark-type Dungeon. You saw what it did to your flames, and I doubt it will be any better for the Luminous Stones. Feel free to light one up."

  Yuki nodded and quickly took out one of the Luminous Stones. They were quite simple. You only had to fill them with some fire-type energy and they would automatically shed light on their surroundings until the fire-type energy saw them burning up from the inside and crumbling. That was, however, not what happened this time when Yuki injected fire-type energy into the Luminous Stone.

  At first it looked like the fire-type energy caught on and the Luminous Stone successfully flickered to life, illuminating everything around in bright white light. Only seconds later though, it flickered out again and the Luminous Stone crumbled apart between Yuki's talons, as if it had already burned for an entire day.

  Auri sighed. "I feared something like this might happen," he muttered. "These stones run on fire-type energy. If fire-type energy doesn't work properly in this Dungeon, then why would they?"

  "Wait so I wasted money on these things and now they don't even help us!?" Yuki exclaimed with a frankly hilarious look of betrayal on her face.

  "They will still be useful vor the Obsidian Caverns and maybe even these ruins that Miu said are our destination," Auri replied. "And you wouldn't have 'wasted' that much money if you hadn't been too stubborn to let me pay-"

  "Anyways, it doesn't matter, right? Let's just move on and, most of all, be silent for there could be Dungeon Pokemon lurking everywhere!" Yuki interrupted him quickly before he could finish his sentence.

  Auri prepared to reply, but at thast moment the Dungeon's noises shifted a pitch. Suddenly there were quick splashes behind them, sharp and fast. Both of them froze for a moment and instantly after spun around. But there was nothing. Just small ripples on the water's surface, slowly fading away.

  "Nice. So we're being followed around, how lovely!" Yuki commented dryly.

  Auri just shook his head. "Might be, but it could also just be the dark-type energy of the Dungeon playing with us again. Let's jut continue onwards. Preferably quickly."

  They moved on, faster now than before, while the ground below them turned uneven with patches of slick stone and deep pockets of mud forcing them to leap from one stable point to the next. Their steps and splashes layered on top of each other, impossible to tell which sounds were theirs and which weren’t.

  Moments later came the first strike, a whip of black water that sliced through the air beside Yuki. She reacted instantly, spinning with a burst of [Flame Charge]. The attack tore through her defenses, before hitting and forcing her tumpbling into Auri with a pained hiss.

  "That was a water-type move!" she gasped through the pain of the very effective move. "No idea from where that came!"

  "[Aqua Tail]," Auri confirmed. His fur bristled, electric energy crackling faintly in self-defense. "There's a Dungeon Pokemon around here somewhere."

  Another splash, this time ahead of them. A shadow darted past in the reflection of the puddle but not in reality. Auri stepped in front of Yuki instinctively, discharging a quick [Thunder Shock] towards the ground. The flash illuminated nothing except empty roots, but the shadows moved anyway, scattering backward like startled prey. That was a move Sia had as well and it had made enough of an impression for Auri to recognise it instantly.

  "Okay, that’s officially creepy!" Yuki hissed.

  "That was without a doubt [Sahdow Sneak]. You've seen what Sia could do with that move. So we have a Dungeon Pokemon using water-type and ghost-type moves, or multiple stalking us," he muttered. "Are you okay?"

  "I'll live!" Yuki replied with another hiss and stood up again. "A single very effective move won't keep me down!"

  They pushed further forward, no longer walking but half-running. The sounds followed, sloshes, cracks, wet footsteps that always seemed one step behind. Each echo arrived sooner than the last, tightening around them like a noose. They were definitely played by some water-type and ghost-type Pokemon, but they didn't stand much of a chance against them in the current environment.

  The tunnel’s air turned denser, vibrating with Dungeon energy so strongly that it Auri started to remember Auri of the energy density close to the Core room of the Windshear Hollow Dungeon, if not as surpressive. He slowed instinctively. "Wait, Yuki, stop! We’re being-!"

  "Herded?" she finished, breath quick. "Yeah, I know that! But we're clearly running deeper into the Dungeon and that's the direction we have to take anyways!"

  "We can’t just rush in blind!" he called back.

  "Then what, stand still and wait for the ghost-types to pick us off instead!?"

  "That's still the better than to voluntarily run into the Core room of this Dungeon!"

  Yuki froze instantly and so suddenly that Auri nearly ran into her. "What do you mean, Core room!? Why would the Dungeon lead us directly to its Core, they should do everything in their power to keep us away from it! That doesn't make sense!"

  Before Auri could respond, the ground behind them shuddered. The mud cracked, a sound like a deep inhale, and collapsed into a churning void of black water. The path they’d come from simply ceased to exist.

  Auri’s fur flared with light. "Run!"

  Both of them bolted again. The corridor seemed to twist with them, walls narrowing, roots lashing from above like claws. One of them brushed Yuki’s wing and sizzled with acid. She retaliated with a burst of [Fire Spin], burning a hole through the curtain of vines.

  Auri darted through first, sending jolts of [Nuzzle] into the walls to collapse any hanging growths behind them. Sparks danced in the wet air, their light briefly outlining dozens of phantom shapes, too many to be real, all watching, all waiting.

  "Just ahead!" Yuki called, voice echoing.

  The narrow ravine finally widened again, not into safety, but into a chamber flooded with a strange, pulsing light. The air there shimmered with raw Dungeon energy, dense and alive.

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  They slowed only enough to catch their breath, the sound of collapsing stone and rushing water sealing the tunnel behind them completely.

  Yuki wiped mud from her face, flame trembling but still alive. "Guess that solves the 'go back' option. But seriously, what did you mean by we're ebing directed towards the Core chamber? No Dungeon would seriously risk that."

  Auri stared into the light ahead. "It's the pressure. The Blackwater Stream is a Dungeon of roughly the same strength as Windshear Hollow. Maybe a bit weaker, but the comparison fits. The problem is, I feel the same strength ahead that I felt standing in the Core chamber of the Windshear Hollow Dungeon. So the Dungeon Core must be ahead. And our way back was just blocked."

  "...That is very bad," Yuki finally said. "But I don't get it! Why would it do that!? That goes against everything we know of Dungeons! They're supposed to push us towards the exits, not their cores!"

  At that moment, Auri realised what was going on and he cursed under his breath. "Yuki. What if the Blackwater Stream, due to being a very narrow strip of water, only has a select few exit points? And what if the closest one is directly next to the Core because the Obsidian Caverns Dungeon blocks its expansion into the other direction?"

  He could see how Yuki realised what he implied and how a look of horror spread across her face. "Wait, so the Dungeon pushes us towards the exit, but also closer to its Core at the same time, making it more agressive andpowerful the further we get! Its instincts are in conflict with each other!"

  "...And we'll likely have to get throught he Dungeon's Core chamber and the Dungeon Boss to get there," Auri completed for her. Both of them shuddered at that thought.

  "Do we even have a chance then?" Yuki asked. "Dungeon Bosses are no joke! You know how weak the Dungeons close to Newleaf Village are. Even there I would hesitate to challange some of the toughter Dungeon Bosses on my lonesome! Whatever is in front of us has to be a truly terrifying being!"

  Auri sighed and shook his head. "I honestly don't know. But we have to try, there's no going back for us anyways. We'll have to give it our best shot."

  Yuki hesitantly nodded at that and together they moved on through the narrow ravine, towards what might be the hardest fight of their life yet. It didn't take long for the ravine to widen into a wide hollow. The black water here stilled into perfect, nearly glassy-looking rings. The circles pulsed faintly, spreading ripples that made no sound.

  Auri slowed, scanning the mirrored surface. "We’re close, maybe a few minutes of walking away from the Core room," he murmured. Suddenly, the water in front of them stirred.

  Three Dungeon Pokemon emerged from the innermost ring, swelling outward. They were Qwilfish, but unlike any Auri had ever seen or even heard of before. Their bodies were slick with ab oily sheen, and every breath they drew filled the air with a sharp, metallic tang. The upper part of their shell was also colored dark black with purple acid sizzling from the top of the spikes.

  The Dungeon moved with them. The ripples they made didn’t fade, they multiplied. Reflections bloomed across the basin, warped and alive, mimicking Auri and Yuki’s motions a heartbeat behind.

  "Mirrors," Auri muttered. "The Dungeon’s creating reflections to confuse and hamper us."

  He charged a [Thunderbolt], but stopped halfway as a mirrored spark lit in the water beneath them. The reflection mimicked his charge perfectly, and when he fired, so did it. Both bolts collided midair in a flash of white and violet. The echo hit him in the chest, but was completely absorbed again. Sometimes his ability truly showed its value.

  “Forget big moves!” Yuki shouted, darting forward as the Qwilfish pulsed with [Poison Sting], a fan of glowing barbs cutting the air. "If you stick to ranged attacks use short bursts!"

  Auri switched to [Thunder Shock] instantly, brief flickers of electricity instead of full discharges, small arcs that hit one target before the reflections could catch up. Each shot landed with surgical precision, little bursts that forced the Qwilfish back toward the edge. They took little out of his reserve, but they didn't do much actual damage either.

  But the reflections didn’t stop just because they couldn't entirely keep up. Most of their attacks were still copied and reflected back, the basin itself fighting against them due to the influence of the Dungeon Core.

  "They’re watching what we do," Yuki called, her tone sharp and tense. "Every move we make, they copy it!"

  "Then we'll have to block their vision!" Auri called back, but Yuki was already acting.

  The light around her dimmed as her fire folded close. The nearest Dungeon Qwilfish darted from behind, its form flickering between real and reflection, but Yuki spun before it could strike, wings igniting in a sudden burst of [Flame Charge]. Fire met oily water with a hiss that bloomed into white steam.

  The basin filled with fog in seconds, the mirrored shapes dissolving in the haze. But the amount of type-energy that took must've been a massiv eexpanse on her due to the Dungeon's energy types.

  "Now, Auri, go all out!" Yuki’s voice cut through the whiteout. "Don't worry about me, I can protect myself from the fallout!"

  He hesitated for a moment. Going all-ot meant flooding the area with electric-type energy, energy that the water would conduct and also hit Yuki in turn. But they wouldn't get a chance like this again, so he trusted that Yuki knew what she was doing.

  The steam glowed faint yellow as he charged a full [Electro Ball], far exceeding the amount of energy he was normally supposed to put into this move, before channeling it low through the ground. The sphere of light rolled across the water, humming louder and louder until it reached the center and exploded in a massive fireball of electric current.

  The shockwave split the stillness apart. The black rings shattered, scattering light and steam through the cavern. The electric energy, as expected, rushed into the black water all around them and hit everything in the room, including Auri himself who simply absorbed his own electric-type energy again.

  When the smoke cleared, the Dungeon Qwilfish were gone, only faint traces of dissolved toxin still rippling across the still slightly charged black water’s surface.

  Auri stood breathing hard, sparks flickering unevenly along his fur. Yuki landed beside him, feathers crackling with electricity, though she surprisingly enough looked mostly unharmed.

  "You okay?" he asked, voice low but steady.

  "Well, mostly," she answered. "I took some poison, but nothing I can’t burn out with a bit of type energy. And [Detect] unfortunately didn't allow me to completely evade the damage your [Electro Ball] did. Hard to do so if said electric energy is literally everywhere. But I'll manage."

  "So that's how you did it. You used [Detect] to evade the damage my attack would've otherwise made," Auri concluded in realisation.

  "Yeah! I don't practice the move as often as I would like to, but it's always quite helpful if I have to evade a guaranteed hit!"

  Auri nodded before looking back at the basin, at the perfect silence that returned as if the fight had never happened. "We're practically next to the Dungeon Core. And there's no time to rest. If we wait too long the Dungeon will put even more Dungeon Pokemon on our trail. We'll have to face the Dungeon Boss now."

  Yuki met his look, the glow of her fire reflecting faintly in his fur. "Then so be it! Auri, I know we can do this if we work together! Let's give it our best shot and we will see this through!"

  He nodded once. "Yeah. We'll manage... Somehow."

  Yuki smirked, though it looked slightly forced. "Not the glowing vote of confidence I'd hoped for, but I'll take it."

  Auri just snorted and they pressed on. Only a few minutes later the corridor widened into a vast hollow where the river seemingly met its end. The source of the Blackwater Stream lay in front of them. The air was thick with pressure, the kind that made every breath taste like iron and ash.

  Beneath them, the stream emptied into a circular pool, wide enough to probably swallow the entirety of Newleaf Village. The water was darker than shadow now, pulsing faintly, as though something beneath it was breathing.

  Then, suddenly, the pool tore open. A shape burst from the black water, long, jagged, and impossible to follow with the eye. Its hide glimmered like oil on metal, carved with glowing red scars that ran the length of its body. Its jaw was fractured and lined with teeth of translucent crystal, its fins torn into spiked ridges that cut the air when it moved. Many golden and red glowing markings were all across its body. The roar it let out shook the cavern as water slammed outward, crashing into the walls in spirals.

  Yuki braced herself, eyes wide. "That’s-!"

  "A Sharpedo," Auri finished grimly. "Or at least something similar to one. Just like with the Aerodactyl I've seen in Windshear Hollow."

  The Dungeon Boss circled the pool in wide, serpentine arcs, the black water bending with it like muscle. The Dungeon Core’s influence bled through the walls as well, every ripple, every reflection pulsing with synchronized rhythm.

  The first strike came without warning. A wave of water rose behind Auri, forming a [Liquidation]. It wasn’t the Dungeon Boss itself, but the Dungeon Core abusing its own type energy to form moves. Something Auri hadn't known was possible. He dodged right, only for the actual Sharpedo to crash up from below with an [Aqua Jet], its [Crunch] snapping shut only inches from his tail.

  The impact still threw him across the cavern. He hit the wall, electricity scattering in thin, broken lines.

  Yuki darted through the air, fire blazing from her feathers, and slammed an [Aerial Ace] into the creature’s flank. The water hissed, steam bursting outward, but the Sharpedo twisted, the black water seemingly sealing the little damage Yuki actually managed to make easily.

  She barely avoided its counterattack, diving low as its [Crunch] shattered a chunk of stone where she’d just stood.

  Auri groaned, forcing himself upright. "It’s using the water to heal!" he called out.

  "Then we'll have to drain that small lake dry!" Yuki shot back though he had no idea how she managed to acomplish that. The lake of black water was anything but small.

  Still, he slammed both paws into the floor, a [Thunderbolt] crawling through the shallow water. The current reached the boss, disrupting its movement for a heartbeat, but then the reflections around them lit up too, flashing back the same surged. The type energy rebounded, slamming hos own attack back into him. He simply reabsorbed his type energy and tried again. In a fight of atrition thanks to his ability he might actually stood a chance!

  Yuki meanwhile set her own plan into motion, a repitition of what she'd done in their last encounter with Dungeon Pokemon. She spun in a [Fire Spin], generating a spiral of heated steam that billowed into dense fog. The Sharpedo’s eyes flickered as it lost track of the intruders shapes.

  Yuki planned to reuse their strategy from before? Well, why change something that worked? Therefore he instantly started channeling another overcharged [Electro Ball] as well.

  The Sharpedo, noticing the building electric current in the air lunged blindly with another [Aqua Jet] into his general direction but missed massively. Auri used that moment to unleash his [Electro Ball] squarely into the lake's center.

  This time the [Electro Ball] didn't explode. Instead it fell apart into a raging current of electricity the moment it touched the water. The black water convulsed, sparks spreading in branching paths across the entire lake. The Sharpedo howled in pain, the black water rising like tendrils to shield it. But there was nothing it could shield the Dungeon Boss from. Auri had used the black water as a workaround to use an attack normally beyond his capabilities. What he'd done closely resembled a [Discharge].

  Steam filled the room again, boiling off the walls. Yuki’s flames answered, superheating the rising water more and more, twisting light and heat into chaos. For a moment, the two forces collided, electric arcs slicing through vapor, fire burning underwater, and the Dungeon Boss roared in anger.

  A tremor ran through the ground beneath them. The black water Auri had just electrified recoiled, then surged forward as if alive. The lake rose, no longer bound by gravity, twisting upward into spirals that clung to the walls and ceiling. The entire cavern pulsed like the inside of a beating heart.

  The Sharpedo burst free from the distorted surface, its body now half-dissolved, half-reformed from the same black water the Dungeon commanded. Its jaws split open, a streak of crimson glow running from throat to fin as it roared, unleashing an [Uproar] at them.

  Yuki cried out as the force slammed into her mid-glide, throwing her hard against the stone. The flames on her wings dimmed, reduced to ember. She hit the ground and slid, coughing through the haze.

  "Yuki!" Auri shouted, dashing toward her, only for the Dungeon Boss to target him instead. A whip-like tendril lashed out from the rising pool, a [Waterfall] condensed into a blade. He threw up a [Thunder Shock] instinctively, the electric surge splitting the strike apart, but the reflection beneath his paws mirrored the [Waterfall] perfectly. The move hit him a second later, throwing him sideways, the world flashing white and blue. He hit the ground hard, breath ragged.

  Every reflection in the chamber began to move, crawling up the walls and floor, practically copies of the Sharpedo, illusions formed by the Dungeons dark-type energy, snapping teeth that weren’t really there but cut all the same. The air stank of ozone and poison.

  Yuki forced herself up, feathers smoldering. "It’s multiplying! How!?"

  "It’s not multiplying!" Auri growled, staggering to his paws. "It’s the Dungeon Core playing around with his type energies and the surroundings again!"

  The ground shook again. The water’s pulse grew faster, heavier, until even the light from Yuki’s feathers bent with each beat. The Dungeon Boss dived, vanished beneath the pool’s surface, and the reflections vanished with it. Then everything struck at once.

  [Hydro Pumps] erupted from the pool, walls, and ceiling, 8Ice Fangs] sliced through the air towards them, [Waterfalls] came crashing in from every direction. This wasn’t a battle anymore, this was a storm, a living nightmare of claws and current that tried to tear them apart.

  Auri’s electricity scattered uselessly into the water, seemingly without effect before rebounding. It didn't hurt him, but it didn't seem to hurt the Dungeon Boss either.

  Yuki’s flames hissed and sputtered under the constant barrage of spray, steam clouding her sight until she could barely tell which way was up. Her type energies were starting to dwindle as well, seeing how unlike Auri she wasn't getting back most of the type energy she was spending. Her own ability Speed Boost was practically useless in a short Dungeon like this that was even oposed to her own typing. She gasped, wings trembling. "Auri, we can’t win like this!!

  He dodged another whip of water that sliced through the stone where he’d stood. "Youre right, we can't fight it, not like this! It’s the Dungeon itself now more than the Dungeon Boss! As long as the Core’s intact, it’ll just keep coming!"

  Yuki threw another [Aerial Ace] through the mist, catching one of the [Hydro Pumps] and slicing it apart before it could hit him. "Then what are you saying we do instead!?"

  "We need to stop wasting energy on the Dungeon Boss!" he called back, sparks burning through the haze around him, his fur glowing with gathering charge. "We need to go for the heart if we want to win!"

  Yuki blinked through the steam. The basin’s center still pulsed faintly, that same rhythmic light beating deep beneath the surface. When Auri said the source... "The Core!" she called out in realisation.

  He nodded once, though Yuki probably couldn't see him in the chaos going on around them. "That’s the real goal!"

  Yuki steeled herself. "Can you hit it?"

  Auri hesitated.His reserve was almost two thirds filled, but he'd taken far more hits than Yuki, the Dungeon seeing him as the bigger threat due to his typig. His vision had already started to blur slightly and he knew he couldn't keep this up much longer. "Not without opening myself up to the Dungeon," he admitted.

  "I’ll give you your opening!" Yuki called back in reponse. Then she burst forward again, wings blazing with reckless heat, throwing herself into the Dungeon Sharpedo’s path. It roared, charging her with jaws wide, and she met it head-on. Yuki instantly emptied over three quarters of her remaining energy reserves into the [Fire Spin] emptying her energy reserves to almost nothing and overcharging her move to an almost dangerous degree. The explosion of steam that followed was blinding, followed by a massive wave of heat scorching everything in the area.

  Auri planted his paws, charging everything he had left. His body trembled with the buildup. Sparks crawled up his tail, along his back, across his ears until the world shrank to one pulse, the Dungeon Core’s light, glimmering beneath the pool. Then he fired, while the Dungeon Boss was still too occupied recovering from Yuki's devasting attack to notice the danger the Dungeon Core was in.

  A single [Electro Ball], silent and white-hot, tore through the haze, through the surface, into the depths. And it managed to actually hit the defenseless core.

  The Core’s glow erupted and then it shattered. A flash swallowed the world, followed by an ear-piercing screech.

  The floor cracked. The ceiling screamed. Water turned to mist. Auri felt the surge hit him like a wall, then nothing but water, black and endless, closing over him.

  He tried to breathe, but swallowed nothing but water. His fur sparked weakly, light fading fast.

  Then a talon gripped around his forepwas. Yuki. The flames around her wings guttering against the flood as she dragged him upward. Every movement was agony, the water hissed at her, steam rose from her feathers, but she didn’t let go.

  They broke the surface just as the cavern began to fold inward, walls crumbling, air boiling with vapor. She coughed, wings trembling, and pushed Auri toward the collapsing exit.

  He stumbled, half-blind, half-conscious, but the sound of her voice cut through everything. "Move! We have to leave now!"

  They ran. Or something close to it. The tunnel behind them flooded with white fog and the distant bellow of a dying beast.

  By the time they reached the outer passage, the roar had stopped. The air cooled. Only the echo of water dripping behind them remained. Yuki collapsed beside him, chest heaving. Steam still curled off her feathers.

  Auri turned to her, voice weak but certain. "You... pulled me out."

  She gave a ragged laugh. "As if I'd let you drown after all that! We just detroyed a Dungeon for Arceus sake!"

  He managed a faint smile, then looked back down the tunnel. The black water was gone, just still, colorless water seeping through cracks in the stone below them instead.

  "The Core’s gone," he murmured.

  "Yeah, and with it the entire Dungeon will cease to exist." Yuki leaned her head back, staring at the faint light filtering from above. "And I never want to see another drop of water again."

  They sat in silence for a long moment, the world still trembling faintly around them. Then Yuki suddenly jumped up. "Wait, Auri, is the Blackwater Stream still in Nayru's territory!?"

  "Yeah, it should be. Why?" he asked tiredly and Yuki groaned in dispair.

  "We just destroyed a Dungeon of over-avarage strength in the territory of a Mythical that already berely tolerates our presence here, We're gonna be in so much trouble when we get back! And that's if Nayru doesn't decida visit earlier! And a destroyed Dungeon she will definitely notice, even in the current situation!"

  Auri instantly rose, unsteady but resolute. "We should probably get out of her territory then" Like, right now!"

  Yuki nodded already quickly starting to quickly walk away from the former Dungeon. "Yeah c'mon, I really don't want to remain here longer than necessary!"

  Important characters in the chapter:

  Pikachu (Auri) – Level 16

  Ability: Lightning Rod

  Battle Nature: Lonely

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 75

  Attack: 49

  Ranged Attack: 44

  Defense: 52

  Speed: 58

  Total: 278 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Nuzzle], [Tail Whip], [Quick Attack], [Brick Break], [Thunder Wave], [Feint]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Thunder Shock], [Electro Ball], [Swift], [Thunderbolt], [Discharge]

  Utility Moves: [Nasty Plot], [Charm], [Double Team], [Growl], [Agility], [Dig]

  Torchic (Yuki) – Level 17 (Evolution Requirements Not Met, Stat Boost Applied)

  Ability: Speed Boost

  Battle Nature: Hasty

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 84

  Attack: 49

  Ranged Attack: 49

  Defense: 57

  Speed: 42

  Total: 281 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Scratch], [Quick Attack], [Feint], [Fire Spin], [Flame Charge], [Aerial Ace], [Counter], [Slash]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Ember], [Sand Attack], [Overheat]

  Utility Moves: [Growl], [Detect], [Dig]