"Why?! I don't understand! I don't understand at all!"
Auron raked a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Chu~"
Mini Dragon covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. Beside her, Crobat narrowed its eyes just slightly — looking very pleased with itself.
"Whatever. Let's keep moving. We should be getting close to Goldeen Lake."
Auron gave up on his hair, climbed back onto Crobat, and took to the air again, pointing toward where the lake should be.
Up on Jace's Charizard, Jace and Lucas were having their own conversation.
"This place is pretty big."
"Yeah. We've been flying for a while."
"Though it's hilarious that our teacher pulled literally nothing."
"Ha — that's just how he is. Strange luck. Could just as easily flip the other way next time. He might come up with something great."
"Why would it flip?"
"You don't get it yet. Back when we were kids, the two of us..."
...
"Finally."
From the air, Auron spotted the shimmer of a lake in the distance and let out a slow breath. He'd been navigating — if he'd gotten it wrong, that would have been embarrassing.
"Chu~"
Mini Dragon had been sitting on his shoulder, tidying his earlier mess of hair with her tail. But when she followed Auron's gaze toward the distance, even she was caught off guard.
The lake sparkled in the midday sun. Under the light of noon, the gem-blue water seemed almost alive — rippling, gleaming, impossibly clear.
"Chu!"
But her eyes dimmed almost as quickly as they'd lit up.
As Crobat drew closer, a figure came into view at the water's edge. A trainer, roughly their age, directing a Pokémon in a running battle against the Goldeen surging up out of the lake. Earthquake rippled through the ground, Thunderbolt lit up the air, and Thunder Punch met the charging Goldeen head-on — one Pokémon going toe-to-toe with an entire wave, holding its own with the composure of a full team.
"Looks like a student."
Closer now, Auron could see the trainer clearly. Young — around their age, from the look of it.
A moment later, the group landed near the lake. Not too close to the stranger, but not far off either.
The trainer glanced over at them. One wary look — then he released a Rhydon and a Swampert, had all three hit the remaining Goldeen and a pair of Seaking with a synchronized Earthquake, and cleared the shoreline completely. Then he recalled his Pokémon and walked away quickly.
"He thinks we're the bad guys," Jace said, grinning as the trainer disappeared.
"Works for us. We've got the whole place to ourselves."
Auron nodded. "Though let's be quick. We get a feel for it, then we move. No telling how long before someone else shows up."
"Got it."
"Got it!"
Everyone answered at once. Gengar — Simon Greaves' Gengar — added its own sound to the mix.
"Gya-JAY!"
The group released their Pokémon and spread out toward the water.
The moment they got close to the shore, a Goldeen shot out of the lake and lunged.
Elekid reacted on instinct — one Thunder Punch, and the Goldeen hit the ground.
Then it dissolved.
Elekid stared.
"Huh?"
And then something entered its body.
"Huh?"
Elekid scratched its head with a puzzled little frown, then tilted it.
...Huh. That was actually kind of nice.
With Elekid as the opener, the rest of the group's Pokémon joined in.
As they eased closer to the waterline, Goldeen kept launching themselves out of the lake — and occasionally a Seaking would surge up alongside them, bigger and angrier. But this was an easy-difficulty zone, and it showed. Even without Auron directing it, Elekid could one-on-one a Seaking without breaking a sweat.
After each kill, every Pokémon received the same thing: something that slipped into their bodies.
The others couldn't see it, but Auron's Aura perception caught it clearly. Small green points of energy, drifting in like firefly sparks. More came from the Seaking than from the Goldeen.
He twitched the corner of his mouth. So this was the experience system. The word "dungeon" really wasn't just a casual nickname.
After about ten minutes, the frequency of Goldeen breaking the surface had dropped significantly. The group pulled back.
"Looks like the lake's running thin. The spawn rate's really dropped."
"Yeah." Auron nodded. "Let's clean up what's left, then move on to Beautifly Camp."
"Sounds good!"
"GYA-JAY!"
At the sound of everyone agreeing, Simon Greaves' Gengar called out again.
Then — still calling — Gengar looked at the other Pokémon, and began very deliberately waving them back.
The Pokémon exchanged confused glances, then slowly moved to the side.
"GYA-JAY!"
*(Stand back — I'm about to show off!)*
Gengar threw everything it had into a single Thunderbolt. The blast raked across the entire shoreline, sweeping up the remaining Goldeen and a cluster of Seaking in one go, and leaving nothing behind.
"GYA-JAY!"
Gengar planted both fists on its hips and stood there looking extremely satisfied with itself, mouth stretched wide in the biggest grin it could manage.
"Nice."
Simon Greaves gave Gengar a thumbs-up. Gengar's grin somehow got even wider.
"Alright. Next stop."
"Let's go~"
The group's spirits were high as they mounted their flying Pokémon and swept toward Beautifly Camp.
They hadn't been airborne long when Auron spotted people on the ground below.
Five of them — but they'd only deployed seven Pokémon total, and all of them were currently getting thrashed by a pack of Oddish.
"Hey, friends! Little help up there?! We're not going to make it!"
One of the men on the ground — a stocky middle-aged guy — spotted them in the air and bellowed upward.
Serena and Lena both paused. They glanced at Auron.
"Should we go help them?"
Auron blinked. He looked down, taking in the situation.
"...The trap kind of gives itself away, doesn't it?" he said flatly. "Nobody who can't handle an Oddish could've made it into the Black Mystery Zone."
Serena's face went a little red. "Oh. Right. Let's go."
"Let's go."
Simple as that, the group flew on.
Below, the middle-aged man's expression shifted the moment he watched them pass. Something ugly crossed his face. He started to reach for another Poké Ball, preparing to knock them out of the sky.
He was too slow.
"Manaphy — Surf!"
Manaphy, floating calmly above the battlefield, released a wall of water. The wave crashed down on everything below — trainers, Pokémon, and every last Oddish in the clearing, all swept off their feet in one go.
"Hmph. A little parting gift."
Serena gave a cold sniff. Then, unhurried, she had Manaphy follow up with Icy Wind and Blizzard.
The ice moves hit the already-soaking group below, leaving them shivering, drenched, and entirely unable to retaliate.
Satisfied with the sight of them, Serena recalled Manaphy with a cheerful little smile and flew off to rejoin the others.
*(End of Chapter)*
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