"Did I?" Abigail looked around. Because her attention was focused on listening for sounds, she completely failed to notice what was under her feet. The next instant, the ground vanished beneath her, and she fell into the opening leading to the next floor.
Serena jumped in fright. She hurried over, only to hear Abigail's cry of pain coming from below.
"Ouch... So gross, it's a Slime infestation!" (Infested floor)
Even though Abigail used to frequent the mines to explore, it didn't stop her from absolutely hating this kind of encounter.
Because it was overrun by Slimes, not only was the floor covered in disgusting slime, but there were also plenty of Giant Slimes roaming around.
The most disgusting part was that these Slimes couldn't be taken out in one go. After being killed, they would quickly split into several smaller Slimes, and every single one was quite agile. The slightest misstep would result in being focus-fired by these little Slimes.
"Amber, quick, come here!"
A somewhat desperate cry from Abigail echoed from below.
Gengar and Sandshrew jumped down without hesitation.
While checking on Abigail's safety, Serena pondered their next move.
"What do we do, should we go down too?" Serena muttered, turning her head to look at Delphox, who was exchanging fireballs with a floating Squid Kid, and at Meowth and Indeedee, who were desperately trading blows with a monster wearing a metal helmet that seemed to be called a Metal Head.
The scene was so chaotic that even her brain felt like it was starting to catch fire.
"What even is all this... I told you guys not to come," Serena mumbled as she patted herself down, saying in despair, "My other Poké Balls are in my backpack back at the cabin..."
"Squishy, Squishy." Bonnie shook her bag, trying to rouse the curled-up Squishy inside. "I need you, Squishy."
"Zy—Zygar."
"It says there are no other cells here, meow," Meowth translated while taking a breather. "It can't gather cells, meow."
"——" Bonnie fell silent, then shouted to Dedenne, "Dedenne, quickly use Nuzzle!"
"Dede~"
Dedenne immediately ran out of Bonnie's crossbody bag and stood in front of the Slime approaching her.
It then turned its head, pointed at its own cheek, and confirmed, "Dedenne?" (Do I really have to nuzzle this thing?)
"It's asking if it really has to nuzzle this thing, meow," Meowth said, its claws scraping heavily against the Metal Head's helmet with an ear-piercing screech. "Meowth can't take it anymore... Meowth can't fight anymore, meow."
"Indeedee, indee, indeedee."
"Easy for you to say, meow." Meowth asked desperately as it clawed at the Metal Head that was relentlessly ramming into them: "Do you really not know any attacking moves, meow? Meowth's claws hurt so much, meow."
"Indeed." Indeedee used its psychic power to lift the Metal Head up and then slammed it hard onto the ground.
With a loud crash, the Metal Head subsequently picked itself up and stubbornly charged at them again.
"How long do we have to keep scratching at this thing, meow?" Two lines of clear tears streamed down Meowth's face. "Meowth is supposed to be napping in the sun right now."
Though they weren't entirely sure about their own attack power, it was obvious that at this moment, whether it was Meowth or Indeedee, their attack damage against this Metal Head was barely a 1.
"Indeedee, Indeedee, Indee."
"It's not that easy to get stronger, meow," Meowth sniffled. "Meowth doesn't know any other attacking moves either."
Just then, the crisp ding of the elevator doors opening seemed to echo from the cavern opening not far away.
The group looked toward that opening with expectant eyes, as if they had heard an angel descending.
Immediately after, a somewhat uncertain voice called out from above.
"Abigail, Serena, Bonnie, are you guys down here?"
Ron stood at the opening, listening to the strange and chaotic sounds below to confirm.
"Yes, yes! Hurry and save us!"
"Is that Ron? Boohoo, we're saved, meow."
"Indeedee, indee, indee."
"——" Ron took a deep breath. Lacking the courage to peek down and confirm the situation, he simply tossed Bellossom's Poké Ball down into the darkness.
A few crisp sounds rang out from below.
Only after the commotion died down did Ron make his way down the mine shaft.
Seeing him, the previously dazed Serena finally snapped out of it. She abruptly stood up and hugged Ron tightly.
"We're saved... waaah, we're really saved."
Serena felt like her brain had crashed for quite some time during that chaotic fray.
The surrounding chaos, the completely unfamiliar environment, mixed with the imminent danger to their lives, made Serena break down and lean heavily on Ron's shoulder.
Ron silently reached out and patted Serena's back, then activated his long-unused skill, looking toward Indeedee.
Indeedee looked around guiltily, trying its best to suppress its instinct so it wouldn't eavesdrop on everyone's inner thoughts.
"Indeedee, indeedee, indee."
"What are you even saying, meow?" Meowth looked in confusion at Indeedee, who had inexplicably started reciting a menu.
But it was useless.
Utilizing Indeedee's instinct, Ron pieced together everything that had just happened from the inner thoughts of everyone present, including Meowth's.
He stared at Indeedee in silence.
"You really need to go stay on Ginger Island for a couple of days," Ron said.
"Indeedee, indeed?!"
On what grounds?!
"It says—" Meowth silently patted Indeedee and said, "Meowth agrees with him, meow——"
"Indeedee?"
On what grounds exactly?!
"——" Ron continued, "You're going tomorrow. You don't need to attend the Flower Dance."
"Indeedee!!!!"
Although she didn't know what Ron was arguing about with Indeedee, Serena finally recovered from her breakdown. She wiped away her tears, thanked Ron, and hugged her Delphox tightly.
"Delphox~"
In the meantime, Bellossom had successfully cleared out the massive swarm of Slimes below and hopped back up.
Abigail followed right behind, climbing out of the mine shaft.
"That scared me to death." Abigail sniffled as she hugged Ron. "I thought I was going to die down there...Ron, how did you know we were here?"
"——A Geodude ran into you guys after it finished mining," Ron said, looking at the battered group, and added, "Let's go, head up first. You guys should go rest in the hot springs for a bit."
"What about you?" Abigail asked.
"Me?" Ron looked at the unyielding Indeedee and said, "I still have some things I need to have a good chat with Indeedee about."
"Oh, okay." Abigail nodded, then remembered the request Indeedee had made to them earlier. "Oh right, for tomorrow's Flower Dance, do you have a dance partner yet?"
"Not yet," Ron said through gritted teeth. "But suddenly I feel like dancing with Indeedee wouldn't be half bad."
"Indeedee?"
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