//------------------------------// // Episode 3: A Secret No Longer // Story: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Twilight of Two Worlds // by EquestrianTwist //------------------------------// *Capricious Canopies, S3* The bisharp charged at Mortimer while his two pawniard followers rushed Twilight and Luna. Mortimer jumped to the side as the bisharp swung its bladed forearm down where he once stood. The marowak noticed a writhing mass of dark energy was surrounding his enemy’s arm. He recognized the move as Night Slash, a dark type attack. He distanced himself from the bisharp while it was busy pulling its arm from the ground. "Despite having gone rampant, this pokemon is still aware of type advantages." Mortimer thought. He furrowed his brows and tightened his grip around the bone club in his hand. "Rampagers don’t normally think this strategically. So this is either a coincidence, or..." The bisharp pulled its arm free and turned to glare at Mortimer. It leveled its arm with where he now stood, dark energy flowing around its forearm a second time, "...these pokemon haven’t been rampant for long." The knife at the end of the pawniard’s arm became wrapped in the dark energy as it tried to pierce Twilight through the chest. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack, and soon found herself running for her life as the steel and dark type tried to chase her down. “Mister Mortimer! What type of move is this one using?! Is it a steel type move or dark type move?! If I get hit with it will it hurt more then if I got hit by a normal attack?!” The bisharp brought its forearm down again, only for Mortimer to block its swing with his club. The two soon found themselves stuck in a power struggle. “I’m a little busy here, kid!” The end of Mortimer’s bone club suddenly ignited, surprising the bisharp. Mortimer then blew onto the flame sending a wide stream of fire straight into the bisharp’s face. As his enemy recoiled in pain, the marowak turned to look at Twilight.  “But if you really need some advice, take this to heart…” he ran up to his opponent and swung his bone club upwards, striking the bisharp in the chin as it clutched its face through the flames. The rampager was stunned and was sent flying through the air before landing on its back. “...If they're trying to hit you, DON’T LET THEM!” Luna wasn’t having much better luck against her opponent. The pawniard’s blades were glowing a bright white as it tried to use Metal Claw to stab her in any body part it could reach. The lunar princess found herself unable to do much more than dodge with how fast and seamless the pokemon’s attacks worked into each other. Mortimer lifted his bone and threw it at the pawniard attacking Twilight. The bone struck the pawniard in the head sending it to the ground. Twilight soon ran to Mortimer’s side in order to escape her attacker. Luna briefly glanced over at the two, before directing her focus back towards her own opponent. “I could use some help as well, Mister Mortimer!” The pawniard that had been attacking Twilight slowly began to pick itself up, but was quickly knocked to the ground again when the bone club returned and whacked it in the back of the head. Mortimer caught his bone club without issue and sighed. He turned and tossed it at the other pawniard. Luna’s opponent fell almost as quickly as the first. Luna soon rejoined Mortimer and Twilight. With their enemies dazed, the marowak saw the opportunity to regroup and strategize without facing too much opposition. Once they backed a fair distance away from their enemies, Mortimer garnered the girls attention for a quick discussion. “By my guess, we have about half a minute before those pokemon start attacking again. We should use this time to come up with a strategy to get past them or we’ll be forced to continue fighting them at a disadvantage.” Twilight and Luna nodded in agreement. “What kind of a plan did you have in mind?” Twilight asked. “I might have an idea for an attack strategy, but first I need to know what you two are capable of.” He furrowed his brows at the two female pokemon. “From what we’ve seen so far, I think it’s safe to say that that bisharp and those pawniards all know both dark and steel type attacks. That gives them the edge offensively. Thankfully, I know Flamethrower and Bonemerang, which are both doubly effective against all three of them. On my own, I should be able to return attacks that are as damaging as the ones they deal out.” He glanced between Luna and Twilight to make certain they were following. He then briefly moved his eyes towards their downed enemies. The bisharp and pawniards were slowly starting to rise to their feet. Mortimer shot his gaze back towards the princesses. “Quickly, do you two know any defensive moves that could lower their damage or any offensive moves that might be effective against them?” Twilight and Luna looked at each other in confusion. “Defensive moves..?” Twilight asked him quizzically.  The marowak was growing impatient. “We’re running out of time. If you honestly want me to come up with a strategy, you need to tell me what moves you know now!” Twilight scooted back upon hearing the sudden urgency in his voice. She looked down at her paws and reflexively began revealing and retracting her claws anxiously. She looked back up at Mortimer and gave him the best answer she could think of. “Scratch?” Without thinking, Luna ran her tongue over her teeth and suddenly took notice of their large size and sharpness. Another answer quickly popped into her head. “Bite.” She added. Mortimer looked at both of them aghast. “What? You’ve got to be kidding me?!” “PAAAAWNIARD!” One of the pawniards came rushing at the three and leapt at them with his head extended forwards. A white aura was surrounding the pokemon as it flew. Mortimer recognized it as the move Iron Head. Without a second thought, Mortimer leap onto Twilight and Luna, knocking them both to the ground just as the pawniard came soaring over their bodies. The pawniard crashed and bounced off the ground behind them, leaving a small, but noticeable, crater where it landed. It fell back onto its feet and slid across the ground before turning back around to face them. The second pawniard and the bisharp were slowly advancing on their other side. Mortimer growled as he and the princesses got back to their feet. They were surrounded. Mortimer rushed over to face the bisharp and pawniard while Luna focused on the pawniard encroaching upon their opposite side. Twilight, meanwhile, was left in the center, unable to decide which pokemon required her help more. The bisharp brought its hands together, creating a sphere of black rings in between its palms. It then pushed its arms outwards, firing its move, Dark Pulse, as the ball of black rings unraveled into a beam that streaked towards the trio. Mortimer noticed the move was heading straight for Twilight. He could see that she was currently lost in her own thoughts, so she likely wouldn’t see the move until it was too late. He saw the Dark Pulse was drawing closer. A groan of annoyance passed his lips, “aie-yahh,” and he jumped in front of the confused espeon before she could get hit. Twilight eyes widened as she watched Mortimer get blasted and launched backwards over her head and onto the ground several feet away. The pawniard facing Luna lunged at her with another Iron Head, but missed her just barely after she leaned out of the way. Snapping back to her full height, Luna quickly turned on her feet and grabbed the pawniard by its legs and began to twirl it like she did the Raticate she fought before. She let him go much quicker than her previous opponent however, and sent him flying at the bisharp and second pawniard, leaving the three stuck in a pile of tangled limbs after they collided. She soon noticed Twilight and Mortimer were missing and quickly shot her gaze around the clearing to find them. She caught sight of Twilight leaning over a downed Mortimer several feet away and ran to their position without hesitation. “I am so sorry! Please tell me you're okay?!” Twilight pleaded as Mortimer got back to his feet with the help of his bone. “I’m fine. Focus on the fight.” They turned their eyes back towards their opponents, only to notice the bisharp and pawniards were charging at them. All three of the pokemons’ blades were surrounded by dark energy, and as they jumped in tandem, they raised them to strike. The rampagers aimed their blades at the trio. All three of them were ready to hack the princesses and forager apart with Night Slash the moment they landed. Mortimer raised his club above his head, ready to block their strikes again like he did with the bisharp before. Luna likewise got in a battle stance and was ready to retaliate the moment their enemies landed. Twilight, however, could only close her eyes and lowered her head to ground in fright. She desperately wished she could use her magic in this world to protect herself and the others. She waited for the inevitable, expecting to feel the unknown sensation of dark energy as it sliced her body into pieces. But it never came. Twilight opened her eyes in confusion and was surprised to find that the bisharp and pawniards were being held in midair by a pink aura. One she immediately recognized as her aura. Luna and Mortimer looked equally surprised. Twilight blinked in confusion. “Umm… Luna, I think I might still have access to my magic?” Mortimer looked at her dumbstruck. “It’s one of your moves! Psychic! Now use it to get rid of them!” Twilight, once again, was startled by the sudden urgency present in Mortimer’s voice. Thankfully however, she was more than familiar with using telekinesis in her old body, so tossing the rampant pokemon aside was child’s play. The bisharp and pawniards were sent flying out of the clearing and into the forest surrounding them. Mortimer turned his head towards the now unobstructed exit in front of them. “Run!” He commanded. Twilight and Luna didn’t argue and all three were soon bolting towards the exit with the rage-filled cries of the rampant pokemon growing ever closer behind them. Mortimer entered the exit first, followed shortly after by Luna. Twilight briefly hesitated to enter when a sudden sound caught her attention. She turned around and saw that the bisharp had chopped its way through the tall grass that hid it from the clearing. Its eyes were now a bright crimson red, and if Twilight didn’t know better, she could have sworn she saw steam rising off the rampager’s body. “BIIIIIIISHAAARRP!” The loudest cry Twilight had ever heard in this world rung in her ears, and she found herself suddenly frozen in place by fear. The bisharp noticed her and barreled towards her with its arms outstretched. Its aggressive movement and body language made it seem like killing her was its only reason for living. Twilight felt a sudden tenseness in her muscles, almost as if her body was directly telling her to run. She heeded it, and ran as fast she could through the exit before the bisharp could even reach halfway across the clearing. Trail to Payapa Village Twilight came barreling out of the dungeon’s entrance like a full-powered Tirek was on her tail. Her eyes were closed out of fear, so she ended up crashing into the first pokemon that got in her way. She immediately wrapped her front legs around the pokemon’s neck like she had just found a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. She whimpered into the pokemon’s shoulder, much to their surprise. “Whoa! Hey! Calm down there, kid. It’s okay. You're okay.” A hesitant hand began to pat her on the back in an attempt to calm her down. Twilight opened her eyes in confusion. The pokemon speaking to her didn’t sound at all like Princess Luna, and the hand on her back didn’t match what she expected Luna’s new claws to feel like. She pushed herself back so could stand a full leg’s length away from the creature. Her eyes soon widened when she realized she had been hugging Mortimer instead of the princess. She distanced herself further from the marowak and fell back onto her feet. She turned away from him and sat on her haunches, a heavy blush of embarrassment slowly forming on her face. She turned her head to the side so she could speak to him. “I’m sorry. I thought you were…” Twilight’s mind immediately rushed back to the reason for why she was running. A fearful expression spread across her face and she turned to tell Mortimer what she had seen in the dungeon.  “We need to get out of here now!” She exclaimed. “The biggest of those knife beetle things was heading straight for me just before I entered the tunnel and he had this horrible angry look on his face like nothing I’ve ever seen.” She looked back and noticed the dungeon entrance wasn’t being covered up by rapidly growing vegetation like the tunnels in the previous sections of the dungeon did. “He could come out of that tunnel any second now! We need to get moving!” Twilight was beginning to hyperventilate, forcing Luna to rush over and attempt to calm her down a second time. The lunar princess began to rub Twilight’s shoulders in an attempt to relax her. Mortimer, meanwhile, gestured his hands towards the ground to tell her it was okay and that she needed to breathe.  “Like I said, kid, it’s okay. Everything is fine. That bisharp couldn’t follow us even if it wanted to. That isn’t how mystery dungeons work.” Twilight’s breathing began to settle as she looked up at him. “Mystery dungeons? What do you mean? What’s a mystery dungeon?” Mortimer closed his eyes and sighed. He was thankful that Twilight was able to calm down so quickly, but was also annoyed by her extreme lack of common knowledge. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about these two. They were too dense for pokemon their age.  Mortimer decided to push these thoughts aside for the moment as he began to explain. “That dense jungle we were just in, that was a mystery dungeon.” He motioned towards the dungeon entrance to give more emphasis to his explanation. “They’re unchartable mazes that are scattered throughout the world. They’re almost guaranteed to get you lost because they’re layout is never the same as the last time you entered them.” Twilight and Luna stared at him like they were hearing one of Starswirl’s stories around the campfire again. Twilight’s eyes were wide and awestruck. “How is that possible?” Mortimer only shook his head. “Not sure. No pokemon has ever been able to solve that question, even despite a thousand years of research.”  Twilight and Luna felt their jaws drop. As a pony who had lived more than a thousand years and a pony who had read more than a thousand years of research in her lifetime, the very thought of an entire species being unable to solve one question in that amount of time flummoxed both princesses to no end. Mortimer must have noticed this, because he immediately began raffling off theories to help explain away their confusion. “Some say the mystery dungeons are creations of Palkia, the titan of space, and that they are his leftover experiments from when he walked this plane of existence.” Twilight and Luna were hanging on every word. “And others even suggest that the mystery dungeons are living creatures in and of themselves. They constantly change their appearance so pokemon will get lost in them and eventually starve when they run out of supplies. The dungeons will then eat what’s left of them, depending on if the rampant pokemon don’t get to them first.” A shiver ran down Twilight's spine. She felt like she was being told a ghost story, and judging by Mortimer’s tone of voice, she couldn’t tell if he was being fictitious or not.  Luna, likewise, felt a tad unnerved, but due to years of experience being a monarch to her kingdom, she found herself better able to hide these feelings then her companion. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of Twilight, especially now since they were trapped in a world neither of them recognized and with absolutely no idea of how to get home.  Luna eyed Mortimer up and down. Their guide was also a subject of concern.  He hadn’t yet shown any signs of being a threat to them, and had even taken a leading role in fighting on their behalf, to the point of even taking a hit for Twilight. She didn’t distrust him at this juncture, and in fact was starting to enjoy his company. He was a really good storyteller. Luna smiled, but a thought soon crossed her mind that made that smile fade away. She stared at Mortimer curiously. “Though I appreciate your explanation, that still doesn’t answer the question of why that bisharp can’t follow us out here?” Mortimer looked at Luna and scratched the back of his head as if he had lost his place in the story. “I forgot that part didn’t I?” The girls thought they almost heard a slight chuckle. “No more than three pokemon can enter an exit tunnel without the destination on the other end changing. Once a fourth pokemon enters a tunnel anytime after the third, they will immediately be sent to a new location in the dungeon that’s different then one the previous three went to.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “How’s that?” Mortimer shook his head. “It’s another one of those unexplained phenomena. It’s best not to think too much about it. All you really need to know is this: as long as you keep finding exits, you’ll eventually find your way out of a dungeon. Just make sure you’re carrying enough supplies with you or you're liable to end up going hungry, or worse… as another pokemon’s meal.” That shutter from before returned and this time both Twilight and Luna felt it. Mortimer looked to the sky and noticed some of the stars were still twinkling up above, even despite the looming light of sunrise slowly fading them out. The forest outside the dungeon was far less dense than the areas that preceded it. Though still clearly a forest, the trees and vegetation were spaced much farther apart and allowed the travelers a much better view of the sky above thanks to the holes present in the canopy. The three were also standing on a clearly civilian built trail, created by smashing a ton of gravel into the soil in order to form an almost road-like surface that led into the distance and swerved to the right. Mortimer grumbled to himself; “Tsa!(1) It can’t be that late in the morning already.” Judging by the position of the sun, he assumed that the time was roughly around four in the morning. He looked down the trail and was thankful to see that no other pokemon were heading their way. He looked back at his two fellow travelers. Even if they were currently safe, he didn’t want to take any chances.  Mortimer called out to Twilight and Luna, who seemed to have broken off into their own conversation. He assumed they were likely discussing theories about how they ended up in the dungeon in the first place. “We need to get going.” Mortimer exclaimed. It almost sounded like he was giving them an order.  Twilight and Luna turned and stared at him in confusion. “But you said we weren’t in danger. You said that that bisharp wouldn’t be able to get to us.” Twilight stated. Mortimer shook his head. “We aren’t.” He confirmed. “But even still, I’d rather not get caught for trespassing if we can avoid it.” “Trespassing?!” Twilight and Luna shouted in surprise. Mortimer immediately rushed over and clonked them both on the head with his bone. “Quite!” He said, barely over a whisper. “Do you want the next guards stationed here to hear you?!” Twilight and Luna rubbed their now aching noggins. “Sorry, you’ll have to forgive us. We have this problem where we tend to act shocked when someone tells us that we’re breaking the law without first having the prior knowledge.” Mortimer bonked Luna a second time on the noggin. “OW! What was that for?!” “Sorry, you’ll have to forgive me. I too have a problem, but it only occurs when someone gives me sass. It makes me feel like I have to reciprocate, by kicking their-” Twilight immediately got between the two.  “Okay! So clearly everyone’s feeling a little bit upset right now.” Twilight lifted her front paws and gently placed one on both Luna and Mortimer’s chests. “But maybe if we just step back from each other…” Twilight began to push against them, but found herself unable to move them from where they currently stood. She furrowed her brows and began to put all of her strength into the action. “And take a deep breath!” Her face grew flushed and sweaty and her voice became strained due to the exertion. “We can solve this problem with our words, rather than resorting to-” both Mortimer and Luna suddenly took a step backwards, causing Twilight to lose her balance and fall forwards. “FIGHTING?!” Twilight closed her eyes and readied herself for when she would hit the gravel, but oddly found herself stopping half way before even reaching the ground. She opened eyes and noticed she was leaning so far forwards that she was almost parallel with the trail. Luna and Mortimer’s extended hands were the only things keeping her aloft. Only the tips of her toes were left to touch the ground, almost as if she were being dipped during a dance. Luna and Mortimer lifted Twilight and gently placed her back down on her haunches, and once they were certain she wouldn’t fall over again, they turned to each other and nodded. “Nice catch.” Luna compliment. “Same to you.” Mortimer replied. They both turned back to Twilight. “You make an excellent point, kid. Fighting will get us nowhere right now.” Luna nodded in agreement with Mortimer’s statement. Twilight smiled. She was glad they had actually been listening to her rather than thinking of ways to combat each other. The thought of them both being able to multitask and perform both actions simultaneously briefly crossed Twilight’s mind, but she decided to ignore this thought for now out of both priority for their current situation and fear of what a battle between the two might result in. “So what’s our plan then?” Twilight asked. Both she and Luna turned to Mortimer, seeing as he was one most familiar with their current location. Mortimer turned away from the dungeon entrance and stared at the curve the trail made in the distance. The corner of his mouth turned upwards contemplatively. “We can’t head down the trail normally. The rangers who guard this dungeon might already be heading this way. We’ll need to take a more secure route.” To Twilight and Luna’s confusion, Mortimer walked over towards a long line of bushes traveling down the left side of the trail. He pushed the branches of one of the bushes aside revealing a worn dirt path underneath.  Mortimer looked back at them. “I used this makeshift path before to avoid the rangers. To my knowledge, they haven’t discovered it yet, so it should serve our purposes nicely.” Twilight trotted over and examined the path. She grimaced when she noticed how close the bush branches were to the ground. She looked back up at Mortimer. “It seems a little narrow, doesn’t it? Are you sure there’s nowhere else we could go to avoid the guards?” Mortimer cocked a brow at her. “Why’s that matter? You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” He leaned over Twilight and looked her straight in the eyes. “Or is the little princess just afraid of getting her glossy coat dirty?” This was the first time Twilight had ever heard the title “princess” being used as an insult. It felt odd and extremely demeaning, but at the same time, it filled her with the urge to prove Mortimer wrong and show him that “princess” was a title meant to be respected rather than jeered at.  Without another word, Twilight furrowed her brows and began crawling under the branches Mortimer was holding aside. Luna walked up behind her as Twilight shimmied down the hidden trail, like a private crawling under a field of wires in boot camp. Mortimer stopped her before she could enter. “I’ll go next.” He explained. “You two aren’t familiar with this area, so it’s better if you both stay close to me, just in case I need to inform either of you of something.”  Luna nodded in agreement, allowing Mortimer to follow after Twilight once she took a firm hold of the branches. As soon as he had moved further down the hidden path, Luna then crawled in after them, allowing the branches to once again conceal the secret trail and any evidence that they had been in front of the dungeon in the first place. Capricious Canopies, Section Unknown Back in the mystery dungeon, the beheeyems’ screams of agony could be heard echoing through the trees of the entire forest. The three of them were currently being pressed into the ground as their leader fired a massive dark beam at them from his chest.  Their leader—a powerful pokemon they had not yet even learned the name of—was breathing heavily. He had been punishing them with Night Shade for several minutes now, and his continuous use of the attack was starting to sap his energy. The beam of energy soon faded, allowing the pokemon to double over and catch his breath as the beheeyem twitched and writhed in the craters they had made in the dirt.  Behind their attacker, an orbeetle was floating. His arms were folded as he watched his leader’s latest display of aggression. “Forgive me for questioning your methods, sir, bzzzrt, but do you really think wasting all your energy punishing these hollow-skulled simpletons is a wise use of our time?”  The leader turned and glared at the orbeetle. The psychic and bug type unfolded his arms and placed them behind his back in response. A smirk spread across his face and a sarcastic tone accompanied his voice as he continued to speak. “Don’t get me wrong, I would have no qualms with seeing you slain by whatever beastly pokemon happens to wander by here in this dungeon, but I know for a fact the master happens to favor you, bzzzrt. I’d hate to have to explain to them how you died so pitifully simply because you were exhausted.”  The leader floated towards the orbeetle and leaned over him like a predator about to strike at wounded prey. Rays of light glistened off his metallic skin as the sun rose slightly higher in the east. Despite his bravado seconds earlier, the orbeetle couldn’t help but tremble slightly in his presence. “Your concern is well noted, Oswell.” The leader’s voice was threatening, clearly expressing his knowledge of the orbeetle’s true intentions. “But you can rest assured, the master won’t have to worry about me dying in any way that’s… pitiful.” He spoke venomously and put as much emphasis as he could on the final word to show Oswell the purest form of his displeasure. He slapped his hand on the top of Oswell’s head and used his fingers to grip him and hold him in place. “Sniveling bugs like you however…” The leader lifted his other hand and brought it below Oswell’s chin. He then started to form a multicolored orb of energy in the center of his palm. “...I imagine, can perish no other way.” The sound of thick timber snapping, as if an entire tree were being uprooted and pushed over, soon pulled the two pokemons’ attention away from the leader’s threat. They turned around to see that their assumptions were indeed correct, for a massive tree had been toppled over behind them with even more massive aggron stomping over it to reach them. The leader released Oswell and turned to face the new pokemon. The aggron was roaring at him, clearly showing its rampant state of mind. The leader quickly surmised that it must have been drawn out by the beheeyems’ screaming. Whether this meant it saw them as a potential meal or as intruders in its territory, the leader was not certain, but ultimately it really did not matter that much to him. The aggron would not need to worry about food or territory very soon. The beheeyem slowly pulled themselves out of their holes, only to notice the aggressive pokemon standing not but a few feet away from them when they regained full faculties. They each screamed an additional time before rushing over to hide behind their leader alongside Oswell. The leader could only shake his head in disappointment after seeing their reaction to the rampant aggron. He raised his head to address his opponent, only to be surprised when he noticed the armored giant had completely vanished. He looked about the clearing they stood in for any sign of the aggron. It completely baffled him that a creature so large and heavy could vanish so quickly. His search eventually drew his eyes towards his cowering followers. His brow raised in confusion when he noticed their eyes had dilated in terror and that they were looking towards the sky. Realization soon struck him, and he immediately turned his gaze upwards. The aggron was falling towards them like a meteor, a silver aura surrounding him like an earthbound object in the middle of reentry.  The leader furrowed his brows. He wasn’t impressed.  Oswell and the beheeyem immediately split from under the aggron’s shadow, leaving only their leader to face the brunt of the rampant pokemon’s Heavy Slam. Calmly, the leader raised the multicolored orb he had kept tucked in his palm and pointed it at the descending aggron.  “AAAAGGROOONNN!” The beast roared as if proclaiming a battle cry, completely oblivious to the attack the leader had in store. The orb soon fired and flew like a bullet straight into the aggron’s chest. The titanic pokemon never hit the ground after that. No remains were even left to prove it had come to attack them in the first place.  Oswell and the three beheeyem stared at the sky in a mixture of shock, awe, and complete undiluted terror. When they looked back towards their leader they were frightened back a step when they noticed he was floating towards them. Almost automatically, they each flew into line and stood at attention. Their leader stopped in front of their assembly and folded his arms behind his back. A vague look of approval was present on his face as he leaned forward in front of Oswell. “One would think this demonstration would teach you to keep your sarcastic comments to yourself, but I think we both know you do not possess that level of mental capacity.” The leader raised back to his full height and flew in front of the trio beheeyem. Only when he was certain the leader was out of earshot did Oswell growl in frustration. The leader observed the beheeyem. They each were trembling slightly, as if expecting they were going to be punished again. He thought this was an appropriate reaction. After all, he would have enjoyed getting to torture them for at least a few minutes longer. But, as much as he hated to admit it, Oswell was right. He had wasted enough time and they needed to get back to the task at hand. The leader brought his hand up and snapped his fingers. The sound was unorthodoxly loud, so much so that it could be heard even in the treetops above. A minior, one still covered in its protective stone coating, flew down from the canopy to float right next to the leader’s head. The leader glared at the beheeyem. “I assume by now you all are feeling tired, worn, and hungry?” The beheeyem were hesitant, but they nodded in response to his question. They didn’t want to know if lying would earn them anymore punishment. “I see...” the leader turned and headed for the exit tunnel that led out of this section of the dungeon. “I, the minior, and Oswell will be making our leave then. If you manage to find your way out of this dungeon, then make your way back to the stronghold. I will deem you worth keeping around if you manage to survive.” Oswell and the Minior followed after him as he neared the tunnel’s entrance. “Try not to disappoint me this time.”  The beheeyem stood at attention until their leader’s crimson backside vanished into the darkness that was the exit tunnel. They were all alone now. Trapped in a maze filled with rampant pokemon that possessed one of their weaknesses. They were lost, hungry, and severely weakened. Any other pokemon stuck in this situation would die before even reaching the next section’s exit. They on the other hand would make it out by noon at latest. After all, they were determined and dedicated to their master’s cause, and they weren’t about to let their newly appointed leader deprive them of the honor of serving their master. Trail to Payapa Village It had only been fifteen minutes since they started their trek down the secret path adjacent to the public trail and already Twilight’s stomach was hurting. The ground beneath her was course and sandy, and she felt like it was getting all over her as it matted up her fur.  It was clear to see that the princess of friendship was far from enjoying herself, and to make matters worse, she was beginning to think that taking this path was unnecessary in the long run. The guards Mortimer had warned them about had yet to pass by on the public trail, and Twilight was slowly growing more certain that they weren’t going to be coming at all. Her brows furrowed and a thought, which quickly turned into a self-made promise, entered her head. That thought was that she was going to seriously chew out Mortimer if they managed to reach the end of the trail without seeing any other pokemon. The sounds of two pairs of feet heading in their direction soon removed this thought from her head however.  Twilight suddenly froze. She had been so confident that they were going to finish this painful trek unmolested, that she completely ruled out any chance that the marowak behind her could have been right. The shock caused by the mere existence of the guards had left her in a near instant catatonic state, almost as if they had just spotted her and used a paralysis spell to keep her from running away. Mortimer stopped behind the espeon, forcing Luna to do the same or risk ramming her nose into the balls of his feet. Both the forager and princess took notice of the foot falls that were gradually growing in volume. Mortimer turned his head and looked back at Luna before silently tipping it to the side towards the branches on their right. Luna kept silent, but nodded her head to show she understood what the marowak was telling her. Mortimer slowly turned his gaze back towards Twilight and gently poked her in the right side of her rump to get her attention. “EEK!” The marowak was quick to shush her. Twilight looked over her shoulder to see Mortimer pointing towards the branches on her right side. Wordlessly, he then moved his club over to lift the branches, allowing them all to see out onto the public trail without obstruction. The two guards’ feet soon came into view. One pair was yellow with two white talons sticking out the front of each foot and one talon sticking out the back. The other pair looked more like stumps then feet, but possessed two similar white toes on the front of each foot. They passed the trio’s hiding place within a few seconds, but just to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted, Twilight, Mortimer, and Luna remained silent and motionless until they were certain the guards were out of eyeshot. Another full minute passed, and Mortimer soon took the chance and crawled out from under the branches he was holding aloft. He stood and glanced both up and down the trail. He couldn’t see anymore pokemon either coming or going in their direction, so he had to assume that the coast was clear. He leaned over and looked into the hole that led into the underbrush. He motioned to the girls with his hand to tell them it was okay for them to come out. He continued to hold the branches above them as Twilight and Luna crawled out into the open space.  Twilight and Luna quickly got back to their feet as Mortimer turned again to look down the path where the guards had been heading. Without thinking, he soon began to speak to himself out loud. “The Ranger Council must be rotating their guards around. I don’t remember ever seeing an electabuzz or exeggutor guarding this dungeon. It's got to be a foreign exeggutor too, because if it were native one, we would have seen it coming from a mile away.” Twilight hissed as she moved up and onto her haunches. She felt slightly relieved to finally get off her sore stomach, but the rugburns she received from the sandy soil were still making themselves known. Experimentally, Twilight lifted her paw and brought to her stomach to see how tender her underbelly had become. She almost immediately shrieked in agony upon making contact with her rubbed raw flesh. Mortimer and Luna noticed her sudden yelp and immediately surrounded her like she was a downed soldier stuck in the middle of a battlefield.  Luna placed her paws on Twilight’s shoulders as Mortimer kneeled down to inspect her injuries. Luna looked Twilight in the eyes with an almost motherly level of concern. “Are you okay, Princess Twilight?” She began to look her over as if searching for injuries other than the ones that were already known. “You didn’t cut yourself or get pierced with a stick or stone while we were down there, did you?” Twilight chuckled slightly, now feeling somewhat embarrassed due to all the attention she was receiving. “It’s okay, Princess Luna. I’m fine. I just got scuffed up a little bit while we were under the bushes. It’s really nothing you need to worry about.”  Mortimer stood back up and nodded his head. He turned to Luna to confirm Twilight’s diagnosis. “She’s right. At worst, the rough ground has removed only the first few layers of skin from her underside, and that isn’t enough to even cause bleeding.” He folded his arms and closed his eyes as he tilted his head slightly more towards the ground. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he decided to continue speaking. “She’ll be dealing with some irritation, but it shouldn’t be anything that would keep from performing normal activities.” He turned his head to the right toward where he knew the exit to the forest would be. “I have some homemade salve I use to treat minor wounds like this, but unfortunately, I left it at home today. We’ll need to stop there first as soon as we reach my village if we want the skin to heal back properly.” Luna grimaced and glanced down at her own stomach. She had been in the same position as Twilight and Mortimer, and though she was not being as vocal about it, she too was feeling the sting of the sandy soil on her underside. She didn’t want to complain for fear of looking weak in front of them, but she wouldn’t have minded getting access to that salve as well as soon as they reached Mortimer’s house. She immediately began thinking of plausible excuses for why she would take the salve without actually having the need to use it. Mortimer began leading the girls the rest of the way towards the exit. Silence soon fell over the forest trail once again. All three pokemon were unable to come up with any appropriate topics of conversation to spring on the others at this time. Several minutes passed, and the sunlight-bathed entrance into the world outside the forest soon came into view. They would need to cross the grove that separated the village from the forest next, Mortimer recalled. The trek would probably take them another ten minutes at least, which at that point would make the silence between them unbearable.  The marowak began to rack his brain for any topics of discussion he could likely have with the two females. He didn’t want to risk continuing their trip with them awkwardly staring at the back of his head the entire time. He visualized the memories he had with the girls so far to see if he could glean any possible interests they had based on the things they’ve said. He contemplated their words for another minute and soon began to notice a few things clicking together based on what they said. He glanced over his shoulder and addressed the girls. “Can I ask you two a question?” Twilight gave him a friendly smile and nodded. “Of course, what is it you want to know?” “What are you?” He asked unabashedly. “What are you really?” Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I… I’m sorry? I don’t think I understand what you’re asking us.” Mortimer turned around, an angry expression suddenly appearing on his face. “Don’t play dumb.” He stated as if giving a threat. “I’ve listened to you speak and I’ve seen how you act, and I refuse to believe either of you are this dim!” Both princesses were taken aback by Mortimer’s statement. Both their expressions quickly turned to one of offense. Luna placed her curled fists on her hips. “Who in the Tartarus do you think you are?! You can’t speak to us that way!” “There, that…” Mortimer exclaimed, pointing his bone at them as if accusing them in court. “You two have been using words and phrases that don’t make sense. Tartarus? What in the name of my sister? One top of that, you know absolutely nothing about battle or pokemon, not even the word pokemon. You two are evolved pokemon, this information is taunt to young mons when they are still in their first stages of life.” His brows furrowed even further downwards. “And you two are far too cognizant to be suffering from amnesia.” The end of Mortimer’s club soon ignited like it did before, scaring Twilight backwards and urging Luna forwards in order to protect her. “I heard of these kinds of jumps where shapeshifting pokemon like dittos or zorua pretend to be other pokemon and steal from unexpecting travelers after gaining their sympathy. I could accuse you two of doing this, but for some reason I feel there is more to this story. Tell me who you are and your intentions, and maybe I won’t leave you beaten on the side of the road for the guards to find.” Luna stepped forwards to challenge him, but Twilight was quick to pull her back. The elder princess turned to look at her friend and soon found her aggression fading when she saw Twilight’s pleading look. She clearly didn’t want any more fighting to occur between them and Mortimer, and now that the night princess had a clearer mind to think on the matter, she didn’t want that either. Violence was not going to calm Mortimer down and she didn’t favor her chances of winning a fight with him with her now possessing a body she barely understood how to use. This left her with only one other option.  Luna turned to address Mortimer with Twilight quickly stepping up to sit beside her. The lunar princess sighed. “Okay Mortimer, you’ve got us. We aren’t pokemon. We aren’t even close. But fair warning, what we truly are might surprise you. This may sound crazy, but we’ll tell you everything…”