The Dungeon Descent

When the trio entered the dungeon, they hadn't known what to expect. Pip claimed they'd been here before before, and that they knew the land well. And in their defense, they did.

The pokemon however, were no longer so familiar. Herds of tauros and lechonk grazed the lands, but a detail caught the eye of the other two. There were no tepigs.

In the entirety of the fogged rolling hills, covered with soft golden and green hues of wheat and tall grass, there were none. Pip stayed quiet about that. And although it didn't add up in Ignis mind, he didn't push the subject.

After all, they were here to explore. And explore they did- This time with Ignis wearing a fireproof cape as a precaution. He personally thought it made him look silly, but if it prevents yet another fire, he'd deal with it.

There was a bit of an oversight in that decision. Considering Ignis could barely see at all, taking away his primary defense mechanism wasn't a great plan in hindsight. The fog didn't help either. None of the trio were expecting an attack, especially with the way Pip had described this dungeon.

Ignis was crashed into from behind, getting knocked over by a wooloo. The cyndaquil had landed on a miltank, which ended with Ignis getting hit by them as well. He never knew what it felt like to be a volleyball until now. Not that the question ever crossed his mind.

Pip rushed over to help, throwing themself at the miltank and pushing them far enough to give Ignis time to recover. They look back at Vultchar, fully prepared to  berate her for not helping. Turns out though, she had a pretty good reason.

Vultchar was currently flying in circles to avoid a mareep that kept trying to electrocute her.

Well, there goes their backup. Ignis and Pip were on their own, with the wooloo and miltank both going on the offensive. Now that he was facing the general direction of the enemy, Ignis was less useless. He tackled the miltank, while Pip dealt with the more agile wooloo.

Between the two of them, Pip had significantly more experience in fighting. Ignis, being a former human, was still about as graceful as a newborn giraffe. Everything he learned about his cyndaquil body tended to be discovered by accident.

When the miltank struck him again, his fireproof cape, as well as the flesh underneath, had both been torn. A strange spark ignited within him, and without even realizing, his flame burnt through the remnants.

His body erupted in flames, and he charged back towards the miltank. The force of it hit them hard, knocking them out long enough for him to take a moment and realize. He just used a move. Like, an actual pokemon move.

He didn't have much time to process it however, when he noticed the wooloo being thrown near where the miltank landed. When he turned around, he saw Pip also throw the mareep that had been terrorizing Vultchar.

With the aggressive pokemon dealt with, the trio hurriedly make their way out. Only once they're outside the mystery dungeon does Ignis feel something strange. A bit of white light beginning to envelope him.