Mission Log: Team Gambit

"This is it?" A Deino asked as he bumped his head against the carved-out stone, turning to his party members. "It's just a cave. How did so many Pokémon get lost in there?"

"There's only two. Besides, those caves get deep... 'S not too hard to get all turned around." The team's Pawniard murmured. "Our objectives are on floors five and twelve, a Petilil and a Bisharp respectively."

The Deino huffed as the Ralts came up between the two. "A Bisharp? That's your evolution, right?"

"Mhm. I'm surprised you remembered." Sterling smiled slightly, quickly steeling their expression again after. "But that's enough messin' around, let's get goin'. It'll take us a while t' reach floor twelve, we wanna save them as soon as possible."

The party entered the cave one by one, Sterling leading the pack while Cecilia trailed after, the Deino biting onto her sleeve to keep from getting lost. Ram's blindness in this stage of evolution didn't seem to impact his abilities in battle, but it made navigating places like this a lot more difficult. In a more open space, splitting up wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but in here? One wrong turn could get them stuck like the very Pokémon they were trying to rescue.

"...I hear there's a lot of psychic types here." 

"Ya heard right, the place is teemin' with 'em. Lots of ancient runes down there too, allegedly."

"Hm..." The Ralts looked over the smooth cave walls. No runes to be seen just yet. "Do you think I could learn something from them?"

"Maybe from watchin' how they fight. Dungeon crawlers aren't exactly in the state of mind t' be givin' lessons in the traditional sense."

"I guess not." Cecilia sighed. "I just want to figure out how to do what this body was made for... I want to be a good teammate for you."

"Mrrph... Mmf..." Ram was either trying to give words of encouragement with his mouth full or trying to eat her sleeve. It was hard to tell with him.

The Pawniard shook their head, trying to ignore the dragon. "Y' are a good teammate. Nothin' needs t' change for that."

She seemed unconvinced, but she appreciated the reassurance nonetheless. Sterling was always looking out for her... The least she could do was to make herself strong enough so they wouldn't have to worry so much.

Descending further, small drawings and markings started to speckle the cave walls. They didn't seem to have much meaning yet, just etchings of ancient Pokémon and little indicators of what life may have been like for them. It was fascinating, but nothing exceedingly special like the rumors had claimed.

"We're close t' the first target, keep an eye out for a Petilil fusion."

As the path they were taking narrowed and branched out, they heard a small cry further down. Of course, nobody would expect such a notorious cave to be easily navigated, and they knew it would get messier the deeper they went.

"Hold on, we're coming!" Cecilia called out. "Keep talking so we can find you!"

Ram let go of her sleeve, trotting ahead of his team to listen out for any sign of the lost Pokémon. The twisting and tangling formations of rock may have been inconvenient, especially when relying on sight, but the way the sound traveled and echoed made an effective guide for a keen ear.

"Help me! Please!"

He rushed forward, recklessly following the sound of the Petilil's voice through tunnels and around jutting stalagmites, smashing through the small and thin ones that stood in the way. His teammates ran after him, dodging the bits of flying debris left in his wake.

The narrow tunnel opened up into a small cavern, revealing the small being cowering under a horde of Unowns. Ram charged forward, sinking his teeth into one of the alphabetical monsters and flinging it off to the side before moving on to terrorize the next. Sterling swiped at the other floating shapes, their hits powerful and practiced even if they weren't shredding through them as quickly.

Cecilia slipped past her partners, helping the victim up to her feet and leading her away from the scene of the conflict. 

"Th-Thank you! Thank you so much..!" She profusely thanked the Ralts, who was letting out a pulsating aura that slowly healed the other's wounds. "I was so scared that nobody would show up... Every time I thought I was safe those Pokémon would chase me deeper into the cave..."

"Don't worry, we'll keep you safe! We have one more rescue a few floors down.. Do you think you'd be okay with tagging along?"

"I don't think I'll be able to contribute too much to the battling, but I should be able to help with healing once I have more energy... So yes!" The fusion nodded. "Hopefully exploring will be a bit more enjoyable with a team."

Ram and Sterling rejoined them once they had taken care of the Unown, the party pressing on further into the dungeon. The Pawniard retook the lead, the Deino trailing behind as Cecilia and the new member talked and tried to get to know each other a little better. She had only come into the dungeon because of peer pressure from friends—In fact, the idea of diving into a cave was terrifying to her, but she had wanted to prove herself.

Several floors passed, along with a few encounters that proved to be pretty light work for the expanded group. A bit of healing and a small snack between each fight prepared them for anything that crossed their paths.

"This should be floor twelve, right?" Cecilia asked. The writings on the wall had become dense, etched deeply and clearly trying to communicate something. If only she understood this world a bit better... She was sure that a place like this would be a scholar's dream.

"Sure is, the Bisharp should be around here somewhere..."

The team searched for what seemed to be forever, with no sign of a non-hostile Pokémon in need of rescuing. Every call was left unanswered, to the point where they were fearing for the worst. What if they were going in circles and hadn't gotten any closer to the target? Or worse... What if they were too late?

A sudden blaze of fire shot past them, revealing a Charcadet standing in a battle pose behind them. Oh dear. Their team wasn't well-built to take on a fire type. Sterling and the Petilil were both too weak to fire, while Cecilia and Ram didn't have the type coverage to take him down. This wasn't a good situation for them to be in, and if this was the Pokémon that took down that Bisharp, they didn't have the power to brute force their way through.

Sterling stepped forward, making an attempt to negotiate. "...Look, ya seem real tough, okay? We aren't here t' fight. We just wanna get that Bisharp outta here, dead or alive. I'm sure you've already picked 'em clean of any loot—Just let us take 'em back up, they aren't of any more use t' ya."

The Charcadet stared for a moment, eyes narrowing, before he stepped aside to let them pass. He followed close behind them as they went further, finding a collapsed Bisharp lying on the ground. Cecilia and the Petilil rushed over to heal them, managing just enough to keep them hanging on until they could get back to the surface and find proper help.

Sterling carefully hoisted the large Pokémon onto the Deino's back. It wasn't the best solution, but it was all they could do in this situation. A Bisharp was much larger than any of them. They wouldn't be able to transport them comfortably, even if the Charcadet was willing to lend a hand. Judging by the look on his face as they took their rescuees back up the many flights of stairs, that was definitely off the table.