Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 50: Depths

Caves of Being

B6F

Pain still wracked Arden's body as he approached the stairs, his fellow explorers none the wiser of his mood. The Pecha had stopped anything worse from happening, but it was no Oran. Yet as his chest burned from the past poisoning, the Quilava continued on, getting only a sad look from a knowing May.

He'd been through worse, he figured he'd walk it off as per usual.

His main concern as of now was not how bad he was hurting, but rather whatever awaited further down. This dungeon had already firmly established itself as abnormal, and even the seasoned Quilava explorer couldn't help but fear that something awful was awaiting them in this dungeon's deepest reaches.

But even with his encounter with the Weezing in mind, Arden's rational side tried its best to retain control of the situation. This wasn't novel for a dungeon; he had seen many nightmares with underwhelming bosses; Bewilder Forest with its vivid personal illusions and measly pack of Zoroarks came to mind. Perhaps these caves were no different; perhaps they were building up to a tame conclusion. While yes, this would not provide any answers the Quilava suspected Arcanine was here for, it wouldn't be pointless. What they'd recorded so far would have already made this outing a success, if only in giving the Societies some good data to begin their deeper research in understanding this place.

No matter the case, Arden stayed reassured of one thing: if Beck were to run into anything, he would be able to see and find what was happening for himself. The situation with the human-turned-Oshawott had been hectic for Arden, but he felt that once his fears and uncertainty of the situation were quelled, he would come out of this stronger and resolute.

'...ugh, enough about yourself, asshole. You've got work to do. Eyes on the road, 'mon, come on.'

Shaking his head and glancing back at Team Reach, Arden adjusted his book of horrors under his arm, its pages ready for ever more notetaking, and stepped down the stairs.

Though he for sure didn't show it, for once he hoped that the dungeon ahead would be predictable.

-o-

Caves of Being

B7F

I missed the sun already.

Now, if I remember correctly, summers in Unova could get pretty brutal, if the literal desert in the middle of the country didn't get it across. That applied to Gray Proper as well; my guess was that it was some time in June by this point, and it showed. If I had to guess, it was about thirty degrees out on the way here; that'd be ninety for those weird Unovans still using Fahrenheit, I'm sure there were dozens of them. Being stuck in my apparently thermophobic Water-type meat suit, I couldn't help but dread what was coming for the rest of the summer.

Despite this, I already felt like I could take my chances with the heat. The caves were getting to me, even with the full moon outside beginning to pleasantly tug at my core, though I kept trudging along. We'd all made it this far, and we were gonna see it through as a team. Or something like that.

Our party crowded down the stairs as I waddled after them, immediately looking around to check for whatever this floor's anomaly would be. It looked normal; too normal.

"Treecko, check the walls," Krookodile directed. With a hurried nod, Rye rubbed his Sun Stone and hurried over to one of the cave walls, Treecko-climbing up and hanging there for a moment.

"I-it's normal," he said. Arden chuckled a bit.

"Looks like we're catching a break here, huh? With me, Krook," he said. Krookodile grumbled a bit, most likely about the nickname, and tromped alongside the Quilava as they led our party down the corridor.