Explorers of Origin: A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fanfiction, Volume 2

Chapter 2: Rage Awakened

"I would be lost, drifting along..."

"Floating up high, time after time..."

"And there you'd be, shining brightly..."

"Your smiling face, to guide my way..." - Hollow, Morita Yosh (Survive Said The Prophet)

With Oshawott angrily standing beside the Amartoloí, Mawile's team has no other choice but to fight them off. Standing firm in the middle of the immediate terrain, she proposes a simple, yet effective strategy.

"Alright, guys! Each one of us gets one target. We have two native strengths against that Oshawott, so he's not that big of a deal. More importantly, keep those other bastards at bay!"

"You got it!"

"Right!"

"On your mark!"

"Roger."

"10-4!"

"Damn straight!"

"Cool. Let's go to work!"

Both squads charge forward, and the battle begins.

Meloetta launches the first assault, firing a Psybeam to the rightmost Amartoloí and erasing it. Milotic follows this up by unleashing a Scald that pierces two Amartoloí rushing in front of her. Chesnaught throws a Power-Up Punch towards his target, enhancing his physical prowess. Another Amartoloí dangerously approaches him from behind, but Espeon prevents the backstabbing through a highly-reactive Quick Attack to cover his rear. Gardevoir hurls several Moonblasts towards several airborne Amartoloí, eradicating her foes one by one. Oshawott attempts to slice her torso from the left side with a Razor Shell, but she immediately sidesteps her away out of trouble. He rushes towards Gardevoir once more, this time with a Night Slash in hand. Blocking the blunt of the blow using her arms, she holds Oshawott in place as Pikachu sweeps from below and lands an Iron Tail on the otter's feet, temporarily immobilizing his movement. The lingering Amartoloí detect this sign of weakness, locking their sights towards Oshawott. Knowing that she could lose the chance of gaining valuable information, Mawile launches several Iron Heads to drive the figures away.

"What the hell are you doing, Mawile!? We're supposed to kill him!"

"What's the point of doing that if we can't get him to spill some beans? They're the bigger threat, remember?"

"For fuck's sake, get your focus right! You're not making any damn sense!"

Ignoring Pikachu's livid protests, Mawile continues to force the Amartoloí away from Oshawott's range. Once the coast becomes clear enough for her liking, she clenches the otter's throat with a firm, relentless grip.

"You've got some explaining to do, kid. After they're gone, you WILL tell us everything. Got it?"

"Fine! Whatever! You're not worth my time anyway!"

Pushing Oshawott away from her immediate space, Mawile reverts her focus towards her teammates as the furious otter raises his scalchop against newly-spawned Amartoloí approaching him from his left. Using the frustration brewing within him as fuel, Oshawott rapidly swings his shell-like blade to cut through the Amartoloí bodies, splitting each of their bodies in half through consecutive Razor Shell attacks. A larger Amartoloí then materializes in front of him, and without any help available, he charges towards his adversary head-on. Summoning a virtual scalchop to his empty hand, Oshawott loosens an X-Scissor that slams the Amartoloí's head, rendering it temporarily frozen in dizziness. After landing back on the ground in a somersault, the attack's grueling knockback heavily fatigued him and plops down face-first after five panting cycles. Pikachu takes note of his rival's exhaustion of energy, then debates to himself about helping or not helping the individual who desperately wants to end his life.