Dungeon 4 - Thunderstruck: Part 1
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As the morning came, Lance and Brian rode in the carriage they had rescued the other day as it rolled along down the wooded route.
Brian looked out the window, watching the local landscape go by, appreciating the lack of dark trees in their current surroundings. Lance kept to himself as he always did, opting to read a book in silence, one of his favorites, the story of the Hero of Ideals.
Thump!
Every now and then, the carriage would hit a particularly large bump in the road and jostle Lance from his concentration. This past bump was no different, except this time, the Riolu could see Marty craning his head back to peer at his passengers.
"We're almost at the village..." Marty said. "Might want to get yourself ready to jump off once we get there."
The siblings locked eyes and nodded to each other, while Gama mused aloud about the town they were heading to.
"Right. We're about to pull into Heavenwind right now. It's probably as good a place as any for us to part ways," Gama said, grinning at the siblings. "It's a lovely place, and famous for its mountain. A few explorers go there to check it out every now and then, so it might be the sort of place that's right up your alley."
While Brian paid attention to the explanation, he remembered some of the geography classes he took in the guild. Reminiscing about it, Brian found himself mostly remembering sleeping while he was supposed to be learning, earning a chuckle from the fox. His brother remained quiet, but the twitching ears tipped Brian off that Lance was listening as well.
"Oh, I've heard of it!" Brian cried. "They live near a mountain, and most of the residents are flying Pokémon!"
An eye roll was the only response Lance gave to his brother's excitement.
"Brian, we're not going to climb the mountain..." Lance sighed. "We've got a long journey ahead of us, and it doesn't make sense to take such a long detour just to sightsee."
Brian stuck his tongue out at his brother before turning his attention back out the window. Lance shrugged and went back to reading his book, hoping to squeeze in a few last pages before it was time to disembark.
Marty's carriage stopped a few minutes later, allowing them to see the nearby village from a distance. That must be that 'Heavenwind' that Marty was talking about.
Lance slung his book back into his backpack and pushed the carriage's door open to hop down to the ground and stretch his limbs. He was soon followed by his brother, who immediately gaped about their new surroundings.
Just from a glance, he could see various silhouettes of birds, ranging from small to large ones, along with large treehouses and the mountain that looked so inviting, much to Lance's chagrin.
"Thanks, guys, if you need to travel, send us a letter and we'd be happy to give you a ride again!" Gama spoke, smiling brightly. "We are the Zebrunk transportation company, and we always deliver our targets!"
An awkward silence filled the air, only interrupted by Marty grunting.
"I told Gama it was a stupid name, but he never listened to me," Marty grumbled in embarrassment. "But we're serious about the offer if you need a lift."
Yeesh, I'd hate to be known by a name as dumb as that , Lance thought to himself. The Riolu nodded before walking along the grassy road.
"I understand," Lance said. "Well, we appreciate the service."
"Thank you, gentlemon!" Brian said, leaving right after the Riolu.
Gama waved at them for a few seconds before getting back inside the carriage and leaving with Marty. Brian nodded at the two, before running off towards his brother, who was already closing in on the town.
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Before long, Lance and Brian found themselves in the middle of Heavenwind. It wasn't the largest town the brothers had seen, especially compared to Bright Dawn, but Heavenwind's buildings were tall, taller than what Brian thought when he took a look, and flying Pokémon darted through the air from building to building.
As they walked, they noticed some villagers on the street, some were just walking, but something strange also happened; a few stores were being closed early in the day. Lance found that weird, but assumed the proprietors were likely doing something like taking midday naps and ignored it. Pidgeotto, Talonflame, and even Braviary populated the town.
Further away, they saw part of the mountain looming over the town, which towered as high up as their eyes could see from street level.
The brothers carried on, their entranced gazes drifting from the mountain above and back to the bustling streets and airways about them. Brian took some time to let his gaze linger on the mountain, even spotting a nearby cave entrance right beside the town that seemed to go deeper within.
After nearing the plaza, Lance suddenly stopped and pawed at Brian, raising his paw to point off towards a large, red-colored building, topped with windows on the various floors, along with a sign stating that the building…
"It's a hotel. Let's go in and make a reservation," Lance said. "I know you want to explore this village, but we need to square away a place to stay the night. There will be plenty of time for you to get back to looking around Heavenwind afterwards."
Having his ears perk up at the familiar sound of an illusion coming up, Lance looked back. He wondered what Brian would turn into now.
Brian jumped, turning into a Pidove and making some chirps. Lance rolled his eyes and curled his mouth into a small frown, and opted to ignore his brother's attempts at joking around. The fake bird warbled a few moments, before turning back to normal.
"Oh, I should send a letter to Uncle James, now that we're here!" Brian giggled, before smirking widely towards Lance. "Maybe I'll grab us some souvenirs while I'm at it! Something edgy and sharp for my favorite brother~"
"I'm your only brother."
Lance sighed and shrugged his shoulders before and continued walking, making his way across the street and entering the hotel with his Zorua brother.
Strangely, the hotel didn't have much of a lobby, other than a blue carpet and a few chairs. A few feet away, Lance saw the receptionist, a Ledian that sat on a chair, snoring and in the middle of a deep sleep. Lance stepped up to the receptionist's counter and batted his paw firmly against the wood, to try and get the insect's attention.
It worked well enough, as the Ledian woke up with a start, falling from his chair and flusteredly flying back up onto his seat to look down at the Riolu and Zorua duo behind the counter.
"Good morning," Lance said, pointing to Brian. "I would like to make a reservation here for me and my brother."
" L-Lance! That's a little rude, don't you think?!" The fox gulped, bowing his head slowly. "S-Sorry to interrupt your nap, mister Ledian. We're a team coming from a guild far away. Team Liberators."
The Ledian quickly eyed the two, raising a brow at them for a moment.
"A guild team, huh? We haven't gotten too many of your types in the village lately," the Bug-type murmured. "The name is Beet, and I'm the manager of this hotel. I don't ever recall seeing either of you before though. Are you new to Heavenwind?"
"Our team was formed a short time ago," Lance crossed his arms. "This is the first time either of us have seen anything more than days' journey away from Thornwell."
Beet took a notebook in a desk drawer with one of his arms, and a pen with his other. He began scribbling on the notebook, taking a few gazes at the two.
"How long will you be staying here?" he asked. "We haven't received many visitors lately."
"Just one night," Brian spoke calmly, looking at the hotel. "We're on our way to Bright Dawn and we decided to stop here to rest before taking the next leg of our journey."
The manager wrote down their names and yawned.
"Bright Dawn? Not a bad choice for a destination," he replied. "The place receives new Pokémon all the time, so I'm sure there will be no shortage of things for you to do there."
Suddenly, the three of them heard a bell ringing loudly. Beet blinked, and instinctively gulped. The Ledian looked at the door, making sure no one was around, and spoke to his clients.
"You two should stay indoors for a while," the Ledian insisted. "There's trouble brewing outside on the street..."
Hearing this, Brian shivered somewhat, looking at his brother. Lance just rolled his eyes, not putting up with the Ledian's vague explanation. He headed to the door and opened it slowly, before finally looking back at Beet.
"We're explorers," the Riolu insisted. "If there's trouble brewing, it's our job to be there to help deal with it."
Lance turned back, ears perking up as he walked towards the door.
"Come on, let's see what's happening."
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Outside, the streets quickly emptied of Pokémon and the birds and other Pokémon in the air hurriedly returned to their houses. With one visible exception: A lone Corviknight who just stared at the cave's entrance, as if he was waiting for someone to show up.
Just then, three Pokémon emerged from the entrance, a gold-and-black Luxray, a Luxio, and a Graveller. Brian gasped, somewhat mesmerized by the strange colors of the Luxray, while Lance crossed his arms, deciding to see how this strange encounter would go before doing anything rash.
The trio approached the Flying-Type, who stood firmly in place.
"Mayor Percival, it's very good to see you again," the shiny Luxray said, approaching the bird with a smile that even a Deino could see was obviously fake. Even the way the Luxray flashed his teeth looked off-putting, they were crooked, sharp, and the way he flashed them seemed to scream to the whole world that he was ready to tear apart anyone that dared to interfere.
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Lance had to hold back his brother from going out and interfering in the fight, even if he also wanted to do something about it. The mayor, meanwhile, flapped his wings.
"Spare me the pleasantries and let's just get this over with Teslan," the crow grunted, flapping one wing and showing off a bag that clinked with a metallic sound. "I have your money. Take it and leave us and the village be already."
Percival extended his wing, throwing the bag on the floor next to a Luxio. The less experienced Electric-type picked up the bag, quietly drifting off a short distance to the side from his counterparts as he began to paw through the coins and count up the money.
The brothers continued to watch the scene unfold, Lance's fists clenched tightly, his fur standing on end. As for Brian, his tail was upright, and he started snarling. Th-Those three were extorting the village!
"Excellent work, Virgil," The Luxray said, turning his face to the subordinate. "Take your time counting those up. We wouldn't want it to come out that Heavenwind's been behind on payment for our services…"
Percival squinted his eyes, feeling his heart thumping while waiting for them to finish counting the money.
"Hrmph, is that what you're calling it now, Teslan?" the Corviknight huffed. "Or are you just looking for another excuse to wring more money from us?"
Teslan held out a laugh and grinned. "Why, if you want us to end our services, I can do that… and fry a few birds while I'm at it."
As the two bickered, Virgil began counting the money. He whistled, the numbers going up, until he finished. Except… something was off. Maybe he miscounted, so he made another attempt, which had the exact same result. Frowning, Virgil turned to his boss and grunted.
"Boss, he's short what he owes us. And by a full 100 Poké, too," the Luxio said, showing the money in the bag.
When Teslan heard this, his once-calm mood instantly soured. The Luxray whirled about snarling at the Corviknight, electricity sparking from his body and crackling in his mane as he bared his fangs at the armored crow.
"Did you really think you could just fool me like that, you worthless bird?" he growled. "I didn't get where I am from not being able to see through deadbeats trying to pull a fast one on me!"
Percival's eyes widened and he grunted, trembling for a moment. The bird began squawking, flapping his wings in an attempt to make himself look bigger.
"Teslan, be reasonable! We're a small village! We don't have that sort of money right now!" Percival cried, staring back at the Luxray. "We don't want any trouble, but it's simply not possible for us to pay that much right now!"
The lion roared and his whole body wrapped in an electric aura. A thick bolt of lightning abruptly shot out from his body and swallowed up the Corviknight, who screeched in pain before slumping over in the street. A few Pokémon hiding in the nearby buildings hurriedly darted out into the street to come to the aid of the stricken Corviknight. A low growl filled the air and the villagers flinched and began to tremble in fear as Teslan drew near, static still dancing in his fur.
" Pathetic ," Teslan growled, looking over the villagers who had come to the mayor's rescue.
"Listen up, you all have two days to bring the rest of the money you owe us!" the Luxray snarled. "If we get stiffed like this when we come back, we're going to be making examples next time, starting with your worthless feather duster of a mayor!"
The shiny Luxray clinched his claws and snarled, tail swishing around.
"And it won't just be a little love tap that you can live to talk about afterwards, either," he growled. "So think long and hard about if you wanna pull a stunt like this again."
Teslan and his lackeys turned and left for the cave entrance in silence. After the three slipped off, Pokémon slowly began to drift outside and others helped come to the mayor's aid, a Tropius hurriedly helping to carry him to the local hospital.
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Even though the bustle slowly began to return to Heavenwind's streets, but its earlier frightening atmosphere was gone and replaced by an aura of pervading dread. From the hotel, Lance had seen the entire scene through the door. He turned back to Beet, gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists over the episode in the street.
"You- You just sit back and let those thugs bully you around like this?!" Lance asked the Ledian. There was no disguising the anger evident in the Riolu's voice, which made the bug huff and puff in annoyance as he backed away from Lance.
"Hey, calm down kid! We don't like it, but that's just how things are!" Beet crossed his four arms, looking seriously at Lance. "Whatever your feelings about what just happened, you don't want to get mixed up with Teslan and his goons."
Brian pulled away as well, his ears drooping.
"W-What about the police?!" He asked, lowering his ears. "Won't they do anything?" Beet stared at him like that was the dumbest question in the world. For all they knew, perhaps it was.
"Are you kidding me, kid? Mayor Percival is the strongest Pokémon in town, and you just saw what they did to him!" The Ledian cried. "Just what do you expect any of us to do against that?!"
"You're not even trying! " Lance shouted. "Those thugs just threatened to kill people here and your reaction is to just roll over for them?! How on earth do you sleep at night?!"
A fiery look appeared in Lance's eyes as he clenched his jaw, pointing at the Ledian with a piercing stare.
"If none of you will do anything about it, then I will!" he snapped. "Tell that mayor of yours to hold onto his money! I'll see to it that these Pokémon will no longer have to live like this even if it's the last thing I do!"
Lance had nothing else to say afterwards and ran out of the hotel, a determined expression on his face. He made his way down the street, when…
"Lance!"
Brian came after him, only stopping to catch his breath.
"Brian, if you're not going to help, then just stay out of the way," Lance said.
"Have some faith in me, will ya?" Brian sighed and whined. "Let's go. We have some ass-kickin' to do!"
Lance paused for a moment and gave a small smile at his brother. Even if Brian wasn't as brave as he'd have liked, in the end, he could always count on him. Lance nodded and the two of them took off running towards the cave. Lance crossed his arms, mulling strategies over in his head to field against this new, formidable enemy that awaited them.
All the while, Brian couldn't help but be a little scared by his brother's attitude, he knew Lance could be brash and rude, but like this ? That was certainly new.
He couldn't find it in him to bring it up to his brother, and followed along after him in silence. Perhaps it'd have been moot anyways, just in front of them was the cave entrance, where after a moment's hesitation, they stepped forward into the lair in the mountains.
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The cave's environment was largely the same, expected terrain that Lance and Brian encountered in past places of the sort. It was rocky, there were stalactites and stalagmites here and there, and Zubat could be seen hanging sleepily from the cavern's ceiling. Strangely, parts of it seemed to be flooded, with water gathering in some of the chambers in large, cerulean pools and making Brian stop to awe at the sight.
"Impressive..." Brian spoke to himself.
"Don't dawdle off right now Brian!" Lance cried. "Stay focused on the mission at hand!"
The Riolu kept running, his heart raced as he darted deeper and deeper into the cave without looking back. Every last thought in his mind focused solely on finding Teslan and his goons, and putting an end to their reign of terror he and Brian had just witnessed.
Perhaps he should've been less single-minded. Lance's tunnel vision about making Teslan pay for his actions in Heavenwind blinded him enough to not notice a huge, spinning rock barreling his way.
Lance only noticed after Brian called out behind him, turning to his left just in time to be struck face-first by the rolling boulder and get launched back into a nearby cave wall. To Brian's horror, Lance hit the cave wall hard enough for a sickening thud to echo about, before he fell to the ground and visibly struggled to breathe.
"LANCE!"
Brian ran forward, his eyes darting about as he tried to find who had pushed the boulder into his brother… only for the rock to suddenly move on its own.
"... You two brats aren't from around here, are you?"
After rolling over and revealing a pair of stony arms, Brian jumped back with a yelp as the boulder revealed itself to be a Graveler. The Pokémon smirked as he cracked his rocky knuckles and stared down the two explorers, and Brian's eyes widened in realization.
"L-Lance! It's that Graveler we saw back in Heavenwind!" Brian cried. "Th-The one with that Luxray!"
Graveler smirked, taking two hard, heavy steps forward that shook the ground a little as he approached.
"So then I take it you two saw our 'show' from earlier. Then do yourselves a favor and turn tail while you can," the rocky Pokémon said, still keeping his smirk. "I'm the guard of the gang and my job is to crush little twerps like you who think you're gonna just run off and play hero by finding the boss!"
Lance got up from his place beside the cave wall, fur standing on end and fangs showing off in spite of his visibly trembling legs. The Riolu took an Oran Berry from his bag and wolfed it down, narrowing his eyes back at the Graveler with a fierce glare.
"You know... I'm going to love breaking that stupid head of yours," Lance said, glancing back at Brian.
"Brian, this is the part where you help me!"
Brian grinned, before he crouched and darted as fast as he could as a dark aura covered his body. The Zorua lunged, throwing himself at the Graveler's body and stiffening himself out for impact from his Pursuit—
"Oh no, you don't!"
Only to feel a hard, stony hand suddenly grab onto his tail. Brian thrashed and desperately tried to break free from the Graveler's grasp, only for the grip to tighten and the Rock-type to pull into a set of rocky arms as ugly laughter filled the air. From his place on the cave floor, Lance hesitated briefly, watching as the Graveler squeezed his brother tight in his grasp.
"If you feel like seeing your runt friend alive again, turn tail and get out of Heavenwind!" the Rock-type barked. "Do it fast and maybe I'll make sure he can still limp off with you into the sunset!"
Lance quirked a brow briefly, before dissolving into a loud laugh and lurching back into the wall. Brian frantically looked at him, while trying to wriggle free from his captor's grasp. The Graveler blinked, growling at Lance and squeezed Brian's body tighter, enough that for a second Lance thought he heard something snap in the Zorua's body as the Graveler snarled back at him.
"You think this is some sort of joke, mutt?!" he snapped. "Keep jerking me around like this, and I'll kill him right here!"
With a whistle, Lance stepped forward, smiling. He seemed tranquil, not moving a single inch after his step step. The wasn't a single trace of fear on his body at that moment, let alone his face that sported a smug grin on his muzzle.
"Not likely. Have you heard of the foreign Zorua? The white, ghost-types? Brian's not one of them, and he's never going to be one…"
Brian blinked, taking in the meaning of those words, his tail swishing. "What are you even talking about?"
"Doesn't stop him from attacking like one sometimes..."
Brian blinked his eyes, 'attacking like a ghost'...? Of course, Lance was telling him to use Shadow Ball! At once, Brian opened his mouth and spat up a black ball at the Graveler's face. The Rock-type yelped, dropping the Zorua on the ground and stumbling. Brian panted and gasped for air stunned for a moment, quivering slightly as he still felt his body ache from the Graveler's crushing grip.
The Graveler hurriedly moved away, Lance chancing to notice that the thug's rocky body had a small crack where Brian's attack had hit him. If he could just line up a solid Force Palm or a Cross Chop on it… surely it'd be enough to knock the Rock-type into next week.
Maybe he'd get the chance to try it out after all. The Graveler grunted and curled up into a ball, rolling back before throwing himself at Lance. The Riolu took a deep breath in, focusing his energy on his right paw.
"Tch. Rollout?" he scoffed. "I have been dealing with attacks like that since I was eight! "
Lance waited for the Graveler to roll closer when he saw the earlier crack appear at the top of his body. At once, the Riolu fired an energy beam at the rocky mon, and watched as his blow connected with the living boulder's chink in his armor. The effect was immediate, as the Graveler pinwheeled across the cavern chamber and crashed into a stony wall, slumping over unconscious.
Brian, with all the strength he had, got up and wobbled towards his brother. Much to his relief, Lance didn't seem overly hurt from being flung into the wall. The Zorua blinked a moment, before gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes into a frustrated glare. Lance had just left him in that Graveler's clutches earlier! If Lance's hint had been a little more obtuse, or the Graveler done things a little differently, then…
"Lance, what the hell was that?! I almost died there!" he growled at the Riolu. "If I hadn't understood your message, I would have-!"
"Brian, it was all planned, relax," Lance insisted. "I wasn't about to let you die."
Lance shook his head and took an Oran Berry from his backpack, handing it over to the fox.
"Here. You need it more than I do right now..."
Hesitantly, Brian ate the fruit, feeling his strength returning little by little. He helped his brother up and the two looked at their fainted opponent.
"I'm not looking forward to spending the rest of the day here, so come on." Lance remarked, keeping a serious tone. With that, the Riolu shuffled off, walking deeper into the cave.
Brian stared after his brother for a moment, before limping after him along the path of the cave while his wounds continued to heal. Checking his bag, Lance confirmed there were no more berries, and they would have to be more careful with any further encounters here on out. The path was getting rougher, and the corridors narrower the further they went ahead.
Even so, they had no choice but to press on. They weren't on an official mission right then, but they still needed to succeed every bit as much. Mayor Percival and all of Heavenwind were counting on it. The birds that lived in the village did not deserve to constantly live in fear of the likes of Teslan, and turning back now would surely just make things worse for them. And so the team pushed forward, determined to live up to their namesakes as 'Team Liberators', for the sake of the little village outside.