CHAPTER 12- First Rescue Mission

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It was around eleven o'clock in the morning, Aurora Ribombee was purposefully flying fast following the compass indication to the dungeon with the intention of testing Luke Croconaw's endurance, the little Fairy type then turns around finding no sign of her partner getting immediately worried. Aurora decides to wait for when Luke shows up, something not so long because apparently Croconaw is following a compass on his own gadget walking in a nonchalant manner.

The Ribombee puffs up her little cheeks irritated by Luke's carelessness by going to him quickly and punishing him by squeezing his muzzle hard, the Croconaw is obviously bothered by this and justifies not running through the forest for being something extremely dangerous by making Beserker see them as threats and attack. Hearing the answer Aurora even feels embarrassed for having forgotten such an important detail, the Pokémon Bug apologizes to Luke in which he just takes a deep breath and extends his hand placing it below Ribombee to serve as a support, with that he says serenely:



— My mother who taught me to walk through the forest like this, she always told us to respect it as it is home to another Pokémon.



Croconaw then looks up contemplatively at the leaves of the densely wooded forest, he then continues to speak still in a low serene tone:



— She always tells me how cruel it was to have the distinction between Beserker and Network, after all we are all Pokémon, and unfortunately some of us refuse to see others as equals, we only see them as things or obstacles.... I hope Mom, wherever she is, is okay...



Luke bowed his head, noticing that Aurora was looking at him with a bit of regret:



— I'm sure she is, now come on, we have work to do.



Ribombee says shyly as she flies down Croconaw's neck and pulls her red scarf over her head, Luke giggles a little and strokes her head, which gives an adorable groan. The Pokémon then raised its Gadget again, following its way to the Vilce dungeon. Next to it, lurking in the bush, was Mei Servine, which was perfectly camouflaged in the green of the forest.

Servine couldn't see Aurora because of the angle at which she was watching the Pokémon Water, to complicate matters further the dense forest blocked the sun making it dark, for Mei vision the Croconaw must have some schizophrenia problem because it was talking to itself, for the Bug-type's high-pitched voice was terrible to hear from afar. A few steps later and the Pokémon began to smell the water, and several streams and creeks appeared which stole the Pokémon's sight with even Luke took advantage of that peace to drink some of that tasteless and very cold water from one of the creeks, unfortunately the silence is disturbed by heavy footsteps coming towards the rescue team.

Croconaw and Ribombee quickly become alert, Luke stands in combat position with his fists closed and his teeth showing, and inside the red scarf Aurora leaves only a small part of his head showing, holding his bag ready to get any item to help his partner. One Druddigon suddenly appeared was wearing two boxing gloves stuck in its claws and it was cried a lot, before the team reacted to the peculiar Dragon type, it jumped up hugging the Water type while talking like a tantrum baby:



— ~GWAAAAAHANNNHAAANN, I ~SNIFF, MY NAME IS NADI-DI-DI-DIM, I GOT ~SNIFF YOUR MESSAGE ACCEPTING MY REQUEST, THANK YOUOOO GHAAAAAHAHANNNN HELP MY FRIEND, I WANT MY FRIEND ~SNIIIIIIFFF AWWW ARCEUS WHERE IS MY FRIEND!!!



The biggest problem had not been the crying fit but the tight hug, as the Druddigon seemed to have forgotten his natural ability called Rough Skin which causes damage when someone comes in contact with his skin, this caused Luke to get his belly all bruised and bleeding. The Croconaw was writhing in pain trying to hold on for Nadim to calm down, however there came a moment when actually continuing that hug was torture having the same feeling of squeezing hard the tip of a knife, at that Luke says in a low sore voice:



— Khiiih, arrrg, I understand your concern… But this hug is gwaaaa, it hurts a lot, urrrrrrf, pleerr-ase, can you urrrfff.. LET ME GO?



The Druddigon then excuses himself by letting go of Croconaw, Nadim even gets a fright when he sees Luke's belly totally wounded and bleeding, Croconaw just squeezed the wounds which still hurt a lot. Conveniently Aurora decided to use one of her staff to heal the wounds of the Pokémon Water, but adding the pain of the wounds with the burning of the healing, Croconaw felt so uncomfortable that he screamed and threw himself into the cold stream, almost drowning the little Ribombee in the process.

With tempers calmed, the Pokémon sat down on the soft grass, Nadim explained how his teammate got lost from him in the dungeon while drying Luke and Aurora with his Heat Wave move with non-lethal power. According to Druddigon, his friend Nonato Dottler and he were carrying out a mission as a team of Explorers, when the dungeon began to collapse in this way altering itself separating them in the process, without the Bug type the Dragon type would not know how to return and risked being trapped as well and due to this he made the request to the Lacustrine base for help.

Croconaw listened to the whole story while scratching the wounds caused by the Dragon type on his belly, which still bothered him, Aurora gives a slight cough in the intention of his partner to stop doing that bad habit. Fortunately, even without seeing the Ribombee below his big mouth, the Water guy understands the context of the coughing stopping her giving a small uncomfortable laugh, already with everyone's attention the Ribombee says confidently from inside Luke's red scarf with only his small head showing:



— As an Exploration team member you must have other knowledge of the dungeon, tell all you know and me and little blue here will ensure your partner's safe return, Team Candizzz is at your service!



The gentle words made Nadim start to want to cry again, the Pokémon then stands up with arms outstretched to hug Luke once more, however in fear of another torture section the Pokémon Water shouted:



— DON'T TOUCH ME!!!



The Druddigon quickly retreated with his head down, apparently sad, and realizing that he had overreacted a bit, Croconaw got up and walked over to the Dragon Pokémon. Tense for what he thought was the right thing to do, Luke takes a deep breath to hold on as long as possible and quickly hugs Nadim talking very fast leaning against this one:



— Urrrf...Gulp... Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad, we will rescue your partner, wait for us, we will be back soon Ghhaaaa, see you!



Croconaw then let go of Druddigon's embrace leaving running towards the dungeon afraid to touch the rough skin again, Nadim who sat behind tried to stretch out his hand to thank the Pokémon Water's gesture without managing to convey his feelings, for it didn't take long for Luke to disappear into the dense woods leaving Druddigon alone with his thoughts. The Pokémon Dragon then takes his gadget from inside his boxing glove, wanting only to see images of his dear friend who could now be in danger inside the dungeon, the Druddigon then speaks to himself thinking he was alone:



— Nonato... This is all my fault, if it wasn't for my need for hugs we wouldn't have fought because I hurt you... And you... And you... I JUST WANT YOU BACK! ~SNIFF ~SNIFF



Nadim begins to cry as he lowers his big head, Mei watches everything silently, mentally counting to thirty to be sure that she won't be disturbed by anyone. Thinking it was already the perfect moment, the Servine changes her civilian clothes for Hellstalker's with her scarf looser around her neck and putting away her big white hat, walking subtly she approaches Druddigon who didn't even feel her presence and then the Pokémon speaks in a welcoming tone with a seemingly sad face:



— I feel sad for you darling, Arceus gave you a sweet and kind heart.... But you cursed him with that rough and sharp body like the sharpest of knives.



The Dragon-type raises his head fright, in front of him was a sleek Grass-type waving what appeared to be a thin fan of the highest quality, Nadim wipes his tears rising from the ground questioning the Pokémon before him:



Who are you? Are you from a rescue team too?



Mei covers her face with her tessen intending to hide a disdainful smile at Druddigon's sadness, however her falsely welcoming tone has not changed and so she answers quietly without arousing suspicion from her victim:



— I am only a benefactor, someone who will give you the chance to change.... The world has denied you the chance to give you care and affection...



The Servine then closes her tessem and points it directly at Nadim who feels surprised, Mei totally changes her posture to something more imperative and continuing her strong words:



TIME TO SHOW EVERYONE YOUR RIGOR AND BRUTALITY!



Something then suddenly happens there, the Pokémon Dragon type starts to feel a strong headache which makes him fall to his knees on the floor, the pain spreads in his nervous system, his veins start to burn a lot and finally his muscles seem even heavier. His whole body seemed to adapt to something new to him unknown until then, little by little those bad sensations became better and better, Nadim sees his Gadget in front of him with the image of his partner holding the object very tightly:



— GHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW!!!



Shouted the Druddigon in agony as he shattered his Gadget with his bare hands, Servine's wickedness had come to an end and all that talk was just a front for her to establish a false emotional bond with Nadim in this way making the Pokémon become one like her, negativity, bond, and a contract the recipe for the Pokémon to become a Hellstalker.

While Mei put her cunning plan into practice, Luke was still running from Druddigon to ensure he wasn't the victim of another display of tender torture only really stopping when they reached the entrance to the Vilce dungeon. Aurora still inside Croconaw's red scarf sticks her little head out, looking around she sees no sign of the dungeon getting worried and scolding her partner angrily:



— Nhaaaawn damn Luke, this is my first dungeon here on the continent of Calypso, Nadim's information was going to help us find the entrance, you weren't supposed to run.... Humphhhh... Now we'll have to go back.



Luke shakes his head negatively at Ribombee, he didn't want to go back to get a hug from Nadim and get hurt even if it was to find a fortune inside the dungeon. The Croconaw then put his hand inside his scarf taking his drop shaped pendant, Luke starts walking with the pendant raised in his hand waiting for a reaction, he says that this was his most precious possession and was given to him by his first mother...:



— I remember almost nothing of my first mother, and Papa avoids saying her name as much as possible.... I can only remember the stories she told from human tales, she said that this pendant was called " Mystique Uauter" and possessed miracle powers and...Wow... BINGO!




The pendant began to shake quite a bit near a rock, Croconaw looked closely at the mineral noticing that there was no slime or vegetation growing through it, the Pokémon Water placed its head near the rock tapping it to check if it was hollow realizing this was not the case. However, when Luke leaned on it to stand up, the rock sank to the ground, both Pokémon then heard a noise and from within a nearby stream rose what appeared to be a water well, Aurora then says impressed:



— LUKE YOUR WHOLE FAMILY IS VERY NICE, I WISH I HAD A GIFT LIKE THAT!!! THAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE ENTRANCE TO THE DUNGEON, LET'S GO IN SEARCH OF THE DOTTLER MY LITTLE BLUE PARTNER!



Croconaw shook his head in agreement with his partner and headed for the stream, but as he reached the shore, seeing his reflection and that of Bug in the greenish water, he finally noticed a peculiar detail:



— Err... Aurora, if you are going to stay inside my scarf until when? I want to swim to the passage and I don't want to risk drowning you.



Ribombee gives a little laugh, she then justifies herself in a playful tone:



— First I came in here so we could get to the dungeon at your own rhythm, only it's so nice to be taken and your heartbeats are so relaxing that it kind of... You know. I don't want to leave here anymore hehehehe.



Luke takes a deep breath with a pouty face, he then pats Aurora's head accepting that she remains inside his red scarf, the Pokémon figures it would be safer for both of them if they stayed together and wouldn't have any way to mix more than that. Croconaw then steps back and alerts his partner about his idea, consisting of making a jump towards the water well, Ribombee readily accepts, only asking that before the jump he let her give him a hand.

Aurora takes a deep breath closing her eyes and raises her hands, this way a kind of barrier with a light green color appears around Luke in which he admires her open mouth and slowly it disappears leaving the Croconaw confused, the Ribombee explains that it was her Safeguard movement used with the intention of disabling traps and movements which would affect his physical and mental health. But the Fairy-type's tricks didn't end there, Aurora then clapped her hands twice in different ways and this made her body glow in a golden color, a color that passes to Luke's body soon after, making him very excited:



— Haha, that's the Helping Hand movement, isn't it? I've read about it, but I've never seen it up close... Wow, it really increases my strength, I feel even more muscular, that's so cool!



Said Croconaw smiling while admiring his own body, Ribombee gives a small groan to confirm the question asked by his partner, the little one then lightly pulls Luke's red scarf signaling him to follow in the direction of the dungeon. Understanding the signal, the Pokémon Water prepares itself by taking a little distance, Luke starts to run towards the water well very fast breathing heavily, the Croconaw then uses the Aqua Tail movement slamming it against the ground behind itself catching momentum and performing the jump to the entrance of the dungeon in the water well.

The jump was a great success and the Pokémon fell right in the center of the water well, however he didn't plan his landing and because of that he hit his forehead on the first staircase step of the dungeon, after this first impact Luke falls rolling down the staircase until he stops abruptly on the second floor. Already at the end of the stairs Croconaw gets up with difficulty, he felt his whole-body sore to the point that his first steps were limping, with the intention of not worrying Aurora he gives a crooked smile and says:



— Perfect landing, uurrrff, glad everything went exactly as I planned... Urrrf...



The Ribombee in which was the scarf that was tied around Luke's neck, and consequently came rolling down with him just responds irritated with a certain irony:



— Yes, next time we will try to lose our heads or a leg on the way.



Croconaw gives a small embarrassed laugh, the two Pokémon then observe that dungeon together and it was a common type on the Calypso continent, the place had walls covered in shimmering moss and non-precious crystals that offered a natural lighting so strong it seemed like day inside the dungeon, there were several streams and small natural lakes inside it as well and the vegetation on the ground was sand, dirt, moss and a small grass:



— This environment seems to be great for "Water types” like you Luke, there is so much water here that even the air is humid, let's go find Nonato.... I don't think this Dottler is far away.



Punctuating Aurora as she scanned the dungeon still with only her head and now one of her arms out of the red scarf, Luke began to walk slowly trying not to disturb or draw attention from the Beserker who lived there. Following his way calmly, Croconaw picked up several fruits and some limes that he found attractive, in this slow pace the duo went down to the fifth floor of the dungeon without any difficulty:



— It's quiet, too quiet... Luke, could it be that we are heading towards a trap? Maybe we should go back.



Luke didn't seem bothered and strokes Ribombee's head, the Pokémon then explains by whispering to his partner his motives:



— Aurora, lean on my pendant, when it vibrates it means we are close to a trap and that already gives me a good advantage in dungeons, I am also speaking as low as possible so my voice doesn't echo.



Croconaw then stops in front of a fruit on the ground, he picks it up then takes some moss stored in one of the pockets of the red scarf passing it around the fruit, the Pokémon Fairy noticed it wasn't the first time he saw his partner do something like that. Luke walked around for a bit looking at the dungeon intently, he then tossed the dirty fruit into a passage as he walked in the opposite direction, when he saw he had gotten far enough away the Water guy could justify in a low voice to his partner why:

— Behind us every once in a while, I am throwing food mixed with nice smelling things on routes we are not taking. This is one of the techniques I learned from Mama Nai, unlike what I learned at school and from Master Trevor where they only taught me to fight and walk around the dungeon looting as much as I can.



Aurora's chin dropped to the floor, so surprised she was, moving by her red scarf she went to the back of Croconaw's head, proving the veracity of his statement. The fruit covered with the dungeon's slime did indeed attract some Water Pokémon Beserker, which were fighting among themselves for food, and this internal conflict among them allowed them to move quietly, Luke then found the staircase to the next lower floor and while he was going down carefully, he continued to speak quietly:



— Walking through the forest with my mother, I noticed that this method of hers is more effective for me, I don't want to unnecessarily fight with innocent Pokémon. They are only defending their home, if they were invading mine and threatening my relatives, I would act the same way.



Giving a shy smile Ribombee agrees with her partner's judgment, as she returns the way by the red scarf, she even recalls the latter's attack on Drapion in which he tried to hurt his brother Larvitar imagining that all the Pokémon inside could be both Beserker and Network. The Pokémon Bug type had only seen Nai Tyranitar once, at that moment she knew it was a magnificent and totally unique Pokémon, already on the front of the scarf lying relaxed in one of its empty pockets Aurora inquired looking at the yellow part of the Pokémon Water type's large mouth:



— Brilliant... Simply brilliant... I never imagined a Tyranitar could teach peaceful methods to advance in a dungeon, I thought she would teach battle techniques just like the base masters teach like Houndoom himself here... Annnn... His name is Trevor, right?



Croconaw confirms that the name of the Lacustre base master was indeed Trevor Houndoom, however he feels slightly offended by Ribombee's comment as he was a Pokémon like his mother with violent tendencies in which he preferred to avoid. Luke then remembers what he had done to Drapion and the other members of Lacustre, so Croconaw stops walking for a moment and looks at his trembling hands:



— GHAAAA GET AWAY FROM ME YOUR SAVAGES, HELP, NADIM HELP ME, I'M GOING TO DIE!!!



The shriek echoed through the walls of the dungeon drawing the attention of the rescue team, because the call was almost obviously made by Nonato who should be in mortal danger. Luke enters one of the corridors of the dungeon where he supposed to have originally echoed the sound of the call, however in front of him there were two Palpitoad Beserker doing offensive positions, the Croconaw tries to make them move away showing them his teeth something ineffective since the duo uses the Mud-slap blow.
However, having already expected such a blow, Luke uses his Aqua Tail and with the help of the water vortex around its tail it hits the exploding mud projectiles blasting them back at the Palpitoad. Intentionally the blow hit the Beserker's feet, Croconaw still with Aqua Tail active then hits just one of the Pokémon pressing it against its counterpart on the wall of the dungeon corridor, that move gives the propitious opening for Luke to run through the Beserker quietly once it deactivates its Aqua Tail:



— Wow, for a pacifist Pokémon you hit them pretty hard.... If they weren't Water-type that would have given them near-fatal damage.



Aurora speaks impressed with Croconaw's power and fighting ability, the Pokémon still following the direction of Dottler's shouts replies as it ran:



— ~haff arrrf, to be peaceful ~hufff hufff first I have to know how to defend myself, ~huff huff huff if I don't know, I'm not peaceful, I'm just helpless.... ~arrrf...~arrrf!!!



Upon arriving near the place where the scream was coming from, Nonato the Dottler appears running only stopping when he hits Luke's cute belly head on causing the Pokémon Bug to fall to the ground, Nonato was struggling crying hard and in intent to calm him down Croconaw holds his round upper body saying:



— IT'S OKAY, WE ARE TEAM CANDYZZZ AND WE ARE HERE TO SAVE YOU! Are you ok…, Hm?!... WHAT AN IMPIDIMP THAT IS!



The Water-type Pokémon saw a blade pierce one of the dungeon's walls, several cracks formed until the wall was shattered and a seemingly angry Kabutops Beserker jumped out of it. Luke gives a frustrated growl imagining he has nothing left in his arsenal to ward off or calm the Pokémon's fury, he then alerts his partner:



— AURORA USE ONE OF YOUR ORBS AND RUNAWAY WITH NONATO TO NADIM, I WILL DISTRACT THE CRAZY KABUTOPS AS MUCH AS I CAN!



Ribombee then thumps Croconaw in the neck, the little Pokémon had become irritated by that comment and says while pointing at the Kabutops beserker:



— I AM YOUR PARTNER IDIOT, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER, LET'S GO FULL FORCE TO DEFEAT THAT BESERKER!!!



Luke turns red at his boss' words, he was really happy to see Aurora's confidence in his abilities, something in which was unusual, however Croconaw looks back noticing the crying Dottler focused on him and his partner. The Pokémon Water feels the tension in the air, nevertheless he rushes forward with Ribombee in his Red scarf, Kabutops does exactly the same with his scythes ready to pierce Croconaw, however something terrible happens and while Luke was running, he ends up tripping over his red scarf screaming:



GWAAAAAH NO!!! NOT NOW!! I'M GONNA FALL!!!




Closing his eyes Croconaw falls to the ground on his stomach even hurting Ribombee who was crushed by his partner's fat body in the process even making Nonato give a cry of concern, but Luke had fallen with the Ice Punch movement active in both arms which made his icy fists come into contact with the ground freezing everything in front of him. The Kabutops stepped on the frozen ground losing his balance, as Croconaw stood up with difficulty he sees the Beserker approaching him awkwardly, Luke screams in fright as the Kabutops raised his scythes to hurt him, however with the frozen ground hindering his instability the Pokémon falls forward simultaneously his arms stay open between the Croconaw digging his blades into the ice instead of into the body of the tormentor who is startled:



— ARCEUS FROM THE SKY, GWAAAARROOO!!!



Luke shouts slipping on the ice still with the Ice Punch active in both hands, this time, however, he supported the Ice Punch on the Kabutops' arms and this way besides sinking the Beserker's sharp arms even more he freezes them trapping us on the dungeon floor. Frightened and screaming Croconaw then leaves the Beserker and goes towards the Dottler, Aurora didn't understand what happened there, after all that didn't seem to be the same Luke who had defeated a Drapion alone and moments ago defeated two Palpitoad equally at a disadvantage:



— IDIOT, WHAT WAS THE IDEA OF ADVANCING ON A BESERKER STRONGER THAN YOU?! IS THIS HOW THIS RESCUE TEAM ACTS?! I WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER PROTECTED RUNNING WITHOUT YOU GETTING ALL CLUMSY!



Shouted Nonato scolding Croconaw which just shook his head apologizing very embarrassed, the Ribombee then gets out of the scarf flying on their own again. While looking for an orb in her things to get everyone out of the dungeon she doesn't take her eyes off the trapped Beserker, in this she remembers everything said by Luke up to that moment and pays attention to the details, Aurora then gives a loud sigh as she realizes that Croconaw's whole action was Machiavellianly orchestrated, reconstructing everything while talking to herself in her thoughts:



"— Luke lives in a scarf and better than others knows how to run with it without getting injured, falling head on with Ice Punch the Croconaw made the ground freeze to affect Kabutops speed and his balance. Beserker wasn't going to stop, especially with his fallen opponent vulnerable... Wow, it was a cruel trap, Luke even took advantage of that to trap Beserker's main weapon to stop him from continuing to attack.... It really is as the wise Pokémon say’s, You are never as strong as the moment your enemy thinks you are weak.”



Ribombee finally finds the Escape Orb turning to Luke and Nonato, as she looks at her partner back to Dottler the Croconaw's tearful face disappears with him giving her a cynical smile and winking at her, Aurora greets her cheeks in irritation and says to him:



You two-faced, jerk Seviper.... Next time you'll pay me back...



Nonato even sighs as a sign of doubt for not having understood the words of the Fairy-type to his companion, however he did not have so much time to think about it since the little girl throws the Escape Orb on the floor shattering it consequently activating its effect making everyone go to the entrance of the dungeon. Croconaw raises his head taking a deep breath relieved that his first mission went well, smiling Ribombee takes the moment to re-enter the red scarf of Luke who was no longer bothered by it, the other type Bug on the other hand looked around maybe hoping to see someone, wondering who it was Croconaw approaches bending down and stroking the big head of Dottler speaking kindly:



— Your friend Nadim was very worried about you, let's go further, I bet he will be very happy to see you again Hehehehe!



Nonato did not have a visible mouth due to the peculiarities of his species, but it was very easy to recognize his pleased and grateful expression which warmed the hearts of Luke and Aurora who accompanied him. Little did they know, however, that the one who awaited them was not the same kind Druddigon .... But that, friends, is a story for the next chapter...