Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Destruction- Chapter 9- Guild Under Siege pt. 1
#12 of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Team Sharktooth finally make their move on Florges Guild!
Faint and constant pecking sounds of iron thorns hitting a stump target rung through the Verde Forest. In the back of the forest, that little designated spot that they usually go to for training, Pecha and Oran spent the humid afternoon throwing the slim barbs of metal that the guildmistress gave them at their assigned targets ten feet away from them. Ambipom, their combat instructor, stood beside them to provide advice on better techniques to throw them- and prevent the kids from poking their eyes out, while he's at it. Of her ten thorns, Pecha managed to stick seven into the rings of her target; Oran only managed to get two.
"Oh-ho, what's wrong, Oran?" the instructor asked, looming over him. "Your sister is beating you good; you just gonna take that?"
The Riolu returned from his target, with a handful of ten refreshed thorns. The next iron thorn ready to be pitched twirled and spun in his paw as if he couldn't find a comfortable way to hold it. Just holding the spike normally felt awkward to him, no matter where he gripped, one of its three prongs would stick him. "I don't understand," he told the monkey, "how do I even throw these things?"
"Here, grab your next thorn, and lemme show ya something, oh-ho." As the pup picked his next spike and held it in his right paw, the monkey caressed his paw with both tails, shuffling the thorn around with care; by the time he was finished Oran held the long end of the metal spike between his first and second digits, its sharp tip pointing towards him. "There," the instructor said, smiling, "You were putting too much muscle in your throws; relax your body. Don't just throw the thorn- let it glide out of your paw like a dart. Keep your back straight, your body calm, and your right foot in front of the left."
"Okay." Oran took his eyes off his teacher, and aimed back at the wooden structure designated to be his target. Just as the monkey advised: a deep breath or two loosened him from within, and his back erected straight. It took him a few wind-ups to mark where he expected the piece of metal to go, in the center dot; when he felt he built up enough confidence, he let it loose from between his fingers, a little wobbly while it spun in the air, but in the end, the spike managed to stick deep into the right of the center, in the last of the three rings. What an awkward routine to go through.
"Not bad," Ambipom congratulated him with a smirk, patting him on the back with his left tail, "needs a little more practice, but not bad, oh-ho."
Oran's eyes drifted toward his left, to where his older sister came back from harvesting her thorns from her cedar target. She threw each one as he was instructed to, only left-handed, and to his discouragement, the Buneary threw each spike into a tight, correlated group, just barely hovering underneath the bullseye- and she was just as much a beginner as he. "How come she's a lot better at it than me?" Oran pouted to Ambipom.
"I just am," his sister intercepted the question, gloating.
"Some Pokémon are just naturals at it," Ambipom told him. "Some learn faster than others; I guess it didn't take your sister too long to figure it out, oh-ho."
"Don't tell me you're giving up on this," the Buneary joked, flipping her left, uncoiled ear with a flick of her paw. "Oh well, it wouldn't surprise me- I'm the older sibling, after all- talent just comes to me-" all of a sudden her pile of thorns grew larger as Oran dumped his handful into hers. She gazed at her new quantity with a dash of confusion in her eyes, then told her brother, "You aren't any fun; I was at least expecting some competition."
"Nah," he replied with hands behind his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I just don't care for them; I don't see the point. You're much better at it than me; you can have this win."
Hearing his forfeit was like a dream come true to the Buneary's ears as she kept the tears in her eyes from falling. Ever since he came into her life, she threw herself in constant competition with the jackal- whether for affection or attention- which was the reason she put so much pride in her seniority in the first place. She never thought she'd see the day he'd give up without a fight- it nearly brought her to tears! But she had to keep that visage of superiority strong, wiping excess water from her eyes with a quick stroke of her arm, then puffing out her chest a little as she bragged, "I guess you just aren't cut out for this, after all, Oran: this is much too sophisticated for you."
The pup chuckled as if agreeing, "Yeah, you're right about that, Pecha. And you know what else? You can take them with you during our missions! That way, you can help me and Scyther fight for once."
"Are you calling me useless?" she snapped at her brother like a piece of twine under a candle flame. "I'll show you who's the useless one!" Dropping the spikes in her hand she pounced on her little brother, sending the duo to the ground, clutching each other as they tumbled around in the sea of short grass.
Ambipom stood as he watched the children deliver a flurry of punches, kicks, and slaps to each other. To some degree it was amusing to him, almost comedic, watching them go at it, but at some point he had to put a stop to it before they start yanking each other bald. Grabbing the both of them by their napes with his slender tails, he yanked them apart from their little squabble, and hoisted them into the air. "Does Scyther have to put up with this?" he asked the two with a hint of irritation breaking in his voice.
"Yeah, all the time," the Riolu replied. "We're just playin' with each other."
Gingerly Ambipom placed the duo back on their hind paws, back on solid ground. "You can kill each other, later," he told them with a scowl, "But right now, we're practicing, oh-ho."
"Yes, sir," the kids said in a defeated groan, looking down to his feet.
Thirty feet below the guild's surface sat a Diglett in a dark corridor, his only source of light beaming from a hatch located in the assembly hall above ground. He had what he considered a simple duty: to alert the establishment above to any foreign threat. The other Pokémon would go insane, staying in what looked like a hole, doing nothing all day, but not him; he enjoyed the quiet solitude it provided.
He sensed a slight vibration in the ground he protruded from, feeling it grow in intensity until it was akin to a harsh shake. However, not all of the floor quaked around him, feeling too precise and focused to be an earthquake; someone was down there with him, tunneling their way in his direction!
Before he had the chance to alert the guild above, something crashed through the wall in front of him, the harsh light emitting from its claws stunned the mole from identifying the invader. A streak of brilliant orange swung like an ax across the Mole Pokémon's necks, and suddenly the walls around him gained a fresh, uneven coat of red. Scarlet blood emptied from the open tear in his throat into a growing puddle around him, and with each ounce spilled his consciousness dissolved to just enough strength to keep his eyes open. "Intru...," he squeezed out a painful wail, "intru..."
"How about you take a rest?" the intruder's coarse whisper asked Diglett.
The longer he forced his weary eyes to stay open, the heavier his eyelids weighed in his blinking. His vision became a blur, and breathing dwindled to just short huffs at a time. Before fading away, the soft hue emitting from his attacker's claws allowed him to at least capture an idea of who it was: from the darkness, the soft orange glow revealed blue scales, and the ruby red underbelly of a towering dragonic body belonging to a Garchomp. The feeling of drowsiness soon overpowered the little Ground-type, slouching over himself as he gave a final, weak sigh.
"The alarm's been dealt with," the shark said to his two associates lined behind him.
The team of three gathered in the corridor that was once the Diglett's station, immersing themselves in the amount of surprising elbow room it provided. Giving his teammates some time to stretch, the leader asked his strategist, "Lono- our location-"
"Well, since that was a Diglett sentry you filleted, a safe guess would be: we're beneath the guild's assembly hall," he replied back in a whisper.
"Perfect," the Garchomp replied. "Hand me the orb, Lono; now's about the time we use it." Just as instructed the Gabite fished out the sphere from the belly of his satchel and handed it to his leader, its hot pink core illuminating the room to some degree. "Once we use it, we'll only have ten minutes of its effect," Ku told his subordinates, taking the glass sphere between his claws. "But ten minutes will be just enough time to cause damage; that should draw the guildmistress and her team out from their quarters. After which, we'll force them to spill the location of their treasury. Both of you- cover your eyes."
The pair of Gabite flinched behind the fins hanging below their arms, as sounds of the Inverse Orb cracking in the Garchomp's grip filled the area. Falling apart into an innumerable amount of shards underneath the dragon's mighty pressure, a surge of magenta light that was once the sphere's core exploded into a flash bang.
After a good hour or two counting Poké on her desk, Guildmistress Florges finished accounting her guild's budget collected over the week: fifty-thousand Poké. A treasure chest slept underneath her desk, where she put the last few bags of coins into its interior, and closing it with a satisfying click.
A sudden cry from deep within the guild caught her ears, causing her to jump out of her seat; if the nervous pitter-patters of her dancing heart were to be believed, she had a hunch what might have caused the distress.
The Florges rushed herself to the assembly hall, meeting with her teammates, Azumarill and Granbull, to find three dragons standing in front of the entrance: two Gabite, and a heavily scarred Garchomp- just as Bisharp's alert illustrated. And it seemed they found their way through the Diglett sentry's hatch, which emitted a heavy smoke of dust behind them.
"Good afternoon, Florges Guild," the large Garchomp addressed the scared stiff members in his daunting, yet calm voice. "We are Team Sharktooth. We came with a simple demand: either relinquish your treasury to us, or watch your precious guild fall like rain water; we're not leaving until we accomplish one of those."
"What have you done with the Diglett sentry?" Granbull demanded the Dragon-type in a menacing growl.
The Garchomp gave a subtle smirk to the dog. "That's a good question, mutt," he replied, "although you won't like the answer. Let's just say: he'll need that hole of his more than ever, now."
Hearing that sent the Fairy-type through a fit of trembling rage. "You," he huffed furiously, tightening his knuckles until blisters would appear, "you monsters!" A simple step turned into a bloodthirsty dash towards the shark, even slipping out of his guildmistress restraining grasp; all he wanted for the moment was the dragon's head as his trophy.
In response the Mach Pokémon primed his right claw in a feral orange light.
"That won't work on me, idiot!" the Granbull shouted. In a blink of an eye his long, sharp fangs turned icy blue, and he frothed a cold, wintery haze from his mouth. Taking a powerful leap at the dragon, he opened his maw wide, revealing those icicles for teeth ready to shred into his skin.
"Let's find out!" Ku responded with a heavy swing with his Dragon Claw, cleaving straight through the Granbull's abdomen, and even amputating his left arm just below the shoulder joint with simple force. Even his expression of shock read deliciously predictable to Ku: "how is this even possible?"
The mangled dog landed straight on his back with a heavy thud. The shock in his eyes remained permanent while he twitched and shook, the open wound in his chest continued spraying his vital life essence like a sprinkler, and his newly stubbed arm coated him in a red puddle. He sat there as his slayer stepped over him; when he took a look at his fresh kill, the Granbull was no more than discarded trash in the Garchomp's eyes. "Disgusting." With a bump from the back of his right foot, Ku kicked the defeated mutt into the blown Diglett hole, wanting to forget about the mess he made of him. Though instead of hearing a satisfying scream, all the dragon ever heard was a faint "thump".
"Disgusting," the dragon said once more to the shivering guild members, "he even died like a mutt; what a waste of time. Who else is feeling particularly brave?"
No one wanted to face that monster. They stood in place, either shivering out of their own skins, or keeping themselves from balling their eyes out. Even the guildmistress dared not to budge from her stasis, freezing her left hand in front of her mouth as to keep herself from throwing up from tension. "E-evacuate," Florges squeezed from her mouth. She tried once more, but with a stronger roar, "Everyone- evacuate! Now! Evacuate to the back of Verde Forest!"
"Y-YOU HEARD HER, EVERYONE," Loudred's voice broke from the silence, "MOVE IT TO THE BACK OF THE VERDE! MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"
At first it took them a while to gain the courage to even break from their statue-like stances, but with the Loudred leading them, an organized stampeded ensued, heading for the back of the Assembly Hall which led to the forest outside.
"Ku, they're all getting away," Pele whispered as she jogged to his side. "What should we do?"
The Garchomp responded with silence at first. But after a few seconds, he told her, "Leave them be- this makes it easier to loot their belongings."
"But they're eye witnesses," she whispered back in an angered growl. "We can't just let them go!"
"And what are they gonna tell the officials?" he asked her back. "All they can do is spread our influence. Don't waste your energy on those guppies; we have bigger fish right in front of us-"
After the guild cleared of all potential distractions, all who stood in the outlaws' way were the guildmistress, and her assistant. Ku gave a slight smirk: telling by the shaken expressions worn by the opposing side, his team had the psychological advantage. "What's wrong, ladies?" he taunted the Florges and Azumarill pair. "You're acting like you saw a ghost. I assume the both of you are the strongest in the guild, yet here you are, frightened like a pair of newcomers. Go on, then- defend your pathetic guild! Show no mercy to us!"
"G-Guildmistress, I'm scared," the Azumarill squeaked to her.
"It will be all right," Florges assured her. She then asked her invaders, "I have but one question for you: the Inverse Orb- are you under its influence? What you did to Granbull was unnatural, a Dragon-type move hurting a Fairy-type; even if that was your natural strength you've trained specifically for countering us, you still wouldn't be able to even bruise us. If you are under its effects, then I assume our Fairy-type attacks are ineffective, correct?"
"You have an eye for observation," the dragon replied with an intrigued smirk. "I'll answer your question with a question of my own: do you want to find out?"
The second the Garchomp tilted over for a charge, a curtain of blue flame engulfed him, taking everyone by surprise! A tall Delphox approached from one of the many hallways connected to the assembly hall, with a wooden staff aimed at the outlaws in one hand, and her daughter in the other. "Go, now, Cheri," she told her pup, placing her on the ground, "go find the evacuation party."
"But, mother-!"
"There's no time for arguments!" the mother roared, causing her child to cower. Taking a few steps back, the Fennekin pup took her mother's advice, running off to find the rest of the guild members. Wherever they were, at least she would be safer there than here.
Ku fanned away the sea of fire with a single swing of his left fin; thick clouds of gray smoke filled the hall from its embers attempting to burn the moist grass of the guild floor. He showed no signs of damage, besides an apparent scorch mark tattooed to his left shoulder, stinging him each time he rotated his arm. "You'll pay for that," he hissed at the fox.
"Forgive my intrusion, guildmistress, but I would like to join in on the fun," she told Florges with an air of confidence. "I simply won't allow these barbarians to destroy my home; I've recently made one journey to move here, I refuse to make another."
It wasn't much, but the sight of Delphox brought a wave of relief surging through the guildmistress. "Thank you for joining," Florges told her, smiling.
With the addition of the fox on her side, it was now three against three. "What an interesting development," the Garchomp said to himself. "Regardless, adding more people into the fray won't increase their odds of winning- it only increases the number of bodies." He shouted to his teammates, "Lono- take the Azumarill; Pele- take the Delphox; I'll have a little talk with our guildmistress."
Her collar of hydrangeas glowing pure white, Florges took her hands up to her chest, charging a small ball of greenish-blue energy between her palms; once it grew to the size of a bowling ball, she hurled it at the Garchomp. Swinging his left claw down like a hammer, Ku responded by Slashing the ball of energy in two, detonating it in front of him.
Drawing a circle of fire in the air with the end of her staff, Delphox collapsed it into a single point before spewing a tense stream of bright sapphire flame at the female Gabite. Pele reacted with a stream of flame of her own, colliding her Flamethrower with the fox's Mystical Fire to create a great curtain of inferno that spread across the guild floor.
Azumarill took a deep breath, and soon fired a high pressured jet of water from her mouth, aiming to take the male Gabite out in a single attack. Covering his chest with both arms, Lono took the impact of her Hydro Pump, trying to hold his ground while the jet of water pushed him back with boulder-crushing force, waiting for the Aqua Rabbit to tire.