The two entered the dungeon where Zen would reside. The two had a nice chat beforehand. Lazarus informed her if his dungeon was easy, then perhaps Zen's would be as well.

Unfortunately, things went differently. The Pokémon here were really aggressive and defensive. What happened here to make these Pokémon aggressive? They were all riled up, although they seemed smart enough to know these two were outsiders. However, the Pokémon in this dungeon weren't as atoned to helping outsiders or leaving them alone.

They didn't even recognize the Zacian when they fought the two and got defeated. Fae thought it would be a good idea to show Lazarus what she was capable of.

She never showed Corvus her ability to shift between Run Away and Adaptability. She never got the chance to. Then again, Eon wanted to keep it a secret and show it only to those they trusted the most.

Fae thought that perhaps Lazarus could be of use to her. Maybe this Pokémon—this legendary could help her solve the tribal problems that graced her recently.

It was certainly worth a shot.

Fae quickly used Shadow Ball on a nearby Shuckle. The attack barely weakened it. She wasn't super strong, but she did what she could to help Lazarus out. She was very good at being a meat shield that's for certain.

The Shuckle screeched loudly as she used Rock Throw on Fae. Fae used Quick Attack to dodge the singular rock that was being thrown at her.

Panting, Fae watched as Lazarus took his turn and he changed form. He usually did this only in battle, deciding to have his more exposed form out as they were walking. When Fae asked about it, he remarked how the sword put on heavy armor, and that he had to carry both the sword and the armor as he battled.

This made him much slower, yet he was more powerful than in his normal form as a warrior.

Lazarus lifted up the heavy sword. The sword changed drastically into an even larger sword, and he slashed the Shuckle to bits with the move he called Behemoth Blade. It was definitely foreign to Fae and this Shuckle who's eyes widened in shock before fainting to the attack.

Lazarus explained that this move was a key move in taking out a former enemy of his they called the Darkest Day: Eternatus.

The two moved on to the next floor as the other Pokémon weren't as high level as the Shuckle.

The next floor wasn't as easy as this one. There was a Steelix on this level who was far more aggressive and seemed primal in nature. His eyes glowed a deathly red and seemed far larger than any other Steelix in the level. This level seemed to be swarmed with Steelix and Onix of all kinds.

The Steelix noticed them instantly, roaring with such strange sounds Fae wasn't even sure if he was speaking a language. It was so barbaric. The battle began, but neither Fae nor Lazarus could begin. The Steelix held them back with such moves Fae never seen before.

When they woke up, Lazarus even confirmed he had no idea what kind of move it was. It seemed way stronger than anything else he encountered. It wasn't just the strength. This Steelix seemed way faster and took at least three turns for each one the two of them took.

But they had to press on anyways. Zen was waiting for them at the bottom of this triangle dungeon they seemed to be finding themselves at. Who knows if he was sleeping or just waiting for someone to come to him to help him out.

The two traveled back into the cave, making it farther this time. However, much like the first time with the Steelix, there was a Pokémon in their way. This time it was a Blissey. She didn't seem to care she was injuring Pokemon either. Most Blissey were nice and gentle creatures. One wouldn't expect such healers to go ballistic on them.

They got close to defeating the Blissey, however, managing to out speed a few times due to Fae's Run Away ability letting Fae run off and come back into battle with ease. It still ended with them being sent back to the start of the dungeon.

This dungeon was hard. One of the hardest things Fae had ever witnessed. Her training was tough, but this was tenfold.

We have to get through! We have to go find his brother. If so, then perhaps they might help me. Although, they already helped out a lot. Poketown, the sword hero and what I assume might be a shield hero, saving the world from Eternatus' wrath. Who knew there was so much to this simple world. This world that doesn't seem so simple anymore. I want to help Lazarus. He seems like a helpful Pokémon who deserves to be helped in return.

Fae and Lazarus traveled back into the cave. This time, Fae was prepared to fight this Blissey. She knew Bite, Quick Attack, Shadow Ball, and Sand Attack. She's been avoiding Sand Attack and Shadow Ball because neither seemed to be helpful, but maybe Sand Attack could help.

She remember what Pokémon like Hericius and Paarthurnax told her: 'Fighting isn't everything. Sometimes you got to use status afflicting moves to catch them off guard, and then attack. They might be deemed helpless after that.' So that was her plan.

She would catch this Blissey off guard. She wasn't as friendly as the Chansey back at the squad.

The battle started again, and Fae immediately started out with a Sand Attack while Lazarus used Brick Break. The Blissey wasn't even at half health yet. It would certainly take a few more moves to finish the Blissey off. Usually it wouldn't last long as the Blissey would used Soft-Boiled constantly.

The Blissey decided to take that time to use Soft-Boiled.

Fae wanted to groan in annoyance. What kind of cheap moveset was this anyways? The Blissey had Drain Punch and Soft Boiled to heal. It was annoying. She also had Bulldoze to slow them down.

What kind of annoying wild mystery dungeon Pokémon was this?

The Blissey had only one more move after the three Fae noted: Dazzling Gleam. Although Fae had only seen it once before she had to close her eyes due to the brightness of the gleaming attack. The Pokémon rarely used this move, but when she did during the battle she would always manage to sneak in a Bulldoze or a very annoying Drain Punch. The Drain Punch is what made them fail the last time.

Fae huffed. "How do you suppose we deal with her?" She whispered into Lazarus' smaller ear. She assumed it ripped off during one of his many battles.

Lazarus smiled softly at the younger Pokemon. "Well," he began. "We know she has two super effective attacks. One for each of us. Maybe we should use this opportunity. She might be skilled, but we can outsmart her if we try hard enough to."

Fae tilted her head. If they could try hard enough? Like predict the next move? Was it really that easy to predict such an attack? Pokémon battles were always wild and unexpected to Fae.

Perhaps there was a strategy to this!

Fae nodded her head. "This is what she did the first time. She used Soft Boiled immediately after you used Iron Head. But now she's at full health since you didn't use that move." She whispered.

Lazarus nodded as the Blissey glared at them. It was as if she was trying to predict what their next move was. She had ridden herself of most of the sand from Fae's attack, and she seemed to be patiently waiting despite being able to attack.

Well, at least she was a formidable opponent. More so than the Steelix at least.

This dungeon seemed to be full of more defense based Pokémon. The Blissey was only able to beat them because she had super effective moves and was able to move more than once. Her eyes glowed a lighter reddish hue.

"Yeah," he whispered back. "She seems to be spamming healing moves and super effective moves. It may be a more difficult strategy, but just follow after my lead. Continue to use Sand Attack. We might be able to catch her off guard."

Lazarus ran full force at the Blissey. He didn't have his signature move due to PP usage, though, and had to resort to using Iron Head by the time they reached the Blissey.

Thankfully, they didn't have to face that strong Steelix again. Didn't make the journey back any less difficult.

Fae used Sand Attack once again before immediately using Quick Attack to stun the hard to defeat Blissey. The Blissey exclaimed in shock before Lazarus used Play Rough, and knocked the Blissey away.

The Blissey tried to hurriedly use a healing love before Fae ran at her using Quick Attack, remembering the immense training she did to improve her speed. The force of her Quick Attack hit the Blissey.

Fae wasn't done yet, however. She still wanted to make sure her friend could use his move. She used Bite for minimal damage before Lazarus used Iron Head twice due to Blissey missing a Drain Punch on Fae.

So that accuracy defect was important, after all!

+++

The Luxray had reached the tribe full of Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox. He smirked.

He was always up for trouble.

He wouldn't tell anyone—especially not his owner—of what he was accomplishing today. The shiny Eevee was distracted just enough. A mission to go find a brother was just what she needed.

He was confident the bigger Blissey and Steelix were just what he needed in order to start his plan. Of course, his plan didn't go as well as he wanted as by the time he got there an Eevee from the village was already destroying the town.

He sighed. There goes that plan.

He was about to turn around before a shiny Delphox screamed, "Help!"

Don't help her, the Luxray told himself. But his feet and will betrayed him. This was just one distraction after another, and before he knew it he had gotten himself into even more of a side quest than before.

Why couldn't he have just captured that Eevee and move on? Why did his life have to be full of Pokémon getting in his way?

But, the Luxray knew deep down he couldn't turn a blind eye—even if he wanted to. And that's just what he did: help them.

——————-

Author's Note: Here's Chapter thirty one. I think this will be more than fourty chapters btw, so I thank you all for making it this far.

Anyways, I have a bit more of exploration I want to do with this story before I finish it. Anyways, there has been a lack of Eon and the rest of the family in this story, and so I think I'll add more in soon.

Thanks for reading!