Chapter 22: HTBAD

Shirou frowned as he knelt near one of the traps in one tunnel, running his fingers over the spell circle, then glancing over to the spot on the ground where it was aimed, the rock beneath stained brown with old bloodstains. “...this is insane. Why did he lay so many traps down here?”

“It’s likely that this specific hideout was intended for a final exam of sorts from Beni. Alternatively, he too understood a method of using Structural Grasp using this world’s magic system like I figured out with your help, and expected his students to have mastered this ability; this was their final exam for that specific branch of his ninjutsu,” Ritsuka mused, her paw glowing with magic as she spread her senses around the room. “Another trap to your left, Shirou. It’s fairly benign, but it’s suspiciously benign. I think it’s meant to trigger the trap you’re disarming in case someone avoids it.”

Shirou shot the other trap a look, then nodded. “Yeah… and it also connects…” He frowned, sniffing, then placed a finger on the ground, a tiny trace of blue light covering it. “Huh. Looks like a key. I guess his hideout requires several of the traps to be disarmed to be unlocked.” Shirou disarmed the trap, then sniffed again. “Hold up– something’s coming.”

All three of the explorers looked up as a quintet of bulky, yellow snake pokemon tunneled out of the wall. Shirou blinked. “Tsuchinoko?”

“No, Shirou, that is a quintet of youthful Dunsparce!” Yagi corrected with a thumb’s up, looking towards their new guest with unblinking eyes, “Can we help you with something, sirs, ma’ams, or anything in betweens.”

“Die-die-die-” The fat snakes chanted in a monotone, each of the serpents bunching up and leaping forward in a surge of headbutts.

“Oh, so we’re fighting!” Yagi said enthusiastically, leaping into an uppercut to intercept the first Dunsparce.

“Yagi… Please stop being so nonchalant about Dunsparces coming out of the goddam walls and attacking us randomly,” Ritsuka chided, irritably spitting a Dragon Breath towards the offending snakes as Yagi punted another one into a wall with a Force Palm. “It’s bad for my sense of normalcy.”

“You still have that?” Shirou asked dryly as he continued to disarm the trap he was working on, not exactly at a point where he could stop doing that or lose his focus on it; besides, he trusted his team to protect him. His faith was rewarded, each of the fat serpents falling to his team’s rapid response as he finished his work. “Yagi, is it normal for their species to just… chant like that?”

“Normal? No. But Pokemon are as wide in variety in personality as humans are.” Yagi shrugged, glancing towards the unconscious Dunsparce. “If you suspect magical interference, I would recommend checking, however, it could also simply be that that is the way these five are.”

Shirou nodded, crouching over one of the unconscious bodies, eyes gleaming. “...conditioning.” He said grimly. “Magi can use magecraft to create hypnotic triggers in people so deep they become ingrained. Illya told me about that; apparently her grandfather liked to do it pretty frequently. We checked her over to make certain he didn’t try any of that on her.” He grimaced. “And I don’t think any human could make a trap or device which could do this automatically. There’s an active spellcaster down here. Or psychic, I guess.”

“Psychics can do the same. I would guess a Psychic before a Magic User, especially since magic users in our world are significantly less common,” Ritsuka commented, frowning. “You should know that, Shirou. I’ve seen you reading books on our world.”

“I do. But I’m more used to Magi, I suppose.” Shirou placed a hand on the head of the Dunsparce he was inspecting. “...it’s too old for me to tell who laid the compulsions on them. The history’s too murky.”

Yagi’s snout wrinkled. “Can you break the compulsions, Shirou?”

“... Maybe. But it would be better for Illya to do it. I’m not confident I can break something this old safely. Age has a power of its own.” Shirou shook his head.

“Well, we’re not getting anything out of them, if that’s the case,” Ritsuka mumbled. “Are we just going to leave them unconscious? I don’t think it’s right to kill them, but if we leave them behind us…”

“There is no need to kill when we can simply restrain them,” Yagi chided. “We have rope. We have other means of restraining.”

Shirou nodded, then paused. “How do you tie up a snake?”

“...could you project a basket? We could seal it shut.” Yagi suggested.

A few minutes and a projected basket tied shut later, the group headed off down the passage, not noticing the thumps of heavy feet coming up behind them.

Shirou paused as they came across another set of traps. “Those five won’t be the only ambushers we’re likely to deal with. Keep an eye out–”

“Wait.” Ritsuka looked behind their group, ears twitching. “Someone’s coming.”

“Again?” Yagi muttered, then swallowed as a bulky bipedal form rounded the corner. Standing upright, with dark blue scales covering all but her reddish belly, a distinctive dragon peered across at Shirou. She glanced back and forth, then huffed.

“I was hoping Marowak wasn’t serious about sending a group of kids to deal with all this…” the Gabite sighed. “Okay, brats, let’s get out of here. I’ll guide you out.”

“We’re good, thank you,” Ritsuka informed the other dragon warily, eyeing her with caution usually absent from her eyes, “Besides, we accepted this job and we’re going to see it through.”

The Gabite huffed, crossing her arms. “Look, don’t let your Arrogance get in the way of your common sense. This place eats stronger Pokemon than you.” Gabite blinked as she saw Shirou crouch and pull apart a trap with his bare hands. “Though I have to say, your partner does know what he’s doing. Maybe you can all come back in a few years.”

Shirou shook his head. “Pokemon and humans have died down here. If I left this for a few years, more would die. And there are Pokemon who are being mind controlled by whatever’s at the core of this place.” He stood, turning to look the Gabite in the eye. “I’m not leaving.”

“It is not due to arrogance that we stay, Dragon,” Yagi interjected himself into the conversation firmly, “It is because we were both requested and needed to deal with the problems plaguing this specific area of the Grand Underground. Tell me, how many exactly have died to these foul traps?”

“Too many,” Gabite allowed. “Not that kids should be dealing with this.” She shot Ritsuka a glance, only to blink as she saw the eeveelution had gone back to watching her trainer’s back. “Hatchling, are you… turning your back to me?”

“You are currently not a threat, and while I may be a dragon I’ve had no one to teach me how to dragon. Not that I personally believe in the general culture of each type, but there’s a reason each type tends to act a certain way, so meh.” Ritsuka shrugged, turning around to glance at the older Drake. “Why, am I offending you? If so, please excuse me, I genuinely did not know.”

“It’s not an offense, it’s common sense!” Gabite snapped. “Okay, look, I wasn’t holding myself like a threat, and I didn’t take your dismissal as one, but Tao dammit, you cannot just disregard other dragons like that.” She darted over, tapping Shirou in the chest before pivoting back to the little fox dragon. “Lesson one; dragons only expose weakness to close family, friends, and lovers. Otherwise, it’s seen as foolishness or arrogance.” She moved over. “Hang on, do you even know about Pride, Arrogance, and Will?”

“What part of I wasn’t taught by another dragon do you not understand?” Ritsuka blinked, “I evolved under odd circumstances. Sue me,” she growled, fully turning around to face the dragoness, hackles properly raised now.

“Okay, there’s some Pride.” Gabite reached over and carefully stroked between Ritsuka’s wings, causing the dragon-fox to instantly relax. “I’m not blaming you for this, welp. I guess coming from a non-dragon type means you miss some stuff.” She tapped the ground. “Okay… Pride. It’s like an assurance that you can and will succeed in things, something which lets you put your full effort into anything you do. Problem is, when you’re challenged, it kinda turns you against whatever’s ‘opposing’ you. Something to watch out for.”

Shirou finished off the last trap in the corridor, tucking away the knives used in the foot-clamp. “I haven’t noticed her doing anything like that. At least, not beyond being self-assured, but that seems like a good thing.”

“Only to the point where it doesn’t lead to overly stubborn actions,” Yagi countered, glancing towards his teammate. “Though I do believe Ritsuka’s primary ‘issue’ would be will, if we are talking about the commonly observed ‘Dragon Type Personality Traits’ that are tied to having a draconic aura.”

Gabite chuffed. “Will refers to the… innate magic of Dragons. It’s the ability of Dragons to defy normal reality, and do impossible things. Fire which burns water, claws which rend stone, the evocation of the heavens, the defiance of limitations.” She tilted her head. “What about her Will is a problem?”

“Less a problem, more that it is her primary draconic trait. It is the only reason I can think of that allows her youthful shifting of her biological sex.” Yagi explained, shrugging. “There is a reason I put “issue” in air quotes, Miss Gabite.”

“...wait, seriously?” Gabite’s eyebrows rose. “Well, that’s… an atypical use, but if it’s what you want, I don't have any problem with it. Out of curiosity, have you managed to channel the energy you used into your dragon-type moves? You’ll see a remarkable difference in their power.”

“... Wait, that's a thing we can do? I thought that Moves were completely auric in nature?” Ritsuka blinked, looking more than a little lost.

“Ahhh, right. I forgot that some human born-”

“Ritsuka’s a Mystery Gift, actually,” Shirou interjected.

“... You know, that explains a lot. Alright kid, since your Riolu is likely unaware of the mechanics behind why moves of the same type tend to be more effective than moves of other types, I’ll get into the quick and dirty explanation.” Gabite sighed, “So, what you have to understand is that all types have something like a Dragon’s Will. No idea what they’re called, but they exist, and they ‘better’ moves of the nature they’re most aligned to. It’s why a Dragon Pulse from a Lucario will never be as good or potent as one from any Dragon. It’s lacking a Dragon’s Will in a critical way.”

“I see…” Ritsuka muttered, tail swishing. “Wait, why are my normal moves not weaker now?”

“They likely are. While it isn’t something you have to do actively, actively infusing your will into attacks will make a noticeable difference,” Gabite explained. “Also, you’re now a Dragon. You’re a lot stronger than you were as an Eevee, so you likely would not have noticed the reduction in strength.” She blinked. “How’d that happen, by the way? I didn’t know there was a dragon Eeveelution.”

“A Time-Space Distortion was involved,” The only human in the room interjected blandly. “And while this conversation is delightful, we should continue moving. I’ve disarmed everything I can sense Ritsuka. Can you check to see if there’s anything else?”

All three Pokemon sniffed, Ritsuka shaking her head. “I’m not sensing anything else in here. But I think I smell a group of Pokemon up ahead. I’m guessing an ambush.”

“Right, so let’s–” Gabite’s words trailed off as all three of the other people in the room started heading towards the aforementioned passage. “...and you’re going to go through with this, aren’t you? Do you have any sense of self-preservation?”

Shirou shrugged. “There are Pokemon being mind-controlled, hurt, and maybe even killed down here. I can deal with the traps, and I trust my team.”

“... Kid, bluntly, no one in this cavern can take the Ghost at the bottom. What makes you think you’ll do any better?” Gabite cocked her head to the side, interested now. She had, at first, assumed ignorance. Then naivety. Now? This wasn’t either. Oh, it was bullheaded stupid, but resolve was still resolve. You didn’t get that in trainers this young, usually.

“I have to try. Besides–” Shirou tapped the wall. “The spirit is bound here by something… tangible. That’s what the book on spirits that we found in one of Grandma’s libraries said, anyway.”

“And we can break almost anything! Stones, bones, rules, limits, sanity…” Yagi rattled off as they trotted down the tunnel, stopping so Shirou could disarm a strangling rope trap. “Oh, and these guys!” He finished as a group of Machop and Geodude burst out of a thin sheet of dirt, fists cocked to smash their faces in. He leapt up, roundhousing two of the rocky elementals. “Yosh!”

Ritsuka moved to respond, only for Gabite to tap her on the head. “Hold. Let me show you what you’re capable of.” She breathed in, her mouth snapping wide open, golden light coating her throat before it pulsed purple. The spiraling blast of draconic energy which emerged from her throat dispersed as though it was poorly-formed, but the energy caught three of the incoming Machop and sent them, bruised and battered, tumbling back down the passage. Gabite snapped her jaws closed, breathing deeply. “Did you sense that? How I put some of my own Will into that Pulse? That’s what it means to rule. That’s the power of a dragon,” she hummed.

The Eeveelution in question blinked, eyelids closing then opening before she nodded, opening her jaw and infusing the portion of power that Mana had said was the fragment of divinity that came from being a Mystery gift into her mouth; before, with practiced ease, she added a Dragon Pulse to it.

Within seconds, a powerful blast of dragon's flame streamed towards a group of Geodude and Machop closing in on Shirou; focused on disarming another trap already, and sent them flying, the move doing far more damage to the environment than it normally had before.

“Huh. Fancy that,” she muttered, tensing her legs and leaping into combat as she continued to harry the various Pokemon coming out of the stonework to assault their position, a blast of draconic flame occasionally interrupted by a glowing tail or wing.

“Well done.” Gabite muttered, then spoke louder as she waded into the gathering brawl, intercepting a Machoke as it punched its way through the wall. “Now, you can’t use this constantly– maybe more than myself, given your origins,” she admitted, landing a pair of Dual Chops on the bulky fighting-type. “It’s draining, as I’m sure you can tell. At the end of the day, Dragons are primordial; all three of the shapers of reality were dragons. The power of Dragons upon is close to Divinity, in and of itself.” She grunted, accepting a body blow before slamming her opponent back with a Dragon Tail.

“Similar to Normal Type, I assume?” Ritsuka questioned, receiving a nod from Gabite, “I see. Thank you for the information, Gabite. I truly appreciate it.”

“You are welcome. Next lesson. In a brawl like this, you can’t focus only on the enemy. Not when you have a person to protect–” Gabite tossed her opponent down the corridor and pivoted, only to blink as Shirou batted aside a Machop with a shinai, fists leaking blue light. “...ah, I thought your partner was a mage?” She asked, stunned as Shirou proceeded to smack several Pokemon aside.

“He specializes in Magecraft dealing with Swords or other weapons.” Ritsuka explained idly, turning to deal with another group of hostile Pokemon, only to blink slowly, “Yagi… When did you deal with that group?”

“While you were busy youthfully discussing Will with Gabite!” Yagi answered, pumping his fists. “You are an excellent teacher!”

Gabite blinked. “Thanks, I learned from my dad. This isn’t my first time teaching hatchlings, Palkia knows my mother couldn’t be bothered…” She grumbled the last line under her breath. “I had to teach the next two nests of my siblings.” She looked around, huffing as she saw Shirou listening intently. “...wait, human, did you understand me? I thought Marowak was blowing smoke when he claimed that.”

“I’m aura active, yes,” Shirou explained calmly as he went back to disarming yet another trap, glancing towards Ritsuka. “Ritsuka, would you please help me figure out where the next traps are?”

“Coming Shirou! Sorry!” The dragon chirped apologetically, bowing towards Gabite and carefully racing to her trainer’s side, placing a glowing paw on the ground, “We’re mostly in the clear. I think we have maybe one more set once we get around the upcoming turn in the corridor.”

Gabite trotted after the group as they advanced, coughing as she came up beside Yagi. “You know, between your skills, the fact your trainer can defend himself, and two dragons… we might be able to actually make it through this,” she admitted. “So long as your trainer doesn’t try to commit to the front lines, anyway. Is he as tough as a Pokemon, or can he not take a hit?” She sniffed. “He’s got aura, at least…”

“I can’t take a hit as well as either of you, and I’m more valuable as a trainer acting in the backlines as an overall tactician and commander. I can defend myself if it comes to it, and even provide support in some ways that wouldn’t be legal in league matches, but I can’t take a hit nearly as well as any Pokemon,” Shirou answered, frowning. While he wasn’t exactly happy with the situation, he took comfort in the fact that if he did his role in their ‘party’ correctly, he’d minimize the injuries done to his family as much as possible.

“You know your limits. Good.” Gabite nodded, then paused, tapping the ground with a foot. “There’s a pit trap up ahead, I think. Either that, or somepoke’s hidey hole disguised in the ground.”

“Nah, it’s a trap.” Ritsuka said as they rounded the corner. “Smells like magic, anyway.”

Shirou nodded, then stepped towards the hidden pit. “Looks like Benni rigged this trap with magic just to let it reset.” He tapped the ground, causing the thin layer of ground to fall into the pit, revealing an eight foot drop with a set of stone spikes at the bottom. Shirou frowned as he peered down. “...those spikes look newer than the trap. Was someone making these traps more lethal?”

“A strong possibility,” Gabite nodded. “The spirit that inhabits these caves, while not new, has not been around forever. It was only fairly recently that this cavern became an actual problem to everyone in their vicinity.”

Yagi grimaced. “If this spirit is feeding off Death, and not just fear or lifeforce… they may be a true threat, and a villain aside.” He rubbed his hands together as Shirou disabled the trap reset. “Gabite, do you know what form it takes? Dusknoir? Mismagius? Gengar? A spirit Pokemon?”

“We do not. The most likely culprit is a ghost of some description. My personal guess would be a Spiritomb,” Gabite answered, narrowing her eyes as she looked ahead into the hallway. “We are getting closer.”

“You are.” A lanky figure weaved out of the passage’s end, a toothy grimace on their face. The lanky Sneasler bared their claws. “It gives me little pleasure to fight children.” He murmured, even as a troupe of Sneasel of both varieties appeared around him. “Human, surrender yourself, and your team will go free.” He ordered.

“Do you really think we’d let you do that?” Ritsuka hissed, puffing up and tail lashing.

Sneasler shrugged. “Had to be asked.” He darted forward, claws leading as he closed into melee, his business following at his heels. His rush ran smack dab into Yagi, who rose in a fast punch which deflected his own. “Kid–”

“Excuse me, yosh! I have not had a chance to fight another martial artist in melee in some time!” Yagi cut him off, bouncing off the air and landing a Mega Kick on his opponent’s arm. “Are you using Judo? Jiu-Jitsu?”

“The hell– I did learn some Jujitsu from my mom–” Sneasler befuddled. “Wait, aren’t you worried about your master?” He shot back, responding with a series of jabs intercepted by a Bone Rush staff.

Shirou blearily looked up from where he was still disarming the final set of traps, “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t approach me when I can manually trigger the closest traps to me. I’ve disarmed them just enough so that I can somewhat control the area of effect they have,” he stated almost idly, lying through his goddam teeth. He couldn’t do that of course, but the Sneasler didn’t know that.

As if to punctuate his statement, Gabite and Ritsuka both rushed forward, the former joining Yagi in the Melee while the latter took flight, masterfully maneuvering through the limited confines of the tunnel and blasting the attacking with Dragon Breaths whenever she got the opportunity.

“Oh, you’re a mage. That’s why their foulness wants you…” Sneasler muttered. “Fuck mages-” He got out before Gabite slammed her tail into his leg, forcing him to flip out of battle to reset his stance, placing him firmly on the back foot as both of his blue enemies rushed to keep him engaged. Sneasler grimaced. “Kids, stay away from the mage while he works–” His words were cut off as Yagi slammed a Mega Punch into his throat– “-hurk!”

“Why are you not retreating?” Yagi asked as he slammed Sneasler back, Ritsuka turning to slam a more focused pulse of dragon type energy into the same point on the front of his body. The remaining Sneasels lurked warily, unwilling to approach Shirou as he disarmed the last trap. Ritsuka imposed herself between them and Shirou, forcing them to retreat back down the tunnel.

Sneasel held up a paw as all of the team loomed over him. “...the spirit wants a sacrifice.” Sneasler gasped. “My Business and I are free of their mind manipulation, so if we fail, he’ll take us.” He grimaced, his aura flickering. “And I don’t think we can win.”

“Why can’t you and yours just leave?” Shirou asked curiously, looking up from the now disarmed trap and frowning, “Is there anything keeping you bound to this location?”

“I didn’t say it couldn’t control us.” Sneasler admitted. “When my Dam was still living here, she could fight that thing on near equal footing. I can’t. It only leaves us alone because I swore to act as its catspaw outside of its range, or as a more nuanced enforcer. And our eggs are within its range. It’s cracked an egg or two to prove a point since.”

Shirou and his team freeze in tandem, three pairs of eyes eerily turning towards the Sneasler in unison. “They’ve killed literal children?” Ritsuka snarls, draconic energy flaring out from their body in visible waves as their anger was imposed on the world around them, knocking the Sneasler back, “... Shirou. I’m going to kill this ghost. I’m going to kill this ghost dead.”

“Right behind you,” Shirou agreed. He eyed the passage coldly. “Which way to this thing’s lair? I’m done with interruptions. It’s time to go straight to the source.”

Sneasler rose to one knee, pointing down the way he came. “Down that way, drop down the cliff to the lower level, then head in through the arch. Mind the bones.” He led up a hand before they left. “Ah, could one of you break my leg before you go? If you fail, I need an excuse–” Gabite casually slammed an arm down on his exposed limb as she passed, shin cracking under the blow. “-OOWW. Yeah, that’s… right.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Shirou started walking, both of his Pokemon and their escort falling in behind him. As they descended, Shirou’s eyes narrowed. “...a bit late to be asking, but Ritsuka, do you know any Fairy moves?”

“Does Play Rough count? I learned it from Matilda before I evolved, and I can still make it work, though it’s weaker than before,” Ritsuka asked blandly, looking at Shirou like he’d gone insane. “But it’s probably just better to stick to me using Dragon Type moves against a Spiritomb, Shirou. Especially if it’s an ancient one. Type Effectiveness is a thing, yeah, but the older the mon the more ways they have of mitigating.” She paused, frowning again. “Besides, I’m better at ranged attacks than close in combat. That’s Yagi’s job.”

“Indeed! When we are forced to spar with restricted rules, I almost always win if we’re only using physical moves!” Yagi declared. “Though the moment ranged moves are included I universally lose.” He grumbled, losing a bit of his pep before he shook off the gloom.

“Use Play Rough if you’re forced in close, then. Yagi, foresight and fighting. Gabite, will you follow orders, or will you be guarding me?”

“Offense is the best defense. I’ll listen to you, so long as you don’t do something brain dead.” Gabite affirmed.

“Thank you.” The group reached the cliff, and Shirou only took a short look before he leapt into the darkness, and the danger below.