???: "No way!"
(someone shouted.)
(Owen recognized that voice from earlier in the day.)
(He turned his head weakly and saw an orange blur rush past him.)
(A speedy Trapinch, a walking contradiction, and a welcome surprise.)
(He weaved left and right, went in front of Aerodactyl, and then hit him directly with a full-body tackle.)
(Aerodactyl shouted and stumbled back.)
Aerodactyl: "You—oh, great. Hearts?!"
(His wings clutched the bag to his chest.)
Aerodactyl: "But it's just a bunch of runts. Is that your best?"
(Demitri and Mispy were puffing at the other end of the hall, trying their hardest to catch up to their third member.)
Demitri: "Far from our best!"
(the Axew said, huffing.)
(His tiny hands were barely able to grasp his scaly knees.)
Demitri: "We're Team—uh, what was our team name, again?—uh—Alloy! Of the Thousand Heart!"
Mispy: "Hearts."
(the Chikorita mumbled, using two vines to act as a fifth and sixth leg, since her normal four weren't enough to stay standing.)
Demitri: "Y-yeah! Hearts."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "And we've got to be top-tier to get into something like that!"
Aerodactyl: "You seem new. Worst of the best, I take it?"
Demitri: "Goodra Anam said that a ranked system isn't good for morale, so we aren't the worst or the best! We're just Entry-Level Hearts!"
Owen: "Guys!"
(Owen shouted hoarsely.)
Owen: "A little help?!"
(All this time that they were talking, Owen saw the outlaw making sly, subtle movements with the bag.)
Owen: "He's trying something!"
(He might have disabled his jammer.)
(And that could only mean he would use an Orb next.)
Aerodactyl: "Hmph, think you're clever?"
(He pulled out the Totter Orb and threw it on the ground.)
(Everything spun and distorted with flashing stars and vertigo.)
(He was already numb and hoped he wouldn't have anything worse happen to his body.)
Owen: "He's getting away."
(he mumbled.)
Gahi: "I got 'em!"
(Gahi said, rushing Demitri with a dark aura characteristic of his Feint Attack.)
Demitri: "G-Gahi! What's your problem?!"
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "He's right that way!"
(Demitri sliced at the wall, effortlessly cleaving huge chunks.)
Mispy: "Stop."
(Mispy mumbled, shutting her eyes.)
Gahi: "I'll get 'em!"
(Gahi said, striking out again with a dark tackle.)
(He hit the wall.)
(The outlaw was mere steps away from the exit.)
(But then, Gahi got a lucky shot on his next run.)
(He shook the dizziness away, spotted Aerodactyl, and ran.)
(The orange blur was in front of the outlaw in seconds, blocking his way out.)
Aerodactyl: "How'd you—outta the way, peanut!"
(He opened his mouth and fired a volley of three rocks.)
(Gahi dodged them all.)
Gahi: "I'm th' fastest peanut in the world!"
(and countered with a solid strike with his massive head, square in the chest.)
(The outlaw stumbled back, dropping the bag.)
(In the amount of time he took to reach for it, Gahi took it and dropped it by Owen.)
Owen [in mind]: "Good,'
(Owen thought.)
Owen [in mind]: "The outlaw would give up and run away, and he'd be safe. Then he could head home and take a nice, long nap."
(Instead, the outlaw roared and ran toward Owen.)
(Weakened and immobile, he shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable impact that would kick him out of the Dungeon.)
(And then, despite expecting nothing of it, he prayed to Arceus that he'd be able to wake up afterward.)
(Embarrassing.)
(He didn't think Arceus was real anyway.)
(This hope wouldn't be answered.)
(He heard an impact, but he wasn't the one to receive it.)
(He opened one eye.)
(Demitri was standing in the way; he took the whole hit with one of his tusks.)
(Miraculously, it didn't break, but it looked like it hurt.)
(The follow-up wasn't any nicer—a strong jab to the side of Demitri's body with his other wing—but he stood anyway.)
Aerodactyl: "Give it here, you..."
(Aerodactyl grabbed the bag.)
(Owen didn't have the strength or reflexes to hang on.)
(The outlaw turned around, sprinting for an escape.)
Demitri: "Mispy! Now!"
(Demitri shouted.)
(Then came a blinding beam of light.)
(Aerodactyl screamed in fright, and then he heard the dull noises of punches and kicks and swipes.)
(And then, panting.)
(Gahi laughing.)
(Demitri told him to quiet down.)
(Owen jumped when he felt something brush against his back.)
Owen: "Eep—! O-oh, it's you."
(Owen said, spotting Mispy, clearly the healer of the team.)
(Her vines gently rubbed at his spine.)
Mispy: "Shh."
(Mispy said.)
(Her leaf glowed and released a soft light that clouded around Owen.)
(All of the energy he had lost returned to him.)
(He could feel his lower half again, too.)
(Shh, it's okay. It's okay, it's okay. Calm down. Sleep...)
(Amia's words echoed in Owen's mind.)
(Owen recalled his scales evaporating into the aether.)
Owen [in mind]: "That wasn't a dream."
(Despite the healing, the phantom pain returned to him in an instant, and flashes of that past event clouded his vision.)
(His muscles seized and his claws dug into the dirt, leaving tiny holes in the ground.)
(Embers spilled from the sides of his mouth, and his eyes widened.)
(One of Mispy's vines bopped Owen on the forehead.)
Mispy: "Stop that."
Owen: "B-buh—h-huh—"
(Owen snapped back to reality.)
Owen: "Wh-what happened?"
Mispy: "You're fine."
(Mispy said.)
Mispy: "Sh... shut up."
(She pressed her vines against his back again and focused.)
(Healing energy continued to flow into him, and Owen, after a few seconds of tension, managed to breathe easily.)
(He shut his eyes, thinking happier thoughts, like when he had cut his arm on a rock when he fell, and how his mother used the very same technique to patch him up.)
Owen: "Nng, that's the spot."
(he said.)
Owen: "Was that Heal Pulse? You know Heal Pulse?"
Mispy: "Mm."
Demitri: "Hey, uh."
(Demitri said, rubbing his right tusk again.)
Demitri: "Sorry about your bag."
(He handed the tattered remains to Owen.)
Demitri: "Most of the items got ruined from Mispy's blast. But maybe there..."
(Owen grabbed the bag and rummaged through it desperately.)
Owen: "Ah!"
(He pulled out two items his Provisionary Badge, and Nevren's gift.)
(There were a few other berries and orbs remaining, too, but those were much less important.)
Owen: "It's okay. This is all I needed!"
Demitri: "Hey, we still messed up your gear."
(Demitri said.)
Demitri: "How about we bring you back with us to our mentor's place? He's kinda good at repairing bags and stuff. Maybe he can patch it up?"
Owen: "Oh! Okay."
(He didn't care about the bag.)
(He got invited to a Heart's home! He wanted to see Rhys again, anyway.)
Owen [in mind]: "Again?"
Demitri: "You okay?"
(Demitri asked.)
Mispy: "Dazed."
(Mispy surmised with a nod.)
(She gave Owen a little smile.)
Mispy: "And... dirty."
(She gestured to Owen all over.)
(He stared at the three for an uncomfortably long time.)
(Mispy shifted from her right feet to her left feet.)
(Gahi clicked his jaws.)
Owen: "I think I know you guys."
(Owen finally admitted.)
(The three looked at one another.)
(Then, back at Owen.)
(Mispy looked at Owen's eyes.)
(He realized she was looking for a concussion.)
Demitri: "I—I kinda feel like we met before, too."
(Demitri admitted.)
Demitri: "That's crazy! We must have good chemistry."
(Gahi's jaws opened and closed in contemplation.)
Gahi: "Meh. Let's go."
(Owen rubbed his paws together to get off the dirt.)
Owen: "How'd you guys find me so quickly?"
Demitri: "Well, we saw a bunch of Paras and other wild Pokémon near the entrance, so we figured you were still going through the Dungeon."
(Demitri said.)
(A pit of guilt weighed on Owen's stomach.)
Owen: "O-oh. They were still out of it? I didn't—I wasn't that hard on them, right? I didn't...?"
Gahi: "Hey, self-defense."
(Gahi said.)
Gahi: "Besides, this place is overpopulated with those pests anyway. Isn't enough food fer 'em ter all survive."
Owen: "W-wait, how badly were they"
Gahi: "Aah, they'll be fine. Wild Pokémon're real resilient, I figure."
Owen [in mind]: "But Dungeons... healed those, didn't they?"
(Demitri nodded and rummaged for their Badge.)
(They walked to the exit of the Dungeon and finally passed through; their Badges all blinked in a slow pattern.)
(The raised ground of rock, embedded trees, and dirt transitioned into an open woodland.)
[To Be Continued...]