A Dewgong flopped out of the water and began inching across the cave floor in an attempt to put distance between itself and the living subwoofer. It inched past like a huge, pale salami, easily within touching or catching distance.

Laina sawed another flurry of questioning notes.

"I'm not getting it, it doesn't have a mustache," Chryssa told her Kricketune, throwing her arms open in exasperation. "That's the whole point."

A rock crumbled from the ceiling and bounced off the ceiling of their Protect dome, which wavered visibly. She wasn't sure how much longer it would remain before breaking. 

OO-WA-OO-WA-OO-

Exploud-- his name was Darragh--continued to rampage. Why was it freaking out, anyway? Was there something stuck in one of its tubes? Did it have a bad day at work? Could she take it to the black market and exchange it for a new, quieter Exploud?

Chryssa had already tried to have Laina use Sing to pacify it, but the sheer volume of sound the creature was outputting made it impossible to hear. She'd been collecting Soundproof Pokemon as a way of countering Perish Song, but having one turn against her made her own team's weaknesses glaringly apparent. 

^{SKIPPING DEWGONG}

"Ugh! Scatter!" Chryssa exclaimed, shoving her Kricketune one way and throwing herself the other as a large, ice-covered stalactite separated itself from the cavern ceiling and plummeted towards them.

The Protect shattered. The icicle ruptured on the stone, sliding in messy, jagged chunks like shards of giant toenail across the cave floor. Chryssa fell hard, a flash of pain running through both legs-- and a sharper, popping one in her neck.

Chryssa lay very still, heart thumping.

What did I do?

If she tried to move again, would she be able to?

Slowly, she wiggled all her fingers and toes. She felt bruised, but all right. The sharp pain in her neck had faded as quickly as it had come, but Chryssa still moved carefully, inching her way backwards like a Dewgong in reverse before scooting to her knees. All around her, the sound of Exploud's howling continued to echo relentlessly.

She was tired of it. And of this place.

"Let's go," she said as her Kricketune made her way back over, claws held in an X-shape over her head for protection. More icicles were falling-- one of them began to actually crawl away from them as they made their way towards the back exit of the cavern, leaving Darragh behind. "Oh no you don't," Chryssa said, aiming a Pokeball at it as it scampered away, the plates of its icy body too stiff to roll like the rest of its kind.

If I'm leaving a Pokemon here, I might a well gain one back.

Even if it didn't have a mustache.

^{CATCHING SANDSHREW}