[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
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[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

Shalin waved back at Sawyer when she had him in eyesight. Queen Zing's wings weren't nearly as loud as Flit's, but they were loud enough that she would still need earplugs to avoid losing her hearing. With them, though, the droning wasn't jarring to hear at all, unlike with Flit's much more powerful ones. Once she had reached the ruins site Sawyer was waiting at, she landed the Beedrill as far away from him as possible while not also on the sand; unlike Flit, this giant insect's legs were not meant to grip loose surfaces such as sand.

The lithe blonde, her hair a mess from the bumbling and bobbing ride Queen Zing took her on, waited for a sharp burst of buzzing post-landing, but it never came. This was on the long end of the Beedrill's range; she was probably too tired to get a rise out of her trainer. "Alright, Queen Zing, return!" She dismounted and withdrew the Beedrill, then removed her earplugs and grabbed a replacement Poké Ball from her belt. "Kiara, tag in!" A female Pyroar emerged from the Poké Ball, and she was yet another mount Pokémon. Was this all Shalin raised? She was proving the merit of her tacky title!

"That was Queen Zing, the sweetest Queen Beedrill you'll ever meet!" she introduced Sawyer to the Pokémon she had flown in on. "And this is Kiara," she gestured toward the female Pyroar next to her. The lioness greeted her trainer's friend with a noise somewhere between a purr and a snarl. "This place is supposedly a relic of an ancient Hoenn from thousands of years ago, predating even the use of Apricorn Balls! Imagine the treasure within! Even if we don't hit a big pay day, I can't wait to see what kind of Pokémon are inside! Gotta be some ancient species!"

Stepping inside, there were enough small erosions in the millennia-old structure, as well as obvious window-like holes that the place got plenty of natural light. They wouldn't need Kiara's mane lighting things up further. At least not yet. Shalin led the way through the opening hall, its prominent feature six pillars adorned by a small row of hieroglyphs on the bottom, with a single, ornate one near the middle of each. She stopped when she perceived the "eyes" of the hieroglyphs were moving, even staring at her.

"What in the world...?" Shalin gasped. She moved from one pillar to another, the six eyes following her the entire time. She stepped to Kiara's right side and rest her dominant hand on the lioness' shoulder, ready to leap into the saddle at a moment's notice in case she needed to book it. Just as she stepped in between the middle of the second pair of pillars, the sound of a loud click made her gulp. A large trap door opened beneath her, sending her and her Pyroar sliding down a lengthy slope! "Sawyer, help!!" her voice echoed from the slide-tunnel the trap door revealed. The lioness' burning mane was the only thing that let her see in the dark! When the slide ended, she estimated she was four levels underground, based on the slope of the slide and how long it took to get to the end.

Ashley Shepard

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

{WC: 546}
{PC: 2}

[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
[newclass=".wizzcred"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]
[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

Shalin tried to shoot Jelly a smile, but the normal-type seemed very shy of Kiara. Unsurprising, given how big and strong she was. Pyroar were apex predators, after all, and unlike most feline creatures, they had little need for stealth. They were simply that fast.

The explorer breathed a sigh of relief when Sawyer and his team appeared behind her. "At least if we're going to get lost down here, we'll get lost together," Shalin said, trying to stay positive. Even without a traditional light source, Kiara's mane provided a fair amount of light for them to see. Shalin did have them covered, though. "I did come prepared with a healthy supply of torches. Kiara, mind turning your mane up a little bit? Not so hot I can't be on your back, but a little extra light would help!"

The fire-type obliged, and the reds in her mane turned to oranges and yellows, shedding light around them. Shalin grabbed an unlit torch from her pack and walked around toward the front. "Kiara, can I get a tiny Flamethrower, please?" she kindly asked. The big cat deeply inhaled, then slowly exhaled, a line of fire only a few inches long coming out of her mouth. She lit the torch and passed it to Sawyer before climbing atop her Pyroar again. "This should help out a lot, Sawyer!"

Advancing through the bottom level of the ruins, three things caught her attention: first of all, there were Zubat flying all around them, of which Kiara was quick to respond to by torching them with her Flamethrower. Their numbers were large enough that a single one got through, latched onto Shalin's right arm, and bit her. "Ow!" she yelped as the bloodsucker fed. "Can't stand Zubat..."

Kiara was quick to scare the remaining Zubat away with a Noble Roar that echoed in the confined space, subsequently barbecuing the one that attacked her rider for good measure. Hopefully that echoing roar would think make other Pokémon down here think twice about attacking her. The Pyroar stepped back and leaped up a small staircase that led to another chamber containing a very large turnstile that would be almost impossible to see over. There was plenty of room for Shalin astride Kiara, as well as Sawyer, to stand within the turnstile's bounds, but it looked heavy enough that actually turning it would require a team effort.

Ashley Shepard

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Good
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

{WC: 400}
{PC: 3}

[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
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[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

It took strength from a fully-grown Pyroar and two trainers, but they managed to turn the turnstile 90 degrees by working together. The sound of a stone-to-stone crash rumbled through the chamber as Kiara and Shalin recoiled backward from the impact. She turned around to see that a small, stone slat was now obstructing the turnstile behind them. "Curious," she observed aloud. "Now we can only go back the way we came. But why would this be, Sawyer?" the young girl asked as she and her Pyroar lead the way. "We'll need to remember where this turnstile is and try to get to it from another direction."

The moment the fire-type set foot in the room, four Ekans reared their heads from around a corner and loosed barrages of Poison Sting toward Kiara and her rider. The girl instinctively slid off the Pyroar's back and used her mount as cover, letting out a hiss as one barrage of needles grazed her arm. "Go, Kiara! I'll be okay!" The athletic lion pounced the nearest Ekans, pinning it against the ground and CRUNCHing her fangs into it, the helpless wild flinging it around like a chewtoy. A NOBLE ROAR was enough to scare another off.

The light Kiara shed from her mane had somewhat diminished as she turned the corner to inform Shalin that she was in trouble and needed a short break. Pointing her torch in the Pyroar's general direction, she saw that the Pyroar's neck and chest were swollen. "Thank you...Kiara. Now let me fix you up." The lioness let out some uncharacteristic coughs, no doubt caused by the Ekans venom. A dose of non-invasive Antidote was enough worked wonders at drawing out the poison. Non-invasive Pokémon medicine was such a technological wonder!

After a few minutes, the two were ready to continue on. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sawyer," the explorer apologized as she hopped back on her mount. "Let's go!" she pointed onward. The first thing she noticed was a hieroglyph-covered door that was under lock and key. "Kiara could probably burn through this lock, but we really need to limit our use of Fire-type attacks down here. Wouldn't want to burn up all our oxygen. The key for this has to be around here somewhere."

Shalin pressed on through a door to the east, where Kiara was immediately greeted by crossbow bolts fired at leg level. Thankfully, the bolts sailed between her legs, but it scared her and left Shalin holding on for dear life as she reared up like a frightened Rapidash. The two backed away, peering inside the room from the door frame. It was a bit hard to see, but the floor in that room looked anything less than stable. "This place is...full of traps," she said with quick breaths after the scare Kiara gave her. She stepped out of the way to let Sawyer take a look.

"That floor looks so unstable. I don't think it'll hold our weight if we don't keep moving...and certainly not Kiara's weight." She recalled the Pyroar, now standing on her own too feet. While it wasn't a rarity for Shalin, she certainly preferred the speed of a mount beneath her in such dangerous spots. "Once we get into that room, jump and run for the exit. I couldn't see how far down the floor is beneath this one." She let out a sigh. "In three...two...one...now!"

Another pair of crossbow bolts flew from the walls as Shalin entered the room, the girl able to hear the clink of their arrowheads colliding behind her. She heard a rumbling noise from beneath her; there was not one spot in the room where she could catch her breath! She made a beeline for the south exit, hearing another clink of arrowheads as she sprinted past.

While she was catching her breath in the next room, Shalin could have sworn she felt a draft from the south side. While there were many pits in the floor, at least where she stood seemed stable. "Where is this breeze coming from...?" she mumbled as she walked along the south side, taking out a short rod and poking the walls with it. Sure enough, in one spot, she could hear a louder echo of the impact than anywhere else. "You got a way to blow this wall open? Worst case, Flit can, but I also value my hearing," she said to Sawyer, giggling afterward.

Provided Sawyer did not have a way to open the door, Shalin would release her Yanmega and make sure her partner knew what the bug-type was up to. She briefly popped her earplugs in and asked Sawyer to do the same. "Flit, use your BUG BUZZ!" she commanded. The giant insect stood a few feet away from the wall and vibrated his wings harshly. The entire room was subject to gusty winds, the constant echoing making the already loud buzzing maddening.

"Full power!" she commanded, standing in front of Sawyer to try to shield him from the winds. Having to step closer to Flit as his wings roared, she could feel tingling from the disturbed air as though she was riding the dragonfly while it was warming up. A loud crash followed seconds later as the Yanmega successfully opened a hidden path. "You did an amazing job. Thank you! Return!" She withdrew Flit for Kiara again, not quite hopping on yet; she was still trying to get her bearings. For one, she needed to remove her earplugs again to be able to hear Sawyer...

Ashley Shepard

{WC: 930}
{PC: 4}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Fair
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

{WC: 930}
{PC: 4}

[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
[newclass=".wizzcred"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]
[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

"Nice work!" Shalin chirped when she saw the teamwork Bongo and Bullet used to destroy the weak wall without leaving their surroundings in utter chaos. The explosion scared a wild Klefki, who bonked her chin as it flew out of the room in a panic. With the coast clear, she released Kiara again to light the room up, immediately noticing a glint. The Klefki, in a panic, had dropped one of the many KEYs from its keychain! She knelt down to pick up the key before standing next to her Pyroar again. "Would you look at this?" she called attention to the small, metallic object. "If we find any more Klefki, we should probably try to take them down before they run away!" She stowed the key and mounted back up, cautiously pressing onward into the secret room.

You obtained a SMALL KEY! This key will open a single locked door. You can only use it in this dungeon.

In the room beyond was a large stack of bright gems illuminating the room, glowing with tan, cyan, and chrome-colored lights, respectively. "Whoa! Look at all those Rock, Ice, and Steel Gems!" the explorer gasped, their light illuminating murals depicting statue-like Pokémon she had never seen before. They all had large heads and seven eyes. She took photographs of the three murals, as well as the gem hoard itself. "How do we split this?" she asked, Aslan slowly walking over to the pile. She reached down to pick up a Rock Gem and an Ice Gem to examine them further.

Once the two gems were disturbed, the three sets of eyes glowed a bright red, and a series of trapdoors started to open in a snaking pattern from the southeast corner to the northwest. The latches opening sounded almost like a drumroll. Shalin screamed and spurred Kiara hard, the lioness dashing out of the room before all the trapdoors opened, the treasure disappearing into the abyss below. She was hyperventilating from the stress of having her life flash before her eyes. "Which do you want, Sawyer?" Shalin asked, offering one of the two gems to Ashley for the trouble.

Regardless of which one, if any, he claimed, Shalin was ready to move on. The moment she entered the next room, four Runerigus, one in each corner of the room, started firing Shadow Balls toward her...but they didn't seem to be very good at leading their shots. It didn't make her any less scared of them, again spurring her Pyroar into booking it through the room.

That had looped them back around to near the entrance room they had fallen back to...except the turnstile was set to move clockwise instead of counterclockwise. She waited for Ashley and his team to catch up, since Kiara and Shalin would need their help to be able to shift the stone turnstile anyway.

Ashley Shepard

Keys: 1

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Fair
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

{WC: 480}
{PC: 5}

[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
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[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

Shalin, too, needed to pause to catch her breath in the turnstile room. There was nothing that was going to bother her there. It was cramped, yes, but it was a wonderful place to rest. She took the time to engage in a brief respite, dismounting from Kiara's back and cuddling the Pyroar's cheek. "I wasn't trying to ignore you earlier," she sighed. "I agree with you, though; definitely need to show some restraint in here. Certainly more than in the Crystal Trench. We're going to have to make all the desert cities' Rangers aware of how dangerous this place is."

Sawyer's heavy breathing in dashing through the Runerigus turret room made Shalin a bit worried for him...particularly after venting his frustration about how many times both their lives flashed before their eyes. "It would be a...slightly tight fit, but there's room for a second on Kiara if you need." The Pyroar nodded; while the extra weight of a second rider would slow her down quite a bit, it would still be faster, and less strenuous, than trying to dodge all these hazards on foot. "I also have Prance, but she's not a Stantler anymore. She evolved, and I don't know what she evolved into."

Once the two were rested up, Shalin made sure Sawyer was okay to continue on before helping the group rotate the turnstile clockwise. Provided he was willing to help her, a new part of the ruins was open to them. It appeared to be a gathering hall with a stage and a back entrance. with a large open space not only in front, but also stage right. Given there was plenty of room to maneuver, she felt comfortable hopping back atop Kiara.

When Shalin went to investigate the stage, she found a piece of parchment nailed to the wall, and it looked like it would crumble if it moved. "Kiara, can you give me a little more light?" she asked, the lioness happily obliging. Upon close examination, it was a MAP of the ruins! While her phone didn't get signal this far underground, she could still run it in local mode. She took a photo of the map; while she couldn't forward it to any device Sawyer had, she could at least show him what they were up against.

You found the DUNGEON MAP! The dark rooms are the ones you haven't been to yet.

Kiara leaped up to stage level and her rider took a look at the backstage door. It led to a disused storage room that had some small rodent Pokémon running around. A quick once over revealed nothing of value. She backtracked and waved for Sawyer to follow her through a passage that led to the very northwest-most corner of the bottom floor. Iron bars gated the way to a staircase leading upward, and there was an extremely thick glass enclosure surrounding what appeared to be a switch of some sort that was dimly glowing red. The only gap in the glass was several feet wide but only a few inches tall, and part of the glass wall blocked every direct angle to the switch. "I don't think any of our Pokémon have a way to strike that," she sighed. "At least not any of mine. We need a projectile small enough to fit through there that we can also curve. Very curious..."

She reviewed her photograph of the map and let Sawyer take another look at it if she wanted. "With this key, we can probably open up that lock by the turnstile. Then we can get there from three different ways, which means we can get anywhere." Granted, it would take a lot of annoying backtracking, but it would let them continue to delve deeper...and hopefully find a way out. She had wondered how much time had passed since they entered...

Ashley Shepard

Keys: 1

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Fair
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

{WC: 647}
{PC: 6}

[newclass=".sawyer"] [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer b"]color:#00BFFF; font-weight:lighter; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
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[newclass=".wizzcred a"]font: monospace; font-size: 10px; color:#7a7a7a;[/newclass]

"Yours neither, huh?" Shalin sighed. "We'll just have to remember this is here." She annotated her digital map appropriately, then returned to the south end of the stage room. The door to the east, leading back to the entrance room they had fallen into what seemed like hours ago, was locked. That was no problem, though! She turned her SMALL KEY into the lock, releasing it. The slab that the lock was holding up receded into the ground with a thud.

After some backtracking through the ruins' east wing, including being tagged by a Shadow Ball in the Runerigus room, she returned to the stage room through the door she had unlocked, with the turnstile set up to go north and let them venture into unknown territory. Beyond was another room with thick glass surrounding a strange apparatus, though this one was simpler: it consisted of a large metal sphere with a track to roll on. On the other side of the track was a raised floor panel. This would be simple; Shalin had the perfect Pokémon for it. "Prance, you got this!" the rider cried, releasing a Wyrdeer alongside the lioness. "Use your PSYSHIELD BASH!"

The psychic-type's antlers glowed an eerie purple, as did the metal sphere inside the enclosure. She lowered her antlers and rammed the glass. There was not a scratch on the glass itself, but the sphere started moving. The eerie glow continued as Prance guided the sphere down the track with her mind, though progress was slow. As the round object reached the end...

Click.

The sound of several stone slabs dropping echoed in the room, the fallen pieces of stone forming a staircase in the northwest corner. Knowing that quadrupedal Pokémon struggled with stairs, Shalin dismounted Kiara and recalled both of her Pokémon before leading the way upstairs. "Right," she agreed with Ashley's remark about grabbing things. "Sawyer, who knows how many more traps are in here? Scouting will help a lot." If they did need a Pokémon that could maneuver in small spaces, there was Jugan, her Snivy. He was nimble, but one hit from the Pokémon Shalin had seen so far would leave him in bad shape.

If Ashley followed her to the upper level, the two would be greeted by the rhythmic sound of the grating of metal. It was dark, too; she released Kiara long enough to light her torch, then recalled her when she saw how the corridors were. She waved her torch all over the room, seeing a tunnel with spikes intermittently popping up from the floor. It gave the illusion of spikes moving on a conveyor belt. There was no way her lioness was going to be able to squeeze through that corridor by herself, let alone while carrying her trainer. "Sawyer, follow me after the spikes pop up behind me!"

She began tapping her feet to the rhythm of the grating spikes, like she was hitting a drill in Step Step Revolution. All that time at the arcade was paying off! Marching in place, she took off once the spikes in front of her receded. Her footsteps were in perfect lockstep with the sounds of rubbing metal.

Once she was past the spikes, Shalin leaned through the door frame and into the next room. Three Torkoal were alert but otherwise minding their own business, from what she could gather at first glance. There was also another Klefki floating near the ceiling in the center of the room. "Bingo," Shalin whispered to Ash. "Sawyer, do your thing." She held Treble's Poké Ball in case things got out of hand, noting light filtering from above the southwest corner of the room. That could be worth investigating later.

Ashley Shepard

{WC: 624}
{PC: 7}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Shalin        Human          ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Pyroar-F       Fair
Treble        Hakamo-o       Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Queen Zing    Beedrill       Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good

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[newclass=".sawyer i"]color:#00BFFF; font-style:italic; [/newclass]
[newclass=".sawyer a"]text-transform:uppercase; [/newclass]
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