Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Azure Sun Rises (Ch3)

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Azure Caves
B4F


	In a dimly lit room deep within the dungeon, the soft glow of blue crystals fell on a white and pink form huddled in the corner and sobbing quietly.

	Lurantis sat there, her body shuddering and her head lowered as she hugged her knees and wept out of fear and pain. Her body was covered in cuts and lacerations, many rock shards remained embedded in her body from the attacks of Rock-type Pokémon, and her right antenna had been torn off in a previous encounter with a wild Pokémon. The pain was not enough for her to faint from, but she wished it was. She knew that fainting would let her escape, and she wanted more than anything else to leave this place and never return.

	Suddenly, the cave began to rumble, the ground shook, and a low crumbling noise echoed throughout the room. Lurantis looked up, glancing around fearfully and breathing quickly. There was something big coming. Small pebbles rained from the ceiling as the rumbling increased in intensity and volume, and finally, from a tunnel across the room came a Donphan. The Ground-type was curled up into a ball and kicking up dust as it rolled along swiftly. Close behind it came a small Phanpy, running and trying to keep up. The Donphan rolled through the room and down a tunnel at the other end, not even noticing Lurantis, but the Phanpy slowed as it entered the room and turned towards her. It slowly approached her and let out a cry, narrowing its eyes and lowering its head. Lurantis watched the wild Pokémon, partially frightened of its impending attack, but also hopeful that it would knock her out and let her leave the dungeon at last.

	Before the Phanpy could attack, however, the cave began to rumble again, and as the sound grew louder, Lurantis realized that the Donphan from before was probably returning. Sure enough, in moments the Donphan had rolled back out of the tunnel down which it had gone. It uncurled from its more circular form and landed on its four short legs, but the speed at which it had been rolling caused it to lose traction and slide across the ground a short distance, crashing into the rock wall of the cavern to the right of Lurantis. The impact of the Pokémon shook the cave, making the Grass-type yelp and a crack appear on the wall where the Donphan had struck it. Blue light seeped through, and the Donphan paused to examine it. Lurantis looked too, and even the Phanpy held back to see what was going on. The Donphan, its interest piqued by the light, headbutted the wall.

	An instant after it did, the fissures grew and a loud crack rang through the cave as the wall broke apart and a sudden light shone forth, blinding the three Pokémon momentarily. Lurantis recovered faster than the Ground-types, being more used to light than the subterranean Pokémon, and looked up to see that the wall had collapsed partially, thus revealing that its rocky surface had been hiding a large chunk of blue crystal bigger than any Lurantis had seen yet. Judging by the size of the portion of it that the Donphan’s attack had uncovered, she thought that it seemed to be as big as her, and its light was much brighter than those she had seen before. Its blue light flooded the room, and the two Ground-types reeled from it, closing their eyes tightly and crying out in surprise.

	Lurantis had a much different reaction, however. The glowing crystal lit up the cave like it was midday, and she felt as if she was outside again, under the bright sun. The only thing missing was heat, but that did not matter for Lurantis. The light alone was enough, and she began to feel energy flow into her again as her body started to photosynthesize once again. She stopped shivering, and she slowly got to her feet, wiping the tears from her face before spreading her arms and drawing in the light, converting it into energy.

	It wasn’t the sun, but it would do.

	For the first time since she had entered the mystery dungeon, she actually felt confident again. Notably, she did not have the same kind of energy that she could have had if she was in true sunlight, but the glowing crystal gave off enough light energy that she was able to absorb it and regain a decent amount of her strength. Decent enough to summon an attack.

	Lurantis closed her eyes and concentrated, and unlike the many failures she had met with before, she finally succeeded in calling up an attack. Her arms glowed green for an instant before long blades of energy, half her height, extended out from them, glowing brightly and humming quietly. She opened her eyes and glanced between them, somewhat surprised to see that she was capable of summoning her Solar Blade attack. She swung her arms, and the blades swung with them, acting as extensions of her own limbs, trailing green sparks behind them as they moved. Lurantis stopped when she heard the Donphan and Phanpy cry out, though, and looked to see that they had recovered from the initial shock of the sudden light. They were squinting their eyes and facing the Grass-type, standing side by side as they pawed the ground and prepared to attack.

	But they never got the chance. Lurantis leapt forward, her newfound energy propelling her at her foes and giving her the strength to strike first. She swung her dual blades of light energy at the two Ground-type Pokémon simultaneously, slicing their armored hides and sending them reeling with pained cries. She landed between them, and lunged to the side to stab the Donphan with both blades before yanking them out and spinning to slash the Phanpy. Her flurry of attacks was over before the Ground-types could react, and they both collapsed, knocked unconscious by the super-effective Solar Blade.

	Lurantis stood between her fallen foes and extinguished her blades, letting her arms fall to her sides as she took a deep breath. At long last, she had overcome her fears and summoned an attack. She had regained her confidence, and if she could keep this up, she might be able to complete the dungeon and escape it without needing to let herself get knocked out.

	As she stood there between the unconscious bodies of the first two Pokémon she had ever defeated in a mystery dungeon, Lurantis was surprised to feel tears fall from her eyes. But she quickly noticed that they were much less numerous than the terrified and frightened ones that she had cried before, and as they fell, she was even able to smile. She knew that she was not crying out of fear, but rather out of joy. She still had a chance. She still had hope.

	The blue light continued to shine from the crystal in the wall as Lurantis turned and hurried down a tunnel. Though its light faded as she went, it did not fade within her, as the energy it gave her still pushed her onward. With it, she could finally achieve her true potential, and summon the power she knew she had all along. The dark and the cold had stolen it from her, and fear had locked it away, but now that she had seen a glimpse of the light, she would not let it go. It had given her energy, and with it, hope. Hope that she would reach the end of this trial, and hope that she would no longer be useless.


Deep Azure Caves


	Stoutland descended the final set of stairs cautiously. He had completed the fifth floor of the dungeon, which, according to the reports by the Dungeon Delver Guild, meant he was at the end. All that remained was this final chamber, and then he could leave at last. He did not know what this last section of the dungeon held, but this was supposed to be where the treasure was held. Nobody had made good reports of this part of the dungeon, but he expected there to be some kind of final threat at the very end that he would need to overcome.

	As he went down the stairs, he thought back to Lurantis and hoped that she was safe. By now, after giving it thought on the fifth floor of the dungeon, he had decided that his choice to abandon Lurantis was wrong. She was a bad fighter, but could still have assisted him, and without him, she was helpless. Abandoning her was a harmful choice for both of them.

	“Even so, I can’t go back,” he reminded himself. “I wish I could, but I have to keep going. Once you finish a floor, you can’t go back. Lurantis has to make it here on her own, or faint trying. I just wish I could make it up to her. I’m such a terrible person…”
He fell silent, his voice choking up as fought back tears. He was successful this time, but guilt still hounded the canine as he made his way to the end of Azure Caves, entering its deepest point.

	“I need to keep going. It’s all I can do.”

	At last, Stoutland reached the end of the staircase, paws stepping onto the rocky ground of the last floor of the cave. Relieved to finally have made it down the surprisingly lengthy staircase, he looked around the room in wonder. The deepest part of Azure Caves was a large chamber, the floor roughly circular in shape and the ceiling about two dozen feet above. The most surprising thing about it, as Stoutland noted with awe, was that the walls were almost completely comprised of the same glowing blue crystals that dotted the walls of the upper parts of the dungeon. The floor of the chamber, though mostly just rock, also had many blue crystals exposed, and the ceiling had some as well, but fewer than the walls or floor. However, Stoutland noticed that the ceiling, though lacking many crystals, did seem to have plants growing in certain places, with vines and roots hanging from the ceiling. Stoutland could see all of this with ease, as the brilliant blue glow of the crystals illuminated the room almost as brightly as if it was outside in sunlight. The crystals were decidedly brighter than those on the last floor, confirming Stoutland’s suspicion that the crystals grew brighter as one went deeper underground. On the opposite side of the room, a tunnel was set in the wall, leading out from the chamber. Blue crystals lined it and showed that the tunnel curved upwards and extended an unknown distance.

	Stoutland could not investigate the tunnel, however, because between it and him stood a particularly intimidating obstacle: a large quadrupedal Pokémon about twice his size, covered in red fur, with grey rocky growths on its back. Stoutland recognized it as a Camerupt, a slow but strong Pokémon, and one that he did not feel confident fighting. It was facing away from him, which he was grateful for, as it gave him the chance to examine the chamber more without being spotted and attacked instantly.

	He stayed in place and looked with interest at the crystals making up the walls and parts of the floor and ceiling, wondering if the crystals were the treasure spoken of by the various Pokémon he had asked about this place before setting off to explore it. He had started to ponder if he could somehow break part of the wall apart and take some of the blue crystals for himself when a rumbling female voice, higher-pitched than his own voice but still quite deep, boomed throughout the chamber.

	“Not another one,” the voice grumbled. “It seems like a little peace and quiet is too much to ask for.”

	Stoutland looked at the Camerupt in surprise as the Fire/Ground-type slowly turned to face him. The Camerupt glared at him, but upon noting his surprised expression, she let out a short laugh.

	“Surprised to hear me talk?” she said. “I am not one of those mindless and speechless wild Pokémon that waste their time meandering about in the upper levels of this dungeon. My name is Camerupt, and I come from aboveground. I found this place myself about a week ago, and made it my home to try to be alone, so I do not take kindly to visitors. Unless you want a fight, I suggest you leave this place.”

	Stoutland stood his ground. “I didn’t come here for a fight, Camerupt, but I didn’t come all this way for nothing. I’m here because I heard there was treasure at the end of this dungeon, and I’m not leaving until I find it.”

	Camerupt looked down at the ground and shook her head. “Just like all the others, I see. I cannot fathom how the word got out, but apparently everyone knows about my treasure. Do you know how many times I have been assaulted for it, even after moving down here? Every day, some new Pokémon appears to fight me and steal my treasure. I just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask?”

	The Normal-type cocked his head to the side, surprised. “Pokémon have attacked you for your treasure?”

	Camerupt looked up again, locking eyes with Stoutland and staring him down. “Yes, and judging by what you have said, it seems like you will do the same!” Smoke drifted from her mouth as she spoke, and Stoutland thought he saw a bright orange glow emanating from it as well.

	“Wait, can we talk this over?” he said, stepping back cautiously.

	Camerupt shook her head. Small embers drifted from her mouth and the rock formations on her back alike. Stoutland realized she was charging up a Fire-type attack.

	“The only thing you can do is run, or faint,” Camerupt grumbled. “Too many Pokémon have come in here and disturbed me just to steal my treasure! Enough is enough! I have had it!”

	Camerupt gave a feral roar, and a large spout of fire shot from her mouth in a Flamethrower attack. The speed and ferocity of the attack startled the Normal-type, and he had no time to avoid it. He was struck and sent flying backwards at the crystalline wall of the chamber. A sound like crackling glass echoed throughout the room as the canine Pokémon impacted the wall and fell off, landing hard on his side on the rocky ground. The Flamethrower had signed the fur of his face and front side badly, and the burned fur gave off a foul stench.

	Stoutland grunted and winced in pain as he tried to stand, but his legs felt weak, and he could not get up. The attack had been surprisingly powerful, and he feared that another one like it could defeat him, knocking him unconscious and sending him out of the dungeon, resetting all he had worked for. He lay there helplessly as the ground shook, his heavyweight foe approaching him, smoke drifting from her mouth with each breath. Camerupt’s eyes were narrowed, and her face twisted in anger as she looked down at the fallen canine.

	“I warned you,” she growled. “Do not play with fire, pup. You will only get burned.”

	Camerupt spat an Ember at Stoutland, hitting him in the flank. The Normal-type cried out in pain as the fur burned, giving off more of that awful smell. Breathing heavily, tears falling from his eyes, he struggled to stand up, but another Ember forced him to the ground again with a scream. As he collapsed, Camerupt used Ember a third time, scorching Stoutland’s side. The Normal-type, wracked with pain and unable to avoid the attacks or fight back, felt himself slipping. He was about to black out. One more attack, even one as weak as Ember, would mean the end.

	Camerupt stepped back and sighed, looking down at the critically wounded Normal-type. He lay on the ground, curled up slightly, much of his fur singed and emitting small plumes of smoke and an off-putting smell. The vicious attacks had twisted his face into a grimace, the fur wet with tears as he shuddered in pain from the attacks he had taken, fear of those to come, and anger that he could not avoid or resist them.

	“Alright, I believe I have punished you enough,” said Camerupt. “It is time to end this.” She opened her mouth, and a bright orange light shined from her throat as she prepared to fire a point-blank Flamethrower at her foe. Stoutland just remained on the ground, not bothering to look up at the impending attack.

	But the attack never came. Before Camerupt could unleash it, a pebble flew at her and into her open mouth, lodging itself at the opening of her throat. The Camerupt staggered back, her eyes widened as she gagged on the rock. She turned her head away and finally forced the rock out of her mouth, launching it out with the Flamethrower attack she had been trying to use on Stoutland. The flames dissipated against the wall of the chamber, and the Fire-type began to breathe heavily, trying to recover from the attack and looking for where it had come from. To her surprise, when she looked back at Stoutland, she saw the source: a diminutive pink and white Pokémon standing to the side of the Normal-type, raising its arms defensively in front of itself. Camerupt recognized the Pokémon as a Lurantis, and a wounded one at that, since it had a multitude of wounds and cuts on its body, and its right antenna was gone.

	“Back off,” said the Grass-type. “He’s beaten. Time to stop fighting.”

	Weakly, Stoutland looked up at the Grass-type. He tried to say something, ask her how she got here, or even just say her name, but a pained grunt was all he could manage. Lurantis glanced down at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

	“You’ll be okay,” she said. “I’ll distract the Camerupt. You focus on healing yourself.”

	Stoutland’s head fell to the ground as he took a few moments to rest, while Lurantis stepped in front of him, between him and Camerupt.

	“Like I said: leave him alone,” Lurantis said to her opponent. “We’ll leave you alone after he’s healed.”

	“You think you can order me around?” Camerupt growled, smoke billowing from her mouth. “He came down here and tried to steal my treasure. Too many Pokémon have tried. That is why I am hiding down in this dungeon in the first place! He must pay! And if you want to stop me, then you must as well!”

	Camerupt launched a Flamethrower at Lurantis, who quickly leapt to the side, having expected it judging by the smoke that the Fire/Ground-type had been emitting. The flames flew past her and over Stoutland, splattering against the glowing blue wall behind them. Lurantis sidestepped to put some distance between her and the flames, knowing that one hit from a strong fire attack like that could make her faint.

	Camerupt slowly turned to face her new foe, glaring angrily at her before spitting an Ember at the Grass-type, who narrowly avoided it and returned to her defensive stance. As the Camerupt continued to attack her, ignoring Stoutland in favor of this new threat, Lurantis tried to split her attention between dodging and photosynthesizing. Combined, the many crystals all over the chamber gave off enough light to energize her, just like the giant crystal from the room with the Donphan and Phanpy, but she had not yet had the chance concentrate on drawing in their energy. Her body automatically photosynthesized to a small degree when she was exposed to light, but that did not generate enough power to let her use her Solar Blade. Until Camerupt relented, which would give her a chance to truly concentrate on drawing in the light like she had with the giant crystal from before, she would have to focus on dodging her foe’s attacks.

	It was a difficult task, though, as the Fire/Ground-type was enraged and relentless. Being ceaselessly hounded for her treasure for so long had finally made her snap, and she was intent on using all her power to defeat these two intruders soundly. She stayed in the center of the room and turned in circles to keep her foe in her sights as Lurantis leapt and lunged around the edges of the chamber. Camerupt launched Ember after Ember, mixed with the occasional Flamethrower, at Lurantis, who struggled to dodge them all despite her natural agility.

	Meanwhile, Stoutland had recovered some of his energy, and had gotten off of his side and rolled onto his belly. Though it was a struggle, he managed to reach to the pouch on his back and take it off, letting it fall to his side and spill its contents: one apple and two Oran Berries. He leaned down and ate one of the berries greedily, feeling the pain and weakness fade away as he ate. His health returned in moments, and although the smell of burning fur lingered in the air, the pain he had felt from Camerupt’s attacks subsided fully. He got to his feet, leaving the pouch and his two remaining items on the ground, ready to join the fight.

	Camerupt was looking to the side, focusing on Lurantis and preparing to attack her again. Stoutland saw his chance, and with a loud bark, he rushed forward and used Tackle on the Camerupt, hitting her in the side. The attack did not faze her, however, and she simply turned her head to glare at the Normal-type. Stoutland stumbled back in surprise, before recovering from the shock and jumping back, putting some distance between himself and his foe. The Fire/Ground-type looked back and forth between her two opponents, standing to her right and left against the walls of the round chamber, and frowned.

	“This has gone on long enough!” she boomed. “I was hoping to not have to do this, but you have forced me to use my strongest attack: Eruption! If this is what it takes to get some peace and quiet, then so be it!”

	Camerupt let out an earsplitting roar, and the entire chamber shook. Stoutland lowered his stance to keep his balance, watching Camerupt cautiously. He glanced over at his companion to see how she was doing, but saw that she had not lowered her stance. Instead, she had her arms out to her sides, and her eyes closed. He wondered what she was doing, but realized that she seemed to be faintly glowing all over. He guessed that she might be charging an attack, but before he could confirm his suspicions, a loud rumbling distracted him, and he focused on Camerupt again. He saw the volcano-like rock formations on Camerupt’s back glowing brightly as smoke drifted from them, and the next moment, Camerupt lowered her head and closed her eyes, shouting out as a huge plume of lava shot out of the miniature volcanoes on her back and rose all the way to the ceiling. The lava clung to the ceiling, spreading out and coating much of it. And then, to the horror of Stoutland, it began to fall, sending drops of molten rock and fire raining down over the whole chamber.

	Though Stoutland could only watch, terrified of the rain of fire, Lurantis had already begun to act. When Camerupt had announced her intent to use Eruption, the Grass-type knew that some kind of defense was necessary. She had used the time Camerupt spent talking and charging her attack to charge one of her own, concentrating on photosynthesizing with the light of the crystals and gaining as much energy as possible in the short time she had. And when she had enough power, she finally summoned her Solar Blade, wasting no time in slashing the ground at her feet and cutting a thin sheet of rock from the floor. She extinguished her Solar Blade and crouched, reaching her claws under the sheet of rock and struggling to lift it. Though she was not a physically strong individual, like the majority of her species, the stress of the situation motivated her and gave her the strength to lift the rock partially, but it was not enough for her plan to succeed.

	“Stoutland!” she cried. “Get over here! Now!”

	The Normal-type looked at his former companion, confused to see her struggling to lift a chunk of rock from the floor. He couldn’t fathom what she intended to do, but he ran over anyway, darting between the first of the drops of lava and flame falling from the ceiling. A few landed on his back, making him stumble and cry out in pain, but he kept running, reaching Lurantis’ side within seconds.

	“Help me lift this!” Lurantis grunted as she struggled to raise the rock from the floor. Stoutland finally realized what Lurantis was planning: they would use the chunk of rock as a shield against the rain of fire. The Normal-type ducked, bowing his head and getting it under the rock where Lurantis had already lifted it up, and while he slowly raised his head and the rock with it, Lurantis went to the other side and lifted it from there. Together, the two Pokémon lifted the sheet of rock, and after some maneuvering, got it above their heads, huddling together underneath it as they struggled to hold it up.

	And it was not a moment too soon, as the falling lava began to increase in intensity right as they got under cover. It fell like raindrops in a storm, quickly obscuring their view of the chamber. The lava fortunately seemed to dissipate once it hit the floor, so it did not flow under their stone umbrella and burn them alive. Even so, the heat quickly grew unbearable, and the two Pokémon felt the burning temperatures sap their energy as they struggled to keep the sheet of rock held up. Their faces contorted with the strain of supporting their stone umbrella, and Stoutland began panting heavily while Lurantis’ arms quivered as she felt her strength leaving her. If Camerupt’s Eruption lasted for much longer, they would be in more danger of the rock crushing them than the flames burning them.

	Just as they felt their strength running out, the rain of fire began to thin. They looked out from under the stone umbrella and saw the falling lava finally diminish and vanish completely. Camerupt became visible again, bowing her head and breathing heavily from the exertion of the powerful Eruption attack. Once they saw that the attack had ended, Lurantis and Stoutland were filled with a restored optimism and energy, giving them the strength to heave the stone off and throw it aside. Before the sheet of rock had even hit the ground, Stoutland’s legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground, hanging his head low and panting loudly. Lurantis fell to her knees and breathed heavily as well, hunching over and letting her arms hang limp at her sides. Despite being exhausted, however, both of them felt relieved to have survived the Camerupt’s attack.

	As Lurantis tried to return her breathing to normal, though, she noticed something on the ground that she had not seen before: a few spots of dappled light on the floor of the chamber, that appeared to be shining down from above. Confused, she looked up, and what she saw made her freeze.

	Meanwhile, Camerupt recovered from the exertion of her attack and looked up, glaring at her foes. Stoutland got to his feet and met her gaze.

	“You survived,” Camerupt growled. “I’m impressed. But this is not over yet.”

	Stoutland lowered his stance again, preparing for his opponent’s next attack, but Lurantis did not pay any attention to Camerupt. Instead, she was focusing on what she had seen on the ceiling of the room. Stoutland happened to glance over at her to see if she was ready to resume fighting Camerupt, and saw her looking up. He looked up too, and his eyes widened as he saw what Lurantis had spotted.

	The vines and roots that had hung from the ceiling earlier had been burned away in Camerupt’s Eruption attack, revealing holes in their place, through which they had hung down into the chamber. And to Lurantis’ surprise and joy, the blue sky was visible through those holes, letting rays of the sunlight that she had been away from for so long, the sunlight that she craved so much, shine down. Its familiar light and heat flowed into the crystalline chamber, illuminating it even brighter than the blue crystals could alone.

	And with its energy, Lurantis felt whole again.

	She stood up and raised an arm, and a massive Solar Blade extended from it, reaching halfway up the chamber. Stoutland and Camerupt stared at it in surprise, as Lurantis held the solar-powered blade of energy high and eyed her opponent.

	“Camerupt,” said Lurantis to the Fire/Ground-type, “It’s over. Finally, the sun has risen, and now it’s about to set—right on top of you!”

	With that, she swung her arm downwards and slammed the Solar Blade down onto Camerupt. The Pokémon cried out as the powerful attack struck her, buckling her legs and forcing her to the ground. Stoutland jumped back with a start as the attack hit, and looked at Camerupt. The Fire/Ground-type lay still and silent, except for strained breathing. She had finally been defeated by Lurantis’ powerful attack.

	“L-Lurantis,” Stoutland stammered, “I didn’t know that’s what a Solar Blade was like! That’s way stronger than I imagined.”

	Lurantis extinguished the blade again, turning to Stoutland. “That’s its true power. And it’s about time I got a chance to use it. Anyway, are you alright?”

	“I-I’m fine…” Stoutland trailed off as he looked at his former companion, taking in the wounds all over her, and especially her missing right antenna. Now that he was finally able to focus on her instead of on surviving against Camerupt, he could clearly see just how much she had suffered, and the guilt that had overwhelmed him before had a chance to arise in his mind once again. He knew that the time had come to own up to what he put Lurantis through, and he could only hope that she found it in herself to forgive him. But considering what he had done, he was unsure if she would.

	And as he braced himself, preparing to speak his mind and ask for her forgiveness, he found that he was even more nervous about facing her than he had been about facing Camerupt.


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