Sosio and Ares: The climb

After their long and treacherous battle with the leader of the dungeon and his fiendish minions, they had discovered the pokemon was guarding a staircase. Whatever was beyond here was the summit, and this wouldn't take long, but it was going to be hard finding their way. The Fletchling flew up, blinking back at the darkness.
At least the Charmander's tail would light the way.
She turned around, checking on the pokemon. Who knew if they would encounter pokemon or items here, but the winding tunnels would be hard enough as it is. The only question was where to turn first.

The moon lingered in the heavens by the time they had finally ascended to the top of the artificial staircase, its waxy, pale light barely penetrating the darkness that had descended upon the ridge they were now located upon. It was a thin stretch of land that supported them, with soil as loose and coarse as the sand carried by the tide onto a beach. There was sparse, dry vegetation that grew upon the sides of the rock walls; they were twisted and gnarled as if, in a desperate attempt to get some sort of light onto their cells, they had physically deformed themselves. This was place of desolation and isolation, and before the duo was a looming entrance to a dark tunnel.

This was not going to be as easy as the climb up.

In the darkness, the Charmander's tail glowed bright and proudly, defying the abyss's attempt to smother out everything. Ares was not ignorant to this fact and promptly grabbed hold of its base to bring it before him. He gave a confident smile when Sosio exchanged a glance with him, and beckoned forth his voice, "Are you ready?"

He was.

She strained her eyes attempting to see with the dull Charmander's tail light. She never liked fire more, and it was a good thing she had found him rather than some pokemon that was afraid of the dark. She picked up her head and looked straight ahead.
"Of course I'm ready. We just need to figure out where to go first."
There was a fork in the tunnels already. The one on the right was curved, and the one on the left seemed to go straight.
The one on the left looks like it might lead right off the side of the mountain, but the one on the right might be a dead end or trap...
She looked over to Ares. She didn't want to spit up, but she didn't tell him that. She just implied that they should go together. Surely there would be plenty of Ghost-types.
"Where should we go?"

As they progressed through the darkness and slowly penetrated it in search of whatever treasures it might hold, Ares's tail flame slowly grew less and less effective. He had experienced this type of darkness some time ago when he had explored the vast interior of Mt. Frostmeer during a blizzard, but his memory failed him as to how he managed to navigate his way out. It probably was just a culmination of luck, skill, and the universe deeming him unfit for freezing to death. The memories of the cold sent a slight shiver down his spine.

They approached a fork, of which was illuminated by the tiny flame that was elevated before them. Both options were terrible, and his knowledge of dungeons stated that he preferred the ability to stay on solid ground rather than thin air. The Charmander would direct his flame towards the right, giving a nod in confirmation that he understood the risks that came with traveling down such a path. "When I want to be right," he would conclude, "I go right." He would begin to travel down that pathway, his footsteps echoing through the curved tunnel.

Soiso watched the Charmander approach the tunnels with his bright tail. He stated something that wasn't very reassuring for his choice and stepped ahead down the path to the right. She followed closely behind, paying attention to everything around her. Certainly, right would be "right", right? Maybe it would be a trap because most pokemon instantly choose right. Most are right handed. Or right clawed... Where the tunnels even pokemon-made? Anyways, the tunnels seemed to get thinner as they went along, but it was very gradual.

Sosio was small, so the thin tunnels didn't make her claustrophobic. If anything, she prefers tight spaces over open spaces. Open spaces remind her of large pokemon. She knows how much that freaks her out. She desperately attempted not to show fear when battling the Rampardos, and she ended up winning. It was hard to see what was ahead, so she hopped in front of Charmander, so at least they both could see. She didn't feel like flying; it might make too much noise and she would run out of energy. She trotted around, looking at the curved walls of the tunnels.
They look like a pokemon used dig or something. I wonder if ground-type pokemon live here.
The dimness of the tunnels even with Ares' little burning tail made the Fletchling also presume that Dark-types like it here, too. The tunnels were quite eerie, and it was impossible to tell how much further it was to the end, not to mention they might get lost.
Who knows? What if the other tunnel lead directly to the end?

The darkness slowly grew to consume all that was visible, leaving the Charmander's flame to become futile in comparison. The air was growing thinner - a sure sign that this tunnel was at a high altitude - and the sound of distant water droplets careening to the stone floor below echoed throughout the cavern. His footsteps were not omitted from such reverberation, as the sound of his toe-claws scratching the floor of the cave seemed to be amplified throughout. Whatever creatures lingered in the shadows would undoubtedly gain an upperhand should such an encounter come to fruition - so long as they lacked feet.

Speaking of feet, Ares could barely see his or the floor in which he attempted to cross without issue. Though Sosio had taken the lead through the narrowing tunnel, he would maintain a close step in order to attempt to illuminate their surroundings. As was typical of such things, however, it appeared that he would have an issue with detecting an object buried in the abyss-like darkness. The lizard would feel his foot jam into something, and inertia would throw him to the ground as if he were an unsatisfactory toy. It was humorous except to him, as his snout had made contact with the unforgiving floor.

"Oof!" was all he could muster before pushing himself into a seated position in order to feel out his foot and identify the object that had made him trip.

This dice is not existing.

Sosio walked along, and heard the Charmander trip behind her.
"Are you ok?"
It looks like he tripped over something. Sosio was surprised she didn't see the item, but it was probably because she is hopping and must have passed it without noticing, as it is dark. She could just make out that he sat down and picked up the item from the ground.
"Nice."

She continued to walk, and she could barely breath through her tiny beak. It was a good thing she didn't need so much Oxygen in her lungs. They were smaller, and birds were used to flying at high altitudes. Ahead, she saw something blocking the caves.
Is it a dead end? Where we wrong?
She approached and realized that the dark figure was a pokemon. Great. Perfect timing. It's probably going to hate them for taking that item.

This dice is not existing.

His fall appeared to cause a great deal of ruckus. The sound of his hardened, scaled flesh colliding with the floor reverberated throughout, along with his involuntary "oof". Though he had pushed himself into a seated position and was now soothingly massaging his foot, his eyes were shut tight in order to prevent himself from displaying any evident signs of being in pain. This, of course, was done in vain, as the very sound of his voice indicated that his toe was throbbing painfully.

"Y-yeah," he would manage, eventually allowing his eyes to slide open in order to search for the rogue object, "I'll live." Ares's hand would feel about in the darkness momentarily before clasping about a rather peculiar box. It was cubic in shape and a light metallic blue. He gave it an inquisitive shake by his ear and heard the rustling of what seemed to be dense rope. He was unsure what to do with it, and thus simply held it aloft to show off his find. One "nice" later, and they were once again walking.

Some time later, they would come across a silent, looming figure. As Ares investigated the Pokemon further, he noted that it did not have feet. No wonder why it had approached them so silently! It was vaporous, and soon launched itself towards them, identifying itself as a Gastly. The screech it released was demonic in sound, and so was its light tap upon Ares's skin with a Fire Punch. This caught him off guard, for who knew Gastly had hands to even punch him with?

Sosio watched as Ares got up, holding the box in his claws. It was a nice little box, similar to the one Sosio had found in the mountain.
"What ever could possibly be in these boxes?" she pondered out loud.

With the Gastly having punched the Charmander with its own flaming body, it was a little strange, but it wasn't very effective, fortunately. Of course it had to be a ghost-type. Sosio couldn't do anything to help. To stall for the Charmander, she mewed loudly in order to not only distract the Gastly, but to also lower its attack in case either of them got hit again. She swiftly avoided a hypnosis, although it didn't even require any speed because it was so easy to look away from its giant, manacing eyes that poke out of either side of its head. It reminded her of something... Something that had to do with dragons... anyhow, she attempted a snatch, which would've been super-effective if it did any damage. She then retreated, giving room for Ares to attack as she viewed her item. Until the end of the battle, she would have to use Growl.

This dice is not existing.

Ghost-type Pokemon were always a creepy bunch. Instead of being normal like other species, they had to have a body that was not solid and had a shape quite unlike others. Some floated off the ground, while other appeared to have feet but rarely walked: their peculiarity was what made Ares dislike them greatly. As the Gastly peered on with the intensity and bizarreness of a Peeping Tom - licking its gaseous jaws with its elongated, pink tongue - in expectation for a return fire, the Charmander could feel no other perfect motivation to knock it back into whatever hell it came from.

The lizard allowed his jaws to swiftly open and a sharp exhale to propel splintering fire to pepper the Gastly's round, spherical body. It screeched once more, its eyes widening from a triangular shape to circles, before seemingly evaporating into nothingness. The noise lingered on the air before slowly and painstakingly fading away, leaving behind a ringing sensation in his ears. As Ares struggled to make sense of whether or not this victory should be celebrated or not, a slight hiss was made from his pointed tongue.

"Frickin' ghosts..."

Sosio watched Ares easily defeat the Gastly, wishing she, too had strong moves. It went off with a hissing sound and evaporated, although it already seemed like a gas. A haunted gas. Probably the saddest pokemon she had ever seen. It was a purple ball of haunted gas. After the battle was won, the Fletchling was stricken with pure confidence. She may not have done anything, but it sure was amazing to win.

Onward they went down the one-way path, paved with dirt askew and bitter night's cold stung Sosio's face. It was impossible to tell night from day in the closed tunnels. They must be at a really high altitude, because it's getting really cold. Sosio longed to see the moon hanging in the sky if it were night. Its beautiful glow always brightened her up and lightened her spirits. Sometimes she would look at meandering Lunatone, asking them to speak to the moon for her, but she can never understand the strange pokemon. The tunnels curved upwards, obviously leading them closer to the peak. Soon...

Ares kept close to Sosio as they progressed through the tunnel they had chosen, looking about in great curiosity at what was occurring around him. The lack of oxygen was apparent from the way his fire began to dwindle and a chill began to grow. It wasn't enough to bring about fear or uncertainty in his heart, nor was it enough to cause him to shiver, but it was certainly of the correct amount to cause his memories to retrogress back to his adventure in Mt. Frostmeer. There was something nice about that journey that he had had with a fellow wanderer and refugee of the blizzard that had raged outside, and he was certainly pleased to find another stranger to go spelunking with. He would cast a gaze towards his feathered companion, a smile blooming silently upon his lips.

He was genuinely happy.

Ares would continue marching along in time with Sosio before his feet began to slow to a stop. Before them, another fork appeared: this time, three looming paths appeared. Each howled as a draft pushed its way through their arched entries. He would gaze towards each, evaluating every passage to ensure that he might make a good decision.

A snarl rippled through the air as distant footsteps echoed from the middle tunnel.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Looks like they were in for another fight.

This dice is not existing.

This dice is not existing.

Ares' burning tail brought heat to Sosio, but also lack of Oxygen. The tiny bits of smoke filled parts of the tunnels, but it wasn't too much to handle. She brushed against the walls between her and Ares, marching happily in unison. It was better to be lost with a friend than know where you're going alone. The soil became dryer and harder, almost like walking on cold stone, surrounding them and cramming them in a little space.

As they advanced, two pokemon approached loudly. A drilbur and a sableye.
Great. Like I wanna deal with another one of those smiling buffoons.
She wouldn't actually have to deal with it herself. Just its freaky smile. She would have to fight the ground-type, who must have assisted in the forming of the tunnels. Or its ancestors, anyway. The stairway itself didn't seem very natural. At least the ghost wouldn't be able to hit her with any of its ghost type moves.
She shot forward with a quick attack to start the battle, landing a direct hit on the mole. It was a weak pokemon, so it shouldn't be too hard to finish. It came at her with slash, but she retaliated with a powerful tackle, knocking its claws out of the way. She didn't bother with snatch because she was too sucked into the battle. The drilbur buried itself under the ground, leaving Sosio thinking it had retreated, but then she realized it was using dig.
Stupid pokemon. Don't you know ground type moves don't affect flying types?
It wasn't headed for Sosio. It was headed for Ares. If it landed this attack, it would be painfully super effective on the fire type.
"Look out underneath you!"

A single puff of smoke was exhaled from his nostrils as the two adversaries appeared, chittering and clicking in their own language as they appeared to communicate with each other. Another Sableye had appeared, which meant that Ares had found his opponent. He would allow one of his fists to beat into the other's open palm, a slight growl rumbling in his throat as he stared towards the bejeweled enemy. With a single toothy grin, the wily Charmander would snarl, "You take the mole. I'll take Mr. Creepy." Chittering ensued as he dashed forward, his feet thundering against the ground as he closed the distance between himself and his opponent.

There was something smug and conceited in that Ghost-type's smile as it remained stationary, refusing to budge as an attacker approached. Ares readied his attack and prepared to fire a lethal spray of fire all over his opponent, but was interrupted by a sudden warning from his partner. What-?

The ground burst open beneath him and revealed the squealing Drilbur, of which used Dig against him. The Charmander let out a yelp as he was punched back from the Sableye, reseting the battlefield to how it had been before the initial rush forward. His chest had received the brunt of the blast, and it throbbed horribly now. Allowing a silent curse to slip out of his mouth as he grabbed desperately at his chest, Ares would growl, "W-we need a strategy!"

Gasping with fear at Ares' sudden hit, she knew exactly what to do. She always came up with some crazy strategy, so it was time for that Drilbur to pay. In order to keep the Sableye from ruining their plot, she used Snatch and stole one of his jewl eyes. Laughing that it had popped out and she was holding it, she tossed it down the dirt corridor for the pokemon to fetch. Signaling Charmander to charge up a Dragon Pulse, she teased the ground pokemon by using snatch and stealing its item, waving it around. She swooped in and used snatch over and over, turning the pokemon this way and that. In its utter confusion, it attempted to digg away from the bird's swooping claws, but she picked it up by the feet as it jumped down, pulling it back up and throwing it at a wall, an easy, unmoving target for Charmander. The sableye began to come back, so if he timed it right, he would be able to whip around and finish that creep.