[crow]

Nico was checking his packs before they set off on their mission for the day. Oran berries... Check. Reviver seeds... Check. No Reviser seeds... Check and double check.

"Oh, don't forget the Escape Orb," Joli chimed in. "We used ours yesterday, so I got another one from Kangaskhan. Here." He held a blue orb out to Nico, who accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks," he said, and stuck that in the bag too, along with a few apples for good measure. They'd probably find a few while they were in there, but just in case they didn't.

[crow]

After that was just... looking over their mission letters. Nico took out the sheaf that belonged to the area they were going out to today, and quickly organized them by their senders' estimates of how deep into the dungeon they were. "So first we're looking for a Chimeco who lost their way..."

"And after that, Koffing wants an Oran Berry," said Joli, reading over his shoulder.

"Right. And then there's a Rhydon who wants some help finding his way out... I think that's it."

[crow]

Nico sighed with relief. "No escort missions," he said. It really wasn't the fault of the Pokemon who asked for them but... Well, actually, okay, it was a little their fault. Most of them weren't very good at fighting, but they also wouldn't run when Nico told them to, or else they took to his advice a little too enthusiastically and ran too far... so he and Joli always had to make sure to keep the poor sap sandwiched between them, but when they were in a wide chamber, not even that helped.

[crow]

And if they had to escort their client a long way, then... No, he didn't even want to think about it. It gave him headaches just thinking about it.

"Looks like we can just take it easy for today," said Joli. Nico nodded, though he also wondered how they had gotten to the point where going to what was actually a fairly tough dungeon was considered 'taking it easy' now. Just a few months ago, he would have thought it was going to be a real challenge...

[crow]

But they'd been through a lot since then, even facing down legendaries and getting tossed around all sorts of bad situations. They'd nearly died, and seen friends nearly die too, in the process.

Compared to that, the worst that could happen in a regular dungeon run was for them to get their behinds handed to them and fail their attempt at a rescue. Not exactly the most heartening thing, but also a far cry from those much higher, much grimmer stakes they'd been facing before.

[crow]

With their preparations in place, Nico and Joli set off for the dungeon. It was a bit of a trek, but the roads to these places were well established, so rescue teams generally made pretty good time until they got to the dungeon proper. And once they did...

... It was like the heat hit him like a wall. Nico staggered for a moment, but then he adjusted. It was only when he looked back at Joli that he remembered something else about this place.

[crow]

It was funny. Nico didn't really notice the sandstorm. He felt like he ought to, since his visibility was reduced, but at first he thought it was just sun glare or some sort of dust haze... It was only when he saw that Joli was grimacing that it hit him. Figuratively, anyway. Sand was hitting Joli in a very literal sense, which looked like a pretty uncomfortable time.

"You okay there?" Nico said.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Joli replied, rubbing some sand out of his eyes.

[crow]

Joli was in the process of pulling a scarf over his nose and mouth to better keep out the sand. "Here, do you want these?" said Nico, taking off his X-Ray Specs and offering them to Joli. "I don't think I have a Weather Scarf on me, but this might protect your eyes, at least..."

"No, I can't wear them and my scarf at the same time," said Joli. "And if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be able to breathe, you know?"

[crow]

"Oh, right," said Nico, putting the specs back on. "Sorry."

"No need! I appreciate the thought," said Joli. "Though I'm going to have to trouble you to lead the way this time. You're right, I really can't see much." With a sheepish laugh, Joli placed his hands on Nico's shoulders. "I'll just hold onto you like this, if that's alright."

"Sounds good," Nico said. This was going to leave them in a bit of a pickle if an attack came from the rear, but it didn't happen terribly often.

[crow]

And with his X-Ray Specs, Nico would have more forewarning than he otherwise might have had, so he could take measures against that sort of thing pre-emptively.

It was the best they could do. Hopefully they'd find the stairs quickly and get to an area where the sand wasn't blowing as fiercely.

The area they'd entered into only had a single path leading out of it, so for the moment, Nico followed that. It didn't take them long to get to a crossroads from there though.

[Wild Pet Found]

[crow]

"Left or right?" said Joli.

Nico deliberated. The specs didn't give him the full layout of the floor, but he could see more or less where other Pokemon might be, and sometimes where items might be too. Depending on the ease of the dungeon and their objectives, he prioritized things differently based on what he saw.

They had a lot of floors to get through, so for the moment he didn't pay the items too much mind as the specs registered their presence.

[crow]

He paid more attention to the distribution of hostile Pokemon. On early floors especially, it was better if they could avoid as much conflict as possible. Their energy and their supplies were both limited resources in the confines of a dungeon, after all.

If only the specs would show him the stairs... But then he supposed that would make things a little too easy, wouldn't it?

"Left," Nico said, choosing the side that looked like it had the fewest enemies hanging around.

[crow]

"Left it is," said Joli. The two of them headed off in that direction. They soon came upon another room, where there was only one exit out the other side. Joli picked up some cash scattered around on the floor, since it was right there, and then the two of them continued on.

They were lucky this time--- the next room over had the stairs, and they hadn't even encountered a single other Pokemon before they found it. "Nice! Let's go," said Joli.

[crow]

Nico was sure Joli was even more relieved than he was, since Joli was the one being buffeted by the sandstorm. Since they hadn't had to fight, he was still coping okay, but having to deal with it would take a toll on his endurance--- and make him hungrier to boot, Nico wagered.

He nodded, and the two of them descended further into the depths of the desert.

AAnd so it went, until they reached the fourth floor where Chimeco was waiting for them.

[crow]

They'd been relatively fortunate so far--- a few scraps with lone enemy Pokemon where Nico had done most of the fighting, while Joli lobbed rocks at them from behind. The foes were pretty strong, but a lot of them were rock or steel types, and Nico's bone clubs worked wonders against those. It was when they ran into other ground types like himself that they had a little more trouble.

Still, they hadn't been ganged up on, and they hadn't stepped into, gods forbid, any monster rooms.