Clicking and clattering, the cart they rode in was in obvious disrepair. In fact, it seemed libel to scatter into parts at any moment. Ilianna was crouched near back, her hood up, and a hand set on the cloth that kept her and her mate hidden in the back, to keep subtle watch. The Alakazam sat above, in the proper passenger seat, next to a stooped and cloaked old driver who directed the elderly Mudsdale pulling the cart with little trouble and even less desire to do so.

Which left Noah, far less stealthy, to hover behind his mate protectively. In the slow ride to their destination, he had little else but time to ask questions...

"An abandoned mine...?"

"Indeed." puffed the Alakazam, whose pipe hadn't left his lips since they agreed to this plan. He was quite apparently worried about his kin, and made no effort to hide it... "It was a source of Stones, or crystals that are infused with elemental power. Obviously such a mine is a valuable one, and a boon to our economy. Until a Dungeon sprouted cancerously in it..."

"Why do these dungeons even form...? This is something we never figured out, even at our guild..."

The Alakazam harrumphed and sharply smacked a spoon against his armrest. The driver gave a soft 'tsk', as the Mudsdale tossed their head... The Alakazam muttered a stiff apology before continuing... "It is something no one knows, but amongst the most intelligent Pokemon..." he let that linger briefly, looking slightly smug, "...the assumption is that they are the result of especially powerful Pokemon, or even beings that we would not recognize as a Pokemon."

Noah glanced back at Ilianna, who wasn't paying attention. Her keen eyes and mind were more focused on making sure no one noticed them and searched their cart. If they found Noah, they'd be forced to turn back...

Noah, in turn, subtly curled his paw and settled it against his mate's midsection... Pressing on it just enough to remind her of the pressure, and let her focus waver to it... 

She turned her head to lock eyes, and he grinned subtly. She gave him that unabashedly attracted look, but... It was tinged with responsibility. She was here to save a Pokemon, wasn't she...?

"...but of course, if that was the case... That some powerful being was creating tunnels as a... A what? That is the question, isn't it? They are directed, and they seem to lure or even wholesale create Pokemon to dwell in and protect them..." he puffed lightly, the old psychic type looking a bit more calm as his mind tried to work out a problem rather than obsessively focus on his daughter... 
"Of course... we know of Pokemon who had a hand in creating this world... Groudon and Kyogre, Regigigas... Mew..."

Despite his furry body pressing against his mate, Noah clicked his fangs together and used all his willpower to pull back. A time and place for everything... "You believe she's real?"

The Alakazam cracked a smile... "Mew? I don't doubt it. Everything I've ever learned of that pompous old goat that supposedly created the world leads me down a peculiar path of thought... But the fact that you've called her a 'her' means you must think the same way..."

Noah crossed his arms and lifted his chin, closing his eyes in a quiet smirk... "Ilianna and I have seen and heard enough to know she's real. It's stupid that a lot of Pokemon think she isn't..."

"You surprise me, young Dewott. One must be quite learned in the legends of the land to come to that conclusion...  Do you also believe that she, and not Arceus, is our progenitor...?"

Noah took the moment of praise of his knowledge with graceful smugness, but then he pondered the question... He also wondered how he and Ilianna had come to the conclusion... He glanced at her, and his eyes were invariably drawn to the middle on her front, despite all of his willpower to the contrary...

How DID he know...?

"Evening, sir... Headed off to the next village?"

And then his blood went cold upon hearing an unfamiliar voice... 

Ilianna carefully let the flap of the cart down, and backed away from the entrance. Noah gripped his scallop and glanced back and forth nervously, his ears swiveling to take stock...

Two. A pair. They introduced themselves as Guild members, flashed their badges, and asked what the Alakazam was doing...

"You aren't travelling alone are you? Things are quite dangerous out here, you know. In fact, there's a dungeon just near here..."

There was a pause, and Noah could hear nothing but the cart around him creaking. He stayed as still as possible, and the look on Ilianna's face was that she had the same thought; if this rickety old cart fell to pieces and exposed them...

"Preposterous."

The Alakazam harrumphed sharply and then shuffled a bit, seeming to produce something...

"Stinking stunfisks, that badge is old... What team were you with!?"

"None of your concern, you upstart. I've never met an Ambipom so rude in my life, and that should be saying much..."

"Why wouldn't we stop someone as old, ah... I mean... As venerable as you sir?" a second voice piped up... Noah untensed slowly, though he and Ilianna were already reacting with annoyance... It was a Grass Type... A Breloom? Anyone who knew what it was like to cut their knees while rolling about in fresh grass will know only a tiny fraction of the pain that Water types felt against Grass types...

"Don't give me that sass. I have seen your badges and have memorized your team name. Do you not think this will go back to your superiors?"

Noah sighed and sat down gently. Ilianna did the same. They tuned out the groveling of the pair as soon as it became clear the mighty psychic type had things in hand. Noah's hand had wandered to Ilianna's midsection again. With a nudge from her, he began to gently stroke. Her hand gripped his thigh... Her eyes closed...

"Too much, being around you like this..." Noah whispered with a chuckle. Ilianna squeezed his thigh sharply...

"Too much? Not enough..." 

Noah swallowed hard and began to mutter something else into her ear. The cart began to move again, and he found his paw pushing between her legs, to force them apart and...

"What about you...?"

Everyone seemed to freeze. The cart stopped again...

"This is my driver." The Alakazam snapped, but both of the water types could tell it didn't have the same effect. Something was wrong...

"I know that. In fact I've seen them more than once along this road..."

"What of it?"

"...Would you mind... removing your hood...?"

Silence. A long and tense pause... The wooden cart creaked loudly...

BAM!

Noah found himself lucky that he was nearly wrapped around his mate already. He tucked her tightly against his body and rolled to make sure he hit the ground first, with a sharp grunt of pain. But once he came to a stop, he opened his arms and Ilianna lept up, and then pulled him to his feet. He wobbled only once before steeling himself...

The cart was destroyed entirely. The Mudsdale had stepped back to avoid the conflict, though their was fury in their eyes. A look of betrayal...

The cloaked figure had knocked the Alakazam back, taking him by surprise. He was flung into the treeline, dazed. Noah took a couple steps as if to go help, but then had to jerk back as the Ambipom went flying past him, crashing into a tree nearby...

"What is this...?!" Ilianna gasped, flicking her arm out to produce a whirling water blade. Noah similarly drew his scallop and looked to see the Breloom still fighting, but losing. They swung their hidden arms sharply, but the cloaked figure dodged and ducked and then slammed them up into the air with a single swing, before turning and discarding their cloak...

"YOU!!!" both Noah and Ilianna shouted, as the Bandit revealed herself...

"Me~!" she cried, posing excitedly, while in the background the Breloom finally landed on the remains of the cart and sent them scattering off even further... 

Noah wanted to rush and attack her then and there, but Ilianna held an arm in front of him, as if reminding him how strong this particular Bandit was...

"What were you going to do? Why did you trick us?"

"I drove you almost all the way there, and all I get is accusations?" she crooned, holding her sleeves together and miming 'blowing her nose' on them, as if she was teary eyed... then she smirked and posed again. Each time she struck a fighting stance, her paws crackled with Fighting energy... likely why Ilianna had been cautious to go near. If her species didn't feel physical blows sharper than others already, her condition would... 

"I planned to lead you astray. I admit. I planned to set the Musdale running and leap off. You would be miles away from my hideout, and I might have learned a special thing or two to help stop your plan..."

Noah thumped his paw's heel on his forehead sharply... How much had she heard? He tried to recall if he had mentioned specific battle strategies or... 

The Mienshao jerked forward. Both Water types jerked back. She laughed uproariously... "Of course that won't happen now. Now you have no reason to come to the Dungeon. You have to help that old psychic type back to town. I don't care how powerful he used to be... He won't survive the night, this close to that place..."

Ilianna growled sharply and flicked her arm to ready her blade once more, but Noah's eyes flashed with some understanding... "You kidnapped his daughter. Now you're trying to make sure we save him... What is your game?"

The Bandit looked taken aback a moment, and her sleeves stopped swishing before she stomped and posed, her smirk now a scowl... "What are you trying to do? Act like I have some big heart under all this fur? I want the fool's coin, that's it! And maybe once you've scraped him up and returned him home, you can deliver it..."

"Is
 his daughter okay?"

The Bandit scowled again, her face somehow even more angry…

"Mua is fine."

And then she slammed the ground with her sleeves, kicking up a dusty cloud. When it had settled, she was gone...

Ilianna hissed and slapped her blade into the dirt, where it whirled a moment before collapsing into a puddle. But as frustrated as Noah looked, he also looked thoughtful. He turned to Ilianna, who composed herself and stood straight again, before gasping...

"Alakazam... Is he...?"

"Yes."

The Alakazam hobbled from the woods, leaning heavily on a branch to do so. He was scuffed, but none of his limbs seemed unnaturally bent, nor did he have anything but surface cuts...

"Despite what she thinks, I believe I could in fact survive the night here. But I have no need to." he put his arm up against the Mudsdale... "We will return to the village... And you will pursue. This is the most prudent course of action, is it not? She clearly has my daughter. It is time to bring her back to me..."

Noah looked to his mate, and the two nodded to one another...

"Promise us you'll be safe?" Ilianna asked, stepping forward. She touched her hands along his body lightly, soft and soothing mist pouring from them to at least ease his pain...

"My dear, if I am not alive when you return, go to the witch who lives in these woods request she resurrect me, so you may talk my ghostly ear off about how much you told me so."

The Frogadier smiled gently and nodded, before hopping back to Noah's side.

"We'll bring her back. Don't worry. Thank you...!"

And with that, the two darted off along the path, past a creaking old signpost that pointed towards the Mine... long ago crossed off with flaking red paint, and a symbol that simply said...

Beware.

Within an hour, the pair had finally made it to the entrance to the mine. It must have once been an industrious place, but to them it was simply decaying wreckage positioned around a yawning and intimidating cave mouth. The oppressive dark... Ilianna nodded, able to sense the negative energies in this place. Noah nodded in return, and they went into the gloom without hesitation...

In the dark, they followed the minecart track as they were instructed to do for as long as possible. Their senses made up for the dim surroundings, until they managed across a workbench and a small lantern. With a rattle, the thing suffused with fire energy and puffed into ignition, casting dancing shadows along the walls. Neither were sure it helped much...

Before long... They began to hear noises. Hisses, chitters... Groans and clacking noises... And the strangest clinking, as if someone was walking with a windchime tied to their waist...

And when they rounded the corner to the lowest dig site, they saw it...

They were always square, as if hewn deliberately. It's what set them apart from natural caves... But the imperfect, angular shape of the entrance reminded that if there was a malevolent force behind it all, it was unhinged... Terrifyingly so, if the vicious Pokemon below were any reflection of it... Below, a tepid red glow whispered of Fire types... But the subtle glint on the walls told another story...

Either way, Noah couldn't help but grin wide...

"So the old man isn't entirely altruistic. He was looking for a pair of Water types like us. We must have been sent from Arceus himself..."

"Don't you mean Mew herself?" Ilianna quipped, pushing his shoulder a bit as she went forward. Noah huffed and rubbed his shoulder before dragging her back suddenly...

"Wait a minute. We were about to do things, weren't we?"

"Noah... We... Have a job to do. We have to save that Abra..."

Noah squeezed her backside and stared into her eyes... His fangs were set as he again tried to restrain himself... But alone, in the flickering firelight... He couldn't help but be reminded of how devoted he was to this female, and her growing offspring... No... His... His growing offspring, that he put in her.

"Ours..." he muttered. His other paw was on her middle, and he spoke firmly... Not a question, but a whisper of excitement. One Ilianna shared, apparently, as she shivered...

Her skin dampened... A drop of water gently slid down her thigh, through the droplets of condensation there...

"Noah...?"

"Yeah..." he muttered, into her neck, before he began to nibble on it...

"You want more, don't you...?"

"...yeah..."

"You want more... Than I can give... Don't you...?"

Noah paused and sat up... He stared in her eyes, briefly unsure if he had offended her... But the look on her face was not hurt or unsure... It was pink with sheer excitement...

Both of them were suddenly aware of a presence in this place... Something warm and new, floating between their bodies...

'I can feel it...'

They jerked their eyes around... But this wasn't like any illusion that they'd come across before... It was a Psychic one, Ilianna could tell that for certain, but... Not like the Alakazam's... Even his presence wasn't this... Huge...

'The heat... the desire...'

Noah nearly squeaked when he felt his hips thrust forward a bit, his sheathe swelling open to let his breeding rod grow unabated. The sight sent Ilianna even more damp, and it wasn't helped by a sensation of a silky paw pressed into her body... Pushed against her most sensitive areas... But most of all, causing her womb to glow warmly from within...

'This Need... is mine...'

Noah breathed out sharply and gripped Ilianna's shoulders. He moved his hips back, and pushed them forward a bit, to align himself. He closed his eyes and gasped...

Ilianna was on his member. But she too closed her eyes, and saw what he saw... In a blank nothingness... A black void... They stood... And between them was a thin, pink, feline shape... Noah was gripping her hips from behind... Ilianna was confused, because when she opened her eyes, she was back in the dim cave and Noah's member was within her... But when she closed her eyes, she was watching him mate another female...

'Not mate...' the pink feline whispered. She was there, and yet she was fuzzy... As if only her outline was truly 'there'... But despite that, it was very easy to tell who this was...

'Impregnate...'

Noah thrust. Mew's tail wrapped around him tightly, and she arched. She put her paws on Ilianna's shoulders and panted... Before opening her deep blue eyes...

'I have been watching you... I have whispered questions in your ears that you have answered wonderfully... I am in dire need... And now, I have finally brought you here...'

In the 'vision', Mew's paws lowered to Ilianna's middle. She threw them wide, and Ilianna gasped as her middle began expanding heavily, and kicks rained from within... For a moment, she saw herself as brood queen to a village full of children, expectant mothers, and... adventurers... Questiing to undo wrongs, and create life and love wherever they went...

"What... is this?" Ilianna managed to ask, through a haze of pleased pheremones. She remained with Noah after all, feeling her mate's rod unmistakably penetrated up and against her sealed womb, and yet in the 'dream' she was... Pregnant. Many many times above what she was now...

And Noah? If he hadn't had his mind wandering before... Now it was intoxicated entirely... Unable to resist the thrill of the pulsing middle under his paws...

"Was it... You...? Was it all you?" 

He grunted as her tail pushed his hips firmer into her... Her lidded eyes looked back over her shoulder, blazing like a pair of sapphires...

"I have much to speak with you about... Will you help me?" 

Noah was already helping her quite well. She wrapped her arms around Ilianna's middle and then seemed to pull herself up a bit, pressing them belly to belly to let her feel the utter electricity that caused between them... The thrill of motherhood, achingly apparent, forever in her hips and her abdomen and her mind... A fierce protector and an eager breeder. It could describe them both... The mother and the father... Perfect for what the pink spectre needed now...

"I am... Below... I am far below... Will you come... for me?"

Noah arched and gave a sharp snarl as he was roughly held against his peak. He panted hard as he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, the pink female lingered, before she dispersed and he saw he was inside Ilianna... Or rather, draped over her... Both of them dewey with condensation, and her middle hot enough that wisps of steam curled gently off of her...

"What was..." she began... but neither had an answer beyond the obvious. Someone had contacted them. Someone had been there all along... Perhaps, from the start of their journey...

Perhaps more than even that.

Why was not the question to answer right now. Instead, they cuddled together... Contemplating what they saw... Warmed by the lingering, romantic pink hue to their cheeks... Before they finally stood, groomed, prepared, and stood in front of the Mystery Dungeon's entrance. Noah placed took Ilianna's hand in her's and squeezed... A gentle affirmation to assure her that they were ready for this. She squeezed back, because she knew they were...

The crystalline caverns were a sight to behold... Untouched by the miners, the great geodes began merely as veins winking at them through thin cracks in the walls... But quickly, they jutted out into spires and spines, stalactites and formations that very quickly became unnatural... It was indeed a Dungeon... And if they couldn't tell by the 'decor', they could tell by their warmest greeting to the cave...

 Fire types. Whether the magma floe had been there all along or the Dungeon had forced it to come belching through the walls of the cave, no one could say at this point. The Pokemon there were the same mindless, snarling
 beasts that all Dungeons contained... Noah and Ilianna prepared their blades, and then flew forward in perfect sync to meet the heat head on...

Despite their advantage, and despite what could only be called a massacre from the two expert Dungeoneers, being this low in the earth and against this much heat was still a test. Especially now, underfunded and as sparsely prepared as the Alakazam was able to make them, the exhaustion set in early. The sweat from their lovemaking dream never left them, and only got worse as they fought lower and lower into the bowels of the craggy dungeon, against both the Fire opposition of Macargo, Magmar, and even a Charmeleon or two... And the inborn Rock and Ground types that scrabbled up from sandy pits and dark, earthy corners to oppose them...

All of them with the same deadened look in their eyes. All with the same singleminded opposition to the pair of explorers. All fading back to their element the moment they were defeated... Noah swiped at a Graveller and it burst into pebbles... Ilianna bounded off an Onix, causing the dead end it was trapped in to come tumbling into a quarry of bolders... And both of them swiped their arms to fling precise watery stings to the throat of a raging Charizard, who burst into flame and heat...

But more than ever, they seemed to be on the cusp of something huge. Something they could only have dreamed of mere months before. And whether they were more excited about the vision Mew gave them... or about Ilianna's swelling figure... 

Finally, they managed to fight to the last floor. Despite their condition, and all distractions, they had escaped most of it with scrapes and minor burns. They remained singlemindedly set upon saving the Abra, and discovering what await below...

They descended a dark pathway, now seemingly entirely covered in crystal. Not even the merest bit of rock poked through the layers of glittering geode, and even a mote of ambient light lit the cave up bright as day. So it was that their small lantern shone enough to illuminate the immense chamber they soon came across. It was like someone had carved an auditorium and then lined its walls and floor with crystal, smooth as pearl and dazzling as diamond... In the center was a perfectly smooth crystal, a sphere of glinting light... And above that floated an Abra, head down and unconscious despite the fact she was still levitating in a meditating postion...

Noah's jaw clenched into his usual grin. Ilianna gasped as he Aqua Jetted forward immediately, eager to accomplish his goal...

In a moment, he was sprawled on his back again, and his chin felt very familiar... 

"...?! Not again!!!" he snapped, jerking himself up and ready to fight. He wasn't distractedly staring off into a night sky dreaming of bellies this time... He was prepared, and more than eager after all that had happened... 

The Mienshao drew herself up into a stance, her paws crackling constantly now. Her eyes were hard, but her sharptooth grin was stretched once more across her muzzle...

"Don't be a sore loser, wishywott..." she posed again, standing between Noah and the Abra. Ilianna landed next to her mate, nearly stumbling for being off balance, but gracefully crouched instead...

"Two against one, of course... Like I told you before, I won't let you take her back..." The Bandit snapped her whip like sleeves threateningly... "And if I have to pummel you and feed you to the Dungeon to keep her here... So be it..."

The room hummed with energy, turning into a singing wine glass as the tones reverberated. With each step the symphony grew louder, turning the gentle tinkling tones into a church bell hum as the Bandit suddenly rushed forward, and Noah rushed to meet her...

Their paws collided, and a gush of vapor exploded outwards in a pressure jet. Soft rain began to fall above, and Noah grinned as he spun and withdrew his scallop, slamming it broadside across the Mienshao's face...

"You didn't want the old man hurt... You kidnapped his daughter... And hid her in the bottom of a Mystery Dungeon... And now... You're fighting to keep her...!" Noah yelled, dodging her swinging strikes and attempting to retaliate with his own. His glancing blows were softened by her wiry physique, and her's were softened by a cushion of water vapor. But more, she couldn't get a good shot at him while Ilianna was dashing from one place to another, flinging watery knives that slammed into her target's back...

The Bandit snarled and swung her whip sharply, forcing Noah to slide backwards... "What of it?! Have you ever been hungry?! You and the reptile have been in a Guild for as long as you can recall, right?! So you've never needed money enough to take a fool like this Abra off the streets...!"

Ilianna jerked her hands up and flung a huge Shuriken at the Bandit, who dodged only fractions of a second too late to not have her leg clipped and her body spun into a nearby wall with a smash, and an ominous hum from all around...

"You don't know us, or what our struggles are! You don't know how hard we've fought to be here..."

"Why are you here?!" the Bandit rushed from the dust cloud and suddenly pinned Ilianna down with a sleeve... "Dirty wannabe heroes like you always get involved for one of two things... Glory or Money! So how much did the Alakazam say he would pay you?!" she snapped a sleeve up and then attempted to bring it down on the trapped Frogadier... Only to be knocked aside moments later by a full tackle from Noah, who again flung her against the wall... And this time, conjured a Hydro Pump to pin her with firehose force...

"We're here because a father asked us to save his daughter...!" he stepped forward, pinning her harder. She gritted her fangs and squeezed her eyes closed...

"But you haven't made any grand demands..." Ilianna said, slightly out of breath, standing next to her mate and placing her hand on his shoulder to lend her elemental strength to his blast... "You asked for food. You didn't kidnap her... Did you?!"

"GRAH!" the Mienshao suddenly burst with energy, forcing Noah's concentration away and breaking free. She rushed forward and slammed her sleeve into him, then the other. Noah held up his arms at first, and then began to block the rapid series of blows with his scallop instead. The sharp, metallic noises of sleeve against blade echoed and rumbled along the crystals in the room...

"You. Think. You're. So. CLEVER... SO NOBLE... NO I DIDN'T!" she answered, bringing both sleeves down suddenly and slamming Noah into the crystal hard enough that cracks spiderwebbed beneath him...

"But to tell you the truth..." panted the Fighting type... "You don't need to know. Meddlesome Guild members like you... Explorers, Dungeoneers, Protectors, whatever you call yourself... I don't care..."

She lifted her paw and gathered energy... Focusing all her power into her next punch... Noah panted... Worn out, dizzied... He lifted his scallop weakly... As if it would do anything... He closed his eyes...

"Ilianna..." he whispered...

"STOP!!!"

The Mienshao's focus was broken. She breathed hard as the energy burst from her, crackling briefly about the room harmlessly. She jerked her head over her shoulder to see...

Ilianna stood atop the round crystal. She had her hands on the Abra's shoulders, and the Frogadier looked like her heart was in her throat. But for a moment, the room silenced besides the echoing tones of the fight that had just occured...

The Abra herself had her arm outstretched. Her closed eyes looked concerned... A tear dripped gently from one...

"Li... what are you doing...?"

"...M... Muanil?" she muttered, immediately moving off of Noah and half running, half limping to the crystal... "You're... Awake?"

"I... I..." stammered the Abra, who shuddered suddenly and collapsed into Ilianna's arms. She was shoved aside in favour of the Bandit, who cradled the Abra...

Ilianna went to Noah, lifted his bruised self up, and then helped him near the crystal... The Bandit breathed shakily, partially from her own injuries but... Noah could see she was about to cry...

"How... Did you... Wake her?" 

Ilianna glanced at Noah, then back up...

"She woke when I came near. In her sleep she... She touched my..."

The Bandit's eyes dropped to Ilianna's midsection... Then to the crystal she stood on... Her teeth were bared in anger and she tried to wipe her eyes...

Nobody spoke for a long while... Everything seemed to stretch to eternity in the humming crystal cave, until Ilianna spoke...

"Come back with us. Both of you. We can fix this..."

"You?" scoffed the Bandit... "What makes you so spe-"

"We heard her voice too..."

Noah had spoken up, and it seemed to make the Bandit go pale... She suddenly hopped off the crystal and backed away from it slowly, still clutching her Abra friend... She looked back to Noah and Ilianna suspiciously... Then snorted softly and turned away...

"Fine. Fine... If it will help Mua... Then..."

Noah breathed a sigh of relief and cracked a smile...

"Good, cuz I wasn't sure I could go another round with you... Anywhere but the bed anyways."

Ilianna poked one of his bruises. He winced and chuckled. The corners of the Bandit's mouth twitched, but she only hugged the Abra tighter...

"We have much to discuss. Here is not the place to do it."

Ilianna nodded, reached into her scarf, and pulled out her badge. She held it up, and the Mienshao became fuzzy around the edges, before warping away in a pillar of light...

"Can we trust her?" she asked, turning to Noah, who stood a bit straighter despite obvious pain...

"We can trust her devotion to that Abra. That's all I know. Only other place I've seen fierce eyes like that is in the mirror..."

Ilianna stood in silence for a
 long moment before her eyes narrowed...

"Can we trust... Her?"

Noah glanced at her, then followed her eyes to the crystal. He frowned deeply, as if he hadn't really had that thought before...

"...I guess we'll see. All of us..."

And then they left... The chamber echoing softly around the crystal, which glowed ominously in the forgotten lantern's light..