Chapter 28: The Deepwoods

  It had been a few hours already since Auri and Yuki continued on their journey. Today they had risen even earlier then the sun and mist hung low between the slopes, curling through the tufts of grass like breath made visible.

  The hills that had once rolled with easy rhythm now dipped sharply into shadow, where they could already see the treeline that supposedly marked the sahred broder of Shae's and Vian's territories. Even from above, the forest looked different from any they had crossed before. The green there was darker, older, almost blue at its deepest folds. According to Yuki, it was called the Deepwoods, though it wasn't a Dungeon.

  Auri walked ahead as always, paws pressing into damp soil, his scarf hanging loose and still. The air smelled of moss and stone, touched by faint traces of dew that clung to his fur as he brushed through the ferns. Behind him, Yuki hopped from rock to rock, mostly muttering to herself, with conversation still rare between them this early into the day.

  When the first trees rose above them, it became clear they were completely unlike the forest surrounding Newleaf Village. Their trunks were enormous, gnarled and broad enough that it would take five Pokemon their size to circle one. Thick roots jutted out of the ground, arching high enough that you could walk beneath them like natural bridges. Moss blanketed everything, the roots, the rocks, even the air smelled of it.

  Yuki slowed when the first shadows fell across her feathers. "Wow…" she breathed in wonder. "It feels like walking into a completely different world!"

  Auri didn’t answer at first. His ears twitched at the faintest shift in sound, or rather, the absence of it. Unlike the forest around Newleaf Village, this one was nearly completely silent. "A surprisingly quiet one," he murmured.

  She caught up beside him, eyes wide and bright with wonder. "Quiet’s good sometimes, isn’t it? It's peaceful and honestly looks far more welcoming than these endless hills have been!"

  He glanced sidelong at her. "Well, I'm not gonne argue with that."

  The canopy swallowed the sunlight entirely within a few dozen steps. The air changed the further in they went, carrying the smell of resin, damp bark, faint metallic traces like rainfall. The world dimmed to a perpetual twilight.

  Auri slowed, scanning the roots that wound across the ground in great knotted webs. Each tree towered like a pillar, its bark veined with faint luminescence, its roots curling into arches large enough to walk beneath. Beneath those arches, the air shimmered, threads of golden dust drifting without purpose or wind. The motes glimmered as they passed, some brushing against his fur and fading like fireflies sinking into water.

  He crouched briefly, pressing his paw to the soil. It was damp and cool, yet beneath that surface warmth pulsed. He stood again, gaze tracing the enormous roots that crossed their path. They forced them to climb, to duck and to adjust nearly permanently. While the hills had already been hard to traverse, these Deepwoods would be on a different level

  The deeper they went, the dimmer the light became, until the forest swallowed nearly all color. Yuki’s bright plumage dulled to green-gray and Auri’s fur drank the shadows. The air was thicker here, laced with faint motes that glowed and vanished like breaths. Somewhere, they heard water moving, a quiet trickle of a stream winding unseen through the roots.

  They crossed it by a fallen trunk. When Auri stepped onto it, the bark was warm under his paws. He looked back, but the path they had taken here, if one could even call it that, had already been sqallowed again by the forest.

  "If I didn't know better, I'd say that the entirety of the Deepwoods are just one big Dungeon. Let's be thankful to Shae that this isn't the case," Yuki said, clearly uneasy with just how lost they were in the forest.

  Auri didn't share that problem. While he'd never been here before, he was still somehow able to tell in which directions north, east, south and west were. Somethin that Yuki had explained to him months ago. Seemingly electric-type Pokemon were capable of sensing magnetic fields and that's why he was apparently a perfect compass. Right now, that was quite helpful.

  "Let's keep moving. The nortwest is that way," Auri said gesturing towards dense canopy.

  Though none of them said anything, both Auri and Yuki had noticed how the energy density around them had started to rise again. Seeing how the enrgy density didn't get better at all while they walked, there had to be Dungeons around them. And not just one or two, but more. Soon after, they stepped into a clearing, wide, ringed by roots and ferns so dense they formed living walls. The air shimmered faintly. For a heartbeat, it felt like crossing another invisible threshold.

  

  Then they saw them. Shapes moved between the shafts of light, soft, fluid, deliberate. Dungeon Eldegoss drifted lazily overhead, their cottony forms glowing faintly as they shed glimmering seeds that hung in the air like falling stars. Below, a pair of Dungeon Leavanny crossed one of the root-bridges, long arms weaving silk strands that gleamed like dew.

  Both of them instantly fell into defensive stances, ready to unleash their moves. The Dungeon Pokemon however... ignored them?

  They didn’t react to Auri or Yuki at all. They didn’t flee, they didn’t become agressive. They simply continued their quiet work as if the two of them weren't there, leavin both of them baffled in the process.

  "Are they just... ignoring us? I thought Dungeon Pokemon were supposed to always attack," Yuki muttered.

  "Maybe because we're not in a Dungeon?" Auri mused. "Dungeon Pokemon are the protectors of the Dungeon Core. That's why they mindlessly aqttack everything inside a Dungeon. But out here, they got nothing to protect, nothing that could endanger the Dungeon Core. So maybe they just... don't care as long as we don't bother them?"

  Yuki shook her head in awe. "I never knew Dungeon Pokemon could be anything except overly agressive. And look around! They're... everywhere!"

  She took a tentative step forward, craning her neck to watch a drifting Dungeon Eldegoss. "Hey there," she called out with a cautious smile. "You’re-!"

  Before she could finish her senctence, the Dungeon Eldegoss turned midair, the filaments of its cotton catching light in rippling green-gold. For an instant, its eyes gleamed, not bright, but deep, as though something vast peered through them. Then it bowed its head, before floating away into the trees.

  Yuki froze, her voice caught halfway between surprise and glee. "…Did it just bow to me!?"

  Auri was still watching the Dungeon Leavanny that were currently gliding along silk bridges that spanned the clearing. One of them stopped, turned its narrow face toward Auri, and tilted its head once before vanishing between the leaves.

  Auri exhaled through his nose. "That was not the Dungeon Pokemon. No, that was the Dungeon Core. A Dungeon Core that didn't feel the least threatened by our presence, one that has to be councious enought to understand that we would be gone again soon. So they don't really care."

  Yuki looked around again, eyes wide. "Do you think Shae did something to the Dungeons in her teritory? Something that made them more cooperative?"

  "Maybe," Auri said quietly. "But I doubt it. No, Dungeons are a vital asset to the guards of Newleaf Village. Pokemon regularily invaded and, in turn, threatened them. of course every Dungeon close to Newleaf Village thinks of us as a danger. But just because they're allowed to doesn't mean the guards regularily run thorugh the Dungeons out here in Shae's territory. So the hate Dungeons have for normal Pokemon is probably much less pronounced out here."

  They stayed a moment longer in that clearing, watching how the Dungeon Pokemon worked on... something. But then, just as naturally as the peace had come, the world shifted again.

  A crack, low and sharp, echoed from somewhere behind the treeline. The motes wavered, dimming for an instant. The Dungeon Eldegoss scattered, drifting higher. The Dungeon Leavanny vanished with startling speed as well.

  Yuki tensed. "That didn’t sound friendly at all!"

  Auri’s fur lifted slightly as he fell back into a combat readiness. He took a step forward, toward the sound.

  Yuki’s feathers flared, but Auri held up a paw. "Stay close and no attacks for now," he said, voice low.

  Another crack, nearer this time. The scent of ozone and churned soil filled the air. Then came a deep rumble, distant but growing, like thunder rolling through stone.

  Auri’s pulse quickened, not in fear but in focus. He met Yuki’s gaze. "We’re not alone anymore."

  Yuki’s feathers ruffled. "That sounded big! Like really big1"

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  Auri didn’t reply. His ears shifted slightly, turning toward the source of the sound. Beneath the hum of insects and the low rustle of leaves, there was another rhythm, heavier, deliberate, echoing faintly through the ground. Then, he noticed movement.

  A Dungeon Scyther stepped into the clearing, blades lowered but humming with faint tension. Its eyes glowed a dim green as if reflecting the forest’s own pulse. The air seemed to ripple around it, an aura, alive and shifting.

  Behind it came two Dungeon Parasect, their movements slow and synchronized, their fungal shells breathing with bioluminescent pulses that glowed like embers under bark.

  Yuki took an involuntary step backward. "That’s… something like a patrol?"

  Auri’s fur bristled slightly, not in fear but in instinct. "No. Or rather, not just that. They're stating a claim."

  Another noise answered from the other side of the clearing, deeper, heavier, like thunder walking on two legs. A shape pushed between two moss-covered rocks, shaking loose a curtain of vines.

  It was a Dungeon Ursaring, its fur streaked with green energy veins that glowed faintly beneath the surface. Its eyes burned with that same unnatural light.

  The Dungeon Scyther turned toward it immediately. The air tightened, silent, sharp, waiting. Then the forest erupted.

  The Dungeon Scyther lunged first, blades flashing with a [Fury Cutter], cutting clean arcs through the air. The Dungeon Ursaring met the strike with a roar, claws glowing in a [Slash] as they collided. The Parasect advanced from behind, scattering [Stun Spore] and [Poison Powder] clouds in the area that glittered like dust motes catching sunlight. Each spark that landed hissed against the earth, leaving faint burns in the moss.

  Auri watched, still and focused, every sense sharp. While a battle was always chaotic, it was still far too practiced and structured, with a certain rythm to it. Each side moved like they’d done this a hundred times before. No, this wasn't just random hostility.

  Yuki’s feathers trembled. "They’re fighting each others, but why!? They're all Dungeon Pokemon!"

  Auri raised a paw, halting her before she could move closer. "Because these Dungeon Pokemon are very likely to stem from different Dungeons that are at odds with each other."

  "What?"

  "I mean, think about it. Inside a Dungeon, the Dungeon Pokemon are there to defend the Dungeon Core from intruders. Outside…" He glanced at the Parasect still supporting the Scyther in its fight against the Ursaring. "They defend the territory that the Dungeon siphons its type energy from, by making sure no other Dungeon encroaches on their land. These two Dungeons seem to clash over the local type energy in the surroundings."

  She looked from him to the battle again, voice barely a whisper. "So… they’re not wild at all! They’re organized!"

  Auri nodded once. "They’re mindless colonies, each tied to its Dungeon Core that can think on an instinctual level. No wonder the guards don’t bother clearing Dungeons in Shae's territory anymore. These ones maintain their own borders and their fights aren't dangerous that far from the village."

  The Ursaring bellowed again, one final echo that shook through the clearing, then faltered. The green light beneath its fur flickered once and its body dissolved into fading motes, dissipating like mist in sunlight.

  The Scyther froze mid-motion, blades still raised. Then, slowly, it lowered them. It made no sound, no cry of victory. No, for a moment, it just stood there.

  Then, just as quietly as they’d appeared, the Dungeon Pokemon began to withdraw, the Scyther vanishing between shafts of gold and green, the Parasect sinking into the undergrowth until only the faint glow of their mushrooms remained. With that, silence returned.

  Yuki exhaled, almost shakily. "We just entered the Deepwoods a few hours ago! If that’s what’s happening this close to the border… how bad will it be deeper inside?"

  Auri’s gaze followed the light, the way it thickened in the distance, deeper into the forest. The air there shimmered, alive and humming with unseen energy, like a heartbeat beneath the soil.

  "…We’re about to find out," he murmured and they continued walking.

  The deeper they went, the denser the type energy in the air grew. Auri walked at the front, paws sinking silently into the damp soil. The deeper canopy dimmed the world into a dim green haze. It was beautiful, but also felt vast and indifferent.

  At first, there was only silence. Then came movement. Shapes, faint and distant, slipped between the trees. Auri could sense them before he saw them. The Dungeon Pokemon here roamed freely and they were pretty much everywhere in the Deepwoods. But only on a handful of occasions had they actually been agressive towards them. But that was mostly because they crossed over certain invisible lines that the Dungeons saw as being too close to their homes.

  But where these lines were actually lay was very unclear and seemingly arbitary. Sometimes one could see that the air itself shimmered faintly, or the moss on the ground pulsed once like a heartbeat, signs that a Dungeon’s reach extended into the forest around it. They learned quickly to avoid such spots, veering wide whenever the air grew too still or the sounds too quiet, like they were used from Dungeons back at home. However in most cases, there were simply no signs at all until a Dungeon Pokemon started to threaten them.

  Hours passed that way, them weaving through the wild, tracing faint natural paths, moving in silence as much as possible. They really didn't want to get off-track because they enraged a Dungeon. But then the calm shattered.

  The first warning came as a deep thrum underfoot, a vibration that rippled through the soil. Auri froze instantly, ears twitching. The sound grew, steady, rhythmic, too ordered to be natural. Not that anything in this forest was natural instead od being a byproduct of a Dungeon doing something. Soon after came the distant roars dozens at once that overlapped each other.

  "What is that!?" Yuki hissed, her feathers flaring.

  "Stay low," Auri said, scanning the treeline. "Something’s fighting."

  The noise built like thunder rolling over the earth. Ahead, the light flickered strangely, green one moment, red the next. The very air seemed to pulse with energy bursts, the signature of moves clashing violently. The scent of ozone filled the air again, sharper now, tinged with scorched bark.

  They crept forward, the terrain rising slightly, until they reached the edge of a ridge overlooking a wide clearing. What lay beyond was chaos.

  Two Dungeons, massive ones, so close their distortions bled into one another, had unleashed their defenders into the same territory. On one side, a horde of Dungeon Scyther darted between the trees, their scythes flashing. Opposite of them, Dungeon Trevenant emerged, their limbs burning with ghostly fire. The forest floor itself rippled with power as the two groups clashed, cutting through vines, shattering roots, throwing bursts of light so bright they turned the fog white.

  Auri’s pulse quickened. "They’re… actually connected," he muttered. "The borders between their Dungeons must’ve merged. Now both Dungeon Cores think the other’s invading them."

  Yuki swallowed hard. "So they’re at war!"

  "It sure looks like it."

  She hesitated, watching as a Scyther’s air slash carved through a Trevenant’s trunk, only for the ghostly Pokémon to reform seconds later with a snarl. "Shouldn’t we-?"

  "Move," Auri said sharply. "And we should do so now!"

  They turned to retreat, but the battle was spreading faster than he expected. Shockwaves rippled through the ground, trees splintered, and from somewhere behind, the distinct screech of another Dungeon species echoed, probably reinforcements drawn in by the noise.

  Auri pulled Yuki aside just as a stray burst of energy tore through the undergrowth, scorching the ground where they’d stood.

  "Left!" he barked.

  They ran, not blindly, but carefully, ducking behind massive roots and weaving through the chaos. The light shifted wildly around them, flashes of red and green illuminating twisted trunks. Dungeon Pokémon surged in all directions, driven by nothing but their Dungeon Cores commands.

  Auri and Yuki didn’t actively fight back. Attacking would probably mark them as intruders in both territories, so it was better to just get out of there as fast as possible. And for that, they relied on agility, prediction, and instinct. A Dungeon Leavanny lunged from a root bridge which he quickly ducked under, pulling Yuki close as the creature’s silk lash sliced through empty air.

  They burst into a darker section of the forest where the noise dimmed slightly. Behind them, the roars continued, echoing through the trees like distant thunder. For several long moments, neither of them spoke. Only their breathing and the faint hum of lingering energy filled the silence.

  Finally, Yuki spoke with awe in her voice. "That was insane! They’re like actual armies fighting each other! Could you imagine something like that close to Newleaf Village?"

  Auri just shook his head. "That's why Vian and the guards keep their territory properly in order. If a war like that would break loose close to Newleaf Village, it would certainly spell doom for it. If the guards had to intervene in one such all-out war, it would certainly become very bloody very quickly. Unlike the Mythicals, who probably could deal with it, the guards wouldn't have the strength or endurance to take out supercharged Dungeons like these two going at each other with everything they have."

  "That's... disheartening. But yeah, you're probably right. I don't see the guards actually standing against that!"

  Auri’s tail flicked once. "That's why we should be thankful for Vian that he actually wants to keep his territory in order. Life in the crater could become very hard very quickly, should the Mythicals ever decide to give up on us normal Pokemon."

  They rested briefly near a fallen trunk, the ground still faintly trembling beneath them. Above, faint lights flickered through the fog, distant attacks still flashing between the warring sides. It was strangely mesmerizing, like lightning trapped beneath glass.

  Eventually, Auri stood again. "We should keep going. If they notice us again, we’ll have no escape."

  "Agreed!" Yuki said, shaking out her feathers. "Let’s get as far from here as possible!"

  They pressed on through the Deepwoods, quieter now, their movements even more cautious than before. Gradually, the signs of battle faded. The air lightened. The earth stopped trembling. The forest began to feel more like itself again, the type energy in the air lessening again for the first time in hours.

  The number of Dungeon Pokemon they met thinned as well as they moved onward. Fewer distortions shimmered in the air, fewer lights drifted through the undergrowth. For the first time in hours, they could hear real forest sounds again.

  When evening came, they found themselves standing at the edge of a wide slope. Beyond it, the forest began to thin. The trunks grew smaller, the canopy more open. Through the gaps, they could see faint rays of orange and gold, the dying light of sunset.

  Yuki let out a slow breath. "We made it out of the worst of it, I'd say!"

  "For now," Auri said, his tone carrying something close to relief.

  They settled near the slope, watching the last fragments of sunlight spill through the trees. The forest behind them stretched like a sea of shadow and emerald light, vast and unknowable. For a moment, neither spoke. The chaos, the whispers, the living labyrinth, it all felt distant now, yet still breathing somewhere beyond the haze. If there weren't so many Dungeon Cores in the Deepwoods, all of them fighting for supremacy, it would've without a doubt already turned into one gigantic and incredibly dangerous Dungeon by now. He really hoped Shae knew what she was doing.

  Yuki finally smiled faintly. "Remind me to never underestimate Shae’s forest again."

  Auri’s ears twitched. "Noted. But we do have to get back through that hellhole. And we're still not as deep in the crater as we need to be. I expect it to become harder still."

  The wind shifted gently, carrying the scent of moss and cool air. It felt almost like a blessing, a quiet farewell from the Deepwoods themselves.

  They stayed there until the stars began to show, the silence no longer heavy but calm. Then Auri rose, gaze fixed toward the plains that shimmered faintly beyond the dark line of trees.

  "Tomorrow," he said quietly, "we leave the forest behind."

  

  Important characters in the chapter:

  Pikachu (Auri) – Level 15

  Ability: Lightning Rod

  Battle Nature: Lonely

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 71

  Attack: 47

  Ranged Attack: 41

  Defense: 49

  Speed: 55

  Total: 263 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Nuzzle], [Tail Whip], [Quick Attack], [Brick Break], [Thunder Wave], [Feint]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Thunder Shock], [Electro Ball], [Swift], [Thunder Bolt]

  Utility Moves: [Nasty Plot], [Charm], [Double Team], [Growl], [Agility], [Dig]

  Torchic (Yuki) – Level 16 (Evolution Requirements Not Met, Stat Boost Applied)

  Ability: Speed Boost

  Battle Nature: Hasty

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 80

  Attack: 47

  Ranged Attack: 47

  Defense: 55

  Speed: 40

  Total: 269 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Scratch], [Quick Attack], [Feint], [Fire Spin], [Flame Charge], [Aerial Ace], [Counter], [Slash]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Ember], [Sand Attack]

  Utility Moves: [Growl], [Detect], [Dig]