The Grovyle spat the grass stem out of its mouth, a cold glint flashing in its eyes.
"Since you care so much about this little bond of yours, let's see exactly how far you'll go for it." It slowly raised one hand, gripping a strangely shaped device covered in intricate gear engravings.
"If you can't even pass a test like this, if you don't have what it takes to protect the people beside you..."
The Grovyle's finger slammed down on the button.
"...then you have no right to save that world, and no right to touch that core."
Click.
A crisp mechanical clunk rang out, and the entire maze seemed to shudder in response.
The terrain below began shifting violently.
The previously open path erupted with a thunderous roar. Massive gears tore up through the ground, slicing the floor into a series of narrow, constantly shifting platforms.
The wild Pokémon that had been wandering the area seemed to be spooked by some invisible force, scattering wildly into the depths of the maze, or being herded by something unseen, all converging in the same direction.
A ferocious roar soaked in dark energy surged up from somewhere deep in the maze.
The sound was all savagery and madness, rattling the ground beneath Yancy's feet.
The Grovyle stood above it all, watching with cold eyes.
"Go on then. Face what's coming."
"Let's see whether you cut that deadweight loose to save yourself, or throw your life away for it."
The viewers watching the stream saw the whole cutscene unfold and went completely silent.
[What's going on? Where did this guy even come from?]
[Monologue after monologue, is this supposed to be the villain?]
[Seems pretty different from that other group we saw earlier...]
[Can we just say he's kind of cool though?]
Meanwhile, Yancy figured out pretty quickly that she'd triggered some kind of story event.
And judging by the look of things... not a good one.
She scanned the rising gear platforms boxing her in on all sides, then the narrowing corridor ahead.
And then there was that sound: a bone-chilling roar, and it was getting closer.
This is a boss fight, isn't it?
But how is there a boss fight on the very first floor? This is 1F!
A system alert flared blood-red in the center of the screen:
[WARNING! WARNING!]
[The maze terrain has been altered!]
[A darkness-enhanced Houndoom is approaching!]
As that roar drew steadily closer, the maze corridor that had felt relatively open just moments ago went completely, unnervingly quiet. The wild Camerupt and Slugma that had been wandering nearby vanished without a trace, like they'd never been there at all. The only sounds left were the occasional bubbling of lava from the trenches and the low, grinding rumble of massive gears turning somewhere in the distance.
A cold wave of dread hit Yancy square in the chest.
"Something's wrong..."
She tightened her grip on the mouse without thinking.
This kind of silence was the calm before a storm.
The battle music kicked in.
Here it comes.
"Dragonair, watch your surroundings!" Yancy called into her mic.
On screen, Dragonair had been circling overhead, but it seemed to sense something too. Its cool purple eyes sharpened all at once, and the gentle glow that flowed across its body went tight and focused. It angled its head toward the darkness deeper in the maze and let out a low, urgent hiss.
"Fall back! Retreat now!"
Yancy made the call instantly. Given the terrain and everything she was seeing, if the maze's final boss had somehow shown up on the first floor, there was no version of this where her current team came out okay.
She'd already made her plan before coming in: explore a few floors, look around, that's it. Under no circumstances was she going to push toward the boss floor.
Because a maze of this level was flat-out beyond what her team could handle right now.
She moved Larvesta immediately and turned the team around, pushing them back the way they'd come.
But the moment she hit the retreat key, everything stopped.
BOOM!
The massive bronze gate behind them, built from enormous interlocking gears and wide open just seconds ago, slammed shut without warning.
The gears ground together with a piercing metallic screech, sealing the exit completely.
"What?! Why is the gate locked?!"
Yancy panicked. She clicked frantically across the screen looking for some switch, some hidden mechanism, anything, but the gate didn't budge. It sat there like a wall of solid iron.
The terror of being completely trapped crashed over her all at once.
"Are we... stuck here?"
The chat erupted instantly.
[What the hell?! Why did it just close by itself?!]
[We're done. This is a forced death sequence.]
[Streamer, look for a hidden switch! Try using an explosion move to blow it open!]
[Give it a rest. Did you see the size of that gate? Nothing's cracking that thing.]
Yancy stared at the sealed gate and took a slow breath, forcing herself to focus.
"If the way back is gone... then the only way out is forward."
At that moment, two pale green flames blinked to life in the darkness ahead.
Eyes.
Then came a low, hoarse laugh, the kind that seemed to crawl up from somewhere underground.
"Heh heh heh... finally found you, lost little lambs."
Two massive silhouettes stepped slowly out of the shadows.
At the front was a Houndoom, noticeably bigger than any normal one of its kind. Its body was pitch black, and the bone-like markings running across it glowed with a sickly purple light. Those pale green eyes radiated something suffocating, something purely wrong.
Behind it came a Bewear that looked just as terrifying. Its muscles were dense and knotted with power, and its golden fur had gone dull and dark, like something foul had seeped into it. It looked like a berserker wearing someone else's skin.
The moment both creatures stepped fully into the light, red warning boxes blazed across the top of the screen.
[Wild Pokémon Encountered]
[Houndoom (Dark Form) Lv. 62]
[Bewear (Frenzied Form) Lv. 58]
"Level 62?!"
Yancy sucked in a sharp breath. She nearly jumped out of her chair.
That was a twenty-level gap, and not in her favor.
From experience, even a five-level gap was enough to make a fight noticeably harder.
And these weren't just standard enemies. They were clearly boss-tier, and that dark form on top of everything else made it even worse.
How are we supposed to fight this? There's no way to fight this.
A level 50 Dragonair could stomp around freely on the first floor, maybe even hold its own on the second or third. But against a level 62 Houndoom? It probably couldn't even get a hit in.
"ROAR!"
Houndoom let out a deafening howl and launched itself forward before Yancy had a single second to react.
"Dragonair, dodge! Dragon Pulse!"
Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she shouted the command.
Dragonair moved fast. It threw itself backward and upward, charging a deep purple wave of energy in its jaws at the same time.
[Dragon Pulse!]
BOOM!
A massive surge of energy screamed across the corridor and slammed directly into Houndoom.
But Yancy's stomach dropped almost immediately.
The Dragon Pulse, which could normally rip through almost anything, hit Houndoom and barely made a dent.
-36!
Houndoom didn't even flinch. It was like getting hit with a paper ball.
And that was with the defense-bypassing item already equipped.
"That defense... is it even real?!"
Yancy stared at the screen, barely believing what she was seeing.
Houndoom's mouth curled into something like a smile. It opened its jaws wide, and a column of flame that was pure, dead black began building in its throat.
Fire Blast.
"Die."
Houndoom snapped its head forward, and the black flames shot out like a bolt from a cannon, crossing the distance in an instant.
"Dragonair!!"
BANG!
The impact was brutal.
Dragonair had no time to move. The flames hit it dead-on, and it crumpled like paper, crashing to the ground with a cry of pain.
-186!
A bright red damage number floated up.
Dragonair's HP bar bottomed out instantly. It was still technically alive, but only barely.
"Dragonair!" Yancy's voice cracked.
Before she could even think about what to do next, Bewear moved.
That massive frame launched into motion with speed that had no business existing on something that size, charging toward Squirtle like a runaway freight train.
"Squirtle, Water Gun to get out of the way!" Yancy shouted.
Squirtle flinched, but its instincts kicked in. It started pulling into its shell to bounce away using the water propulsion, but Bewear was already there.
"Running away? I don't think so."
Bewear bared its teeth and raised one enormous paw overhead, fighting-type energy coiling around it in a way that made Yancy's skin crawl.
[Hammer Arm!]
CRASH!
Squirtle hadn't finished retreating before the blow came straight down onto its back.
CRACK!
A sharp splintering sound split the air.
Squirtle was driven shell-first into the ground, leaving the shape of its shell punched into the dirt.
-195!
More than half its HP was gone in a single hit, and a visible crack had spread across its shell.
"Squirtle!!"
The air left Yancy's lungs.
In the span of a few seconds, two of her main fighters were down: one barely hanging on, one badly hurt and out of the fight. Effectively wiped.
This wasn't a battle. It was a beatdown.
"No... this can't be happening..."
Yancy's fingers moved to the last Pokémon she had left: Larvesta. Her only option now. A caterpillar against something that had just shrugged off a Dragon Pulse.
Bug Buzz!
Sound waves rippled through the air, doing their best to rattle the enemy.
Houndoom tilted its head slightly, and in those pale green eyes, something like contempt flickered.
"Cheap trick."
It opened its mouth and let out a howl, deep and overwhelming, the kind that hit like a physical wall.
[Houndoom's "Intimidate" Ability activated!]
That one sound seemed to carry actual force behind it, tearing right through Larvesta's Bug Buzz and shredding it to nothing.
Larvesta shuddered as if it had been physically struck and crumpled to the ground.
Houndoom hadn't even used a move. Its passive ability triggering was enough to knock Larvesta completely out of the fight.
Yancy stared at the screen, and something about the whole scene hit uncomfortably close to home.
Right. She'd done it again. Dragged her teammates down with her.
She let out a quiet sigh.
Whatever. This was a maze she never should have walked into in the first place.
She lost. She'd accept it and come back stronger next time.
The only thing that stung was that her plan to find a way to evolve inside this maze was now completely out the window.
With that thought, she braced herself for the screen to go black and kick her back to the Rescue Team Guild.
But nothing happened.
The battle hadn't ended.
A terrible feeling crept up the back of her neck.
Houndoom was walking, taking its time, moving with casual, unhurried steps toward where Squirtle lay.
Squirtle was trying to pull itself out of the crater, but its back was hurt badly. Its legs scraped weakly at the dirt and couldn't get it upright.
Houndoom raised one paw and pressed it down onto Squirtle's head, grinding it firmly into the ground.
"Ugh..." Squirtle let out a pained, muffled sound.
"Hold still," Houndoom said, its voice low and flat. "Move another inch and I'll crush your skull."
It turned its head, letting those cold eyes drift across the screen, landing on Larvesta lying off to the side.
Or rather, on Yancy.
"So this is your team? Your so-called Rescue Team?"
Houndoom let out a short, humorless laugh, its voice dripping with contempt.
"I figured anyone who made it this far had something to show for it. And yet... this is what you've got."
"Look at your teammates. Look at what they've been put through, all because they were trying to cover for you."
It shifted its weight just slightly, and Squirtle's face scrunched up in pain, tears streaking down its cheeks.
"Stop... please stop..." Yancy's voice came out quiet and unsteady. She clicked desperately across the screen, trying to get Larvesta back up, trying to make Squirtle do something, anything, but nothing responded.
That helplessness felt like something twisting in her chest over and over.
"Stop? Why would I do that?"
Houndoom seemed to find that genuinely funny. The curve of its mouth stretched a little wider.
"The weak don't get to make demands."
Its gaze shifted back to Larvesta, eyes full of something cold and dismissive.
"You're supposed to be the team leader. Does that feel like anything to you? Do you think that just because you have people with you, you get to evolve, you get to be stronger?"
"Too bad. You haven't earned that."
"Take a good look at yourself. Low level, moves that barely register. You're not leading anything. You're just something they have to carry. Deadweight. A liability."
"Team leader. Sure. In a world where strength is everything, the weak don't get to lead. They get used as bait."
"If it weren't for you, your two teammates might have already cleared this maze and walked out with their reward. Instead, they're here, fighting for someone who's holding them back, waiting to get put down."
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