“That’s a pretty big—wait, how does that thing even fit in here?” I questioned, gazing up at the mountain standing before us.

“Well, we are quite a bit downwardsh, plush the csheiling’sh pretty high up. Uxshie let’sh ush cushtomize our part of the maze, like how the Flying Typesh have their tightrope, though not all of ush got what we wanted. Ush Ground Types ashked for shand pit type arena, but we got shtuck with the left over chashm,” Toram explained, beginning the hike up the mountain side. “Now come on, or I’ll leave you behind.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Toram,” our first enemy said, spitting out Toram’s as if it was an insult. I’ve seen this guy for two seconds, and already I could tell he’s an idiot.

“So, do you know who this loser is?”

“He’sh Tyler, the Tyranitar ‘boss’ of the Rock Typesh. He actsh all high and mighty, but in truth, he’sh shtupider than the rocks he ushesh.”

“Sh-shut up! That’s a complete lie! And I’ll prove it to you in combat! You” – he pointed towards me—“I’m gonna pick you off first so it’s just a battle between me and Toram! Battle start! Hwaaah!” As he ‘battle started’, a wave of sand poured out from his pores and began swirling around us as if we were inside an active blender. I smirked. This guy truly was an idiot.

“Let’s get this battle started! But be warned, I’m really fast! Now take this! Stone Edge! Rock Blast!”

“You think you’re fast?” I muttered before swiftly dodging each of his attacks with ease. Seriously, this guy was a real idiot.

“What?!? How’d you avoid that?!?” he exclaimed.

“Let me notify you about a few things, genius; one: You’re using some of the lowest accuracy Rock moves, plus your Sandstorm is making them easier for me to dodge. Two: Garchomps are much speedier than Tyranitars. And three…” I stopped talking as a dashed up behind him, unseen from the cover of the Sandstorm and armed with a Brick Break. “This battle was over the minute you challenged us alone.” With a hit to the ribs, he collapsed onto the ground, unable to fight.

“Well, that was easy. Are all Rock Types this stupid?” I asked, turning away from a mumbling Tyler to face Toram.

“Shadly, no; we jusht got to facshe the eashiest guy firsht, the resht--” Before he could even finish his sentence, the rocks forming the mountain shifted as three beings emerge from the rubble. Or perhaps they had been sitting there, lurking while we talked; it was impossible to tell. “And I guessh I’ve got no time to exshplain, headsh up, Elkarez!”

Heeding his advice, I lunged to the left, though without the aid of the Sandstorm, I was no longer as evasive, and the attack was able to collide with my shoulder. Wincing at the surge of pain that coiled along my right side, I analyzed that I had been struck with a Heavy Slam from the attacking Aggron, though I was given little time to react before the next attack came. The succeeding strike came from the Rhyperior, who hefted a nearby boulder upward and brought it down to crush both it and my skull. The Aggron blocked me in from dodging by running, forcing my next move. I jabbed a Brick Break upwards, shattering the boulder, then arched it downwards as to hit the Aggron with the remnants of the attack.

Running past the dazed Aggron, I called out “Toram! Any advice on how to defeat these guys?”

“Got any Ground Type movesh?” he replied, still ducking and striking his foe.

“Only Earthquake, but won’t—”

“I’ll be fine, jusht don’t do it when I’m ushing Dig!” As he said that, a pink lining of skin fell like a curtain of water to form wings, allowing him to glide on the air currents and pummel his enemy from above with a series of Acrobatic strikes.

If I hadn’t still been dodging for my life, I would have frozen up with shock.

“You know Dig, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t think it wash that important, it’sh only a move.”

“You could have used it to tunnel us to the exit!”

Now it was his turn to be stunned, as he simply floated out of reach his attacker before dive bombing to the ground and Digging through it. I followed shortly after him, and ran after him as he tunneled onwards. After a while, we finally broke the surface at a large arch labeled Finish!, complete with flashing lights and everything. Typical for someone like Uxie. On the wall was a large red button that I assumed I was supposed to press, and, after doing so, streamers, confetti, and glitter rained down upon us like something from a little girl’s dream. The metal gate behind the arch lifted, and soon after Delta materialized nearby.

“Wait, how did you jusht get here? Uxshie never Teleportsh othersh to the exshit,” Toram asked.

“Does it matter?” I cut in before she could speak. “Let’s just get out of here, come on you two.” I grabbed both of their wrists in unison before dragging the out of the building and into the shimmering daylight.