Lucky took to using his Alchemist features as best as he could. What did he have on hand, in the minecart and in his inventory that would allow him to make a healing implement? Using his quick critical thinking skills Lucky Guy used a diamond, an Escape Rope and a Potion to create an impressive potion with which to heal the poor Steelix Roxy that had been coming under fire. He sprayed onto the wounds as the giant Camerupt made them, doing away with almost half of the burns since he'd arrived.

During all of this time, he'd forgotten to give orders to his Pokemon. Maybe he was panicking just a little bit, but it was something he would be thankful for after looking back on all of this so fondly. Klang, with no other orders, continued to dig through rock. Stone by stone, the walls fell and gemstones came. Maybe there was a Miner subclass or something, because Lucky recieved the following message:

Your Pokémon has gained enough EXP to evolve!

"Huh?" He looked back, but it was too late. The whirring gears had gone into overdrive in their hatred of stone. It had adapted, it had grown-it had created new gears with which to destroy terrain. The Klang it was no longer. As if to celebrate his great fanfare, a large rock was accidentally tossed behind the newly-christened digging machine-one that went straight into the Camerupt's volcano, clogging it.

Opportunity arose. "Selma! Push that rock right down his gullet!" On his mere command, the Gyarados leapt towards and onto the giant Camerupt of volcanic legend. The great frame of the rain dragon reached over the mountaintop, and thusly let loose rain upon the world as was his dominion. A gout of pressurized water struck the crippled stone and pushed, readily creating a scatterblast of steam, liquid and stone into the Camerupt's innards.

---

Lucky: Healing Camerupt +10, +10 for alchemizing a good healing item, +10 for putting all of his attention into the act, forgetting to order his Pokemon around in the process. In total, Roxy heals for +30 if all is good, while taking 60 damage - a total of 30 damage to Roxy.

Gyarados: +10 Attacking Camerupt with a Hydro Pump! +10 for using a pressurized blast at a critical spot, +10 for the high-ground bonus. There is also +30 for it being a super-effective move, and a further +50 created by Klinklang's evolution creating an opportunity for a scatterblast attack.
If all goes well, a total of 110 damage to the Camerupt!

Klinklang: +10 GREEDING for those Precious gems, +10 for using steel tools against soft stone and +10 for dedicating himself so hard to the grindset that he evolved just to do it better. +50 Greed bonus in addition, for a total of 80 progress.

DUNGEON: CORE BREAKER

Round 5 - Final Round

Icy rain and falling magma warred in the core room, filling the cavern with angry steam. Frozen spheres and blasts of water rained down on Mega Camerupt's hide, from Laguna and Natsuki each hit cracking its exterior a little more.

Mega Camerupt: 300/500

orioncayge hurled boulders and obsceneties at the enemy, and Lucky Guy took one final chance to scrape another armful of loot into the partly melted minecart.

Roxy rumbled forward, slamming heads with the Mega Camerupt with a thud that resonated through the cavern like a gunshot. 

Mega Camerupt: 200/500

Her HP was dropping fast, and Jefferson called out to the trainers. "Give it another round! Is that all you've got?"

Clearly it wasn't, and the room filled with gleaming light as all four trainers experienced a mid-battle evolution. There were no holds barred, no stops left un-pulled-out, and as the last devastating volley of rock and roil and rain demolished Mega Camerupt, there were no enemies left to fight.

Mega Camerupt: -160/500

The body of the boss slumped into its pool of cooling lava, the mega evolution reverting to its natural state. 

Roxy heaved a sigh of relief, breath pouring from her ruined body in heated puffs. Half her exterior had melted, and she dripped steel all over the battlefield.

Mega Roxy: 60/250 HP

The ground shook. 

Behind them, the tunnel collapsed as a final swarm of scavenger bugs burst from every surface, called by the dinner bell of battle. "We've gotta go!" Shouted Jefferson Westfall. "Quick! Roxy! Get us out of here!" 

Roxy roared, her health bar blinking red, and she surged across the sodden cavern, heading for the far side. She started to spin, and as her head hit the wall shards of rock and stone sprayed into the air. Her mega evolution was still going strong, a good thing consider she was about to try digging out in 1/3 of the time. 

As they drilled upwards the path behind them filled with bugs. Swarms of snapping, acid-spitting cretins clogged the tunnel, just yearning to take one more bite out of the quickly fading Steelix. 

---

Collect Precious Gems: 380/999 (positively outrageous)

MECHANICS

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Each round, you and your Pokemon may each perform a single action from the list of objectives (3 actions total per post).

These actions all further the mission or your final reward. BOLDED objectives are CRITICAL, and if not completed there will be dire consequences. Objectives that are ITALICIZED are OPTIONAL, and will either give you the chance to earn more loot, or a benefit in future rounds.

Please describe completing the objective in character (assume at least partial success). Each OBJECTIVE has a number next to it. This number must be hit or exceeded to complete the task. Assigning yourself or a Pokemon to a task counts for 10, with an additional 10 for each creative and relevant usage of gameplay mechanics, up to a MAXIMUM of 30 total points contributed towards an objective per Pokemon/player. 

The bonuses could come from Pokemon typing, moves, Skill Tree abilities, or use of in-game abilities or systems. In the case of the player action, I'm expecting creative use of what is around you, as well as good application of video game mechanics.

Sometimes, special requirements will be advertised for certain objectives. Completing the task while hitting these requirements will award BIG BONUSES. (Note: Each player can only claim the same Big Bonus ONCE per round)

CURRENT OBJECTIVES

• Help Roxy Escape! (430/1000) +400 if Roxy Survives
• Heal/Protect Roxy (60/250) +1 HP for each Precious Gem fed to Roxy (The Giant Red Gem is worth 200) -1 HP from Roxy for each Bug remaining
  
• Fight the Bugs (500) +30 One of your Pokemon faints while battling or +80 Both Pokemon faint and you White Out

You have until 8pm Japan time to post (24 hours).

SPOILER: Click to show

{Details}Lucky Guy - Big Red Gem - Klingklang and Gyarados
orioncayge - Magnetic Boots (1/3) - Incineroar and Dewpider
Natsuki - Magnetic Boots (3/3) - Frogadier and Chespin
Laguna - Freeze Grenade - Bergmite and Brione

The Camerupt had been absolutely devastated, as everyone had a Pokemon that evolved mid-combat. Was this a scripted event? Some sort of programmed battle feature in the dungeon? She didn't know, but honestly, she didn't care. Marina was awesome now! And totally badass too boot!

The ground shook, and bugs began to burst out from everywhere. "That's it gang, let's go!" She clambered into the minecart again, quickly pulling along her two Pokemon before Roxy shot off into the distance, digging away into the earth again. The inside of the minecart was now so full of gemstones, there wasn't any solid ground to stand on. She was almost paralyzed with indecision on how to help out before orioncayge shouted out.

Dig you fools.

She laughed at the perhaps unintentional Lord of the Rings reference, finding it oddly fitting to the situation at hand. "C'mon, you heard the man! Let's get to work!" Clambering out of the cart once more, she and her pokemon ran to the front of the tunnel as fast as they could.

Bergmite's hard shell had melted a bit from the intense heat of the magma before, but that was nothing another HARDEN couldn't fix. Her spikes grew larger and larger, ready to break some stone.

Laguna had to work quickly with no physical strength or Pokemon moves on her side. All she did have was clever thinking and these gosh darn fancy tooltips. She rather quickly figured out any stone described as a Heavy Stone, was immediately too large or heavy, or simply unorthodox for her to toss backward, leaving it to the more muscular amongst them.

She did, however, manage to glitch her hands and slip into a few cracks in the wall, ripping out a few large sheets of rock that already looked super loose. As they crumbled to the ground of the cave below, she couldn't help but wonder. Perhaps they were coded to tumble inwards and on top of Roxy as soon as they were reached? Definitely dodged a bullet there.

"Glacia!" Laguna yelled, staring at a rather large crack in the cave wall. "You know what to do! High Jump Kick!"

Bergmite yipped in response, suddenly pouncing forwards with intense physical might, slamming through the crack in the wall.

Only to immediately be buried by the rubble underneath as it collapsed all around her as she burst through into a small opening. There was no escape, and Laguna could only stare and watch in horror as Glacia fainted so quickly. She couldn't even breathe, paralyzed once more.

It took the gentle tugging of Marina on her hand, for her to even realize to retrieve the Bergmite back to their ball. Poor Glacia... She had done nothing but follow orders. How could she let this happen again? If only she had known, if she could have somehow-

Without warning, Marina suddenly slapped her fin against Laguna's face as she blinked back to reality. For once, the Brionne had a serious look on her face. She was still smiling, as the species almost always did, but her expression was much more solemn than words could describe. She had grown so quickly, from a scaredy-cat to a firm guiding hand.

Er, fin.

"You want to fight, don't you?" Laguna spoke calmly, even as she lifted the Brionne into her arms so they could run together. That was all that she could even say. That look in the seal's eyes, there was no dissuading that. She had seen it once before...

What was with all her Pokemon? They all wanted to be a hero. To give everything they had to protect the person they cared about... But it wasn't enough for Laguna. If they were planning to go out in a burning blaze of glory, for better or for worse, then so be it. But Laguna will never let one of her Pokemon go through that alone.

Never again.

Laguna nodded at her starter Pokemon, the understanding between the two obvious, even without any words being spoken. And suddenly, she careened to a halt and turned around to face the horde of bugs.

The sheer number and size were overwhelming and Laguna felt her heart sink as she forced herself to remember. This was only a game. All the pain wasn't real. It didn't exist... But her pokemon were real enough for her. That was all that mattered.

"Aaaalright you bitch-ass buggy motherfuckers!" Laguna shouted at the top of her lungs, proudly clinging Marina to her chest as she began to blow bubbles all around them. Building up and up, filling the cave as much as the little pokemon could. "You want some of this, you demonic hellspawn? Go back from where you came you overgrown cockroaches!"

Marina's bubbles had been strong enough for her to bounce atop, so Laguna decided to attempt exactly the same. She leaped forwards, her feet finding purchase atop one as it squished beneath her feet, and suddenly the two of them were launched forwards off of a bubble trampoline.

"Eat Bubble Beam, Bitches!"

Laguna shouted as loud as she could as Marina suddenly began to blow out the biggest bubble beam yet, wave after wave of bubbles poured from her snout, the force even keeping them aloft for the briefest of moments. It shredded bug after bug, popping and exploding all over them.

And yet, what goes up must come down. Laguna braced herself, attempting to ready herself for the pain.

Despite all the fear, the apprehension, the impending doom of slamming into the ground with her exhausted Brionne, and being shredded by bugs, she couldn't help but laugh. Almost grim, like a cackle as she was mere moments away from making a bug pancake with her own body.

It hit her all at once. Maybe her own Pokemon are such damn heroic fools because it's all she ever wanted to be herself. Someone who could make a difference. Why else would she be stupid enough to do this? And at the moment, it was just, funny.

And then, splat.

WHITE OUT

---

Laguna: Dig 10, Tooltips direct her to rocks she can even lift! 10, Glitching her hands into loose cracks, and rips them down! 10
Bergmite: Dig 10, Hardened Ice Shell with Massive Spikes! 10, High Jump Kick crumbles rock, but sometimes it has a price to pay. 10
Brionne: Attack 10, Eat Bubble Beam, Bitch! 10, The Supportive Bond of Trainer and Starter, Motherfuckers! Never Alone! 10, White Out 80.

DUNGEON: CORE BREAKER

Conclusion

Bugs, bugs everywhere.

But only for a moment, before the trainers beat them back one final time with brains, brawn, and bubbles. The trio rip and tear, shredding the oncoming wave, so that more than half of the mandibled monsters are reduced to splatters upon the rock.

Fight the Bugs (340/500)

Only those lucky enough to avoid combat entirely break through to reach Mega Roxy. They gnaw at her tail, acid melting away at her steel plates. Her HP drops dangerously low. 30...20...10... As she roars in pain and her digging slows, Jefferson feeds her the Big Red Gem.

Mega Roxy's HP jumps from red to green, and she powers up through the last of soil, trainers digging at her side as she bursts through into the brilliant light of the Surge Steppes. She grinds along the grassy plains, coasting on the last of her inertia and leaving the tunnel behind. Far off, thunder rumbles among the metal pillars, almost like applause.

Lucky Guy and Natsuki make it out the easy way, riding with Jefferson in the minecart or following the tunnel. orioncayge Whited Out numerous times, but each time was sent back to the tunnel to fight on, like a vengeful specter. Eventually crawls up the tunnel, covered in the blood of his slain enemies. Laguna was nowhere to be found, respawning at her most recent Shrine.

"We did it! We made it out alive!" Jefferson says, laughing in exhaustion and surprise as he climbs out of the minecart, spilling the wealth of gems and gold onto the grass, and approaches Mega Roxy. "Okay girl, spit it out now," he says, and Mega Steelix drops the Megastone Core from her mouth like a giant jaw breaker. Her form reverts, and suddenly plain old Roxy is lying, panting on the grass. Jefferson rubs her head, cradling the core in one arm.

DUNGEON COMPLETED

You've spent time in the dark. You've smashed rocks, grabbed jewels, and were grabbed and bitten in turn by creatures unknown. You fought your way through the depths of the earth, and returned stronger, forged in fire and tempered in ice, and quenched in the blood of a thousand slain bugs.

You have grown stronger, gaining greater knowledge of yourself and the terrible enemy that you fought. Your experience lends itself to new skills.

UNLOCKED: NEW BASIC SUBCLASS

STEELER STEEL-TYPE

CATCHER BUG-TYPE

Steelers make themselves into the weapon or armor that their team needs. They gain metallic eyes and hair, and their Steel-type Pokemon may take on a uniquely rusted or tarnished appearance. At Tier 1, the player can equip themselves in either the Tank or Sweeper skill tree. If equipped in Sweeper, they may now wield a steel melee weapon. If equipped in Tank they may now wear functional steel armor. All the player's moves are considered either Normal or Steel moves. If the Steeler faints in combat, they white out.  Tier 2 - steel pkmn +5 Tier 3 - steel moves +5 Tier 4 - know your enemy Tier 5 - never normal

Catchers are filled with buzzing energy and a need to investigate every flower. They gain a set of aesthetic wings, similar to those of a dragonfly, butterfly, or other insect. These wings allow them to fly short distances and to hover above the ground for short periods of time, but are incapable of prolonged flight.   Their Bug-type Pokemon may attract other members of their species and appear as a swarm. Their hands and feet also gain immense traction, allowing them to stick to any surface they grab on to. This can be used to climb walls and other vertical surfaces and to stick to ceilings. Tier 2 - bug pkmn +5 Tier 3 - bug moves +5 Tier 4 - know your enemy Tier 5 - never normal

All players are now eligible to change their Trainer Subclass to one of the options above! Doing so before the end of next month is FREE, but you may also choose to switch for -25 BYTES at any time in the future if you are ever so inclined.

Additional loot (dungeon rank: easy) has dropped for these hard-working miners:

orioncayge

FLAVOR ITEM: MAGNETIC BOOTS
The magnetic boots feel so good that you can't help but keep wearing them, and you did such a great job kicking and stomping bugs that Jefferson Westfall is happy to let you have them! These boots can be activated to send you flying towards nearby metallic objects at great speeds! 

Laguna

NEW POKEMON: ONIX (Uncommon)
Roxy was so well-fed and looked after that following the dungeon she laid an egg! Thankful for your cooling of the magma chamber, she bestows her baby to you. Though you weren't there to receive it at the time, the next time you spawned in it appeared in your inventory along with a thank you note.

Lucky Guy

COSMETIC: RHINESTONE SEAL
For greeding your way through the dungeon, and for such wonderful use of your Alchemist subclass this cosmetic is bestowed upon you! Equip this item on a Pokeball to give one Pokemon a "rhinestone" or "bedazzled" appearance. Your Pokemon may appear as if hundreds of little gems have been stuck to them. You may describe this however you desire.

Natsuki

TM: DIG
Jefferson Westfall, seeing that you needed a little help digging out of the tunnel, hands you a dusty disc. It looks well-used, as if the instructions on it have come in handy many times. This TM can be used to teach the ground-type move Dig. TMs are reusable. The Pokemon must be able to naturally learn the move you're trying to teach it (Generation 7/8 Learnsets).

Natsuki receives 80 BYTES as her share of the gems gathered in the dungeon.
Lucky Guy Laguna and orioncayge receive 100 BYTES as their share of the gems gathered in the dungeon.