The next morning, Pyrrha and Nuzleaf both woke up early and were exiting the house.

"I reckon we oughta head to school early this time," the native said. "I'll have to introduce you to the teachers and all, for starters. I'll go along with you this time, but from tomorrow, you'll make the trip yourself."

"Right. I understand," Pyrrha nodded.

"Then let's hit the road." The two Pokemon walked to school.

After they arrived at school, Nuzleaf had introduced Pyrrha to the principal and vice of the school, as well as explained her situation to them. Of course, he left out parts of her being human and the Beheeyems, as it would worry the two if he had.

"And that's about the sum of it, Principal Simipour and Vice Principal Watchog," Nuzleaf ended.

"Ho ho ho! It looks like we'll have another fun addition to our class. What a delight!" the principal, a Simipour to be exact, happily stated. "I'll be glad to take responsibility for the education for your young charge."

"Good. I'll just be seeing myself out then." Thanking Simipour with a bow, Nuzleaf took his leave.

Watchog hummed, grabbing Pyrrha's attention, as she turned and saw the vice looking at her unsurely. "... Just don't make any trouble in school. We've already got enough troublemakers on our hands," he advised/pleaded. "I can't weather another scandal."

"Of course, Mr. Vice Principal," the Riolu replied.

Simipour turned to his assistant. "Now, now, Vice Principal Watchog. I would say that's quite unnecessary! Do we truly have any troublemakers at our fine school?" he questioned.

"Of course we do! One in particular! The very bane of my existence!" the vice principal snapped at him. "You know exactly who I'm talking about, Mr. Principal, and don't you deny it!"

"My dear Vice Principal, I'm sure you'd never mean to speak ill of our precious students."

For some reason, watching them argue of such matter reminded Pyrrha of something of her past. But before she would dwell on it, the trio of Pokemon heard familiar voices outside the hut.

"Good morning, Mr. Farfetch'd!" came Goomy's voice.

"Ah! Yes, good morning!" answered the teacher outside the gate.

"Morning, Mr. Farfetch'd!" followed Deerling's voice

"And a good morning to you, Miss Deerling!"

"Morning, Teach! Hey, Teach. Why are you always carrying around that leek with you, huh?" came Pancham's voice.

"Well, it would be quite far fetched for me to NOT carry around such a useful tool! I'm afraid you're wrong about one thing, though. This is no leek; it's a stalk... Errr, but never you mind that now. Come along, everyone. To your seats!"

Pyrrha didn't know why, but when her possible teacher answered one of the students' question, she felt the urge to face palm at the first sentence.

"It seems as though the students have begun to arrive," Simipour stated. "Let's introduce you to your new classmates, shall we?"

"That sounds lovely, Mr. Principal," Pyrrha agreed.

Minutes later, the Riolu found herself standing by the teacher's desk, facing her classmates... which had many familiar faces.

"Everyone, I have a special treat for you," Simipour began. "We have a new friend joining us today. You'll all be learning together from now on."

Almost all the students were shocked to see Pyrrha there.

"Th-That's the kid who-!" Pancham gasped out loud.

"You're the one from yesterday!" Deerling exclaimed.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha greeted to them all.

This surprised Simipour. "What's that? It looks like some of you are already acquainted with our new friend," he said. Shaking off this surprise, he continued, "For those of you who are not, I'd like you to meet Pyrrha. Pyrrha has just moved here and lives with Mr. Nuzleaf, who you may know. I hope you'll all get along well."

Just then, the audible sound of footsteps was heard. Everyone turned to the source and saw a dust cloud forming and heading their way, with one individual in front of the cloud.

"I'm gonna be laaaaaaaaaate!" Froakie screamed, showing no signs of even slowing down. In fact, the 'mon was running real fast with his eyes closed, he did not know he was going to collide with Pyrrha... until it was already too late.

"Augh!" the female Pokemon screamed out, tumbling onto the ground.

Watchog panicked slightly at this. "Typical! The troublemaker strikes again..." he groaned.

Froakie stood back up and saw that he bumped into someone... hard. "Whoa! Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?!" he asked. Upon realizing that 'someone' was Pyrrha, he then freaked a little and exclaimed, "Wah! Y-You're the one I-!"

'It's... that kid from yesterday...' Pyrrha thought, losing consciousness from that hard hit. 'Everything's... going black... Can't... hold on...'

And with that, Pyrrha got knocked out.

As Pyrrha slowly regained parts of her consciousness, she found that she was lying on some hay. 'Huh...? Where... am I...?'

Opening her eyes, she found herself in what seemed like the nurse's office. "Oh! You've come back to us!" she heard.

Pyrrha looked to the source and saw a pink and cream-colored Pokemon standing there with her.

"This is the school nurse's office. You blacked out and lost consciousness," she told her. "It was Froakie who took you out. Do you remember anything?"

The Riolu thought back and remembered how the blue frog of a Pokemon collided with her. "Oh yeah. That's right."

"Well, it's good that you're awake now. Looks like you should be fine."

"Yeah. Thank you... Uh... Who are you?" Pyrrha politely asked.

"Oh! Me? I'm Audino," the Pokemon introduced. "I'm actually the village doctor, but I also help out teaching health here at the school. I'm sure you'll see me around." Audino looked out the door, where class was being held in session. "I'm afraid class has already started without you. If you feel up to it, Pyrrha, you should probably hurry back and join them."

"Yes, Ms. Audino," Pyrrha nodded, walking out the doors.

As Audino said, class had indeed started without her. At the moment, Farfetch'd was reading a story to the students... one that was making a couple fall asleep on him.

Those still conscious saw Pyrrha walking out the door.

"Oh! There's Pyrrha!" Deerling exclaimed, surprising Pancham and Shelmet awake.

"I'm awake! I'm listening!" the latter panicked.

Froakie, Deerling and Goomy all rushed to Pyrrha's side.

"Pyrrha! You're finally awake! Are you okay?!" the blue froggie asked. "It was totally my fault for running into you like that!"

"Ex-CUSE me! We are still in the middle of class, you know!" Farfetch'd shouted, grabbing the students' attention. "No one said you can get up from your seats!"

"S-Sorry, Mr. Farfetch'd," Deerling apologized, as the group of students walked down the steps and went back to their seats... Pyrrha being the only one standing by Farfetch'd side, as she didn't know where she was assigned to sit in.

"Pyrrha, are you well enough to rejoin the class?"

"Yes, Mr. Farfetch'd," Pyrrha answered.

"In that case, find yourself a seat. There's an open space next to Froakie."

Pyrrha went to the recommended spot and sat, rather stood, there. Froakie looked and smiled at her, happy to have the new kid sitting next to him.

"Oi! All eyes up front!" Farfetch'd shouted at the Water-type.

"Yes sir!" Froakie happily replied, looking back at the teacher.

"Now then! Let me continue with the reading." That said, Farfetch'd continued the story.

When recess finally rolled around, Froakie, Deerling, and Goomy all huddled around Pyrrha.

"Thanks again for yesterday!" the latter 'mon thanked gratefully.

"We owe you, Pyrrha. You really saved Goomy back there," the deer Pokemon said, just as grateful.

"Wait a minute! Just what did you do, Pyrrha?! Suddenly everyone loves you around here!" Froakie asked, being one of the very few kids in class who were unaware of the events that occurred.

"It wasn't anything much. I just did what many other Pokemon would do after hearing Goomy's situation," Pyrrha said.

"You're being too humble," Deerling begged to differ. "Besides, you saw what Pancham and Shelmet also did yesterday. I wouldn't really say that many other Pokemon would do the same as you, especially not when I pointed out the dangers and risks they put poor Goomy through. Honestly, if anything, those two are just-"

"Atrocious." Deerling stopped when Pyrrha described the two 'mons with a word she, Goomy, and Froakie were unfamiliar with.

"What's 'atrocious'?" Goomy asked.

The Riolu looked back at the three students, just as confused.

"I was going to say 'bullies', but what is 'atrocious'?" Deerling asked.

"Huh? Did I say that?" Pyrrha asked back, puzzling the Pokemon huddled around her.

"You don't remember what you just said?" Froakie questioned.

"Well, it's just, after hearing of how Pancham and Shelmet teased Goomy, I was thinking of the word 'bullies' myself, but it seems I've said something else that describes them."

"Hmm... That does tend to happen. And this is me speaking from experience with my pops and my studies."

Both Deerling and Goomy sweat dropped at that.

"Hearing that from you sounds real believable," the latter said.

After recess and becoming official friends with Froakie, Deerling and Goomy, classes resumed. Once the remaining classes drew to an end for the day, all the students were making their way back home.

Pyrrha was walking down the road, silently minding her own business and enjoying the small quiet time she was having.

"Hey Pyrrha!" came a shout. The Riolu looked behind her and saw Froakie catching up to her. "Let's walk home together!"

"Sure!" Pyrrha agreed.

"All right!" the Water-type cheered. As they started to walk together, or rather walk and hop home together, Froakie then said, "I'm sorry I never got to finish showing you around the plaza yesterday. I'm afraid a little something popped up and got in the way."

'That's... one way to look at it,' Pyrrha thought, as her companion laughed at the event that occurred yesterday.

"But today! Today's a new day! How about I take you around after this?"

Hearing that offer made Pyrrha feel a little guilty, as she had already given herself the tour around town. "Oh... Uh... You see, Froakie, I actually already showed myself around."

"Oh, you did?" The Riolu nodded at the question in response. "Oh... Well, that's that, I guess."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine, Pyrrha." After taking several more steps, a different idea came to Froakie's mind. "Oh! I know! In that case..." He stood in front of Pyrrha's way. "How about this? I've got someplace really good to show you!"

The Riolu tilted her head sideways in slight confusion. "Someplace really good?"

"Yeah! It's the best, and you'll feel great after visiting it! You'll see! Don't you wanna check it out right away?"

A smile formed on Pyrrha's face, especially after seeing the innocent sparkles in Froakie's eyes when he was describing the place he wanted to take her to. "Sure! That sounds great!"

"Really?! You'll really come with me?!" If it was at all possible, the smile on her new friend's face and the sparkles in his eyes got too bright for Pyrrha to see with open eyes.

"Sure I will!"

"All right! You're the best! Follow me! This way! Hurry!" With that, Froakie took off to their destination, with Pyrrha chasing after him.

Unknown to the two, Pancham and Shelmet were both up ahead of them.

"Hold it right there!" the former called. Unfortunately for him, both Pyrrha and Froakie ignored him and passed them both, to their shock. "H-Hey! I told you to stop, didn't I?!"

That got both their attention, as Pyrrha and Froakie both turned to him.

"What is it?" the latter asked. "We got someplace to be, so..."

"We weren't talking to you!" Shelmet corrected in an annoyed tone. "It's Pyrrha who needs to hear us out!"

Both he and Pancham approached the Riolu.

"So, Pyrrha!" the panda-like Pokemon spoke. "You did pretty good job making it out of the Foreboding Forest yesterday."

"Thanks!" Pyrrha thanked, feeling complimented by the feat.

"What?! Pyrrha, you went into Foreboding Forest yesterday?!" Froakie asked. Deerling and Goomy may have told him of the good Pyrrha did for the younger Pokemon, but they didn't tell him the whole story.

"No one is talking to you, you little-!" Pancham caught himself and turned back to the 'mon he wanted to speak to. "Anyway, Pyrrha! Don't go thinking that making it out of the Foreboding Forest means you're tough!"

"Yeah! Don't go thinking that!" Shelmet agreed.

The Riolu looked at him in slight confusion. "But I never-"

"There are scarier places than that in the world!" Pancham interrupted.

"Yeah! There are!" his friend vouched.

The conversation was getting Froakie's interest. "There are?! Where?!"

This got the other kids attention back to him, as Pancham sighed, "Hmph. Right. I forgot you're an Expedition Society wannabe or whatever. Back to the point." All eyes returned to Pyrrha. "If you can clear an even scarier dungeon, then we'll admit you've got some guts. So how about it? You up to the challenge?"

Before Pyrrha could turn them down, Froakie eagerly answered, "Yeah! I'll go! I'll go!"

"NO ONE IS TALKING TO YOU!" Pancham shouted. Sadly for him, the Water-type didn't pay attention, as he was already in his own little world.

Pyrrha herself signed, finding herself in a situation she didn't really want to be in.

Next thing she knew, Pyrrha found herself with the boys in front of a mine, hiding behind a boulder, as they watched some mole-like Pokemon at work.

"Isn't this... the Drilbur Coal Mine?" Froakie spoke, familiar with the area.

"That's right," Shelmet answered. "This is a mine that the Drilbur run. But it's not only a mine; it's also a mystery dungeon. The path splits in two halfway into the mine. If you take the path on the right, it'll just continue on into the regular old mine. The path on the left is usually barred."

"We want you to sneak into that left path and bring back some red stones as proof," Pancham told them. Mainly Pyrrha.

"I kinda stopped listening there for a while, but I think I've got it," Froakie said. "So we just have to find some red stones?"

"That's right. Do that and we'll admit to everyone that Pyrrha has some real guts. I'll have you know that I cleared that dungeon in no time flat!"

"Really?! That's amazing!"

"Yeah, well. That's just how good I am."

Unknown to the boys, Pyrrha knew it was a lie. How could she tell? Well, as far as she knew ever since she woke up as a Riolu, auras don't lie.

"So why is no one supposed to go down the left path anyway?" Froakie asked Pancham.

The boasting and lying Pokemon panicked a bit at the question. "Huh? Y-You really want to know?"

Assuming the shocked look was for something else, Froakie quickly corrected, "Oh! Nope! Nope! Don't tell me! It's way more interesting to find out for yourself firsthand. Right, Pyrrha?"

Before Pyrrha could answer, Pancham cut in and practically shouted, "Y-Yeah! Of course it is!"

The Riolu couldn't help but sweat drop at how relieved Pancham seemed, both with his expression and with his aura.

'I suppose I could humor them a little...' she thought.

"That settles it, Pyrrha! Let's give it a try!" Froakie told her.

It was then Pancham and Shelmet realized something. "Hey, wait a second! Why are you inviting yourself along, huh? No one ever said you could go!"

"W-Wait just a second there, Pancham..." Shelmet said to his friend, dragging them a little bit away from Pyrrha and Froakie.

As they could see them whisper about something, Pyrrha couldn't help but be more suspicious about their aura. Wanting to test out the extent of her aura-sensing ability, she looked to the mine and closed her eyes, trying to get a good feel of what may be in there. Unfortunately, whether it was due to her lack of skill in her specialty or how inexperienced she was with it, she couldn't get anything from the inside of the mine, only sensing the aura of the three Drilbur working outside.

"Fine then! The two of you can both go! Just bring back those red stones!" came Pancham's voice, snapping Pyrrha back to the boys, as she saw the panda and armored bug walk away.

"I had been planning to show you one of my favorite places, but I guess that can wait," Froakie said to her. "Let's go check out the dungeon!"

"R-Right," Pyrrha agreed.

The two charged onwards to the entrance, ready to tackle whatever was in the mine. As they approached, all three Drilbur turned to them, causing the two kids to stop in their tracks.

"Ah!" gasped one.

"Er, um... Wh-Where are you two going?" asked another.

"Inside?" Froakie honestly answered, much to their shock, including Pyrrha's.

"You're that little rascal from the village," the third and last Drilbur said in realization.

"And this is a mine, you know," the second Drilbur asked. "A mine is no place for a child."

"I see, I see. Sorry to have bothered you," Froakie apologized.

"What do we do now, Froakie?" Pyrrha asked him.

"Hmm... Since that's the case, Pyrrha... Let's look for an opening so we can sneak past these guys, okay?" The suggestion surprised the 'mons around him... especially since he said it loud and clear for the Drilbur trio to hear.

"Um... You do realize you said it loud enough for them to hear, right?" she asked, unsure about the plan.

"Don't worry about it! We'll be real sneaky so they don't notice a thing!" Froakie assured... causing the others to sweat drop once more, as he was, apparently and unfortunately, not that good at being sneaky. "But if you want to get ready first, we don't have to go right away."

"Well... actually, it'd be best if we do this now. The faster we get this done, the faster we can get home, right?" Pyrrha asked.

"Good point. All right then! Let's go!"

The Drilbur were shocked with what they were hearing. All looked at the pair of kids with the same ideas; to stop them no matter what!

Froakie and Pyrrha looked to the side, up a cliff with gleaming eyes.

"Hey, all you Drilbur! Look at that!" Froakie called. "A delicious-looking apple tree just sprouted over there!"

"Those apples up there sure look good!" Pyrrha played along. "What I would give to get those apples!"

The Drilbur all sweat dropped and drooled at their attempt to distract them. However, the word 'delicious' and 'apples' overruled all reason, as they all looked at the direction they were looking.

"All right, Pyrrha! Now's our chance!" Froakie called, seeing an opening.

"Got it, Froakie!" Pyrrha responded.

The Drilbur flinched, seeing that they were played for fools and watched as both kids slipped past the three.

Once they were inside, Pyrrha and Froakie saw that Shelmet wasn't kidding about the coal mine being a dungeon. Like the previous dungeons Pyrrha went through, the mine had Pokemon that saw them as enemies and did what they could to stop and/or defeat them. The two even picked up some items along the way that could help them out during their exploration.

Some time of fighting and exploring later, they arrived at the intersection Shelmet had also mentioned.

"We've come pretty far," Froakie stated. Looking up ahead, he saw two paths, with a Drilbur between them. "Oh! Hey, Pyrrha! Look at that! The path splits in two right there!"

"Shelmet said that of the two tunnels, it's the left tunnel we have to take," Pyrrha recalled.

"That's right. And Pancham said that the left was blocked off so no one could enter. But now that it's down... We're supposed to do there and get some red stones. Let's check it out, Pyrrha!"

"Right!"

The two leisurely made their way to the left path, much to the 'guarding' Drilbur's surprise. "H-Hold it right there!" he called out, stopping the kids. "This is no place for children to play... And it sure looks like you're thinking of going into this tunnel over here, but... No one's allowed in this tunnel. Not ever. For any reason."

While that warning would usually scare off any normal kids, Pyrrha was not at all frightened. And as for her friend...

"Oh! So it really is forbidden to enter? Thanks for telling us!" Froakie said.

"No, no... No need to thank me," Drilbur said, distracted by the compliment.

Taking the distraction to their advantage, Pyrrha grabbed Froakie and rushed in. By then, the guard of a Pokemon snapped back to his senses and watched as the two continued on deeper into the dungeon.

A few floors deeper later, which included some more fights against other Pokemon, Pyrrha and Froakie seemed to have reached the deepest part of the dungeon.

"Hmm... Looks like we ended up in the dark," Froakie stated.

"Let me try something," Pyrrha said, digging through some items they picked up along the way. "I think it was... this one." She took out a wand and gave it a little wave. Soon enough, the tip of the wand lit up, granting them some light.

"Whoa! I didn't know you can use a Blast Wand like that! Nice thinking, Pyrrha!" The Riolu blushed at the compliment, as they continued down the path. "Hey, Pyrrha. Mind handing me the Blast Wand?"

"Why ask?" she asked back.

"Well... I kind of want to take a lead, and you're the one with the light. Plus, my pops always taught me that a boy should be a gentleman to a girl, even though you are strong."

Pyrrha smiled at the reason and handed him the lit-up stick, much to Froakie's delight.

Some time of walking later, they didn't seem to be making much progress at all.

"I have an awfully bad feeling about this," Pyrrha told her companion.

"Pyrrha, I'm the one leading us with a torch. At least humor me a little more for maybe... five minutes?" Froakie requested, feeling more bored that there wasn't anything much going on at the moment. No Pokemon appearing, no traps were triggered, no new items found, and certainly no signs of red stones.

Next thing the Water-type knew, he tripped on something and dropped the makeshift torch. With no Pokemon even holding it, the wand lost its powers, making the cave dark and blinding the duo. "Oh... Sorry about that, Pyrrha..."

"It's fine but... Do you hear that?" the female Pokemon asked her friend.

"A voice in our head saying to turn back as this may be a prank again?"

"No, that... low and deep sound..." Froakie tried to hear the sound Pyrrha heard, but got nothing.

Pushing their concerns to the back of their head, they both continued down, trying to be careful as to not trip on anything or fall in a hole or cliff. Pyrrha, especially, used her aura powers to focus on their surroundings at a five feet radius to ensure none of that happens.

Suddenly, Froakie stopped. "Hey! I think I see the stone!"

Pyrrha stopped right behind him and looked at the direction he was looking. Unlike during their walk down the dark path, they seemed to be in a large room in the mine. It was undoubtedly empty, as there were no Pokemon signatures nearby, as far as Pyrrha could see. And because of the dimly lit room, they could see something reddish and rocky sticking out of a hole above them.

"That's gotta be the stone!" Froakie exclaimed.

"But... How do we get up there?" Pyrrha asked.

"Leave that to me. I'm actually a great jumper and a great climber." With that, the Water-type went and climbed up the wall. As he climbed, Pyrrha couldn't help but get a bad feeling about the stone he was heading to.

With Froakie, once he was stuck on a wall beside the red crystal, he saw there were others in the hole, all attached to the ground. "Whoa. Pyrrha! There's more up here!"

"We just need one!" the Riolu called.

Unfortunately, Froakie either didn't hear or ignored her, as he thought, 'I should bring Pyrrha a big one to remember this adventure. But first, one for Pancham and Shelmet.' He grabbed hold of the first stone he was eyeing on his way up and tried to pull it out. But of course, it was stuck in the ground tight.

As he pulled, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a presence amongst them. And one that seemed quite annoyed at that. She looked around, trying to locate the presence, but saw no one. When she looked back at Froakie, she now knew where the presence came from.

"Froakie..." she called in a nervous tone.

Froakie slipped as he tried so hard to pull out the stone, he felt something below him move, and he felt the rock below him floating. No... Not floating.

"Hey..." came a low voice.

The Water-type looked up and saw glowing eyes glaring at him. "Let go..." the rock- no... The Pokemon he was on, threatened.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"