[center][h2]Richard Evans[/h2][h3]Seasalt Caverns — B1F[/h3][/center]
With the pair having parted ways, Richard continued ahead in relative silence, with Luna continuing to follow close behind. The path that his Rotom Phone guided him down wasn't particularly dangerous, thankfully enough, and that lent itself well to making sure that he didn't go stepping on any toes on the way into the cavern proper. The smell of salt in the air was strong before he had entered—no thanks due to the ocean being so close by—but the intensity of that smell seemed to double once he took a few steps past the entrance. He didn't seem to be the only one who had noticed, it seemed; though he had grown used to the smell of seawater over the last few months stuck on the ocean blue, Luna's scrunched-up nose and mild look of displeasure made clear her feelings on the matter.

Turning to look at the grass snake Pokemon with a wry smile, Richard knelt down and patted her on the head.

"Well, we're going to be exploring a lot from here on out; don't think [i]everywhere[/i] is going to be like this," he remarked before standing back up and continuing further down the cavern. It was at [i]that[/i] point, though, that luck seemed to line up against him.

Though the Magikarp weakly swimming through the waters nearby barely deserved notice, the Zubat flying overhead were a bit more annoying—and, as far as he could tell, they seemed to think the same of him as they began to fly off through the cavern. Well, [i]most[/i] of them did, at least. It seemed there was one in particular that had it out for him, and the other two wanted to make sure that he didn't just try to bail.

There was a brief moment of silence as he turned towards Luna, who in turn looked back towards him; then, almost as if in sync, they turned towards the sole Zubat standing in their way.

"...Luna?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the Zubat until the Snivy walked up next to him.

"Sni?"

"I've got... A dumb plan. It might work. Might not; heck, might even make these guys angrier if it doesn't work or even get more after us," Richard continued as he beckoned his Rotom Phone in front of himself. "Okay, just have to pull up this app, turn this up to max, and... Okay. Cover your ears and, when I start moving, [i]run[/i]. Rotom, do your best."

As the Zubat continued to stand in their way, Richard quickly brought one hand to cover one ear and, after using the other to signal his phone, quickly covered the other. A high-pitched screeching noise began to radiate from his device, and Richard wasted no time in booking it past the Zubat and further into the cave. Luna was startled all the same, of course, but if there was anything she was good at, it was running.

So run she did, as the two attempted to break past the Zubat and run further into the cavern. The Rotom Phone stopped the ear-wrenching noise after a few seconds' delay before zooming past to catch up with its owner. There didn't seem to be any more Zubat and the noise wasn't loud enough to pull attention from any more from a few feet around the phone, so hopefully that disorienting noise would be enough to allow the duo to dodge the encounter and explore a bit more.

Hopefully the Zubat wasn't going to be the type that held grudges, else they might have to face it afterwards [i]anyways[/i] when they tried to leave.

...Maybe there were other exits they could use instead?

[@Rune_Alchemist]