Wisp let out a tiny noise of discontent as Hana sprayed her wounds with a potion, recoiling away from the medicine. Her head pressed back into my stomach as she tensed up and she whined into my jacket.

I sighed, running my fingers through her ghostly hair. "I'm sorry, Wisp, we're almost done. It's just a little bit more."

I looked up at Hana to confirm that I was not, in fact, lying to my Pokemon. Hana grimaced and gave me a 'fifty-fifty' hand gesture. She then discarded the empty container and reached into the bag for another potion.

We had found a spot atop some rocks nearby to where Yuji and Amy were setting up camp in the tiny box canyon. They'd elected to put the tents next to the other trainer's camp and were over getting acquainted with them. Hana had offered to help bandage both me and Wisp since the damage had been so intense.

A pang went through my heart as I looked down at my ghost. The wounds she'd sustained to keep Rhydon busy were way worse than anything I'd seen her take to this point. They were lingering more than they should have. The scratches, gouges, and bruises across her body seemed to be keeping her corporeal, which was something I'd never seen in person.

Dark type energy was one of two weaknesses for ghost types, and the only one that truly upset their phantasmal forms. Rhydon must have been packing a dark type move to force Wisp to stay corporeal. Instead of fading into the shadows to recover like she normally would, Wisp was being forced to be healed through the slow, medical process of potion application.

Hana interrupted my brooding, quietly grabbing something else out of her bag and pushing it into my hand.

It was a small blue fruit, one of the oran berries I'd given her at the Pokemon Center. I looked up at her and she gave me a small smile, gesturing to Wisp with her head before going back to applying the potion.

A tired grin found its way onto my face. Oran berries weren't nearly as effective as actual modern medicine, but they did have healing qualities to them.

More importantly, they were at least a little bit sweet, and I was holding one of the the biggest sweets fanatics I'd ever met.

"Here, girl," I murmured to Wisp, bringing the berry in front of her face. "Snack on that."

Wisp's went as wide as saucers. She lunged for it before I could blink.

The berry did its job cheering her up. "Drea!" my Pokemon mumbled happily as she chewed on her snack.

I caught Hana's eye and gave her a grateful look. She simply hummed in satisfaction as she started applying bandages to my Pokemon.

We continued on for a few more moments before Hana stood up, brushing the dirt from her pants.

"Well, that's as good as it's going to get for now," she sighed, looking into her bag regretfully. "I have to keep a few potions in the case of another emergency, so that's all we can spare right now."

I shrugged, pulling Wisp into my arms like the baby she was and standing up. "It is what it is. I can't thank you enough for what you've already done."

Hana smiled. "Derek, she saved our lives. The least I could do is help out," she said. Hana reached out and rubbed Wisp's head and my ghost nuzzled her palm.

I frowned a bit, not sure if what I was saying was getting across. "Still though, thanks," I tried again.

Hana met my gaze and paused. It clicked for her. I wasn't just thanking her for helping with Wisp.

Even within the oppressive darkness and cold of Mt. Moon, and the hard day that today had been, it had been a long time since I'd felt this mentally... healthy? Our conversation in the Pokemon Center, letting everything off my chest, had really helped. Having a friend like Hana had been really important, especially since I didn't have Daisy to talk to.

I loved Yuji and Amy, and I would always consider them my best friends, but with them I couldn't help try and solve the intense problems they were going through. It wasn't like that with Hana. She was the rock of the group, a solid and stable person who you could rely on.

Hana gave me a warm grin and nodded. "Sure, Derek. No problem."

I made a mental note to get Hana a present when we got to Cerulean. She definitely deserved it.

I looked around the box canyon, spotting where Yuji and Amy were sitting by a fire with the two other trainers who'd already been here. All four of them were comfortably lounging on small stumps and rocks and, to my surprise, a steady stream of conversation could be heard from both of my introverted companions.

I tilted my head that way. "Ready to meet the neighbors?" I asked Hana.

Her smile dimmed a little. "I would rather nap, but I suppose we should be polite. They did help the others set up our stuff."

"Oh, really?" I gave them another glance, though we were a little too far away to really make out a lot of detail, especially in the setting sun's dim light.

She nodded. "Yuji explained what had happened when we arrived, and one of them offered to help if we needed to go back down into the caves to find Wisp. From what little of them that I saw, they seem to be good guys."

That'd be a nice change of pace after Baird, I thought with a smile.

I tucked a now-napping Wisp inside my jacket, and Hana and I walked down to camp to meet our new friends.

----------------------------------------

Yuji and Amy stood to greet us when we got to the fire pit, eyes full of worry. "Derek, Hana," Yuji murmured. "Did everything turn out alright? How's Wisp?"

I summoned a reassuring smile and patted him on the shoulder before slightly unzipping my jacket. Wisp was comfortably slumbering there, snoring softly.

Even with their dislike of ghost types, Amy made a noise at how cute she looked.

"It's okay. Wisp is just a little banged up and she won't be able to go ghost for a while. Nothing that time won't heal."

Yuji gave me a hesitant look before slowly smiling. Stress melted from his shoulders like snow from a sunny mountain.

"Good," he sighed. He then glanced around the fire, gesturing to our new camping companions. "These are Ambrose and Lester, the trainers who had already happened to be camping here. We were just having a discussion about evolution methods."

I turned to smile and say 'hi' to the two of them, when I was taken aback by the two male models sitting in front of me.

The first was a platinum-blonde Superman. He was tall, buff, and cut, and there was something just naturally charming about his blue-eyed gaze as he waited for me to finish speaking. He had a presence about him, the kind of vibe that celebrities and public speakers gave off. His nearly white hair was slicked back and shaved down on the sides, showing off a silver ear clasp on the top of his left ear. It had a small chain dangling from it, ending in a silver moon medallion. He was dressed in a white and yellow sleeveless jacket that showed off his shoulders and form fit to his figure.

The one lounging next to him, on the other hand, was closer to my build. He was of middling height while being wirey and lean. His thinner frame was accentuated by baggy dark clothing and his paper-pale skin. His dark hair was left long and shaggy, covering one of his eyes and cascading down his back. Either he hadn't slept recently, or he'd intentionally given himself dark bags with a dark purple eyeshadow, I couldn't tell at this distance. Dangling from his right ear was a thin golden chain with a sun pendant on it.

Superman leaned forward and offered me an outstretched hand and a radiant smile, reminding me that I had stopped speaking. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Ambrose. I'm glad that everything worked out with your Pokemon."

I snapped out of my funk and leaned forward, shaking the guy's hand. It was just as powerful as I'd expected, but surprisingly gentle and in control. He made no move to give any more pressure than necessary for a firm handshake.

"I appreciate that, it was close. I'm Derek Tracy, by the way," I said, grateful that my back was to the fire. They probably couldn't see the heat that was working its way up my throat.

This dude is uncomfortably hot, was my only thought.

I turned to the other one, who I assumed was Lester, and I offered my hand to him as well. He leaned forward slightly and shook it, though he said nothing. His hand was slender and cold, and our handshake was short.

I cleared my throat and stepped to the side, pulling up a stump and attempting to draw Ambrose's gaze away from me. "This is, uh, Hana."

Hana stepped forward and greeted both of them as well, and Ambrose's smile looked just as genuine meeting her.

"So, evolution methods?" Hana asked as she sat down on a rock between Amy and I.

I chuckled under my breath. Leave it to her to focus on the academic conversation.

Ambrose smiled once again, leaning back on the rock that he and Lester shared. "Yes," he said passionately. "Yuji was just telling us about his specialization in fighting types, so I brought up that Lester and I have both specialized in 'time evolutions'."

"Which basically meant that we just kinda talked about all the weird evolutions we knew about," Amy piped up. "Like how Pennywise isn't gonna evolve till he learns Mimic."

"Time evolutions," I murmured, the phrase proccing something I'd read recently. "Like, uh, Chingling? Doesn't it only evolve at night?"

Ambrose's eyes lit up. "Yes, exactly! That's actually why we're here, we'd heard that there might be Chingling on the lower floors, so I was on my way to come catch one. Well, that and Lester also wanted to catch a Pokemon here."

As one, my friends and I shared a glance.

Based on the looks on their faces, this was the first time that Ambrose had mentioned Chingling by name. With that being the case there was a silent question in the air, and for some reason, my friends looked at me to answer it.

I shrugged.

Amy face-palmed.

Hana sighed and turned back to the other trainers. "That's actually why we're here as well," she admitted. "At least, one of our goals was to catch one of the psychic types on the lower floors."

I saw Ambrose's eyes glance at Amy for a moment before taking the information in stride. He'd already seemed to have figured out who the psychic specialist among us was.

"That's great! If there are other trainers on the search, that means those rumors a probably true," he said, seeming genuinely reassured that we were following the same trail. "I'll admit, I was curious as to what caused you all to come through this route. It's supposed to be much harder than the established one, though with your Pokenav+ it must have been a lot easier. I don't see those in Kanto very often."

Once again, all four of us shared a look before glancing at Hana's waist, where my Pokenav+ was currently clipped.

I was a little intimidated. Ambrose is really observant. He nailed that Amy was the one looking for a psychic type and spotted my Pokenav+. He's smart and good-looking? That's kinda unfair.

Hana smiled politely. "Yes, well, it has been really helpful. It's actually not mine, Derek's just letting me hold onto it."

Ambrose made to make more conversation, but his voice faded into the background as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I looked around before my eyes settled on Lester. He was staring back at me. His dark eyes were unreadable, but they were concentrated on me. When he saw me looking, he didn't back down, instead holding my gaze.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lester's hand slowly drift forward, grasping Ambrose's. Almost unconsciously, Ambrose interlocked their fingers as he kept talking, stroking his thumb over Lester's hand.

The ghost of a smile found its way onto Lester's face, and I suddenly understood what this was.

He's marking his territory, I almost chuckled when I realized, though a blush started working its way back up my throat. He totally caught me ogling his boyfriend. The matching earrings suddenly make a lot more sense.

I gave Lester a little nod and raised my wrist slightly, showing off the handkerchief that Daisy had given me. I tried to make my meaning clear. I gotcha, and it's not an issue. I'm already taken.

Lester nodded back, catching my drift, and he seemed to actually relax.

"Right, Derek?" Hana's question pulled me back into the conversation as she gently placed a hand on my forearm to get my attention.

I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

She gave me an amused look as she glanced between Lester and me, very obviously picking up on what had happened. I sheepishly grinned back at her.

"What we had been saying," Yuji spoke up, "was that perhaps it would be best if we continued as a group down to the lower floors, given that they are so much more dangerous."

"Oh," I debated it for only a moment. While it might lower the amount of money we might make from catching Pokemon like Bronzor, it would help to have more people on the lower floors. Since Ambrose and Lester were both camping at this site, it meant that they both had at least a single badge. "Yeah, I think that sounds like a great idea. As long as everybody is okay with that?"

Hana, Yuji, Ambrose, and Lester all nodded almost immediately, but I did spot a little bit of hesitation from Amy. The tiny psychic eventually agreed, though.

I made a note to ask about that later.

"Okay, sweet. What time are we thinking we want to head back in?"

For the first time, Lester spoke up. "Not until at least nine. I would prefer to see the sun again before we go back down."

I raised an eyebrow when he spoke. Lester, despite his thin frame, had the deepest voice of the group by far. It genuinely sent chills down my back.

Yuji nodded. "I too would prefer to get some training done while it's warm."

Amy shrugged. "I'm not gonna be really awake at any point before noon anyway, so it doesn't make any difference to me."

I stood, stretching my sore muscles. "Cool, sounds like we'll be packed up and out of here at nine," I said with a yawn. "Alright, I'm going to hit the hay. It's been too long of a day."

"Oh, I'll go with you," Hana said, standing herself. "I need to set up the map for tomorrow's route, so I'll need the Pokenav+ charger."

That caught my attention. "We have signal?"

"Yeah, you actually get more than a couple bars at the end of the canyon," Ambrose spoke up. "It's not enough for streaming or anything, but definitely texts and maybe a phone call."

Today's date was suddenly at the forefront of my mind, and I gave Hana an urgent look. "Do you mind if I make a call first?"

A few different emotions that I couldn't keep track of passed through her face, but she settled on understanding. She nodded, unhooking it and passing it over. I rushed through a quick goodnight to everyone else and made my way to the end of the canyon. The night was cold and dark, but it didn't even come close to the inside of Mt. Moon. Wisp complained when I started moveing, so I returned her to her ball where she could sleep peacefully. I flicked through my contacts and found the number I wanted at the top, dialing as soon as I'd reached more than a single bar of signal.

It had been five days since I'd left Pewter City. That meant that Daisy left for Johto tomorrow. Given that she'd be going into the wilds for weeks to follow the Bellsprout migration, this might be my last opportunity to call her for weeks.

The call rang four times before she picked up.

"Derek?" Her voice was staticky and broken, but there. She sounded shocked. "How are you call- ... -ight now?"

"Oh, it's so good to hear your voice," I let out a breath. "I'm at a campsite on the outside of the mountain. Don't worry, it's safe. I just realized that we had signal, and I really wanted to call you before you left."

There was a moment's pause before she answered. "... -m glad you did. I know it's only been- ... -ays but I've really missed you. How is everyone?"

I smiled, feeling a well of emotion in my chest that I hadn't realized that I'd been holding. I had really missed her too.

"Everyone is great. We met some other trainers today on the road and we're going to try hunting some rare psychic types tomorrow..."

I would eventually tell her about the Rhydon and Wisp's injuries, but I didn't want to worry her right now. Not when she wouldn't be able to check in on me for weeks.

No, instead I chose to tell her about the research I'd done trying to find a psychic for Amy, the progress Artis and I had made with Ice Ball, and my conversation with Hana.

She did have a comment when I mentioned my decision regarding her grandfather's offer.

"I'm glad Hana talked you into it. She's right, Pokemon training is extrem- ... -ompetitive. If you really see yourself at the top, you need to work every advantage that you have."

"I know," I sighed. "I guess- I mean, it just felt weird to get something so valuable from my girlfriend's family."

The was a light chuckle across the call. "... -erek, you do know that my brother is one of Grandpa's sponsored trainers this year, right? And that eight out of te- ... -the top rookies this year have some super privileged group or family supporting them?"

"Yes! I know..." I said with an amused tone. "Hana already said all that, and for the most part, I've made my peace with it. I swear, between the two of you it's like there's an echo sometimes-"

"Good!" Daisy laughed. "You should listen to her more often. She's a good influence on you."

Even though we lost signal a few times, Daisy and I talked for over an hour. She was really excited to hear about my week, especially because not a lot had happened for her. She'd taken a teleporting Pokemon back to Pallet Town and had met the expedition leader, but mostly it had just been a series of days spent packing for the trip.

Eventually, though, we did have to end our call. The Pokenav+ was dying and Daisy was leaving early the next morning.

"Goodnight, Daisy," I said wistfully, looking at the dying battery with regret.

She didn't sound much happier with the situation than I did. "Goodnight, Derek. I'll keep in touch as soon as I can."

Even though this call had been something completely unexpected, I couldn't help but feel cheated by the circumstances. We'd been able to steal this hour away, but it was going to be weeks before we could call again, let alone see each other. I frowned at the call, staring at the image of her that I'd set as her contact photo. It was from our night celebrating Paige's evolution. She was wearing her green dress and she looked absolutely radiant.

My thumb hovered over the disconnect button when I realized something.

She hadn't hung up yet either.

"Daisy?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

I frowned when there was something different about her voice. It was tight, strained even. When my sympathetic crying reflex started to activate, I realized what was happening.

"Oh no," I mumbled, eyes feeling hot. "You're not allowed to cry, cause then I'll cry! We already said goodbye like a week ago and it went fine!"

"I know!" Daisy choked out. "And it's stupid, but we spent a whole day preparing for that! I just- I wasn't ready to say goodbye again already."

Panic set in as my body unwillingly followed Daisy's lead, and tears started streaming down my face. "You gotta stop. You're gonna make me wake up the others!"

The call cut out again for a moment, but when it came back Daisy had reduced her crying to light snifles. "Is that better?" She asked quietly. "I'm sorry for crying, I just-

"You don't need to apologize at all, Dais," I interrupted her. "I get it, I'm having a hard time too. To be honest, I've never been this invested in someone else and..."

"... it's hard."

Daisy had finished my sentence in a perfect and simple way.

I had never really dated anyone seriously before, and even then, I'd never been drawn to someone the way that I was drawn to Daisy. All of this was new, especially given the weird circumstances that seemed to follow every time saw each other. I'd steeled myself well enough when I'd had a deadline and time to prepare, but hanging up on this coincidental call felt like an impossible task.

My Pokenav+ beeped twice. It wasn't going to give me a choice.

"I actually have to go now, Dais," I said, toughening up for just a moment. "The Pokenav+ is dying. I just want you to know that I'll miss you and that I'm counting the days to Saffron. Okay?"

"Okay," Daisy had steeled herself too. She was one of the strongest people I knew for a reason. "I'm going-"

The call dropped.

I looked down at the screen. It was black.

"Damn it."

----------------------------------------

I trudged back to the camp in a thoroughly bad mood.

"Stupid battery, stupid signal, stupid feelings..." I mumbled angrily, kicking a rock as I walked.

"Whoa, there," A familiar masculine voice chuckled. "Your call went that bad?"

I looked up from the trail and met Ambrose's amused gaze. He was comfortably lounging at the fire on the same rock I'd left him at. Everyone else was absent, so I assumed they'd already all headed to bed. He must've been the one to take the first watch over the camp.

"No. Yes. Ugh, not really," I shrugged. "Battery died."

Ambrose nodded knowingly and turned his gaze back to the fire. "It happens. Did you get to say everything you needed to say?"

I grimaced, thinking back to the end of the call. While I had given Daisy my final goodbye, I hadn't gotten to hear hers.

"I guess," I sighed. I sat down on the stump I'd been on earlier.

Ambrose didn't press me with more questions. Instead, he leaned back on his rock, laying out and looking up into the night sky. I followed his gaze, looking up at the constellations.

Years of thinking about rocketships and looking at the sky had hammered the name of every constellation in the sky into my mind. Ursaring Major, Cyndaquarius, Oricorian, all of them. The last time I'd thought about them was on Daisy and I's first proper date. She'd accidentally brought me to an entire exhibit about my favorite thing in the world. I think that was the first time I'd realized just how seriously I liked her.

Even though it had been interrupted by literal terrorists, that had been a pretty great date. Finding out Daisy was also a huge space nerd was one of my favorite things about her. She'd even talked about us coming here, to Mt. Moon, together one day.

In spite of my bad mood, a small smile found its way onto my face.

"You know," Ambrose mused from his rock without looking over at me. "When I've had a long day, nothing makes me feel better than looking at the sky."

I chuckled. "Yeah, it helps." I stared at the sky for a little bit longer before shifting to another rock. Maybe I would just sleep under the sky tonight. "I'm assuming that's why you decided to specialize in time evolutions?"

The adonis nodded. "I figure if I'm such a night owl, I might as well as well find some like-minded Pokemon for my team. Lester feels the same way, just about the sun. We're good like that."

"Huh," I grunted. A few moments later I let out a chuckle.

"Let me guess," Ambrose said. "You're thinking about how we look like we'd go for the opposite?"

"Yeah."

I could hear the smile in his voice as he started talking again. "I think that's why we work. I love the night, and he loves the day. We might give off the vibe of our opposite, but that just makes us like each other more."

I nodded along. It as much sense as anything else. "Hey, Ambrose?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to come off as, well, like I don't care-"

"But why am I telling this to somebody I met like two hours ago?"

"Yeah." I was getting unnerved by how well he could guess what I was going to say next.

He chuckled. "I actually don't know. You guys seem like good people. Lester likes you, at the very least."

I sat up, giving him a surprised look. "But-"

"You've exchanged all of two sentences and a handshake? Yeah, that's just how he works. Lester decides whether or not he likes somebody within about five minutes of meeting them. It helps that our first impression of you was somebody who was ready to run back into danger for their Pokemon. Honestly, if your ghost hadn't shown up when she did, Lester was about ready to go in on his own."

I thought about that for a long second.

It hadn't occurred to me that they'd been present while I was waiting for Wisp. I'd been so preoccupied with waiting for her that I'd disregarded anything else. From their perspective, though, I guess I saw why that would help their opinion of me. It did surprise me that Lester was the one who'd offered to help find Wisp. For some reason, I'd assumed it was Ambrose.

"Alright, then," I finally said. "I guess I can get behind that."

Ambrose grunted non-committedly, a lazy smile still on his face as he looked up at the sky.

We sat out there for another hour before Yuji made his way out of the tent to take over watch. I did eventually make my way into the tent. I set up the Pokenav+'s charger and waited for it to charge before going to update all the maps that Hana had wanted to do.

When I did get the Nav on again, there was a message waiting for me from Daisy.

[[20:31, Daisy <3]] I'm sorry that the call cut out. I just wanted you to know that I'll be missing you too, and that I hope you do so amazing against the Cerulean Gym. I can't wait to get through this expedition, and I'm waiting for Saffron. Goodnight, Derek.<3

I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

----------------------------------------

The next morning came too fast and left just as quickly.

I really didn't want to go back underground. Between the experiences we'd had over the last few days and my newly rediscovered love of the sky, I was not excited to be spending another two to four days underneath a mountain.

We all woke early, most of us taking the morning to train and prepare for the potential danger in front of us. Even Amy joined Yuji and I for our morning training, a fire lit under them since our discussion yesterday about their limits. By nine, we'd packed our tents and had a proper breakfast cooked over a real fire.

The six of us assembled in front of the cavern with our gear strapped and our Pokeballs ready. I handed off the Nav back to Hana, trusting her to get us through the tunnels more efficiently than I could. She gave me a little grin as she checked that I had updated our route, remembering what she'd mentioned before my call.

"Well, everyone," Hana gathered everyone's attention and presented the Nav's screen to us all. "The route today should get us to the fifth floor, assuming that all of the tunnels are still intact and properly marked. We don't have any particularly difficult paths for the first few hours, though it's going to be a difficult climb down the shaft ladder to the bottom."

Yuji, Amy, and I all murmured in sarcastic enthusiasm, but unsurprisingly Ambrose pumped his fist.

"Sounds like a great time!" He exclaimed. "Maybe, if there's room, we could even rappel down!"

I glanced at Lester right as he rolled his eyes. This was pretty normal for Ambrose, then. As I went to give my attention back to Hana, Lester caught my eye and we shared an amused look.

"With Wisp still injured," Hana continued, "the best Pokemon for traveling with us are probably Pennywise and Despereaux. Actually, do either of you have Pokemon that can travel quickly or be carried?" She turned to our two guests.

Ambrose and Lester both nodded, withdrawing their Pokeballs. I did a double-take as I realized that they only had one Pokemon each. Even if they both already had a badge, that wasn't an enviable position.

Two bursts of red light materialized their Pokemon, and I fully reversed my opinion.

Scratch that, they're doing just fine.

Standing in front of Ambrose and Lester were two feline forms, both about a meter long from their nose to the tips of their tails. The one sitting in front of Lester was the more lithe of the two, its lavender fur shimmering in the early sunlight. Its eyes shined like intelligent amethysts, quickly glancing over the group with caution. The Pokemon also had a shining smooth ruby gemstone in the center of its forehead, which glimmered with power.

The other form, the one in front of Ambrose, was dark as pitch, its fur almost fully absorbing the light around it. Only the shining bands of golden fur around its ears, tail, and limbs gave it definition. Otherwise, it would simply be a black void with two crimson eyes.

"Holy..." I murmured.

"...shit," Amy finished for me.

"Indeed..." Yuji agreed.

Espeon and Umbreon, respectively. Two evolutions of one of the most expensive Pokemon in the world. Eevee, the base form of both creatures, was the Pokemon that held the record for the highest number of possible evolutions. It gave powerful, versatile, and unique options to any trainer lucky enough to get their hands on one and could slot into any team. Even watching premiere league battling, it was rare to see more than one evolution of Eevee at a time.

Hana, to give her all possible credit, seemed close to unfazed at the revelation. If you didn't know her as well as I did, you think she'd just been presented with a couple of Spearow. Internally, though, I could tell that she was freaking out.

"Well, that answers that question," she said. "So, if that's the case, I suggest that the two of you cover the rear while we focus on navigating us to the fifth floor."

Lester nodded. "It's a solid plan."

I gave him a startled look. His voice was somehow even deeper in the morning. I felt it reverberate in my gut when he spoke.

"Alright, team!" Ambrose stepped closer to the cavern entrance. His Umbreon hopped onto his shoulders, draping itself around his neck. "Let's get this show on the road and capture some Pokemon!"

There was a less-than-enthusiastic response, but the rallying cry got us moving.

----------------------------------------

"Next season, I'm either going back to Hoenn or I'm doing fucking Alola," I cursed.

Hana grunted above me. "Alola doesn't even have a Gym Circuit, Derek."

"But it's warm, and I guarantee I won't have to free climb down thirty meters of frozen rock," I snarked back.

"Actually-"

"Hana! Now is not the time for facts!"

"Too bad! Facts help me focus!" Hana slid another half a meter down the rock shaft. "Alola has one of the largest island mountains in the world, and it's notoriously frozen over. It's called Mount Lanakil-aaahhhhhh!"

Hana slipped another two meters, losing her composure and putting her only tens of centimeters away from my climbing position. Her rope caught, though, and far above us I heard the sounds of Yuji and Ambrose grunting.

"You okay down there?" Ambrose's voice echoed down the stone shaft.

"Just fucking peachy!" I shouted back. "Almost halfway down."

We'd traveled through Mt. Moon without incident for most of the morning, which was probably just karma winding up her arm for the big middle finger she gave us later in the day. The vertical tunnel that had been marked as having a ladder? It was empty when we arrived. Not only that, but the upward gusts and natural moisture of the tunnel had left the sides of the tunnel slick with ice and water, making an actual climb down almost impossible.

Given that we'd based our entire route on this tunnel, we didn't have much choice in giving Ambrose what he'd wanted earlier.

Thus, Hana and I were shimmying down a slick rock face with only Yuji and Ambrose, respectively, as counter-weights. Since they were the two strongest, they would help the two of us get to the bottom, where we would then belay for them, Amy, and Lester.

Hana caught her breath, glancing over her shoulder down at me. The glow of the lantern hooked to my waist illuminated her normally tanned face, showing just how pale with fear she was.

"Also," she huffed. "This technically isn't free climbing. It's just rappelling. Stupid, dangerous, and awful, but still just rappelling."

"If we get through this," I grunted, "You're buying me lunch. And dinner. Twice."

Her lime-green eyes glinted with amusement, even given our current situation. "You know, that only incentivizes me to-"

"I realize that!" I barked, finally dropping the anger for a moment of brevity. We both laughed nervously, venting our fear.

"I don't mean to be rude, my friends," Yuji called down. "But you are quite hea-"

"If you call me heavy, Yuji, I can promise you that your gi is getting mixed with the reds the time I do the laundry," Hana said viciously.

We didn't receive a response.

"Good."

Hana and I got back to work, sliding ourselves down the icy tunnel with as much speed as we could muster. The tunnel widened out, meaning that instead of pressing my back against an icy-cold rock wall, I was dangling over an open abyss with only my feet giving me solid contact against the cliff face.

Fun.

After about five minutes of this, though, I felt a sudden pressure against my waist.

"What the...?" I looked down and saw that my line had gone taught. "Hey guys! Give me some more slack!"

Distantly, I could hear Amy call out. "That's as long as it goes! Aren't you at the bottom yet?"

I bit back every sarcastic retort clawing its way out of my throat. Instead, I turned my head and looked down below me. Amy was right, we should have already hit the bottom. The shaft was only supposed to be thirty meters deep, but we'd allotted forty-five meters of rope to each of us.

When I looked down, though, I saw the problem.

"Uh, Hana?" I called, my heart sinking.

"Yeah, Derek?" She grunted as she stepped down, almost even with me.

"Go ahead and tell me if I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Hana gave me a confused look before glancing over her shoulder.

"Oh, no," she said softly.

"So, it's what I think it is?"

"Yes, Derek. You're seeing it right."

"Gotchya."

We both stared down, far below us at the crumbling rubble of the floor of the cavern, large chunks of rock and stone scattered across an impossibly vast abyss. We weren't looking at Floor Five. The tunnel to Floor Five that connected to our rocky shaft had collapsed downward at some point, leaving a yawning portal to the floors below.

This way was completely impassable for single-badge trainers.

We were literally and figuratively out of our depth.

Keeping a completely neutral face and my voice as level as possible, I called up to the group. "Alright, guys, go ahead and pull us up. We can't go this way."

There was no answer.

I looked at Hana. She stared back at me. Both of us had fully masked our emotions, trying our absolute best to keep the panic from overwhelming us. We were suspended ten meters above a place that was literally classified as too dangerous for the public.

The emotional masking was only doing so much.

"Guys!" Hana yelled, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

"Give us a minute!" Amy yelled. "We tied you off because we think there's a wild Pokemon up here!"

I couldn't help myself. "What in the hell do you mean, you think?" I was fully panicking. "You're a- Check!"

I stopped myself before I accidentally outed Amy's psychic status to our new companions, but I couldn't help but feel urgent frustration. Did I believe that overall using their abilities was bad for them? Yes. Did I care for that particular policy in our current situation? Hell no.

"Derek, that is precisely why this is an argument," Yuji said urgently. "Amy claims they don't feel any presences near us, but our companion says that he definitely saw a Pokemon."

"I did," Lester said helpfully, his deep voice reverberating off the rocks. "I hadn't seen it's species before, but I very much saw a Pokemon. It was white."

Hana cursed under her breath. "Amy, a dark type would be invisible to you, right?"

I don't know why, but something about that sentence put a different kind of uneasiness in my gut. It didn't quite dwarf the fear of dangling above a deadly void, but it was distinct enough to be present.

There was silence from above as I assumed the others went back to discussing the Pokemon.

Something, unbeknownst to me, compelled me to ask a question.

"Lester," I yelled. "What did it look like?"

"I only caught a small glance," he said. "It was white, with four legs. Maybe a head taller than my Espeon."

That pit in my stomach opened wider and deeper than it ever had before. I grabbed the rope, my fingers shaking as I grabbed my rope for stability. My mind was racing and my cheeks went numb.

No, no, no, no, no...

"It's head," I kept speaking, though my voice cracked a few times. "It had a single black horn, right?"

"Yes."

No, no, no...

Hana narrowed her eyes, staring at me with confusion. "Derek, what's wrong? You know that Pokemon?"

I nodded to her, but didn't verbally answer yet. I had one more question and it could make all the difference in the coming disaster.

"When you saw it, did it point its horn? A nod, a tilt, anything at all?"

There was a beat of silence. "If I had to say, it tilted it forward, towards us."

I looked down at the cavern far below us. It was Floor Six, maybe Seven? Going down there meant we were going past where we were supposed to go, and we'd be entirely on our own. We didn't even have maps of those floors.

But if it had told us to go down there, then it was safer than whatever was coming.

"Hana," I spoke urgently, turning my back as much to her as I could. "There's another thing of rope in my bag. You need to pull it out and tie it to your line so we can go down."

She looked at me like I was insane.

"Derek, we can't go down there!" Hana hissed as she gestured to the lower floors.

I was already working on tying myself off to her rope. "Guys!" I shouted up the cavern. "You just need to trust me right now! I'm going to move to Hana's line and we're going to keep going down. You need to send down another rope and get down here. You have maybe three minutes! Something bad is about to happen!"

To their credit, I didn't immediately get a response. Instead, the sounds of rustled movement and grunting sounded from above.

"Seriously, Derek- This is so dangerous," Hana protested, even while she was digging through my bag. "Why does that Pokemon mean something bad is coming? Is it dangerous? Is it more danger-"

I interrupted her as I started fumbling with our lines. These ropes were rated for a few hundred kilos, so they'd definitely hold two of us. We just needed to tie them off properly.

"That Pokemon," I muttered as I worked, "is called an Absol. It's native to Hoenn, we have a nursery rhyme for it. Its nickname is the 'Disaster Pokemon' and it warns people when big natural disasters are coming. It tries to tell you how to get to safety." I tilted my head down.

Hana's breath caught. She cursed. She knew as well as I did that, while wild Pokemon were deadly and terrifying, any sort of cavern collapse or flood would be lethal to all of us in a small tunnel.

Slender hands slapped mine away from our ropes as Hana took over. She deftly transferred our loops over, securing our two makeshift harnesses to each other. She looped in the rope I'd been carrying, tossing the slack down into the void. Unlike our initial climb, where we had been lowered down, we were going to be sliding down the rope. Now we were only suspended by my original line, Hana's rope acting more like a guideline for our rapid descent. The moment I let go, we would start moving again.

With our ropes secured, Hana looked me in the eye. Her gaze was full of fear. "You're sure?"

I looked down and gulped. I nodded. "Five minutes. That's about how long you have, normally."

Two lines fell past us, the rest of the rope we'd bought for the trip, and far above us we could see our four friends all push themselves over the edge of the cliff. Yuji had Amy strapped to his back while Lester and Ambrose were helping each other down. They were moving a lot faster than Hana and I had and would catch up with us within a minute.

Hana looked up at them and back down at the cavern floor. She looked like she was doing quick math in her head. Hana nodded. "Everybody should make it down in time."

"Then let's hope we have enough time to be prepared," I said under my breath, hyping myself up for what we were about to do. "You ready?"

Hana shut her eyes, gripping the base of her harness tight. "No."

"Too bad." I released my line.

My stomach fell out from under me as we started to rapidly descend. It wasn't quite a free fall, but it was close. The line sliding past us helped keep us from plummeting, but it didn't mean that the landing wasn't going to hurt.

We fell for seconds. Cold wind rushed past us, tearing at our faces and exposed skin. I wrapped my hands in my sleeve, hoping the cloth would be enough to protect me, and grabbed the line. All of that force and weight hit my shoulders first, wrenching my arms upward. Even with the line taking some of the burden, I was suddenly supporting most of the weight of the two of us. Heat bloomed from the friction of the two cloths, but it had the desired effect.

Our descent slowed.

We skidded down the rope for another moment before our feet touched down with a heavy thud! The floors was rough and uneven, further evidence that the tunnel had recently suffered a major collapse.

Pain lanced up my joints, but I didn't let it distract me. I moved to untie us only to find Hana was already getting to work. Within a few seconds, she had us free.

Thud, thud, thud!

Our companions landed next to us. Hana and I rushed to them, helping them undo their own harnesses.

"Hey, man," Ambrose said. "What's the emergency? Also, this looks a lot deeper than-"

"It is," I said urgently, unloading Amy off of Yuji's back. "Worry about that in a minute. Get ready for whatever's coming. You're going to want your Pokemon out if they can protect us."

Ambrose gave me a hard look before nodding. He turned to Lester, making sure his boyfriend had extracted himself from the ropes.

Six Pokeballs popped open, illuminating the large cavern around us in red light. Wisp, Pennywise, Achilles, Paige, Umbreon, and Espeon all materialized, taking up defensive stances around their trainers. We grouped together, back to back, the same way we had when the Beedrill attacked us in the Viridian Forest. Lester and Ambrose fell in seamlessly, sliding between me and Yuji.

We hadn't been on the lower floors for longer than forty-five seconds before the disaster made itself known.

A tremor reverberated across the cavern, accompanied by the sound of shifting of stone and rock.

"An earthquake?" Amy whispered.

Hana shook her head. "Earthquakes don't happen underground. At least, they wouldn't feel the same. This is..."

Craaaack!

An intense cracking noise sounded far above us. Fissures and pressure lines appeared across the ceiling of the cave, almost a hundred meters above our heads. It suddenly made sense. The initial collapse that had locked us off from Floor Five had only been the beginning.

That entire tunnel was about to give out. We were directly underneath it.

"Cave collapse!" I yelled. "Get to the walls!"

As one, we sprinted to the wall of the cavern farthest from the collapsing tunnel. Dust and dirt fell first, small rocks bouncing off of us as we ran. My eyes stung from the debris, so I smashed them closed. My legs were still sore from our landing and they protested as I made them move. Wisp pressed her head into my back, willing me to move faster.

Crack! Crack! Keruk!

Larger pieces of stone started to fall from the ceiling. They hadn't hit the ground yet, but they would soon.

My hand touched smooth stone. We'd reached the wall.

"Barrier!" Amy yelled, their voice cracking,

In response, both Ambrose and Lester yelled back in sync with each other. "Mimic!"

The familiar light of Pennywise's pink barriers materialized around us, a protective hemispherical dome of psychic energy. What baffled me, though, were the dark purple and silver copies of his move that appeared around it. Espeon and Umbreon strained in front of us, glowing with light from the activation of their moves. Like a three-layered onion, Lester and Ambrose had tripled our defenses by having them mimic Pennywise.

I hoped it would be enough.

Crash! Crack! Thud! Boom! Boom!

The heavier chunks of stone had started to hit the ground. Boulders the size of refrigerators hit the ground and shattered, sending fist-sized rocks scattering across our Barrier. More shockwaves and tremors echoed through the cavern and the noise was deafening. Yuji clasped his hands over Amy's ears, and Hana and I followed suit.

Among the noises of breaking rock, my heart jumped when I heard a noise like the breaking of glass. Up and to the right of us, a rock larger than my head had punctured Umbreon's barrier, though it bounced off of Espeon's. Our first layer of defense was starting to fail.

Another volley of boulders fell, this set impacting against the growing pile of rubble in the middle of the room and scattering even farther. The rocks hitting the barriers were getting bigger and more frequent. More holes started to appear in Umbreon's barrier. The dark type strained under the pressure and Ambrose leaned down to support his Pokemon.

Tiny cracks started to appear in Espeon's barrier.

Something shifted in the air, as full of dust and debris as it was, made us look up.

A shadow descended on the cavern.

BOOOM!

A single massive chunk of stone had fallen from above. It was as large as a car, and it struck the ground with more energy than the rest of the collapse combined. The shockwave ripped through the cavern, dropping all of us to our knees.

Umbreon and Espeon's barriers both shattered, leaving only Pennywise to carry the burden of our protection.

The big boulder cracked on impact, breaking into several huge pieces that each cascaded outward. One of those pieces tumbled down the rubble pile, directly toward us.

"Dreavous!" Wisp, still injured and tired from yesterday, floated to the front of the group. Her eyes shone blue with psychic power.

The piece of rock began to glow blue as Wisp used her Confusion. It wasn't nearly enough to stop the momentum and it barreled toward our group. We couldn't move out of the way, either, because the barrier that was protecting us was also keeping us in.

Once again, purple and silver light flickered into existence.

Umbreon and Espeon had added their strength to the mix again, using their Mimic move to copy Wisp's Confusion. The boulder, which now glowed three separate colors, still didn't stop. However, it did start to tilt and warble on its axis. It's path was only altered by only a few degrees, but it was enough.

Slam!

The boulder rammed into the cavern wall, shattering into hundreds of shards. Bits of rock showered Pennywise's barrier, and the tiny psychic cried out under the pressure. Cracks webbed their way across the translucent forcefield, signaling the end of our psychic protection.

Achilles shoved his hulking frame between us and the rest of the cavern, extending his wings and arms like a shield. The moment the barrier shattered out of existence, the giant beetle took its place. The rest of us huddled together, listening to the sounds of rocky pebbles and chips dink off of his armor.

After a moment, the sounds of falling rocks subsided.

The cavern collapse had finished.

The silence that followed was incredibly heavy. None of us immediately let go of each other. Yuji and Ambrose formed the outermost layer of our huddle, followed by myself, Lester, and Hana. In the center was Amy and the rest of our Pokemon. We did a quick visual check over each member of the group. No one looked very injured, only scared and exhausted.

The air was thick with dust, almost unbreathably so. All of us had a hand or cloth of some kind over our mouths, and every few seconds one of us would cough or gag.

It was Lester who spoke first.

"So, what do we do now?"

I looked back toward the ceiling, slowly letting my hands unclench from around Wisp and Hana. The air was too thick to see anything, but I knew that we couldn't go back the way we came. Even if we had a way to secure the ropes up above, that tunnel was definitely impassable. Chunks of it made up a ten-meter-tall pile in front of us.

No, instead I turned my gaze to the rest of the cavern around us. This room was actually closer to a long corridor, with wide cavern mouths on either side of it. We had braced ourselves against one of the two walls, but if we'd gone in a slightly different direction we could've kept running for longer than I could currently see.

That tunnel collapse had been intense, and as loud as it had been it was sure to attract the attention of whatever monsters lived down here. A shiver went down my spine as I thought about the Rhydon from yesterday.

That had been on a higher floor than we were on now.

We didn't have a chance if we stayed down here. We needed to find a way to an upper floor, situate ourselves on the map, and navigate out of the mountain.

There was only one thing we could do right now.

"We keep moving."