Even with as much bravado I'd put into saying that we would keep moving, I had a hard time forcing my feet to move.

The situation hadn't quite set in yet, though I could feel it at the edge of my current numbness. The moment that I really stopped to think, though, I knew that the dam would break.

I took a shaky step forward, pulling Daisy's handkerchief from my wrist and using it to wipe my eyes and face. With how thick the dust was in the air, all of us had a heavy layer of grey on our faces. It made it even harder to breathe and pretty soon it would seep into our eyes. Even if that collapse hadn't been loud enough to alert the entire floor, it definitely wasn't healthy to stay in the rubble cloud. Wisp coughed as she pushed her way into my jacket, retreating there to hide from the exposure.

I took another mental stock of our situation. Ambrose and Lester were helping each other over a larger piece of rubble, trying to get up above the circle of wreckage around us. The barriers had kept the rubble off of us, but their displacement had left a stone wall around us that was almost two meters tall. The two of them both had their Pokemon slung around their shoulders like cats.

Yuji had kneeled to murmur something to Amy. It must've been comforting because the little psychic steeled themself, putting on a brave face. Pennywise was clutched to their side, completely passed out from exhaustion, and Achilles was vigilantly keeping watch of us. His carapace was scuffed and scratched in places where he'd taken impacts from the collapse. Injuries he'd taken guarding us.

With Paige wrapped around her backpack, Hana was standing with my Pokenav+ out. She wiped the screen with her shirt before she started clicking through the maps.

Hana shook her head, covering her mouth with her scarf before speaking. "We don't have any data on what's down here. I know what direction we could go, but I don't know which one has tunnels that will loop back, or if they actually lead out-"

Yuji placed his hand on her shoulder, using his stoic energy to try and calm her. "Slow down," he said soothingly, using his shirt as a mask. "You are the smartest among us, give us your best guess."

I shot Yuji a grateful look. I couldn't have said it better myself. He nodded back to me.

The building manic energy left Hana's body, replaced instead by hopeless resignation. She shrugged. "I- I don't know. That way," she said, pointing toward one of the two tunnels, "might get us closer to the edge of the mountain, but that doesn't guarantee that we'll go up."

I pushed myself to contribute. "That's good enough for me," I said with a nod. "We aren't going to get a better argument than that, and we need to move. Let's get out of here, then we'll take stock from there."

The others nodded and murmured agreement, sending looks out into the smoke. The light from our flashlights and lanterns bloomed in the dust cloud, making it almost impossible to see farther than a few feet away.

The four of us and our Pokemon made our way up to Lester and Ambrose, both of whom helped us up on top of their boulder. I told them of our decision, and both of them hastily agreed.

"We were keeping lookout," Lester started, speaking quietly so as to not startle the others of the group. It was clear that Hana was on the verge of a panic attack, and Amy's brave face was only doing so much. Even Yuji, on closer inspection, looked a little green around the gills.

"And we heard something down that tunnel," Ambrose finished, pointing in the opposite direction of where we were heading. "We couldn't tell much about it, other than it was something heavy."

"So, Hana's path it is," I agreed. I'd been right, the collapse had brought something our way. I turned back to the others, speaking quietly. "Let's move quickly."

The cavern was unrecognizable from when we'd rappeled down here, not that we'd had a long time to study it. The rubble was concentrated at the center of the tunnel, but there had been so much of it that there had been nowhere for it to go but up. Heavy stones and thick chunks of sediment were stacked multiple meters high, making it hard to extract ourselves from our space by the wall.

We skirted around the edge for the most part, helping each other over the gaps we couldn't bridge on our own. Our Pokemon stayed out of their balls. Nobody said it, but we didn't want to be caught unawares again.

We eventually made it out of the rubble, finding our way to a wide tunnel that stretched a few meters past the end of the chamber that we stood in. The tunnel was at least five meters in diameter, meant to accommodate creatures much larger than us. Farther down the tunnel, sections of the grey-brown walls darkened, showing spots where other tunnels connect to it. They were densely populated, making the tunnel look like something more akin to a giant labyrinth than anything else.

We all gave pause at that.

In a maze like that, not only would we be likely to get lost, but we would have more than two directions to worry about wild Pokemon attacking us from. Going in there would be a practice of constant vigilance. From the looks on everyone's faces, it was clear that was what we were all thinking.

"...Maybe I should-" Amy broke the silence, but I pulled their beanie down on their head, interrupting them. Just like we could tell that we were all having a hard time deciding to go in there, it was pretty obvious what they had been thinking.

When they pulled it back up, I gave Amy a hard look. "Mm-mmm," I shook my head.

They went to argue with me, but Hana agreed with me. "Not then, not now," she said. "And we can't afford for you to exhaust yourself right now."

Amy's face dropped as they considered her words. Eventually, they shrugged and gave a sad sigh. I felt a pang in my chest as they did.

This isn't going to help their guilt over 'not helping out', I thought, feeling some guilt. But if they pushed themselves like that again, that would put them in even more danger, especially if we ran into something big.

I glanced at the rest of the group, and Yuji nodded at our decision. He hadn't wanted Amy to overuse their powers either. That kind of reliance wasn't worth it, at least in our eyes.

Interestingly, neither Ambrose nor Lester looked even slightly curious. Thinking back, they'd probably figured out what was up with Amy back when they'd been 'searching' for Absol. We hadn't exactly been subtle.

Instead, Lester shot me a look, tilting his head back in the direction we'd come from. As far as we knew, there was still something occupying the other tunnel. A potential danger was definitely better than one we knew was there.

"It can't be helped," I grimaced. "We still need to get moving. We'll just have to be extra careful."

"Then we should try to move quickly and stealthily," Yuji said. "Move with minimal Pokemon out, try to avoid as much attention as possible. Lights should be set to low."

Hana shook her head. "We're not supposed to be here. We know it, but the Pokemon that live here know it too. It's not like the upper floors where there are a ton of trainers and they might let us go if they hear us go by. We're more likely to avoid trouble if we make hunting us not worth the effort. We should keep our Pokemon out and take things slowly."

"We don't want to overwork ourselves," I agreed. "Slow and steady is the only way we conserve energy and make it to the higher floors."

No one looked particularly comfortable with keeping their Pokemon out in such a dangerous environment, but we didn't have much of a choice. The few Pokemon that remained in their balls were released. Between the six of us trainers, we had access to a decent little horde. Our numbers included Artis, Wisp, Despereaux, Achilles, Paige, Rafflesia, Pennywise, Umbreon, and Espeon.

Though the stone labyrinth in front of us was a lot thinner than the cave we'd come from, it was still wide enough for us to walk shoulder-to-shoulder in groups of three with our Pokemon out. We arranged ourselves to try and even out the strength of the Pokemon both in front and behind us. Hana, Amy, and I took the front row with our Pokemon in front of us while Yuji, Ambrose, and Lester brought up the rear. Their Pokemon would serve as a sort of 'rear guard' in case something big came chasing after us.

Before we got moving again, Amy rummaged through their bag. They pulled out a set of colored pencils that I'd honestly forgotten they had. I hadn't seen them doodle since Viridian City.

They pulled out a few of the brighter ones (white, yellow, etc.) and handed them off to us. I ended up with the baby blue one.

"To mark where we've been," they explained at our quizzical looks. "Since it's like a maze, we can see if we double back."

Hana smacked her forehead, making me jump. "Amy, that's a great idea! Honestly, I should have-," she paused, recollecting herself before starting again. "This is great. You did great."

I noted what Hana had stopped herself from saying, but I wanted to give Amy their dues first.

I gave them a grin that passed for warm, ruffling their beanie. "Good job, bean. Now we won't get lost."

Amy looked genuinely relieved. They had found their way to contribute after all.

I was also glad that Hana had stopped herself before saying what she'd been about to say. 'I should have thought of that earlier' was definitely the vibe she was giving off. I could tell that she was struggling with not having a plan or access to knowledge, but if a comment like that had been said flippantly, it could've really hurt Amy's feelings. Right now, with our morale at an all-time low, was not the time to hold yourself to a higher standard than everyone else.

Kettle, meet pot, I dryly chuckled to myself. There was a reason that this group got along so well, after all.

Instead of commenting on it, because the moment had passed, I turned to our back row. "Everybody ready?"

Yuji nodded, standing from where he'd been giving Desperoux orders. He stood closely to his starter but had let Achilles drift more toward the center of the formation. If something big showed up, it was clear that he wanted the Heracross to be able to intervene immediately. Ambrose and Lester both had their Pokemon jump down from their shoulder perches, letting them walk side by side with them.

"Ready to get through this," Ambrose inclined his head. "Let's beat this mountain."

"I couldn't agree more," I summoned another forced smile. They were getting closer and closer to genuine. I gave Hana a tilt of the head. "You ready, fearless navigator?"

There was apprehension and self-doubt in her eyes, but she nodded. Without another word, Hana strode into the tunnel. We took our first steps into the real depths of Mt. Moon.

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

Just like we'd assumed from the entrance, the tunnel was a labyrinth. The structure randomly forked and turned, or created odd dead ends. Amy's colored pencils quickly became invaluable as we doubled back on ourselves twice in the first ten minutes.

Even though it was slow, we did make progress. The tunnel didn't have much of an incline, but we could tell that we were heading in a consistent direction. What we also found, though, was more evidence of strong Pokemon. There were multiple sets of scrape marks larger than my hands in the softer dirt, often in groups of two to four. Probably from bigger rock types, like Onix and Rhydon. There was also... ...evidence... ...of larger members of the Zubat line littering the floor in places, leaving behind a foul acidic smell and crusted dry piles.

We did our best to avoid those. Our shoes were not always spared the trip through them.

About a half an hour into our walk, something set off alarm bells in my head.

I paused, holding up a hand to stop the group, and listened intently.

There was a faint warbling sound in the air, something that I couldn't put my finger on. I gave Hana a look.

She listened, too, also catching the sound. An analytical expression crossed her face.

Hana gave me a slight nod.

I turned to the rest of the group, raising a finger to my lips and motioning us forward. Even if we'd agreed that the stealthy approach may not work down here, it couldn't hurt to try and catch whatever this was off guard.

The six of us continued forward, keeping low and breathing carefully.

It wasn't another twenty meters before the source of the noise made itself known. Even with the hell that we'd been through today, I couldn't help but smile. Even better, this one was genuine.

Three metal disks absentmindedly floated about the cavern in front of us. They were only about half a meter in diameter and their metal was an oxidized blue-green color. Each disk had sculpted and intelligent yellow eyes.

Amy squealed in excitement.

Bronzor.

We'd finally found the Pokemon that we'd come down here for in the first place. And, from what we could tell, they hadn't noticed us yet. The six of us shared a look and a silent plan formed. The trainers of the group stepped aside and let our Pokemon move forward.

This is almost unfair, I thought.

When nine separate Pokemon descended on the three unsuspecting psychics, I murmured a silent thanks to the legends. Not every encounter down here had to be a deadly one, apparently. It wasn't a bad foot to start on.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

The three disks hit the ground, still slightly smoking from the onslaught. It was a long moment before anyone took the initiative, so I stepped up.

"Well, Ames?" I said, gesturing with a smile.

Amy turned to the group and their eyes widened. They glanced from person to person, even our two new companions, silently asking permission. As one, we nodded.

Yuji gave them a tough but loving shove.

They stumbled but caught themselves quickly. From inside their bag, they pulled out a basic red Pokeball. I smiled as I saw their oversized beanie shaking with anticipation.

Amy gulped. They held the ball forward and clicked the button on the front.

In a flash of red the largest of the three Bronzor vanished.

The ball in Amy's hand clicked once. Twice. Three times.

Ding!

It had been caught.

"Guys...," Amy whispered, excitement slowly raising their volume. "Guys. I just caught a Pokemon!"

I chuckled. "Good job, bean!"

Hana ran up and gave Amy a big hug, which the little psychic was too stunned to really react to. Yuji gave them applause, Ambrose enthusiastically joined while Lester gave a few polite golf claps.

Amy held their Pokeball close to their chest, and I saw a glimmer of a tear in the corner of their eye. As Hana gave them a hug, I could see the stress and worry of reaching Cerulean with only a single Pokemon melt from them.

It was a really nice moment.

I traded looks with Yuji and Hana. They were both beaming. All of us were proud of the little bean getting their first real catch.

After a moment of letting Amy celebrate, Yuji and I tossed Pokeballs at the two remaining Bronzor. It wouldn't do to let our catch get away, after all.

Amy's smile as they crooned over their new Pokemon almost made today worth it. One of the Pokemon we'd come down here for had been found and captured.

One down, two to go, I thought, feeling a weight off my back. Honestly, Amy has their Pokemon. If we just make it out of here alive now, I'll be happy. I can always find a Clefairy later. And I'm sure the money we're going to get from the other two helps, I smiled as I tucked the Pokeball into my backpack.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I almost didn't notice when Hana drifted away from the group. She'd walked over to one of the cavern walls and kneeled down on one knee.

"Hang on guys," she muttered, brushing her hand against the stone. "Can someone bring me a better light?"

Yuji offered his before I could, holding his lantern up by Hana's hands.

It took Hana brushing away a bit more dirt before I saw what she'd noticed, but when I did I let out an audible gasp. It was matched by the rest of the group quickly after.

The striations in the rock were twisted and miscolored compared to the rest of the rock around it. Where the wall was rough and the color of a light brown stone, the spiraling rock was smooth and coffee-colored. It made the most beautiful design on the rock wall, like the side of a conch shell. It was big, too, almost as tall as my waist.

It was a fossil, plain as day, sitting exposed on the rock wall. It even happened to be one I recognized from a brief interaction at Pewter Museum.

"It's an Omastar Fossil," I breathed.

A million thoughts passed through my head, like how with no one coming this deep, they must not have mined this part of the mountain, or how absolutely rare it was to find a fossil even half this large in the wild. Ambrose summed them all up pretty well, though.

"Whoa," he said.

Yeah, that.

We all stared at the fossil, taking in it's presence. After another moment, Hana spoke again.

"Do you think..." Hana tilted her head, almost embarrassed to be having the thought. "Maybe we should take it?"

The six of us glanced at each other. Fossils were worth a lot of money. Even if we didn't revive it, selling it to an experienced trainer could net us each more than our winnings from Pewter combined. The Bronzor would be small pickings, comparatively.

As exciting as it was, though, something I'd been told back in Pewter ran through my mind.

I shook my head. "Sorry guys, Mt. Moon is a protected site. The League has it under a set of 'no mining fossils, specifically' rules."

Dr. Spinel had been pretty clear when we'd spoken before. Mt. Moon and a place called 'Grandpa Canyon', wherever that was, had been listed as protected sites by the League. It was part of the whole reason fossils were so rare in Kanto to begin with. Taking this fossil with us would be basically breaking the law.

Hana immediately took on a shade of embarrassment. "I knew that," she said under her breath, shaking her head. "It must have slipped my mind in the excitement. Specifically, it's a class C protected site, the same as Mt. Ember back home."

Just like when she'd almost misspoken in front of Amy, I could see Hana's internal struggle. Today's events had her working at a less than optimal compacity, obviously, but she was beating herself up about it. I kept note of it but still chose to wait to say anything. Hana had lectured me enough about asking for help, so for now I would wait for her to ask. If she chose to come to me, great, but she might as easily talk to Yuji or Amy about it.

There was a disappointed release of breath among the group at her words, but nobody suggested anything further. We were all good, law-abiding trainers like that.

"We probably couldn't even carry it..." Amy murmured, sounding like they were trying to convince themselves more than anything else.

I tilted my head, conceding the point. It would've been a bad idea to try and take it even without the dubious legal circumstances.

Hana frowned as she looked to the fossil and then to the Pokeball that Amy was carrying. It was clear that her academic brain was thinking in double time.

"Do you think it was a coincidence that we found the Bronzor in the same room as an exposed fossil?" Hana finally asked.

"Oh! I know this!" I said, letting my excitement that I'd done my research get ahead of me. "From what I've read, Bronzor are found pretty often in old tombs and ruins. This is probably the closest thing to a tomb around here."

There was a pause as what I said sunk in. Ambrose was the one to ask the question this time.

"Would that mean... ...that there are probably more fossils around here?"

Without meaning to, all of our eyes slowly drifted to the walls of the cave.

From some far-off point in the caverns, multiple something roared. It was distorted by the tunnel echo, but it was thick and gargled. Those weren't qualities associated with nice Pokemon.

We all quickly stood up, shaking off our greed and grouping together. The sound was back the way we'd come, but in the echoey caves, it was almost impossible to judge distance.

"Time to go," Lester said quietly.

"Yup," Ambrose and I agreed.

Even with our incredibly good fortune so far, it was hard to forget that we were not supposed to be here. There were Pokemon down here that even eight-badge trainers didn't want to face. We weren't going to stay this lucky forever.

Before we left, though, I reached a hand out to Yuji.

"Hey, bud. Can I have my camera?"

He gave me a confused look but did as I asked, handing it over. I checked it over and, luckily, it hadn't taken any damage in the fall. And, upon further inspection, it still had a full battery.

"We can't take this fossil," I explained to him, mounting the camera on my shoulder as I did so. "But I'm going to get some footage of it, then I'm going to leave the camera recording so somebody at the Pewter Museum can try to maybe make their way down here one day."

Yuji gave me an odd look, one that was a little amused.

"What?" I asked him, feeling self-conscious.

"I apologize, I'm just not used to you acting with such foresight," Yuji said, smiling wider.

I shot him an offended look before slugging him in the shoulder. "You're a dick."

He chuckled, falling a step behind me to get back in the loose formation we'd entered. "One with keen observation skills," Yuji snuck in one last verbal jab.

Hana giggled to my left. I didn't even look her way, instead giving her a playful shove with my shoulder. "Quiet, you."

"I didn't say anything," she mumbled, masking her laughter.

Deep under the earth, it felt good to have something to laugh about. Even if it was at my expense, I couldn't help but smile again. The little barrier my brain had put up to keep going after the collapse was wavering, but this was keeping the edge off. I had to laugh. If I didn't, I'd cry.

I didn't slow down the group's progress too much by snagging some videos of the fossil for Dr. Spinel. We high-tailed it out of the Bronzor room in seconds, pushing ourselves to keep up the pace. It wasn't long before I had a stitch in my side from the cold air, and my throat was still raw from inhaling so much dust.

Behind me, the others kept looking back to keep tabs on whatever we'd heard. After a moment, Lester spoke in an urgent tone.

"Guys!" He called.

I turned back to see that Lester had stopped a few paces back and was kneeling by his Espeon. He was staring at her intently, and both of their heads moved at slight intervals.

They're having a psychic conversation, I realized. Pennywise wasn't strong enough to do that yet, so I had yet to actually see it in person before.

"Espi says that something is following us," Lester mumbled, glancing back down the tunnel. "Four or five of them, and their minds are odd. Probably a bug type."

"Parasect," several of us sighed at once. We'd all done our homework before coming into the mountain.

Paras and its evolution, Parasect, were the only grass or bug types that could be found in Mt. Moon, and that wasn't an accident. Parasect were horrendous parasites that fed on vegetation and weak Pokemon, draining them of their strength and nutrients until all that was left were husks. On their own, they weren't too scary, but more than a few of them together could paralyze large Pokemon, making themselves a meal of living flesh.

"Can anyone use fire type energy?" I rubbed my hands over my eyes. I already knew the answer to the question, but it never hurt to ask.

Everyone shook their heads.

Six trainers and not a single fire type. If those Parasect caught up to us, only Hana, Yuji, or I would have any moves that would deal any decent amount of damage. Yuji actually had the best shot, though, because at the very least Achilles knew Aeriel Ace.

"We need to keep moving," Ambrose said. "Umber and Espi can work defense pretty well, so we'll keep them off of us if they start to catch up. It's like you guys said earlier, though. We need to keep our pace steady."

We didn't waste any time agreeing with him. We kept our jog steady, moving with far less caution than we normally would have. I still had a stitch in my side, but self-preservation was a good motivator to ignore the pain.

It was only a few minutes before I could hear the Parasect.

Tiny little noises echoed from the caverns behind us, like the sound of a dozen needles striking stone at random intervals. It was subtle and awful in the way it set my hair on edge. It sounded the way that biting aluminium foil felt.

With everything that I'd read from my Pokedex, I could just imagine the hard orange claws of the Parasect rapping against the rock of the tunnels, scraping away our pencil marks and crawling over the fossils in the walls. They would have beady white eyes and bodies made of rubbery mushrooms. I shivered at the thought.

"They're catching up!" Came Yuji's voice from behind us. "Despereaux, Crunch!"

Right after that came Ambrose and Lester's calls.

"Swift!"

"Psybeam!"

The sounds of multiple Pokemon moves being used pierced through the air, but I didn't dare turn around. My job was to protect our front. They could handle the rear.

Unlike most Pokemon, who spoke in some variation of their name, the Parasect had their own way of communicating. The massive orange mushroom caps that covered their bodies when they evolved actually wrecked their vocal cords, leaving them capable of only one noise when they were injured.

They screamed. It was high-pitched and gargled like they were speaking through dish soap, but it was a scream nonetheless. The amount told me that Espi had been on the money. Five awful screams echoed through the cavern.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Multiple spore attacks of some kind went off behind us, I could smell it in the air, but we were moving too quickly for them to fully take effect.

More attacks were called from our rear flank, and Yuji chose to finally bring Achilles into the fight.

"Charge Beam and Bug Buzz!"

"Mimic!"

"Copycat!"

Achilles' move sounded like a jet engine turning on in the tunnel, and the cavern glowed as three yellow beams of electricity illuminated it, all only possible from the TM I'd let Yuji borrow. I couldn't help but feel a hint of pride among all the fear as I realized that Despereaux had actually learned the move.

That pride was swallowed by fear as a tall figure appeared from the darkness in front of us.

Facing away from us was a massive, towering Pokemon of stone. It was almost two meters tall, not counting the spiral drill horn that jutted forward from its face...

My heart fell when my brain kicked in, recognition flooding my mind. This was the second time in as many days that we'd run into one of these.

"Shit!" I yelled, coming to a dead stop. "Rhydon!"

There was something else to the towering rock type's expression when he turned. There was a glint of familiarity to his gaze. He narrowed his eyes, bringing all four of his stone claws to the ground, crouching for a charge.

Wisp whined in my arms, wriggling out of my grasp.

That mental wall that kept me going shook at its very core. My eyes felt hot. "No fucking way..."

It's the same one from yesterday.

Hana cursed more than I'd ever heard her curse before. Amy burst out into tears.

I desperately looked behind us, hoping that Achilles could take on the monster ahead of us. He was too busy holding off the Parasect. I could see them now, meter-tall crabs made of chitinous carapaces and spongy mushrooms. They were just as horrifying as I'd imagined.

Achilles was running point on that fight, his Bug Buzz successfully holding back the Parasect while Despereaux, Umber, and Espi released multiple volleys of distance moves. Their fight was promising, they'd already almost fainted one of the mushroom Pokemon, but it wasn't going fast enough.

They wouldn't be able to help us.

I looked back at the monster that we'd run from yesterday. Rhydon scrapped its front claw against the ground and tensed the muscles across its body. Its horn began to twist like a drill.

I planted my foot against the foundations of my mental wall, holding it strong. This was my job. I needed to do this.

"Get ready to hold it off!" I yelled, startling Hana, Amy, and myself. "We just need to keep it busy till we can all team up. Amy, I need you on defense. Pennywise keeps it off of us. Hana, you need to hit it with paralysis, poison, anything you have. We can't fight it at full strength."

My tone must've been enough. Given a direction, both battlers shouted commands to their Pokemon.

"Barrier and Light Screen!"

"Rafflesia, Poison Powder! Paige, powder barrage and root tactics!"

All three Pokemon leaped into action. Pennywise was still exhausted from the collapse, but the tiny mime raised his signature pink barriers around us, this time with a strange golden glimmer to them. Rafflesia's core bulb puffed! out a blast of purple dust while the Weepinbell took on a strategy that she'd used in our first-ever battle. Clouds of multi-colored pollen spewed forth from her mouth while her vines slammed into the dirt below her. Paige started to swell as she used Growth to increase her own power.

"Buddy, we're distraction defense!" I called to Artis. "Ice Ball, but don't let him hit you! Brine where you can!"

Artis picked up speed, his tiny blue body zooming forward as it burst into ice, sending frozen fractals spiraling in all directions. Rhydon finished spinning up its horn and charged forward but was caught in the side of the head by a blast of cold seawater. His momentum stuttered, driving his Drill Run into the cavern wall. Shrapnel and clouds of dust were sent spinning in all directions. The water type move was effective against both rock and ground type, so Rhydon was really vulnerable to it.

"Good hit!" I yelled. "Keep it up!"

A purple form drifted over my shoulder, but I put my hand out in front of her. She was still corporeal, so I was able to stop Wisp from flying into battle. She turned her yellow-red eyes toward me, letting out a noise of confusion as I stopped her from helping the team.

"Keep back, girl," I told her. "He can hurt you, remember? Play distance. Charge up!"

My ghost gave me a sullen look, but her necklace started to glow a familiar yellow.

The fact that Wisp still couldn't go ghost wasn't lost on me. I couldn't let Rhydon get too close to her, not when he was packing an unseen dark type move.

The monster in question ripped his horn free from the wall. Rhydon turned to strike Artis, raising a fist high above his head, but a pink shield appeared between the two of them and held back the attack for a split second. It shattered under the impact, but it was enough for Artis to get away. The rock type was obscured behind two more clouds of spores.

Rhydon roared again. This time, it trailed the war cry with the faintest cough.

"There!" Hana called. "It's poisoned! Rafflesia, Leech Seed!"

The Bulbasaur swapped gears, spraying tiny green seed pods into the spore cloud. I couldn't tell if they landed, not with how obscured the tunnel was. Paige steadily grew in size as she continued to bulk herself with Growth. Wisp's necklace radiated power.

"Brine, buddy!" I yelled. "Keep it in the smoke! Give Wisp and Paige time to charge!"

Artis launched himself into the air blasted seawater from his snout, his tiny frame struggling under the pressure of his own move. The pressure hose pierced into the purple and yellow cloud, impacting the monster within.

A heavy shape flew at Artis.

Slam!

A boulder bigger than my head smacked Artis out of the air. He went flying backward, slamming into the cavern wall and cracking the stone behind.

"Artis!" I cried out.

Rhydon emerged from the spore cloud, charging at us at full speed. He was covered in spores and wrathful vines that wrapped around his body, but he hadn't slowed at all. He'd be on us in seconds.

"Now!" Hana commanded.

Bzzzzzzn! Whack-whack!

Paige and Wisp released their attacks at the same time. A fully powered Charge Beam, far stronger than what the others had put off earlier, cut through the air. It left the air hot in its wake, sizzling when it impacted the Rhydon's thick hide. Two massive tendril vines smack froth from Paige's frame, both heavily empowered by the multiple Growths she'd managed to charge over the battle. Both hit home at the same time as Wisp's attack, giving what should have been a battle-ending combo.

They did damage, leaving deep marks and cracks across Rhydon's stoney flesh, but it did not slow the beast.

"Light screen!" Amy gave a desperate order to Pennywise.

The tiny mime raised his little fists, moving all of the Barriers and Light Screens he'd created in front of us. It was a protective wall six panels thick.

"Miiiiiiiiime!" Pennywise yelled, exerting the last of his energy on the move.

The Rhydon opened his maw and his teeth cloaked themselves in black energy. The dark type move I'd been watching for revealed itself.

Rhydon Crunched downward on the psychic shield, shattering through the Barrier, Pennywise's psychic energy not slowing it in the slightest. Shards of pink light scattered in every direction, our last line of protection gone.

My knees went weak. We didn't have any tricks left.

"Achilles!" Yuji roared from behind us.

The Heracross hurtled through the air. He'd left two fainted Parasect behind him and he moved too quickly for the remaining three to touch him, lowering his massive horn into a Horn Attack and charging the Rhydon.

Crash!

The two charging Pokemon slammed into each other. Achille's horn impacted directly into Rhydon's chest, but the rock type had both outstretched arms grasping onto his shoulders. The shockwave echoed across the cave, both Pokemon putting their all into the struggle for dominance. Achilles brought his arm up, slamming it into the side of Rhydon's rib cage with an Arm Thrust.

Rhydon grunted in pain, still struggling against the supereffective assault. The balance of the charge shifted in the favor of Achilles. He got off two more good hits before Rhydon twisted his body, opening his jaw like he was about to bite down. His teeth burst into flame.

Legends damn it, I screamed internally. He gets a fire type move, too?

Those fangs came down and Achilles cried out. There was a sizzling noise as the Rhydon crunched down on the Heracross's neck, teeth puncturing his exoskeleton. Between the strain of holding back a stronger Pokemon and the sudden influx of burning fire damage, our strongest Pokemon fainted.

Rhydon stepped back, removing Achilles from his jaw and clutching the bug type in one hand. Victoriously, raised his fallen foe's form above his head.

"Rhhhhyyyyyyyy!"

Yuji returned his Pokemon, his face pale and fallen. He looked as lost as I felt.

Thwack!

Paige slammed her vines into Rhyhorn's side, taking advantage of its victory posing. The Weepinbell actually managed to move Rhydon back several feet with the hit. Just like earlier, her vines left cracks along its hide in their wake.

Rhydon gave the grass type a stunned look, confusion evident on its face. It opened its mouth to roar again, but another wave of green seed pods sprayed forward from Rafflesia. It closed its maw before it accidentally ingested them, but vines quickly sprouted from them, continuing to wrap around the rock type. Rhydon made quick work of them with its claws but now gave us a cautious look.

Hana gritted her teeth, the edges of a vicious smirk curling the sides of her mouth. "Keep going, girls! Razor Leaf, Vine Whip!"

Her actions pushed me into movement. "Wisp, help them out! It's poisoned, so Hex him!"

Wisp's responding squeak was violent and full of bloodlust. She glowed with purple ghost-type energy. The three Pokemon unleashed a volley of attacks that pushed the Rhyhorn back another ten feet. It didn't look like he was going to give up anytime soon, but the injuries were starting to accumulate on his body.

We were starting to make progress against this thing.

I glanced over at Artis, but he still hadn't moved from the cavern wall. He might've been down for the count. Pennywise was definitely out, he didn't have anything left in him.

"Rattat! Rata!" Despereaux called from behind us. The Rattata was still battling alongside Umber and Espi. The three of them had lost their tank and were struggling.

Yuji didn't seem to notice. He just stared down at Achilles' Pokeball.

"Yuji!" Amy yelled, shoving him back. "Despereaux needs orders!"

"Yeah, we could use some help!" There was an edge of panic to Ambrose's voice as a Parasect got a solid hit in on Umber. It didn't go down, but the dark type was favoring its left side.

The fighting specialist shook himself out of his funk, stepping past me. I caught a look of steel determination on his face.

"Paige!" Hana's outcry pulled me away from my distraction. "Get away from her!"

Rhydon was done taking hits from Paige. He'd wrapped his claws around her tendrils, pulling on her vines with all his strength. The Weepinbell was struggling, her roots half exposed to the air as Rhydon slowly ripped her from the ground. Wisp and Rafflesia kept attacking but they just didn't have the firepower they needed. Rhydon shrugged off their attacks.

I felt powerless. Wisp was my only battler right now. I desperately searched for something, anything that could turn the tide.

The rear guard was doing better with Yuji back, but they'd only fainted one more Parasect. The two remaining ones were weakened, yes, but they were still very much a threat.

Pennywise was out cold, and the Bronzor were all still damaged from their capture. Artis wasn't at the wall anymore-

Where'd he go?

The crater where he'd hit was still there, but my boy was missing.

A blue blur rocketed past me.

Slam!

A full-force Ice Ball attack hit Rhydon harder than I'd ever seen Artis hit before. His expression was fierce and scared, but brimming with energy. He didn't have a mark on him.

Rhydon stumbled, releasing his grasp on Paige.

"Yes!" The word ripped itself from my lips. "That's my boy!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he'd done. Artis had played dead after being hit, knowing that he needed to use Rest before coming back. He'd basically done the same thing at the Pewter Museum.

After the initial hit, Artis rolled back off Rhydon. Ice Ball was at its strongest after it had time to build up speed.

Rhydon pushed himself up, huffing after taking the surprise hit. Pride soared in my heart as I saw his legs wobble just a little bit.

Achilles, Wisp, and Paige had all hit this guy hard already, and he was still suffering from the Poison Powder. It didn't matter how strong you were in the face of overwhelming forces and consistent damage.

We might actually have a shot!

"He's almost down!" I called, hoping it would help. "Artis, hit a couple more times and then put it all into a Brine!"

"Pheal!" He barked, eyes blazing.

Artis zagged down the tunnel, keeping Rhydon's attention as he rolled up and across the round cavern walls like a skateboarder in a pipe. The rock type answered his call, keeping his enraged and exhausted gaze on my boy.

Wisp took this opportunity to glow blue, using her Confusion to gently pick up Paige. She drifted the grass type back to Hana, who gratefully took her into her arms. The Weepinbell hadn't entirely fainted yet, but she did not look good. Her vines were torn and fraying and her flower-like body had deflated like a wet balloon.

Rafflesia was trying to stay strong, but the baby Bulbasaur was trembling with fear. I shot Hana a look, and she shook her head. Amy was holding a fainted Pennywise in their arms, frantically looking between Rhydon and the rear guard, looking as hopeless as I'd felt a few moments ago.

If we were going to win this fight, it was down to Artis and Wisp now.

"Keep Rhydon off Artis," I ordered Wisp. "Stay far off, but be persistent. We almost have this."

"Drea!" Artis's determination had ignited something in her. Wisp launched herself forward, tendrils of purple energy flowing off of her.

Slam! Slam!

Artis impacted Rhydon twice more, his frozen-silver fur gleaming in the lantern light, and dashed away before the slowing rock type could strike back. Rhydon shook his head angrily and slammed his claw into the cave wall, tearing a chunk of stone away from it. He pulled his claw back, determined to take Artis out the same way he had before, when the rock suddenly glowed blue and wrenched itself from his hand.

Wisp's giggles echoed through the cave.

Crack!

Rhydon reeled as the boulder smashed itself down on his head, shattering into hundreds of shards.

"Now!" I gave the signal.

Artis took that vital opportunity to brace himself to a stop, swelling with power as he charged the most important Brine he'd ever used.

And that's when the change occurred.

My starter shined a brilliant white, opalescent energy pouring off of him in waves. His form grew to over a meter tall, his spherical body widening and forming into a more natural shape. Two brilliant whiskers sprouted forward from his face, branching out into heavy white hair. When the light faded, his fur was shimmering a deeper blue color, more healthy and powerful than I'd ever seen him.

"Sealeo!" Artis roared, a torrent of green sea water spraying from his maw. Fresh off of his evolution, he hit with more than twice the power of the move we'd practiced before.

A pillar of water twice as thick as my forearm smashed through the air, striking Rhydon directly in the chest, right between the injuries left by Achilles and Paige.

The Rhydon was knocked off his feet from the attack and hit the cavern wall so hard that he was embedded two feet into the stone. Stone cracked and shook and shattered. Hairline fractures radiated out from that point, spreading with such speed that I almost panicked over another cavern collapse.

Then, the cave went quiet.

All went still.

Too still, I thought after a moment, fear lancing its way through my heart. My head whipped around back to the rear guard, and I let out an audible and shaky sigh of relief.

The three of them and their Pokemon stood with their jaws on the floor. They'd finished taking out the Parasect, and from the look of them, they'd been about to intervene in our fight.

Our fight...

I turned back to my Pokemon, both of them standing on high alert in front of Rhydon's embedded form. Wisp floated menacingly in front of him, angry purple energy still lashing outward from her tired ghost body, and Artis stood strong with his jaw still open, ready to blast Rhydon again if needed.

I tried to take a step forward, just to make sure that we had won, but my knees went weak. I stumbled forward, but a pair of hands grabbed me under the arm.

"It's okay," Hana breathed. "Rest. I'll go check."

I wanted to argue, but I couldn't find it in me. Hana handed me off to Amy, who helped me to the ground.

Hana took a tentative step forward. When nothing stirred from the cave wall, she took a few more. My Pokemon hesitantly parted for her, careful to be able to protect her if need be.

It was Hana's turn to stumble. She tilted as a relieved cry wrenched itself from her. Wisp glowed blue to help her to the ground where Artis was waiting.

Once she'd stabilized herself, Hana turned to the rest of us, exhaustion and just so much relief clear in her voice. "We did it. He's down. We won."

The magnitude and weight of the burden that shed itself from my shoulders were indescribable. The wall that I'd been shakily holding up all day crumbled.

I started crying.

Sobs racked my body. They were full of fear, anger, regret, joy, victory, almost every emotion I could feel, I was feeling right now. The tension had been bottled and building all day, all week, all month.

I wasn't the only one. Amy collapsed next to me, holding Pennywise tight. Yuji slumped down next to them, putting an arm over their shoulders and letting tears free fall down his own face. Despereaux placed his head in his trainer's lap, immediately closing his eyes. Ambrose and Lester held each other and their Pokemon, settling down near the rest of us.

Artis and Wisp helped Hana back to us, and I pulled all three of them close. I was so exhausted with the day, fearful of what had been and what was to come, prideful in my boy for evolving, grateful for my training companions and best friends, and disappointed that I hadn't been able to keep us all out of danger.

Rafflesia wiggled her way into the hug, and she was the first in all of our groups to come together. Amy, Yuji, and Despereux, then Ambrose, Lester, Umber, and Espi. It didn't matter that we'd known some of them all of a day. We'd just gone through the most difficult thing we'd ever gone through, and it wasn't over yet.

I couldn't find it in myself to focus on that yet, though. Instead, I put my head against Artis's, resting against his newly evolved form, feeling his warm fur against my face.

"I'm so proud of you," I whispered to him, mumbling into his fur.

He whined, pressing against me even tighter.

We held each other for a long while, letting the emotions pour out, taking in a moment of peace deep below Mt. Moon.