Lilith stashed all the Items in her bag. The whole situation was odd. The entire building had been cleaned out. All but the false bottom in a desk. The biggest desk in the biggest office.

‘Stealing?’

The only explanation was that the owner of the desk wasn’t the one who cleaned it out, or couldn’t, because they either weren’t there, or the cleanout happened with witnesses. Something had happened and the town was abandoned. Everything in plain view was taken from the building.

She wasn’t the type to say no to free stuff, especially when it was really good stuff. If there was one hiding spot, then there could have been more. She searched the other offices much more thoroughly. She didn’t waste her time with reception or the cubicles.

Lilith attacked the areas most likely to still hold riches.

Unfortunately, after a long exhaustive search, nothing was found. She searched the place top to bottom. Shelves were pulled out and tossed aside. Desks were gutted and overturned.

Another false bottom or secret compartment could still be there. She even tried tapping the walls looking for false space.

Once she was satisfied nothing was left, it was time to move on. She stuck her head outside.

‘No no no.’

The sun was low in the sky. There was no way she would make it back to camp before dark. Lilith hated the unfamiliar. Panic ensued.

The less she spent outside at night the better. Her main survival strategy thus far was to spot Pokemon before they found her, and then avoid them. Who knew what was waiting for her out there in the darkness.

Lilith would have to spend the night.

Her main worry was Ghost Types. She had not encountered any thus far, but this seemed like the place a Ghost would like to haunt.

She occupied one of the smaller offices. She pushed a desk up to a broken window. That way, if something came through the door, she had a way out and vice versa.

Another desk was brought in from the adjacent room. This one she would sleep under. Lilith threw her bag next to the desk and fished out her dinner from her bag. She munched on her emergency rations as the wind whistled outside.

The room didn’t become too cold, but shivers went down her spine. They tingled all over in a decidedly unnatural way,

Soon, she drifted off to sleep.

***

Lilith slept through the night. No nightmares came, but she woke up in cold sweat. Her body shook uncontrollably before she could regain control of herself. She lifted her arm as it spasmed around.

‘Damn body.’

Pins and needles set in as Lilith slowly regained control of her body. She had wasted enough time already.

She quickly pumped herself up and readied her attire. Food was eaten and water was drunk. She was ready for the new day. The next building would be the Center. Lilith brushed aside her worries of the previous night. They would do no good in the short term.

The Pokemon Center was where all injured pokemon were healed. Items could be bought. The P.C. System was located there. Each one even had community areas for trainers to mingle with each other. It was quite literally the Center for Pokemon, hence the name.

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The wide street was barren as She crossed. After looking both ways, nothing appeared. The road was surprisingly clean as she approached her destination.

The Center had no door. Lilith was unsure if it was gone, or simply not there to begin with. The entranceway was a large arched gateway. She walked up to the entrance and looked inside. While it was dark, some things could be made out.

It was mostly an open area. The Healing Center was right in the middle, flanked by the P.C. and the Shop, respectively. The screens visible were off but unbroken. Dirt had been carried in from the wind.

A small pile gathered by the entrance. Taking a step inside, Lilith looked to the left board. Pieces of paper were either ripped off, or too faded to read.

The lights above turned on.

“Welcome.”

An unfamiliar voice rang out.

Lilith jumped back outside ready to run. The lights stayed on. The familiar hum of electronics greeted her ears.

The robotic voice was automated to greet people as they entered.

The Pokemon Center had not been turned off. Something was still powering it.

When nothing happened, she went back inside. There could be something she could use to call for help.

Lilith rummaged around the counters. She fiddled with the P.C. but couldn't get it to work. The same applied for the healing station. One, she had no idea how it worked and two, She had no Pokemon to heal.

The shop proved to be more fruitful. The most she found were empty glass bottles. She grabbed a few and continued to rummage around behind the counter. One box was still there. It was pushed underneath the counter, far from view. Lilith had to crouch down to see the box along the back right part of the counter.

Inside were Potions. Two purple and one red. Lilith deemed them ultimately useless, but grabbed them anyway. She had no Pokemon of her own, but could maybe barter with one of the more intelligent wild ones.

The back rooms were similarly ransacked. Only one room was left untouched. The door was locked and she soon gave up trying to break in. She assumed it was the room giving power to the Center, and decided whatever was inside would be unusable for her.

Lilith was early into the day, and already moving onto the last building. This was the one that she initially spotted. It was easily the tallest building. It had to be at least 4-5 stories tall.

The inside was a lobby. The building was just as dark, and nothing else jumped out at her other than the reception desk.

This ultimately struck out too. Nothing was on the ground floor.

‘This place is a damn fire hazard.’

Right across from the entrance sat an elevator. With no apparent way to turn it on, she left it alone. She turned left and right. She had assumed there would be stairs to the first floor. There was none.

‘Where do people go if the damn elevator stops working.’

She had no way to the upper floors. With that, she ended her expedition.

Lilith collected all her belongings and quickly made for the footpath up the plateau. While on the path upward, she wondered if it would be a good basecamp.

Her mind flashed back to how terribly she had woken. While there was no evidence, she felt something off with the entire complex.

Amidst her jumbled thoughts, the ground started to shake. Her mind snapped back and looked down onto the town. She was halfway up the Plateau before something down in the Mines started moving.

Lilith scaled the side of the Plateau as fast as her body could carry her.

The rumblings grew.

Soon motion appeared below her. She crouched down and made herself as little as possible.

A Large snake-like creature emerged from the mouth of the mine. Its face was angular, with a single horn on its head. Its body was huge and composed entirely of rock.

‘Why is an Onix above ground?’

The wild Onix’s body emerged fully. It coiled its body into circles in front of the entrance. From what Lilith could remember, Onix lore said that it ate rocks as it burrowed underground.

Onix let out a cry as it started to slither around. It threw rock and dirt everywhere as it traveled. Onix circled the town and tried looking into the deserted buildings. Like it was trying to find something, or someone.

‘Time to go.’

Lilith played red light green light. When Onix faced away, she climbed. When it turned to her general direction, she hit the dirt.