None of the three expected such an outcome, as fairy types resisted her moves. The trio all huddled around the knocked out Pokemon, gathering their spoils. Lilith scrutinized the Pokemon thoroughly by poking at its fleshy exterior.

“Wait, isn’t it supposed to be a fairy?” She wondered aloud

“Sol!”

“Yeah, Yeah, I know what I said.” She grumbled back at Absol.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her Pokedex. She hit the scan function, being much easier than searching for the Pokemon before her. One quick picture, and all the known information about her popped up onto her screen,

“Well I’ll be damned. It’s a Normal type!” She shouted.

She could have sworn that Audino was one of the Pokemon to transition from normal to fairy when the new type was announced.

“Eye!” Sableye snickered.

Lilith gave him a stink eye before putting away the Pokedex. Their mini quest had been completed but the main goal still eluded them. After much deliberation, they decided that the footprints in the dirt were in fact a Pidoves considering their disappearing act.

Their victory was a nice encounter, pushing Absol even closer to the second star. She could feel the achievement before them, but still eluded their grasp. It would only take a step to achieve her 20th level. Sableye received even more benefits, finally reaching the upper realm. He felt more pumped up than ever, and with the sudden boost, it made sense to focus on the original goal. They discarded the idea that a Magby was in the area.

They split up even further, having Lilith by herself to maximize their chances of more encounters. The other two went off searching for any other exit’s that might exist. The mini forest inside the complex was nice, but it just didn’t scream fire type.

Time ticked by as she laid back leisurely against a nearby tree.

“Hmm?” A pull drew her away from her thoughts.

One of the connections had been tugged on. It didn’t seem urgent, so Lilith followed the feeling before ending up right before Sableye.

“Eye!” He cheered, having been the first to find something.

Lilith looked around the area, but couldn’t find anything of importance. They were up against one of the outer walls, but moss and low bushes covered the flat surface. There appeared to be no easy way through. Sure they could try breaking down the wall, but that seemed a little reckless considering their previous behavior.

“What?” She asked, his crystalline eyes glimmed back at her.

He jumped up and down before rushing to one of the closest underbrush. He yanked aside the plant with force, surprising her greatly. It took a second to realize what exactly he was doing. A small hole lay in the dirt just at the base of the bricks that was originally covered from view. She stared at it wide eyed before backing up uneasily.

‘Why did it have to be a hole…’ She thought.

One of her greatest fears lay before her. Not so much having objects really close to her, than it was about getting stuck somewhere without the ability to become unstuck.

Sableye motioned towards the hole. He easily fit inside, being just under a meter in diameter. Lilith watched with fright. Being in the dark was different, even when she couldn’t see. The air embraced her, not trying to suffocate her body. Holes on the other hand, only had the goal of swallowing her up.

She stared at the menace until eyes popped back up, searching for her. Sableye looked back at her, wondering why she wasn’t following. Lilith’s saving grace, Absol appeared through the trees, having returned by the call. She stood next to her Partner who was frozen in fear. A small nudge brought her back to reality.

“Is there any other way?” She sighed, really not wanting to crawl into the hole before her.

“Eye” He shook his head.

Lilith closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Alright, Sableye you go first, Absol protect me from the back.”

She pulled out her Pokedex for any extra light she might need. After a moment of consideration, the thought seemed useless, she could see in the dark. Lilith shook her head before crouching down and really looking around.

‘Really messing with my head…’

Dirt had been kicked everywhere from the inside. It looked like there had been much activity in the area recently. The night was still dark, with most Pokemon still asleep. They would have time to explore and not get ambushed while she was stuck.

‘If I get stuck…’ She tried hyping herself up.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Lilith scrutinized the chasm in greater detail, and two small scratches lined the insides as she looked down. It dropped about half a meter before leveling out, and nothing could be seen without lowering herself further.

“Are you sure those are Magby marks?” She asked Sableye.

She scrutinized the claws, denying the premise that Magby even existed. Sableye on the other hand, had looked at the footprint before. He saw the similarities. It could have easily also been a Patrat, but Sableye believed in himself. A new confidence had sprouted inside him ever since the battle with Rene.

“Eye!” Sableye leaned back and crossed his arms in mock offense. It was a habit picked up by Lilith. She liked to do the same motion, so he copied the move.

“Alright, alright…” She mumbled before lowering her head in.

She let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. With the angle cut down, she could see the entirety of the tunnel, which only went a few meters before stopping.

“This better go somewhere or all the Pokemon in the area are going to have a very bad day.” She grumbled.

Lilith flipped onto her back as Sableye jumped ahead of her. The angle at witch the tunnel shifted was too much of an arch for her back. She had to go in, back first, to be able to clear the hole. Her eyes clamped together, terrified. She clawed at the sides of the tunnel groping for a way forwards.

Lilith lowered her body down until her head touched the bottom. Her feet stuck out the top, not being deep enough to go down all the way. Her body flailed before finding the ground. Her body was already contorted into strange shapes, and adding a little more wasn’t a huge ask at that point.

Her head inched forwards before landing on her neck. The more she shuffled forwards, the more her legs disappeared. Before long, her arms were straight in front of her, laying on her back. She refused to open her eyes as the smell of dirt perviated her senses.

The hardest part was landing on her back. Once she was in position, she wiggled and worked her way forward until finding the exit. Her upper body ascended into a sitting position before spinning around to shift her leg joints. Now ,in a kneeling position, she could arch upwards and clear the tunnel. It wasn’t even long enough for her to lay down completely.

“Haa” Lilith let out a scream as a pair of hands grabbed hers.

The sudden motion had scared her, but calmed down once she realized it was just Sableye. He pulled on her body, decreasing the time at which she was inside the hole. She made a silent reminder to give him a snack of some sort as a reward. In her current mood, she was ready to buy some precious stones for him to munch on.

Sableye yanked once more as Lilith’s head felt the shift in air. She had cleared the floor, but her eyes still refused to budge. She let go of Sableye, planting her palms down onto the floor beside her. A smooth warm sensation washed up her palms, she wasn’t touching dirt any longer. With her newfound leverage, she pushed up, emerging from the hole completely.

“We are never doing that ever again.” She wanted to scream.

The first thing she did was open her eyes. Unsurprisingly, she came face to face with a wall. The faded beige color did little to lift her spirits. The paint was old and chipped, ready to fall. It was something she expected from the rundown building. What caught her attention however was the heat.

A warmth permeated the room. It couldn’t be ignored, as sweat started to form on her brow. Lilith wiped her skin from the uncomfortable feeling of sweat dripping down her skin.

‘At least the hole was cool.” She mumbled.

Lilith turned to Sableye who had gotten a better lay of the land than her. The room they were in was small, and different from the others she had witnessed. Two large pillars stood opposite each other, flanking the center of the room. A large piece of machinery held her attention.

The rest of the room held what looked to be monitoring stations. Old pieces of metal and wood could be fastened together to make chairs, yet they lay in pieces. It was a control room of sorts.

Sableye started to circle the room, looking for their objective. Lilith pulled out her Pokedex and swiped to the Pokecenter app, which connected her to the job center. From there, she could take the picture of her find, along with directions to the location to complete the job.

“Everything's online now. Hopefully there are indeed Magby here.’ She thought.

The earth shifted behind her as Absol stuck her head out of the hole. It was a comedic pose, and Lilith couldn’t help but take a quick snap. Her partner jumped up before she could think up any more dastardly pranks.

“Sol” She chuffed.

“I know, I know.” She patted her partner.

They turned their attention back towards the goal. Sableye was already across the room when the duo joined him. He shook his head in defeat, the room was covered in footprints, but no Pokemon presented themselves. It was an odd conundrum, until Lilith shifted her point of view.

“It couldn’t be…” She mumbled.

Everyone turned their attention to the warmest object in the room. How did something still work when everything else around it was clearly broken? The oddness couldn’t be overlooked as Lilith crept closer.

Before she could get any closer, a pair of claw and paw met her legs respectively. Her Pokemon stopped her from going any further. The path ahead was dangerous unlike anything they had paced thus far. They took the lead in the charge, forcing Lilith backwards to a safer position.

‘Where is the door to this place?’ An idle thought clouded her mind.

If she was going to make a break for it, she should know which direction to run towards. The thought continued to dominate her mind, but unable to find an exit. A large metal door sat behind her. The only problem was the equally large object as its base, stopping the door from doing its intended function.

Lilith crouched down, pushing aside a layer of dirt. Scratch marks appeared from when something or someone had pushed a set of desks to their new position. She cursed her luck, a quick getaway would be out of the question.

With nothing else to do but fight, being stealthy became much more important. Lilith turned her attention back to her Pokemon as Sableye climbed up the metal contraption. He looked for some way inside while Absol stayed beside her. She couldn’t help but reach out and pet her soft fur, their location becoming more unsettling by the second.

Lilith witshed to leave, but it would be unfortunate to come this far without anything to show for it. The heat was starting to get to her the longer they stayed. She worried about a heat stroke, her head was starting to feel rather light.

“We need to get this done soon.” She whispered to Absol.

Her partner nodded in recognition, it would be dangerous to stay any longer than they needed.