[Memory difficult,] Echo admitted to Astra, her strangely reduced speech still twanging with incomprehensible psychic undertones. [Stories unlearned. Forgotten. Know some, but...was others' duty. {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎} knew all.]

She paused, staring into the flickering stones set into the cauldron. Shadows danced amongst the bones of the colossal Aggron they sat within, its metal carapace enclosing a large hollow that had once been Echo's home.

Now it was just where she slept.

[{👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎} gone. I remain. Stories unpassed. Never thought...]

Astra gently squeezed Echo's shoulder, humming softly. She'd moved her rocky chair to sit next to the elderly Kadabra, hoping that she would draw some amount of comfort from Astra's close proximity. Mawile had taken more metal scraps and gone around one of the legs to eat in peace. "I would still like to hear what you can tell. Do you know how your people learned how to...well, be like we are now?"

[Hm.] Echo closed her eyes pondering the question. [Was time before. Before cold burst cycle. All Abra? Was no...▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░. Togetherness. All selfish. All empty.]

[Then...change. Abra brought together, given knowledge. Learn new speech, learn ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░.]

Astra still didn't understand that flux of psychic energy, but she could get the gist from the context.

"You were given knowledge?" she asked, frowning. "How?"

Echo hesitated. [Taught by...visitor? Not invader. Not {Blood of my blood}. Unknown.]

Someone came here? Someone neither human nor Abra...who could teach a group of psychic pokemon language...and was around several thousand years ago...

"Uh." Astra blinked. "That...sounds like the Ancestor. Did she try to make a village here too?"

Echo stared blankly. [Who?]

Oh, had she skipped that? "Our village was created by a really powerful Gardevoir a long time ago, before humans had cities. She gathered all of my kind she could and taught us how to speak and, well, whatever else she learned when she lived among humanity. But she stuck around from back then up until—well, most of my grandpa's life. Then she just...vanished. Grandpa told me about her in the first place."

[Strange.] Echo said, after a pause. [Maybe so. Very strange. Very long. You live long?] she asked, peering at Astra.

"I haven't heard of anyone else living for nearly that long. I don't think I'll be an exception." Astra shook her head. "We're getting off track. What happened after she—or whoever—taught you?"

[Came together. Had surface, then. Food for all, even in cold! Berries, fish, sun. No invaders. Maybe before...? Hm. All gone. Learned fire, learned to shape wood, rock, bone. Then...]

She hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face. [Don't...remember. Argument? Anger? Disappointment? Bad feelings. Failure. Was...bargain? Debt? But wrong. Ignorant. Impatient. But which was...] She shook her head, growling at herself. [Apology. Cannot recall story, only feeling. Fragment of fragment. Memory is gone.]

"I see..."

So the Ancestor—presumably—had come here, taught the Abra some of the advancements she'd learned from humanity, and then...they had a mutual falling out? Over what?

"I suppose you didn't learn anything from them after that?" Astra guessed.

Echo nodded. [No more learning. But, had enough. Knew simple things, knew was more. Could discover own way.] She frowned. [Did, ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓—ah, for some time.]

"Did you make houses on the surface?" Astra asked, curiously. There was a forest beyond the city, but she would have heard if humanity had found pokemon dwellings like that by now, shouldn't she?

[No.] Echo said, shaking her head. [Did not try, always had cave. Less tunnels then, but still vast. More cold, back then. Not worth.]

"More cold? Do you mean the snowstorms?"

Echo nodded. [Can recall...▒░▒▓▒░▒ ▒░ ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓. Hm...] she paused, thinking. [Old story. {☝︎●︎♋︎♍︎♓︎♋︎●︎ 💧︎◻︎♓︎🙵♏︎}, braved storms, defeated ice beasts. Long cold. Longer than now. Frozen surface. Distant rage. Then...fading. Teacher came before, left during. Warm now. Might have tried wood. Can't.]

She shrugged. [Would not have helped. When snow fade, Invaders came.]

"Invaders—humans, you mean?" Astra checked.

[Yes.] Echo paused, rolling her shoulders back and grimacing. [Mmm. Duty. Come,] she said, standing up. [Talk while walk. Must check {Blood of my blood}. Must feed stirring creche soon, too. After talk.]

"Oh. Alright." Astra said, following Echo as they left the Aggron's shell. The soft, blue, and dim light of the cavern left her blinking as her eyes adjusted, whereupon she noticed the crowd of Abra at the river's edge had grown threefold. More than half of them were drinking from it, still, while the others just...sat there.

They were all hungry, but beyond that...a sort of hollow sadness, and not much else. Some of their thoughts were so devoid of substance that Astra couldn't tell if they were thinking at all, and only after those specific few didn't react to her and Echo's re-emergence did it dawn on her that they weren't even awake. It didn't feel like they were asleep, so much as in some sort of...thoughtless suspension.

"They...aren't even dreaming," Astra muttered, skin crawling at the blank sensation. "Is...I..."

Astra trailed off, looking at Echo helplessly. Echo looked back at her, surprised.

[Can tell so easily?] she asked, blinking. [How?]

"Huh? Isn't it obvious?" Astra asked in return, agitatedly looking between her and the not-catatonic Abra. "They're asleep but aren't expressing any emotions at all! There should be happiness, excitement, warmth; maybe even sadness or terror if it were a bad dream, but there's just...nothing!"

[See emotion? That easy? Hm.] Echo studied Astra for a moment, then turned to examine the Abra, eyes glancing over each one in turn. She sighed.

[Not unusual,] Echo said, voice laden with whatever was left when sorrow was ground away by time. [Not many with good ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓. Tch. Spark. Even if, fires unfed. Embers smothered, starved, until...]

She sighed, bowing her head.

[Naught but cinders.]

Astra watched as Echo approached the Abra, reassuring them about their upcoming meal. If she could even call it that. Eating nothing but Zubat stew...was there truly nothing else to be done? If it was really harming their 'sparks' that much, if it was leaving them like this...how was that acceptable? There must be a reason, right?

[Hm.] Echo hummed as she returned. [Few younglings here. You scared off when wake,] she accused, a shadow of a smile flicking across her face. [Must check waking creche. ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓. Then stirring creche, maybe. This way.]

A few of the Abra casually teleported elsewhere as they left, each pop leaving a curiously bitter feeling in Astra's stomach. How was it that the technique seemed to come so easily to them? She'd had to wait until she was a Kirlia to even try, and even now her version was nowhere near as efficient as theirs looked to be. And some of them were hatchlings! Shaking her head to clear the feeling, Astra followed Echo alongst a trail of stalagmites.

Echo led them to one of the larger, Aggron-sized tunnels. Astra stared at the walls as they went, idly tracing patterns and pictures carved into the walls in the dim mosslight. Most were indecipherable in the gloom and on the move, but she recognized the shape of Abra and Kadabra, and even Mawile here and there, along with Zubat, Makuhita, and more creatures she'd never seen.

"What happened when the humans came?" Astra prompted, eyeing a picture of multiple Kadabra...orbiting rocks around a dizzy Nosepass?

[Unsure.] Echo admitted. [Think...was Hariyama on surface, then. Would have fought invaders. Invaders have strange beasts. Hariyama, Makuhita, defeated. Surface now invaders. Maybe try attack {Blood of my blood}? Old {Blood of my blood} retreat into caves. Maybe?]

"You didn't try to hide yourselves or anything?" Astra asked, thinking back to the nebulous protection her village enjoyed. "Fight back? Or...talk to them, I guess?"

Echo gave her a flat look. [Annoyance. Would say if knew. Old story; was not there. Stories not perfect. Not...whole.]

Her face fell, Astra reaching out to gently squeeze her shoulder. Echo accepted this, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

[Am fine,] she told Astra, smiling at her. [Memories hard. Painful. But, glad can still share. Keep remainder alive.]

"I'm happy to listen to anything you have." Astra replied, returning the smile. They walked in silence under the dim azure light, shadows shifting with the rippling of moss along the tunnel. It seemed to pulse, almost; waves of scintillating white and blue flowing across the mats like ripples on a pond. Ahead of them, an exit loomed.

"What happened after you retreated into the caves?" Astra asked. Echo huffed softly.

[Not obvious?] Echo said, as a huge chamber came into view. Slowly, new minds came into range; two, five, ten, twenty-five, fifty—[Done as all life does.]

[We lived.]

The tunnel opened and Astra stopped, eyes wide. The creche sprawled before her, a cavern in the rough shape of a circle and wide enough to cram hundreds of Kirlia into. Numerous crevices had been carved into the walls, each a mirror of the bed she'd woken up in, and above them the walls recessed further and further in steps, leaving four rings of alcoves encircling the entire space. And above, bereft of all but the smallest of stalactites, was a flat pane of dappled moss. It shifted and scattered across the ceiling, as though the light of a blue sun was shining straight through the ocean and rock.

Abra filled the floor. A hamlet's worth of psychic children, scattered here and there amongst dozens of tables, benches, and chairs—all of which were being used backwards with a tilted 'frontrest'. Atop and beside each table were near-universally giant piles of rocks carved into flat shapes with odd edges or bizarre geometrical figures. Nearby Abra were fiddling with them endlessly; comparing pieces in methodical—sluggish?—contemplation and occasionally bringing them together to form ever-greater wholes. A fair few well-used grass balls—and a couple human softballs?—were scattered about, a few Abra managing to play the most inanimate, tepid game of psychic catch Astra had ever seen.

Many of the Abra were simply...hanging out amongst the tables or atop what looked to be a large, rectangular dais in the middle of the room. Sitting together or laying around, chittering amongst themselves, some using fistfulls of grass to...polish each-other? A handful were messing with what looked to be illusory sparks, and a few were even cuddling together in pairs.

Hunger emanated from each and every one, but it was muted despite their number; a great number of recently discarded bowls scattered across the room provided an answer. Beyond that...happiness, irritation, amusement, fleeting joy, steady contentment, dull boredom—a chorus of emotion the same as every hatchling or human Astra had ever met.

Yet for all the noise they made, the quiet chorus of clicking rocks, subtle murmurs, and psychic sparks, it was...quiet. For all that this truly appeared to be a fantasy—a real, true counterpart to her village—the slightest inspection revealed the truth: Nobody was saying anything. None of them could. Hatchlings, bereft of a teacher, left to grow old; withered and hungry in the azure gloom of these hollow caves.

As if sensing her sudden melancholy, the colony of Abra turned as one to meet her gaze, each and every one stopping whatever they were doing as they noticed her and Echo's entrance. Astra's skin crawled as she stared back, pushing back the instinctive need to check on her illusion. There wasn't any reason to hide here, and yet...well, at least the Abra seemed as nervous as she was.

"This is a creche, you said?" Astra asked, trailing behind Echo as they moved towards the crowd. "What does that mean? There's so many Abra here..."

[Hm. Is where younglings live.] Echo explained, broadcasting a greeting across the cavern. She scanned the room, gazing intently on the varied gatherings of Abra. [Have more. Use...five. Some empty. Some lost.]

"You use four more of these caves? Do they have as many Abra as this one? Do we need to check on those ones too?"

[Roughly same Youngling numbers. Check Stirring Creche soon. Resting Creches can wait.]

"Resting...? Wait," Astra said, furrowing her brows. "The other...two hundred Abra are all asleep?"

[Yes, are in cycle of waking. Younglings sleep {18 Hours} at time.]

Astra twitched as she was hit with a jumble of bizarre timekeeping information, then blinked in disbelief as she registered exactly what it meant. "They're only awake for six hours!?"

[Hour...?] Echo gave her a confused look. [Hatchling awake short time, yes. Need much rest. Kadabra need less, but...] she grimaced. [Was hard to divide rest around Waking cycle. No other Kadabra to help watch.]

And now Echo had sleep deprivation. Fantastic. As for the Abra...Astra couldn't even imagine how catastrophic losing ten hours of every day would be to her own progress; how could an Abra get anything done in a reasonable amount of time like that?

She got the feeling the answer was 'they didn't'.

"What makes a Creche 'lost'?" Astra asked, blatantly changing the subject.

[Became unusable,] Echo explained. [Usually cave-in, or overrun by {Blank Ones} rarely. Sometimes moss death, creche becomes dark. Invaders found small outer one short time ago. Had to move.] Echo sighed. [Shame. Had fresh beds.]

Ah. That...wasn't as bad as she had feared, except for maybe an outbreak of those 'Blank Ones'. Were all Abra 'Younglings'? If so, then these creches were...basically an oversized gathering spot that doubled as a communal hatchling enclave for Ralts who weren't able to be raised by their birth parents or other relatives. If the enclaves were the default, Astra supposed.

Astra stopped at a table, looking at the pile of meticulously carved rocks laid atop it. The two Abra already seated there eyed her warily, though Echo's presence nearby seemed to have alleviated any serious concern. Curious, Astra picked up a rock. It was perfectly smooth, though with an occasional scratch or chip here and there, and along various parts of the fist-sized stone were odd carvings and grooves. Picking another at random, she compared their shapes and found that her new stone had an inverse groove of the other. Carefully sliding them together, she beheld the new, bigger rock in her hand, the crack where they were joined nearly invisible to the eye.

"It's...a puzzle?" she murmured to herself glancing back at the pile quizzically. Was there a maximum size? A final shape? Astra peered around, and dug up a stone with one surface carved smooth and slightly curved. Ah, so they all combined into a big sphere? There were a lot of pieces, though. How were you supposed to keep track of which went where? Aside from the grooves they were all nearly identical...

The curved piece turned out to fit on the edge of her current amalgamation, and Astra found herself engrossed in the challenge, joining a good couple more rocks onto it before running into a problem: many of the pieces were increasingly likely to need to fit multiple grooves at once. Not only was it oddly difficult to find any pieces like that in the massive pile, when she did the grooves wouldn't allow her to slide both in at the same time.

Was...was there an order to which pieces she had to assemble first as well? Maybe she'd have to work from some sort of 'core' outwards, but which one would that be? She frowned and reached out, telekinetically lifting the entire pile to search through the pieces—

"Abra!"

Astra paused, guiltily looking over at the two Abra. Clouds of irritation swirled around them, glares boring into her for interrupting their work. Ah. Right, they'd already been trying this one, she supposed. Giving the pair an apologetic grin, she set the pile down and backed away a step.

[Enjoying puzzle ball?]

Astra jumped, whirling around to see Echo hovering just behind her, apparently having already finished her brief overview of the creche. The Kadabra smiled at her shocked gasp, eyes twinkling merrily.

"Ugh, did you have to sneak up on me like that?" Astra grumbled, folding her arms.

[Never left.] Echo replied, smile widening. [You forget. Jump. Funny. Heh.]

"It really isn't," Astra sighed. She turned back toward the stone pieces. "And yeah, actually. It was pretty interesting, but difficult. I'm not sure how I would solve it."

[Have only tried for very short time,] Echo chided, walking up to the table herself. [This one harder than most. Want see?] At Astra's cautious nod, she turned to the Abra. [Apology, {Blood of my Blood}. Will disrupt. Then replace. Okay?]

The two Abra looked at her blankly, then both gave her the most minute of nods.

Raising a glowing purple hand, Echo lifted the pile into the air, gently disconnecting the few assembled pieces and arranging them in a grid above her. Eyeing the pieces for a moment—rotating them briefly to see their sides—she twitched her claws. The mass shuddered, then began whirling around, rocks gently yet methodically slotted together in—eight groups?

Astra watched in fascination as the mass condensed down seamlessly into an octet of round-bottom spikes. It had happened so fast—how in the world was Echo able to so effortlessly manipulate all those pieces!? There didn't seem to be any core like she had suspected; the pieces just...came together naturally. The spikes then paired off, condensing down into four, then two, and with an immensely satisfying final twist—

Echo held aloft a perfectly spherical boulder half as tall as she was, the pieces so tightly fit that the surface was nearly seamless.

"That was incredible!" Astra exclaimed. "There were eight different sections? How did you manage to do all of that so quickly? The pieces all look so similar..."

Echo chuckled as she disassembled the boulder, setting the pile back on the table. [Have done puzzle ball many times. Done all puzzles many, many times. Simple: remember where pieces go, do not repeat mistakes. Took much time to learn,] she admitted, looking at the rocks with quiet melancholy. [Maybe should not have. Or done slower. No new puzzles. No more challenge.]

"No new puzzles?" Astra asked, excitement dimming. "You...can't make more?"

[Did not make,] Echo said. She turned from the table to gaze across the cavern, eyes lingering on the myriad Abra shuffling about their own puzzles. She began walking, Astra following at her side. [{👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} made. Carved stone into many shapes. Learned from ▒░▒▓▒░—hm. Teacher? Not-parent? Tch.]

She hesitated, considering her words.

[One-who-imparts-ascension,] she settled on, frustrated. [Made tables, chairs, puzzles, more. Replace what broke. Old stone carvers carved beds, shaped floors, made space better.]

Echo stopped at a different table. Astra saw a collection of wide, thin stones on the table with three Abra carefully trying to puzzle them together. Unlike the boulder, this flat puzzle was decorated with carved lines on top and much simpler edge shapes. This one, Astra felt, she could probably do in an hour; maybe less. The Abra were making decent progress; they'd gotten the edges figured out and were slowly comparing the carved etchings on the rest.

[Puzzles help younglings think,] Echo explained, smiling softly at the Abra. [Harder puzzle, think more. Think more, reason more, learn better, can teach easier. Do well, increase chance of being chosen. Taught by ▒░▒▓▒░. Learn speech, skills, craft. Become Kadabra, usually. Even if not, fun. Way to pass time.] She sighed, looking back at Astra. [{👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} gone. No more carvers. No new puzzles. Pieces break; few remain whole. Some unsolvable, unusable. Would enjoy new confusion. Cannot do myself.]

"'Ascend'...?" Astra muttered, frowning. "Chosen to learn speech; to evolve? That—were you keeping their advancement locked behind their ability to do puzzles!?"

Echo looked at her strangely. [No? Stupid. Puzzles only help choose. Many more reasons.]

"But why lock it at all?" Astra said, tone harsh. "Everyone in my village becomes a Kirlia eventually, why can't everyone be a Kadabra? Is this why none of them can talk? Even hatchlings learn in a season."

Echo closed her eyes, breathing deeply. [Fortunate village,] she said, eventually. [Much food. Many ▒░▒▓▒░. Easy learning. Envy. In dream, all sparks fed; become bright fires.] She looked at Astra, smiling bitterly. [Is not dream. Is just here. So all will remain embers. All will remain quiet.]

Astra hesitated, burgeoning anger draining away. Was it truly so difficult to educate hatchlings? The caretakers hadn't seemed that overwhelmed, and her Grandpa had done well with her—or so she thought, at least. It wasn't like she'd really...looked into that sort of thing, before. But her home only ever had to manage Ralts; were Abra truly so different?

"Is...was it always that way?"

[Teach spark is...hard,] Echo continued, softly. She looked up, examining the patterns on the ceiling. "Harder than anything. Longer than anything. Younglings need much food, much rest. Already only awake fourth of day; feeding spark takes energy, effort. Awake maybe sixth. Must spend all time learning, drop everything to teach. Chosen younglings need good food. Many food. Takes time, focus, good teacher.]

She closed her eyes, turning from the scintillating moss above.

[Food became rarer. Little time. Distracted. Some not good at teaching. Some never want. Ascension...slow. Great teacher, three, maybe four ever chosen. Few were great. Rest choose one. Some, none. Only ever ten hands of Kadabra. Many, many more Abra. Once time, could balance; ascend Abra as Kadabra fell.]

She huffed, giving Astra a small, mirthless smile.

[Now...if had help, if had food, could maybe teach Abra again. But am only one Kadabra. No time. Little food. Darkness follows.]

"It keeps coming back to food, doesn't it?" Astra murmured. Ten hands...? They had three fingers, so, thirty Kadabra on average? For this many hatchlings? She grimaced. "But it can't have always been like this," she said, gesturing toward the tepid Abra surrounding them. "Even wild pokemon know how to live, but I can't call this much more than surviving. What did the Abra do when there was food?"

[Had more Kadabra,] Echo explained, gesturing for Astra to follow. She turned, heading for the dias in the center of the room. [More minds, more hands for work. Before, could finish quickly, spend time on craft, on fun.] She sighed. [Not much time now. But, before, told stories.]

They reached the dias, hopping up onto the wide circular platform. Astra looked out, able to see every Abra in the creche. They, in turn, could see her; their silent gazes sending prickles up her skin. Echo walked forward, staring vacantly at the center of the area.

[{👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎} performed. Told tales, history, myth, entertainment. All in creche would listen, learn, grow. Others came up, wove illusions, made music, played games of ▒░▒▓▒░▒. Ah. Hm. 'Bullet Curtain'...? No. 'Barrage'? Fine.]

She stopped and looked down. Astra saw a small stone figurine of a Makuhita laying on the floor. Echo levitated it into her palm, a brief smile playing over her face.

[Sometimes {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} stood here. Brought up big stone block; carved figures for younglings before all. Make statues from leftovers.]

She stared at the figure for a moment, then gave it back to a nearby Abra. She turned to Astra, tired.

[No more left to help work. No others to perform, or craft, or...anything.] She gestured to herself, then out to all of the Abra around them. [This my purpose. Looked after younglings, then and now. Must gather food. Feed. Defend. Keep watch. Takes all time, energy. Cannot do less. Unable to do more.]

She paused, looking down at her hands. Trembling.

[One day, will follow river. Learn final secret. But then...] she sighed, looking back at Astra. [Apology. Want explain, but...sadness. Maybe take break—ah?]

Astra pulled Echo into a hug, resting her chin on the Kadabra's head and squeezing warmly.

"It must have been hard," Astra murmured. "I'm sorry. If we had known..."

[Not your fault,] Echo said, leaning into the embrace. She chuckled. [Heh. Comfort from youngling? Usually opposite. If only were otherwise. Thank you. Still,] she continued, breaking away and giving Astra a small smile. [Sorrow fatigue; can delay retelling past, other creche visit for small time. New friend! First talk in long while. Opportunity.]

Astra blinked at Echo's suddenly bright demeanor, surprised and intrigued despite her internal grumbling. Who was Echo calling a youngling? She was a Kirlia! That meant she was an adult! If she was back home, that meant she could go try out fermented drinks (not that she wanted to, the small sip she'd stolen from Grandpa a long time ago was yucky) ,start learning more complex psychic techniques, commit to a profession, or even find a bond partner!

Well, okay, she'd have to wait another couple weeks for that last one depending on when she'd be able to make the Maiden's Meal, but for everything else she was perfectly mature! She also didn't know who she'd even choose for that. Everybody she'd hung out with were still Ralts except for maybe...the Guard? Uh. Hm. Well, she also hung out with May and Brendan—time to stop thinking about this.

Banishing that line of thought, Astra looked back to Echo, a little wary of this sudden offer. "What sort of opportunity?"

[Have not played Barrage for long, long time,] Echo said, looking out at one of the stone slabs around the cave. With a wave of her hand the slab was abruptly teleported next to them, the rocky wall a bit taller than Astra and half that in width. [Younglings can only do sparks. Would like to play again; show younglings new experience. Beyond bad food, dull hunger, ennui.]

[Have only spoken of broken things, old memories,] she continued, looking at Astra hopefully. [More yet to say. But would prefer new memory now. Can teach. Want learn?]

She wanted to play a game? Barrage...was it anything like Rebound? These caves would make excellent arenas for that, actually, but then what was this slab for? Well, she supposed she would find out if she accepted. But as much as Astra was curious...she still hesitated.

Time was passing. Brendan and May were still wandering the caverns with injured pokemon, and not only had she just slept for two hours, but Echo's story was shaping up to be considerably lengthy on top of that—not to mention they probably still didn't have a light source. Except for the moss, maybe. Nobody had mentioned it before, so maybe it wasn't everywhere...? Somewhere, Steven Stone was doing...something, and there was a letter in her backpack that demanded delivery; not to mention the briefcase. Speaking of her luggage, she still hadn't gotten that back—not only were her pokemon presumably inside, but there was the...orb. Astra hoped it hadn't been messed with, but she'd kept getting sidetracked and had still not asked Echo where her stuff was.

And beyond that...at some point she did need to leave. As much as she wanted to keep talking with Echo, Astra could not remain within the caves forever. Even these few hours were becoming dangerous; she had a gym to challenge, a league to defeat, and a home to save—not to mention an explanation to make up for...all of this. She still wanted to hear the rest of Echo's story, because finding another village—even at the brink of total collapse—was shattering, but could she really spend so much of her limited time playing games? The puzzle was one thing; a passing fancy that could be dropped after a moment or two. But full rounds of something akin to Rebound? If her friends weren't lost and she didn't have to find Steven this would be a lot clearer, but right now...

Astra looked at the elderly Kadabra, a soft rejection forming—sputtering—then fading away. She recalled another elderly man she had met, mere weeks ago. Was all of this so critically important that she couldn't spare at least twenty minutes to learn a game with an incredibly sad pseudo-grandmother? The first person she could truly be herself with for the first time in ages?

If this wasn't worth a delay, then nothing ever would be.

"I can probably give it a go for a little bit," Astra settled on, sighing. "But we should keep it brief, alright?"

Echo's smile lit the room, an eruption of pure glee that would have been infectious if it weren't so tragic. Did simply agreeing to play a game really warrant this overly excessive level of happiness? Astra smiled back anyway, though it felt as fragile as the surface of a pond.

[Will be quick, rules simple!] Echo chirped, raising a hand toward the slab. [Can make barrier, yes?] Astra nodded. [Good. Copy me; make barrier weak as able, shatter at light touch.]

A small circle of light appeared on the wall, appearing nearly flush with the surface. Astra furrowed her brow, forming a miniature barrier of her own. Intentionally fragile? She...wasn't sure she knew how to make them weak on purpose, actually. The purpose of a barrier was to remain solid and unyielding, after all. Lowering the energy...?

Her circle wavered, flickered like an arcade light, and then burst apart into a few tiny, fading sparks. Astra frowned, conjuring another. Maybe if she just lowered the surface tension...That one popped like a water bubble. Tch.

[Trouble?] Echo asked, amused. [Here, will make mine bigger. Look.]

Turning toward the much enlarged foreign barrier, Astra found herself staring at a bizarre, complex construction she'd never seen before. What was going on in there? The structure was completely different! Why was there a triangular pattern in the center? It iterated upon itself as well, triangles within triangles inside and out—the barrier wasn't even solid! It was, itself, a bunch of triangles running along a framework of thick strings. She'd never even heard of other Kirlia shaping their barriers in such a way. Perhaps in overall form, maybe, but never anything as intricate on the surface or interior. That there was an interior puzzled her as well; why give a barrier volume...?

[Pattern makes barrier resilient,] Echo explained, seeing Astra's confusion. [Able to stand on own much easier. Less energy needed; can make weak without worry of self collapse.] She grinned. [And can make strong, much stronger.]

"Triangles, huh...?" she murmured, turning back to her own experiment. Pondering for a moment, Astra mimicked a simpler variant of Echo's structure, with far less fractal iteration and without adding volume. "Huh, it works," she said, blinking. As little energy as something this size needed, there was still a notable decrease in the power she needed to maintain it. A regular flat plane wouldn't have been able to hold itself together like this—though, it also didn't have big holes that things could slip through. "That's...incredible. And so simple, too. How did we never...?"

[Not best,] Echo observed, peering at Astra's creation. She flicked a finger and a small psychic pebble brushed against Astra's barrier, shattering it instantly—much to Astra's dismayed confusion. Echo smiled. [But can use. Try move along wall; this speed, or below.]

Another barrier appeared and began zipping around the wall, fast enough to cover the entire length in a handful of seconds. Astra mimicked the movement, getting a feel for the allowed speeds and only having to reform her barrier twice due to accidentally brushing against the wall itself.

[Good!] Echo said, smiling. A mischievous spark shone in her eyes as she looked at Astra. [Ready to play Barrage! Move node—ah, name of barrier—to bottom third, then can move anywhere when start.]

"Alright?" Astra said, confusedly moving her circle as she was told. "But you haven't told me how to play. What am I doing here, exactly...?"

[One last instruction, then.] Echo decided, moving her own barrier towards the top. She grinned, and then laughed, the sound echoing through the cave.

[Dodge!]

Echo's barrier erupted, dozens upon dozens of psychic pellets bursting forth and falling from on high like rain. Astra only had a single moment to gasp in shock before she frantically jerked her barrier—node?— away from the miniscule blasts directly above her.

Unfortunately, she happened to dodge right into a different pellet, and her node instantly shattered in a flash of light.

Astra stared at the slab, blinking confusedly as Echo wheezed in laughter beside her. What just happened? The node thing, and then the pellets, and—dodge? Huh?

[Ah, long time. Feels good.] Echo sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. [Hm? That was 'Barrage',] she explained after Astra voiced her confusion. [Apology; used hard move right away. Had to, you understand.]

She grinned again, much to Astras disgruntlement. She sighed.

"Alright, so what is actually going on here?" she asked, turning back to the slab. "Can I get any explanation at all?"

[Yes, yes.] Echo chuckled, waving her hand. A pair of nodes appeared on the slab, and the upper node began to emit multiple streams of pellets, each traveling in a straight line and 'bouncing' off the edges of the slab. The lower node wove through them gracefully, having much more room than Echo's surprise attack had left Astra. [Barrage is game of patterns and dodging. Usually. Other ways—not important. Upper player creates pattern, lower player must dodge. Top wins if bottom is hit, Bottom wins if dodge long enough.]

"Long enough?" Astra asked, staring at the weirdly pretty design the pellets were forming. The streams had sort of coalesced into tesselating diamond patterns, which were sweeping back and forth across the lower level. Amusingly, the upper node hadn't fired anything directly downward for some reason, leaving a gaping safezone directly below itself which the bottom node was gratefully abusing.

[Pattern must have time limit, else would not end. Not too long; usually about...now.]

Astra blinked as the myriad pellets abruptly burst into sparks. So, each pattern lasted around...a minute, maybe? Yeah, that was pretty quick; maybe this wouldn't take so long after all. She had to take a moment to wonder at the Kadabra's ability to manipulate the pellets, though; not only were they all bouncing off of the 'edge', she was precisely controlling what had to be upwards of a hundred projectiles at once! They were all very small and weak, of course, but the sheer number of them...either Echo was really good at this, or Kadabra were scary Psychics.

"Man, I bet you'd be a nightmare in Rebound," Astra commented idly.

[Hm? Rebound?] Echo asked.

"A game in my village. Two or more players are split up into opposite halves of a big field and have to use barriers to knock one or more balls into the opposite wall."

[Oh! Interesting. Would be nice to try.] Echo said, smiling sadly. [Wonder if village would like Barrage.]

"Oh they absolutely would," Astra said, turning back to Echo. She crossed her arms, leveling a flat look at the Kadabra. "As long as they knew what it was before they started. Really, I bet I would have been able to deal with that first one if I'd known what was going on in the first place."

[Heh.] Echo grinned, whiskers twitching in amusement. She clicked her fingers, forming a new node at the top of the slab. Their eyes met, the fires of challenge gleaming brightly in the dim cavern.

[Prove it.]

And so light began to fall as rain, a lone spark dancing between the drops on a stage long bereft of play.

Attempting to dance, at least.

Barrage, as Astra learned amongst the shattered sparks of multiple broken barriers, was simple in concept, but fiendishly difficult in practice. Having to keep track of not only her own node amongst a chaotic mess of flying, multicolored pellets was hard enough, but she also had to keep eyes on the pellets themselves, both to ascertain where safety and imminent danger were located as well as anticipating whether or not Echo would pull some trick like 'freezing them all in place before scattering them in random directions'. And then there was Echo's node, which flew around and rapidly changed the source and trajectory of the pellets as it went.

It was all so much to keep track of, and that wasn't even including having to make sure her own node wasn't breaking the rules!

But even with all of her difficulties, even as the weight of time knocked ever more insistently at the back of her mind...

She found herself smiling.

Astra's node flew between beams of roiling sunlight, narrowly dodged between pulsing waves of water and rode a safe-zone through a tsunami. Snow fell from above, pellets colored white arranged in fractal flakes that burst into shards upon hitting the 'ground'. Seeds fell from on high, burrowing into a layer of brown pellet 'soil'; flowers grew from them, myriad hues twisting across the playing field as she wove between wind-scattered pollen and petals. Stalactites crashed to the floor, breaking open to reveal gemstones that refracted rays of light—if very slowly.

An interplay of psychic lights, refined over generations of fun and wonder.

All of it, beautiful.

And yet it was not the light that astounded her the most, but the sound.

Not a sound from the game; as bright as it was, their barriers did not make a peep. But the background susurrus of the Abra had come to a halt. The meaningless noise faded away; boredom, hunger, frustration—the eternal ennui they had emitted all this time had vanished.

In its place was wonder. All eyes in the cavern watched their match with rapt attention; innumerable teleporting pops distracting Astra into defeat more than once early on as they gathered behind the two. Each new pattern was met with a wave of newfound awe, every defeat with crushing, playful horror, and all of her near misses and hard-fought victories with an upwelling of ecstatic joy, as though the sun had at last broken through the moss and rock above to illuminate the eternally dimmed cavern.

Could a human have heard these children learn, for the first time, the colors of a dusk horizon? The thrill of a chase, and the excitement of escape? How could they understand what it felt like for a crowd of hatchlings to, at long last, witness the glory of the night sky; even as a pale imitation made of colored psychic dots?

No. It was a song of the mind, not of voice. A symphony of the soul. It couldn't have been called complex, but compared to the nigh-empty shells they'd had before it was as though they had finally begun to awaken from a long, dreary sleep.

That, more than anything, was what made it so hard for her to finally pull away.

"I don't think I can do any more," Astra said, as a collection of pellets in the shape of animate fire devoured her node one last time. She turned to Echo, a melancholic smile flitting across her face. "This has been fun, and I loved seeing all the ways you've come up with to play it, but...it's about time to finish, don't you think?"

Echo paused mid-creation, the bright smile slipping from her face as the new scene she'd been setting froze and began to fade away. She closed her eyes and sighed, joy slipping away into bittersweet sorrow. [Too quick. Time...too quick. If only...]

She gazed at the blank slab, as if engraving the last few dozen minutes into her memory, before waving a hand and moving the rock wall back to where it once was. [Could not last forever,] she muttered, turning to Astra and smiling gently. [Didn't get to show air variant; Barrage much harder with depth. But was fun. Thank you; was nice to play again.] Her gaze flickered to her charges, eyes softening as newly bright-eyed Abra started to chitter and whine for more. [See sparks, even for little while.] Her expression flickered, a deep misery returning from the depths. [Will fade. Will hurt. But...for now, better. Time for younglings to rest.]

Astra laid a hand on Echo's shoulder, gently squeezing as she gave her Abra a few trivial pre-slumber tasks and bade them farewell. Echo led Astra to another exit, turning back at the threshold to look at the Abra one last time. Astra saw dozens of them crowding around the scattered Barrage slabs, weak sparks flickering upon their stone surfaces. They both looked at them for a while, then turned down the tunnel and left.

[More questions now?] Echo presumed, their steps echoing down the moss-lit tunnel. [Recovered; can handle rest of story..]

"I'd be glad to hear how all of this happened," Astra started, "But...well, I should have asked this sooner, but where did you put my stuff?"

[Eh?] Echo said, blinking at her. [Stuff?]

Astra frowned. "You know, my backpack and my hat? They're both green, and I had them with me when you, uh, transported me down here. They weren't nearby when I woke up, so..."

Recognition flashed. [Ah, those,] Echo said, amused. [Bag very noisy! Would have disturbed your rest, took bag so sleep well; also took green disc and box, stop curious younglings. Would have taken to {Lord of Steel}, but annoying. Left all near shit-taker room. Closed entrance so won't smell. Will detour; stirring creche not active for little bit yet, so can show around.]

"Shit-taker room...?" Astra muttered, concerned. The mushrooms? They had a room for them? Wait, if they couldn't grow berries, then how did they grow the...ah, right. Shit-taker.

Ew.

Also, noisy? What would be making noise? Her pokedex, maybe? May's had chimed when she'd...gotten a message...or received a call...

Right. May and Brendan had no idea where she was. The last thing they'd seen was Echo teleporting them away. And seeing as how they'd apparently been calling her frantically and gotten zero responses for several hours...

How in the world was she going to explain any of this!? She honestly had no idea at all. Maybe pretend that Echo had knocked her out and taken her deep into the cave for some reason and she'd only just woken up and escaped? Hm. Maybe. She'd have to think about it.

"I see," Astra said, refocusing on Echo. She gestured to the tunnel, smiling. "Well, lead the way."

[Hm. Yes, follow.]

They walked, with illuminating moss and overgrown, faded wall art guiding their way. Absently, Astra wondered how the moss on the walls survived down here. It didn't feel particularly humid, so...hm. Maybe Brendan would know. Topics for later; right now...they had some time on their hands.

"How did it happen?" Astra asked, softly. Echo looked at her, gaze tired beyond measure."You had food, fellow Kadabra, and were able to live, before. What changed?"

Echo stared at her a moment, longer, then closed her eyes and sighed. Silence fell as she gathered her thoughts, their steps echoing down the long hallways.

[Must start with how cave used to work,] Echo said. [Know what live here?]

"The pokemon in the caves?" Astra asked. "Not particularly. You, the Zubat...Makuhita?"

[Many more. Aron, Geodude, Nosepass, Mawile...{Blank Ones}.]

"Blank ones. What are those? You've mentioned them before."

[Tch. Nasty. Eyes of gemstones, body of shadow. Chitter in darkness, snatch hatchlings for dinner.] Echo scowled. [Cannot sense, does not think, cannot strike with any power.] A grim smile crossed her face. [Mawiles eat them easy, though. {🕈︎□︎❒︎❒︎♓︎■︎♋︎} very handy; drop on {Blank One}, no more {Blank One}.] Her face fell. [Were more Mawile back then. Had more tunnels open. As tunnels collapsed, {Blank Ones} get inside less. Less reason for many Mawile. Wandered off. Maybe hunt? Not many intrusions since.]]

Oh, so they were some sort of Dark type pokemon? Some things were universal, she supposed.

"We have something like that too," Astra shared. "They're called Poochyena; vicious, furry, four legged dogs that hunt in packs through the forest at all hours. I was chased by a pack of them a few weeks ago myself, and May—one of my human friends—even keeps one on her team. Can't read them at all, and psychic attacks just...don't work. They're creepy." She paused, hesitating. "...I've...lost family to them, before. There was this gigantic Mightyena, and my parents..." She trailed off, growing quiet. "I don't like them."

Echo huffed, grim amusement flickering across her face. [Village not perfect after all. Starting to wonder.] The amusement faded away. [Tragedy. Sorrow. Know this loss deeply. Apology.]

"It happened before I hatched, so it's not like I have much to mourn, I guess," Astra joked, weakly. She paused, looking down. "I wouldn't trade Grandpa for anything, but...I would have liked to know them. Somehow I don't think they'd be too happy with how chaotic my life has turned out this season."

Warmth, compassion, and two hardened, yet tender hands clasping her own. Astra looked up at Echo, the elderly Kadabra's fingers softly encircling her own.

[They would have loved you,] she said, eyes bright. [More than anything. Even here. Even now. It is parents' duty and joy; never doubt this.]

Familiar. The words were different, the situation strange, and yet...

Her grandfather had told Astra stories of her parents on many occasions, and he had said much the same at times. But there was always that bit of hesitation, wasn't there? They couldn't speak for themselves anymore. All she had left were other people's memories relayed through faded stories.

Grandpa had always dispelled her worries. But he wasn't here either, and there was so much to worry about. What the dead would think about her peril and mistakes was hardly relevant to her situation, and shouldn't have even made a ripple in the flooding river of her life, now. And yet...

She was starting to understand why she had called Echo 'Grandma', now. Even if Astra herself didn't think it was important, both she and her Grandpa would try to help regardless. It was...nice, to have someone looking after her again.

"Thank you," Astra said, reaching up brushing a finger over her hair clip. A relic of her mother's, as red as her horns. Still hadn't gotten a grip for her fathers spearhead-turned-knife, though; really had to get on that. Hadn't needed to use it much yet either, but whenever she held it, felt the dense weight of it in her palm...she knew it would never fail her.

Astra sighed. "We've gotten a bit off track, haven't we?" she asked, wryly.

[Some things worth distraction,] Echo replied, whiskers twitching in amusement. [But yes.]

"So what did you mean by how the cave works? What does everything living here have to do with it?"

[Hm. Deals with food,] Echo explained. Astra 'ah'd. Always came back to food, didn't it? [Need food to live, food to be strong, make younglings. Was...order. Tiny things eat moss, Zubat eat tiny things, Geodude, Nosepass, Aron and Lairon eat Zubat.]

"Even though Zubats are poisonous?" Astra checked.

Echo nodded. [Geodude, Nosepass, can eat Zubat fine, little upset. Aron immune, can eat all want! Geodude also eat Aron. Then, Makuhita and Hariyama fight, eat Aron and Lairon, sometimes Geodude, Nosepass. Would eat Mawile, but we shelter them. Mawile eat Aron, {Blank Ones}, Geodude. Maybe also Nosepass, but Nosepass rare. Weak Lairon or Makuhita. {Blank Ones} try eat Abra, otherwise...unknown. Never saw. We,] she said, gesturing to herself, [eat Makuhita, Hariyama. Sometimes, if Mawile doesn't devour, {Blank One} or soft Aron parts.]

"I think I'm following you so far?" Astra said, trying to chart everything out mentally. She frowned. "So everything leads back to Zubat? But you didn't say you ate them. Even though you are."

[Not supposed to,] Echo said, tiredly. [Were more sources. Have mushrooms, but only one place, only us. Used to be ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓—tch. Plants, in places. Grew pale shoots; eaten by many. Couldn't move, couldn't make more.] She paused, frowning. [That later. More important: Aron, Nosepass, if normal, not eat much Zubat. Instead, eat metal, like Mawile. Mawile eats metal from Aron, though.]

"Metal?"

Echo nodded. [Yes. Was...partnership between Lairon and Nosepass. Nosepass point to metal within rock, Lairon make new tunnels to uncover metal. All eat, all happy! Make many eggs, carve more territory, expand cave.]

Echo fell silent. It took Astra a moment to spot the issue.

"The Lairon would make the tunnels," she noted. "And Lairon are...Aron's evolution? Are Hariyama the evolution of Makuhita as well?"

Echo nodded. Astra frowned. "Did something happen to the Lairon?" she asked, receiving another nod.

[Began there,] Echo said, staring ahead. [Start when newly Ascended, lasted....▒░▒▓▒░? How you define time?] she asked, nodding along as Astra—somewhat incredulously—defined both seasons and Human timekeeping. Was this how May felt when she asked her 'basic' questions?

Echo thought for a moment. [Ah. Lasted...unknown. Ended...40 years past, maybe. Return to topic: normal was, Lairon make new tunnels, new hatchlings. Hariyama clans—just name for groups, not like us—follow into new tunnels. Hariyama, Makuhita, love fight. Lairon and Aron great practice, also food. Push Lairon out of old tunnels, make new hatchlings themselves. Kadabra scout Hariyama, pick off old and weak. We only take more space sometimes; not grow enough to need, mostly. Zubat, Geodude, Mawile, {Blank Ones}, Nosepass; all fill in space between. Lots of ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓ around. The plant,] she clarified.

[Then, Invaders come down.]

"Humans?" Astra asked, surprised. "Weren't they up on the surface all this time? What changed?"

[Discovered how to capture in balls,] Echo spat, scowling. [Before, was only rare entry. Usually fought back by Hariyama or Lairon. Sometimes opposite happens, someone leaves cave. Usually Makuhita. Nothing else. Then, suddenly, had many more strange and dangerous beasts with them than past. Flood of invaders. Beat back Hariyama, Lairon, delve into cave. Capture any who crossed path.] She paused, smirking. [But never found any creche. First rush faded, and was new normal. Sometimes stray Invader wandering around, fighting all in path.]

"That...doesn't sound too bad?" Astra said, hesitantly. Echo shook her head.

[Was only start.] She paused, hesitating. [Should mention, only put knowledge together later. In moment, ignorant, confused. Did not know about...pokeballs for long time, only felt Invaders from afar. Always keep distance. Not know other things too.]

"Alright?" Astra agreed, slightly confused. Echo sighed.

[Made mistakes. Obvious now. Then...not.]

Ah, hindsight. "Gotcha. What happened next?"

[During and after rush, Hariyama and Makuhita learn: Invaders make for excellent fight. Many start leaving cave, seeing challenge. Few return. Problem: if Hariyama and Makuhita leave cave, now is less food.]

That seemed to make sense. "Because they weren't being hunted by anything in the cave, everything they ate and all the meat in their bodies was being lost to whatever was outside."

Echo nodded. [Lack of return, think meant to Hariyama that there was good fight above. Many choose leaving over contest caves and fall to us or others. Was not big problem, then; all knew was odd movements and fewer targets. Only became concerned during second problem.]

"What was the second problem?" Astra asked, obligingly.

Echo leaned in, a dark look on her face. [Many Nosepass started pointing up.]

Astra stared. "Which means...?" she asked, leadingly.

Echo's whiskers twitched, and she gave Astra a flat look. [Lairon used Nosepass to find metal. Dig for metal, more food, more cave, more Aron, so on. Usually point down, often sideways. Not supposed to point up; metal all gone from top of caves.]

Astra frowned, brow furrowing as she considered the issue. "But if there's no metal at the top of the cave, then what were they pointing...to..."

"Hey", Astra had said, staring up at Rustboro's buildings. "What are all of these made of, anyway?"

May had rolled her eyes. "I really shouldn't even be surprised, and yet here I am," she'd muttered, then waved vacantly at the towers ahead. "I think it's... concrete, glass, steel, and plaster?"

Steel.

Humanity had made their buildings out of steel.

"Dewford," She breathed, eyes wide. "Humans started to use steel in their buildings. They were pointing to the city."

[Hm. Dewford?] Echo asked, tasting the word and finding it rather unpalatable. [If Invader colony, then yes. Iron good for Lairon, Nosepass. Eat well, grow big, should be enough. But Invader metal—Steel?—is strong. Better than best iron ever, like feast when starving. When pull of steel stronger than closeness of iron, Nosepass do as always have and point Lairon toward best food source. But now new source is outside.]

"So the Lairon started to leave the cave too." Astra followed. Echo nodded, face grim.

[And Hariyama clans notice. Good fights, and now food going too? Even more think surface place of dreams.] Echo waved her hand around, as if to encompass all of the caves in their entirety. [Now all big creatures starting to leave cave! Not even polite to go fast so notice; did not see scale of problem in time. Some return within day, but very damaged. Sometimes Invader tries releasing back inside cave; not work well, sometimes just leave again. Dissuades some Lairon, but only make Hariyama excited! Proof of worthy challenge!]

"So there was a gradually rising wave of strong pokemon leaving the cave to go...pick fights with Dewford." Astra blinked, eyes widening as the conclusion dawned on her. "Oh stars, they were all picking fights and trying to eat buildings up there."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[And Invaders got angry,] Echo growled. [Entered more often, bigger groups, stronger creatures, hunting down strays. Tried blocking exit, but only made Hariyama leave in packs after group breakthrough. Lairon sometimes try dig new exit, come up underneath steel. Always big collapse, scary rumbling and dust flood.]

Astra could only stare. They'd trampled through barricades and sank entire buildings into the earth?

"That's...horrifying," she managed.

[Bad times,] Echo agreed. [Home only just starting to learn why, try prevent Hariyama and Lairon from leaving ourselves when Invaders patience vanished.]

This was the moment. Humanity had finally had enough and would bring down all they could upon the cave. Astra recalled the Town Hall, thought of rockets screeching overhead and decimating great swathes of land. And...she was afraid to know what happened next.

They walked through the tunnels in silence for a minute, following a twisting path through numerous corridors and intersections that Astra had barely paid attention to through the story. She looked at the walls, azure moss pulsing amongst sporadic, vague carvings on their surface.

"What did they do?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

[They took them,] Echo answered, words dropping like sodden logs. [Invaded cave with more than could fit in any creche. Searched every tunnel, delved to deepest depths. Fought and conquered every Hariyama clan, every Lairon clutch. Hid ourselves; collapsed many paths, used illusions and misdirection on many more. Never found major creches, but lost edges of territory.] She paused, closing her eyes. [Some younglings out wandering early on. Did not come back.]

She sighed, her voice weary. [Spent long time working to keep Invaders away. Duration...unknown. Weeks? Did not know purpose at time. After Invaders search every corner of cave they think is there and leave, we look out and find...no more Lairon. No more Hariyama. All gone; even strong Aron and Makuhita missing. Only younglings and weak remain.]

[We were all alone.]

Astra walked silently, the world seeming to fall away as Echo spoke. They'd...taken them all? No, of course they had. It was what trainers did. Go out, find strong pokemon, then fight and capture them. Dewford was facing problems, sure—massive ones, even—but to just completely take out most of the species!? There had to have been something else they could do! Or was this the best option they could think of? If barricades didn't work, and the Lairon were digging up from beneath them...maybe that was all they had left. The only thing that could be done to solve an unsolvable problem.

She wondered, quietly, how big of a problem they would consider her home.

[Arrived,] Echo announced, jarring Astra from her thoughts.

She looked up to see the tunnel abruptly terminate in a completely flat wall of stone. A couple tables and benches lined the walls, covered in strange implements—some of which Astra could vaguely recognize as tools similar to the ones the berry field tenders used. She could certainly recognize a large bucket covered in foul stains; much like her villages 'compost' situation, wherever the Abra did their business, it seemed to end up here at some point. There was a whiff of it in the air, like she had gotten too close to the fields during the growing seasons. Otherwise there was a lot of...wood shavings? And nearer to the wall was a large green pack alongside a smaller wooden case with a very familiar hat perched on top.

"My stuff!" Astra exclaimed, rushing forward. Briefly setting her hat aside, she flipped her pack open, relief flooding through her body as five shiny red spheres showed themselves, perched atop the varied jars and items as if waiting for her return. Hesitating, she reached deeper into her pack, hand brushing against a particular box. It didn't seem disturbed, but...well, if it had, she imagined that Echo would probably either have a great many different questions or Dewford would have a gargantuan sandy crater where the Granite Caves once were.

Returning her companions to her sash, she quickly checked her pokedex, sighing in relief as it showed them alive and—well, half of them were still grievously injured from her fight with Brawly, but they weren't getting any worse. They were probably getting hungry and bored by now too. She didn't exactly know how the 'stasis' worked but it was a little mystifying how it prevented injuries from deteriorating but didn't do anything for hunger or restlessness.

There were also a lot of messages and missed calls from May and Brendan, all of them asking where she was, if she was hurt, please pick up, and...she didn't think threatening her with death if she turned out to be dead really worked out logically, but she couldn't blame May for being frustrated. Though the rather...graphic threats against Echo were rather concerning. They'd petered out a bit as time went on, mostly reduced to pleading for her to answer every twenty minutes or so. Apparently she'd just missed a call as well.

...

She didn't have a good explanation prepared, but leaving them wondering if she was dead was too much. She could practically feel the helpless anguish they'd poured into their messages. She couldn't actually talk to them right now, but a text would be fine until they were all back in Dewford together.

Stars damn these tiny-ass human-sized inputs. Frowning at the small device, Astra carefully rewrote her message, making liberal use of the backspace function.

Astra:

Barely a moment passed before a flurry of new messages appeared on her screen.

May:

Brendan:

May:

Her pokedex suddenly vibrated; a weird, chippy tune coming from its speakers. Astra barely had time to read the screen—which showed an incoming call from 'Mayday02'—before it abruptly cut off again. A few moments later Brendan sent another text.

Brendan:

May:

Astra huffed, smiling. One last message; a selection from a list of peculiar arrangements of grammatical marks she had found while mashing buttons on accident one day.

Astra: < (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) >

May:

[Found missing things?] Echo asked, head tilted to the side as she beheld Astra giggling to herself. Astra gave her pack another once-over and checked inside her violin case. [What is sound?]

"Yep!" she cheered, closing her bag and slinging her arms through the hoops. "It's all here. I was just texting—ah, sending a message to my friends, letting them know I'm alive and all."

Echo didn't respond. Astra placed her hat back on her head and turned, only to find Echo giving her an intense stare. Goosebumps raised the fuzz on her skin to attention, and Astra found herself pinned underneath the elderly Kadabra's scrutiny, unsure as to why she was suddenly being visually dissected like a caught fish. The silence lingered for a few seconds too long, and Astra was minorly unnerved to realize that she'd gotten so used to humanity's incessant emotional broadcasting that Echo's lack of emotional tells was now disconcerting instead of normal. Astra fidgeted, gaze darting around the room before landing on the closed entryway on the smooth rock wall.

"So!" she said, rubbing her arm awkwardly, "You...keep mushrooms in there?"

Echo's gaze lingered another moment. [Mm,] she said, finally breaking her stare to look at the door. [Yes. River runs through room. Not control many with river inside; most used for drinking by Makuhita, Aron, others. Very wet inside; combine with waste and sometimes wood, good for mushrooms.] She grimaced. [Can maybe get few every week. Little help; not enough to feed all, just make stew less bad.]

"I see." Astra thought for a moment, then frowned, face scrunching up. "Wait, if you put all your waste in there, and the river runs through it, doesn't that mean...?"

Echo huffed, wry amusement wafting through the air. [Trick of cave; all but one other room upstream of here. Don't put anything in river either. Want look inside?] she asked, smirking mischievously.

Astra shook her head rapidly. The stench was rancid enough from out here, thank you very much!

"No thanks, I'll take your word for it. But, uh. Is it just the mushrooms in there? Wouldn't berries...well," she said, scratching her head, "I guess you still need sunlight for berry bushes."

Echo agreed, nodding sadly. [Is mostly shit-taker,] she said. [Berries cannot grow here. Could not figure out how grow plants before too late. Do have other, special mushroom,] she added, gazing at the door speculatively. [Is unique, grows slowly. Alters thoughts, perspective. Use it for...before, fun, inspiration. Now only good for relief. Maybe too good.] Regret and shame passed like a cloud. She grimaced, then shook her head and gave Astra a stern look. [Not for Younglings.]

"I'm not a...oh whatever." Astra grumbled. That sounded pretty interesting if she was honest, but she had enough to deal with right now without adding even more mysterious visions on top of the ones she was already having! And...too good? That sounded...ominous, but honestly Astra was getting a little tired of pulling on every depressing conversational thread.

"What's up with this 'plant' anyway'?" she asked instead. "You mentioned it before. Some sort of white stalk thing?"

[Yes.] Echo nodded, then gestured for Astra to follow as she turned back down the tunnel they'd come from. [Was small plant, embedded in moss along ground. Thick, spiky leaves at base, long white shoot grew from middle. Grew fast, could eat handful of same plant every two or three sleeps.]

"Wow. Were they tasty?" Astra asked, falling in line once more.

[Hm. Taste like plant,] Echo hazarded, one claw gently brushing through her whiskers. [But maybe sweet. Throw in stew, sweet stew. Got more sweet if not picked for long time, but is very long time. Could get many decent stalks instead.]

"Sounds interesting. I'd like to give it a try, but...I haven't seen one, and we've gone through a lot of these tunnels." Astra looked at the walls, examining the moss that sometimes reached the floor. "And...you said 'was'. They aren't around anymore, are they?" she sighed.

[No.]

Silence lingered. Echo looked at Astra.

[Want know interesting thing about plant?]

"...What?" She ventured, already bracing herself for the answer.

[Can also eat leaves at base.]

...

That...wasn't too bad? But how was that so interesting?

"Okay?"

[Leaves at base do not grow back. Too many leaves eaten, plant dies.]

Ah. Astra could see the problem now.

[Used to be, young Makuhita watch parents for how to eat. Hariyama, Lairon, both knew should only eat new parts of shoots. Children copy. Plant remains, shoots feed all forever.]

"And then the humans took all the parents away." Astra whispered grimly.

Echo nodded. [Only younglings remain. Maybe some knew, but now most did not. Without parent to teach or feed, Makuhita and Aron got hungry. Ate entire stalks. Ate leaves. Plant dies. Suddenly, no more easy food. Spread out, find more plants, eat shoot, leaves, destroy plant in ignorance. Then, suddenly, no more plants. Most common food in cave is gone. Hunger.]

"An entire food source was destroyed by hatchlings?" Astra asked, horrified. She couldn't even imagine the berry fields up and vanishing like that back home. Maybe if the river suddenly ran dry? Dozens of Magikarp swam through nigh constantly; not having that anymore would be a nightmare.

[Mm. Happened quick, couldn't stop. All plants devoured before could regain bearings." Echo said, voice bitter. "Didn't notice until Makuhita come looking. We had last few. Tried make more, restore balance. Only destroyed remainder. Regret. If had only kept one...]

"Maybe there's one hidden away somewhere?" Astra tried, weakly. Echo shook her head.

[If was, Aron would have found. Remaining Aron too weak, could not dig well, could not reach new metal. Nosepass also much rarer, could not direct. Aron scour all old tunnels for scraps. Would have devoured plant if found, even if not metal.]

What an absolute catastrophe. "Were the Zubat affected at all?"

A bark of laughter resounded down the tunnel. [Even if Invaders took nine in ten of Zubat, twenty Zubat replace them soon after. There always more Zubat, cannot fail to hunt. If had not made difficult for Zubat to enter territory would have seen hundreds now.]

"And that's why everyone started eating Zubat," Astra concluded. "They're...basically the only food left, and they're everywhere."

[Still hunt each other,] Echo sighed, [but prey always have eaten Zubat. Poison soaks into all meat; some cannot suffer, but still pass on to hunters. None grow to replace lost strength. All are stunted. Even if Lairon or Hariyama appear, always depart for surface or found by Invader.]

She looked at Astra tiredly. [Is end of story. How cave became what you see now. Weak creatures eating and producing foul meat. Nothing else.]

"Stars, that's...I don't know what to say." Astra stared downward, fiddling with her hands while her sightless gaze watched the floor pass by. "It's not right. Homes are supposed to be safe, and full of nice food and laughter. This...I wish it hadn't happened," she settled on, lifting her head to meet Echo's eyes. "Everything you've gone through. It shouldn't have been like this. You deserve a happier past, and a better present."

[Thank you,] Echo said, a ghost of a smile on her face. [Past will never change. Present is barren. Thought future would be more of same, until was not.] She nodded at Astra. [Glad am wrong.]

She fell silent, and they walked together for a time. Echo led Astra down the tunnels, all of them varying only in size and the density of carved art on the walls. The moss was still beautiful, but it was starting to wear on Astra after having nothing but blue to look at for so long.

There was one thing left to ask, but this of all things Astra was hesitant to bring up. Echo had explained how the cave had gotten to this point, but...well, they had come this far. She had to see it through to the end.

"You've told me a lot about what happened to everyone else in the cave," Astra began, wincing with every word. "But you and the other Kadabra...what did you all do after the humans captured all of the Lairon and Hariyama?"

Echo stopped, gazing sightlessly into the dark azure haze ahead. Astra waited patiently, and after a moment, Echo turned around, heading toward a branching path they had just passed.

[Am tired of walking, time for rest] she sighed, slumping. [This way. Have not visited steam room in long time. Still broken, but not uncomfortable.]

Steam room? What was...well, she supposed she'd find out when they got there. But more than that, Astra herself had started to get a bit tired as well. She would be grateful for a reprieve, but now she was questioning why they'd been traveling like this in the first place.

"I've actually been wondering about that too. Why have we been walking and not teleporting?"

[Hm. Is good to move. Places between places are peaceful. No reminders. Time to talk.]

Fair enough, Astra supposed.

The 'steam room' turned out to be a dozen depressed basins circling around what looked to be an elevated channel leading up to a hole in the wall. Each basin also had a channel that converged on one of two holes in the floor. Moss entirely coated the ceiling and walls aside from a square patch with some sort of lever on it near the hole in the wall.

"What is this place?" Astra asked, peering into a basin. It was, like everything else in the cave, carved out of stone. However, these were smoothed to a mirror-sheen. It was shaped such that a Kadabra could comfortably keep their head above the rim while either sitting or fully laying down. Unfortunately that meant it was a little too cramped for Astra to lay down, as she outsized Echo by about nine inches. Sitting should still be fine, though.

[Place of relaxation,] Echo explained, walking over to the lever. [Old Kadabra carved rock cleverly, made way to divert water from river to here.] She pointed to the channels, and Astra could see several empty cavities on the bottom of them. [Had fire rocks there; water ran over, got hot. Made steam. Hot water gathered in pools. Laid in pools. Felt good.]

She flicked a glowing hand and the barren stone patch the lever was on slid out, revealing a confusing mass of stone contraptions behind it. One large gear-ish thing was notably cracked and had pieces missing, as was the internal channel leading to the hole in the wall.

[Way to allow water through broke long time ago.] Echo explained, pointing to a now-plugged hole in the wall where the channel originated. A very small drip of water drizzled down from it and trickled into the moss outside. [If open now, just flood room and drain away. Tried fix, but...not carver. Cannot learn; no time, no teacher, no point.]

"It still looks impressive," Astra tried, peering at the mechanisms. None were anything near as advanced as what humanity had achieved, but by the same merit she didn't think her village had anything like this either, and she said as much. "We don't have anything like this back home. I never had a bath in hot water until two weeks ago in a human building; they were warm at best during the summer."

[Hm. Had one thing better, then,] Echo said, faintly pleased by the admission. She set the lever back in the wall with a sigh. [Still, broken. Would enjoy steam bath. Cannot. Put fire stone in water, just boil. Pulling in, out, too much attention. Pool cannot hold water—otherwise grows rot—so must also refill manually without channel. Can still sit, though.]

Astra stepped into one of the basins and sat on the stone ledge. It was surprisingly alright; still stone, mind, but clearly made to be sat in. It would probably be better if she was chest-deep in warm water, she supposed. Echo sighed beside her as she reclined in the adjacent pool. She laid her head back and stared at the ceiling, quietly gathering her thoughts. Astra joined her, watching the light flicker across the moss above.

[Ignorant,] Echo said at last, weariness etched deep into the word. [All were ignorant. Did not realize food was scarce for weeks; thought was just remnant chaos of Invaders. Then suddenly all plants gone. Makuhita scrawny, unfilling. Understood only when could not feed all younglings properly. Sent out Kadabra to look, visit all important Hariyama caverns. Only find miserable vestige of old clans. No plants. Understood then: if tried to continue as before, Makuhita vanish too.]

"What did you do?" Astra asked. "I can't imagine you talked to them; I'd have heard about them knowing about your colony by now if you had."

[Think some tried, but not work. Invaders never understand, only seem to receive great head pain. Unpleasant.] Echo grimaced.

Huh. Head pain? Why would they...oh, maybe it was Echo's way of speaking? Having so much psychic power woven through every word probably wasn't great for humans; that Pokemart Cashier and the Aqua Grunt that Astra had Pinged were proof enough. Why did she talk like that anyway? If the Ancestor taught the colony how to speak human like she had the village, their speech should have been the same.

"Maybe it's how you talk?" Astra suggested. "I've never encountered anything remotely similar. There's a lot of psychic...stuff interspersed in everything you say, and sometimes it seems like there aren't any words at all—not to mention what I think are names? They come across as a bundle of concepts and metaphors."

[Wait, not understand short-talk?] Echo asked, looking at Astra in disbelief. [Knew talk like Invader so try not use pure speech, but thought you just long-winded.]

"Long-winded!?" Astra exclaimed. "I am not—you know what, nevermind." she huffed, folding her arms. "I'm just saying, humans aren't Psychic. At all. And they don't seem to agree with large amounts of it being mentally thrust on them at once. They probably got a headache because you've been bundling every word you say with enough Psychic energy to overload them."

[Hm. Maybe. But if not understand short-talk...] Echo muttered to herself. She grimaced. [Not sure if can recall how speak long. Must sound like fool.]

Maybe a little bit, but Astra wasn't about to say that. Echo was certainly missing a lot of words, but it wasn't incomprehensible.

"I can understand enough; don't worry about it." Astra said, patting Echo on the pauldron. "Let's just get back to the topic, yeah? What was your colony going to do about the humans?"

[Can still try remember long-speech. Not want sound reduced,] Echo huffed. [Humans...Kadabra had many talks. Many plans. Was...difficult time. Panic. Misery. Anger. Cannot describe well.]

"You can just go over the bare events, if you want," Astra offered. "I...don't want you to feel like you need to linger on the bad parts."

[All bad,] Echo murmured, not ungratefully, [but will try. Other Kadabra made plans. My duty was same: look after younglings. Never took part in any plans; was others' duty. First plan simple: Kadabra teleport above, take food from—Dewford? Invader home.]

"You stole food from the city!?" Astra asked, jerking upright to stare wide-eyed at Echo.

[Took many food from city,] Echo confirmed, smirking. [Many new foods! Soft things, hard things, sweet, sour. Many times return with enough to fill small cavern! Some food very easy; were days when did nothing but teleport {Bread}.]

Astra blinked, surprised by the sudden mental deluge of the concept of bread. It was like all of her senses had been briefly transported to...something akin to a pokemart if it had been entirely filled with incredibly varied types of the baked good. The distorted memory of the smell of so much fresh bread in one place had been incredible; she'd have to see if there was someplace like that in Dewford later.

[Other times return with odd meats and plants. Sometimes strange things in boxes. {💧︎♒︎♓︎❍︎❍︎♏︎❒︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ❄︎♋︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎} had best days of life, made many weird meals. Some very good, some very not. Sometimes expel. {💧︎♒︎♓︎❍︎❍︎♏︎❒︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ❄︎♋︎⬧︎⧫︎♏︎} much shame. But still easy food! Fed all younglings many times! If had continued, would have allowed many more ascensions than usual. Was... was good time.]

Astra nodded, already bracing for the inevitable. "It sounds lovely."

Echo smiled, lost in the memory. Then she closed her eyes, and drooped. [Then Invaders started guarding food. Creatures like {Blank Ones} went after those who took. Others give chase through walls and rock. Buzzing things descend from above. Got harder. Then...not come back.]

She'd been expecting it, but it was still a shock to hear. "I'm sorry. Do you know if they were captured, or..."

[Would never submit. If not come back...] She went quiet for a moment. [Would not have submitted. Will never know last secret. Sorrow.]

Astra reached across and gently rested her hand on Echo's shoulder. Echo leaned into it, a pulse of gratitude filling the air.

[Had only seven hands of Kadabra then,] she continued, Astra translating that as twenty-one. [Lost five gathering Invader food before could not risk more. Loss of new food...bad. Too good, now gone. Friends gone, much worse. Bitter, anger, grief.]

[Had other plans too. Some thought: Invaders raise creatures, maybe can try ourselves? If Aron grow strong, can replace Lairon. Found Nosepass, found Aron. Aron cannot dig; {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} and others dig instead, find metal. {💧︎♒︎♋︎❒︎♏︎♎︎ ☟︎♏︎♋︎❒︎⧫︎} led Aron taming.]

"You tried to copy pokemon trainers?" Astra asked, surprised. She knew some of the villagers had kept the odd Taillow or such around as a pet, but as far as she knew nobody had ever tried to train them until Astra had become a trainer herself.

[Poorly,] Echo sighed. [Digging...{👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} find Nosepass, convince to direct. Four Kadabra go mine, tear rock from walls. Find some metal. Not enough, had to dig more, dig deeper. Oversight: {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} only ever take rock from Lairon tunnels before. Few chunks at same time. Never take so much, make own tunnel. Lairon made tunnels, knew how to make safe, could repair missing rock. {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎}, other three, did not.]

[One day, go mine. Distant rumble. Then...tunnel gone. Friends gone.]

[Aron...not go well,] she continued, claws clacking a drumming rhythm on the stone floor. [Invader methods unknown; {💧︎♒︎♋︎❒︎♏︎♎︎ ☟︎♏︎♋︎❒︎⧫︎} did best. Ignorant. Talking caused Aron pain. Not much metal to feed. Once tunnel collapse, none at all. Aron get hungry. Angry. Lash out. Aron very heavy. Very small. If can run, build speed, slam into chest...shatter everything. Can also call rock spike from wall.]

[Had begun eating Zubat then. No tolerance; all sick, disoriented. Slow. {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎} and two others attacked by Aron. Aron fled into tunnels. Friends...]

Echo sniffed. [Got to say goodbye.]

Astra didn't have anything she could say. She kept silent, gently rubbing Echo's shoulder while sorrow and comfort filled the air.

[Had never lost so many before,] Echo continued, breath shuddering. [Only nine left. Tasks becoming harder. No more repairs, no more new things. Hunger and bad food. Laughter rare. Younglings not properly stimulated. Despair. {🕆︎■︎⧫︎□︎●︎♎︎ ✋︎■︎⧫︎❒︎♓︎♑︎◆︎♏︎} had new idea: could not take food from above, could not raise Aron ourselves, but new Lairon and Hariyama sometimes evolve anyway. But all go to surface or captured by Invaders. If forced Invaders back above and kept creatures inside cave, maybe cave become normal again.]

[Started watching entrance. Teleport Invaders near exit when get too far. Teleport others back down when move too far up. Worked for some time.] She sighed. [Then Invaders find way to stop teleport. Way to hide like [Blank Ones]. Discovered when {🕆︎■︎⧫︎□︎●︎♎︎ ✋︎■︎⧫︎❒︎♓︎♑︎◆︎♏︎} trapped; sent warning, then...gone. Plan worthless, abandoned. Invaders everywhere again. Hidden Invaders hunt down Kadabra gathering food in caves. Three more lost.]

There was a certain kind of numbness creeping into Astra's mind, horror settling into grim exhaustion. It surprised her that there was a limit to how often she could be shocked or saddened at once. It was all still terrible, of course, but the whole of Echo's history had simply ground down her ability to actively feel bad about it. And yet...had she cried, at all? How strange. She was sure some part of this must have made her shed a tear, but she couldn't recall.

"Five left," Astra said, hollowly. "And then?"

[Despair. Grief. Then, finally...rage.] Echo sat up suddenly, leaning forward to bury her head in her claws. [Only one hunter left. {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎} full of fury. Invaders refuse our existence. Friends gone. Younglings sickly. Future lost. Could not repair caves. But could repay Invaders for all harm done.]

A line of text from Brendan's message suddenly flared in Astra's memory.

Brendan:

Oh.

Oh no.

"You didn't," she whispered, eyes wide.

[Not me.] Echo sighed. [Bad fighter. {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}, other two, never hunt, could not battle. {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎} could. All angry. All tired. Needed something; could not just sit. So, gave {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎} our ▒░▒▓▒░—gave our spoons. Then—]

"Uh, wait." Astra interrupted, leaning up to look at Echo in complete bafflement. "What? Spoons? You were planning on attacking humans and you gave your hunter...spoons?"

Echo squinted at her, looking just as confused as Astra. [Yes?] she ventured. [Was best tool available.]

"I—couldn't you use a spear, at least?" Astra asked incredulously. "Stars, even throwing rocks would be better than a spoon. I mean, even if it was a big metal ladle I don't think—It's not exactly something you usually use for, um, battle, right?"

[How would even lift rocks without spoon!?] Echo countered, rising from the basin. She looked down at Astra, perplexed. [Could not jab spear hard enough without lift with spoon! Did everything with spoon; only learned do without after long time! Very hard!]

"What do you mean you lifted rocks with a spoon!?" she exclaimed, standing up to match. "How would you—sorry, it's just...were they the size of a branch or...? Why would you even try to put a spear on the end of a spoon—were you flinging them or something? I don't even understand how you'd hold it up without the spoon breaking from the weight!"

[?????] Echo broadcasted, looking more lost by the second. [What mean put rock on spoon!? Would damage! How you not know—wait,] she stopped, blinking at Astra. [Not have spoon? Missing? Never? Different?]

They stared at each other. Astra slowly dipped her head into her hands, letting out a pained whine as she completely failed to process anything at all.

"Clearly," she bit out, rubbing at her forehead, "there's been some sort of misunderstanding, here." Astra looked up at Echo, measuring her words carefully. "What, exactly, do you mean by spoon?"

[Is spoon,] Echo explained, slowly and rather unhelpfully. [When Abra ascend to Kadabra, light of change grants spoon. Helps manage thoughts, power, control.] She frowned, peering at Astra curiously. [How you control power?]

"I...channel my Psychic power with my horns." Astra said, taking her hat off. Her gaze flicked upwards, raising a hand to prod at the duo of smooth, half-oval horns atop her skull. "Your equivalent was...spoons. Spoons that you got through evolving."

She felt absolutely ludicrous just contemplating having a spoon as a psychic focus, but Echo refused to acknowledge a sensible world and just nodded in agreement. [Yes. Abra not have spoons, can barely use power. Teleport exception; very easy always.]

"They can't do anything else?" Astra asked, surprised. "Even after a season or two? Hatchlings can usually use telekinesis and petty psychic blasts pretty quickly—though they do it to each other more often than not," she grumbled, recalling getting more than one retaliatory pelting for...some asinine reason or another.

[Nothing.] Echo confirmed, peering at Astra intently. [Hatchlings cannot fight, only run. Your younglings can? Envy.]

"I can't blame you on that one, it sounds like a nightmare." she said, shuddering. "Even if they're all better than me at teleportation, they wouldn't be able to hunt anything without, like, dropping a rock on them or something. Nevermind if they get caught off-guard by those Dark-type pokemon you mentioned. Who they couldn't sense. And if they're anything like the hatchlings at my village and like to wander off..."

Much like Astra herself, such as when she'd snuck out into a human city and was nearly hunted down by a trio of Poochena in the night on the way back home.

[Have hard time watching,] Echo confirmed. [Even when is now, younglings curious.]

"What do you even do about something like that?" Astra sighed. "Not being able to stand your ground...hm." she paused as a thought came to mind. "Actually, I wonder if there's any TM that an Abra can use."

[TM?]

"They're these disc things humans made to teach Pokemon new techniques. It might let an Abra do something they usually couldn't—wait, no," Astra sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "They'd have to be in a pokeball first, nevermind."

Echo stared at her, suspicion deepening her frown. [I see..hm. As was saying, spoon loss very bad. Is like..maybe this similar?] She raised her hand, pointing at Astra's head. [What happen if horn break?]

Astra flinched, jamming her hat back on as if to shield her own horns. "That...it's horrible." she said, feeling squeamish at the very thought. "I've heard that it feels like your mind and soul get carved away and the edges set on fire. Using any sort of psychic abilities makes it worse, even talking. I've never seen it myself; our horns are really tough! But...I don't think anyone who breaks their horn lasts for too long afterward." She paused, grimacing. "I...the Ancestor. Her horn was broken before she founded the village. If she was coming here early on as well..."

[Agony.] Echo mused grimly. [Same with spoon. Not attached, but if not have for long time, world...diminishes. Thoughts smaller. Much weaker, bad control. No pain, but if cannot adapt...mind spirals away.]

Astra could hazard a guess to what happened to at least one of the remaining Kadabra. "But you gave them to your hunter anyway. And the hunter you gave your spoons to..."

[Much, much stronger. {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎} took our spoons, held five. Then...] she stopped, searching for words. She sighed. [Invaders die many times. Then strong Invader come, hunt down {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎}. Many tunnels, caves, all collapse. Strong Invader leaves. {💣︎♋︎❒︎❒︎□︎⬥︎ 💧︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎}, gone. Spoons...destroyed. Invaders swarm tunnels again. Only four Kadabra, much weaker. Collapsed many tunnels, but could only save major Creches. Lost much.]

Echo looked past Astra, eyes focused somewhere else. [I and other still young, could overcome loss of spoon. Two old Kadabra not adapt. Defending without spoon make worse. One, big head pain, then gone. Other...became shell. Stopped eating. Gone.]

[Then was just me and {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}.]

Astra recognized that pattern. It was the name of the storyteller Echo had mentioned at the start of her tale, the one that knew all of their myths and retold them to the Abra. It almost made sense, oddly. The last two remaining were the one who took care of the hatchlings, and one who could teach them.

Except...

"And then?" Astra asked, quietly.

Echo didn't answer. She looked around the steam room, face and thoughts blank. She blinked, turning to look at an otherwise unremarkable patch of moss on the wall.

[Stirring creche is now waking,] she said, ignoring Astra's question. [Should feed, not make wait. Come,] Echo held out a hand, the other already spinning up a teleportation pattern. [Must give stew.]

Astra looked at her for a moment. Must they? Or did Echo simply want to delay recalling that last, painful loss? In either case...

"Yeah," she said, taking her hand. Astra wouldn't begrudge her one final break. "Okay."

The world twisted and they were back inside the Aggron. Astra winced, rubbing at her eyes as they readjusted to the heavy orange lighting. She saw the Mawile from earlier lounging in one of the alcoves, idly messing with some old trinket. She looked up as they zapped in, giving Echo a cheerful wave—which she returned with a smiling nod—and Astra a sour look. The stew looked the same as it had been, if maybe a bit murkier, and Echo soon enveloped both it and a good deal of the stacked stone bowls in her psychic aura.

[Am behind on cleaning bowls.] Echo sighed, looking at the remaining stack. [At least know where many Zubat fell, easy scavenge, more time.]

Right, that swarm May and Brendan had defeated. Astra looked back at the Zubat-free cauldron, thankful that she hadn't had to eat any poisonous meat and that this next creche wouldn't have to either. The one after, though...her stomach lurched just imagining it.

Or maybe that was just Echo pulling her into another teleport. "I'm gonna be honest, I'm getting tired of all the blue," Astra complained, blinking away the spots in her eyes. This new Creche was much like the first one, filled with puzzle tables, slabs, scattered toys, and sleeping alcoves on the walls. She could sense about another fifty Abra, most of which were beginning to scatter about the main floor.

[If have different light for whole caves, would like to see,] Echo remarked, setting the cauldron down in the middle of yet another dias. [Would like different moss, but is none.]

"I'm sure I can pick up some rainbow moss somewhere," Astra joked. "Maybe I can get Devon to make some. Ah," she scratched her head nervously at Echo's questioning look. "They're a human group who...make new things."

Echo looked at her for a moment longer, then turned away. [Hm. {Blood of my blood}! ▒░▒, ▒░▒▓▒ meal! Special!]

A wave of attention washed through the mass of Abra, and dozens of muted pops rang out as they teleported closer to the steaming cauldron—a dozen or so Astra recognized as that group that had been congregating around the river earlier. Echo separated the bowls and dipped them into the cauldron a half-dozen at a time, dishing them out to individual Abra with practiced ease.

Which left Astra little else to do but watch for a moment. Astra saw her smaller...cousins, she supposed, carefully slurp down their portions, and she was once again disquieted at how happy such a miserly stew had made them. They'd only even had non-poisonous food today because Echo had prepared it especially for her. Tomorrow they'd be back to eating Zubat, and the day after that, for...who knew how long?

If she could just give them a berry bush, or put Magikarp in their river—stars, even hunting down a pack of Poochyena would be better. The bag of Pokemart kibble weighed heavily in her pack, but even if she emptied everything she had it wouldn't be enough to feed fifty Abra adequately. What could she...

A commotion broke out on the upper level, and Astra's gaze was drawn to two Abra who still hadn't descended to eat. They were crowding around an alcove high above, a burgeoning mass of panic and...something dark swirling around them.

"Echo?" Astra called. "There's something going on up there."

Echo looked over as the last portions of the stew dragged itself into the remaining bowls. She set them on the floor and followed Astra's gaze, frowning at the Abra above.

[Will check,] she said, glowing purple. [Moment.]

She vanished, reappearing behind the Abra above. Astra could see her questioning the two, before she took notice of something in the alcove. She leaned in and—

Confusion. Shock. Realization. Resignation. Despair.

Astra's skin prickled as Echo abruptly stilled, a flood of negative emotions pouring from the Kadabra like a river. She spoke briefly to the two Abra at her side. They looked back into the alcove, and did...something Astra couldn't make out, then finally vanished to join the rest of the crowd below. Slowly, Echo reached into the alcove and grabbed something, gently clutching it to her chest.

[Astra,] Echo said, her tone utterly, terrifyingly tired. [Exit creche. Out of sight of Younglings.]

"Echo, what—"

[Please.]

Astra picked a tunnel at random and left the creche.

Once the murmur of Abra's eating their meal faded into silence, Echo reappeared. She turned to Astra, still carrying whatever she'd taken from—

"An Abra?" Astra said, blinking at the small yellow figure in her arms. "What happened up there? Is something..."

Echo stared at her. Astra fell silent, heavy stones weighing down her stomach. Her gaze darted from Echo to the Abra she held, searching for the source of this awful dread. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them at first glance; no injuries or sickness that she could spot, but a curious lack of thoughts. Was this like those dreamless Abra near the river? No, this was different, she could at least sense something from them. Why couldn't she—where was—why weren't they—!?

Oh.

...oh.

Nothing was wrong.

Nothing ever would be, ever again.

They stood there, silently. For quite some time.

From very far away, Astra heard herself break the quiet.

"How?"

[Got old.]

Age. But they were still...they hadn't grown at all. It was almost worse than her initial thought. There was no future cut short, here. This was a future already spent; wholly contained in dismal, stunted adolescence.

"Do...you need help getting the wood?" she asked, distantly. "I'm...not sure where you do it, but..."

A flicker of confusion. [Will not need,] Echo replied, holding out her hand. [Think...do things different.]

"Different...?" Astra whispered. She looked up at Echo through watery eyes, hand grasping onto hers. "But...how will they become a star?"

Echo smiled down at her, sadly. [Stars do not shine here,] she said, glowing purple under the mosslight. [Only last thing to learn.]

The world shimmered.

There was a small amphitheater. There was a river. Water rushed against the far wall, twisting downward and vanishing into darkness. Details blurred in Astra's vision, and they walked down to the center. There was a depression before the river where water pooled. They stepped into the basin, the stream rushing around their knees.

"Where are we?" Astra asked.

[Final secret,] Echo said. She looked down at the Abra, rubbing their head softly. [Where river drains. Lowest point of water. Tunnel goes under, is no air. What lies at end...unknown. Cannot ever know.]

[Pride of Abra is to learn. Learn more, grow more, do more, become more. Learn craft, learn patterns, make new things. Others learn from things, learn better, make yet more new. When learn enough, Ascend, become Kadabra. Always something new. Things, thoughts, theory.]

[But cannot know all. Not know future. Not know how stop Invaders. Not know village. New questions. But oldest question: not know what at end of river. All curious. Want to know answer. Linger, can maybe learn before move on. Last gift before something new.]

"It's not fair," Astra whispered. Below, the river's level raised an imperceptible amount.

[It just is.]

Echo lowered herself, letting the Abra rest on the water's surface. She held it still, looking down with grim solemnity.

[{Nameless One},] she said, her telepathy seeming to resonate around the cave despite its lack of voice. [Bereft of ▒░▒▓▒░▒, of joy of learning, of ▒░▒▓▒. I name you, as many others, {🕆︎■︎♌︎□︎◆︎■︎♎︎}. ▒░▒▓▒░▒ could not give you what was deserved. In this ending, I gift you ▒░▒ {Final Answer}. Find your conclusion, and in concluding, something new hereafter.]

She let go.

[Be free, and discover what lies beyond.]

{🕆︎■︎♌︎□︎◆︎■︎♎︎} drifted away, and vanished into the dark.

Astra's tears followed them for a long while afterwards.

Some time later, they sat together, legs dangling into the river. Occasionally a sniffle broke the silence, and an embrace was tightened.

When even the sniffles fell away into hazy quiet, Echo finally spoke.

[Came here with {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}, afterward. To send off all who could still reach.]

"..." Astra hummed, gazing vacantly at the far wall. Something had been a carved into it, but moss had long overgrown whatever it was.

[Sat as we do now. Mourned friends, family. Then...emptiness. Stayed for long time. Waiting.]

"Waiting...?" Astra murmured.

[Waiting. It was the end. But hadn't ended. Waiting. Until...]

Echo stared at the water.

[Younglings got hungry. Felt their cries from far away. I still had duty. {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}...did not. Had to go feed. Tried to pull with me. Could not. Eventually...had to go.]

[When come back, {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎} was gone. And I was all alone.]

"I'm sorry." Astra said. It felt hollow, the words already ash in her mind.

[Had many thoughts. Panic. Hate. Despair. Fear. Think most of all...envy.]

Astra looked at Echo. The Kadabra smiled at her, tiredly.

[Could not leave younglings alone; could not follow. Could not rebuild; could not live. Just...survive. But cannot forever. None left to send me off. Younglings alone in cave...no more plants, cannot hunt. Eaten or starve. Think maybe give up. Move all younglings above. Maybe Invaders take better care than me. Better some chance than none. Then...follow friends.]

"Don't." Astra eyes wide. "You—you can't."

[Have had different thought today,] Echo continued, pulling herself up from the river's edge. [Maybe was waiting for you.]

Astra stared up at her. "For me?" she repeated, confused.

Echo smiled and offered Astra her hand again, pulling the Kirlia up to stand alongside her. [Yes. Maybe you are solution? Stories of village, knowing how use Invader tools, even friends with Invaders! Is maybe something there. But then am also thinking...not know what you doing.]

"What...I'm doing?" Astra asked, still reeling from the sudden shift between Echo's utter despair and abrupt pinning of the future of her entire conclave on her shoulders.

[Yes. Saw pokeballs, know friends with two Invaders. Wonder...why come to cave? Maybe is actually Invader herself. Want to capture Youngling? Me?]

Echo thought she was going to do what!?

[Maybe is stupid thought,] she admitted, glancing from Astra's horrified face to the river. [But...hm. Maybe Youngling better off with you. Still want to know: why dress like invader? Act? Light trick around face...hiding?]

"First off—and I hate that this isn't a given—I am never going to capture any of you," Astra stressed, grabbing Echo by the pauldrons and looking her directly in the eyes. "You and all of those Abra—you're all the closest thing to family I've seen in weeks. Even—even if you're not in the best shape, you are all still another village besides my own! If we had known about any of this, we would have—I..." Astra faltered for a moment, running blank on a follow up. "We would have done something," she settled on, returning Echo's grateful smile with one of her own. "And we still can.

"The reason I'm out here, dressed like a human and capturing pokemon...look, I know I've talked up my home a lot, but we're in trouble too," Astra admitted, to Echo's shock. "We discovered that humans are cutting into the forests around their city, which will eventually run up to our borders. On top of that, our defensive...barrier...thing that makes them not notice or come near us is failing, and even above that they've started putting things way up in the sky that can look down and see everything on the ground. Our best guess on the barrier alone is that we only had a little under two seasons left before they discover us. After that..."

Astra looked at the river, thinking of barren tunnels bereft of the plants and Pokemon that had kept them whole (would the same be seen with her river, fields, and forest?); doomed attempts to turn back the clock (was preempting the future any better if their endings were the same?); diminished, toxic consumption (if the body rots and the mind corrodes, how could hope not corrupt?); and self-destructive retaliation (but could integration ever be more than a distant dream?). All compounding until the bonfire of their knowledge and culture was naught but a single, fading flame. She closed her eyes and took a breath, releasing it slowly.

"I hope it doesn't turn out like what happened here," Astra said. "But it might. So I'm doing everything I can to get an advantage while there's still time."

Echo frowned, clearly detesting the idea that her story could be retold in such a manner. [What is plan, then? Could not protect caves. How protect forest?]

"Right now, to humanity, we're still just Pokemon," Astra explained, reaching into her backpack. "And the humans who capture Pokemon are called Pokemon Trainers. But the strongest Pokemon Trainer is called the Champion, and he's...in charge? Very important, at least."

"Look at this," Astra pulled out her Stone Badge, showing off the diagonally bifurcated rectangle. "If a trainer challenges and wins against all eight Gyms, getting all eight of these badges, they get the right to challenge the Champion for the position. If I can become the Champion, I might be able to head off the problem. Somehow. Maybe make it so they just...can't catch us anymore?" Astra scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "It's still a little muddled, but even if that doesn't work, I might be able to get strong enough to...make them hesitate, at least. And if I can do it for my village, I'm sure I can do something for yours too!" she finished, clenching her fist in determination.

[Try take over clan before they take yours,] Echo mused, thoughtfully eyeing the badge. [Seen that long ago sometimes, with Hariyama. Work with Invader? Unknown. You think is good idea, believe. But...why come to cave? Not know we here. Try capture others?]

"No, not at all. My friends and I are actually looking for another human that's wandering around in here. Steven Stone, the current Pokemon Champion. I need to give him something as part of a deal I made."

Echo blinked at her slowly. [Oh. Looking for strong Invader? Know where is; discovered lesser creche short time ago. Been there since.]

"You know where Steven is!?" Astra perked up, eyes wide. "Oh thank the stars, finding him would have been a nightmare otherwise. Wait," she said, frowning. "How did he find a creche? Haven't you been hiding them?"

[Invader is very strong; do not think could stop. Also still need sleep, youngling,] Echo chided, smiling faintly.

"I'm not a 'youngling'," Astra huffed, glaring at the shorter Kadabra.

[If say so,] Echo chuckled. She sighed, face falling. [If have to meet strong Invader...suppose must leave, then? Cannot stay?]

Astra looked at Echo, saw her hunched back and drooping whiskers, and felt her heart break all over again.

"Yes," she said anyway, because it was the truth. "I do have to go. I wish I could stay for longer, but..."

[Understand.] Echo closed her eyes for a moment, then looked back at Astra, giving her a tired smile. [Teleport close?]

"If you can. Thank you."

Purple light flared one last time, and Astra found herself in yet another tunnel. This one however, was vastly narrower and darker than the others, with only thin strips and small dots of glowing moss scattered sporadically in the numerous crevasses and barely enough space to take two steps from one wall to the other. There was also Zubat guano scattered on the floor. Ew.

Echo pointed down the tunnel. [Invader that way. Cannot take closer,] she said, still holding Astra's hand. [This Invader...scary.]

She paused, looking at Astra intently. [Be safe, yes?]

"Only if you do, too," Astra said, smiling. Echo huffed.

[Younglings,] she muttered, whiskers twitching gently. [...was nice, not being alone. Goodb—]

Astra hugged her, arms wrapping around the startled Kadabra and squeezing tightly.

"Don't be silly," she murmured, gently bumping Echo's head with her own. "This isn't goodbye. That would mean I'm gone. I'm just...not going to be here right now."

[Tch, strange words,] Echo said, leaning into the embrace. She sniffed, shuddering. [Always so strange. Stay strange. Means always new thing to learn.]

"Oh really?" Astra asked, breaking away. She looked at Echo, smiling. "Well, if I'm going to be teaching you things, here's your first lesson: you are not alone. And I swear on my cinders that I'll find a way to make sure you'll never have to be alone again. Got it?"

Echo just laughed, tears shimmering in her eyes. A wet, high-pitched, yowling thing resounding across ancient halls.

And at long last, there was someone else to hear it again.

[Will remember,] she said, eyes glistening. [Thank you. Come back soon.]

"I will," Astra promised. She turned to leave, looking back just once. "See you later, Grandma."

Echo huffed, gave her one last smile, and vanished with a crack of purple.

Astra closed her eyes and inhaled, filling her lungs up with the musty cavern air.

Thoughts spun endlessly within her mind: dusty tools and brittle instruments bereft of their makers and wielders, fiery gems that boiled water for stew and steam, intricately carved puzzles, beautifully deadly lights dancing in artful patterns, a river with an unknown end, and a newfound family branch—not quite gone, and by all the effort she could muster never would be. A sad and lonely new Grandmother for whom she would move the stars to prevent that horrid, quiet ending which had drawn so close.

And all she could think was...why?

Then she exhaled, light flashing along her face and eyes as the breath left her body.

She raised a hand, examining the five-digited appendage. An odd protrusion dominated half of the left and right sides of her vision, and she knew that her eyes had shrunken just as her mouth had gotten wider.

Human once again.

Securing her hat over her horns, checking that her backpack and violin case were still in proper order, and finding her companions still nestled within her sash, Astra, at long last, set off once more.

It was time to deliver a letter to Steven Stone. The Champion, who oversaw everything Pokemon-related in Hoenn. She knew Echo's story, now...but what of Dewford's?

Perhaps she could get some answers, too.