CHAPTER 81

According to my Poketch, an entire day had passed since falling down to this level of the cave. Twenty-six hours to be exact. Yet it felt longer, especially since I was anxious about getting on the move again, and there was absolutely nothing to pass the time. The good news was that my cold, or whatever it was that I had, was getting better. My headaches were no longer as pronounced, although they were still debilitating, and I could at least move around now, albeit still painfully.

I slowly inched my way up to my backpack, wincing and sucking air through my teeth from the pain. Togetic had her arms on my back, pushing me forward and hoping to help somewhat, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was doing nothing.

“Just lay down,” Chase said. “What’re you even trying to do in such a pitiful state?”

His tone irritated me. It was as if he was above me and deigned that I should even try to move.

“You didn’t need to say it in such a shitty way,” I spat. “My Pokemon need to eat.”

“Just sit down, I’ll feed ‘em. Hey, I’m just gonna assume that I can feed mine too, since they haven’t eaten anything.”

“Fine,” I said. I disliked him, but his Pokemon were innocent. They had been wounded defending me, so I’d be a terrible person to say no. I sat back down and took in short, shallow breaths. Just crawling had exhausted me.

“Sounds good,” he said before grabbing my bag.

“Frillish,” I called out. “Come and eat.”

The water type had been our lookout since Houndour was resting in his Pokeball. He spun around and quickly made his way toward me. Chase only had Riolu out now, and to be honest their dynamic was sometimes… strange. Most of the time, it was a normal trainer-Pokemon relationship that I’d learn to expect from my time as a trainer, but sometimes, all of the sudden, the veil lifted it and revealed that Riolu was the one in charge.

Not that I minded. At least Riolu seemed like a nice Pokemon who was nothing like Chase.

“Why’s the ghost type eating? We should save for the Pokemon who actually need the food,” Chase said.

“He’s been working the hardest out of anyone here. Give him a break.”

“Arceus, with you in charge, we’ll have to keep our Pokemon in their balls so they don’t starve in five days,” Chase said. “Whatever. It’s your stuff, not mine.”

Yeah, you better, I thought with a frown. Chase took some canned kibble from my bag, and poured it into a metallic bowl.

“But I will say you’re fucking dumb.”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” I hissed, and Elekid complained loudly at Chase. Togetic cried out hesitantly, trying to lower the tension. “Sorry, princess,” I sighed. “Larvitar, wake up. It’s time to eat.”

The rock type got up from her curled-up position, shook her head wildly, and got into a fighting stance, waving her arms wildly.

“No fights,” I said. “Food.”

“The dex says it can eat dirt—”

“Chase, if you say anything more to me right now, I’m going to go insane.”

“That makes two of us,” Chase said, passing a bowl to Riolu. “Eat, but leave some for the others.”

“What?” I said. “That’s not even that much. You can feed him more.”

“Well, if you’re going to feed your team frivolously like we’re in an Arceus damned restaurant,” the trainer started. “I’d better start rationing for two.”

I sighed. “Fine. You were right, we should save food. Still, Frillish deserves a reward, so I’ll give him some, and Larvitar should taste at least a little bit, but that’ll be the exception. After that, we’re rationing.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you agreed. You seem like the emotional type,” he said as he poured more food into Riolu’s bowl. The fighting type happily scarfed it down.

“So, a normal person, you mean?” I asked sarcastically, squinting as a new headache assaulted my senses.

Chase seemingly saw that I was in pain and stopped himself from retorting, but he gave the rest of his team the same kibble. He passed some to Larvitar, who smiled and practically dove into the bowl after tasting it, causing me to smile. I interrupted when he passed it to Togetic, however.

“Not for her,” I said. “She doesn’t like it.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t like it?” He asked incredulously. “Just give it to her anyway.”

“No. There’s sliced-up Oran somewhere in there. That’s her food. She’s very picky,” I specified. Chase shook his head, looking at me like I was insane, and rolled his eyes, passing the kibble to Frillish instead. “No!” I exclaimed. “Not him either, he eats Mago berries. Give it to Elekid.”

“I’m going to have a stroke.”

“Just do what I say and call it a day! You’re wasting time.”

“Wasting time, how? We’re waiting for you to get better.”

Elekid grabbed his food and wolfed it down, while Frillish and Togetic enjoyed their berries. I extended a hand toward angel, and he did the same to me, only with his vines instead.

“Sorry, you’re being left out,” I said. “I promise I’ll get you to eat one day.”

He wriggled his vines and blinked twice, caressing my forearm.

“I’m glad you believe me. I don’t make promises lightly!” I smiled. “Enjoying your food, princess?”

“Toge!” She yelled.

“Shhh,” I said. “Quietly. Don’t be an Elekid.”

“Kid…”

“Sorry, that was uncalled for,” I said. “Hey Togetic, remember how scared you were when we passed through Oreburgh gate? Our first cave? Look at you now. You’re brave enough to go anywhere.”

Togetic nodded and clapped her hands— quietly, after Frillish tapped her on the shoulder. Chase had gone to one of the corners of our ‘hideout’ to work out with Riolu, finally giving me some peace and quiet. Elekid finished up his food, and I called out to him.

“Honey,” I whispered as I beckoned. “C’mere.”

Elekid strode up to me proudly.

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“See Larvitar?” I said, looking at the lonely rock type. She was butting her horn against the wall, trying to damage it. “She’s shy, I think. Why don’t you bring princess and get her accustomed to the group? I think you’ll do good as a pair. Try to not overwhelm her—”

“Elekid!” He said, clapping a hand on his chest. “Kid, kid, kid…”

He carefully walked up to Larvitar, calling out Togetic on the way. She followed behind him, her head barely above his horns. Larvitar heard them come and turned toward them, eyeing Elekid suspiciously. The poor electric type had wanted to befriend her so bad, but right now, he was probably her least favorite Pokemon. If I had to guess, her favorite was either Tangela or Frillish, but Frillish didn’t really count. He commanded respect from the entire team.

Elekid hesitantly waved his arm around, and Togetic mimicked him. The electric type hurriedly told her something to the effect of ‘we maybe got off on the wrong foot, let’s start over,’ but Larvitar frowned, hissing and lowering her horn. Elekid sighed and easily weaved to the side as she tried to run him through, and Tangela stopped her from going too far with his vines. Togetic laughed, mocking Elekid, who let out a sad groan.

“You tried,” I said. “You’ll get through to her eventually. Hey Larvitar,” I called out.

“Tar!” She said.

“You don’t have to sit alone all the time,” I told her. “I know you want to appear strong, but try to get along with us. We’re here for you. Elekid’s the most outgoing Pokemon you’ll ever meet, and Togetic’s the friendliest. No need for all that… ramming with your horn.”

Larvitar relaxed slightly, approaching angel and me. She didn’t seem to mind me whatsoever, at the very least, which made sense since she let me carry her. I saw a hint of a smile as Tangela rubbed her with a vine.

“Angel’s the one you like, huh?” I said. “You’re shy, but you’re pretty open with him.”

She huffed— imitating Frillish, and settled next to Tangela. Togetic sat on my lap, and I pet her back, and Elekid slowly inched his way to Larvitar to see how close he could get without provoking her. Frillish, meanwhile, went back to observation duty. He really needed a break when we got out of here.

I don’t know when, but I eventually drifted off to sleep.

——

I woke up screaming until there was no more air in my lungs. Chase was hitting my shoulder, and my Pokemon were all looking at me with worried gazes. It had been another nightmare. Another vision of Mars and Dusknoir.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Chase hissed. “You scream like an Arceus damned Loudred. You must have alerted everything remotely close to us, we have to move.”

I had been foolish, falling asleep like that without telling Togetic to use her powers. But a part of me hated still being shackled by Mars and what she had done to me. When would I ever be free from her? When?

“I’m sorry,” I said as I struggled to my feet. He pulled me up with more strength than was necessary. “I have nightmare problems. Don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t going to. I already packed up everything while you were sleeping, are you good to walk?”

“I think so…” I breathed out before taking a step. “I can’t run.”

“Better than nothing. Let’s get a move on,” he said, clicking his tongue and releasing Houndour. “We’re leaving. Help Frillish look out for any danger. Ri, you’re with me in front.”

We made it about thirty seconds until the ground shook all around us. For a second, I felt dread trickle down my spine, believing another Pokemon was going to open up another chasm for us to fall into, but that wasn’t what we were facing.

It was arguably worse. We could escape from a hole opening up in the ground— if Chase held me and pulled me along, I could maybe push myself and run. Hell, he might have been able to carry me, even. Unfortunately, we couldn’t run away from this.

An Onix tunneled through the wall, and chunks of rocks and rubble flew everywhere around us. Togetic used Extrasensory to stop most of the rocks, and the others were blown apart by Tangela’s Vine Whip or Frillish’s Bubblebeam. The Onix’s body was chipped, deformed, and scarred— a sign that it was old and had lived through many battles. The rock type’s eyes locked onto us, and it let out a low growl that shook me internally and reverberated throughout the room. It was as big as a freight train— and bigger than Roark’s by a slight margin.

“Well, let’s fucking do this then,” Chase said. “Riolu, get its eyes.”

Chase’s confidence snapped me out of my fear-induced daze, and I audibly gulped.

“A—angel, Leech Seed!”

Tangela whipped his vines, and a seed flew onto the huge Onix, and thorny vines wrapped around him, seemingly adapting to its size. The rock type surged forward, its body so large that we couldn’t hope to dodge. Riolu blurred onwards, rushing toward the Onix, and Frillish hit it with a Water Pulse.

“Angel, your vines! Togetic, Extrasensory!” I screamed.

Tangela extended a dozen vines toward the Onix, and Togetic’s eyes shone brightly as she altered the biggest area she had ever done around the ground type. Extrasensory couldn’t ever hope to stop a monster as big as Onix, but it slowed him slightly, and that was enough for Tangela to alter its path. The Onix’s body slammed on the ground to our right, and Elekid hit debris away from me with Ice Punch. Riolu used the opportunity to climb onto the Onix’s body, but the rock type wasn’t down for long, and it quickly started to roll toward us.

“Slow it!” Chase yelled at me. “Riolu’ll get it!”

I nodded and ordered Tangela to Vine Whip it, along with Togetic using Fairy Wind and Extrasensory to slow it as long as possible. I doubted a Pokemon that powerful would ever be affected by Sweet Kiss, so I didn’t even bother wasting time issuing the command. Every second was precious, and a move ordered at the wrong time could be the difference between life and death.

Tangela extended more vines and pushed against the Onix with all he could, leaving me time to get away, and Riolu navigated toward the Onix’s head with incredible agility. A bone grew out of his hand, and he rammed it right into Onix’s eyes. The rock type let out a booming cry full of agony and anger, and began thrashing around, causing the ground the shake once more. Riolu jumped back toward Onix’s body, grew another bone, and rammed it in between its segments, holding on for dear life. All while this was happening, Frillish kept hammering at Onix with water type attacks, and Houndour used Incinerate with very little effect.

Still, any attack that landed was another step toward convincing Onix that we weren’t worth the trouble, even if I had angered it with my scream.

Onix jerked its head, finally throwing Riolu off, and snaked toward us again. Tangela’s vines were growing thin, and Frillish’s attacks, who were the best we had against Onix, were hurting it, but it wouldn’t be enough. Togetic was already exhausted from having even slowed such a large Pokemon for so long, and even though he had Ice Punch, Elekid couldn’t do anything lest he get crushed to death by the rock type. He was fast, but nowhere near as agile as Riolu was.

I felt my throat close up. Onix was a few seconds away now. Would it be painful?

I was leaving so many people and Pokemon behind. Would my team be able to escape—

A stream of draconic energy traveled down the Onix’s open mouth, causing it to writhe around and divert its path into a wall, and then seeds flew at high speeds, hitting all along the rock type’s body. A Water Pulse that wasn’t Frillish’s hit its head, and when Onix tried to go toward us again, it was surrounded by a Confusion and stopped for a few seconds, leaving Chase enough time to drag me away again.

These attacks. It could only be—

“Dragon Breath again,” Cecilia said.

“Eevee, Buneary, stand back. Budew, keep Bullet Seeding.”

My heart swelled with relief and joy, but the battle wasn’t over yet. Onix was feeling the heat now. Four trainers and their Pokemon were finally enough to make it feel the pain. Togetic’s job had been relegated to Slowpoke, but she still helped with Fairy Winds whenever she could, and Tangela’s Leech Seed was pulling its weight. Deino roared out another Dragon Breath, hitting the same spot as Houndour’s incinerate and charring Onix’s flank, causing the stones to turn red hot. Riolu was back on its feet, hitting the wild Pokemon with Force Palms and Bone Rushes wherever he could.

Houndour whined, and Chase’s head turned toward the fire type as light surrounded him. His body shook and convulsed, growing more than twice its original size. The skull on his head split, turning into curved horns, and his tail grew thinner and longer. Chase grinned.

He had a Houndoom now.

“Incinerate! Give it everything you’ve got!”

Houndoom let out an eerie howl before spitting out white-hot flames toward the Onix. The rock type’s body caught fire somehow, and it screamed out in pain, making me cover my ears. The fire wasn’t going out, it was spreading, burning away Tangela’s Leech Seed. Riolu jumped off Onix’s body in the nick of time, and the ground type finally ran off toward the darker side of the cave.

I turned toward Cecilia and Denzel, who both ran toward me and hugged me so tightly that I thought I would asphyxiate.

“I was so scared,” Cecilia cried. I hugged them back. “I was— I thought— the only thing that kept me going was me thinking you were alive.”

“I was scared too,” I sobbed. “I’m so glad you’re both safe. I’m so happy.”

“Everyone’s back together,” Denzel smiled. “Now let’s find a way out of this hellhole.”

I nodded and wiped Cecilia’s tears away. Right now, for this single moment, in the depths of Mount Coronet where every Pokemon wanted us dead, everything was right again.