Chapter 43 - Perils of the Caves

Celeste’s mood took a turn after she reunited with her Pokémon, but she knew she needed to keep her mind focused and sharp for the challenges that lay ahead.

Challenges that, she felt the need to reiterate, might involve freaking Articuno.

She snuggled her coat, making sure to run her fingers over the pokéballs in her pocket, then leaned her head against Aria’s for support. The Eevee sat on her shoulders as always. She’d never been one to stay idle in her ball during their adventures after all. But… it wasn’t just that this time. Aria was glancing worried at the sides, clearly waiting for things to get out of control.

Again.

“It will be fine,” Celeste tried to sound reassuring. “We’re all together now! Cee and Aria, taking on the ice caves.”

Aria snorted at the answer. Maybe it was absurd. Yet…

“Always the sceptic, huh?”

They shared a laugh, like this wasn’t all insane. But soon silence fell back.

Ahead of them, Lori led the way towards a slightly uphill path. The blizzard made it challenging, but it wasn’t a hard trek. Still, she was panting heavily and had to stop to catch her breath several times. Celeste offered help, but Lori brushed it off, insisting she was “absolutely fine” and just “tired from the long day”.

“We… are... almost there,” she finally said in between breaths, not even looking back at the others before pushing ahead.

All Celeste could do was sigh and try to appreciate the glimpses of dawn filtering through the swirling snow. While the sunlight didn’t provide much warmth, at least she could see her surroundings now.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it,” Rey said with a lot of contempt. “The conference winner couldn’t even defeat the first member of the Elite Four? Bullshit.”

Celeste frowned. The two boys, diligently followed by Olga’s… family… Pokémon… had decided to use the idle time to talk about some battle they’d both watched recently. Interesting, but was this really the time?

No, it wasn’t. Yet Celeste perked up, trying to listen in.

“Dude, no one expected Brendan to do well against the Elite Four.” Luan shrugged, making his way around a rock. “Probably not even himself.”

“He lost to an old lady,” Rey scoffed. “Irene isn’t even in her prime anymore. I heard she’s about to retire.”

Luan laughed. “Shocker. The guy who got carried by his Tyranitar the whole conference lost to the Elite Trainer who specialises in steel.”

Celeste bit her lip. If she was still planning to collect badges, she needed to find time to learn about the Indigo League.

Was… she still planning to collect badges?

The boys continued discussing the underwhelming battle they had watched, and Rey shifted the conversation to focus on himself.

What a surprise.

He smirked, claiming that no Steel-type could ever beat him and his Larvesta, who’d certainly be a Volcarona by the time he reached the conference. Then he also found it necessary to insult this Brendan guy in many different ways before concluding he was stupid for falling for such an obvious trap.

Apparently, in the battle, Irene—the challenged Elite Four member—began with her ace, a massive Steelix known to be a monster. In response, Brendan immediately sent out his Tyranitar, hoping to quickly get rid of the biggest threat. He earthquaked the hell out of the arena, but Irene did the same. When it came to it, though, the Elite switched to her Empoleon and finished the tired Tyranitar swiftly. None of the challenger’s Pokémon had any chance after that. He got swept, which, strangely enough, was not a common outcome in Elite Four battles.

“He should have used another Pokémon against the Steelix.” Rey was nodding to himself. “Wear it down, then switch to Tyranitar. He could’ve taken it out with an Earthquake. That would’ve been the right move.”

“She’d still have the Empoleon in the back, though...” Luan insisted. “I’m telling you, there was nothing he could’ve done.”

Celeste closed her eyes, imagining herself facing this Irene lady. First pokémon: Pat, obviously. She wouldn’t send Powder to fight a scary Steel-type. Aria, her ace, would have to be on the back to take on the Steelix.

Tiny Eevee vs. giant Steelix? Her Pokémon would be smashed.

She sighed.

Badges or not, she still had a very, very long way to go.

“We are here,” Lorelei said, interrupting Celeste’s thoughts. She looked suspiciously at all three of her companions before adding, “I’m in charge. That means you three will follow my lead. Got it?”

Rey crossed his arms and puffed his chest. “Well, if you think about it, I’m the one with the connection to Articu—”

A single glare from Lorelei made Rey stop mid-sentence. She didn’t need to say anything else. But, clearly, she wasn’t all that happy with this arrangement. “You’re here for backup,” she stated, rubbing her temples. “If you’re going to get in my way, it’s better to leave now.” She glared again. “So, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Luan replied, all squeaky. Meanwhile, Lorelei’s gaze lingered on Celeste, as if she was the one who said anything.

Clutching Aria, she spoke. “You know I’m going to follow you...” she said, her voice small, and a shy yet hopeful smile on her lips. “Because I trust you,” she finished.

Lorelei just turned away. “Let’s go already.”

—*——*—

The caves grew colder and darker as they ventured deeper, so Luan and Rey wasted no time and released their Pokémon to light the way—Hoothoot used Foresight as a torchlight, and Rey’s Larvesta kept a small fire going. Guided by the light and the added warmth, they followed Lori’s lead. One cave up, two caves right, then they squeezed through a small obscured passageway that led them to a long tunnel. By then, Celeste had already completely lost track of where they were going.

“Where the hell are we, fearless leader?” Rey asked at some point. “If you have a plan, shouldn’t you share it before we all get lost?”

Lori didn’t even look back. “We won’t get lost. Just keep moving.”

Easier said than done.

Celeste felt jittery and constantly on edge. Articuno could be at any corner—and clearly she was not the only one thinking that. Rey’s knuckles turned white around his Eevee’s green pokéball every time they heard any noise and, at one point, Luan panicked at the sight of a Zubat’s blue wings and hid behind a pillar.

Rey immediately burst into laughter. “Zubat not even the right shade of blue.”

“How do you know its colour? Have you ever seen Articuno?”

“We have a connection. Family stuff.”

Celeste was the one to groan at that. “Is that going to be a thing the whole time we’re here?”

Their exchange was interrupted by the Hoothoot, who clearly disapproved of… well, everything. Menace took one look at Luan whimpering and immediately began pecking his head, until the Zubat circled back and she chirped furiously at it, directing her light to the dark emptiness ahead.

Then two more Zubat appeared, flying towards the light and nearly colliding with Lorelei. She waved them away, but stopped to squint at the darkness.

A tense silence enveloped the group as Aria jumped down from Celeste’s arms and assumed a fighting stance. Rey’s Larvesta and Luan’s Hoothoot joined her, and all the humans tensed. Even Olga’s Vanillite took a more aggressive position, floating itself in front of the group and let out a cautious “lite.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, an entire swarm of Zubat charged at them. Chaos ensued. All Celeste could see were the fluttering wings and the fangs dripping with poison. She tried to take cover behind a pillar with Luan, but he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her through to another cavern. Lori, Rey, and their Pokémon followed, and they all moved back as fire and stars cut through the blue cloud that was circling them.

“I fucking hate these Pokémon,” Rey hissed, shielding his face. “You know what to do, Flame,” he finished, prompting his Pokémon to increase the fire.

The added light and warmth were a relief. Celeste shook her head and took a few quick breaths before shouting, “Aria, use Swift, but don’t focus on any one target. Scatter it around. Maybe we can scare them off.”

On her side, Lorelei reached for a pokéball but paused, seemingly content to let the others deal with the problem. Luan, on the contrary, quickly commanded a Reflect barrier when a few Zubat swooped in too close, while Rey just kept calling for more fire.

“There are too many of them,” Celeste said, edging closer to Luan and his barrier.

And then, after another yell from Rey, the Larvesta’s horns grew brighter as flames gathered around it. Overheat, the move he couldn’t control before, was now building up in front of the little bug. The caves brightened as if the sun was there with them. And it was amazing. After all, Celeste hated poison and Zubat hated light.

Before the move was even completed, most of the bats had scattered away, flying towards other, darker chambers. Then, at last, the Larvesta shot his fireball, melting all the ice and crashing the rocks in its path. When the blinding light subsided, a charred crater remained on the cave walls. Some smaller flames flickered, bravely surviving on twigs and moss on the ground. The remaining bats were burnt, twitching and screeching in puddles of melted ice.

The little bug made a rattling noise, pleased with the destruction it wreaked. His satisfaction only growing as the screeching ceased and silence finally fell around them.

Celeste hesitantly stepped toward the defeated Zubat and felt her chest heavy at the sight. Words failed her for once. All she could do was reach into her pocket for a potion Olga had given her and stare at it for a moment.

“Watch it,” Rey suddenly shouted, pulling Celeste away by the fabric of her coat.

She fell onto her back, only to witness a lone surviving Zubat snapping its poison-filled fangs where she had just been. Her heart raced, the realisation of almost getting poisoned filled her with even more dread than the idea of being frozen to death by a bird of legendary power.

The bat circled back, dodging Aria’s Swift and a weak Ember from the Larvesta. Celeste blinked, tracking the Pokémon’s flight as it attempted to attack them again, but this was a lonely effort now.

The Hoothoot prevented its assault on the humans with another Reflect, and Aria followed up with a Quick Attack. Unfortunately, the Zubat just shrugged it off and persisted. It kept flying around the group, launching attacks and actually getting hits.

“This one is aggressive,” Luan said, commanding Menace to go after it. “And faster. Do you think it wants revenge for its friends?”

Despite being outnumbered, the lone Zubat evaded all the Hoothoot’s attacks and staggered both Aria and Menace with its Astonish move.

Rey grunted at the sight. “There is one Zubat left. Must I deal with everything?” He turned to his pokémon. “Burn it.”

As more embers flew toward the bat, Celeste noticed something around its neck. A small object with a metallic glint that became clear whenever the flames got close. She narrowed her eyes, but in the dim light, it was difficult to get a clear look.

“Aria,” Celeste yelled just as she heard the Larvesta emit a concerning, crackling sound. The Zubat had tanked a few embers and countered with a Flying-type move before preparing for another attack. “Meet it head-on with a Quick Attack.”

In a blur, her Eevee leaped over Larvesta and knocked the bat out of the air.

Finally.

Still, the Zubat was still struggling to get up, behaving like a rabid creature, snapping and attacking anything that got close.

“Finish it off already,” Lorelei said, clicking her heels.

This time, it was Luan who complied. A few pecks from his Hoothoot, and the bat was finally unconscious on the ground.

Rey let out a loud exhale. “Maybe it wanted revenge... I’ve never seen a Zubat be this annoying.”

Just as Lori began to rush them to keep going, Celeste cautiously crouched beside that last Zubat. She hated they’d hurt—and she really hoped it was just hurt—those Pokémon, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. There was something more important she wanted to check.

Her hands trembled just inches away from the poisonous bat, and Celeste bit her lip. Mustering all her courage, she touched the Zubat, her fingers sinking into its short blue fur as she lifted it up. A shiver ran down her spine as the Pokémon’s head dropped limply to the side, and its mouth opened just enough to reveal a fang. A drop of saliva dripped onto Celeste’s gloves, almost causing her to throw the Pokémon away, like it wasn’t a living creature.

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Her breath quickened, and her vision blurred.

Was she poisoned? Was there poison in its saliva?

Her heart beat faster, and her eyes only focused on that little drop of saliva on the fabric of her glove.

What did Zubat poison do to humans again? Was she going to—

“Celeste!” Lorelei’s voice snapped her back to reality.

Her eyes sharpened, her breath steadied, and her heart… still raced.

That was panic, not poison.

“What the hell are you doing?” It was Rey who asked this time. “We need to keep moving.”

“Wait,” Celeste insisted, her attention fixed on the object of her curiosity—the metal collar around the bat’s neck. “Take a look at this.”

Her companions leaned in for a closer view, and Lorelei picked up the Pokémon to examine it better. “A collar?” she asked, frowning her brow.

“I-It might have a trainer,” Luan suggested, his eyes focused on the blinking lights on the device.

“Regular collars have name tags, not tech like this,” Rey muttered. “Unless you see something identifying it as Fangs the Zubat, I’d call foul.”

Lorelei nodded, her gaze distant but her voice calm. “Its behaviour was odd. It was almost like... the move Swagger... or Blaze.”

“So this collar makes the Pokémon more powerful, but angry and out of control?” Rey asked. “Poachers, then?”

Celeste locked eyes with Aria, who gave a confirming look, and she sighed. “I don’t know about that…” she began, still not completely sure. “But I’ve seen a collar like this before...”

—*——*—

Amidst her friends’ suspicious gazes, Celeste recounted the story of how she’d first met Delia and got lost at sea. She tried to recall every detail from that day, from the Seel stuck by their ferry they were travelling on, to the storm and their time lost in the ocean. Most importantly, she told them about the collar the Seel had been wearing, which a whole lot like the one around the Zubat’s neck.

“The size was different, of course,” she finished, tracing her fingers along the metal. “And I don’t think the one I saw had as many blinking lights… I mean… it’s with my stuff back on centre. I thought I could sell it for scrap, so we can check later if it’s the same. But really, how many electronic collars around a Pokémon’s neck have you seen before?”

“And was the Seel was also acting strangely?” Lorelei pursed her lips. “Aggressively?”

Celeste shook her head. “It was in pain, I think... It wanted us to remove the collar.” She paused, retrieving Powder’s pokéball from her pocket. “Powder froze the hinges and then I broke it off with a rock. I… We should set it free.”

“Seriously?” Rey sneered. “We have evidence—an actual clue—and you want to break it? For some wild Zubat?”

“You should be the first one in line to help it.” Celeste raised her voice. “After burning a bunch of its friends with some unnecessarily violent mov—”

“Unnecessary?” Rey scoffed. “You were the one hiding behind Luan, crying like a scared Skitty.”

“I wasn’t crying!”

Lorelei stepped between them, demanding they stop arguing. “Enough,” she commanded, before turning towards Luan. “What do you think?”

“W-what?” He took a step back. “I mean, a-about what?”

“You mentioned encountering the poachers recently,” Lorelei reminded him, extending the unconscious bat towards Luan. “You said they were using something to navigate the caves. Does this collar resemble their tech?”

Luan approached the Zubat but barely glanced at it. “I’m not sure. They had something that looked like a PokéNav. Maybe... Rey’s right? We could keep it instead of breaking it. To… uh… help us learn something?”

Celeste tried protesting, but no one was listening anymore. It seemed they all had decided it was best to bring the Zubat and the intact collar with them. Luan’s Munna would ensure the Pokémon remained asleep, preventing any attacks, and Lori promised to take it to the centre once they left the cave.

“I don’t like this either,” Lorelei added, placing a hand on Celeste’s shoulder. Her expression softened, and her tough façade crumbled for the first time that day. “But we need to be practical now. Our goal is to help the Lapras.”

Celeste brushed Lori’s hands off and gestured to the fallen Zubat surrounding them. “Yeah... just the Lapras.”

“That’s unfair.” Lorelei averted her eyes.

“Is it? All you’ve been talking about for the past two days is saving the Lapras,” Celeste spat back. “It’s like nothing else matters.”

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t battle the Zubat...”

Lorelei’s last words trailed off, and silence settled among the group once again. She shook her head and quietly handed the Zubat over to Luan, who seemed even more nervous than before. Then she turned around, vaguely gesturing for them to keep going. The fatigue from the previous day soon fell over Celeste. For a moment, she just stopped and watched her friends go as she stood still, clutching the potion in her pocket.

She only moved again when Aria tackled her trainer’s leg, motioning toward the others. Instead of following, Celeste crouched down by her Pokémon, scratching Aria’s ears in the spot she loved most.

“Vee?” the Eevee asked, with worry.

“I just need a minute,” Celeste replied, meeting her Pokémon’s gaze before looking beyond.

In the distance, in another tunnel, she noticed a faint blinking light. The same type of light from the Zubat’s collar, but more spaced out—was that a bigger collar?

“Uh… guys…” Celeste called quietly, but no one heard her.

As something growled, and Celeste scooped Aria up and sprang to her feet. The others turned around. Their voices, however, were drowned out by the rising thumps of her own heart. The ground trembled and, in an instant, rocks fell, sealing off the passage ahead.

They were trapped.

Lorelei’s voice rose above the roaring of the rocks. “Come on, the only way is through there,” she said, gesturing to where the lights were blinking, a pokéball already in her hands.

The ground continued to shake, however, making Celeste mighty uneasy about heading into whatever was causing this. “Be ready to use Swift,” she told Aria.

Only after another growl filled the air, their attacker—a Piloswine—got launched towards them. It had a collar firmly attached to the base of its tusks and several patches of fur missing. The oversized pig looked as if it had been fighting for a while, but showed no signs of stopping. Except… if it’d been fighting, then there must be another—

Before Celeste even finished the thought, another Piloswine, also wearing a collar, charged ahead, ready for a Take Down attack on its opponent.

Even Rey’s voice sounded squeaky as he shouted, “The hell!? The Swinub here never evolve on their own like that.”

Tusks clashed, but not even that made the collars bulge. The teens watched the two Pokémon fiercely exchanging blows and with locked tusks for a moment, and every time they stomped on the ground, more rocks fell down, sometimes way too close. It got so bad that eventually, Celeste and her friends were huddled together on the other side of the chamber, desperately looking for a way to sneak by.

As Celeste took another step back, she heard a crack from below. She exchanged a worried glance with Luan, and they both looked down simultaneously.

They were all standing on a thin sheet of ice, and small fissures were growing right under their feet.

A frozen river? Or a shallow pond?

With their luck, that wasn’t even a question.

“If we move slowly…” Luan began, tiptoeing to the side, but Lori stopped him.

“Don’t,” she said, her expression serious, her hands clenching a pokéball. “I have a plan. You three, tell your Pokémon to attack the Piloswine.”

Rey protested loudly, “Are you fucking kidding me? I have a Fire-type, in case you didn’t notice.”

“I’m serious,” Lorelei insisted. “Fire will bother them the most.”

Reluctantly, Rey did as he was told and commanded his Pokémon to use Ember, and Celeste and Luan followed suit. The group unleashed a flurry of attacks: Air Slash from the Hoothoot, Swift from Aria, and even Ice Beam from the Vanillite.

The Piloswine immediately turned their attention to them, and Celeste felt like their sharp tusks were aimed directly at her chest. They all tensed as the two Ice-types charged in.

“Wait.” Lorelei kept Celeste from moving.

Seriously?

“Just a little more…”

Celeste felt Aria’s paws sway, and her head move closer to her trainer’s chest.

“Now!” Lori finally yelled, pushing her to the side.

She stumbled onto the rocky ground as the Piloswine roared and crashed on the ice, splashing into the water below. Amidst the chaos, Aria leaped from her arms, and Celeste rolled to safety.

“Freeze them,” Lorelei called, her Lapras already out of her ball. Just like that, a large block of ice formed, encompassing the two Pokémon. No longer splashing or thrashing around, they were frozen, immobilised, and sinking into the water.

Once again, Celeste’s heart clenched. Weren’t these Pokémon weak to water? “Will they—?”

“Best not to think on it,” was all Lori could say. She recalled her Lapras and straightened herself. “Let’s go. I know how to get to a few hidden caverns from here. Thee poachers might be hiding—”

“Fuck that.”

Lori narrowed her eyes and turned to Rey, who was staring at her while holding on to his wet, unconscious Larvesta. He tried to spray some potion on the bug, but eventually tossed the bottle away in anger and put his Pokémon back in his ball.

“Is he okay?” Celeste carefully asked.

“Did it look fucking okay to you?” Rey groaned. “He needs to go to the centre.”

“You’re free to turn back,” Lorelei said as she headed towards the passage that hadn’t collapsed.

“He’ll be fine while in his ball,” Rey hissed, stepping in front of Lorelei. “And I’m not turning back and letting you lead the two idiots to their deaths. A few Lapras aren’t worth it.”

Lorelei remained silent, her gaze fixed on Rey.

“Is that it? Best not to think, that’s what you told Celeste,” he kept going. “Is that how you’re planning to handle this? Best not to think if someone else’s Pokémon is down? Best not to think if anyone else might get hurt? Best not to think about the people risking themselves to help your precious Lapras? Really, from the bottom of my heart, fuck you, Lorelei.”

“Are you done?” Lori said coldly.

“I haven’t even started,” Rey scoffed. “We won’t find anyone just wandering around like that. Just take us to the fucking Lapras nest and we do defence. Best to get this over with.”

Lorelei narrowed her eyes, her silence colder and more menacing than Rey’s outburst. “If any of you turn out to be...” she began, but paused when Celeste held onto her hand.

“Lori...” Celeste began.

Lori... Rey is right. We can’t keep going in circles.

Lori... you should trust us. We’re here to help.

Lori... how can we keep hurting other Pokémon to save the lapras?

She closed her eyes. “Lori, please,” was all she could say in the end.

“Fine,” Lorelei finally agreed, punctuating her words with a tired sigh. “Let’s find a river. Fractal can take us to the rest of her herd.”

—*——*—

The four of them sat mostly in silence on top of the Lapras’ shell. Lorelei was exceptionally quiet, and so was Rey, although Vanillite was fussing over him. They’d all got bruises and scrapes, and Rey had a very shallow cut over his eyebrow, which the Ice-type was scrutinising and trying to make better with some ice.

Rey waved his hand in around, attempting to shake the Pokémon away, but the Vanillite simply scowled and floated over to his other side.

Celeste couldn’t help but smile at the scene. “You know, mum also has an Ice-type that fusses over me a lot,” she said, earning an annoyed look from Rey as a response

Behind her, Luan was sitting on the edge of the Lapras’ shell, trying to prevent an argument between his Hoothoot and Munna. The bird had just pecked the Munna’s trunk and seemed ready for another attack. Luan struggled to hold his owl back, losing his balance and nearly falling into the water. However, his Munna quickly surrounded him with psychic energy, securing Luan safely on the Lapras back. Unfortunately, helping his trainer meant the Munna lost his hold on the Zubat they’d been carrying, and the Hoothoot had to swiftly plunge down to catch it, inches from the water.

When Menace flew back up, looking smug and hooting loudly at the Munna, the Psychic responded by blowing his trunk.

“Maybe you should actually hold it for a bit,” Celeste suggested, and Menace agreed, delivering the Zubat into Luan’s hands.

He got startled, like always, and fumbled with the bat dropping it again. “W-what if it wakes up and attacks me?”

“You can show it you don’t mean any harm,” Celeste reassured him. “The Seel I met never attacked me or Delia.”

“I don’t know...” Lorelei turned to the others. “Those Piloswine were overly aggressive. And as Rey said the Swinub around here hardly ever evolve on their own, and they are often very gentle. So… I think attacking seems the norm.”

“I told you,” Celeste said, petting Aria’s fur. “The collars hurt them. Anyone lashes out when they are hurt.”

Lorelei shook her head. “There must be more to it. Lashing out is not in everyone’s nature. Some Pokémon will hide, and some will look for help. Yet, all three we met were aggressive.”

“Three is a very small sample,” Celeste argued, noticing Rey shaking his head. “What are you thinking?”

“That you idiots are flipping things around,” Rey muttered. “It’s not what the collars do that matter, but what they are for. Say the Pokémon are more aggressive. Would that be good for anything?”

Celeste tapped her fingers on Aria for a moment, annoying the Eevee enough for her to try biting them away. “Aria!” she complained, watching her Pokémon smirk. “Aggressive Pokémon are erratic, I suppose.” With a smirk, Celeste flickered Aria’s ear. Aria tried to get revenge on her hands. “And erratic ones, for good or worse, fight more. Fight a lot, and a Pokémon is bound to evolve, right? Evolved Pokémon must be worth more money?”

Aria turned around and tried to tackle Celeste, who just stopped her with an incapacitating hug and scratches under her ear.

“Could be... but, who would want to buy a Zubat? You find them in any cave.” Lorelei pondered, wrapping her arms around one of the bumps in front of her Lapras’ shell. “Even Golbat are common enough. There must be something else; None of those Pokémon are worth all this trouble...”

Lorelei and Rey, despite their previous argument, kept spitting out ideas. Finding common ground in a shared mystery felt like a minor victory, but their frustration grew as every idea they had was littered with flaws.

The constant point of contention in their discussions was the Zubat.

Why did the poachers put a collar on a Zubat, of all things?

“Zubat, a Piloswine, and a Seel,” Rey scoffed at the latest idea. “Best pokémon army ever.”

“Alternatively, we have Crobat, Mamoswine, and Dewgong. That’s a solid team,” Lorelei countered. “And we know they are also after Lapras, Frigibax, and Alolan Ninetales. Power can be as much a motivation as money.”

“I don’t know,” Celeste chimed in. “Even if they evolved all the way, the Pokémon will still be untrained, right? I think it’s something else.”

A brief silence fell over the group until Luan suddenly blurted out, “Aggressive Pokémon move more.” He immediately closed his eyes and covered his mouth, looking apprehensive, as if he feared speaking out.

“And how is that useful?” Rey sighed. “If I were a poacher, I’d hate to have to chase after my catch.”

Celeste narrowed her eyes, a sense of dread gnawing at her as she began to put things together. “What if the Pokémon that are moving are not worth chasing?” she suggested. “Think about it. How can a few people even hope to explore these caves by themselves? Or the ocean. They must need something else… something that moves around.”

“They are using it to make the map… to track the bigger prizes around.” Lorelei’s eyes widened with realisation. “With the collars, they can use the Pokémon to scout new areas faster. Maybe there is even a...”

As the light grew brighter, Celeste could see Lorelei turn pale.

“It could have a camera...” Celeste whispered, her voice barely audible as the light engulfed them.

As her eyes adjusted, a familiar and large cave with an opening in the ceiling appeared before them. The sun shone peacefully, and the blizzard raging outside barely reached the cave itself. Still, the foliage on the sides was frozen, and the water, once a perfect mirror, had large chunks of ice.

They had finally arrived at the Lapras cave.

Her gaze shifted to the Zubat, and she felt a wave of dizziness. “If the collars are used to make maps for the poachers...” Celeste hesitated. “That means we... we brought it right to where they wanted to go.”

Before anyone could respond, a sinister laugh echoed through the chamber.

“Don’t beat yourselves about it,” a familiar and deeply repulsive voice spoke. “We found this place last night. All you did by catching that Zubat was bringing attention to yourselves.”

There, on the shore, stood Ryder, flanked by four other poachers, including Gozu, the hulking man Celeste’d met in Alola. Her hand tightened around the pokéballs in her pocket as anger surged within her.

Beside the poachers, five Lapras were trapped in nets, and a cage held a small grey Pokémon she had never seen before—the Frigibax, no doubt. She suspected there were more cages around, filled with other Pokémon they had captured.

Celeste glanced at her companions, all frozen in uncertainty.

“Assholes,” Rey’s voice broke the silence, though his usual spunk seemed to have died out.

Ryder chuckled, earning a grunt from his burly companion. “So nice to see all my pals from this island together again. Now, shall we talk about the Copperajah in the room?” He paused, amused by his own words. “Or should I say, the Articuno in the room?”