Larry and Dwebble made their way back to the larger walkway they had fled from before, it seemed far more logical to Larry now why this specific tunnel looked so run-down now.

It seemed pretty much any large Pokémon or group of Pokémon used these walkways instead of the smaller tunnels he and Dwebble preferred.

The cave Network wasn’t just complicated, it also seemed to be largely tiered, in an open space like the one he hatched in he could see almost the entire cavern, but down here in the winding Labyrinth of Tunnels it seemed that only larger Pokémon even dared to use them, with smaller and weaker Pokémon deciding to use tighter and more winding tunnels down and up the cave.

‘It’s almost like a pedestrian crossing that goes above a highway, weird.’

Dwebble had told him of the Pokémon that ruled this place and typically roamed these larger walkways, but he was still amazed by how beaten into shaped it actually was, no loose gravel or rocks jutted out of the walkway and it seemed to be almost walked flat over the years it’s been here. Further down, Larry could even spot a cut into the wall, supposedly where trainers set up camp on their way up the mountain.

Larry noticed the Dwebble was making its way up the walkway, “Uhm, aren’t we supposed to walk down if I want to leave?”

“L-Let’s go up first, it might make the way down easier.” Larry looked at Dwebble with a questioning expression, “Alright.”

As they walked Dwebble seemed to notice Larry’s clear intrigue at the cave System around him, “Y-You want to hear more about the caves? I know quite a bit.”

“Hm?” Dwebble seemed to be bursting to tell him, so he entertained him, “If you’re offering, then I’ll take you up on it.”

The bug-types face lit up at that, “G-Great! Alright, the cave is split into multiple levels,” Dwebble raises a pincer, “The first level, which is filled with small basins of water and the occasional waterfall, it’s largely open, with no walls to divide up the space, only a roof far above and large mounds of stone to either climb or traverse around.”

“There are many cave entrances all around the mountain at the first level and if, like you said, you wanted to leave the cave, this is where you’d go.”

Dwebble raised its second pincer next to his first, “The second level, which can only be accessed from a single entryway,” He pointed at the walkway, “It’s a giant upward funnel expanding outwards, you’ll have to make many rounds on flat ground around the funnel if you want to get up or down.”

Larry looked gave it some thought and then asked, “Why not simply walk down a more direct path?”

Dwebble seemed to revel at his audience and gave Larry a theatrical chuckle, “Kukuku, that is not going to be possible. The height between the winding walkways leading down is so far, you’d fall to your death.” He snapped his pincer in Larry's general direction for added effect.

“The other problem with the second level is that due to the funnel shape of the cavern and the still very much prevalent cavern entrances, which at this point lead outwards into nothing but snow-covered mountain top and ice. It is ice cold in the cave, but very bright during daytime, so incredibly bright in fact, that it's possible for one to see practically everything inside the cave.”

Larry was a bit confused by that, “And this is bad, for what reason exactly? I thought better visibility is a good thing in caves.”

Once again, Dwebble cartoonishly scoffed and laughed at Larry, “Heh! You’d be correct if it wasn’t for the other Pokémon living in said cave. My mother has been down there before, and she told me about the experience.”

“From every corner of the funnel, from every direction she was spotted by wild Pokémon, the only way she could advance up the mountain was to be seen, and once spotted it mostly led to fights.” Dwebble seemed to revert into himself, thinking about his mother.

“Everything that wants to hurt you, will down there. And that isn’t even the end.”

Larry had been drawn in by Dwebbles theatrics, “What? There’s more?”

The bug-type raised its pincer another level higher, “The third level, is where we find ourselves currently. It’s largely one large hallway interspersed by smaller walkways where only smaller Pokémon can even fit. It’s also where I’ve spent most of my life.”

Larry thought it to be a boring life all things considered. ‘Only to have seen these walls all your life, does he even know what the outside world looks like?’

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Ah! Me and my siblings are supposed to move out soon though!” It added on quickly.

They had walked quite a way up, the walkway had given many options to break off into smaller holes, but Dwebble had walked past all of them. It seemed to have a plan on where to go, but Larry wanted to ask anyway.

“Where are you taking me right now anyway? I just hope there aren’t any other surprises up here.”

“Nowhere dangerous, it’s just that the third level is very close to the top of the mountain and my mom told us of the top once, I think I just wanted to see it. I never strayed this far from mom's nest.” Dwebble seemed determined right now, the near-death experience had somewhat manned him up.

“Let's go, you’ve only helped me and even saved my life Dwebble. I trust you, whatever it is.” Larry said.

Dwebble glanced back at him as they walked, he gave him a genuine look, “You really are different from the others, aren’t you?”

He turned back slowly, and Larry could tell by now why they were here. “We’re almost there, I think.”

In front of them was a cave exit, high above any other part of the cave system, they had followed the walkway and ended up at the highest point in the cave system. Ice-cold air flowed in freely from the entrance and both Dwebble and Larry shivered involuntarily as they exited the cave for the first time.

Larry was blinded by sunlight for a second as he exited the cave, he felt soft snow crunch under his feet as his eyes slowly adjusted. He’d glanced down at his feet, and when he turned his head back forward, he saw the view. It made Larry sure of one thing.

‘I knew it, this is Mount Silver.’

Before him, the entire skyline of the largest mountain in the Indigo region was sprawled out before him. A snowy wonderworld of trees and mountains slowly led back into green forests and planes that seemed to sprawl far beyond the horizon. The forest and plains in the distance were broken up by grey blobs he couldn’t quite make out, cities most likely, they seemed almost insignificant this high up.

Up above him, the clouds painted a beautiful picture of blue and white, it might’ve snowed before, but today was most definitely clear. Larry remembered how far away the clouds were when he lay there in the street dying, but up here he felt like he could grasp them.

The view had stolen all words and feared to also take away his breath, the air density up here was definitely lower, and Larry felt weaker up here. Larry turned around and saw the tip of the mountain so close, just above the cavern entrance, if he wanted to, he felt he could crawl his way up there.

‘The games didn’t do this view justice; this right here is special. I was never a mountain climber, but I feel like I missed out on these kinds of views in my previous life. What kind of a moron was I, sitting in front of a computer my whole life.’

A certain serenity passed over Larry as he continued to admire the view, it felt like he could sit out here in the ice cold the whole day and just keep an eye on the view if it weren’t for the biting cold up here.

“Wow...” Dwebble finally broke their silence next to him, “This is beautiful. How far does this go?” Dwebble asked Larry, as he pointed at the horizon.

“You might not believe me, but it goes all around, the world is round. If you walk long enough, you’ll end back up on the other side of the mountain.” Larry began with a bit of mirth in his voice.

Dwebble seemed awestruck, as he turned back to the skyline, “Woah.”

“C’mon, we should get back inside, I’m freezing up here.” Larry made his way back, beckoning Dwebble back in with him.

‘At least I now know where I am. But really, Mt. Silver?’ It really drove home his situation, he was stuck at the top of one of the most dangerous and difficult places to explore located in between two entire regions. Only the strongest trainers in the Indigo League were even allowed to explore the place if he remembered correctly.

‘Guess I should just count myself lucky that I didn’t meet Red up here. Heh’

The two of them made their way back down the walkway to the wrecked walkway the Gravelers had disappeared down, Dwebble slowed and looked down into it, before looking back at Larry, “I think this is where we part ways, Larry.”

“What, why?” Larry was surprised by the sudden declaration.

“I need to see how my siblings are doing, I don’t know if the Gravelers got to them, and I’ve been gone for so long I know that my mom is worried for me.” I look down at the ground in dissatisfaction, “I was supposed to bring something back for them to eat when we met, I’ll still need to go looking.”

“Why don’t I just don’t come with you” Larry recommended.

Dwebble only shook his head, “No, you’re a special case, Larry. You know, a normal Larvitar would’ve bitten me to pieces the first time it spotted me. Even the Geodude that live around here have come to my mom's hideout before, simply to hurt us in the hopes of a quick snack. My mom would snap your head off your shoulders the second she would see me approaching with you following behind me.”

Larry was a bit shocked, ‘I guess I really took this too easy.’

“As my mom has said before, ‘It’s hunt or be hunted for us,” He looked at the floor, before looking back up at Larry, “Thank you for this little adventure you’ve given me Larry, but I better get back. Good luck on your journey.”

He was tearing up a bit, he had made a friend but would have to leave him behind so quickly, Larry nodded resolutely, “Thank you, Dwebble. When I’ve finally seen the world, I’ll come back up here and tell you all about it.”

Reaching out with his short arms, Larry scooped Dwebble up into a hug. ‘I’ll definitely miss Dwebble, he wasn’t exactly the first person I met in this new life, but he for sure is the best up until now.’

“Dwe-” -GGGRRRGGLLLlll....

‘Stupid hunger!’

“Sorry...” Larry said bashfully, but Dwebble simply shook his head with a smile on his face.

“Goodbye, Larry.”

“Bye, Dwebble.”