CHAPTER 46

I shoved the rest of dinner in my mouth, told dad I'd be back later, and then took off on Zuri. The Dragonite understood the urgency of the situation and sped through the skies like a speeding bullet.

A large portion of Indigo was made up of rocky, mountainous regions. Of those mountains, two names passed people's lips more frequently than the others.

I knew of the first very well. Straddling the border between Kanto and Johto, Mount Silver and its Range were endlessly vast and suffocating. They beckoned with silent invitations of death to those who openly looked upon their lofty peaks.

And now, as Kanto's arguably most famous landmark came into view, an involuntary shudder ran down my spine. The second name passed through my mind unbidden.

Mount Moon.

A lone mountain — a sleepy, solitary giant — surged upwards from the ground. Gentle slopes covered with prolific vegetation eventually gave rise to a soft, rounded summit, one that was nearly hidden by wispy clouds. From top to bottom, the entire mountain was draped in evening hues of gold and scarlet.

Mount Silver smothered people with its intimidating aura. Mount Moon couldn't have been more different.

Its quiet, imposing majesty inspired absolute reverence.

For now, I ripped my gaze away from the mountain's beguiling beauty and tapped Zuri's back. She dove towards its base.

A perimeter had been formed outside one of the mountain's entrances on Route 3. Some makeshift tents and tables had been set up, but it was mostly groups of uniformed League Trainers and their Pokemon that filled the clearing we headed for. Further down the main road, Rangers were on standby near safety barricades, presumably there to turn back any passing travelers.

Heads looked up as Zuri landed with a muted thud. I jumped off and recalled her, walking with decisive strides towards the group of people closest to the entrance. To no surprise, Lance was here. He was flanked by Bruno and Lorelei. Across from them were Falkner, Clair, and Looker and his associates.

They all stood around with stiff postures or troubled expressions. I found myself tensing up as I joined their loose circle and made eye contact with Lance. Greetings were skipped.

"What's the situation?" I asked instead.

An aggravated sigh from Lance preceded any explanation.

"Following the intel we got from Agent Echo, League forces were deployed around Mount Moon two days ago to search for traces of Rockets," Lance began in a low, urgent voice. His words were rushed. "I had them search the surrounding forests and the mountain slopes first. Nothing was turning up. Naturally, that led us to believe the worst-case scenario… that they'd made a base deep within the mountain itself."

I grimaced, but Lance continued without pause.

"There's no one else who is as familiar with Mt. Moon than Brock, so he went to investigate the inside with two squads of League Trainers. The Waterflower sisters would have gone with them since the mountain is technically part of their jurisdiction, but they've been busy searching sea routes," Lance explained. "I asked Giovanni to go with Brock instead as backup. We gave them trackers before they left."

Lance paused. I already knew what he was going to say next.

"About ten minutes ago, we lost their locations," Lance admitted, gritting his teeth. "They weren't too deep inside the mountain yet, so we should have still been able to keep track of them. What's more, the squad we sent after them went missing, too. Either they're all lost… or they ran into serious trouble."

"You want me to go inside and find them," I said slowly.

It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Yes," Lance replied matter-of-factly, but he was frowning. "I'm not going to send any more League Trainers in. I can't. If we assume Giovanni and Brock got caught up in a fight, and I can only hope they're still okay, then that enemy was strong enough to take on two Gym Leaders. We need to send in a group capable of facing that unknown threat."

"That's where you come in, Leader Arin," Lorelei said, taking over. She gestured between me and Lance. "We'd like you to be a part of the rescue force. Your team's prowess warrants it. Lance wanted to go in himself, but we told him it's too risky with so many unknowns. If something happened to the Champion, the country would descend into chaos."

So they wanted another Champion-level trainer to go in instead. Lance said nothing, but I could see how displeased he was about having to sit around. His eye twitched.

Now that I had a better understanding of the situation, I offered a curt nod.

"Then the sooner we leave, the better," I pointed out.

It went unsaid between the people present, but we were all thinking about how the missing people might be injured or worse. Perhaps they were still fighting for their lives in there.

"We know. That's why we're assembling a team from the others already here," Lance reluctantly agreed. He proceeded to rattle off names.

Bruno was coming with me. As an Aura Master and Fighting Specialist, he and his Pokemon were going to prove invaluable in the elaborate maze known as Mount Moon. Agents Looker and Mint volunteered, too. Their Pokemon teams weren't specialized in combat, but they could hold their own. Mint also proclaimed that his Ability might be useful. Apparently it had something to do with helping wild Pokemon calm down if the situation ended up that way.

Finally, Falker and Clair made up the last two members of our group. They'd both been in the area already to have their fliers help scout the surroundings. Strained relationships aside, I didn't have a problem with them. They were Gym Leaders and capable battlers first and foremost. My only worry was about how well those two would be able to battle inside the caves. I had no doubt their Elite teams were capable of fighting indoors in more cramped spaces, but they wouldn't be able to display their full capabilities like they could out in the open air.

This concern of mine was slightly assuaged by Lorelei, who informed me that Mount Moon had as many large cavernous spaces and high ceilings as it did narrow paths.

That was it. Nobody else was coming with us.

Kanto Gym Leaders had been told to stay put and safeguard the rest of the region with two of their own missing. It was much the same for Johto considering how three of us were here for this mission.

"Take these trackers and supplies," Lance urged. "Brock also gave us a copy of a map he made for Mount Moon, so you can take that with you as well."

League Trainers bustled between the members of the rescue team and handed over bags full of medical kits, water, and food. It seemed they were preparing us for any possibility out there in the caves. Meanwhile, Lance pressed a small hand drawn map into my hands. He'd already marked it with the location where Brock and Giovanni were last seen. I only needed to give it a cursory glance to determine Brock had a talent for cartography.

Flashes of light filled the clearing as we sent out Pokemon to accompany us into the cave. I tossed out colorful Pokeballs containing Vel and Grima and another pair that held Mem and Fia. The Ghosts entered my shadow. Bruno let out a Lucario and Machamp, both of whom assessed their surroundings. Falkner released a Noctowl that swiveled its head with nary a sound, and Clair let out two Dragonair that coiled around her body in a defensive manner. From Looker and Mint, a Magneton and Vileplume took their places in front of them.

When we finished, Lance paced back and forth in front of our group.

"Be careful in there. I don't want us losing any more people," he warned.

As he said that, his eyes drifted over to somewhere on my left. I shifted my head to see what he was looking at, or in this case, who. Clair's face was entirely devoid of emotion as she stood tall with impeccable posture. She pointedly ignored Lance's worried gaze.

There was clearly some sort of dissonance between the two cousins.

We only gave the briefest nods of assent to Lance before turning away. The clock was ticking. With Bruno and his Pokemon leading the group, we headed in the direction of the cave's entrance.

Darkness peered back at me.

This wasn't what I'd imagined my first excursion onto true Kantonian soil to be like, but this was the circumstance I found myself in now. Bruno disappeared into the shadowy depths first.

I followed.

Wordlessly, I entered the cave's gaping maw and took my first steps into the behemoth known as Mount Moon.

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Some time after Arin and the others went into Mount Moon, their tracker locations disappeared.

A commotion broke out among the League Trainers stationed by the monitors. Lance was with them. He swore out loud and banged his fist on the table, face contorting into a terrible expression.

"They better be alright. This might be turning into a national crisis of its own…"

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It wasn't entirely pitch black inside.

The passage we currently found ourselves in was one regularly maintained by local Rangers. Small low light lamps had been embedded in the walls at intervals. They were just barely bright enough to help illuminate our surroundings, but not so much that they would annoy the wild Pokemon who dwelled here.

Said wild Pokemon steered clear of us.

Sandshrew scurried away into nearby tunnels. Geodude eyed us warily and backed up against the walls. High up on the ceilings and hidden among stalactites, colonies of Zubat shrank in on themselves. They knew they were vastly outmatched with mere glances at our Pokemon. We ignored all of them and kept walking at a brisk pace.

I was at the front of the group with Bruno. Lucario and Magneton, who had lit itself up with Flash, stayed a few steps ahead of us to keep watch. Up above, Falkner's Noctowl glided through the air and pierced the darkness with its eyes. The cave's ceiling was high enough here that it could comfortably fly.

Vel and Grima stuck close to my sides. Every few seconds, my eyes darted down to the map in my hands.

"We keep going straight, then turn left at the next corner," I announced after a minute of tense silence.

No one answered, but our collective pace unanimously quickened.

I looked behind my shoulder briefly. There was no faint speck of light indicating the cave's entrance in the distance. That meant we were well and truly into Mount Moon now.

There was no turning back, not that we ever had the choice to begin with. We had people to find.

I focused my attention back up front. Faint lights on the walls in the distance revealed a seemingly endless route stretching on forever. It felt long, too, even more than what Brock's map suggested. Perhaps my perception was being skewed by the urgency of the situation.

As we walked, I took the chance to voice a question I hadn't been able to bring up earlier.

"Did the League evacuate all trainers from the mountain before they started searching?" I asked. My words echoed ever so slightly in the cave.

"We tried," Bruno answered in a gruff but not unkind voice. For such a large, intimidating man, his bare feet moved so lightly across the ground that I couldn't hear his footsteps at all. "We evacuated the main passages people normally use to get from one side to another, but the mountain's too big. There might be people training in the upper and lower levels that we aren't aware of… the same goes for Rockets."

Great. So not only did we have to worry about finding missing allies, but there was the possibility random trainers might have gotten caught up with Rockets in here. I kept my mouth shut as thoughts whirled around in my head, but not for long. We were coming up fast on the corner we needed to take.

Our group rounded the bend right as the cave's silence was broken.

From the cool and echoing darkness came a flurry of movement. Quickly, we ducked down under the sudden swarming horde of Zubat flying in the opposite direction. I couldn't hear anything above the sound of hundreds of beating wings and spooked cries.

Flip, flap, and fluttering down deeper into the cave, the Zubat all cleared out as fast as they had appeared. All except one, because that one must have come back hungry, hovering up above Bruno's head. If the bat had eyes, I would have said the other man was being eyeballed like a Tauros flank steak dinner, but in reality, I could hear the chirps aimed at Bruno as the Zubat used its echolocation.

Brave little guy. He had the guts to hang within striking distance of the equivalent of a superhuman.

Bruno shifted in place. I wasn't sure if he planned on swatting the bat out of the way or simply moving on with disinterest, but I held a hand out.

"Wait," I said.

My eyes lingered on the Zubat. It hadn't moved from its position in the air or made a move to attack. A steady stream of clicking sounds came from it instead.

"I think it's trying to communicate with us," I said out loud in realization. Heads turned my way, but I looked down at Vel instead. The Sylveon translated for me. What he told me instantly put me more on edge.

"This is Brock's Zubat," I announced to the group. The air became sharp with tension in an instant.

Falkner stepped forward, rattling off questions. "Are Brock and Giovanni okay? Did this Zubat get separated from them, or did it get sent out to find help—"

"He doesn't know," I interrupted Falkner with a shake of my mind. More clicks and barks filled the air as Zubat talked and Vel continued translating. "Brock sent his Zubat and Crobat to scout ahead while the group rested. When this little guy went back, they were gone. He's been flying through the caves since then trying to find them or the Crobat he was on scouting duty with."

Looker sucked in a deep breath.

"That's… not good to hear. Perhaps they were kidnapped by Rockets?" Looker reluctantly suggested.

Faces darkened all around, though they brightened when I shot that theory down.

"Zubat said it couldn't find any traces of battle."

Clair's brows furrowed. "So you're saying they just up and disappeared?"

"I'm just stating what Zubat saw," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Putting aside that issue, I'm interested in the horde of wild Zubat that passed by just now. It seemed like they were fleeing from something," Mint spoke up. He stared at Brock's Zubat with a questioning gaze. "Were they? Were you?"

Zubat screeched in response. This time, Bruno answered by way of his Lucario translating telepathically for him.

"They were. Brock's Zubat's followed them for safety in numbers," Bruno said with crossed arms. "Supposedly, the inner mountain scares them."

"How can they be scared by surroundings they're familiar with?" Clair scoffed out loud. "This is their dwelling, is it not? They've lived in these caves for most of their lives. Mount Moon is practically synonymous with Zubat."

While I wouldn't have said it in the same tone as Clair, I did agree with her words. It was odd that the local wild Pokemon population would be scared by the mountain they lived in. That was the key word here. Mountain and not humans or Rockets or large predator Pokemon.

"Whatever the case, I don't think it's wise to stay here for too long," I cut into the conversation. "We need to find the others. We can talk more on the move."

Words and nods of agreement went around. Brock's Zubat flew in a circle before swooping down, settling on my left shoulder for his newfound perch. Apparently I was the safest choice compared to the intense Bruno or frosty Clair for example. Zubat was so light that I didn't mind, but the murderous look Vel shot him made me think someone didn't like this arrangement. Zubat had no idea because he had no eyes to see with.

We pressed onward.

It was much quieter in these parts. Only the sound of our footsteps echoed across the cave walls. No one explicitly said anything, but we were unsettled enough from Zubat's story that our group subconsciously formed a tighter formation. All of our Pokemon stayed closer to us.

The new passage we were in was an offshoot of the main road that trainers didn't typically frequent, so there weren't any lights installed in the walls here. Only the Flash from Looker's Magneton kept our surroundings brightly lit. With that steady source of light, I consulted Brock's map. The others continued discussing without me.

"Brock wouldn't have left without telling his Pokemon where they were going…"

"Maybe they found Rockets and went to pursue them before they got away?"

According to Brock's map, this path would take us to several forks in the road. We needed to take the rightmost one to get closer to the location where everyone went missing. Hopefully before then, we ran into the failed rescue squad that went in ahead of us.

We'd been keeping our eyes peeled this whole time, but none of us had found traces of major battles yet. There were only days old clumps of churned earth from wild Pokemon scuffles.

That should have been reassuring, but it only made me feel more on edge instead. What happened to Brock and the others?

And exactly how long was this damn path? Were all the paths in Mount Moon of such tedious length? I was starting to think Brock's map did not truly convey the sheer size of the mountain based on my own experience thus far.

"This passage should be branching off into several different tunnels pretty soon," I eventually said loudly, hoping I was heard over the ongoing discussion in the background. I was still poring over the map. "We take the one on the right when we get there."

More than a few people stopped in place.

"What are you talking about?" Falkner asked slowly.

I already did not like that tone of voice he was using. It was the kind that implied something was wrong.

Clair helpfully elaborated with an ominous statement even before I looked up.

"It's a dead end."

She was right.

Looker's Magneton had upped the intensity of its light. The increase in radius made it easier for us to see further ahead, and just beyond the reach of its light, in the half-gloom made less obscure by Flash…

A wall of rock blocked us in.

Magneton even floated further ahead to shed light directly on the dead end, but we hadn't seen wrong. There were no branching paths.

"That can't be right," I frowned. "I've been keeping track of our location this whole time. The path wasn't supposed to suddenly cut off here."

"May I see the map?" Falkner asked, brows furrowing as he walked over. The others followed him.

I was more than happy to hand the map over to them.

"Here."

"…He's right. We should have hit a fork in the road on the map right now, not… wherever this is."

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While they bent their heads low and inspected the map, I glanced at the dead end we'd found ourselves in. Bruno and his Lucario had placed their palms against the rock. They noticed me staring and looked my way.

"We were trying to see if there's anything on the other side," Bruno explained, lifting his hand away from the wall. He rolled his shoulders. "We could always make a path."

No doubt by blasting through the rock with Aura, but I wasn't so keen on that idea. It was not the best move to rile up local wild Pokemon any more than necessary and disturb the ecosystem—

I stilled.

Earlier, I'd thought about how quiet it was in this part of the caves. It also occurred to me right now that we hadn't seen a single wild Pokemon since going down this path. No Sandshrew digging holes, no Geodude wrestling with each other, not even more Zubat hiding up on the ceilings.

Something wasn't right.

I turned around to express my concerns to the others and stilled once again. I was no master of cave exploration, but even I could tell the path behind us was not the same one it'd been going in. Instead of a straight road, what I saw was a passage that split into one large tunnel and two smaller ones.

Something definitely wasn't right.

"Hey," I called. I had to repeat it a second time before the others stopped talking, and I pointed in the direction we'd come from.

The moment their gazes followed my outstretched arm, faces paled.

"The path did not look like that before," Falkner finally said, breaking the silence.

"No, it did not," I agreed dryly.

"But how?" Mint argued. I gave props to him for managing to keep a calm tone under these bizarre circumstances.

Bruno lumbered over at that moment with a remarkably composed expression. "For now, let's go back the way we came."

Nobody argued.

We walked down the passage in silence. Looker's Magneton was practically a miniature sun by now with how much light it was giving off. With the extra light, we had a better idea of our surroundings as we attempted to return to the main passage that had lamps in the walls.

We attempted and failed.

When we rounded the corner, we saw a spiraling passage that all of us definitely remembered not traversing before. Bruno didn't stop to look for more than a few seconds before he turned right back around. Again, we followed him.

And again, we found ourselves in an unknown passage. More specifically, we found ourselves in a huge cavernous space with a small tunnel at the back. Bruno took one step into the tunnel, peered through the darkness, then came back and rejoined our group.

"It's like the mountain's alive…" I murmured out loud.

On my shoulder, Brock's Zubat gave a pitiful squeak and made himself smaller. Was this what made him and the other Zubat so frightened before?

"That's nonsense," Clair immediately said, catching what I said. She looked outwardly calm, but her voice sounded strained as she glared into the darkness beyond. "It seems more likely that this is something of Team Rocket's doing."

"Making the whole mountain physically shift?" Falkner questioned with an unimpressed look. "Because that's what this is looking like so far. We can't rely on this map any longer."

"We can't go back, but we can't go forward either…" I heard Bruno mutter to himself.

He and his Lucario closed their eyes in unison, perhaps to scope out our surroundings through Aura. They did not get to meditate for long. Looker pointed out another terrible fact.

"The tracking devices we were given… they're not working," he told us, waving around said item in his hand.

I looked down at the one that had been attached to my own bag. Its green light had flickered out of existence.

"Well, at least they'll know we ran into trouble," Falkner commented offhandedly, crossing his arms.

I was too busy trying to unravel this mystery to respond.

The paths were seemingly shifting or transforming. I could cross hallucinations off the list. We hadn't inhaled any spores from wandering Parasect or the like.

Next, there was the idea that it could be a massive illusion, but I found this unlikely. Something of this scale implied a powerful Psychic or Ghost type following us to maintain the effects. Bruno and his Pokemon would have sensed something was off with Aura by now. There weren't any such Pokemon native to Mount Moon who could pull this stunt, so it had to be the work of a Rocket's Pokemon instead—

My head snapped up so fast that I almost gave myself whiplash.

Native Pokemon. A mountain that seemed alive. Transforming paths. The skewed perception I'd felt earlier when we first entered Mount Moon.

The pieces were coming together, and they fell in place with a click.

I dropped into a crouch. I felt people watching me with confusion from around the clearing, but they felt distant to me as I pressed a hand against the floor and leaned into it. My eyes narrowed with concentration. Vel and Grima seemingly caught onto what I was trying because they began to focus on our surroundings, too.

We listened.

Soft exhales emerged from breathing. Pea-sized rocks came loose from the walls and tumbled across the floor. Rustling echoed from clothes as people minutely shifted in place.

We ignored all of these sounds and delved deeper into the very world itself.

If I peeled away that layer… if I peeled away the tremor that vibrated against my hand, perhaps from a Pokemon burrowing underground… then underneath all of that was a very familiar energy, one that had melded itself so completely with its surroundings that it became the world itself.

Thump.

I felt the heartbeat of a living mountain.

The Pull was strong. Now that I had actually felt for and sensed it, the earth beneath my fingertips thrummed more strongly with life in response. Mount Moon could sense my recognition and acknowledgement of the powers that sustained it.

And it was insane. The deeper I let my consciousness reach out, the more amazed I was by the vast network that I uncovered— the veins of Belief that ran through and underneath this entire piece of land.

The corners of my lips rose in a triumphant smile.

"Bingo."

My Pokemon had already grasped the situation as well. I let go of the floor and rose back into a standing position. Bruno and the others looked at me with thinly-veiled anticipation that was equal parts bewilderment.

Before they could ask, I answered.

"It's the local Clefairy and Clefable," I told them. "They're the ones making the mountain change."

More than a few brows flew up, Clair chief among them.

"How?" she demanded in disbelief. "I find it hard to believe such small… Pokemon… could affect all of Mount Moon. I have been told they are few in number, too."

I shook my head.

"Do you know the saying 'words are power?'" I asked instead. I waited until people nodded before continuing. "There are Pokemon out there and throughout history that have gained power through worship. A similar idea applies here. Stories and words give rise to meaning. They're rooted in belief, something that basically defines Fairy Pokemon."

I looked around the room.

"Let me ask you this: how old is Mount Moon? How long have the Clefairy been here?"

My hypothetical questions were met with silence. I saw realization begin to dawn on people's faces as they realized the direction this conversation was going.

"To put it very simply, they've both been around a long time. And because so many stories have been told of Mount Moon and the Clefairy over the years, it's given them unimaginable influence over the mountain," I said, trailing off.

"Fairies use the power of belief to affect reality. The Clefairy of Mount Moon? Their belief is especially strong. It's rooted in this land they've lived on for centuries. They're capable of warping the entire inner structures and making it so that anyone inside can't navigate like normal. I would wager it's because their strongest wish involves not being found."

Looker spoke up at this moment, a thoughtful expression having overtaken his features. "Why warp this part of the mountain then? We aren't anywhere close to where they live, I presume. I would imagine they live deeper inside and only turn back travelers who get close to them."

That question was one I'd been pondering myself. I don't think anything like this had ever happened before, otherwise it might have made the news or Lance would have warned us in advance.

"My best guess is that they feel threatened. So, they've expanded their influence past its usual range," I replied. "By what, I think it's highly likely to be Team Rocket. The Clefairy probably sensed such strong evil within their domain and are doubling down on efforts to keep people away from their home… affecting everyone else in the mountain in the process."

"Brock, Giovanni, and everyone else probably went missing because of the Clefairy," Bruno realized out loud. "If they're warping reality itself, no wonder they went off the grid."

"All of… this, only through the power of belief?" Mint asked, gesturing vaguely to the space around us.

I gave a somber nod. "Yes."

"You're sure about it?" Falkner inquired next.

"I'd stake it on my honor as a Fairy Specialist."

That wasn't a light statement to make. All Specialists had pride in their chosen specialty, the craft they'd honed for years and made their own. Falkner stared at me a little longer before nodding, apparently satisfied.

"Alright," a new voice spoke up. It was Clair. The woman looked at me with a serious expression. "Then what do we do next?"

I grinned, glad that she'd asked and even more so that she apparently chose to believe me.

"Brock and company are probably still nearby. To make any progress in finding them, we're going to chip away at this reality and go back to our own."

I was moving even before I finished. From my belt, I unhooked a Dream Ball and clicked it. Out sprang a familiar puffball from the ensuing string of light. Lico the Scream Tail looked at me with expectant eyes, tiny fangs peeking out of his mouth.

"Lico, do what you do best. Make some noise and destroy the Belief around us," I told him. I was quick to hold up a finger when the Scream Tail jumped up and down excitedly. "But do NOT bring the house down."

It would have been hard to explain to Lance later why his subordinates were buried underneath the rubble of collapsed caves, never mind a ruined mountain.

Lico booed at me but ultimately agreed. With a hop, he floated up into the air and opened his mouth.

"Brace yourselves," I warned everyone else. "It's not going to sound pleasant."

That was the only warning they got before Lico sang.

A steady stream of quiet yet wretched notes filled the air. They were worse than the sound of metal trains grinding against tracks as they pulled into stations, more excruciating than knives being scraped against bottles, and uglier than the final death throes of a pitiful being.

In spite of everything, somehow it all blended together in the semblance of a meaningful song.

Lico preferred screaming over singing, but his face was still alight with a huge smile of glee as he threw his head back. My Scream Tail marched to the beat of his own drum. He couldn't have cared less about the world around him, only for what he could wrench away from it and make his own.

What he truly reveled in was breaking things. The song he sang now was one that promised destruction.

We were up against a whole mountain and centuries worth of influence at the very least. The Clefairy had the home advantage here. What was a few years or a decade's worth of experience in the face of such overwhelming presence?

I smiled, watching as Lico bared his fangs. None of that meant anything to him. My team and I had not gained the strength we had today from sitting around on our hands. We'd fought with tooth, nail, claw, and feathers to build a place for ourselves in this world.

We could not exactly blow up this mountain, but we could break it piece by piece.

Everyone grimaced as the dissonant outpouring of musical notes grew just a bit louder. An almost maniacal fervor tinged Lico's saffron eyes with bright crimson as he waved his stubby arms around. He almost looked like a mad conductor directing an orchestra into the final stretch.

The air hissed. People jumped when the air in the cavern grew distorted, cracks running through the space as if we were trapped inside a glass jar.

From those cracks, angry whispers drifted outwards. Lico applied more pressure onto reality with the Belief imbued in his dreadful song.

You will break.

The mountain pushed back and echoed its refusal. Lico only grinned wider.

There was never any room for negotiation to begin with.

A moment of silence passed as Lico took a breath, and when he sang anew—

Reality shattered.

Cracks turned into full-fledged gouges that split the air from top to bottom. Angry whispers faded into muted echoes. Walls shimmered.

I didn't even have time to blink. We were no longer in a large cavern but a smaller one with an even tinier pond. Some Paras scuttled along puddles by the walls.

We were also not alone.

Standing just shy of twenty feet away from us, five men and women in dark uniforms and Pokemon of their own stared at us with obvious surprise. We looked back with equal shock. Neither party had expected to see the other appear out of nowhere. Our realities had merged after Lico brought down the one the Clefairy had put in place.

Bruno lunged before the first yell could rip itself out of a Rocket member's throat.

With incredible speed, he closed the short distance in an instant and slammed the nearest person to the ground. Their hands were wrestled away from grabbing any Pokeballs. His Lucario was even faster. It blurred forward with Extreme Speed and incapacitated three people with swift strikes at pressure points. They dropped like flies.

Clair got the last one. A fast-traveling arc of electricity went spinning through the air from her Dragonair's orb and rendered the final Rocket useless. She spasmed from the Thunder Wave on the cave floor.

The rest of us took care of the hostile Pokemon. The muscular arms of Bruno's Machamp reached out and grabbed three Arbok by the tails, smashing them into the cave wall. Nearby, Vel immobilized a Houndoom by sapping it of the will to fight with his ribbons, and Grima let hair shoot outwards from his body. A Raticate was choked into unconsciousness. From above, Falkner's Noctowl Hypnotized a pair of Poliwrath into fitful slumber.

We stared at the collection of newly fallen people and Pokemon around us. Agents Looker and Mint didn't even get to do anything between the fast-paced action.

"Answer me!" Bruno's voice cut roughly through the quiet of the cave. He was speaking to the Rocket he'd restrained. "Where is your base of operations in Mount Moon? What is your objective?"

"I-It hurts! It hurts! Get off me!" the man screamed in response, struggling as best he could.

Bruno only pressed down harder on the man's neck with his hand. His left knee dug into the Rocket's back.

"Answer the questions," he hissed.

When the Rocket didn't respond, Bruno gave his neck a slight squeeze. Brief as it was, it still hurt. An undignified squeal of pain filled the air.

"Fine! I-I'll talk!" the Rocket choked out. He gasped for breath as Bruno relieved the pressure around his neck. "Our base is down on the lower floors. I don't know the exact location, I-I swear. It's like a maze in this fucking mountain."

"And your objective?"

"Proton said… he said to find the Clefairy. He wanted 'em for something. T-The people back at the base are harvesting as many fossils and Moon Stones as possible. For money I guess, I don't know. I swear I'm just doing what I'm told!"

Bruno glanced up briefly to share looks with us.

"And who is this Proton?" he asked carefully.

"Executive. He's an Executive."

His words were met with silence. Provided he was speaking the truth, we just got ahold of some valuable intel.

The Team Rocket organization seemed to be as large and complex as we'd suspected.

"Please, I'm just one of many foot soldiers under their command. I don't know a lot. Have mercy on me…" the man whimpered. He'd stopped struggling a long time ago.

Bruno didn't let up.

"So we've got wandering Rockets going after the Clefairy and their base somewhere below us," he said, directing his words at us. He raised his head with a steely gaze. "Plus, we still need to find the missing people."

"I think we should head for the base right away," Falkner suggested, speaking quickly. "They're going to notice if their members don't come back on time. They might even decide to pack up and escape."

"And forego the Clefairy?" Clair raised a brow. I had not expected her to defend the Clefairy, but it turned out she had good reasoning for it. "We just saw what those Pokemon are capable of. I don't think it's wise to give the Rockets that kind of power."

"Clair's right. And before anything else, we need to regroup with Brock and the others. That's what Lance sent us in for originally," I added.

"…True," Falkner finally said, dipping his head in assent.

Speaking up, I addressed the rest of the room. "We've got too many bases to cover and too little time. Falkner IS right in that the Rockets could slip away. They'll probably notice something is wrong at some point. So here's what I propose…"

I pointed at the ceiling.

"We find our missing allies first. Then we go pay a visit to the Clefairy. As important as finding the Rocket base is, we only have a general idea of its location. Mount Moon and especially its underground area is massive. That could take weeks to cover. My Pokemon can keep breaking sections of the mountain that they're distorting with their powers, but it's going to take too much time that we don't have. I'd rather ask the Clefairy to stop what they're doing and make it easier on all of us to navigate. With luck, maybe they even know where exactly the Rocket base is."

"What about sending word to Champion Lance and the rest of the forces waiting outside?" Looker asked.

"After we meet the Clefairy," I decided. "If we can get them on our side, Lance and the others will be able to move through the mountain unhindered. We'll have backup for taking down the Rocket base."

"Let's do that," Bruno instantly agreed. "I can agree to that plan."

He finally got up from the ground and dragged the captured Rocket up by the arms with him. I waited to see what everyone else thought, but I didn't have to wait long. They all understood we were running against the clock more than ever here.

Decisions were made in an instant. The others agreed.

"Then it's settled. Let's go," I said firmly.

Bruno's Machamp easily picked up all five Rockets. One of the unconscious ones was even slung around his neck like an accessory. Their Pokemon were recalled and their Pokeballs stuffed into a bag. Looker and Mint took turns interrogating the still conscious Rockets for more information as we walked.

Now that we were playing a game of break the world, we were all on high alert as Lico led the way with more dreadful singing. We didn't know if more Rockets would be revealed to us as the lines between realities blurred.

As it happened, we did have several other encounters. Space cracked and shifted as we hurried along, and uniformed members blinked into existence.

Bruno and his Pokemon took on the majority of the fighting for us to save time on needless scuffles. Eventually, he had to send out a second and third Machamp to help carry captured Rockets.

The sight of them carrying armfuls of people like sacks of flour might have been humorous in any other situation.

I had Brock's map back in my hand. With Lico tearing down one section of the cave after another, the layout of the mountain was finally returning to normal… at least in our general area. I could only hope Brock and the others had stayed put after realizing the mountain was shifting around them. If so, it was likely they were still somewhere close to where they'd last been seen.

About thirty minutes later, Lico's singing shattered yet another false passage around us. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Bruno kicked off from the ground. My hand shot out and yanked the collar of Falkner's haori, making him stumble backwards. We could not have moved any sooner.

The ground ahead of us had turned into quicksand. Parts of it bubbled with steaming acid. In front of us, a Nidoking and Kabutops pulled back their respective horn and scythes in preparation.

Vel tensed at my side—

"WAIT!"

Two familiar voices made everyone pause. The Pokemon in front of us physically froze in place and turned back questioningly. It was now I finally took in the situation.

We stood in the mouth of a tunnel. Beyond the shadows in the cavern beyond, and between the gaps of the hulking Pokemon in front of us… two sorely-missed faces peered at us from afar.

Giovanni and Brock both heaved sighs of relief.

"Nidoking! Let them through," Giovanni called out. Brock gave a similar instruction to his Kabutops.

Both Pokemon shuffled off to the sides, but not before the Nidoking waved an armored hand at the hazardous floor in front of us. The poison evaporated, and the quicksand solidified into even ground.

I tested it by placing a single foot. Yep, it was safe.

We trudged into the cavern one after another. I could see now that Brock, Giovanni, and what seemed like all the missing League Trainers were here together. A barely noticeable weight left my shoulder as Zubat took flight. He chirped to get a sense of his bearings with echolocation, then flew straight towards Brock. The bat nuzzled his owner's face with delight.

"Zubat," I heard Brock breathe out loud. The teenager directed a shaky smile at me as we approached. "Thank you, Arin. I was worried about him."

I shook my head. "I'd like to say we found him, but it was the other way around."

Brock nodded, but he was busy looking around us instead of at us. I remembered what Zubat had told us earlier and opened my mouth.

"We didn't come across your Crobat. Sorry."

"Oh," Brock said, shoulders deflating a bit. I was quick to raise a hand.

"I think he's probably fine, though. Just a bit lost."

Giovanni and Brock both stared at me.

"'Lost?'" Brock echoed.

"I'm glad to see you all, but that begs the question: why and how are you all here?" Giovanni added with scrunched brows. His eyes darted to the Rocket members Bruno's Machamp were carrying. "And… I see you ran into trouble."

"Long story. We don't have a lot of time, but…"

Our group exchanged information with theirs as fast as possible.

The story went as thus: Brock and Giovanni had realized something was off after Brock's Pokemon didn't come back. They tried moving around a bit and came to the second realization that the mountain was seemingly moving around. So, as I'd suspected, they decided to stay put for the time being to try and figure out what was going on. Then we happened to come along.

I was simply grateful we'd found them at all and unharmed at that. What a story this would be later when I told Lance that yes, it turned out Brock and Giovanni didn't fall prey to a vicious Rocket but were genuinely lost instead… due to the unintended machinations of desperate Fairies.

And speaking of Fairies—

"I should have guessed it was the Clefairy," Brock said with a frustrated sigh, rubbing his temples. "I've seen them pull similar stunts when trainers get uncomfortably close to where they live, but never anything on a massive scale like this. I never imagined something like this was even possible."

I smiled wryly. Fairies could be real pains when they wanted to be.

"We can talk more later. Can you guide us to the Clefairy? You know where they are, right?" I asked.

Brock nodded resolutely. "Of course I do. The Takeshi family has helped negotiate with them for generations. I can guide you there as long as you return the passages to normal."

"Done. You just guide the way."

We set off at a brisk pace.

With Brock leading the way, there was no need for a map. He was the map. The Pewter Gym Leader knew Mount Moon like the back of his hand, and thanks to him, we made fast, steady progress climbing up to the upper levels of the mountain.

We ran into a few more Rockets that Bruno and Giovanni quickly took out, but their numbers thinned out to essentially zero the higher up we got. There was a reason for that, and it affected our group, too.

The Clefairy were stronger up here.

Down at the ground level, the reality distortion was discreet. Up here?

Their Beliefs sang loudly from the walls, the ground, the air, and underneath every rock and stone we passed. It was practically suffocating.

Stay away, they said. You can't find us.

One of the League Trainers complained of a headache first, then the rest of our group swiftly followed. Even Brock felt nauseous. That surprised me because I assumed he had a good relationship with the Clefairy considering his family had a long history with them.

It seemed the Clefairy were just that desperate to keep everyone out to think about who was getting caught up in their magic.

Out of everyone, Clair had it the worst. It was like the Clefairy could sense a Dragon user among us, and the Beliefs in the air swarmed around her with their invisible force. Clair almost collapsed to her knees from the pressure the Clefairy were exerting from afar.

To remedy the situation, I had Vel create his own sphere of influence around our group, but there were too many of us and too many opposing Beliefs in the air to compete with. The resulting layer wasn't as thick as he would have liked. The headaches didn't completely disappear, but everyone felt well enough to walk at least.

"How are… you fine?" Falkner wheezed out at some point, coughing.

Compared to the pale faces of everyone around me, I walked along with a remarkably calm expression. I scratched my cheek.

"It feels nice, like… being wrapped with blankets by the fireplace or something. It's comforting."

Falkner and Clair both looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

Internally, I thanked my Ability and history as a Fairy Specialist.

Hours crawled by. Lico didn't get tired of singing. He was full of energy even at this point in our journey up the mountain, but he did have to expend more effort breaking down the reality up here. The closer we got to the Clefairy, the more concentrated their Beliefs were, and the harder it was to erase the magic they'd engraved in the land.

I honestly lost track of time at some point. With all the reality warping and breaking going on, it was hard to keep a grasp on my reasoning even if I was immune to the Clefairy shenanigans. Worse, people were getting more and more tired.

I even thought I'd have to break off from them soon to go the rest of the way myself.

So, when a Clefairy seemingly popped out of nowhere in front of us, I almost sighed out loud in relief.

It seemed we'd made enough noise right on their doorstep for them to come to us instead.

The pink Pokemon pointed at me and Brock before it toddled back a step. The meaning was clear even if it did not speak.

Only us two humans were allowed to go further from here.

I relayed the news to the others and grasped Brock's shaking arm with my hand.

"Come on," I encouraged softly.

Brock nodded with an almost delirious expression. I hoisted his arm over my shoulder so he could use me as support and nodded at the Clefairy. It didn't spare us more than a glance before walking forward, seemingly disappearing into the wall.

We followed. My three Pokemon came with us.

What I saw after walking into the rocky wall was a sea of stars.

It was as if we were adrift in space, but I knew better. This was simply part of the Clefairy altering the space around us. I kept my eyes trained on the Fairy walking ahead and marched after it.

Brock felt less and less sluggish the longer we walked. Eventually, he felt well enough that he could move on his own. I wondered if the Clefairy were taking pity on him.

Soon, a white light shone at the end of the sea of stars. Clefairy waved at us before skipping through it.

I didn't know what to expect when we passed through, but a defensive brigade of Clefairy and Clefable was admittedly near the top of the list.

We'd emerged into a large cavernous space with an open roof. Real, true stars twinkled down at us from above. Gentle rays of moonlight fell upon us like shawls from the moon. Despite how beautiful everything looked, I felt like my vision was being blocked. The air behind the wild Pokemon rippled. It was as if something was being hidden from me.

One of the Clefable near the front of the group raised a hand in greeting.

Come, it beckoned to me, but I ignored it.

My eyes wandered over the sea of Clefairy and Clefable instead. Eventually, my gaze settled on one of them. Out of all the Clefable in the room, I was looking not at the biggest individual or even the one that openly radiated the most power.

I looked at the small Clefable standing in between two others of similar height, the one that had carefully hidden its presence for naught. I had sensed it the moment I stepped into this cavernous space.

"Greetings," I said with a knowing smile, and I dipped my head in respect. "May the grace of the Moon shine on you always."

Nobody moved. Not me, Brock, the other Pokemon in the room, or the Clefable I had made eye contact with.

After what seemed like an eternity, she smiled at me.

Greetings, Friend of Fairies.

Her voice leaked with unsung power and a millennium of influence.

This was the real leader of Mount Moon.

A Guardian Clefable.