I do not own Pokemon or the characters' species, but I own the characters.

Cave-In

A black creature darted across the white landscape. There was a flash of motion in the trees ahead of it, and it sped up slightly, eyes narrowing into slits. Its ears, one black like the rest of it but the other a bright red, were facing forward in order to catch all the sound they could. Sharp claws were held at the ready, in anticipation of the catch.

You won't get away this time! The Sneasel's breath was visible in front of him as white puffs, and his feet crunched a thin, hard layer of snow which lay across the ground. He caught another glimpse of his quarry, a white and gray bird-like creature. A grin crossed the Sneasel's face. No one gets away from Lavan in the end!

Then the Sneasel, Lavan, stopped and looked around, breathing hard. He could no longer hear the flapping of his quarry's wings, or sense its movement. It must have gone to its nest. It should be around here somewhere…

Lavan glimpsed a mass of sticks high up in a tree, and he grinned again, in anticipation. Carefully and silently he crossed to the tree. Once he reached said tree's base, he began to scurry up the trunk, clinging to it with the claws on his arms and feet. Within only a few moments he had reached the same level as the nest, but was careful to position himself on the opposite side of the tree.

He slowly began to sidle around to the branch. Craning his head, he saw the small bird-like Pokemon sitting serenely in the nest, on top of several gleaming eggs. It must think it got away, the Sneasel thought. It's in for a surprise…

Carefully he stepped onto the branch with first one foot, then the other. Soon he was balancing on top of the thin branch. He began to move toward the nest; it was only a foot or so away, and his prey still hadn't noticed him…

Then it turned and saw him, its eyes widening. He cursed and jumped at it, claws extended to catch it before it could fly away, but with a rush of wings it left him grasping only loose feathers.

Lavan was left without support due to his sudden lunge. He grabbed at the branch to try and steady himself, but it was frosted over with ice and his claws slipped. He cursed again as he lost his balance and began to fall. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for impact.

There was a thud, and the dull pain of impact in his shoulder as it struck the ground, but then, suddenly, the ground gave way. His eyes shot open in surprise before he fell even further, loose dirt and snow all around him.

He struck the ground again, but this time he struck hard rock. He winced in pain at the landing. The dirt and snow followed a moment later.

For a long moment, he lay there, stunned and partially buried. Finally he blinked and began to stir. With a groan, he sat up, pushing rubble off of himself, and looked around at his new surroundings.

To his dismay, on looking up he saw that the hole through which he'd fallen was far above. Much too far to jump out, and, judging by the sheerness and shiny slickness of the walls, much too far to climb, too. But other than the small bit of light from above, the cavern which Lavan now found himself in was dim and gloomy. He glanced to his left, and saw, instead of a wall like the one to his right and front and behind him, a deep blackness that stretched away into the unknown.

Lavan paused to consider his situation. After a moment, he stood with some effort and made his way to one wall. Reaching out, he felt it with his claw. It was made of solid rock, and was as slick with wetness as it appeared.

Well, this sucks. Lavan tried to climb up the wall, but couldn't even get a grip on it. After a few tries he gave up and turned away, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a sigh of exasperation. This really sucks.

Something suddenly caught his eye. From the depths of the cavern, across from him, there had been a barely-detectible movement within the darkness. He froze.

"…Is anyone there?" he called.

There was no response. He began to cautiously make his way over, staying low instinctually. When he judged he was about where he thought the movement had come from, he waved a claw in front of himself but found nothing.

…Did I just imagine that? he wondered, but he soon dismissed that possibility. His eyes never lied. In any case, the cavern went further in this direction, and he clearly was not going to be able to get out the way he'd come in. After a moment of further thought, Lavan continued forward cautiously.

The hole disappeared as he entered some sort of tunnel. Lavan paused to let his eyes adjust, and then was able to see the walls to his right and left thanks to the faint light behind him. However, it became fainter with each step, and as he continued it soon was gone completely.

For a long time he wandered around, sometimes able to walk upright, but often forced by the low ceiling to crawl. He wondered what had made these tunnels, and while he considered the possibility of a Diglett or Trapinch, he never met anything else. And he was sure that they were multiple tunnels; often he felt, though he did not see them, openings in one wall where the tunnel branched off. He soon realized he was lost, but while this realization worried him, he did not try to backtrack. It wasn't as if there was anything that way that might help him.

He had been hungry before, hence why he'd been hunting, but after a while of crawling through the tunnels his hunger grew. Soon it was nearly unbearable. He ignored it, concentrating on keeping moving.

Then, he found something.

Lavan was crawling on his knees when he felt his claw bump into something. He immediately froze, ears straining to listen. There was no further noise or motion. After a moment, he cautiously reached out with one claw and fumbled around for the thing he had bumped into. It might have been a rock, but for some reason it felt softer than that…

He soon found it. It was something small, round, and strangely soft. He picked it up in his claws out of curiosity, and it produced a squishing noise. Something wet and sticky poured out over his claw, making him grimace. However, a sweet fragrance then filled the tunnel around him, which he found he recognized. He brought the thing to his mouth and licked it. It tasted sweet and very familiar.

…A Pecha Berry, he thought. Without even hesitating, he gave in to his hunger and ate it, licking the juices off of his claws afterward. It wasn't very filling, but it did help, and it tasted especially wonderful after all the time he'd spent in this tunnel.

He then paused, as he remembered that berries did not grow underground. So where did this one come from? He wondered if he had stumbled into the lair of some burrowing Pokemon. But if so, then where is the rest of its food? And its nest…?

He decided that the faster he got out, the better. So he started moving again, although the question of how the berry had gotten there continued to nag at him…

He began to feel as if something, or someone, was watching him as he moved. However, every time he stopped to look around, he saw absolutely nothing. Soon he stopped looking altogether, and just began to move faster.

Before long, his claw bumped against something soft again. He stopped, reaching out and feeling it. This time, it was a much bigger object. He kneeled and grabbed it with both claws, sinking them into it. Pulling one claw out of the object, he then licked the juices that now soaked it. It had a dull sweetness to it that he did not recognize, and his stomach growled in response to the taste, reminding him of how hungry he was.

Shrugging, he decided to listen to his stomach rather than his brain; he figured it was worth the chance that it was harmful because otherwise he might die of hunger. He devoured the thing slowly, finding that he liked the taste. Once he finished, he licked the last traces off his claws and, with a sigh, continued forward.

Not long after this, he thought he suddenly saw a light up ahead. It was a dim, gray light, but there was no mistaking it. Lavan hurried toward it, encouraged.

It was then that he stepped on something, making a squish noise. He stopped in his tracks, looking down in puzzlement. He then lifted his foot slowly. Something was stuck to the bottom of his foot.

Grimacing, he leaned against a wall of the tunnel and scraped it off of his foot, then sniffed it. It was another Berry. "Nice," he muttered. Then his stomach gave a pang of hunger. After only a moment's hesitation, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed.

Turning back to the light ahead, he kept going.

At first, it seemed that no matter how long he walked, the light wasn't getting any closer. Then it began to get brighter, and he started to make out the shapes of the black rock walls. Eventually, the tunnel walls fell away, and he emerged into a much larger cavern. Glancing up, he saw a crack in the ceiling, the source of the sunlight.

At first Lavan wondered if this was the same place he had first fallen into, but on looking closer, he saw that the crack was smaller, and the walls were a little less steep. He judged that he might be able to climb up to the crack, and possibly fit through it. He crossed over to one wall that looked traversable, and was about to begin climbing, when he heard a noise behind himself. "Eep!" a voice squeaked.

He spun around, raising his claws threateningly. "Who's there?" he hissed.

There, not more than a couple feet away from him, was sprawled a Pokemon. Its body was mainly a dull yellow, while other parts of it were black, but it was mostly humanoid with two arms and two legs. At first Lavan didn't recognize it, but when it quickly sat up, he saw a huge, toothy appendage attached to the back of its head. A Mawile, he realized.

It stared at him, its large red eyes looking decidedly frightened. "Um, h-hello…?" it stuttered nervously. Its voice sounded female.

Lavan didn't lower his guard. "Where did you come from?"

"Er…" The Mawile stood up slowly. "I-I… live… here?"

"Really? Why didn't I see you before, then?"

She swallowed. "W-well, I didn't kn-know if you would be friendly… So… I-I stayed… stayed hidden…"

"That sounds reasonable, I suppose." Lavan stayed alert, though. He didn't know much about Mawile, but he knew about their treacherous reputation.

The Mawile looked frozen, unsure of what to do. "…Y-you won't… won't h-hurt me?"

"Not unless you try to hurt me first. Will you do that?" Lavan asked suspiciously.

She shook her head quickly, the motion waggling the mouth on the back of her head. "N-no…"

"…Hmph." Lavan found himself wanting to believe this, but unable to. "What's your name?"

She fidgeted shyly, averting her eyes. "M-maya…"

Lavan paused, then said slowly, "I'm Lavan."

"L-lavan," she repeated. "It's… It's n-nice…"

"Okay, drop the act," Lavan suddenly demanded. He growled threateningly. "I know about your kind, you have a… reputation."

Maya glanced up at him with her wide eyes. "Um, n-no, I'm not…" She winced. "I'm not acting, I won't… I d-don't want to… to hurt you, I promise…"

"Right," Lavan muttered. Then, a thought occurred to him. "…I've found a few berries lying around down here; was it you they belonged to?"

She meekly nodded. "I… put them there s-so you wouldn't get hungry…" Her face turned a shade of pink.

He paused. "…Really? You put them there for me, specifically?"

"Y-yes… I had another one for y-you now, before I tripped… If you w-want, you can h-have it…" She reached back with one arm to the giant mouth on the back of her head, and it spat something out into her hand. She held the thing out to Lavan, averting her face shyly.

Lavan looked at the offering. It was visible in the dim light as a small, yellow berry of some kind. He paused, glancing at her, then stepped forward cautiously and took it.

He quickly realized that it was covered in saliva from her mouth. He looked at her, then asked hesitantly, "…Did you carry all of them the same way?"

She blinked, then nodded slightly. "Um, yes… W-why?"

It took all of Lavan's willpower not to throw up. "…No reason," he choked out, unconvincingly. He carefully placed the berry on the ground. "Uh, I'm not hungry right now…"

Maya looked up, blinking. Then she started to cry, tears welling up out of her eyes. "I-I kn-kn-knew it, y-you hate… hated them…" She cradled her head in her hands, water leaking out. "I-I should n-never h-have…"

Lavan was alarmed despite himself. He hastily scooped up the berry from the ground and forced himself to swallow it. "No, I liked them, don't worry… Gah, don't cry…"

"You're just… just s-saying that…" She didn't stop crying. "I'm usel-less, no one likes m-me…"

He paused, then, deciding to risk it, stepped closer to her. He grabbed one of her hands in his claw and pulled it away from her face. "That's not true. I really did like them."

She stopped crying then. Sniffling, she lifted her face up to him, blinking away tears. "…D-do you… l-like… me?" she stammered out.

Lavan blinked in surprise. "…Er, I suppose so… You haven't tried to eat me yet, which is always a plus…"

She hesitated, then put her arms around him, hugging him. "Thank… Thank you…" She was blushing faintly.

He paused, feeling just a little awkward. "…Do you mind letting go?" he asked. "You're… a little too close for comfort…"

She let go and stepped back, keeping her eyes averted. "S-sorry."

"Uh, yeah…" He brushed himself off nonchalantly, hiding the blush that had come across his own face.

There was an awkward pause. Then, Lavan spoke up again, haltingly. "Er, Maya… You wouldn't happen to know a… way out of here, would you? I'm sort of, you know, stuck down here…"

She glanced at him, seeming to think about her answer for several moments. "…Um… Y-yes, I do, but…"

"…But what?"

"Er…" She fidgeted shyly. "…N-never mind…" Turning away, she made a vague gesture as she started off into the gloom. "…Follow me…"

Lavan blinked. "Uh, sure." He hesitated just a moment, then followed.

She led him silently through the tunnels, picking directions seemingly at random. He had a hard time seeing her most of the time, although the gleam of her giant mouth-like appendage helped, and he wondered how she was able to find her way around. The fact that she never spoke didn't help his ability to keep track of her in the darkness.

Eventually, just to break the silence, he decided to start a conversation. "So, Maya… You said you lived here, but for how long? Does anything else live in these tunnels?"

She was silent for a moment, then she answered, slowly. "I… I've lived here… for as long as I can remember… I don't th-think anything else lives here, though, I think it was made… by w-water, you know… I could be wrong, though…" As soon as she finished speaking, she stopped walking, causing Lavan to nearly walk into her. "We're, um, we're here…" she said quietly, turning to look at him.

He glanced past her, seeing a faint gray light ahead. "Oh, okay. I'll be able to get out this way, right?"

She simply nodded, averting her eyes.

"Well, that's a relief…" He started toward the light. As he passed Maya, he paused, then turned to her. "By the way… thanks."

She stared at the ground, glancing up at him periodically. "…Y-you're welc-come…" she stammered, face turning a shade of pink.

He nodded, turning back toward the light. Then wordlessly, he continued toward it.

Suddenly he was tackled from behind. He grunted in surprise as he hit the ground, then he quickly rolled over, hissing and baring his claws at his attacker. When he saw who it was, however, he stopped, bewildered.

Maya was hugging him, her face buried in his chest. Her tears were leaking onto him and soaking his fur. "N-no, don't go… I-I want you to s-stay… P-please," she sobbed.

He blinked, face turning red, and patted her uncertainly with one claw. "…Er… well… that's… uh, nice, I guess," he stammered, at a loss for words. "But…"

"Please… p-please stay…" She squeezed him tighter, making him wince slightly. "I-I like y-you…"

"Uh…" He paused, uncertain. "…Is this the 'kinda sorta like' we're talking about here, or, you know, 'really like'?"

She froze. After a moment, she lifted her head and looked at him, blinking away the tears. "…U-um… I… W-well…" Her face was bright red.

"…Never mind… Don't worry about it." He sighed.

She let go and quickly got off of him, stepping back and looking away in embarrassment. "I-I…" she began to stutter, but she halted mid-sentence.

Lavan pushed himself to his feet. "Look, I have to go," he said after a moment. "There's nothing for me to eat down here, and no offense, but I like it better aboveground. But… do you want to come with me?"

She blinked, then shook her head timidly. "N-no, I can't see when it's too… too bright… I can only go out at night…"

He considered that. "Well… then… I could visit, if you want."

"…E-every day…?" she asked, a trace of hopefulness in her voice.

"Uh…" He hesitated, then nodded. "Sure."

Maya smiled for the first time, although it was barely visible and she kept her face averted. "Th-thanks…" she murmured.

Lavan grinned as well, only his smile showed fangs. "No problem." He then paused, glancing back the way they had come, and then at the Mawile. "…Just one thing, Maya. There's something I want to know."

She glanced up at him. "What…?"

"…Why did you follow me and help me? Do you do that for anyone who gets lost here?"

"Er…" She blushed furiously. "…W-well, no… N-not usually… I r-really don't know… know w-why, I-I just… U-um…"

"Uh… Oh… Okay," Lavan said awkwardly. He shook his head, then gestured at the light ahead with one claw. "Well… Thanks anyway. So, I guess I'll see you… later? Tonight?"

Maya nodded silently, still blushing.

Lavan nodded back, and then, in a quite impulsive move, moved forward and hugged her.

She froze, eyes wide. When he released her a moment later and stepped back, he saw that she was still frozen and staring blankly into space. He grinned, then turned and started off toward the light without another word.

Once he emerged into the sunlight, Lavan blinked and shielded his eyes to let them adjust. As soon as he could see, he looked around, taking stock of his surroundings and location. He was in the middle of a snow-covered forest, the same one he had always lived in.

Sighing, he set off across the snowy landscape. But before he took more than a few steps, he stopped. Turning, he looked back at where he'd come from, seeing a large, snow-covered boulder, with a dark opening in its base that led to the tunnels he'd just come from.

He smiled. "See you," he said.

Then he turned back around and continued on his way.

Author's Note: Yes, Maya is a creepy stalker. But she's an adorable creepy stalker. If that's possible.

Also, this version of the story is updated to cut down on Maya's stuttering a little. Yes, it used to be even worse. XD