Chapter 3
The sun was now at its highest point in the sky; its rays shone down through the clouds and unto Sylveon as she ran across the grasslands. The mountain in the distance grew larger and larger as she quickened up her pace. After a few minutes Sylveon was finally at her destination: the base of the large mountain. She stopped to catch her breath and looked up at the massive rock that protruded from the Earth. She looked back down and saw an opening within the mountain. She had no idea where it led or what creatures lie there, but she didn't care. She was determined. After a deep breath she slowly made her way into the cave.
It wasn't far before the light from outside diminished and gave way to complete darkness. Sylveon didn't take two steps before she stumbled over something in the darkness and fell over. She heard the sound of her fall reverberate through the cave until it was silent once again. She got up and continued to cut a path into the darkness. She tripped and ran into stalagmites many times, but continued walking nevertheless. Finally she ran into a rock wall that impeded her progress. Surrounded in darkness, the solid wall that blocked her progress reminded her of her own limitations that she could not overcome. Frustrated and on the verge of tears, she closed her eyes and hit the ground as hard as she could with her right paw. At that moment a burst a light emanated from her that illuminated the entire cavern. Her confusion as to what had happened was cut short when a horde of zubat that was hanging from the ceiling above her began to fly off to a nearby passageway, disturbed by the sudden burst of light. Their shrieks penetrated the air and startled Sylveon so bad that she immediately fell to the floor and covered her head with both her paws. A moment after the zubats had flown away she raised her head and examined the now visible cavern. She saw the passageway the zubats had flown into and discovered that it led higher into the mountain. Still shaken up by what had happened, she shakily continued up the cavern.
The ascending passageway led to another level of the cavern. Sylveon traversed this level much quicker than the last and it wasn't long until she spotted a raised ledge that led to an exit outside. Sylveon put her front legs next to her hind legs, bent her knees, and jumped as high as she could in an attempt to reach the ledge. She grabbed the edge with her front paws and sunk her claws into the rock to get a good enough grip to pull herself up. She kicked the wall with her hind legs and was able to push herself up. She took a deep breath, turned, and looked at the floor below her. Something about her endeavor bothered her. It took all her strength to leap a few feet and pull herself up unto a ledge any other pokemon could easily ascend. It all seemed so trivial. She frowned and finally exited the cavern.
Outside the cave was a small ledge that jutted out from the mountain. Sylveon took a step outside and gasped at the sight of the faraway forest and plains. The plains appeared golden thanks to the sun's rays and forest was greener than she had ever seen it before. She has lived in the forest for a while now but has never been able to appreciate its true beauty, until now that is. Remembering why she came here in the first place, Sylveon snapped out of the trance of the hypnotizing scenery and examined where the pathway she was on led. She saw that it coiled up around the mountainside but was unable to determine where it ended. She looked down and saw a sheer drop to the ground. Resolute, she pressed onward.
Sylveon hugged the mountainside as she slowly ascended the spiraling pathway; she wasn't fond of heights. Suddenly a rock tumbled down past her and fell all the way to the ground. She must have waited a full minute before she heard it hit the ground. She swallowed her trepidation and continued up. She heard something scurry behind her and turned around to find nothing behind her. She heard the scurrying behind her again and turned back around to find nothing. Getting nervous, she continued up the path with a quickened pace. The next time she heard the scurrying behind her a sharp pain in her back left leg came with it. She yelped and turned around to see a wild durant clamped unto her back leg. She shook it loose and knocked it off the mountain. Her victory was short lived when she noticed three more durant behind her. She tried to run away but the metal ants were too fast for her. One durant bit her back right leg, completely immobilizing her, while the other two began to continuously bite all over her body. Their pincers were hard as steel and sunk their way deep into her flesh. She cried in agony at their relentless assault. She closed her eyes as tears began to form from the pain and desperately thought of something she could do to save herself. She remembered how easily the dragon burned that wild scizor from earlier this morning. At that moment she opened her eyes and released a mysterious, hidden power that ignited all the durant attacking her. It took only a few seconds for all the durant to burn to a crisp.
Sylveon was not only exhausted but also severely wounded after the durant's attack; both her hind legs were bloody and crippled, her stomach was bleeding badly from all the bites she suffered, and the durants even managed to reopen the wound on her right ear from earlier that morning. Even though she was in such bad shape, she used her front legs to slowly crawl up the pathway. She was determined; nothing would stop her, or so she thought. After a few minutes the world suddenly grew very dark just as her front legs stopped moving. She closed her eyes and faded away into unconsciousness.