Even though there aren't many in the areas surrounding Treasure town with mountains, the Grass Continent is mostly blanketed by them. Almost the entire Eastern side is covered by them with the exception of the coast, and there are no direct paths completely free of them. In order to reach the base camp the quickest way possible, we'll have to pass though the ones closest to the Southern face of the continent—known as Craggy Coast.
When we reach them a few days into the trip, some of the areas along the path are so narrow that I understand why we were divided into groups for the travel: A party much larger than three or four wouldn't be able to cross easily—and it's a long way down if any of us were to fall.
"Wow, the sea is right up this way!" Ri exclaims as he gazes out at the expanse of water, "And just look at this cliff!" I'm sure that he's travelled around and has seen more than I have—Ri's hometown is somewhere far to the North—but that doesn't stop him from being in awe of the rocky landscape. I can't easily blame him: The limestone walls painted with streaks of various colors from the tints of calcium and rust marked through it, the crystal clear waves lapping against the rocks below, and the various formations carved from the stone—it's amazing.
"Yup yup! I reckon this is looking more and more like a true expedition," Bidoof replies, equally as thrilled by the sights. "The path ahead will surely get tricky—just what real explorers like to see!"
"That might be putting it lightly," I grimace. The cave system that opens up before us from the entrance just up ahead is drawn on the map as a confusing series of passageways. After we've crossed through the caves, we'll still need to make our way over another mountain—Mt. Horn—before we reach the camp. We'll have at least another day's journey and will have to stop somewhere for the night along the way.
At this, a part of the Normal-type's bravado vanishes. "Reckon I shouldn't oughta talk like a big shot," he gulps, "I just wanna say here again that this is my first exploration! I'm feeling kinda nervous by golly."
"That goes for us too," Ri reassures him, "We're all beginners at this: Let's do our best." The both of them step over to where I am and I hold the map out for all of us to inspect it together. "Why don't we try reaching here as our first objective?" he offers, tapping on the part of the map that marks Mt. Horn.
"Yup yup! I'll agree with that," answers Bidoof as I nod along. So long as everything goes well, that should place us about eight hours' travel on foot from the camp—meaning we'll be able to make it there by tomorrow afternoon.
Ri takes the head of our group as we make our way into the caves, using his aura to guide the way. He takes to the role with such natural confidence that it surprises me. I've always known that he's had it in him, but he hardly ever shows it and so I didn't notice before. He's really acting like a leader now, isn't he? It must be his excitement from exploring that's bringing it out of him. When he gets like this, being scared is the farthest thing from his mind. Still, Ri—who's always been so timid—is obviously trying so much harder… He's getting stronger and more confident bit by bit.
Even if I didn't mean it, it makes me feel all the worse for what I said to him. I still haven't managed to find a way to apologize though. Guess I'm the one in need of a bit of confidence right now… It's not that I think he won't forgive me—he's too kind a spirit to hold a grudge against anyone—I just don't know how to do it. And he hasn't made any effort to fix things with me either, so it's all the more difficult!
The deeper we go into the caves, the darker it gets only for the gloom to be broken by the spontaneous shaft of light cutting through a hole from the ceiling above or the entrances and exits of passages leading outside and back in again. With my limited skills with aura I'm able to at least get a read of my surroundings, but Ri and I both have to make sure that Bidoof stays with us so we don't get separated. All in all, however, I think we're making great time—especially considering that we were one of the last groups to enter Craggy Coast.
It's actually a little strange that the map's so thorough of an area that so few Pokemon can travel through. It's home to a small number of Pokemon, but it's not as if this area has anything like major trade routes. Someone put a good deal of meticulous effort into recording all of the various, intersecting pathways—though I can't fathom why except to avoid getting lost themselves.
"Didn't the both of you come from the mountains?" Bidoof asks, "You're from the same town, aren't you? This sort of trek must be easy for you." That was what we told anyone that asked where I was from anyway; that we were childhood friends and that I had come to Treasure Town to join Ri at the Guild. It made sense at the time in order to hide the fact that I was human, and then Ri would be able to do most of the talking if there were any questions.
"Yeah, but our village isn't anywhere near the ocean," he replies, "There are a lot of valleys and plateaus though. We get a lot of snow there during the winter too."
"I've never seen snow before, since my family's from the marshlands some ways south of Treasure Town. You two must've come a long way to join the Guild."
He gives a small nod, "Even for us, it would take around a week's travel on foot—and I took a lot of shortcuts when I came to Treasure Town."
I've never thought about it much before, but it's hard to imagine Ri travelling all that way by himself. It's not that I doubt that he could hold his own, but I see him enjoying it. Come to think of it, from what I know he came to Treasure Town a good, long time before he found me on the beach. So if he hadn't joined the Guild yet in all that time then what exactly had he been doing? Was he just… alone for that long?
"I'll bet you two must miss your folks—being so far away," says Bidoof. "I know I miss my mine and my brother and sister something awful at times. And we write to each other often."
"It's hard not to get a little homesick," Ri agrees. "The last time I got a letter from my parents, they said that my little brother had hatched, so I can't help but wonder about him either." He pauses once to recollect our bearings, and then makes a decisive turn to the rightmost passage ahead of us. "Still, the Guild's home too and everyone in it is kind of like family now, so it doesn't bother me."
"So you're a big brother too! Best of luck to you," Bidoof grins, then he turns to me, "What about you, Lira? What's your family like?"
"I'm an only child," I say. As far as I know… I think. The idea of family is still so strange to me. I mean, I know I must've had one, but if I did then I don't think they were anything near typical. My memories of them are practically blank, but I've had a few, blurred images of them from my dreams. A woman singing; a man lifting me up by my waist and helping me pretend to fly; racing alongside someone across a desolate land; sitting in the lap of another with a book written in some foreign language sprawled before us. All of them appear as little more than silhouettes in my mind and I can't make sense of any of them. For all I know, they might not even be real.
But Bidoof's looking at me expectantly and I can't very well brush off such a direct question. I'll just have to tell him something based on an educated guess. "My parents love music," I continue, and while I'm not sure about how true that is, it feels right. "They're pretty laidback, so I guess I got my fighting spirit somewhere else."
It is kind of weird thinking about it that way though: There are hundreds of different kinds of Pokemon, so there must be some reason why of all species I became a Riolu. If it were based on personality, that I could kind of understand, and if it's because I could use aura as a human then that would make sense too. But what about my parents? Are either of them users of aura or do they actually have the spirits of Fighting-types? Or could my mom have turned into a Lucario if she were in my place now? It's all so complicated and a little exhausting to think about—especially when I can really only speculate.
"I think I see another opening to the outside up ahead," Ri notes, sparing me from further questioning. Sure enough, a growing light some ways ahead of us and the sound of waves pounding against the rocks only proves that we're nearing another exit. We jog back into the open air to find we're not all that far from Mt. Horn, though the sun hangs lazily in the late afternoon sky: We should be able to get there with plenty of time to enjoy the dinner that Chimecho packed for us.
No sooner does the thought cross my mind, I hear Bidoof's stomach growl. We turn to our fellow apprentice as he gives us a sheepish expression. "I guess I've worked up an appetite," he offers with a slight shrug.
"Let's just wait a bit longer until we stop, ok?" the former grins, rounding the side of the nearest cliff-face as we continue along the path. However, the way's partially blocked by a cover of boulders and we've got no choice except to climb them. "Let's just go one at a time," Ri directs. He's got a point: The boulders seem too unstable for all of us to go over them together. So, with a nod from us, he goes first.
"Here, Bidoof." I dig into the Treasure Bag at my side and pull out a Sitrus Berry to give to him. It isn't just a dumb rumor that he has a big appetite and nearly everyone in the Guild knows it. That much should tide him over though until we can all dig into a real meal. He takes it gratefully and starts munching away at it while we wait. After a few minutes, Ri's figure disappears over the other side of the boulder mountain.
Then we hear it: The crumble of rock from underneath him as he cries out in surprise from the sudden avalanche at his feet. We don't see it, but we both know he's fallen on the other side—and as his voice fades away a sudden panic wells inside me. It shouldn't have been that bad a drop, but it didn't sound like a small one either.
"Ri!" Immeadiately, I begin to storm up the boulders the way he had. Bidoof tries to tug me back—he's right to, as it could still be dangerous—but I can't afford to waste a second if my partner's in trouble. I may not be much of a rock climber, but I scramble over them quickly enough. Then there's the shuffling of stone that tells me the Normal-type's decided to follow after all. "Ri, are you alright?!" For all the fighting we've done, I've completely forgotten about our argument amid the worry that overwhelms me.
The cave-in is worse than we thought it was. When I make it to the other side and into the shadows of the cavern entrance a few steps apart from it, I look down to find a large split along the ground leading down deeper into the caves. I would've slipped just like he had if it hadn't been for knowing about the drop ahead of time. Even still, a few loss rocks tumble down after him as I move around the hole in the earth.
"I'm fine! It just surprised me," he calls up to us, dusting himself off while Bidoof makes his way over. He waits for the Plump Mouse Pokemon to stand beside me before returning to the steep incline of rocks. "Just give me a minute to get back up there."
"I know something that might help," Bidoof shuffles through his own bag until he pulls out a crystal clear sphere from within it. "I've got a Luminous Orb. I'll just activate it and—"
"Bidoof don't!"
But Ri's warning comes all too late. A bright glow soon fills the surrounding area as the orb is activated. At first I don't understand the cause for Ri's warning—that is, until I turn my eyes upward. Grasping onto the rough surface of the cave is a hoard of Noibat, slowly awakening from their disturbed rest and gasping in pain as the beams of light pierce their eyes. They panic and—in their half-asleep state—take to the air, using Supersonic at random to try to attack us.
Bidoof and I both drop to the ground, covering our heads as the ear-splitting chorus echoes around us and shakes the very walls of the cave from the combined power of the move. We've hardly seen anyone else as we've made our way though, so I forgot about the Pokemon that might live here! Now though it's hard to drown them out. Together, they could give the Guildmaster and his Hyper Voice a run for their money.
The Luminous Orb rolls away from us where Bidoof dropped it in our haste to shield ourselves, falling through the crevice in the ground and shattering with a burst of light that's nearly blinding. The Noibat only grow more frantic as they cut through the air and their Supersonic attacks intensify. The force of the sound waves is enough to rattle the boulders enough to shake them out of place and cause another collapse. I can imagine this might've been how the first started—before us, some other Pokemon spooked the cave-dwellers as they were travelling.
Eventually the Noibat fly off somewhere else deeper within the caverns and the three of us are left alone once again. Bidoof and I keep still though until we're absolutely certain that it's ok to get back up on our feet again. "Sorry about that…" he groans dejectedly.
"Nevermind that," I sigh, looking us both over to check for any injuries. Really, we're lucky we didn't get hit directly with one of those Supersonics. "It'll be even harder for Ri to climb back up now, so let's just find a way to get him up here." I then call out, "Are you still alright, Ri?"
But this time there's no answer. I call out again, but it's still the same. Peering down into the crevice, I'm horrified to see that he isn't there: Instead, the boulders have poured over the place where he had been standing. I try to calm myself down though. I might be out of practice with my aura compared to Ri, but I can just barely sense him—a faint, familiar glimmer somewhere else nearby on that lower level. He must've had to run to avoid being buried underneath the rocks.
Then his presence becomes even stronger to me. Not on my part from sudden streak of aptitude, but from Ri. And that knowledge forms a lead weight within my gut. From what I've been told, a Riolu's ability to signal their allies is mostly just a survival instinct. When we're sad or scared, we're able to create a sort of beacon with our aura that let's others know where we are so they can come to our rescue. But even with Ri's timid nature, I've never felt it like this before.
It terrifies me, and before I'm even aware of it I'm racing through the caves to try and find him. My mind can only turn to the worst as I try to reach him. What if he's badly injured? What if the Noibat are chasing him? What if he only ran into a more powerful Pokemon within the tunnels that tried to attack him? Each thought only increases my urgency. Whatever is going on, I need to get to him! If something bad happens to him, I'll never—
My eyes begin to ache with a harsh sting and I pick up the pace, not even bothering to wipe them as I run. He's not actually all that far, so if I can just make it to the lower level I should be able to reach him. Following the path of a small brook within the caves, I do eventually manage to find a place that drops down to where he is and continue to sprint.
Then just when I round the corner of another tunnel I collide with something just about my size. The impact has enough force behind it that I and whatever it is I just ran into tumble to the earth in a heap with me atop of it. For a moment I'm in a daze, caught off-guard by the unexpected blow. Then before I can even begin to rationalize what I just hit, I hear a voice that startles me:
"Lira?"
Blinking my eyes open and allowing them a few seconds to better adjust to the poor lighting, I find myself looking back into Ri's just as stunned gaze. I wasn't expecting to find him so soon, and I take another moment just to look him over. Nothing—not a single bump or scratch on him. He's fine…
"You're fine…" I whisper numbly, a bit stupefied by the revelation as my adrenaline begins to ebb away—my chest rising and falling steadily from how hard I ran to get to him. "But… I sensed your aura signature! I thought you were hurt, I—!"
"What? No, I'm fine: I just intensified my signature so you'd know I was alright and you'd be able to find me easier," he reassures, scooting away from me and spreading his arms out wide as if to show me he's really ok. "Lira, once we Riolu get older we're able to control how we send out our aura waves. I thought you already knew." He offers his hand out to me, his brows furrowed apologetically for the late explanation.
But I don't take it. I really thought something horrible might've happened to him, and if it had I wouldn't know what I'd have done! Because to me, Ri is… I blink my eyes rapidly as my vision starts to blur.
No, I don't take his hand: I launch myself off of the ground and fling my arms around his shoulders. He freezes, surprised by the sudden embrace. "I'm sorry, Ri!" I cry out, unable to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry for everything! Our fight was stupid—I was being stupid!"
He remains unmoving for a second longer before I feel his arms envelope around me, holding me tightly against him. "I never thought you were stupid," he softly retorts, "I actually thought you were right—to a degree." He sighs. "It's just… We're a team, Lira. Neither of us can go rushing into things or acting on our own. We need each other."
Unable to answer, I just sniff and rest my chin against his shoulder. We are a team, and I should've been acting more like a teammate—and a Guild mate—rather than focusing on getting back at Team Salacious.
"Lira… Are you ok?"
No, I'm not: I'm not ok. Whatever my life may have been before, Ri's been by my side since the day I first awoke on the beach. He's my best friend and I trust him more than anyone. And on top of feeling guilty, I can't stop feeling like I really might've lost him. "Can I just have a minute to calm down?"
He snorts at my childish request, but keeps his arms around me anyway. "You know… I might've said some things I shouldn't have," he mutters in my ear, "so I'm sorry too. And I guess we both have some things we need to work on.
"By the way… Where's Bidoof?"