Hana cowered as the darkness surrounded her. "M-M-Miss Ignis... w-where are you...?" she said to herself, wishing for her friend to appear.

She didn't.

The blonde opened her eyes slightly. Emptiness still surrounded her. She breathed in and breathed out to calm herself, then slowly stood up, legs still shaking. Hopefully some ghosts wouldn't show up. "R-right. I can do this. I have a sword." The girl's hands found their way towards the sheathed sword she kept at her side. Again calming herself down, she slowly took some steps.

At some point during their walk, she had no idea how, but she became separated from Ignis and Terra.

That shouldn't even remotely possible, no matter how many times she thought about it. After all, they were just walking in a straight line.

"...huh?" She turned around- the path she had been walking didn't look straight at all. In fact, it was an obvious curved tunnel that she couldn't mistake for even a second. "..."

The girl shook her head. She had crossed through Mt. Moon once- when she was busy chasing that blasted blonde haired man all the way from Saffron City. There was no way she could be lost in a cave she had ran through.

...then again, the more she thought about it, she was busy running and screaming and swinging her sword around rather than adventuring, so perhaps... she didn't know her way.

Suddenly an idea struck her head. "T-that's it! Emma's tail..." She called her Charmander out, smiling with relief when it chirped happily at the sight of its Trainer. "E-Emma. I need you as a, um, light source... s-sorry, the truth is, I am... um, really bad with the dark."

The Charmander glanced at her curiously, before nodding with understanding. "Char!" It tensed its body, and the flame on its tail grew brighter. Only slightly. But brighter.

Hana felt so relieved. She stared at her other Pokéball. Perhaps...

She let out her Weedle. "U-um, hello. I know I haven't let you out so far, but... p-please stay with me," she said. "I might, um, need help with battling wild Pokémon off... i-is that okay? Um... how about... Mel?"

Her Weedle, now named Mel, stared at her for a while before it turned away. It seemed to shrug and accept its situation.

Smiling with relief, Hana now felt a bit more confident in her survival.

Then she heard the sound of some wings flapping lightly. "...I feel like danger is going to fall upon us very soon..."


Ignis panted, trying to push herself up. "Run, damn it..."

Pikachu scurried over to her side. "Pikachu, pikapi...?" It's mouth dropped open when it saw a problem- her left arm was turning purple. "P-pi!"

She groaned. "Pikachu...? Ugh, go stay with them... I need to find Hana..."

The yellow rodent growled. "Pika!"

Ignis weakly stared at the rat. Then, smiling, she stood up. "...Pikachu, can you go find Hana for me?" she asked, expecting a rejection.

Pikachu stared at her, not answering her question.

She sighed and staggered over to where Basil and Terra were. "...Basil, go with Pikachu and find Hana for me," she said. "I'll watch over Terra... I suppose."

The Ivysaur frowned. "S-saur..."

His Trainer shook her head. "These Pokémon won't do anything," she said and stared at the spectating Pokémon around her. Several pink shapes were watching curiously- Clefairy and Clefable. Some moving lumps of rocks didn't seem to care much about their presence- Geodude and Graveler. Scuttling mushrooms seemed to hide from them with curiosity and awareness- Paras and Parasect. She smiled. "They wont' do anything, and I won't do anything. I'll be fine."

Hesitantly, Basil nodded. "Saur!" He ran back into the entrance that he had escaped from. Pikachu stared at Ignis for a few more seconds, before following.

Ignis chucked. "Atta boy... or girl..."


A certain blonde swung her sword towards a Zubat, the latter dodging peskily. She pulled her sword up to swing again, but the Zubat was charging right at her, so she had to drop her sword as she jumped away from it, the opponent flying past her. "D-damn..."

Her Pokémon weren't doing so well either. It was hard for her Charmander and Weedle to use Ember or Poison Sting- respectively- and actually hit the Zubat.

Those flying critters are rather quick to dodge.

There were lucky hits every once in a while, but not enough to defeat.

"...E-Emma! Mel! Um, focus on one instead of different targets!" Hana said. "That way perhaps it'll be easier to defeat at least one..."

Emma nodded and jumped towards another Zubat. It flew backwards to dodge the lizard's claws, but a sharp needle stung it at its stomach all of a sudden. The Zubat flinched, then seemed to glare at her Weedle.

Then, without noticing, the Zubat was tackled down by the Charmander, which quickly crept behind it while it was glaring at the worm-like Pokémon.

Roaring, Emma spat out some fireballs at the Zubat underneath its grip. It screeched loudly as the Charmander kept using Ember, until eventually it stopped moving.

"G-great job, Emma!" Hana said. Then she dodged another charging Zubat. "Argh, these are quite annoying..." she said.

Suddenly, her Weedle began glowing. She widened her eyes.

"M-Mel! You're evolving... already!?"

Unable to answer, her Weedle stood up vertically and hard shells formed around its body, its iconic needle disappearing.

What remained in place of her Weedle was a Kakuna. Hana smiledat her Pokémon's growth- then dodged yet another Zubat. "Gah, they just don't stop coming...!" She took another look at her Kakuna- could it still use Poison Sting...? Because if so, she wasn't sure where the needle would come from. The Zubat didn't seem to be poisoned at all, so she assumed they were immune to poison, but it did hurt them a little, even if a bit. "Mel, can you still use Poison Sting?"

Her Kakuna stared at her, before it nodded very slightly and moved its... arms? She blinked. Oh, those are its arms... apparently. It pointed them at the swarm of Zubat. Stingers materialized and were shot towards the flying critters. One hit a Zubat, another was dodged.

Hana nodded. "Good enough. I'm going to carry you!" she said.

Quickly picking Mel up, she aimed it towards the swarm. "K-keep shooting if you can!" she exclaimed. The Kakuna nodded and began shooting an amount of stingers that almost seemed unlimite.

"Emma! We're running away!" she quickly added.

The Charmander nodded and began scurrying after its Trainer.


The Pikachu quietly strolled after the Ivysaur in front of it. "Piiika pika chu?" it scowled.

Basil barely even glanced back. "Ivysaur?"

The rodent simply felt irritated. "Pika pii, pika chu. Pikachu. Pika, pika pi."

"...saur saur?"

"Pi! Pika pika pikachu, pikachu, pika pi, pikachu! Pika pika!?"

Basil stopped walking and stared at the Pikachu. "...Ivysaur."

"Ugh. Pika," Pikachu began, "pika pi pika pi pikachu chu!?"

Basil continued staring. "...Ivysaur."

Rolling its eyes, Pikachu grumbled, "Pika, pi pika pika..."

Suddenly they heard footsteps heading towards them. They jumped a bit, before preparing for combat.

"...lp! I-is anyone out there!?" a voice familiar to Basil echoed.

"S-saur saur! Ivysaur!"

"Ppppika pi."

They stared. Hana slowly appeared from the darkness, carrying a Kakuna (they decided not to question it), her Charmander following suit.

The two relaxed a bit. Then they saw the swarm of Zubat following the team, and perhaps a few Golbat mixed into the swarm.

"...saur," Basil muttered.

"Pika pika pi pikachu...?" Pikachu wondered.

Hana saw the two. "T-those are... M-Miss Ignis' Ivysaur and... a Pikachu?" She was about to question it, but another Zubat caught up to her and was about to bite into her shoulder when she jumped sideways and continued running. "U-um! Sorry, can you two please help?" she yelled.

"Saur, saur saur Ivy... saur." Basil's voice died when his vision registered the few Golbat in the swarm. Their Air Cutter technique did not really please him. "...saur saur ivysaur, ivy ivy saur saur?"

Pikachu rolled its eyes. "Pika pi." It strolled towards the blonde, stopping short in front of the group of bats. "Pika pi! Pikachuuuuuu!"

Lightning emanated from the rodent's body, then spread through the cave with a speed Hana wasn't sure was even possible.

It wasn't even a second until suddenly all the bats were screaming and petrified in the air, all falling to the ground one by one.

She soon stood upon the sight of perhaps more than twenty unconscious Zubat and few Golbat. "W-wow... so this is a Pikachu's power..." she muttered.

"Ivy ivy saur, ivysaur!" Basil the Ivysaur cheered. Hana noticed him and smiled with relief, petting his head.

"Thank you, um... Basil, yes." Her Charmander and Kakuna cheered as well.

Pikachu rolled its eyes and walked back to the blonde. "Pika pi, pikachu. Pika pika pi, pika pikachu," it said, nudging her towards where they came from.

Hana nodded. "O-okay, I'll get going..." she said.

Emma jumped on top of Basil's head, happily riding it. The Ivysaur didn't seem to mind it one bit, probably knowing the lizard was tired from running. He offered Pikachu a ride too, but the rodent simply ignored him.

Hana decided to keep holding Mel the Kakuna in her arms.


When she arrived at the clearing where her companions were resting, she first noticed the amazing sight of several dark glowing stones embedded almost everywhere. "Wow... this is quite a sight," she whispered to herself. As the day was still fresh, sunlight was pouring in easily from the ceiling opening, but she had an inkling the view would definitely be a lot more beautiful if at night.

Suddenly, she noticed a gathering of small pink Pokémon. "...clef?" they voiced when they noticed the girl's presence.

Hana slowly walked towards them. They seemed to be observing something. As she got closer, she saw two figures lying down. She recognized them immediately- "M-Miss Ignis!? And Miss Terra!?" The blonde quickly rushed over to them, the Clefairy and Clefable parting to let her through.

A bunch of Geodude surrounded the two bodies. She frowned and was about to wave her sword and chase them, but the Geodude saw her and parted as well. Were they guarding the two...? She supposed it was something about the law of nature that these Pokémon watched over two strangers, but she was thankful nevertheless.

She knelt down, examining her friends. "Miss Terra... she seems... okay?"

Ignis opened her eyes weakly. "...oh, Hana... there you are," she rasped.

"M-Miss Ignis? Are you o...!" The blonde paled. Ignis' left arm was almost completely purple, the color about to reach her hand and shoulder. "M-Miss Ignis! You are-"

"It's nothing," Ignis hissed. "I'm just... glad you're back here, safe and sound, I suppose."

"Nothing... nothing!?" Hana dropped her bag and searched inside. "P-please hang on, I believe I have an Antidote somewhere here..."

Ignis chuckled. "Do they even... work on humans?" she asked.

"I..." The blonde paused and frowned. Do they? Now she didn't know if she should try using it on her friend. Her human friend. "..."

"...hey, it'll be alright," Ignis said. "The exit is probably not so far from here..."

"B-but... there's too many paths!" Hana pointed out. Truly, the center was connected to many different paths. Mt. Moon wasn't that big, so some paths definitely connected and would lead them back here- a waste of time considering the venom was spreading through Ignis' veins. "I... I don't think we can make it, Miss Ignis..."

Smiling gently, Ignis petted the blonde's head. "Don't... don't worry. I... think I got this..." She grabbed her Pokéball and tossed it.

A Golbat came out with a prideful roar.

Hana, Pikachu and Ivysaur flinched. "M-Miss Ignis, that's..."

"The fella that did this," the ravenette replied with a laugh. "Anyways... hey, Golbat."

The Golbat's ears perked and it turned towards its new Trainer. Seeing Ignis' left arm turned purple, it cackled evilly. Hana could hear it in her head- 'serves you right', the bat seemed to say.

Ignis smiled, however, to everyone's confusion. "I caught you... so you're my Pokémon now."

In response, Golbat scowled.

"Do you think it's possible to... drain the venom out of me?" she asked. "If it's within my veins... you can suck it out, right...?"

"...! Wait, Miss Ignis!" Hana exclaimed "But to do that, it has to-"

"Suck more of my blood, yeah," Ignis finished the sentence for her. "I think it's better than being a test subject... or taking too long though..."

The blonde stared at her with disbelief, before turning to the Golbat. It seemed mildly interested in the offer. "...n-no, that's still risky..."

Ignis shook her head. "It's fine... it'll be fine. I trust in this fella," she whispered.

"W-why? Or actually, h-how can you do that?" Hana asked, the Pikachu nodding.

The ravenette didn't answer the question. However, she turned towards the Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu. If this guy does anything bad... do whatever you want, 'kay?"

Despite not being under her ownership, the Pikachu nodded.

Then, she grinned at Golbat. "If you want, buddy... I'll even let you go if you help me..."

Golbat stared at her.

Her grin didn't fade at all.

In fact, she seemed to be prepared for whatever it would do- whether it'd result in her death or her survival.

...the Golbat flew in front of her.

"W-wait... you..." Hana said. The Golbat turned slightly, staring her in the eye. "...I... I beg you, please..." she whispered.

The Golbat turned back to Ignis. Then it sunk its fangs into her left arm.

Hana watched.

Pikachu watched.

Basil the Ivysaur watched.

All the Clefairy and Clefable and Geodude watched.

...

It sucked.

...

And it sucked.

...

And it sucked.

...

Then the purple color began fading away from her arm.

Hana broke into a huge smile and dropped her sword. "Miss Ignis!"

Ignis smiled and flashed her thumb to the blonde. "T-told you it'd be fine..." she said.

The blonde nodded and was about to grab the girl's hand happily, but the Golbat was still sucking. "H... hey! That's... that's enough now!"

Ignis' Golbat sucked for another second, then released the girl's left arm and rolled its eyes as it landed on a nearby boulder.

Hana examined her friend's arm- the purple tint had completely disappeared. However, the arm itself was slightly thinner than the girl's other arm. Hana blinked, before sending the Golbat a glare.

Behind her, Basil sighed with relief. The stray Pikachu also seemed content.

Ignis snickered. "Even you're happy, Pikachu? My..."

The Pikachu widened its eyes and growled at her, before glaring at Basil who was knowingly nudging its sides with his vines. "Pika pi..."

"Saur, saur!"

At that moment, Terra stirred.

The group looked over to the brunette, as she slowly pushed herself up. "Ugh... my head..." she muttered. Then she noticed everyone looking at her. "...m-morning..."

"Glad you're okay too, Terra," Ignis said.

Terra looked at her friend. "Oh, hey, Iggy." She blinked. "...?" Then she noticed Hana hands around the ravenette's left arm. And she glared. Then she raised an eyebrow. "...say, where are we?"

"Still Mt. Moon," Ignis said.

"Seriously...?" she muttered. Then she noticed several dark stones in the walls and grounds of the cave. "Whoa. This kinda looks beautiful."

Chuckling, her childhood friend grabbed one and threw it to her. "These are Moon Stones. Keep one, it'll be helpful," Ignis suggested, thinking of Terra's female Nidoran.

Terra caught the stone and nodded. "Uh, okay..."

Feeling slightly better now, Ignis got up. "Welp, that's that." She looked up and waved at her Golbat. "Thanks for the help, big guy. You can go now, if you want."

The Golbat stared at Ignis, then looked away. It didn't fly away, however.

"...I still do not trust that creature..." Hana muttered.

"Eh, you'll overcome it soon enough. That asides..." Ignis observed the giant clearing. "This really is a beautiful area, what with all these Moon Stones..." She bent down and picked another stone up. The girl then noticed some Clefairy frowning at her. She stared at them, then at the stone, before smiling. "Hey, Clefairy! Catch this," she said.

One of the staring Clefairy smiled and caught it. It then began glowing white.

"It's... it's evolving?" Terra said. Then she remembered what evolutionary stones were and gasped. "Oh! The Moon Stone can evolve some Pokémon, right! That's why you gave it to me- my Nidoran!"

Ignis nodded. "Just helping out."

Meanwhile, the Clefairy morphed into a Clefable under its glowing form, and when the light faded, it cheered and danced with the other Clefairy and Clefable.

"...cute," Hana whispered.

"Isn't it?" Ignis chimed.

The three and their Pokémon then spent a minute or two watching the Clefairy and Clefable dance. They occasionally pulled other of their own species to dance as well, and in few cases it dragged some Geodude that gave up after several seconds of persuasion.

When they finished dancing, they bowed and cheered.

Ignis couldn't help but smile as she felt memories of her prom experience rush through her head.

She wasn't much of a social person, nor a dancer, but she definitely had her own group during her time. She wasn't popular, but she wasn't unknown either.

In fact, she recalled boasting to her family that she was a 'popular unpopular'- one of the people who aren't 'popular popular', but popular amongst the unpopulars. Or basically, just really good friends with a group of normal or unpopular students.

The girl was feeling nostalgic as she kept watching the group of dancing pink Pokémon, until the ground suddenly shook. "W-whuh-"

Footsteps grew loud from one of the paths connected to the clearing. The three got up and apprehensively faced different paths to prepare for battle.

Then a man in a white lab coat stumbled out. His glasses shattered upon contact with the ground.

Ignis blinked. "Uh...?"

He pushed himself up and, ignoring the broken shards of his broken spectacle, he noticed the three girls.

"Y-you three! You've got to help me!"