When Fen woke, the first thing he noticed was Zephia, still sitting on her hind legs, licking berry juice off a paw. He was relieved to see that her and Ryu were at least cooperating on a basic level.

As he stretched against a wall, feeling unusually well rested, Ryu emerged from the cave entrance with his water flask. "Morning," he said gruffly. He sat opposite Fen and slung their bag off his shoulders, reaching in to pass him a berry. "The fog's cleared a little since yesterday, enough to see ahead of us at least, so I think we're good to move towards Smouldered Pass once you're ready." He glanced back outside. "I say 'morning', but the sun looks more like midday… I don't know when exactly we got to sleep last night, but it must've been a pretty long one."

"Yeah… must've been," Fen repeated slowly. "I… I didn't wake up in the night, did I?"

"Hm?" Ryu and Zephia made the same noise, and both shot a very quick, irritated glance at each other. "Not that I remember," Ryu said. "Why?"

"Yesterday was the night following a disaster, which is always the time I have an emotion attack," Fen said. "I fully expected to have one, but I didn't... that's strange…"

"Huh… hey, maybe it means you'll stop having them now!" Ryu smiled. "That'd be really good, right?"

Fen found it hard not to smile himself at Ryu's optimism. It would be a great relief were the Riolu correct, given how awful his previous attacks had been. But still… I wonder why it didn't happen. It's not like I wanted an attack, but they've been one of the main indicators to me that this weather is more than merely unusual… though the earthquake yesterday probably put that beyond doubt.

Fen noticed that Zephia was looking questioningly at him. He realised that she had no idea what attacks he meant. "They're… like this outpouring of frightened emotions I've been getting some nights," he said. "Hard to explain."

Zephia's eyes narrowed. "Right… When you're finished eating, can we get moving?"

Fen nodded apologetically and focused on his berry. He didn't expect much sympathy from Zephia. "How's your leg?" he asked between bites.

"A little sore," Zephia said, shaking it a little, "but strong enough to walk on. Should heal more as the day goes on."

"Alright." When Fen had finished, he and Ryu exchanged a silent nod like they so often seemed to, and the latter led them out into the mist.

As they didn't find Smouldered Pass until late that evening, they decided to camp just outside the forest before making a start the following day. Much of their journey there was spent climbing upwards, so by the time they reached the Pass's entrance, the little warmth given off by Arkan had completely disappeared and a chill had crept into the air. The dark volcanic ash still lingered around them, which made Fen somewhat understand the reasons behind the forest's "Smouldered" name. Though the contrast in temperature with Arkan made it a little misleading too.

The mountains seemed deserted of Pokémon, and those they did run into either attacked them immediately or fled. Fen was struggling to tell which Pokémon were civilised and which were wild. Arkan's eruption seemed to have hit the mountains like a fever.

He'd found early in the day that his fire-breathing abilities were still lacking, so on Ryu's advice he ate one of their previously useless leppa berries, which helped immensely. The increased stomach-heat helped warm him in the cold, too.

When they entered the Pass the next morning, the first thing he noticed was, although the trees around were the tallest he'd ever seen, they were unusually light on branches. And in keeping with the coldness, the branches he did find bore very few leaves. Fen noticed Ryu's eyes darting around from the moment they arrived; his foraging instincts were always active, especially since they had now completely run out of 'normal', non-healing food. Fen would've expected Zephia to act the same, given how long she had been travelling alone, but for now she focused only on where they walked. The Pass had no clear footpaths marked, so they were relying on the compass to show the way.

As they stepped over the hard, pebbly floor, Zephia suddenly stopped mid-walk and lifted her snout upwards, sniffing. "Someone's ahead," she muttered.

"What? How d'you know?" Ryu said immediately.

Zephia simply pointed to her muzzle instead of speaking. "They're about 100 feet away. We should change direction."

"We can't just change direction," Ryu objected. "In case you forgot, we're actually going somewhere, not just strolling wherever we like."

"That's not my point," Zephia growled. "We won't go anywhere if we all get beaten to near death."

"And why would that happen?"

As they argued, Fen's ears were pricked up listening for any indicator of a Pokémon nearby. "I… can't hear anything," he said to Zephia.

"So, we shouldn't have a problem with moving forwards," Ryu said pointedly, already walking again.

"I can smell them!" Zephia hissed, hurrying after him. "Turn around! We're in danger."

"You're not leading us," Ryu replied stubbornly. "We don't have to–"

A low, rasping cry from ahead silenced him. For a moment, all they could see in the mist was a vague red shape. But then an open mouth the size of Ryu burst out of the mist, lunging at the Riolu, who just managed to duck under its pair of fangs.

As Ryu scrambled backwards in line with Fen and Zephia, the Pokémon slithered into view. It was twice Fen's height, and that was despite its black-and-yellow scales being scrunched up behind its head to make it smaller. Its dagger-shaped tail swung behind its body, tipped with the same crimson that adorned the fangs hanging from the top of its mouth.

The Seviper glared fiercely at them and hissed another cry. Fen tried to move, but its glare seemed to have glued his and the others' feet to the floor.

Ryu was the first to shake off the paralysis, and he dashed straight towards the Seviper, fists already glowing. The front of the Seviper's body suddenly twisted around, enabling its tail to whip in Ryu's direction. Ryu only just jumped high enough to evade it, but the tail swung back in reverse after missing, striking him in mid-air with its tip and throwing him into the ground.

Fen cursed him as he ran forwards. What's Ryu playing at? We can't just blindly attack this thing without a strategy! I'll have to back him up now...

The Seviper's head stretched over Ryu as if to bite him, but Fen broke off its action by firing a flamethrower at its face – with so much body to aim at, he figured that area would hurt it the most. The Seviper snarled and whipped its tail at him. Fen dodged it once, but this time the Seviper didn't swing again – its attention switched back to Ryu as he looked to be powering up another force palm. The Seviper swung its tail yet again, blocking Ryu's fist with its red tip. Sparks and a purple substance flew off, and Ryu howled at the impact. Then before Fen could prepare an attack, a flash of grey moved up the Seviper's body and it suddenly jerked itself backwards. Somehow, Zephia had avoided the tail by leaping onto the back of its head.

The Seviper screeched so shrilly that Fen and Ryu were both forced to stop and cover their ears in defence. That distraction made them unprepared for when it flailed like a Magikarp out of water, its uncoiled body crashing into them both. When Fen had got himself out of a heap, he saw that, despite the Seviper's best efforts, Zephia was still clinging onto a point of its head with her front claws. When the Seviper momentarily stopped shaking she bit down hard on its scales, and a second, even angrier bout of flailing followed, which finally threw her off. With a new burst of energy, the Seviper wrapped its tail-end around the Zorua while she was down. She struggled and tried to bite it again, but its grip made her completely immobile.

"Ryu!" Fen ran over to him. "Attack the tail – that's its biggest weapon and it can't keep hold of Zephia without it."

Ryu, having already felt the tail's force twice, was slower in getting back to his feet. "It's pretty thin, so I'd hit it with something physical," he said.

He's right! Fen realised with alarm. His body had automatically been preparing for another flamethrower, but his first one had only really distracted the Seviper, and Zephia's bite had caused it far more pain. But if all I can do is scratch it, that might not be powerful enough to free Zephia and take it down! If only I had a better technique...

The Seviper's tail was low to ground as it continued to squeeze Zephia. Still running, Fen leapt onto the tail then immediately scrambled to retain a grip on its slippery surface. The fire in his stomach suddenly flared up, particularly in his hands and feet. He only managed to manoeuvre his left arm free, but as he lifted it to scratch, its overwhelming heat distracted him.

The following moments were the first time in many days that his instincts seemed to completely take over his body – which was just as well, because he wouldn't have worked out what to do consciously. Balling his free hand into a fist, he concentrated all his inner fire into that one, tiny area. Though every part of him hurt with the effort, he didn't let up; at first his fist glowed red, sparks flying off it, then a moment later it was engulfed in flames.

He slammed the fist down into the Seviper's tail, the hissing of fire and the creature's subsequent screeches of pain deafening him. From behind him, Ryu's fist hit the other side of its tail at the same time, bending it an uncomfortable direction. Out of the corner of his eye, Fen then saw Zephia jump out of the Seviper's weakened grip and start slashing savagely into its uncoiled body. Its tail dropped to the ground, Fen sliding off with it, but then Ryu picked up the limp tail by the hilt of its dagger shape and started swinging it into the Seviper's own body, purple liquid flying off the tail with each hit.

Fen stepped back for a moment. It was clear that the Seviper was fighting a losing battle now, yet even as it weakened it continued to squirm and utter weak cries of pain. But Ryu stopped fighting next and, to Fen's alarm, barely staggered over to him before falling in a heap. He was covered in the Seviper's purple liquid.

"Fen… the lum…" he murmured, and Fen instantly knew what had happened. He opened the bag, still on Ryu's shoulders, pulled out their one remaining lum berry and gave it to Ryu, who started taking grateful, if quite feeble, bites. His own arm had been itching strangely since his fire punch, but it disappeared after he shook it a little.

An earth-moving crash signalled the Seviper's head hitting the floor. Zephia seemed to have knocked it completely unconscious. Fen expected her to run towards them, but instead she walked slowly around the Seviper's body, examining it very closely.

"Zephia?" he called uncertainly. "What are you–"

She shot him with a silent look that told him very clearly to shut up. She sniffed the air again. "Something's coming," she said, just loud enough for Fen to hear. "We need to move!"

But… we can't! Fen tried to communicate, gesturing furiously at Ryu. He was barely conscious, and Fen doubted that he or Zephia would be strong enough to carry him away. He dowsed Ryu in water in a hasty attempt to speed up his healing, but moments later another cry broke out ahead of him and a new Pokémon appeared.

This 'mon's body was mostly comprised of a giant, spiny neck, which joined to its head and four small legs. Two similarly skeletal arms grew from where its ears should have been and these, along with its tail, were twin-clawed at the ends. It was perhaps the ugliest creature Fen had ever seen.

Tail arched high over its body, the Drapion skittered over the fallen Seviper towards Zephia, who scampered back closer to Fen and Ryu. While Fen was still thinking about how to attack, something jumped into him from the side, knocking him away. A lighter-coloured mini-Drapion had appeared, and it jabbed him a couple of times with its stingers before Fen managed to beat them away, retaliating with a flamethrower. But then another Skorupi jabbed at his side, and before he could turn his attention to this one, a pair of pincers wrapped around his torso, plucking him easily into the air. He was in the Drapion's grip.

That was a distraction! he thought ruefully. What do I do now? He tried wriggling to free himself, but it made angry sparks flash on the pincers holding him. They closed even tighter, immobilising him, then he was blinded by a flash of yellow. A wave of electricity hit him, far stronger than any he'd felt before. His limbs felt like they were being wrenched off his body, and they quickly went limp.

He tried to scream for help; instead of words, what came out was only his high-pitched squeal of a cry. Then the claws holding him jolted, loosening very slightly. He couldn't see what was happening, but it gave him a tiny amount of room to manoeuvre. The problem was that his neck-downwards remained paralysed; only his head was unscathed from the claws' electricity.

The claws themselves were too thick to bite through. He twisted his head and saw a spherical hand that they connected to. He tried biting down on that, but it wasn't enough, barely making a dent. Then his shortness of energy, just like against the Seviper, seemed to inspire his brain into thinking outside his normal limits. There was a way he could create a greater energy to his bites, even if he hadn't tried it before… and once again, his instincts took over.

He focused on breathing fire, drawing what heat he could manage into his throat. Then where he would normally breathe out, he opened his mouth and immediately clamped onto the Drapion's hand again, with the fire surging out onto it. The taste of its burning scales almost made him gag, and the effort drained his energy alarmingly fast, but he held on and after a few seconds heard a cry from above. The claws snapped apart, dropping him to the ground on his stomach.

The pent-up fire in his body extinguished just as abruptly as his fall. Fen could hardly move; after everything he'd done to free himself, using energy he didn't know he had, there was nothing left to give. The Drapion, however, had already recovered and stood over him, pincers snapping eagerly. Fen looked around his field of vision desperately. Ryu? Zephia?

Hearing a grunt from behind, he turned his head just in time to see Ryu hurl a blue seed over him towards the Drapion's body.

But in his still-poisoned state, Ryu's throw was weak, and the Drapion had seen what he was trying. The creature had time to lift up a pair of pincers, catch the sleep seed in mid-air and immediately toss it out of sight. The seed broke with a faint crack, and the Drapion remained very much awake.

Fen's heart, having leapt when seeing Ryu's plan, now sunk even lower. Their best chance of winning the fight was surely gone. He desperately tried to think… they still had an oran berry, if Ryu could just fish it out… maybe then they'd be able to run away… but what then? If the whole forest was swarming with these Pokémon, they didn't stand a chance of getting through… was their only option to abandon the whole journey? Or die otherwise?

"HIIISSSSAAACC!"

Fen's head shot up. Out of nowhere, a new Seviper was standing in front of him, only this one was confronting the Drapion instead.

The two vast Pokémon had a silent standoff for a few seconds, the Seviper extending its coiled-up body to tower over the purple 'mon. The Drapion eventually backed off, and after a few more tense moments skittered away into the mist. Triumphant, the Seviper turned its head to face Fen and Ryu. At least, Fen expected it to look triumphant, having apparently seen off the Drapion's fight for them. It instead looked strangely expressionless; Fen couldn't put his finger on exactly why.

"Please, don't hurt us…" Ryu gasped behind him, holding out the few berries left from their bag. "Take our food… nothing else in this bag is of value…"

The Seviper continued staring for a moment, then its mouth opened. It appeared to be missing a tongue. "This is convincing, then," said Zephia's voice. "Good to know."

Stunned, Fen shook his head. Now there was no Seviper, only the familiar Zorua standing where it had been. She walked around to address both him and Ryu, and her face filled with rage.

"Listen, both of you. I'm not sure how you've made it so far while being so clueless, but if you value your lives, you're going to listen to me from now on. Understood?"

Before Fen could reply, Ryu made a cry of anguish.

"What's going on?!" he said, staring wide-eyed at Zephia. "Where'd that Seviper go? Where did it even come from? How did you–"

"Shut! Up!" Zephia hissed at him. "I'm the Seviper, and I just saved both of your hides after you walked us straight into the danger! Looks really clever now, doesn't it? We've fought two 'mon so far today – two – and what happens? We almost get completely knocked out, no doubt losing everything in that bag of yours, which would give us no idea of direction, and probably end all hopes of ever finding an Absol. Is that what you were going for, you floppy-eared cretin?

"Hey, we get it!" Fen cried, putting his hands protectively over Ryu. "The Pokémon here are really dangerous, stronger than any of us individually. We won't be so reckless from now on. Right, Ryu?"

Ryu still looked confused. "Hold on… did you do an illusion of a Seviper to scare that 'mon away?"

"Obviously," Zephia snapped. She glanced at Fen. "Yes, we can't fight them. That's why you two are going to be as quiet as possible, and actually pay attention to me when I sniff a 'mon close-by. Avoiding them may slow our route down," she shot a look at Ryu, "but it's necessary."

"And we won't get lost as long as we still have the compass," Fen added, sitting up.

Zephia grunted her approval. "Now, I think we were attacked in the first place because the 'mon saw that we're hatches, and assumed that we'd be easy pickings for them..."

Fen got an uncomfortable reminder of what Faoz had said about some Pokémon hunting others in the southmost areas of Kyunn. "You… don't mean that we're prey to them? I thought only a few types of Pokémon were eaten, and not any of us…"

"Not that kind of prey. More that they'll see our bag and predict – correctly – that there'll be food inside it. He had the right idea, offering all our food," she said, nodding to Ryu. "Would've maybe saved our directions."

Fen's chest loosened, but only slightly. Even without the direct risk of death, this was a perilous place to walk. "So what? We just need to hide from these 'mon?"

"No," Zephia said. "That would slow us far too much. I'm going to use that illusion again. Scare them off."

Even though Fen knew what was about to happen, seeing Zephia's illusion process still defied belief. She closed her eyes and a grey haze shimmered over her body; Fen blinked a few times to try and see past it, but the next thing he knew Zephia had disappeared entirely and been replaced with the Seviper again. Ryu uttered a small yelp.

"This isn't perfect," the Seviper-Zephia said, "since I didn't see much of how this thing moved, and its mouth only opened when it was growling at us, so I can't mimic those things exactly. But I don't think any 'mon will notice."

"Plus, no-one here knows that a species like yours exists," Fen said.

"Mm."

There was a pause. "I'm guessing we should stay very close to you, then," Fen said. "Maybe just in front?"

"Yeah," Zephia said bullishly. "Just remember that this is only an illusion; if I either get attacked or attack something else it'll disappear."

Like I'd forget that detail, Fen thought, remembering how she'd confronted him while disguised as Savi.

"…And while I can't keep this image up forever, I can definitely go until nightfall," she finished.

Fen nodded again. There were a million questions he wanted to ask about her illusions, but he knew that now wasn't the time to satiate curiosities. "Let's do it then," he said, turning to Ryu. "Are you alright to walk, bud?"

Ryu groaned and hauled himself to his feet. "'Course I am..." He reached for the bag, but Fen grabbed it and pulled it decisively around his own shoulders.

"I should take this for a while," he said. "You're already tired enough." While he too felt exhausted, it was obvious that Ryu was in a worse state.

Ryu baulked at him. "I'm way stronger than you, 'mon. I'll be fine."

"Ryu, you can barely walk," Fen pointed out.

"I wear the bag all day, though," Ryu said, a touch irritably. "It doesn't weigh anything to me now."

Reluctantly, Fen handed it back over. "I thought you'd appreciate the help, is all."

"Well, I don't need help carrying things, alright?"

Fen shook his head; now wasn't the time to be petty. They got into formation in front of Zephia's illusion.

"By the way… who knew that these floppy things were my ears, huh?" Ryu muttered, pointing first to his aura-sensors then to the smaller, fixed ears on top of his head. "She could at least get her insults right. The number of 'mon that get those two things mixed up, I swear…"

Fen concluded more and more as the day went on that, despite Zephia being unable to help his memories, teaming up with her now was the best decision they could have made. With her Seviper illusion up and her alerting them whenever she caught a strong scent, they didn't meet any wilds nearly as formidable as the first two. Most Pokémon they encountered literally ran into their path; these were predominantly normal-types (or 'Commons' as Pokémon seemed to call them), and all scattered at the sight of Zephia.

It was difficult to grasp how deep into the forest they'd travelled or how far was left to Glyciak; the only indicator Fen could use was the gradually falling temperature. His exertions in their last fights had drained his fire supply again, but he wrapped the fur coat around him for warmth instead of eating one of their last two leppa berries. The cold seemed to bother him more than it did for Ryu or Zephia.

As the sky began darkening and they stopped to rest, it was clear that there were no rocks big enough for Ryu to punch a shelter into. Fortunately, Zephia offered a solution.

"I've been digging holes to sleep in every day," she said, then patted the ground firmly with a paw. "Although this ground is pretty hard, and we need a much bigger dig with three of us, so you two had better help me out."

The idea of spending the night in a cramped, underground box didn't fill Fen with excitement. He wasn't sure how well he could dig either, though he was glad to at least have claws for it.

"That works for shelter, but we still need to find food and water," Ryu grumbled. "You two are starving as well, right? If we go hungry we're all just as likely to faint as if we get attacked again."

Zephia opened her mouth to snap a response at him, but Fen quickly intervened. "Actually, I have an idea... to find water, at least. I can climb a tree and get a greater view of the surroundings, see if there's a water source nearby. It's something I did before when there was a lot of fog around."

Zephia considered for a moment, then nodded her approval. "More likely to be food where there's water, too."

Fen wasn't too sure what she meant, but duly got to work on the nearest tree. The combination of its lack of branches and smooth bark made him rely more on his claws than usual for handholds, though he still reached the top with relative ease.

He looked through the gaps in the trees around him and immediately saw a number of bulky Pokémon prowling around the forest. Slightly terrified, he pulled himself closer to the tree trunk, even though there was little chance of any of the 'mon happening to look up. He soon spotted a grey dip in the ground that glinted slightly in the dim light, appearing to reveal what they were looking for. He also tried looking for a sign of the end of the forest, as he had done inside Hidden Wood, but it was to no avail. Not that he was surprised; this place was several times larger.

After jumping down and giving them the mostly good news, Zephia resumed her Seviper form as Fen led them to the site of water. They arrived one small safety detour later at a decently sized pond, where a couple of small Pokémon were already taking furtive sips at.

"Good work on the directions," Ryu said, giving Fen a nod. "But… unless we plan on eating tree bark and grass, there's still no food…"

Zephia eyed them both curiously, then her eyes seemed to flash in recognition. "Oh, I get it… you two don't normally hunt your food."

"Wh-what?!" Fen cried out. Her words immediately sent alarm bells ringing in his head. "We… we can't do that! We might be hungry, but killing another Pokémon for food is… no, we can't!"

Zephia now looked at him in bemusement. "Uh… what? I remember being told that humans eat Pokémon… but you can't bear the idea of it? What kind of weird human are you?"

"W-well, I… I…" Fen was floundering. Zephia was right; now that he thought about it, the types of Pokémon he knew were eaten by humans – Commons, Bugs and fish-like Waters – were the same ones Faoz had said were hunted by Pokémon themselves. So why does the thought of killing and eating another Pokémon trigger such a strong reaction in me? Maybe because I'm one of them now…? But even so…

"I don't know what it is," he said finally. "I guess… these Pokémon are just like us, aren't they? They're living, breathing, fighting… it's wrong for us to have to kill them just to give ourselves food."

Zephia raised her eyebrows. "They're not like us at all," she said. "They're wild Pokémon. They have no concept of language; their tiny brains can pretty much think of nothing beyond staying alive and fighting whatever they have a chance of defeating. If they were to breed, their hatches would be immediately left to fend for themselves, growing up to be the exact same as their parents – braindead. See the difference? We are not wilds. We can think."

"But… but… it's not their fault they're wild!" Fen stuttered. "If they were looked after properly from birth, they could still be as intelligent as we are… right?" He turned to Ryu, hopeful that he'd back him up. But Ryu bore a similar, if slightly more concerned expression to Zephia's.

"Fen, I don't like the idea any more than you do… but if there's nothing else edible here, we don't have many other options," Ryu said. He paused for a moment. "And we did have to eat meat a couple of times when there was a drought of fruit in our woodland. Sometimes this is necessary."

Fen looked at him disbelievingly. This has to be the first thing he and Zephia have agreed on...

"Well… I'm not helping you hunt," Fen said.

"I was going to do that anyway," Zephia dismissed. "It shouldn't take long. And if someone–"

"Fills the water?" Ryu interrupted. "Yeah, I'll take care of that." Without waiting for a response, he got onto all-fours and headed carefully towards the pond, leaving Fen and Zephia.

"Guess I'll just wait here for you," Fen said weakly.

Zephia gave him a disappointed shake of her head. "I'll go once we've got water, since what I do might cause a bit of a stir."

Then without warning, her appearance changed again, this time to a small Treecko. "Less intimidating. Easier to fool 'mon," she explained, in response to Fen's shocked expression.

Fen didn't feel like telling her that his shock was more due to how she reminded him of the poor, injured Treecko in Cheri Forest that he and Ryu had rescued, which itself felt like so long ago. He tried not to correlate those memories with whatever Zephia was about to do next.

When an equally confused Ryu came back, she moved off in his opposite direction. Fen watched her go about halfway to the pond and stop, keeping herself hidden under some tree roots. Though he hated what she was doing, he couldn't deny that Treecko was a very clever disguise given its body's natural stealth. And though he felt obliged to watch given her warning about other 'mon's reactions, a much greater proportion of him yearned to look away.

"I didn't know humans ate 'mon," Ryu said quietly next to him, almost making him jump.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I guess I just forgot about it."

Ryu hummed. "It's fine though. You can't have been missing it too much, if you'd forgotten…"

"I guess not." Fen smiled thinly. "I like the diet we have. I don't know how much I enjoyed fruit and plant-based stuff before, but everything here is all so fresh and flavoursome… It does help that most of what we've been eating is picked ourselves on the same day, but still…"

"Nah, I get ya," Ryu said. He scratched an ear. "So, uh… I noticed in those last fights you were using some new attacks."

"Oh, transferring fire into my fist and stuff?" Fen said. Ryu nodded back. "It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing… That idea hadn't occurred to me before I used it on the Seviper, and I don't think it's good to try often, given how energy sapping it was."

Ryu's eyes widened. "It was energy sapping?" he asked, a curious hint to the question.

"Well, it was then. Does that mean something bad?"

"No, no… I've just heard that if you're–" Ryu suddenly broke off and leaned forward. "Sorry – look."

Zephia's Treecko head had pricked up as a Zigzagoon came into view, zigzagging slowly towards the pond on their right. Its minute size made it more like a ball of bristly fur with a tiny head and limbs poking out. The last thing Fen would have wanted was to cause harm to the innocent creature.

Zephia crept forwards in line with the Zigzagoon until they were both at the water's edge, a few feet apart. The Zigzagoon turned its head right, then left in her direction. Fen expected Zephia to attack as soon as the two 'mon's eyes met, but when they did, she instead moved closer to the pond and lowered her head to drink. After observing her for a few moments, the Zigzagoon did the same.

Of course, she appears like just a normal Grass, and they wouldn't eat any meat… the Zigzagoon's completely unaware of what she is… it thinks it's safe…

Fen started feeling sick. He wanted to shout to the Zigzagoon. Run away, before she kills you! Don't let her do this, please!

While the Zigzagoon was still drinking, he saw the Treecko's head covertly turn towards it. He saw the swirl of darkness that meant Zephia's illusion was disappearing. And before he knew it, he was running towards them, almost choking on his words.

"Stop! STOP! You're–"

His words were tackled out of the air, as Ryu grabbed him with enough force to make him crumple to the ground. Without looking ahead, Fen closed his eyes. He heard a desperate, ear-piercing squeal from the pond, and a snap that extinguished it almost as suddenly as it began. Distant squeals and cries echoed around them moments later, then Ryu was pulling him up, dragging him forwards with an iron grip on his wrist. Fen stumbled in his direction, eyes open but trying not to look at the Zorua they were following. When he briefly glanced up, he just saw something limp hanging from her mouth and immediately wished he'd kept his head down...

"Fen, it's okay. You can look up now."

Ryu was holding his shoulders, a determined look in his eyes. The previous few minutes seemed to have blurred together in Fen's mind.

"Zephia's gone a little distance away to sort out the food," Ryu said, before Fen could ask. "Look… I'm really sorry about tackling you then, but it was for the best. I didn't realise you'd react like that… I guess we should've taken you away beforehand."

"I don't – I don't blame you for anything," Fen managed to say, trying to stop himself shaking. "I d-didn't know that would happen either… all of a sudden I just got this awful feeling, and… I felt like I had to do something…"

Ryu looked pretty worried himself. He doesn't know how to react… neither would I if he'd just done what I did. What's wrong with me…?

"It's fine, 'mon," Ryu said eventually. "Do you wanna light a fire? That stuff normally helps calm you…"

He gestured to a small, already-built pile of wood next to them, and Fen nodded gratefully. He opened his mouth, then paused.

"Ryu, when you said that the only food here other than Pokémon was tree bark… did you mean that?"

Ryu looked at him pitifully. "Well… it'd be very difficult to get to the deep, healthy layers of bark given we have nothing to carve with. And I don't know what trees these ones are – they might not even be edible…"

I would be putting myself in unnecessary danger, Fen thought. Plus, the further south we go, the more likely it seems that we'll have to hunt for food. I can't let this weird hang-up of mine ruin our whole journey. And I am starving…

"Forget that idea," he said. "I'll just eat what we have."

Ryu nodded, but Fen could tell he was silently breathing a sigh of relief. "You… you wouldn't know what the food is when you look at it, by the way. It just looks like–"

"I've seen meat before," Fen said, before he could elaborate. "I'll be alright." He finally lit their fire with the biggest blast of flames he could manage, and watching the exploding wood was at least a little satisfying, as well as the comforting warmth it gave.

When Zephia had finished stripping the Zigzagoon of meat she separated the portions between them. While the other two were perfectly content to eat theirs raw (like any normal Pokémon would be, Fen thought despairingly), he held his share against the fire for a few minutes before considering it bearably-enough cooked. Despite not wanting to enjoy it, the food did help calm his jitters, and he was something close to relaxed by the time it was finished.

Before they started digging shelter, Zephia had asked Fen to find somewhere far from their campsite to dispose of the food bones. Ryu had objected that it was dangerous and the Chimchar should be given a rest, but Fen himself had been happy to, perhaps feeling guilty at how he'd behaved earlier. As he left, concealing the bones under his fur coat, Ryu and Zephia sat on opposite sides of the fire, refusing to meet each other's eyes. Just being near her made Ryu grumpy.

He still hated Zephia for what she had done to them both in Cheri Forest; he doubted that would ever be forgiven. She certainly held both of them in plenty of contempt too. But what aggravated him the most was just how good she was despite that. In terms of her illusions, her sense of danger, her hunting, everything – without her, Ryu dreaded to consider where he and Fen would be now.

He was still hugely grateful for their safety – he would be stupid not to be. But... why does this incredibly skilled 'mon have to be such a bastard, too? he thought, huffing to himself.

Just then, a gust of wind blew through their campsite, extinguishing their fire. As Ryu blinked quickly, adjusting to the sudden darkness, something was happening in the fog. It swirled around their campsite, then began glowing grey, and within it there were other shapes materialising, screaming, floating towards them–

"NO!" Ryu screamed involuntarily, for his realisation of what was happening was so sudden, so terrifying. Please… not again…

He started scrambling backwards on his paws, but felt the earth suddenly dip beneath them. A divot. Once his limbs were stuck in it, they refused to move him out. He heard more screams of terror from behind him and saw the dark fog fast surrounding their campsite's circle, more Ghosts appearing.

Zephia was already on her feet, facing up to a Ghost with hollowed eye sockets, then one with the head of a tree-stump. She immediately looked unstoppable, showing no hesitation in tearing apart the apparitions with every swipe of her black-auraed claws. As Ryu watched fearfully, an all-too-familiar floating head suddenly burst out of the fog right in front of him, the Ghost's huge pink tongue dangling from its jaws, poised to attack–

He screamed again just as Zephia came out of nowhere to bite down on the Ghost. It dissipated after a few moments of them tussling.

Zephia turned to him now, not bothering to remove the aura on her claws. "What are you doing?!" she shouted furiously above the cacophony of voices. "Get up and fight!"

"I can't!" Ryu cried back, shaking. "M-my attacks go s-straight through them…"

Zephia continued staring at him for a moment, then Ryu saw another Ghost fly towards them and frantically ducked his head into his body. This is it, he thought, curling into a ball. I can't do anything… I'll have to hide here until the Ghosts disappear… like a coward...

Something solid hit his legs. He looked at it – a rock, about the size of his palm.

He paused. A Ghost couldn't have thrown this… it had to have been Zephia. But why a rock? Was she just angry with him? That was understandable...

Zephia was busy fighting off another tree-stump-like creature. When it retreated, she briefly met Ryu's eyes, pointed to the rock, then awkwardly made a forward motion with one of her paws.

She… wants to me to throw it? Ryu snatched up the rock in his fist. A spherical Ghost with a pointed horn was flying towards him now, eyes glowing in some attack. Ryu managed to look at it just long enough to aim his throw and hurl the rock away from him, at which point his head pounded from whatever Psychic technique the Ghost had used. He immediately started to curl up again, but paused upon hearing the Ghost make a cry of complaint. It was tottering in the air, a deep, rock-shaped puncture in the middle of its head.

His attack had worked.

That realisation created a vast mix of emotions. There was relief, even euphoria, at the fact that something he'd believed for so long might be false – that he, as only a Riolu, was able to fight Ghosts after all. But if anything, it made him even more anxious than before, because he knew that his feelings about Ghosts went beyond mere fighting disadvantage. Previously he could use that as a justification for his petrifying fear, but without it… there was nothing, no excuse. He had to fight the Ghosts now, or else he really was a coward.

He carefully climbed out of the hole and gathered up as many nearby fist-sized rocks he could carry. Then getting an idea, he took one rock in his palm and drew energy into the fist as if about to use a force palm. He heard the spherical Ghost shriek at him again and instinctively twisted away, though he managed to stop himself retreating any more.

Deep breaths. I shouldn't be afraid… these Ghosts are weak, and now I have the ability to face up to them... we can overcome this...

Drawing back to his full height, he quickly powered up his fist again, waited until he couldn't bear the Ghost to come any nearer, then threw the rock. It flew perfectly into the Ghost, making a cracking sound on collision before the creature let loose a final shriek and turned to mist.

The rock fell to the ground, and before Ryu could think another Ghost flew out at him. Thinking again about the rock in his paw and not what was in front of him, he took aim, threw… and after another two rocks, the Ghost had vanished.

To his enormous relief, nothing new appeared immediately. The fog had faded significantly. But then Zephia's enraged cry made him spin behind him. The final Ghost was the one she was facing down. It was dark-purple coloured, standing far higher than her on two legs, and though its wide mouth grinned like many other Ghosts Ryu had come across, it looked more of an angry grimace than an expression of mischief. Zephia's low panting suggested they had already been battling, but neither side was backing down.

Ryu continued fighting his instinct to flee, throwing his rock already in paw. Yet the Ghost foresaw the attack unthinkably quickly, growing a shadowy fist of its own to knock the missile away. As the Ghost's glare turned on him, Ryu was shocked for a moment, but regained his poise and met its eyes determinedly. He would not back away now, even if it meant taking a hit...

Then the Ghost lunged at him, and in willing himself not to move Ryu's body automatically tensed. There was a dull thud as the Ghost hit his ribs. He felt his body weaken, then weaken more until he feared he would faint under the pain. But he remained completely unmoved. He saw his fur glowing white, and realised:

I was so focused on not moving that my body used a counter. And that punch was physical, so… oh Mew, I hope this works–!

He leapt at the Ghost with all the energy he had left, the impact between them blinding him. He heard it scream, and he just managed to lift his head up to see the Ghost's image fading, its mouth twisted into a furious snarl. Then it screamed again and what was left of its body split into tiny screaming fragments, which flew straight through him and Zephia, making him shiver involuntarily as if he'd been dipped in ice.

Then everything was silent. The fog had disappeared; the Ghosts were gone.

For some reason, Ryu didn't find himself getting up from the ground. Zephia didn't help him, either. It wasn't until he heard Fen's footsteps approach that he was forced to move.

With their fire gone, Fen had lit a branch to see with, illuminating the bemusement on his face. "What happened?" he said. "Were you attacked?"

"By Ghosts, yeah," Zephia said.

"W-what?!" Fen exclaimed. "Ryu, are you–"

"I'm okay, 'mon," Ryu said, as the Chimchar came running over. "We fought them off together."

At Fen's curious look, Ryu picked up a nearby rock. "With these. Turns out I'm quite good at throwing them. I can use counters on 'em, too… though I'd known that already, just never wanted to try…"

From confusion, Fen's mouth slowly curved into a smile. "That's… heh, that's amazing!" he said, grinning. "Are you pleased?"

Ryu returned the smile. "Yeah."

Although he was, he didn't feel as happy as he ought he should. All his emotions felt strangely muted compared to when they'd fought the Ghosts. Perhaps it was just exhaustion.

It took him a moment to find Zephia again in the dimness. She was turned away from them, inspecting a patch of dirt carefully.

"Zephia?" Ryu said.

She grunted, turning her head to him.

"I, uh… would never have considered throwing rocks like that. And Ghosts have… caused me a lot of trouble in the past…"

She just shrugged. "It seemed pretty obvious to me. Good that it worked." She turned back to the dirt, moving her paws around experimentally. "This seems like good ground for digging," she announced. "If you two just watch me…" She paused, looking pointedly at the two of them who hadn't moved.

As Fen started to get up, Ryu blurted, "I just – thank you for doing that, okay? It matters a lot to me… even if it doesn't to you."

He thought he saw a faint smile flicker across Zephia's face, but then, as if catching herself, she turned away. "You know what does matter a lot to me? Digging this hole. So come and help me, already."

As they made their way over, Ryu exchanged glances with Fen, who gave him such a helpless look that he almost burst out laughing. As much as he and Zephia seemingly refused to get on… there really was much to admire about her. Much to not be angry at her for. He told himself to keep that in mind for the harsh days to come. Though it would be difficult.