The trek was longer than anticipated, but our stamina had increased since the bus crash. Whether or not Pokémon bodies had anything to do with it, I was sure we'd made enough ground to cover the trip from home to the fort all without wheels.

It must've been noon when clouds gathered overhead. A big, white blanket covered the sky, dulling the forest and sending a chill up my spine. Before I knew it, rain had started to fall. I groaned. The grass hadn't even dried from the dew!

"Can we stop?" Lola asked, gazing up at the clouds and blinking a droplet away.

"And get home later?" Valérie responded. "Nope. We're not stopping so you can be lazy again."

The Absol shot her a glare. "Hey. Maybe I'm concerned about facing the boss battle in this weather. You don't know."

"Again with the boss battle—"

"What stops the boss from showing up here?" Micheal asked.

We'd (somewhat embarrassingly) not given much thought as to how we were brought to the levels to begin with. At least, I hadn't. Talking about it like that kind of made it real, and as soon as it was, we'd start to get homesick all over again.

Lola was the first to speak up. "Last time, it spawned when we entered the last room. Not a second before."

"Yeah," I continued. "And we didn't go into the hive's... aggro zone."

I fidgeted with my stingers. As much of a video games fan as I was, I hadn't had much experience with using that term.

"You and Chloe came pretty close, though," Micheal said. "It might be enough for it to count."

Even Lola looked concerned after that. Micheal looked around to assess the rain. It was only a drizzle at the most. The rest of us didn't put up much of a fight when he strongly suggested we press on. Waiting out a bit of rain didn't seem worth risking facing an enemy unprepared.

Shortly after, I saw the hive peering through the gaps in the trees. The clearing was close. I took a second to double-check Gab's backpack. The Emolga was practically carrying her own weight in berries, and that was reassuring.

The silence was thick, the only sound being the rain and wind rustling the trees. I looked around my group of classmates and they did the same. No words were exchanged, just some nods. Then we walked in.

As soon as we entered, a static-like buzz filled the clearing. That sound had also started with the Smeargle fight. I put my wings and stingers up. At the base of the hive, a mess of red pixels spawned right after a flash of white.

As it had done last time, the mass settled on a concrete shape in a matter of seconds. It looked shorter than me until something from its back sprouted, dwarfing its body completely. The shape got more and more specific as red pixels were shaved away bit by bit.

It shed its final layer of pixels, revealing a fuzzy, purple body, blue limbs, and wide wings that started flapping the moment they were freed.

The Butterfree flew up high. Red pixels poured out its mouth and eyes, blocking them from view.

"Talk about pinkeye," I mumbled. This visual still disturbed me to no end.

"Gab, is there any chance of you knowing an electric move yet?" Micheal asked, snapping us back to a battle mindset.

"Um..."

I cut her off. "Got it, you'll be berry support. Get the Orans ready."

She nodded, and I turned back to the Butterfree. Little did I know, it was ready for us far faster than the Smeargle.

It flapped its wings fast, creating a whirlwind to knock us off-balance. I spread my wings and used it as a lift. Even through the small amount of practice I'd gotten with Chloe, I'd learned to wrangle currents if I kept myself focused. I had Pokémon instincts to thank for that.

I flew close to the thing, arm stingers brought forward. I wasn't quite ready to try attacking with the back stinger— too much weight shift in midair. I tried to stab its side, but the Butterfree nimbly dodged the hit. That thing was faster than what its large wings implied.

I fell a little, disoriented from the momentum of my attack. Those stingers were about half my body weight. I caught myself a few feet down from where I'd been. When I'd regained my breath, I turned back toward the Butterfree.

It had wasted no time, flapping its wings to maximum speed and sending the rest of my team flying. Maybe that was Gust? I'd looked over just in time to see Micheal painfully hit a tree at the edge of the clearing. It looked to be a damaging move.

Micheal regained footing and started hacking up an Ember, or at least I hoped so. The Butterfree's eyes shifted from him to Chloe, who'd also just gotten back up. Once set on her, they didn't seem to budge. I didn't predict this when strategizing, but our enemy almost seemed aware of type matchups and wanted to eliminate that threat first.

I grunted, readying another stinger attack. Bad move. At the sound, the Butterfree turned to me, with an almost smug look.

It shot a colourful beam at me! Was it Psybeam? Before I could evade, or even feel the pain of the hit, my thoughts became scrambled. I heard yells from around me, but words morphed into foreign noises. My sight went so out the window I could only see spirals. The ground and I had made contact sometime between now and then, and I barely noticed it. I tried to steady myself, but just ended up stumbling. I was on the brink of giving up on trying, when a familiar sweet taste brought me back to the world of the living. I regained enough senses to at least stop myself from thrashing. I felt like my head had been steamrolled. I now understood how you could lose so much HP from a purely mental psychic attack. Not to mention it was super effective against me...

My eyesight clear again, I realized Gab was right in front of me, shoving what must've been a Persim berry down my throat.

"Are you back?" She asked firmly.

I was honestly taken aback by her tone, but shook the rest of the confusion out of my head. "Yeah. How's the Butterfree?"

She didn't need to answer, my eye flying to the battle scene instantly. Micheal spat a couple Embers in the Butterfree's direction, but all missed their target. Most were left smouldering against the wet grass, if not extinguished already. Above, Chloe swooped in and out of the Butterfree's range, trying to land a physical hit. With her speed, she might've managed to do that while I was out, but it wasn't showing now. The Butterfree was momentarily distracted, though, so that was a plus. Meanwhile, I still wasn't over the fact that this overrated purple butterfly was taller than both a Swablu and a Litleo.

I got up, wings shaking off the few drops of water I'd collected from the grass. They were fine to fly, so I took off.

The stupid thing shot another Psybeam at me, but I saw it coming early enough to dodge it. Live and learn. My eye followed the path of the beam, only to see it reach Valérie.

The Psybeam hit her full force, but she barely even flinched. Ricochets hit the ground and ripped chunks of grass away. Meanwhile, she stayed in a stable battle stance, fists up and feet planted on the ground. It might've been from her karate training. I knew Valérie was the headstrong one, but this was ridiculous. At that point, I'd have to commend it after the battle.

My back was starting to hurt from the continued strain flying caused. Beedrill were not migratory, that much was obvious.

I landed next to Gab and Lola, the latter casually sitting down, watching the battle with interest.

"What are you doing?" I asked, accepting an Oran berry Gab passed to me.

"I'm learning. Chill", she answered. "I can't reach that thing. What else do I do?"

"Well, you're a Dark type", Gab started.

I swallowed my Oran berry. "Oh my God, you're a Dark type!"

"Ugh, what do I have to do?" Lola groaned.

"The rainbow beams are Psychic attacks", I said. "You're immune to them. If you stand in front of the target, you can probably nullify the damage."

Lola turned to Gab, possibly for assistance. She rolled her eyes as the Emolga hastily looked away, and got up. I started up my wings again, the pain in my back completely gone.

I scrutinized the Butterfree for any weak spots, or just one way of hitting it. I didn't see any, and I had an untrained eye for it. One of Micheal's Embers almost reached it, but it moved away without a care in the world.

I got so focused on the Butterfree that I didn't notice the blur of blue and white sneaking up on it. It soared at great speeds, talons outstretched.

And it hit its mark.

I heard the scratch from meters away. It was a soft sound, but sharp and intense. Shiny wing scales joined the falling raindrops.

Chloe had landed a hit before anyone else.

With the mix of thrill and panic that accompanied the battle, I didn't have time to sulk. My mind didn't start comparing me to a competent member of our team, and instead flooded with confidence.

If someone else could land a hit, it meant the thing was hittable. That was all that mattered.

I flew to the Butterfree, both arm stingers at the ready. I caught it by surprise... but didn't strike anything except the air. Those thick, bulky wings made it a deceptively adept dodger.

Each second came with another dodged attack. The weight of my stingers was starting to wear on my arms. Wasn't Beedrill supposed to be built for this kind of thing? What was I doing wrong? If I had to find the muscle where the wings attached to beat them... I had to find the move trigger before the move. I focused on my frustration and tried to find a spark there. I pushed for something to happen, but my intention and emotions ground against each other, incompatible.

Until, suddenly, it clicked.

Stab after jab, each became faster than the last. I barely noticed the glow coming from my stingers. Fury Attack was here late, but it was here with a vengeance. I grazed the dumb butterfly's head, then struck a hand.

I grinned as I managed to knock the Butterfree back a bit. Hell, it was satisfying to just distract it. Its attacks had stopped momentarily.

The rush stopped, and I felt my stingers weigh on me again. I heard the telltale sound of a Psybeam ring out. It was almost like a typical laser beam charge-up sound effect.

I avoided the beam just in time... and saw Valérie face it in full past where I was.

"Whoops," Lola said from twenty feet away.

Valérie's grunt was so rough you could cut your hand on it.

Ugh, forget about her.

I returned my attention to the Butterfree, only to be faced with a strong wind. The boss battle was back on, and the briefly weakened Butterfree flapped its wings as angrily as all hell. That Gust caught me of guard, sending me tumbling to the wet grass. I regained my bearings quickly, not letting my wings get crushed.

As I looked up again, I was suddenly aware of a change in the area. Like a flip was switched, beams of sunlight burst through a gap in the clouds. The Butterfree seemed to notice this and its head jerked toward them. How it could see with the endless stream of pixels, I had no clue.

Its assault of attacks stopped, but the rain persisted in spite of the sunshine. The Butterfree stood in place as well as it could when in midair. Its eyes were tightly shut, as if concentrating. It wasn't until I saw tiny balls of light combining in the Butterfree's hands that I realized what we were dealing with.

"That thing knows Solar Beam?!" I exclaimed.

If there was one thing I knew, it was that we were not equipped to handle a move with a power of 120. It theoretically needed a good amount of sunlight, but what counted as sunny weather? Surely not this, as there was still rain and the Butterfree had to charge its attack. But then, what amounted to a turn when we were having a fight in real time? How much time did we have to get away?

I exchanged a glance with Micheal, and I could tell we were both very aware of the danger. Good to know some Pokémon Red memories had caught up with him. He got his current Ember out of his system and sounded the order.

"Retreat!"

All available bodies ran past the edge of the clearing, a few meters into the trees. I made it second, just after Chloe. Judging by everyone's faces, we all questioned the logic of the plan. It was what we had, though. It didn't matter if the fight hadn't ended. We just needed to last out the Solar Beam. Only one person remained on the battlefield. It was Valérie, still standing in the dead centre. Micheal ran to her and I stared, dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?" I yelled when I'd regained my senses. "Get out of there!"

Micheal even tried pushing her toward the edge of the clearing. She wouldn't budge.

As my mind raced to find a solution, I analyzed exactly what she was doing. Her eyes darted from side to side, but her stance remained still. It wasn't Valérie not moving, it was her not being able to. It seemed even though her mind wanted to leave, the rest of her was determined to stay in place and take-

And take the hits.

"Micheal, get away from her!" I yelled.

"Why?" He wheezed out. Judging from the state of the Litleo, God, Valérie was firmly planted.

My wings twitched, and before I could tell them to do anything, they opened up and propelled me forward. I grabbed Micheal and pivoted on the spot, now facing Lola, Chloe and Gab. They were about ten meters away, at the edge of the clearing. Valérie stood just inches from me.

I flew in the direction opposite the Butterfree and landed with the others. I couldn't apologize to Valérie before a flash of white engulfed her, then the still-concentrating Butterfree. I heard a huge rumble, and prayed I'd be out of range by the time the attack started.

I outflew the hit, landing and dropping Micheal past the tree line. When I looked back, I had to squint. It seemed the entire field was filled with white light, and even from my position I could feel the heat emanating from it. The blast radius was more than I'd anticipated, and it took some time for the light to finally dissipate.

There was no fire, but there might as well have been. Grass had been razed to the ground, scorch marks covering the latter. Standing in a crater stood Valérie, smoke billowing around her. I expected to see at least some red pixels remaining from the Butterfree, but there wasn't a speck left of it. Valérie's attack had completely obliterated the thing.

"Woohoo!" Valérie cheered, looking like she'd just come out of an explosion. I mean, she did, after all. "Meditite vs evil Pokémon: 2-0!"

She laughed with relief and righteous vengeance, the sound carried through the forest air. Adrenaline had caught up with her before the pain could take her out. We caught up with her once the threat was gone. And there was no debating it was gone.

"What was that move?" Micheal asked, having somewhat regained his breath.

"It has to be Bide," Chloe said, hopping up and down excitedly. "Valérie, you just inflicted twice the damage you got onto the Butterfree!"

Valérie laughed at that, clenching her fists. "So we've got a strategy for the next battle!"

There was a lull in the conversation as the others realized that two levels was criminally low of a challenge. Even with humans turning into Pokémon and being yanked away from our home for a week, it seemed too easy. Maybe the third monster battle was the charm? Meanwhile, I was still a bit woozy from the fight and the whole confusion shenanigan, so it took me a while to register how flawed Valérie's plan was. When I finally did...

"No!" I burst out laughing, still high from the same adrenaline. "Bide's, like, the worst move in the game! It has payoff, sure, but it makes you a sitting duck for two turns!"

There was a mumble to my right, just quiet enough that I couldn't decipher the words: Gab's usual language. I rolled my eyes and turned to her.

"Can you say that again?" I asked.

She pursed her lips before relaxing and repeating her previous statement. "Doesn't mean much for it to be the worst in the game if we're not in a game."

Call me romantic, but it was then that something clicked in my brain. This world might've been set on the rules of Pokémon, but it didn't give a crap about whether or not the inhabitants followed those rules. I would need to rely on everyone as much as they'd need my ability to rattle on all Pokémon types. Was I willing to admit it, though? Nah.

"Some things are gonna come to us more naturally than others," I said, "but we are in a video game world, and that's final."

As with the last level, we heard a hum coming from the edge of the clearing. The hive tore itself open, purple light piercing through the cracks until it opened completely. When it was done, another portal had appeared, with a swirling mix of purple and black inside.

"Not the most inviting," Gab said.

"Beggars can't be choosers," Valérie sighed. "Let's go in."

We all gave a fervent nod (in spite of our collective exhaustion) and walked toward the creepy structure. One by one, in an almost ceremonial manner, my classmates went.

"See you on the other side," Micheal said, padding to the portal entrance.

I looked around the formerly grassy clearing, taking in the tall trees around it and tiny hives that adorned them. The rain had finally stopped, leaving the sun to give all the wet leaves a pleasant shine. It was weird for this place to be quiet after the whole Butterfree shenanigan. Without Micheal around, there'd only be Valérie and I left. The Meditite was also off getting closure on this place, staring down the trees with her hands on her hips.

"Oh. I see what you're doing," I realized, stopping Micheal in his tracks.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Time for me to settle scores. Well, too bad for you. I was gonna do it anyway. I have matured."

"...I think you're projecting."

"Yeah," I winked. "I totally know what that means."

He got a confused expression on his face before tilting his head and sighing. He left us after that. After he went into the portal, Valérie and I stayed behind. A full minute passed before either of us said anything. She avoided my eye until I started to walk.

"Hey, Kieran?" She shot out.

I turned my head toward her. "Yeah?"

Her gaze went to me, now unflinching. "About the last battle..."

I braced myself. Yes, I had felt ready to make amends, but the few moments before I'd have to make myself vulnerable felt interminable.

"It was... freaky, having your body not responding to anything except pain."

"Uh..."

"I should've said sorry," she admitted. "About the Smeargle thing."

Oh. I didn't expect that to be brought up, especially right after I'd left her out for her Bide. That was... an apology in lieu of another apology? It didn't have to be in lieu.

"... Thanks," I said. "Now I'll say sorry that I left you out there against the Butterfree with no backup. Sorry."

She nodded, a slight smirk on her face. "Well, at least, we had luck on our side."

That was actually a comforting thought. Was that Bide a pure stroke of luck? It seemed that way since it only kicked in at the perfect time for it to. In a world where we were way out of the water, it was nice to have something looking out for us, even if it was an intangible, unprovable concept.

"Do we know how long portals like this stay open?" Valérie asked, breaking the silence again.

That straightened us out, and we made a mad scramble for what could be our only door to the human world. We thankfully both made it in, the portal showing no signs of closing anytime soon. Whether or not our fears were founded, I didn't want to risk it.

Clearly this thing wasn't over yet, but hell if we didn't hope we could make it out soon.