The sound of claws scraping on rock was all I heard for a while, at least until Gab recomposed herself enough to form words.
"Slow down!" she yelped. Her tone was shaky, but I wasn't about to let someone's motion sickness stop me.
"I just need water," I muttered, not slowing down. A bitter taste stuck in the back of my mouth. My feet were moving on their own at this point, and I ignored the fact that there was water all around us.
Darkness eventually fell, though, and I was forced to stop.
Gab let out a shriek at the sudden dark, causing me to jump in surprise. She fell off, and I felt my scythe scrape the ceiling. Man, was I getting tired of being the tall one. The scratching sound echoed against the walls. I knew we wouldn't get in contact with the group until at least a couple minutes, and a part of me finally calmed down. I was only left with denial instead of sheer panic.
Gab was taking deep breaths, easily taking back control of herself. I heard a soft crackle of electricity as she started her Flash move and lit up the space. In terms of who I was trapped with, this could've been worse. Micheal would try and boss me around, Kieran or Chloe would be good jokesters but get grating really fast, and I was pretty sure Valérie straight-up hated me at this point.
Anyway, Gab was a fair conversationalist when she was up against only one person. I'd gotten to see it... maybe twice? I opened my mouth for a conversation starter, and-
"Why do you do this?" Gab shot out first, interrupting me. I was going to make some snarky reply, but I looked at her and saw hurt in her face. I didn't see that coming; she was an emotionless blob most of the time! Well, come to think of it, I'd mostly only seen her... nervous. Anything else she could feel, I was completely unprepared for.
"I, uh..."
"Do you like people getting hurt?" Her voice crackled with her Flash, both amplified by the isolation of the stone walls. Was that frustration? With her words, it must have been. "Do you want us all to die?"
She took a step backward after that, shoulders hunched, ears drooping, and paws fidgeting lightly. I was taken aback. Of course, I'd been laid back lately, making jokes and dares about everything, but... No, I most certainly did not want anyone to die! Who did she take me for?
"What? No—"
"Maybe act like it then!" She interrupted, again, throwing her arms over her head. All signs of anxiety had either vanished or were expertly hidden. It seemed that since she'd opened the can of worms, she'd decided to stick to it until everything spilled out. "You keep making reckless decisions and not taking anything seriously."
"I'm sorry that my way of coping looks so terrible to you—"
"Maybe change that so it'll at least look like you care!" She retorted.
"We're stuck in an unknown place... a different planet? A different universe? A different whatever, and none of us are in the bodies we're used to and supposed to be in! I don't want to care!" I yelled, instinctively baring my teeth. Gab looked startled, but stood her ground. Realizing what I'd done, I must've flinched more than her. She might've won this one.
I didn't intend on phrasing my thoughts like that, but it summed up how I felt. I didn't want to care. Huh. I did care, though, and the second I was reminded of that fact, everything came rushing back in.
I felt a tightness in my chest. I laid down on my side, taking in shaky breaths. I was fully aware of how dog-like the motion was, and now that I focused on it and was forced to feel... I hated it. Oh God, I hated it. I looked up to Gab, who was only slightly taller than my head resting on my front legs. She looked almost... pitying?
"It doesn't matter."
"What?"
An edge grew to Gab's voice. "It doesn't matter that you don't want to care. You have to—"
"I do not—"
"Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't feel it— even though you do," she cut me off, tensions mounting. "I'm just saying you need to."
I crossed my front legs and squinted, letting her continue. She took a deep breath, stared deep into her paws and said:
"We're all trapped here together, Lola. We can't have a teammate always running headlong into problems."
Her voice quaked and her light flickered, but she held on. "You treat it like we are in the Pokémon games or a dream, but this... this is real. We're all stuck, and we all want to go back. We could all pretend this is nothing, but it isn't! No one should be the one strong or fearless person here. All I'm saying is... we're stronger and safer as a good group. We need you to be at your best. I need to be at my best! As it is now, you're actively screwing us over, and that won't help anyone get back home."
She took a breath. "And because you're not willing to accept or give any help, we're gonna need you to help yourself first."
There was a moment of silence as her words sunk in. I stared at her the same way I would've a candle: squinting a bit, looking away, yet my eyes kept being drawn right back to the light source every time.
"You want me to... do what, then?"
"Maybe... start by not suggesting someone get poisoned for kicks? Stop shutting down anyone's feelings? Including yours?" All her nervousness was back. She did hide it. Was it because of me? She sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'm not a therapist."
It seemed that if I didn't kick her down, she would herself. Welp, time to try and care. I mustered a weak grin and chuckle.
"Could've fooled me."
Her paw rubbed the back of her head nervously: "Trust me, the most I've done to learn about psychology is taking those online quizzes that tell you what disorder you have this week."
I couldn't hold back an unexpected snort at that, breaking the serious mood. I could've sworn I saw a tiny smirk grow on Gab's lips. My eyes widened. Was that her plan?
"There's the exit," she happily sighed.
... Or maybe she was just happy not having to deal with my problems for more than ten minutes. I must've went into over-analyzing overdrive when trying to decipher her. I wasn't sure what was real. I guessed I would have to spend more time with her. We would probably have a lot of time to spare.
She started walking toward the opening, light slowly filtering in more and more as it grew larger. I got up, still feeling jittery. I needed to get something out before the rest of the group found us.
"Hey, Gab?"
She turned around to look at me.
"I'm sorry," I said, words barely coming out above a whisper. I took a breath and stabilized. "Thanks for that."
She smiled at me. It was a tired, yet grateful look- certainly more emotive than I'd seen her all year, even here... and that smile was directed at me!
She glanced away and brought her hands together, turning back to exit the cave.
The faint cries from the others echoed off as we followed their direction. Night was slowly crawling up on us, the blank moon overhead.
I'd just spotted movement ahead when I heard a rustle from the side.
"Wait, is that—" I started.
A growl from the same direction confirmed it. We'd found the Umbreon. And, surprise, surprise, it wasn't happy to see us.
It sprang out of the water, and I narrowly avoided a tackle by jumping backwards. I saw the fox's form in front of me. It was limping somewhat and one of its ears was twitching. The Umbreon faced me, in a determined yet shaky battle stance.
Gab positioned herself on the opposite side, blocking the path behind the Umbreon. It wasn't about to go back into the water, so it was completely cornered. This was Micheal's strategy, take two. Only, this time, the Umbreon wouldn't make walls before we could do anything. We'd had enough of that today.
Without warning, Gab rushed at the Umbreon in the blink of an eye. I barely even registered the blur she became in that split second. Was that the fabled Quick Attack? If so, it sure lived up to the name. She collided with the beast at full force, striking it in the chest. The Umbreon in turn toppled over and fell on its back, its yellow rings flickering somewhat. While it wasn't down for the count, I took that as a sign of the tides turning in our favour.
Gab stopped running some meters past me, a dust cloud following her. An adrenaline-fuelled smile was plastered on her face. "It's paralyzed! Quick, go for it!"
Sure enough, sparks were running through the Umbreon's body, and whatever movements it did manage were either jolty or sluggish. I didn't need much more invitation. With a final Scratch, I lunged and delivered the blow. It shrieked in a hoarse, ragged way, and dissolved into a million pixels that fell through the floor.
We just stood there for a moment, adrenaline still not stopping the pump. Gab eventually dropped down onto her back and laughed hysterically.
"What?"
"I don't know! We defeated this thing so easily now?" She laughed. "Also, it was way smaller than I expected."
"Is it not that size normally?"
"I don't know?" She repeated. "Maybe that's what I get for always carrying the berry bag in the back. He looked bigger when we were losing."
As I looked around us, the absence of Dark Trap was instantly noticeable. All that was left was the gravel, and that deep space illusion the sky and water formed together. The water was still, in perfect balance.
In the distance, faint voices became louder. Our crew was getting closer. Behind me, a hum and a carrion bell sound were made, and I saw my shadow extend in front of me. The portal was open, its light bringing a welcome contrast to the scenery.
"What are we waiting for?" Gab asked, looking straight ahead. "Let's get everyone!"
I'd say I was expecting a happy reunion, but the run felt like coming back home after sneaking out. Except this was worse, because I was disappointing my peers instead of an authority figure.
The upside was that we beat up the Umbreon, so I could totally pretend that's what we meant to do. Thank God Gab picked up on it.
"And then I used Quick Attack on it and hit it right in the chest!" The Emolga told our group as we were walking toward the portal. "Everything else went in slow motion, it was so cool."
"Woah", Chloe whispered, the Swablu's eyes practically sparkling.
As Gab took a surprising lead in the peloton, I hung toward the back, holding the backpack with my teeth (properly, this time). Next to me, Valérie leaned on Kieran to walk but already looked better. She'd gotten as much colour back in her cheeks as I could tell.
"Sorry, by the way," I mumbled.
"What?" Valérie said. "For knocking me out with a bag? Yeah, not cool."
"... I guess for that," I admitted, "and the Pecha berry thing."
"I licked a poison stinger, dingus. I walked into that one."
Uh... where was the Valérie we entered this universe with? Had the poison gotten to her brain? How else would she own up for one of her problems? I'd never seen it happen.
Kieran suddenly stopped. He squinted, turning to look over the water. "Hey, guys?"
The group halted, and everyone got closer to him as he pointed a stinger in the direction he was looking toward. I managed to see what he noticed, but Micheal reacted first. There was a sharp gasp and a tail swish, then his gaze locked onto the portal as he tried to formulate a sentence.
"So those are back," Valérie said. She'd taken her hand off Kieran's arm and started to steady herself on her own.
"You don't question the will of the Dark Trap," I muttered, staring at the floating sphere over the water. "It lives on."
Valérie rolled her eyes. Okay, she was back. That eye roll was a constant of the universe. Well, make that a multiverse constant since we probably weren't on Earth anymore. Earth didn't have menacing orbs of darkness that I could mold into a joke religion.
"Care to share the last eight Dark Trap Commandments?" Gab asked.
"Oh, don't you forget about them. I'll think up of more down the road."
"I hope so."
I put the berry backpack down. "Hey, you mind carrying it? It's —bleh— it's hard on my teeth."
She chuckled and grabbed the straps. "I made it for me. It's fine."
When the team had met up, Gab and I had ran most of the distance between us and the rest. We were still a few minutes away from the portal, so the walk toward it made for some short conversations.
Finally, the portal stood in front of us. We stopped, and everyone just awkwardly shuffled in place. I wasn't sure why we all stopped to look around after every fight. Maybe we did like how things looked when we knew the danger was over for a little while. Taking a breath was nice. Inside the portal, swirls of gray haze made their way through stark white. I supposed they could've been any colour. I couldn't tell anymore, after all.
My heart sank, and it was a feeling I'd barely gotten to recover from since the Dark Trap. It didn't matter much that I couldn't see colour; I was more worried about constantly having that pit in my gut. Was I going to feel this all the time? Was this what it meant to face your emotions and not look away? What was the point in even trying if I was going to be a downer from now on?
Her smile made me happy, though.
The thought came by surprise. It was true, though. Gab's expression as we'd left the trap was something I hadn't seen from her before. It hadn't been awkward, or funny, or mean. It was just an earnest smile that I'd gotten to see by letting her in. Maybe I'd get to see everyone else's eventually.
Oh, dear God. Reel it back in, Lola. You've reached maximum cheese.
I looked over the scenery to distract myself. There was something moving in the distance, somewhere on a far section of the gravel path. I thought it was another Dark Trap at first, but... something about the shape was wrong. Something with a triangular head, extending its arms to either side like a scarecrow. Was it... moving? I lost it in the muddy grays.
"Hey, people?" I called. "Time to jump!"
"What?" Micheal asked, tail and ears suddenly up in alert.
The rest of the gang looked just as confused.
"We're going," I said. "Come with me so I don't get eaten by Pokésharks or something."
With that, I jumped head first into the portal, welcoming the brightness surrounding me.
I understood why Gab had said what she'd said in the Dark Trap, but it was going to be hard. I couldn't go through an entire personality change overnight (no matter how long that night was), but... I could try. Bit by bit, I could care. And I did.
I did, for her, for the rest of the group, and for me. We were all going home somehow, and I wasn't going to sit idly by until it happened. Ok, well maybe I could still lie around when I was tired, but... from now on, only if everyone was all right with it.