I can only feel the warmth and pleasant brightness of the sun for a few moments. The Dratini quickly slides down the stairs of the stone chamber and circles around the pokéballs that lie on the cold floor like lifeless pebbles.
"Wow...", she whispers, awestruck. Then, without further ado, she grabs my pokéball with her mouth and stuffs it into something that appears to be an already overfilled backpack. I can sense that she places the two capsules in which my friends are trapped next to mine, before she closes her bag and darkness surrounds us again.
The Dratini leaves the underground chamber and even the ground behind as she slithers into the air without wings. She breaks through the forest canopy and I feel her wave-like movements with which she swims through the sky like a Milotic swims through water. The serpentine dragon hums a light-hearted melody that strangely makes me think I'm free even if I'm still imprisoned.
After a while, she seems to have spotted something underneath, because she descends to the ground. I'm surprised when I can clearly feel her slither up another staircase before we seemingly jump through space itself all of a sudden. I know that unpleasant sensation from teleporting with a psychic-type, but she clearly did not touch another Pokémon. A split second later, we're on the forest ground again, and I can hear a gentle breeze flowing through the leaves. We must be in a different place within the woods. So the strange stairs brought us here? I never heard of anything like that before. I remember Dratini's conversation with Scyther. They called the sinister woods a "mystery dungeon", an "ever-shifting labyrinth" even. Those terms were new to me. Back when the Snow Queen imprisoned me here, it was simply some murky forest. I wonder how much the world has changed while I stayed the same.
It takes eleven more travels through the fabric of space before we leave the woods behind. I can feel the winds changing as we fly over open fields now. At least we weren't ambushed by forest-dwelling Pokémon. I know that they can be fiercely protective of their homeland, but weather dragons are such well-respected creatures that they rarely get attacked when they're just passing through. Once I was treated with even more respect, worshipped by the subjects of the king I served. It's nothing but shameful to think about that, because I did not deserve it in the least. The common Pokémon called me the White Dragon of Truth, the Lightbringer. But in the end I only brought pain and misery to everyone. It may have been good for the world that I was sealed away. There was no reason to imprison my friends though. They were just commoners, a brave and stubborn rescue team. If I won't get freed, I hope at least they will.
The lively chatter of different kinds of Pokémon begins to fill the air: melodic birds, squeaking rodents, hissing reptiles, humming insectoids, growling dogs and many more noisy creatures. I hear doors opening and shutting and the drumming of hooves on hard ground. We must have reached civilization.
"Hi! Are you the famous Kecleon brothers?", Dratini exclaims excitedly while landing amidst all the bustling Pokémon.
"Indeed we are", someone answers. His voice is slightly oily but sounds reptilian nonetheless.
"What can we do for you, young lady?", a second, similar sounding voice asks.
"You can call me Empyrea", the Dratini offers. "Or Empy! Or Rea? Whichever you prefer."
"Very well then, Miss Empyrea", the first merchant brother says politely. "What brings you to our humble shop?"
"Oh, I'm a travelling weather dragon", Empyrea states proudly. "Or rather a junior weather dragon? I mean, I haven't evolved yet, but I still can be quite helpful when I manipulate the weather with my twisters and rain dances, really! And I want to learn more weather-changing moves to help even more Pokémon in need, that's why I'm here", she explains. "I heard you sell many rare technical machines that can teach powerful moves to anyone!" Her anticipation is almost palpable.
"Why, today's your lucky day!", the second Kecleon brother cheers. "We just got our hands on a very good machine. It can teach you how to use Thunder."
"It's an impressive skill", the first brother adds. "When you've mastered Thunder, you can create a thunderstorm all by yourself. Any hungry electric-type who's pining for some electricity will be grateful for your help!"
I can feel Empyrea's snake tail wagging in excitement.
"I'll buy it!", she decides instantly. "Or can we maybe make a trade? I found some super fancy orbs. They were sealed away deep in the sinister woods!"
There is a moment of silence. Then the first brother hesitantly admits: "Miss Empyrea, that sounds a bit unsettling."
"Oh, they're harmless. Nothing bad happens when I touch them, see?" And with these words, Empyrea pulls a pokéball that contains one of my friends out of her backpack.
This time, the silence is longer. Finally, the second merchant brother breaks it fearfully: "B-but that's a pokéball... I thought they d-didn't exist anymore..."
"There might even be an unfortunate creature trapped inside!", the first brother says in horror.