Chapter 10

Night had well and truly fallen and since the storm had broken the air had cooled considerably. Daintha had planted herself in the middle of the room, not yet willing to sit down on the filthy floor. Or, if she were being honest with herself, do anything that might hinder a quick escape. Her feet were beginning to throb from the complete lack of movement, but right now the pain felt better than the alternative.

Cynthia had examined every inch of the cave and hadn't turned up anything new, much to her obvious disappointment. About twenty minutes ago she'd sat herself down against the wall furthest from the skeleton and had pulled a tiny black book from her pocket. Torch held between her teeth, she'd been writing notes in it since. Diantha couldn't think of a single thing she could possibly have to write down that she hadn't already said. Unless she was just trying to distract herself.

Were they really going to do this all night?

She just wanted to go home. And shower. Gods, she wanted to shower. She didn't think she'd ever felt so grimy before.

"Are you okay?"

It took Diantha a second to realise she was being spoken to. She looked over to her companion and straightened her back.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she said.

"Your scowl is audible," said Cynthia. She had taken the torch out of her mouth and was pointing it just away from Diantha's face. Diantha bristled with irritation.

"Well if you must know, this isn't my idea of a good time," she said, with a lot more restraint than she was feeling.

Cynthia nodded slowly. There was an air of calm about her that Diantha found in equal parts soothing and frustrating. In better circumstances she wondered if they'd have become friends.

"What is your idea of a good time then?" asked Cynthia. She folded up her notebook and returned it and the pen to her pocket. "If you could be anywhere in the world right now, doing anything you wanted to, what would it be?"

Throughout her career Diantha had been asked just that question in hundreds of different ways. The Lumiose Gazette readers need to know! She had a mental list of answers she liked to alternate between to keep her interviews fresh and to keep herself in her fans' good books. Pokemon battling has always been a passion of mine. I like to work out - healthy body, healthy mind (then she'd laugh politely). Meeting my fans is always a real joy. All of it was true, but ultimately empty words.

"Where would you be?" she challenged.

It took Cynthia a moment to answer. "It wouldn't matter where I was," she said eventually. "As long as I had my Pokemon with me. Without them I feel…" She paused. "I feel alone." Her lip quirked up with self-deprecation and she looked away. Diantha felt her shoulders tense. She hadn't been expecting an honest reply.

Her mind fumbled over a way to respond. She briefly wished she had a script in her hand. Something to tell her how to act or what to say. It had been a long time since she'd had to just be… She stopped. Be what?

Mind still blank, Diantha forced herself to cross the floor. She took in a deep steadying breath and leaned against the wall next to where Cynthia sat and allowed herself to slide down it so they were next to each other. Her heart was beating louder than it should have been, and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to react to the dirt that was already staining her outfit.

"I'd be at home," she said, hoping Cynthia couldn't hear the strain in her voice. "Probably in the bath with a mediocre romance novel, a glass of wine and a huge piece of cake. I don't get to do that anywhere near as often as I'd like. I'm always so busy."

"What kind of cake?" asked Cynthia, her expression softening just a fraction.

"Any kind."

Cynthia nodded. "Good answer."

"It's hard for me to get around sometimes without being recognised," she said. Not to brag, though she worried that was how it sounded, just because it was true. "Sometimes I put on the biggest pair of sunglasses I can find and a big coat just so I can wander around the patisseries without being disturbed. Time for myself comes infrequently."

"Fame can be a double-edged sword," said Cynthia. Her tone suggested she was speaking from experience, but Diantha couldn't really be sure.

The wall behind her was hard and uneven, but Diantha tried to relax back into it, stubbornly ignoring a particularly jagged piece of rock poking into the middle of her spine. There was a gentle pitter-patter (that she assumed was rain) coming from beyond the mouth of the cave that under any other circumstance she'd have found quite soothing. As it was, she tried to ignore it and the way it made the back of her neck prickle with unease. Best not to think too much of it. Was it any wonder her mind might play tricks on her in this gods-forsaken place?

Grit rubbed harshly against her calves and she closed her eyes.

"What do you think the chances of us getting any sleep tonight are?" she said.

The idea disgusted her, but she'd never done well without a good night of sleep. She attributed it to having such an active lifestyle, despite knowing she'd been like this since she was a child. A full eight hours or she was grumpy the whole next day. Then the effort it cost her to conceal her irritability from the people around her just drove her further into her bad mood.

"I'm not planning on any," said Cynthia. Somehow Diantha wasn't surprised. "You're welcome to try though. I'll keep an eye out for danger."

"It's a bit early for that yet," said Diantha. "But thank you. Maybe I will."

Fatigued though she was, it would be a long time before she could relax enough to allow her body to drift into sleep. If indeed she could relax at all out here with no protection. She glanced at Cynthia, who seemed perfectly alert and calm, sat with her legs crossed in this dank cave, and felt comforted in the knowledge that she at least knew she could trust her companion to stay true to her word. If Cynthia said she was going to keep watch all night, then Diantha could see no reason to think she wouldn't.

"Do you hear that?" said Cynthia suddenly.

Diantha's eyes shot open and she tilted her head.

"All I hear is the rain," she said. It was louder than before. "It's just getting closer."

Slowly, Cynthia unfolded her legs and straightened up. The torch in her hand flickered. "We're in a cave."

Perhaps Diantha had been a little hasty in her decision to trust this woman to keep her safe overnight. "Yes," she said, with as much patience and as little sarcasm as she could manage.

"So how can the rain be getting closer?"


"And he just left you here?" asked Steven, his heart sinking for the poor girl. "That's…"

He trailed off and shifted uncomfortably in his clothes. Now that the rain had stopped, a warm breeze had started to rustle through the trees, drying the top layer of mud caked around him. He'd tried to brush it away earlier, but it stuck to him like rotting glue, itching and stinking.

"It sucks," said Kelly, head bowed. "I know. Dad's always been like that though, you know? He brought me to see the cool island and then disappeared on me. Like he always does. I guess there was an emergency or something back at the uh...visitor's centre. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already back home."

Steven was torn.

His friends were still out there (hopefully still in the cave he left them in) completely unprotected and they had no idea that there was an aggressive Tyrantrum on the loose. He needed to find them to warn them. He wasn't sure if he'd ever forgive himself if anything happened to them when they were only here because of his family. His incredibly irresponsible family. He shoved that thought aside; getting angry now wouldn't do him any good. He'd just wait until they were safe and then he'd start writing a list.

Then Kelly looked up at him hopefully. Fat tears clung to her eyelashes and her skinny arms were wrapped protectively around her chest. She looked terrified. Steven could relate.

He couldn't in all good conscience drag this teenager further into the jungle. Further into danger. Diantha and Cynthia were adults at least, and he wasn't sure about Diantha, but he knew Cynthia was more than capable of taking care of herself in dangerous situations. This kid though…

His heart lurched with guilt and he swallowed it back down as best he could. "We need to get you back to headquarters. We're not safe out here."

"Okay," said Kelly, expression suddenly brightening. "Do you think you can get me back to Poni Island? That's where I live."

Alolan geography wasn't really Steven's area of expertise, but he nodded anyway. After everything that had happened today, helping him get this poor child home was the absolute least his uncle could do for him.


Diantha didn't think her heart could take much more. Any attempts to calm the adrenaline racing through her veins seemed an act of futility as she dragged herself back up from the hard ground. The pitter-patter of what she had thought to be rain was not so much getting louder, as becoming denser .

Cynthia swung the torch around, looking for the source of the sound, seemingly to no avail. They both kept their backs to the wall and just over the sound of hurried tapping Diantha could hear her own laboured breathing.

Then something caught her eye and her stomach gave a sickly lurch.

"Point down," she said. Or at least she tried to say. Fear made the words stick in her throat.

"Hmm?"

"Point it down," said Diantha, this time more clearly. "The light."

Cynthia did as she was told and inhaled sharply. Beneath brown, dome-shaped shells, twenty pairs of gleaming red eyes the size of golf balls peered up at them through the darkness. If she hadn't already been pressed against a wall, Diantha would have taken a step back.

"What are the chances they're friendly?" said Diantha. Her voice cracked under the strain and the Kabuto clicked and scratched their short pincer-like legs together.

"Slim," said Cynthia. Her eyes darted around the cave, looking for an escape that they both knew she wouldn't find. "But if they haven't attacked the staff working here yet then-"

She stopped abruptly when the Kabuto closest to them shuffled forwards, it's yellow legs tapping ominously against the cave floor.

"-let's not stick around to find out," Cynthia finished. Then for the first time that day, Diantha thought she could detect a flicker of fear from her companion. It was gone before she could be sure she'd really seen it.

Tension coiled in Diantha's chest as she tried to map a way through the Kabuto that would mean she wouldn't accidentally touch any of them or jam her foot somewhere between the uneven scattering of rocks that had once made up the wall. The Pokemon moved slowly, but if she were to fall...well, she didn't want to think about that. She took another moment to lament her choice of footwear.

"I don't suppose you have a plan?" she asked, just to make sure.

"I have a few ideas," said Cynthia. "They're all bad. Unfeasibly bad."

Diantha clicked her tongue with irritation. "I'll take the left and you take the right then." She didn't want them crashing into each other in their escape attempt.

There was a pause and then Cynthia held out her hand. Diantha looked down at it and raised an eyebrow. "If one of us trips," Cynthia said.

The Kabuto scraped ever closer, ruby eyes glinting like dying stars in the low light. It was impossible to tell their intent, but a creeping dread still inched up Diantha spine.

"I don't usually allow that until the second date," said Diantha, but she linked their fingers together anyway, grateful for the anchor. In Cynthia's other hand she still held the torch, which (with no small amount of alarm) Diantha saw flicker and then dim. For some reason it hadn't occurred to her that the battery wouldn't have an unlimited life span.

Cynthia offered her a half-hearted smirk. "Noted," she said.

"On the count of three?" said Diantha. Her heart thumped wildly against her ribcage.

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're about to leap from the frying pan?"

Diantha ignored her. "One."

"Two," said Cynthia. The grip around Diantha's hand tightened.

"Three."

In almost perfect synchronization they took tremulous steps forward towards the tiny army of Kabuto. Diantha braced herself for an attack, but the Pokemon continued their slow, twitching shamble forwards over the rocky floor. Nausea rose in Diantha's throat as they drew closer. She was sure in any other circumstance she'd be amazed by the resurrected creatures, but as it was her mind was filled only with images of what would happen if one of the little beasts got its pincers on her. She shivered with disgust and lifted her leg a bit higher to make sure she cleared the small boulder blocking her way. Her calves ached from the strain.

Then they were well and truly in the thick of it. Diantha could barely even bring herself to breathe while they slowly picked their way through the surrounding throng. With every fibre of her being she wanted to look away from the red-eyed creepers on the ground, but she knew that the second she did she'd end up flat on her face along with them. It didn't help that with every passing moment their only source of light faded, making it even more difficult to avoid the unstable blanket of rocks that ensured she could never keep steady footing.

The Kabuto nearest to her feet suddenly scuttled to the side, brushing Diantha's ankle as it moved.

Her heart rate spiked and she let out an undignified squeak of terror, only just stopping herself from launching forward in a wild escape attempt. The hold on her hand tightened and she squeezed back with a trembling vice-like grip. This is fine, Diantha thought rather hysterically, as her foot wobbled.

"Steady on," said Cynthia under her breath.

You steady on, she wanted to snap back, but fear and her last vestiges of politeness stayed her tongue. Just a bit further.

Then, against all odds, they were through to the other side with all limbs still completely in-tact. Her whole body still shook but Diantha was mid-huge-sigh-of-relief when Cynthia suddenly jerked her forward. She turned her head just in time to see the herd of Kabuto suddenly stand to attention, lifting themselves up on their grotesque little legs to pierce the two women with their unblinking red-eyed stare.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still.

Then - "Run!"

Diantha didn't need to be told twice. The two of them turned and sprinted for the entrance of the cave, only narrowing avoiding the en masse Water Gun that had been aimed in their direction.


If he were to really concentrate and cast his mind back, Steven was sure he could remember a more stressful night than this one. Probably.

With every passing step through the dark jungle, the throbbing pain in his ankle intensified. It wasn't broken, he thought, but with every extra moment he spent out here trekking through this overgrown tangle of vegetation his worry over doing permanent damage to it grew. On top of that, a dull sting seemed to travel from his collarbone all the way down to his right hip. Hopefully his skin was just scraped, because unless he got himself into a shower soon any deeper wound than that was bound to become infected.

"Hey, old man." Steven blinked, having almost forgotten that he wasn't alone. "Think you can pick up the pace?"

The girl, Kelly, was a few metres ahead of him now and looking back at him with her arms folded. In the low lighting from the moon he couldn't quite make out her expression, but if he was to guess he'd say she probably wasn't too impressed with him.

"I'm coming," he said, doing his best to limp along a bit faster.

"Yeah," said Kelly. "So's Christmas."

For a moment, Steven was taken aback. "I suppose it is," he muttered, forcing himself onward. She wasn't wrong, he conceded. He'd told himself he was doing this to keep his new companion safe, but if anything he was actually slowing her down. He pushed down another surge of guilt. Maybe it was for the best that he hadn't followed through with his original plan to find Cynthia and Diantha.

The sounds of errant Pokemon trilled around them. Archaeops again, he thought, if only not to think about anything else. If he had been with Skarmory he'd have flown up there to have a closer look.

He drew level with Kelly and sucked in a deep breath. "How did you end up out here?" he asked. Maybe she was being irritable because she was frightened? If Wallace had been here he'd have encouraged him to talk to her and find out. That was often Wallace's solution to things, though Steven didn't always understand why. That or glitter bombs anyway.

"Just got lost," said Kelly, rather vaguely. "How did you end up out here?"

"I ran out on the tour," he said. A decision he now regretted. Not that anything would have stopped Cynthia from doing what she wanted to do, so no matter what he'd decided at least one of his friends would still have been stuck out here. But Martin might not be dead.

"Right," said Kelly, after a pause. "The tour. Around the island."

The world around them seemed to be getting brighter. Steven looked up and realised the trees were beginning to thin, allowing more moonlight to breach the canopy. A gentle breeze brushed over his hair, which was still plastered to his head with sweat and dirt. Hopefully that meant they were moving in the right direction. The right direction and also away from the Tyrantrum. He shuddered.

"Some weird Pokemon here, right?" said Kelly, like she'd somehow read his mind.

Steven glanced sideways and then almost stumbled over a tree root. He gasped in pain and Kelly rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm just sayin'," she continued, while Steven tried to catch his breath again, "that those things are like...weirdly aggressive."

"What do you mean?" asked Steven. She couldn't possibly have seen the Tyrantrum on the loose, could she?

The girl shrugged. "T-" She stopped. "Me and Litten bumped into some shield faced Pokemon. It was really cute until it started trying to take out my shins for no reason."

"Shieldon," said Steven. Then he looked at her. "Litten? You have a Pokemon with you?"

Before he received an answer, he glanced down and saw the telling bulge of a Pokeball in the pocket of her shorts. Faint suspicion began to niggle at the back of his mind.

"Yeah I kept it hidden," said Kelly. Her hand brushed her pocket protectively. "Poor Litten didn't stand a chance against that thing though. It was crazy strong."

He considered questioning her further on how she'd snuck her Pokemon past the very strict rules that he and his friends had been subject to, when his mind switched tack. "Hang on. The Shieldon attacked you?"

"You got mud in your ears or something? Yeah that's what I said."

"You didn't attack first? Was Litten out of it's Pokeball?"

"Litten was in it's Pokeball," said Kelly, as though she was speaking to a particularly stupid child, "and I didn't attack it. Why would I? I'm not stupid. That's how I got lost though; running away from the little prick."

"Language," said Steven absently. He ignored the equal parts incredulous and disdainful look the girl shot him.

Two Pokemon attacks in one day. Now that... that seemed unlikely. A terrible sort of dread began to seep into Steven's bones and his heart rate, which he had worked so hard to calm, began to pick up speed. He rubbed a gritty hand across his face and breathed hard between his fingers. Maybe it was nothing, he tried to reason with himself. It was probably nothing. Just a coincidence.

But then why did he have such a bad feeling about this whole thing all of a sudden.

Because he'd just seen a man get eaten by a huge Pokemon was why. He could be forgiven for letting his imagination carry him away. That must be it. Trauma did strange things to the mind.

He dug his too-blunt fingernails into the palms of his hands in an attempt to ground himself back to reality. Normally he'd have released one of his Pokemon in an attempt to calm himself. He always felt safer with one of his friends nearby. He supposed most people did. It was, of course, not an option. He looked down at the ground then and shook his head. He shouldn't have allowed himself to be parted from his Pokemon. What had he been thinking?

"Hey!" said Kelly suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

Steven willed his mind blank, and at first all he could hear was the ever present sounds of the forest. The rustling of the leaves, the Pokemon flapping overhead, the sound of his own heartbeat thumping wildly. Then he heard it.

The distant grinding and whirring of a vehicle.

Kelly and Steven exchanged a quick and then launched themselves forward at full speed towards the sound.