Eye of the Earth

After lunch nobody was immediately in the mood to be climbing mountains. The heat had gotten so unbearable in such a short amount of time that it could be felt seeping through the walls of the cabin. Everyone thought now would be a good time to take a break and discover the cabin's facilities a bit more. Ray had taken up the spot at the only desktop computer in the room and was reading online until Tyson and Daichi tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Ray, ready to tackle the mountain ranges?" Tyson asked.

"It's still really hot," Ray replied. "Don't you want to wait until it gets cooler?"

"But if we do that we'll waste too much time and we might not get far enough to beat a path over it," Daichi argued, although he was looking towards the screen as he said it. "Hey, what are you looking at?"

"This? It's the complete database for the Pokédex." Ray scrolled back up to the top where it had the basic data for Treecko. "The Pokédex is really useful but it turns out that even all of the information it holds isn't, well, all of it. The online database is so comprehensive it kind of blows my mind. For example, I found out that you can gauge when your Pokémon is about to evolve by monitoring its condition and keeping tabs on its growth and development. According to Treecko's entry, if Treecko starts learning more complex moves like Pursuit and Mega Drain then it's probably ready to evolve."

"Really? Sweet!" Daichi grinned, giving Ray a high five. "What does it say about Geodude?"

"Hey, hey! You're the one who said we didn't have time." Tyson bopped him on the head. "So are you coming or not, Ray?"

"Yeah, I'll come," Ray said, logging off and getting up. "Who knows, Treecko might evolve along the way."

"Great! Then let's get our Pokémon and round up everyone else."

Ray looked around. Aside from a few of the smaller Pokémon the only other person still inside was Shido working on a textile project at the table. "Where is everyone else?"

"They all went outside," Shido answered, looking up from her task. "Think they mostly went to the washing area but my brothers went to look for their Pokémon."

"Their Pokémon were outside?" Tyson said, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Yes! Always like to say that Pokémon should experience life just like we do. Isn't that just nicer?" she asked. "Even if I say that to my brothers they still insist on carrying their friends in a Pokéball but they compromise by letting them roam whenever we get to stop."

"If I let my Pokémon do that, one of them probably wouldn't come back," Ray muttered, looking up to one of the top shelves where Taillow was vindictively pecking at a book in the cabin's sparse collection of literature. There were a few random things in the cabin that wouldn't be considered public necessities—perhaps they were things accidentally left behind by other travellers. Either way, Ray frowned angrily as Taillow's treatment started to tear off little pieces of paper and cardboard. "Stop doing that! That's public property; you can't just wreck things!"

Taillow responded by screaming at him and then turning around to face the wall. Ray sighed. At least he'd stopped destroying the book. His trainer searched through his clothes to find his Pokéball and returned him.

"If he wants to run away so badly maybe you should let him," Shido said, voice deeply coloured with sympathy.

"I'm not going to let him," Ray grumbled, sitting down on the edge of the tatami mats to slip his shoes on. Treecko hopped onto his back and looked over his shoulder interestedly while Skitty was bouncing around in the middle of the room trying to get past the Skorupi blocking him from playing with all of that ribbon and thread in Shido's bag.

"Why not?"

Ray sighed again as he returned the rest of his Pokémon and he and Tyson waited for Daichi to look for his Slakoth. "I guess because it kind of feels like giving up on him. Taillow's so erratic – sometimes he stays, sometimes he flies away and I can't pin down his behaviour."

"But it sounds like this relationship is making both of you miserable."

Ray winced a little at the truth in those words but was distracted by a shout from the back of the room where Daichi had apparently found his Slakoth in the cabinet under the sink. Slakoth smiled and lifted his arms lazily as if to exclaim: "Hooray! You found me!"

Daichi dragged him out and returned him. He then retrieved Lotad from the kitchenette sink, just soaking in the sink full of water. When his face came up it was full and healthy, in contrast to the sallowness and dryness of the past couple of days and his leaf had its strength and lustre restored.

"Hey, Ryan's advice worked," Daichi remarked, picking Lotad up and looking at him all over. "He's starting to look healthy again."

"Are you ready to go?" Tyson asked impatiently. "I'll go and fetch everyone else."

Outside the sun was really bright and the air was so hot and dry that Tyson could see it waver only a few metres away. From the forest around them came the distant screaming of Nincadas, as well as a low buzzing that was so loud it sounded like roaring. Tyson had already left his red shirt inside, leaving only his tank top but every bit of contact on his skin was stifling, even the contact as fleeting as the egg case swinging against his hip. He'd only been outside for a few seconds and Tyson was already beginning to sweat.

Around the west wall of the cabin was an area shaded heavily by trees. Several pairs of shoes were by the wall as neatly or messily as their owners wanted to leave them. Tyson only glanced at them and then gawked at his friends. The outdoor bathroom was a concrete basin with the partitions at the back indicating the location of showers and toilets. There was also a large, trough-like sink that was filled up with water and had several Pokémon splashing around in it, most notably Kai's Magikarp. Kai himself had abandoned his jacket (although not his scarf) and rolled his trousers up over his knees while he gradually poured water over his Seedot from a scoop. Hilary was trying to catch her Surskit as he skated around on the wet floor and Max was stuck scooping a near continuous stream of water over his Mudkip, who was too intimidated by Magikarp to share the sink with her, even as large as it was and with the assured protection of Wingull and Rush the Floatzel. But it wasn't just the water-types, almost all of everyone's Pokémon were out to take advantage of a wet, shady area and get splashed or washed by Mari and Ryan.

While not the first to notice Tyson (Kai simply preferred to ignore him), Ryan acknowledged him first: "Tyson! Want to join in?"

"Not that this doesn't look like fun," Tyson said, "but we have more important things to be doing. Like getting over this mountain without getting attacked by Bubats."

"Zubats," Mari corrected. "Zu-bats. They'll calm down on their own eventually. Besides, can't you see how hot it is?"

"Yeah, Tyson," Max chimed in. "You don't wanna cook your egg, do you?"

"I'm sure my egg will be fine!"

"Shroomish though?" Ryan asked. "Important to keep water and grass Pokémon hydrated, especially on a day like this. In fact, all Pokémon should keep cool, though I don't think Skitty approves of our methods." He looked up at a branch above them where another Skitty perched, watching the proceedings below with distaste but still enjoying the cool atmosphere they created.

"That looks fun," Ray interjected, coming up next to Tyson and tapping him on the arm with a water bottle. "However, I think it's also important to have a Plan B in case the Zubats aren't as accommodating as Mari and Ryan are assuming. But we don't need everybody to come beat a path. We'll see what's up there and then report back by evening and make a serious attempt at a climb tomorrow."

"Are you still serious about climbing that mountain?" Hilary enquired exasperatedly. She'd given up chasing Surskit and was instead directing Wurmple to try making floating patterns and pictures on the wet floor with his silk. "That's not a great idea, you could get heatstroke in this heatwave."

"Talk it down all you want but I don't see you coming up with a better alternative," Tyson retorted. He accepted the bottle from Ray and clipped it to the belt of his shorts. "I take it that means you aren't in."

"Absolutely not."

Ray put a hand on Tyson's shoulder before he could escalate the argument. "Then it's just the three of us. Daichi's getting a head start on the outcrop. We should catch up before he decides to tear ahead without us."

Tyson grumbled something under his breath and stalked off. Ray promised everyone they'd be back by sundown before hurrying to catch up with Tyson. As he came into step beside his friend, Tyson suddenly blurted out in a quiet voice:

"Everyone says they're serious about this but it still doesn't feel like they're acting like it."

Ray's chuckle made him blush, having not intended for that to be heard. "Believe us, we're doing the best we can too. Hilary is right that what we're doing right now is actually pretty dangerous and that's probably why nobody else is keen but we're a team so we're all in this together. Even if we all go in slightly different directions trying to get the same result, one person's step is a step for everyone else too. I think they secretly appreciate what you want to do but don't want you to get hurt in such a way that you ending up missing your chance to go home."

"You think so?" Tyson said, rubbing the back of his head bashfully.

Ray nodded. Up ahead, Daichi was doing warm-up squats on the edge of the rocky outcrop that started the ranges. He yelled at them to hurry up or he'd hog all the glory, then immediately went running up the slope. Tyson shouted back at him and dashed off, hot on the boy's heels. Ray sighed for the third time in less than half an hour and silently contemplated what kind of trouble he'd just signed himself up for.

The climb up the mountains started off quite easy. The slopes were gentle and the most difficult part was overcoming the heatwave with the lack of tree cover. However, as they got higher pathfinding become exponentially more difficult. There were faults and slips in the rock that created cliffs and chasms that were too steep or deep to climb. Sometimes it was possible to scale a rough wall or squeeze through a gap between boulders or cliffs but the tasks became so difficult that they were now gaining less ground in an hour than they had in the first thirty minutes.

They stopped for a break on a rock platform in the shade of an overhanging boulder but even the shade made so little difference in the scorching heat after all of that exertion. Ray checked the position of the sun as they took small sips from their water bottles. Even after all of that climbing they didn't even get the benefit of a view, as they'd had to go down almost as much as they'd climbed up and just in front of them was a ledge blocking their view to the east.

"I think we should go back," Ray suggested. "It's been a long time and if it takes as long to get back as it did to get here then it'll be sundown by the time we return."

"No, not yet," Tyson insisted even though he was out of breath and wiping sweat of his face and neck. "I bet if we get over this last ledge we'll probably at least be able to see to the other side."

"I really doubt it. It took us this long to get this far on our own but with everyone else and all of our stuff in tow I don't think we'll make it. They did build the tunnel for a reason."

Tyson sighed and leaned against the rock behind them with a mood heavy with the gloom of defeat. The stone was hot but Tyson was tired. On the ground in front of the two teens Daichi was sprawled out, eyes half-lidded in exhaustion. The sun burned with such terrible vengeance that Tyson glared resentfully at the sky. There wasn't a single cloud to give even the tiniest of hopes that the heat would break with some rain. And if tomorrow was a day like this then even Tyson would privately admit that it would be a fool's errand to attempt to pass over the range.

Then all of a sudden a shadow passed overhead. It was fast but it was large, passing just beyond the edge of the boulder's shadow. Its appearance cut through the heat fogging their minds and they all sat up and looked above the ledge where they'd seen it go. Just beyond the rock they saw a large black bird hovering until it was engulfed in red light and then disappeared. The three of them jumped to their feet immediately, staring at the spot where the bird had been.

"I didn't just hallucinate that, did I?" Tyson spoke.

"Unless we're all collectively hallucinating the same thing – which is highly unlikely – but it looked like a Pokémon going into a Pokéball," Ray replied.

"Just checking."

"What's someone doing all the way up here?" Daichi wondered. "This is a dead end."

"Unless there's something up that ledge," Tyson said, running out of the shelter of the shade. He put his hands on the face of the ledge and stared at it. "We need to get up there and see what it is. If it's another way over or even through this range then we might have a chance."

Ray made a sceptical noise but didn't have a logical rebuttal. Instead, he put his hands together to make a stirrup and helped Tyson up the ledge with a leg up, lifting Daichi up the same way afterwards. Tyson reached down to pull him up. As he crawled over the edge the first thing he noticed was Daichi's back to him as the boy focussed on something ahead. He looked and his jaw slackened in astonishment.

Looming before them was a large crack in the mountain, forming a deep, triangular cave. There was nobody in sight but the slopes around them were as steep and rugged as the tougher faces they'd already climbed. If someone had flown up there to climb they wouldn't have gotten away that fast. A short gust of wind blew from inside, unwelcome for how it made the air burn like fire. The three boys looked at each other uneasily but Tyson still turned forward with a determined look in his eyes.

"Let's go in."

"Are you sure?" Ray said. "We didn't bring a torch, what if we get lost in there? What if there are more of those aggressive Zubats in there?"

"What if," Daichi groaned exasperatedly, "there's a cave in? Or we run into those bad guys in Team Aqua or Magma again? Or there's lava? You worry way too much, Ray. I say, we check it out!"

"And I agree, which means you're already outvoted," Tyson added. Before Ray could counter that, he and Daichi jogged ahead, giving Ray no choice but to follow them or possibly lose them.

Despite the darkness the cave wasn't any cooler than the sun outside. In fact, it may have been hotter. However, unlike the rough terrain they had faced outside, the cave's floor was smooth and only slightly uneven as if it had been carved for the purpose of being travelled. They made their way forwards in the dark with Tyson taking the lead and Daichi and Ray following close behind, forming a chain by holding onto the back of each other's shirts. The tunnel had an easy downward slope and only occasional obstacles that were easy to just walk around, though Tyson did hit a wall a couple of times as the path wound in random directions.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea…" Daichi muttered, wiping his face with his free hand to no avail; his hand was just as sweaty as his face. "It feels like an oven in here."

"Just a little further," Tyson urged. "There's something up ahead."

"Tyson! We can't just keep going forward just because you think there's going to be something!"

"No, look," Ray said, surprising Daichi. He leaned to the side to look past Tyson's back.

Up ahead the walls were tinged with an orange ember glow. The cave stopped abruptly and a fracture in the side of the tunnel poured the warm light into the darkness. There was so much sweat in their ears that all sounds were muddied but the echo of voices bounced through this new opening. The three of them exchanged excited glances. They crept closer to the cavern entrance, listening to the conversation as they came around the wall:

"Did well finding this place and getting word out while it's still around." The voice had an odd pitch such that the boys couldn't discern anything about the speaker. "Go inform Courtney and Tabitha. I'll stay here to watch its movements."

There was silence in the cavern for a while. The bladers wondered if they were even talking to anybody else but then the speaker continued: "Not saying I'll try to subdue it myself, but…"

"Hey," Daichi said loudly as the bladers casually walked in, "who's in here?"

The group in the cavern turned to them in an instant. The bladers gasped and froze on the spot, recognising the red and grey uniforms of Team Magma. Daichi was especially shaken by the two masked agents but the third member was new to them all. The blonde androgyne glared at them irritably. Their uniform was tweaked to show their status like Courtney's but they wore a crop top instead of a full shirt and long skirt with a dramatic side split over their trousers. The orange glow in the tunnel had been coming from the large pool of magma bubbling beside them.

"It's you guys!" Daichi yelled.

The androgyne looked at the agents. "Know them?"

The agent in the women's uniform pointed to Daichi and nodded. The androgyne made an unimpressed grunt. "Don't want any chance of our activities getting blabbed about by outsiders. Take care of them on your way out."

They turned their back as the agents faced the bladers and retrieved a Pokéball each from under their hoods. The man released a Beautifly while the woman sent out a large, dark snake with a bladed tail.

"Okay, so you wanna tussle?" Tyson snapped, sending out Combusken.

Ray sent out Treecko with a bit of apprehension. That snake was large and its thick body spoke volumes about its strength as it flexed and coiled but he had no time to reach for his Pokédex to find out just what he was dealing with.

"Seviper, Poison Tail," said the female agent with a voice heavily distorted by her mask.

"Stun Spore," the male commanded, also heavily distorted.

Beautifly flew over them, releasing a cloud of golden spores from its wings. Combusken and Treecko both jumped out of the way of the falling spores but Treecko ended up in the looming shadow of the Seviper. Its tail gleamed with secreted poison, poised to strike. Treecko heard Ray shout 'Quick Attack' at him and rushed to crash into Seviper's throat but the strike from its tail still slashed across his leg. The sting brought Treecko to his knees even though the Seviper was barely fazed by his attack. On the other side Combusken peppered Beautifly with Ember. It wasn't fast enough to avoid getting bombarded with half of the fireballs. Both agents made a hand signal before their next orders, one that Ray noticed their Pokémon briefly turning to take note of.

"Poison Tail."

"Bug Buzz."

"Pursuit, Treecko!"

Treecko faded into his dark aura and slammed Seviper in the back just as it changed target. Tyson and Combusken hadn't taken notice of the change in strategy immediately and were still throwing fireballs at Beautifly. It took several hits from that as it paused to generate a grating vibration from its wings. The buzz bore down on Treecko and knocked him off Seviper. Combusken had only just started paying mind to it when the Seviper's quick tail jabbed him in the shoulder. Treecko tried to pick himself up off the ground but his knees were shaking and his head was dizzy. Ray frantically searched his pockets but they'd come completely unprepared for this type of situation.

The duo simply repeated their commands. Ray clenched his fists and his jaw. Treecko was at such a disadvantage, there was no way for him to pull this off but none of Ray's other Pokémon were trained enough to take this foe on. All he could do was use everything he had to advance the battle somehow. He ordered Treecko to use Pursuit. Treecko lifted himself to his feet, flashing white before he engulfed himself in the darkness. Seviper's Poison Tail went for Combusken again and Beautifly buzzed. Resignation flooded through Ray and he let himself slacken. Treecko would be defeated by Bug Buzz and then the only other Pokémon he had suitable to switch in would be Taillow.

Poison Tail missed. Ray blinked as he focussed on Combusken, having ignored whatever Tyson's last command was. Combusken had ducked Poison Tail and leaped in front of Bug Buzz. The sound attack rattled him but not enough to disrupt his charge as his body spontaneously burst into flame. Beautifly took the hit it wasn't expecting badly while Treecko barrelled into Seviper's back. Instantly Ray saw the chance to gain ground.

"Use Mega Drain!"

Treecko clutched Seviper's back tightly as it strained with the effort of pulling power out of it. He was hurt and only half as strong against it but slackened and twitched before it could swing another Poison Tail. Treecko tumbled off it, still nauseated from the poison and his blood burned through his body but at the same time there was a comforting pulse in his belly growing bigger and bigger and bigger.

The androgyne turned their head to side-eye the agents as they returned Seviper and Beautifly. They retrieved a Pokéball from under their hood.

"You had enough?" Tyson panted. The heat and the stress of shouting orders through battle had him boiling under the collar but Combusken had energy to spare since he was enjoying the heat.

Anything anyone would have said was disrupted by a sudden burst of shining white light from Treecko. A wave of light pulsed rhythmically as the source became larger and then suddenly exploded in a bright flash like a supernova. When they were able to look again the Treecko was gone and replaced with a much larger and darker-skinned lizard with a leafy tail and a long leaf sprouting from his head.

"Treecko just evolved?" Ray gaped, gawking at him in amazement. "That's amazing! You look amazing!"

Combusken joined in the cheer, doing a little dance with his fists up and then giving the new evolution a high five. They both turned to face their enemies with new determination, although the grass-type still winced at the pain from poison.

The androgyne sighed. "What do you want from us?"

"You're the guys who attacked us first!" Tyson shouted.

"No way you would have come here unless you were looking for something, either us or…" they trailed off, glancing over to the magma pit as a larger than average bubble popped and an earthquake started to rumble gently under their feet. Their eyes snapped back to the starter Pokémon. "Wing Attack."

Ray and Tyson gasped and didn't even have time to look up before the black bird from earlier swooped down and struck both Pokémon across the chest, one on each silvery wing. They both collapsed. The bird pulled up sharply in front of Ray and Tyson and arced over the battlefield, only narrowly sweeping the roof before swooping down to hover near its trainer – the androgyne.

Ray cursed as he and Tyson returned their Pokémon. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I didn't see that coming."

"No need for sorry, I didn't see it coming either," Tyson replied. He looked at his Nest Ball worriedly. "I don't know how up for this Shroomish is."

"At least he listens when you talk," Ray grumbled, taking out his Quick Ball.

"Sounds like you're backed into a bad situation," the androgyne smirked. The smile was quickly wiped off their face when the earth shaking increased. The cavern filled with the deafening popping sound of rock fracturing. Dust from the fractures fell to the floor. "It's awake. Shit. Couldn't get the other admins here. But these brats are out of good Pokémon so just kill them, Swellow."

"No way!" Daichi screamed, stepping out between Ray and Tyson to the teens' surprise and throwing his Pokéball in before they could release theirs. "You forgot all about me!"

Geodude appeared on the field as Swellow dived in, all feathers glowing, and rushed at the young trainers. He grabbed the wings and pushed against it, feeling the burn from the sheer amount of power unleashed in the attack but he absorbed the damage well. The fiery feathers left their mark on Swellow too; it winced from the recoil.

"That's it, Geodude! Now give it a Smack Down!"

Geodude gathered stone from the ground below him and pitched it at Swellow. The bird fell out of the air. It struggled to get its feet back on the shaking floor.

"Alright! Now get it with Magnitude!"

"Daichi!" Ray exclaimed. "That's a bad idea in this situation!"

But Geodude was listening to Daichi, not Ray. He punched the ground, landing a good hit with a power comparable to a full Earthquake. The ground cracked and undulated around him, sending all the trainers falling to the floor and giving Swellow a rough beating. Some of the cracks split all the way to the magma pool and it flowed into the gaps. All of the trainers backed away from the cracks quickly, though the magma was sluggish. The androgyne withdrew Swellow before it could be burned and Daichi did the same for Geodude.

The cave shuddered with the force of an enormous roar. The heat escalated to furnace-like temperatures and the magma started to jump and splash with a force rising up from below.

"Tch!" the Team Magma administrator clicked, releasing a Mightyena from a white ball with a red seam. "Team, we're out. Pablo, use Dig."

In what should have been an impossible move, the Mightyena charged into the wall and threw dirt and rock aside at a phenomenal pace.

"They're getting away!" Daichi yelled. He was about to run after them but Ray held him back by the shirt.

"Yes! And so should we!"

Magma burst into the air from the pool, so liquid that it rolled like a wave of water. Some of the fractures in the floor widened into fissures and molten rock exploded out of them like a wall, separating the bladers from Team Magma as they escaped down their Mightyena's tunnel. The great cry from earlier bellowed out again but this time it had a clearer quality. Something slowly rose out of the magma, cast into shadow by the sheer amount of firelight behind it. As it emerged the bladers recognised features that could be a head and claws and even a tail. Blue line patterns glowed out of the silhouette and its head slightly inclined towards them. A large, blue-glowing gap in its head where an eye must have been gazed at the bladers. The three of them stared back, rooted in terrible awe until a large rock crashed beside them.

Ray tore his eyes away. He yanked Daichi by the shirt and shoved Tyson towards the tunnel they'd arrived down. They had to leap over a fracture that suddenly split before the tunnel and ran full pelt. It was harder going uphill but the cracking rock around them leaked and spewed magma that glowed enough to light their way, so long as they stayed ahead of it enough to not get burned. Rubble and slabs of rock dropped from the ceiling and collapsed from the walls around them. Up ahead the mellower light of the evening sky shone through an opening that was getting smaller and smaller despite them getting closer.

"Fuck! Are we sliding?" Ray thought. He pumped his legs harder, pushing Tyson even faster and nearly dragging Daichi behind him.

They burst into clear, cool air like taking a breath after drowning. Their legs wobbled like jelly and they crumpled to the ground, heaving with exhaustion. They lay completely still, sodden with sweat and their ears ringing as their breaths came out ragged.

Ray was the first to drag himself onto his hands and knees. His mouth and throat were so dry that swallowing was difficult. With shaking fingers he unscrewed the cap on his water bottle and took a gulp. On both sides of him Tyson and Daichi shuffled to sit up but they all just sat in shell-shocked silence while in the distance a Pokémon sang an ode to the end of the day.

"That was weird," Tyson rasped, fumbled with his water bottle but his hands were shaking too much. Ray passed his bottle over and Tyson downed most of what was remaining.

"I thought we were gonna die," Daichi said, equally quiet.

"Me too. That cave is—huh?!"

Tyson suddenly found his legs despite still being wobbly. He turned around fully and stared at the wall were the cave had been. Ray and Daichi followed his gaze and gaped. The cave was gone without even any evidence that it was ever there. Though they could all swear they had just come out that way there was nothing but a slab of rock, not even a crack.

Daichi shuddered. "This world is freaky. I want to go home."

Home. That reminded Ray that they were still obligated to return to their travelling party and one look at the sky made his heart leap. "Gah! It's past sundown! We need to get back!"

"Should we… tell everyone we saw this?" Daichi wondered.

"What good would hiding it do?" Tyson said. He lifted his egg. The case was a little overwarm to touch but the egg sat unchanged. "Ray's right, we need to go back. It's going to be rough going down in the dark."

He turned his back on the mysterious cave as if putting it out of his mind would be that simple. A shadow caught in the corner of his eye, causing him to look. A dark, wolf-like silhouette perched on top of the boulder they had rested under earlier, looking down at them. It lifted its head and released a howl. As its body turned the bladers nervously glimpsed the spike jutting out of its chest as well as the ones on its hands. It jumped down to their ledge. The boys took a step back as it approached them purposefully. And then it handed them something.

"What's this? A torch?" Tyson muttered, taking the object despite his wariness and flicking the switch. He shone the beam right in his face and blinded himself, causing him to drop it.

Ray picked it up and panned up the creature before them slowly, careful not to shine it directly in the eyes. "It looks a little familiar; I think I saw it at the cabin for a little while."

"It's cool," Daichi breathed, checking his Pokédex for info:

"Lucario, the aura Pokémon. It is sensitive to the aura of all living things. By catching the Aura emanating from others, it can read their thoughts and movements and a well-trained one can read the feelings of another creature for up to one kilometre away."

Lucario nodded and gestured for them to follow it. It hopped off the ledge, landing on its feet with ease. All the way down the mountain its agility made quick work of the even the difficult walls while it guided and supervised the teens back to the cabin.

It was well and truly dark by the time they made it back down to the easier slopes at the bottom of the mountain range. As they were climbing down the final rock wall they spied another light at the base shining on two humans and another creature. Lucario jumped down to meet them, only briefly regarded by one of them before she turned back to the wall and called up to them:

"Hey! Are you guys okay?"

"Is that Hilary?" said Tyson, almost slipping as he tried to scramble down a bit faster.

His feet touched even ground again – a wide, flat platform with no ledges or steep slopes. After all they had just been through it was like touching solid ground after dangling in the air. Tyson's legs shook with relief again and he almost collapsed. Hilary steadied him before he fell. Ray leaned against the wall they'd just come down while Daichi sat on the ground. They both looked up to the other person. Ryan was well-illuminated by the yellow glow of a lightbulb held in the paws of a large mouse-like Pokémon with curly ears and a thunderbolt tail. Just a lightbulb, nothing else. The three bladers stared at it dumbly wondering how that could be possible. The mouse's eyes shifted uncomfortably and the yellow pads on its cheeks sparked, causing the lightbulb to flicker.

"Did you come looking for us?" Tyson asked.

"You were gone longer than you said you would be," Ryan explained. "The others are scattered across this low part looking for other places you might have travelled through. Decided it was too dark to go climbing after you so I sent Lucario up to see if he could find you." The wolf-like Pokémon looked at them with his piercing eyes.

"Thanks. He really helped us out," Ray said. He handed the torch back to Ryan and then glanced at the lightbulb-holding mouse in puzzlement. "What's that one doing?"

Ryan furrowed his brow, confused by the question. "Lighting a lightbulb?"

"Yeah, but… how?"

"Because he's an electric-type. He can generate electricity."

"Er…"

"For crying out loud! Just look it up!" Daichi snapped, taking out his Pokédex again.

"Raichu, the mouse Pokémon. It exudes a weak electrical charge from all over its body that makes it glow in darkness. If too much electricity builds up it becomes agitated and aggressive so it uses its tail as a grounding rod to discharge the excess."

"If it glows in the dark why does it need a lightbulb?" Daichi asked.

"Raichu's ambient glow is too weak to see by," Ryan answered. "Why bother with that when you can just light a lightbulb? Anyway, let's tell everyone you're found."

"We were really worried that something had happened to you," Hilary added. She looked at each of their faces closely in the light and frowned worriedly. "Are you okay? You all look terrible."

Ray rubbed his face. His skin broke into a cold sweat and his hands started to shake again just thinking about that monster in the cavern. "It was a pretty stressful adventure."

"Yeah, it was… it was like… there was…" Tyson stammered, unable to form full sentences. It was like a road block popped up in his mind when he tried to put his memories to words.

"It's hard to describe," Daichi said.

"Let's just go back to the cabin and have something to eat," Ray suggested. "We'll figure out how to word it on the way back and tell everyone after dinner."

Ryan and Hilary exchanged concerned glances. They didn't demand a full explanation on the way back so their trip down the mountain was characterised by tense silence. As they collected the rest of the cabin's visitors on the way down, Ray, Tyson and Daichi remained pensive until after dinner when, as promised, they finally managed to piece together an account of what had happened. Ryan and Mari both offered to be the ones to care for the injured Pokémon since Ray and Tyson were both so distraught. None of them mentioned, for they thought it was tenuous, that in hindsight the monster from the cavern looked almost familiar.

A/N: I have no words except that this chapter is full of an awful lot of BS just to ensure that the protagonists didn't die. But I am so happy with this one. How do you feel?