"We got everyone?" Micheal asked, counting heads. He sighed. "Still gotta wait for Chloe."
He'd said everything with all the casualness of waiting for the school bus to come by. It really was funny how quickly we'd grown accustomed to the lifestyle. Cross a level, beat up a Pokémon, go through a portal, rinse, and repeat. This new landscape didn't seem to differ on that respect, but it did look different.
We were extremely high up. A gigantic rectangular stone platform supported us, and fluffy white clouds billowed miles below. I didn't want to question how we could breathe with no problem or why there wasn't enough wind to knock us over. I was concerned enough about the lack of any kind of a fence. So I thought of something else.
My mind wandered back to that day around two weeks ago, when we were all on the bus. Lola had been spreading rumours about Julia, Chloe was being showered with praise for her high grades, and Mr. Henry was busy driving the bus out of our terrible local road network. Everything had been normal... well, up until that portal ripped through the air and ate us up.
I remembered every split second from that day: the yells from all around me, the bus's sloppy u-turn, the way I grabbed Micheal's arm as to not puke my insides out from panic.
Oh my god.
Yeah, my brain had to bring that one up. That time where I, the resident quiet kid, had opted to grab onto a person I wasn't even friends with. Oh. My. God. I didn't do these things. I didn't even like guys in that way. I was so embarrassed, even if it had happened over a week ago. The trouble with stressing is that you never know if the person noticed the thing you're stressed about, and if you ask you know they'll know, and... yeah, I tended to go on these trains of thought often. Let's just say the length of my life had a very high 'awkward and anxious' percentage. That hadn't changed in this new universe.
Chloe eventually did arrive, swooping in and landing on the smooth stone floor. She slid a couple inches, her talons leaving scratches on the material.
"Woah!" She exclaimed, hopping dangerously close to the edge and looking down. "How high up do you think we are?"
"High enough for you to not stand that close to a cliff!" Micheal warned. "Please step back, no one wants you to fall."
"Can't she fly?" Valérie pointed out, the Meditite crossing her arms.
Kieran laughed, the Beedrill crossing his stingers. "Excuse him for still thinking we're human. It's only been what, two weeks?"
Micheal seemed to ignore that comment. "Well, whatever the case, staying together is a good strategy in all levels."
His hair stood on end and it didn't take a Litleo behaviour expert to tell he might be afraid of heights. He had a short sigh and his fur went right down to its normal volume.
Putting up the wall just fine, I see.
Since the dawn of civilization, humans have put up walls when faced with different situations. It's been a defence tactic, useful for succeeding in social situations and not having concerned people ask you questions. The process is simple: start with a neutral expression, shoving down your actual feelings into a black hole where you hope they'll disappear, and then calibrate to the situation. People held up walls all day, be it writing down an essay with the teacher's criteria in mind instead of what you'd write in your free time, hiding your homework-related stress, or telling your mom you're getting along with your friend group when it's actually dissolved months ago and you're eating your lunch in the girls' bathroom because the thought of asking anyone else to eat at their table gives you an anxiety attack. You know, everyday facades. I did it and it wasn't bad.
Yeah, it was lying, but my mom didn't need to kn—
"Gab? Anyone home?"
I blinked, brought back to reality. Lola stood in front of me, a smirk on her face.
"What?" I asked.
"We started walking," the Absol said, gesturing to the group with a movement of her head. "I guess you spaced out?"
I shrugged and tightened my grip on the straps of the woven frond backpack I was carrying. "Yeah. This place is just really different."
"You can look around while we travel. C'mon."
I nodded and followed her. Like the last level, it seemed there was only one path to tread, though it was way more direct here. While earlier there was a long and sinuous gravel trail, now we walked on one smooth square slab. It was better on my feet, but the height got to me.
So why not stare at the sky and make it worse? It was a pale blue, but I could tell it was darker than a few minutes ago. It seemed that we were right in counting the moonless sky in the last dungeon as the day, if all levels shared the same timezone. Somehow.
"What are you thinking about?" Lola asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"I'm thinking about how many berry bushes there are here", she continued. "Which is, you know... none."
She'd noticed this earlier than I had. With the solid stone underfoot, there was nothing roots could grow into. I tightened my grip on the straps of my backpack. It could be our only food source here.
"You think we'll get through this fast?" I asked.
"Oh, for sure," Lola answered. "With that Quick Attack, it'll be child's play for you."
The smallest swell of pride distracted me from any problem, although it did tend to make me blush. So I shoved that down too and looked back to the clouds.
"Well, what do we do now?" Came Micheal's voice.
Meters in front of Lola and I, the group had stopped. Lola picked up her pace to check things out, but I could tell why we paused from my position. There was another platform slightly higher than the one we were on, with a gap separating the two.
"Not much of an impasse," Kieran said. He flashed a grin before starting up his wings.
He flew to the other side with ease, followed by Chloe and Lola, the latter leaping over the gap rather impressively. It was just a couple feet wide, but with me being Emolga-sized, it was intimidating. I peered down and saw the clouds flowing deep in the canyon. As soon as I noticed my heartbeat skyrocketing, I caught my breath and looked back up.
Kieran crossed his stingers, Micheal bounding over and making it to the other side safely.
My ear twitched. Something was wrong. I stopped.
"What?" Valérie, the only other Pokémon on the platform, asked me. "What's going on?"
I couldn't answer yet and stared dead ahead. I hadn't even technically heard whatever it could be. I chocked it up to a cross with new animal senses and a gut feeling. Was that newfound fear a placebo or a warning?
Valérie eyed me suspiciously and took a couple steps forward. As she did, the non-sound suddenly turned into... well, sound. A low rumble grew and grew in volume until it was undeniable.
It was a tremor.
As if waiting for someone to notice the sound, the platform started shaking. As my heart pounded, I tried to steady myself, but all I could do was look around me, bug-eyed and hyperventilating. If the others yelled out for us, I didn't hear them.
My feet were firmly planted on the ground. That is, until the platform started to visibly lower, bits of rock from the edges cracking and falling off. I instinctively stepped back. I felt a tap on the back of my head, although with Meditite strength, it might as well have been a slap.
"What are you doing? Come on!" Valérie shouted.
I quickly nodded. We weren't that far from the gap but there was still some distance to cover. It was a mad series of stumbling and frantically recovering as the platform's shaking grew more violent. Valérie ran far faster than me, but I caught up while she was trying to steady for a jump.
Valérie had Meditite power on her side, but I was a small squirrel with a weight on my back. Yes, a flying squirrel, but one who hadn't even tried it out yet! What if I couldn't get enough air? Could I instinctively know what to do to avoid that? Was my backpack going to make me sink?
Valérie leapt across the gap, but only managed to reach the edge, hanging there with both hands. Good, because the rest of the cliff was as smooth as the top side, with no other grip possible. Lola and Micheal tried to grab her, but the Absol's claws must've nicked her.
"Agh!"
"Sorry!" Lola answered.
"We're getting you up!" Micheal continued.
"Just do it, then!"
Even with that going on, the group's full attention turned to me.
"Come on!" "You can do it!" "Jump!" Came the cries of everyone on the other side. I could practically feel my platform crumbling from under me.
If Valérie could only barely make it across, how could I—
No.
Hesitations would have to be put aside. I leapt, eyes closed, and hoped to God my body would know how to glide.
"Gab!" Lola yelled.
I landed, the stone rough on my fur. I thankfully didn't feel any skin tear. When I stopped tumbling, I relaxed, feeling how steady this new ground was.
However, a huge portion of my energy had left me, and the air felt tense. It reminded me of waking up in the first level, and I didn't know if I shivered from the sudden cold or the memory. I snapped my eyes open at that, seeking to get back into the moment.
The others circled around me. I couldn't see the platform we'd come from anymore. We'd all made it to the next one, and I was happy about that. But some of them didn't look the part.
"Care to explain what that was?" Valérie said, fuming.
"What?" I could barely get a reaction in before she continued.
"Oh, I don't know, the light show that almost hit me?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about-"
"Well I don't know if I could've survived that fall!"
"Valérie, stop it!" Micheal broke through. Somehow, he'd become the one who could shut any one of us up. He turned to me. "Gab, you don't realize what you did?"
I shook my head. What did I do? Did I use Flash while my eyes were closed? But how could Flash have hit somebody?
He took his time. "Gab, I think you learned an electric move."
Oh.
Sometimes, when you overthink, you overlook the explanation staring you right in the face.