Chapter Thirty Four: A Shiny New Puzzle Piece

"SANDY!" Alaska screamed, leaning down over the edge and staring into the darkness below. "SANDY, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Her heart was pounding against her chest as her fingers touched the wooden bridge that only a few moments ago had been solid and fine standing. Alaska had no idea what had happened, only guessing that the bridge was old and had snapped when Sandy stamped her foot, but she really didn't care about how things had happened. Her only focus was on whether her friend was alright, and Alaska desperately tried to make something out in the darkness beneath her, guilt beginning to rise up as she knew that it would all be her fault if something bad had happened.

"Alaska!" Sandy suddenly gasped, and Alaska breathed with relief and exchanged a slight smile with Paige that her friend seemed alright. "Alaska, you need to pull me up, I can't hold on much longer!"

"Pull you up?" Alaska said, turning back around, her little moment of happiness slipping away. She had presumed that Sandy had fallen to the ground but hadn't been knocked out, but Alaska was stunned to realize the situation was very different: judging by the sway of the wood against her fingertips, Sandy was hanging onto the bottom of her half of the bridge for dear life. There was no real way of knowing how far down she had to fall or what could lie beneath if she did so, leaving the only option to pull Sandy up.

"Don't worry, just hang on!" Alaska called.

"Oh ha ha, very funny!" Sandy snapped, grunting as she clutched tightly onto the bridge.

"That pun was unintentional," Alaska called back, realizing how stupid it had been to say something like that based on the reason why they were here. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out two PokeBalls as Paige and Butterfree came over. The Butterfly Pokemon seemed rather shocked by the incident, and Alaska knew her Confusion wouldn't be enough to save Sandy in this darkness.

"Don't worry, we'll get her out," Alaska said warmly, trying to seem reassuringly but was too worried about Sandy's safety to be sure. She unleashed the two PokeBalls, and the red light highlighted the situation they were in: the bridge snapped almost cleanly into two, both halves now hanging on as the supports bent dangerously. And there was Sandy, looking petrified as she clung helplessly onto her half of her bridge with her legs flailing. As the light faded instantly, Alaska knew they had to move fast before the entire bridge collapsed.

"Para Para," Frances called in the dark behind her.

"Nido Ran Ran!" Nadia added, Alaska sensing her moving around curiously. Realistically, Alaska would have sent Darwin out and used his monkey abilities to rescue Sandy and put an end to this, but there was no way of knowing if he would obey a simple but important order like that. Alaska turned to face the four females behind, knowing they couldn't see her, knowing the two new arrivals would be rather confused, and not knowing if her plan was going to work at all, but it was something she had to try.

"Alright, we need to move swiftly," Alaska explained. "I am going to lean down and give Sandy my cane to grab onto: I need you four to hold onto me to stabilize me, or to help lower me down if I have to. There is no time for arguments or anything like that, we just need to move, alright?" She couldn't see if they agreed or disagreed in the black, but there were no verbal protests, so she took that as a good sign. "Alright, that's good then! Let's just get this over with before any of those Diglett coming poking around."

"Oh ha ha!" Sandy snapped. "Can you stop with the innuendos for one moment? My life is hanging in the balance!"

"That was unintentional!" Alaska called back irritably, trying not to giggle as Sandy's own little pun. However, all signs of laughter stopped as soon as Alaska moved towards the edge: staring down into the darkness below was unsettling, especially as she had no way of knowing what would happen now that the light had gone. But she had made the promise and the declaration, and Alaska couldn't back away now, especially not after the worse things she had been through.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered, and leaned over the edge. Blood instantly rushed to her head as she dangled over the side, and Alaska instantly knew it wouldn't be a comfortable experience but had to soldier on regardless. "Sandy, you need to grab onto my cane, if you can!"

"How am I supposed to see it?" Sandy cried back, and Alaska cursed, forgetting to factor the darkness into the equation.

"Just feel out for it!" She yelled back. She could feel her pants tightening as the four Pokemon grabbed onto them for support, and Alaska had a horrible image of her pants tearing and her sprawling onto the ground below. She forced all negative thoughts out and focused on lowering her cane down, using her other hand to hold onto the bridge for extra support. The wooden structure didn't seem to enjoy the added tension and began t creak, something that didn't happen Alaska's worries of the plan.

"Have you got it?" Alaska called, tapping the cane against the wood and hoping she missed Sandy's head. She felt the cane touch something as she swung it around, and held it steady in an attempt for Sandy to grasp on. She felt something loosely tug down, and a smile crossed her face as the cane was tugged firmly down.

"GOT IT!" Sandy yelled ecstatically. Alaska would have punched the air in happiness if she could, but instead had to focus on using both hands to hold tightly onto the cane now that Sandy's weight had shifted. The Pokemon let out cries of delight back on solid ground, but they now had a difficult mission to get Sandy back up: the Pokemon were going to struggle with both weights now, the bridge was clearly unstable and could go at any moment, and a breeze had suddenly erupted inside the tunnel. Dust and sand was blowing into Alaska's eyes as she had to turn away to avoid it, hoping it wouldn't impair the operation.

"Alright Sandy, just hold onto the cane and use your feet to walk up the bridge to try and help us out!" Alaska explained, feeling a sudden tug as the Pokemon began to pull her back up. There was an angry tutting sound from below, and Alaska realised she had annoyed her friend once more.

"Well of course I am going to use my feet to walk Alaska, I am not that stupid!" Sandy huffed. Alaska rolled her eyes, not intending for her comment to be taken that way, but she knew that amends had to be made.

"Sandy, I am sorry for laughing so hard," Alaska said, trying not to sound irritated. "It was a mean of me and I had no idea that it would upset you that way, but I do think you overreacted. We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't run off! We both just need to build a bridge and get over this."

"STOP WITH THE PUNS!" Sandy shouted, sending a shock through Alaska's body.

"IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL!" She yelled back, her arms beginning to strain the longer Sandy clung on, and her head was beginning to feel strange as nearly all the blood in her body moved towards it. Despite the initial strong tug, the Pokemon were struggling to maintain a hold of the two girls, and Alaska and Sandy were barely moving.

"I don't care if it was intentional or not, it still hurt!" Sandy said, sounding tearful once more but also a lot closer, the sounds of her feet walking up the bridge coming close to Alaska. "Did you even listen before? I have had bullying all my life for the simple matter that I like to view things differently, and therefore I deserve it! I may have accepted getting it from other people, but never from the only human friend I've ever had!" Alaska was taken aback by this, so surprised by this last statement that her fingers slipped slightly. "ALASKA, HOLD ON!" Sandy yelled, kicking at the bridge in an attempt to stop herself from slipping. Alaska quickly recovered and grasped back on, but Sandy's kicking had more far reaching consequences.

There was a crack as one foot collided, and a second as the kick struck. Before anyone knew it, one half of the bridge suddenly swung out. Alaska was still trying to adjust herself and hold on as she felt the bridge sway beneath her, and Sandy screamed as her feet fell loose.

"CALM DOWN!" Alaska cried, stunned by the sudden change in the situation. "You four, pull harder!" She called back to the Pokemon, but she had noticed that they had slipped during Sandy's kicking and the bridge snapping. The bridge continued to sway on the last wooden hold it had left, and Sandy's legs flailed as if they had no choice but to keep on kicking. "Sandy, you need to calm down!"

"Why did you nearly let go of me?" Sandy cried, trying to grasp onto the cane as sweaty hands slipped across its surface. Alaska was struggling to hold on herself, both the rush of blood, the strain of her arms and the sweat gathering on the cane, but she couldn't help but push this all aside as she looked towards where she expected Sandy to be, expecting their eyes to meet through the black.

"I nearly let go because I was surprised," Alaska said seriously. "Not because I was surprised you had no friends… though that sounded kind of mean, but ignore that! What I am trying to save is that I have never had any human friends either... not for the past few years at least. It has just been me and Paige, and while I would never exchange that for anything in the world, it could be lonely at school without anyone with me. I have always been a free spirit and enjoyed being by myself, but when we began travelling together, I realised what it was like to have a human friend and someone to travel with that could actually reply in English." There was a crack, and Alaska and Sandy both cried out as the rest of the bridge disappeared, crashing down below to join the torch. Their bodies crashed against the side, the jagged rocks prodding into them, and Alaska gulped as her body slipped forwards.

"I am sorry for laughing, but I just needed to let my stress out," Alaska said quickly. "I just hope we can get passed this and move on. I can't promise I won't be bitchy or anything again as I was born a bitch and will damn well die insulting the doctors around me if I can, but I can promise to fill you in one as many of my theories about what is going on around us as I can, as it's the least you deserve after dragging you into it."

"Do you promise?" Sandy called in a shriek, their bodies swaying dangerously over the edge. Alaska could feel the cane slipping through her fingers, the pain in the front half of her body uncomfortable and nearing unbearable, but she lunged forwards with one of her hands.

"Of course," she said, the determination of holding her friend up showing in her voice as she grasped onto Sandy's hands, the cane slipping away and crashing to the ground. They were close enough now that Alaska could make out a few of Sandy's features, and though the sudden breeze had picked up and was now gushing sand over them, she could see the light in her friend's eyes and the wide beam of her smile. Alaska didn't quite know where the friendship was going to go from her, and wasn't quite sure what it was going to be like, but, for once in her life, she was willing to see what it would be like to have a true human friend.

Than they began to fall.

It was so unexpected that it took Alaska a few seconds to register: one second she was straining to hold up her new best friend, trying to work out what it was going to be like to have this close relationship with somebody, and the next she was beginning to fall down. Alaska noticed her stomach and heart seemingly turning and her head throbbing from the rush of blood around it, and registered that while something was still holding onto the bottom of her pants, it seemed that they weren't doing a very good job of keeping them still.

"AAAAAHHH!" Sandy screamed as they suddenly seemed to gather speed. Alaska wondered if this was just because of the darkness disorientating her, or the fact she now fully registered she was falling making things speed up, but either way she felt a scream brewing in the back of her throat as well. She clung onto Sandy's hands, not letting go of her even if they were about to die. She had no way of knowing when they would hit the ground, but there was no way to stop them either. It seemed cruel for both girls to suffer this when they had only just found their first true human friend, but Alaska shut her eyes and braced for impact, the only lesson she could truly take from all the disasters that had happened to her was that life had never planned on being fair to her….

And than all she could see was blue.

The bright light shone through her eyelids, and Alaska convinced herself for a moment that she had painlessly hit the ground and had instantly moved onwards to death. However, she could feel Sandy's hands still holding tightly to hers and felt the Pokemon clinging onto her leg, and knew that something else was occurring. Alaska wondered if this was the same strange Pokemon that had rescued her in Vermillion, but there was no strange voices sounding in her head, leaving her with no choice but to open her eyes and see what had happened.

The source of the mystery was uncertain, but the first thing Alaska could see was that they were now hurtling towards a fountain of water that was rising up to meet them. It was glowing brighter than any sunlit ocean Alaska had ever seen, casting a radiant light that lit up every crack and every rock around them. Alaska turned to see Diglett and their three headed evolution Dugtrio were emerging all around at the sudden appearance of the glowing water. She could see stunned looks across Paige, Frances, Nadia and Butterfree's faces, and moved her leg closer despite the pain in attempt to draw them forwards, feeling Sandy's fingernails digging into her hand in fear and for an attempt at comfort at the same time. But before Alaska could bring them close, her back crashed into the water and she instantly sunk through.

The feeling was strange as Alaska slowed down, the water cushioning her speed. All sounds became distant and eerie, and she could feel the water all around her, yet Alaska couldn't feel her clothes going wet. All she could really see was the bright blue light from the water, four shimmering shapes signalling the Pokemon crashing down above her. She had no idea exactly what this water was or where it came from, and just as Alaska tried to put together a formula she began to spin.

Oh, what the fuck now? Alaska thought irritably, her whole body beginning to feel strange as they spun through the air. She was so passed having all these supernatural things happen to her that it was becoming more of a drag than something exciting or interesting, and she knew that it was only going to add something new to the greater mystery.

But as Alaska continued to spin, she found her mind focussing more on that than anything else. Her body didn't seem to be bumping into anything, instead feeling much stranger and somehow more lightweight. The light continued to shine and Alaska couldn't see anything except blue burning into her eyes. The number of sensations she was feeling at the moment were confusing and bordering on unbearable, but Alaska tried to stay focussed and find out what was going on. She caught something move out to the side, and she did her best to try and follow what it was, though the spinning made it unbearable. All she could make out was that it seemed to be glowing as well, with a familiar purple cape fluttering on its back…

But just as Alaska tried to work out why Suicune had saved them from a nasty fall, everything went dark. Alaska could still feel the water over her and could feel that they were going faster, but everything else was dark and a blur. Her entire body felt like it was getting compressed, her head being squashed out of proportion. Alaska was forced to shut her eyes, still feeling the spinning sensation throughout her entire body and trying to work out exactly what was going on.

But as quickly as this had all started, Alaska suddenly found relief: she was sort of spat out of the water, one second spinning and trying to spin and the next shooting through the air. Sunlight burned through her eyelids, and Alaska opened them in time to see a meadow of green grass coming up to meet them.

"FUCK!" Alaska yelled, colliding into the hard ground and feeling a shockwave run throughout her entire body, particularly feeling it in her leg. She rolled forwards a few feet and heard several more thuds, turning over to see the four Pokemon groaning as well.

"Alaska!" A voice shrieked, and Alaska didn't even get a chance to sit up before she felt one of Sandy's familiar, rub crushing hugs. "Oh Alaska, I thought we were going to die! Where did that water come from? And where are we?" Alaska wanted to tell her to let go, but she found the hug rather comforting after having shouted at each other only a few minutes ago. In answer to her first question, Alaska knew she was going to have to tell her what she saw: this incident had mainly made her realize that Sandy was her only human ally that she could truly trust, unlike Steven and Bill, and was the only person who could share in her opinions. However, she had no idea the answer to the second.

"I have no bloody clue where we are," Alaska said, looking up at the cliffs around them that they possibly had come out of, but they could truly be anywhere: whoever had designed Kanto had clearly decided to surround everything with towering cliffs, the equivalent of settling to painting your house interior one colour, and therefore there was no true sign of where they were.

"YOU!" A second shriek erupted behind them, and while Sandy and the Pokemon turned in shock, Alaska simply stifled a groan and tried not to turn around and instinctively raise a fist: of course they had ended up next to them, of course they had been sent to join them. The cruel hand of fate, and seemingly Suicune's water, all wanted to save Alaska's life and then screw her over the next minute, and really this shouldn't have come as a surprise.

"YOU!" The voice said, this time a lot louder and a lot closer. Alaska couldn't really ignore her when she was standing so close, and looked up with a smile, trying to keep her composure. Suicune had seemingly just saved her life, but Alaska wasn't really sure if anything would be able to stop the true wrath of a scorned Chloe Carmichael.


The next few chapters will have the reality stars, yes, but they are a necessary part of the story and the main reason she went on her journey in the first place, so let's try not to complain about them returning too much :P Hope to have some mroe Pokemon development over the next few chapters as well, so look out for that :D