SEVENTEEN
Serena had lost track of how many days she had spent on the run, moving almost continuously to avoid being found by Team Flare grunts on her trail. She had managed to spend what felt like a couple of days holed up inside the Lost Hotel, until she was found by some hooligans who were likely after whatever reward money was on her head. Many nights were spent sleeping in the cold winter air with sparse shelter, aching and shivering to the bone and lucky if she could sleep for more than an hour at a time. Most time spent attempting to sleep was usually spent with her lying awake, listening to every little sound in her surroundings, paranoid that someone would jump out of nowhere and grab her. Food was a scarcity, and she often resorted to eating berries in trees, which were few in the winter. She now knew that Iapapa Berries did not agree with her; not only was the taste displeasing, they had left her disoriented and unable to walk three steps without falling over.
She had picked up sparse bits of news from listening to traveling Trainers or Pokemon Rangers, enough to find out the key points of Teleurac's address that he gave after the riot. There had been no word about Augustine or her friends, though. She found herself spending more mental energy worrying about them and watching out for her pursuers than figuring out a plan of action.
A plan of action would come, she told herself, but her first priority was figuring out a way to stay alive and not get caught - all without the help of her Pokemon.
The snap of a twig under something's foot was enough to rouse Serena from her sleep. She poked her head out from her hiding place underneath a pile of brush and dead leaves, holding her breath, and saw that it was merely a group of wild Poochyena walking by, accompanied by a protective-looking Mightyena.
She saw that the sun had risen, its light glistening off the nearby water in the river. After surveying the area once more to see that there were no humans in sight, she crawled out of her hiding spot and walked to the river, trying to comb out a twig that had become tangled in her hair as she went. She knelt down by the river and stopped underneath the bridge, scooped some cold water up with her hands, and drank up the small amount that had not fallen through her fingers. Her hands trembled from the feeling of cold water on her already freezing fingertips, and she shoved them in her jacket pockets in an attempt to warm them up. She rocked back and forth on the spot, keeping her head bowed and trying not to make too much noise as she breathed.
There were no berry trees in sight. And her stomach was growling. Weeds were growing along the riverbank, but none of them looked very edible. A Basculin swam by her, but she let it go. Before, she had minimized the amount of Pokemon meat she ate (abstaining from it became more natural thanks to Augustine's vegetarian cooking), but just a few days before she had caught one and tried to cook it for food. Her meal was interrupted when two Team Flare grunts saw the smoke from the fire she built.
She slowly stood up and looked south, towards Terminus Cave. The cave would be even worse in terms of food and water, but at least she could disappear in there. Another hiding place she had considered was the Pokemon Village, deep in the Winding Woods; there would be water and fruit to eat, but the extra time needed to travel there would also be extra time for Team Flare to track her down.
Up above, the rope bridge began to shake and sway from side to side. Serena froze, holding her breath, waiting for the bridge to stop moving. Once it did, she sidled out from underneath the bridge and ducked behind a bush to watch the group of six Team Flare grunts break open the door of Psychic Inver's house. A few minutes later, four of the grunts had dragged out Inver and his sister, taking them back across the bridge into Anistar City, ignoring the cries of protest from the two siblings.
A pit grew in her chest. She and those siblings had been friendly; in fact, anytime she passed through this route in the past, she would stop and have an Inverse Battle with Inver. Were they being arrested just because they knew her? Had they been suspected of giving her shelter and a hiding place? She continued to watch the house for a while as the remaining two Team Flare grunts went in and out, telling each other that nothing suspicious had been found in the house but it would be a good idea to hold the siblings for questioning anyway.
If only she had her Pokemon, she thought.
The Flare grunts said something else to each other that Serena couldn't understand; from there, they turned and went in opposite directions. One went back across the bridge into Anistar, and the other went on into Terminus Cave. Deciding now would probably be a good time to move on, Serena dashed back up the river to the rock formation she had used to climb down to the riverbank, and climbed up. She then sprinted across the bridge, looking in all directions she could turn her head to make sure nobody else was around. In her peripheral vision she saw something red, so she jumped behind Inver's house, tilting her head out slightly to watch another pair of Flare grunts pass by on their way to the bridge.
"So how many do we have to catch to make up for what we lost on Christmas Eve?" one of the grunts asked his companion.
"I think he wanted anywhere from fifty to a hundred," said the other grunt. "If we were out at Azure Bay right now, though, we'd probably be bringing in a couple hundred for him. Plenty of Pokemon in the sea, you know . . . ."
Once the grunts had crossed the bridge, Serena craned her neck out even farther to look out at Terminus Cave. The mine tracks laid out had grass and weeds growing all over them, and two wild Lairon were fighting over a rock. So much for that hiding place, she thought grudgingly.
Her gaze drifted farther south, towards Couriway Town, and she thought of how easy it would be for her to just keep going and evade capture for another day . . . which would also be another day of not saving anyone. Actually helping any of the Pokemon inside of the cave would be a challenge, but she at least wanted to see what was Team Flare was up to.
Serena had only been to Terminus Cave once before, mainly to explore and see what types of Pokemon lived there. There were stories of a great monstrous Pokemon living deep within the bowels of the cave, but she never found it. With any luck, Team Flare wouldn't find it either.
She slunk her way through the cave, ducking behind large rocks and stalagmites to avoid detection by Flare grunts that were moving about in pairs. When one of them said something about regrouping at the main site, she followed that grunt and his companion from a distance, utilizing her preferred hiding spots as needed. At one point, while crouching behind a boulder, her stomach growled again, louder than before; she held perfectly still and clutched her stomach, anxiously wondering if the grunts had heard it.
"You hear something?" she heard one of the grunts ask his companion. Her heart raced.
After a second of silence, the other grunt answered. "Nope."
When she heard footsteps again, Serena exhaled slowly and quietly. After craning her head around to make sure that they were walking again, she continued to follow them.
The Flare grunts wound their wave through the cave, down stairs, across rope bridges (which Serena bypassed by merely climbing down cliffs) and through narrow corridors until they reached the lowest level of the cave, where a larger group of Flare operatives standing around a rusty, dilapidated mine cart at the bottom of a shallow pit. Serena found a tall, wide rock formation and crouched behind it so she could observe what they were doing.
Two Admins stood at a table, poring over papers and discussing the items with one another. Grunts scooped up some Pokeballs from one metal bin, spread out, used their Pokemon to weaken the wild ones living in the cave before capturing them, and placing the filled Pokeballs in another metal bin.
One grunt was working on catching an entire group of Noibat with the help of her Emolga. Serena watched as the last remaining Noibat, having just been struck by a Shock Wave, sent a feeble Air Cutter flying towards its opponent. Having already received damage from fighting other Pokemon, Emolga was fainted by that attack. The grunt recalled her Pokemon, and Noibat flew away, weak and unable to maintain a stable flight pattern.
Noibat dropped to the ground, right next to Serena. Wings drooping at its side, it looked over Serena, scooting a little closer to her upon realizing she wore blue and purple (no matter how dirty) rather than red or black. It let out a feeble chirp, but Serena shushed it.
"Be quiet," she whispered, shifting to lay on her stomach so she could be at eye level with the small Pokemon, "Or they'll find you again." Her eyes glanced downward, and she identified that the Noibat was male. Noibat nodded in understanding, then hung his head, mouth sinking into a frown and eyelids lowering.
"Was that your whole family they got? . . . I'm really sorry," continued Serena soothingly. She reached out a hand to pat Noibat on the head, but he shrank back. She pulled her hand away. The Noibat squeaked out a small cry of grief, and Serena didn't bother to quiet him.
Not knowing what else to do for or about Noibat, Serena resumed her watch of Team Flare. The Admins nodded in agreement about something, and then called out to all the grunts to grab the remaining empty Pokeballs and follow them somewhere. Two grunts picked up the bin of empty balls, and the rest of them followed the Admins to the southern end of the cave, clumsily navigating ledges and cliffs until they all ascended to an upper level of the cave. When they were all gone, Serena sprang up and clamored down to the mine cart, stopping at the table covered with maps and papers.
The first thing to catch her attention was a box of granola bars. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction that the Flare members had gone, and then she grabbed a granola bar, ripped off the packaging, and bit off a large chunk. The bar dried out her mouth, but she didn't care; it was something to munch on other than barely-filling, sour tasting berries. Once she finished that bar, she ate another one, and then another, until there was only one left. She stashed in her jacket pocket for later.
Lying next to the box of granola bars was a Hyper Potion. She put that in her pocket as well, planning to use it to treat Noibat when she was done here.
There was a map of Terminus Cave spread out on the table, with rocks on each corner to weigh it down. A star was drawn in one place, with the caption "WORK HERE." Serena assumed that alluded to her current location, where they had been catching Pokemon. Another segment of map showed a chamber with a central hub and four dead-ended passageways extending from it. In the center of the hub, written in bright green ink, was the letter Z.
Somewhere from above, she heard a fearsome roar that came from some Pokemon she could not identify. It was probably the monstrous one rumored to live in the cave – and Team Flare had found it. Serena had heard its name before – it began with the letter Z, of course – but she couldn't figure it out, and it wasn't even on the tip of her tongue.
The rest of the papers on the table were information about the various species of Pokemon found in the cave, as well as contact information for Flare Admins supervising Pokemon catching operations in other areas of Kalos. Deciding that the table had no more to offer her, Serena walked around it to the metal bin that contained all of the Pokemon caught so far. She picked up a Pokeball and pressed the catch, sending out the Pupitar inside.
"Go on. Get out of here!" she said to Pupitar, waving her hand at it in a shooing motion.
As Pupitar scuttled away, she dropped the now empty Pokeball on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly until she heard a crack. She kicked the pieces of Pokeball out of her way, and then the ground shook. She stumbled back, and the edge of the table hit the small of her back. After regaining her footing, Serena scooped more Pokeballs out of the bin and released the Pokemon inside: Ariados, Graveler, Lairon, Shuckle, Sandshrew. She'd reach the other Noibat eventually, she told herself.
The ground shook again, with greater intensity than before. Serena fell on top of the metal bin and held onto it for support until the tremor ended. As she felt a small rock fall on her head, Serena wondered how Team Flare was faring in their fight against that Pokemon. If only she had a Master Ball, she thought. She would walk into that chamber, catch it, and be unstoppable.
Serena stood up and resumed her work of freeing the Pokemon, finally letting loose three Noibat in a row. The three Noibat flew off together, and the one who flew to Serena must have seen them, for she heard him cry out and try to fly after them. However, that Noibat dropped to the ground again, and cried out to the others. The other Noibat kept on flying, though, dodging small stalactites that fell from the ceiling.
Another violent tremor sounded off as Serena ran to Noibat's side. She pulled the Hyper Potion out of her pocket and administered the medicine to the small Pokemon. Noibat screeched vibrantly and rose into the air, just in time for the ground to shake again. Large rocks fell from the ceiling, splitting into pieces on the ground. Serena planted her hands on the ground, bracing herself until the earth was still again. In the distance, she heard people shouting at one another. When one shout of "GO!" was particularly loud, she turned and saw some Team Flare members returning to the area, and she immediately sprang to her feet and ran.
Luckily, she remembered the way she came, but the continued tremors and falling rocks complicated her movement. She almost fell off a rope bridge, finding herself holding on for dear life until she could hoist herself back up and keep going. A cluster of stalactites were shaken loose from the ceiling and sent plummeting down, and Serena dove into a somersault to avoid them. She heard one of the Flare grunts behind her, screaming "HEY! STOP!" but she smirked defiantly. What a fool, thinking she would stop for them, especially when the cave might collapse at any moment.
One stone staircase remained between Serena and the exit, and it was now twenty feet away. She noticed a Golbat flying over her head, staring her down aggressively. At its Trainer's command, Golbat shot supersonic waves from its mouth, but Serena swerved just in time to avoid them. She kept going, maintaining a slight zigzag pattern in her movement, hearing yet not looking to identify the source of a screech and the whoosh of an Air Cutter being hurled. Not even another tremor, several times more powerful than all the previous ones, deterred her, for huge rocks were falling in front of her and she needed to be out of the way before they landed. She dove and somersaulted again to dodge them, the ground greeting her head and shoulders with a blunt pain and her ears filled with the deafening crashes and roars of falling rocks.
Serena continued up those stairs, stopping at the top when she heard muffled cries from humans. Looking back, she saw that the path before her was completely filled with rocks and debris, save for a small hole at the top. She stared at the rocks, dazed and dumbfounded, until the ground shook again and she bolted for the exit.
Once outside, she ran south, stopping at a tree right in front of the entrance to Couriway Town. She slumped against it, breathing heavily, closing her eyes to the sunlight that now felt too extreme. Tremors that felt like major earthquakes inside the cave were minor shakes outside; her first instinct was to clutch the ground the best she could, but she relaxed upon realizing that it wasn't necessary.
Why she had gone in, she wondered. Nothing had really been accomplished. She had found out about Team Flare's plans to catch more Pokemon, likely to sap up their energy and kill them in the process, but what could she do about it? The ones in the cave would break free somehow and just come back with more Pokeballs and catch more Pokemon, including the one of legend.
She finally remembered its name. Zygarde.
Having decided it was time to move on, Serena rose to her feet and intended to continue south. However, Noibat was in her face, rapidly flapping his wings and chirping congenially at her.
"What are you doing here? I freed your friends," she said.
Noibat chirped and screeched at her, as if he was telling her why he was with her instead of inside the cave with his fellow Pokemon. He then flew in a circle around her head before ascending into the branches of the tree, reappearing with a ripe, plump Oran Berry. He offered it to Serena.
"Thanks!" she said, popping the berry in her mouth. Aside from being a little too bitter, the balance of flavor was almost perfect.
"Go on now. Go give Team Flare hell. Do more than I can. I – I'm worthless, you see."
Noibat's chirps sounded like dissent to Serena.
"Um . . . yeah. I'll be going now," said Serena. She turned away and crossed the road over to the riverbank, where she planned to walk alongside it to avoid going into town and being seen. Behind her, she heard Noibat's wings flap; she looked up to see that he had followed her.
"I don't have a Pokeball for you, so if you're going to come with me you'll have to be quiet."
Noibat nodded in understanding.
Serena walked on the outskirts of Couriway, ducking behind buildings anytime someone wearing red entered her line of sight. She smiled slightly; maybe now she could actually get something done instead of just running and hoping her Pokemon would magically appear again. As she walked on to Route 19, her mind's eye was filled with scenes of her swooping back into Lumiose on the back of a Noivern, battling fiercely against all who stood in her way.