Amber.
The Next Morning.
"Riley, how much further is Solaceon Town?"
"Not much, if we keep going north. Should be there in a couple hours, if we don't stop for lunch."
After spending almost a week in Hearthome City, none of us were very eager to be walking down a hot, dirt road near the end of September.
Astro groaned. "Amberrr...will you carry me?"
"No." I sighed. "Riley, what's there to do in Solaceon?"
Riley shrugged. "Lemme check," He answered. He tapped a few buttons on the screen of his Town Map.
"Better not be anything boring," Dee groaned.
It took a minute for anything to pull up. "Here we go," Riley started, soundibg a little cheerful. "There's...there's a Pokemon Daycare-"
"Hell no," Astro denied.
Riley rolled his eyes. "There's some sort of newspaper thing," He continued. "Uhh...yadda yadda yadda...oh! Have you guys heard of the Solaceon Ruins?" He sounded very excited.
"Of course we haven't," Dee snapped.
I rolled my eyes. "What are they?" I asked.
"Well, obviously, these old ruins in Solaceon Town," He explained. "Like, older than God, old. No one knows how they got there, but they seem connected to some other ruins all the way out in Johto, and these odd pokemon called 'Unown'. Can we go check them out? Please?"
I shrugged. Dee sighed.
"Is there anything else to do in that town?" Astro asked.
"Nope." Riley closed his map.
"I'm in," Me, Dee, and Astro agreed at the same time. If anything, it had to be interesting.
Hours Later.
"That was a short, disappointing walk."
Our group reached Solaceon more or less when Riley thought we would, around two o' clock that afternoon. We checked into a room at the Pokemon Center, dropped off our bags, and headed for the ruins.
Predictably, Lee stood just at the mouth of the cave that I assumed to be the ruins, Shift standing on guard next to him. She turned to us, then barked, like a dog.
Lee turned at Shift's warning, and waved. "Hey, guys! Doing a little sightseeing, huh?"
Dee threw her hands up in the air, groaning. "Dammit! We just got rid of this douche!"
Later.
"I take it you kids aren't too fond of me."
Lee took it upon himself to lead us through the ruins. Riley held the flashlight that lit the way.
"Not really, no," Dee answered.
"I guess it's nice, having a stalker that judges contests," I admitted.
Riley just shrugged.
Lee lead us through various tunnels and chambers, running his fingers along the wall. "Man, I love going through places like this," He told us. "I met one of my best friends in some ruins like these. Called the Ruins of Alph, in Johto."
"The map mentioned the Ruins of Alph," Riley told him.
"Mm. Nice." Lee sort of brushed him off. "What brought you three here, anyway?"
"Riley wanted to come," I admitted. "We didn't really care much. Why did you, um, decide to come here?"
"I haven't done any real exploring since I was a kid. All this guest judge bullcrap, it gets boring. Nice for a little fun every now and then."
I'll admit, I did think Lee was...interesting. He wasn't stuck up, or anything, like you'd think a guy like him would be.
Shift stopped where she stood after a few more paces. Riley shined the flashlight on her.
Lee kneeled down and stroked her back. "What's wrong, girl? You hear something?"
Shift's fur bristled. "Um!" She yipped into the air. Then, she took off running down a corridor. Riley dropped his flashlight in surprise.
Lee jumped up. "Shift!" He took off after her. "You three, stay there! Shift, come back here!"
"Screw that!" Of course, Dee didn't want to listen. She ran off after him. I picked up Astro, and the three of us chased after Lee and Shift.
It was pretty dark, but there was enough light to see by. We followed Lee and Shift's footsteps, and the sound of Lee calling out Shift's name.
We stopped at what looked like the opening of a room. Shift stood further in, the blue rings around her body glowing faintly. She stood ready to pounch at the wall.
"Riley?!" Lee panted. "God dammit, I told you three to stay put..."
"What's wrong with your Umbreon?" Dee demanded. "Why is she freaking out?"
"Hell if I know!" Lee sighed. Shift barked into the air again. "Stay calm. Riley, where's that flashlight?"
"I-I think I dropped it," Riley admitted. "When Shift first ran off."
"Don't panic. That's alright. I've got a light." Lee pulled something from his pocket. "Thank God for nicotine addiction..."
Lee lit what looked like a lighter, and we could see a little better. Shift was facing a wall, her black fur on end along her spine. The wall looked like it had writing on it.
Lee turned his head slightly to the left, then to the right, then he took a half-step forward. "Hey, li'l man, Astro...this room feel sort of weird to you?"
"I don't know," Astro answered immediately.
Riley waited. I didn't like his silence. I gripped the sleeve of his hoodie, and saw he had his eyes closed.
"Riles..." I muttered. "This is creepy. I don't like it."
Suddenly, Riley opened his eyes, and gasped. He grabbed mine and Dee's arms, and pulled us both back.
"Hey-!" Dee protested.
"Riley!" He was acting very weird.
"Lee!" Riley sounded scared to death. "Lee, there's something in there!"
I heard Lee grab a pokeball and maximize it. I set Astro on the ground.
"Shit, I knew it!" Lee took a step forward. "Kids, stay back! It's not sa-!"
The room became coated in red light, and Lee cut himself off. Shift readied herself to fight, barking wildly. Lee sent out his Feraligatr, Fallon.
Suddenly, the letters on the walls started peeling off, turning black and blocky. Each one had a big, white eye. It was terrifying.
I covered my eyes, and screamed. I don't care how babyish that sounds, I was scared shitless.
"Shift, use Dark Pulse!" Lee shouted. "Fallon, Shadow Claw! Kids, I said, 'get back'!"
Astro stepped forward anyway, his paws out. "Hell no!" He charged up a Hidden Power, and let it loose, pink light flooding the room. He missed, hitting the wall.
That's when I saw just how many of them there were. And how many of them were turning to Astro, charging up some sort of attack.
Shift and Fallon's attacks missed. Astro was in front of them, wide open. An easy target. I was frozen in fear.
"Astro, no!" Astro charged another attack. Riley ran forward, ducking under Lee's left arm. He'd had his arms sticking straight out, as if to protect us.
The alphabet-looking pokemon attacked, sending a bunch of white-flashing beams straight at Riley, throwing him back to the wall behind us. His head lolled around on his neck, unconscious. His baseball cap flew off his head, to the ground.
"Riley!" Dee and I shrieked. Astro looked behind him, in horror. Lee lowered his arms, gritting his teeth and balling his hands into fists.
"God damn you kids, why won't you listen to me?!" He growled.
AOF: That escalated quickly.