Chapter 14

Though every inch of her body ached, Diantha was glad to be on the move again. With each painful step she was closer to retrieving her Pokemon and closer to getting back on that dreadful helicopter and away from this island. Back to civilisation. This was the absolute last time she went on a business venture proposed by her parents without a thorough investigation first. She would stand her ground. She would.

She would try.

It was incredible really. No matter how old she got, a single conversation with her parents sent her spiralling back to being sixteen years old again with tears streaming down her face while they threatened to disown her if she continued to pursue a career in acting. It simply wouldn't do for a family of their standing. At the time she hadn't known they were empty threats, but then, had she not become as successful as she had, would they still have welcomed her back into the fold so readily after that fight? She wished she could be sure.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the crinkle of a plastic bottle being held in front of her face. She took it and downed the water inside. It wasn't a lot, but Cynthia was doing what she could to collect the rainwater still resting between the huge leaves stemming from fauna Diantha had never before seen. Todd had refused use of the bottle, instead choosing to open his mouth and tip what water droplets he could see directly towards his face. He missed about a third of the time, which was a terrible waste, but it was better than another argument.

The only time she'd seen him even vaguely pleased was when Cynthia had spotted a bunch of pinap berries high up one of the trees. Todd had immediately thrown himself to the task of retrieving them, happy to be useful it seemed. He'd almost gone as far as a smile when Diantha had thanked him and said that they probably wouldn't have been able to get them without him.

"I've been climbing trees like that since I was about six years old," he'd said, proudly.

The pinap berries had been sour, coarse and generally unpleasant, but the three ate them without complaint. Without verbalised complaints at least.

Diantha passed the empty bottle back to her companion and Cynthia returned it to one of her coat pockets.

They'd been walking for what felt like a couple of hours now. Between them they'd decided on an attempt to cut through the jungle in a bid to find food and water, and hopefully speed up their journey back to a more human-friendly locale. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, and perhaps still was, but Diantha's fraying nerves were not gelling well with the lack of peripheral visibility. The bright sunbeams that broke through the heavy canopy lit enough patches of the forest that they could comfortably walk without falling into bushes, but between those flashes of light were murky voids and fluttering shadows. It was like something out of a fairytale. The kind of fairytale where the plucky young heroine got eaten by a six foot tall Mightyena at the end. Oh my, what big teeth you have, grandmother. The feeling that she was being watched by a thousand prying, hungry eyes was hard to shake.

Diantha breathed in the humid, sticky air and tried to turn her thoughts in a different direction. She reached up to her throat and pressed her fingers into the megastone that hung around her neck. Despite the heat, the stone was cool.

Then Todd let out a loud yelp.

"What the shit is this?"

He was only a few feet ahead of them, but Diantha and Cynthia broke into a sprint to catch up with him.

"Are you okay?" Diantha asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off and pointed down towards the base of a large tree that greyed at its chunky, vine-like roots.

Cynthia was already crouching, her coat bunching around her on the crumbling soil. "Oh," she said. She picked something up and held it towards the nearest sunbeam.

"What is it?" asked Diantha, peering over her shoulder.

"An egg. A Pokemon egg."

Diantha could see it now. Curved shell fragments littered the ground and between the tree roots. At least four of them, she thought with a smile. More baby Amura maybe?

"I stepped on one," said Todd, troubled.

"Don't worry," said Diantha. "They're all empty. All hatched." It took Diantha a moment to understand the dubious humming sound Cynthia made in response to that. "Oh," she said. "The Pokemon are breeding."

"Is that bad?" asked Todd.

"All the Pokemon on this island are supposed to be female," said Diantha.

Todd looked as though he wanted to ask more questions, but he kept his mouth shut while Cynthia examined the shell fragment in her hands as though she might glean some kind of answer from it. Diantha shivered and looked around.

"Ditto DNA," said Cynthia after a moment. "Maybe?" Her brows were furrowed, creating deep lines between them. "It's possible that in a single sex environment the Pokemon were able to mutate. That's…" She let out a long whistle. "So much for control."

"You were right then," said Diantha. Her voice was faint, like it was somebody else speaking. "Life found a way."

After their discovery the atmosphere between the three of them became strained. Cynthia insisted they stay as close as possible, much to Todd's very vocal annoyance, and more than once Diantha felt Cynthia reach out to steady her when she did not need steadying. Despite a complete lack of incidents today Cynthia was worried, and Diantha didn't blame her. It did little for her own morale though to know her so far fearless companion was struggling as much as she was. Maybe exhaustion was getting to her.

"This is stupid," said Todd, for what must have been the eleventh time. He kept turning back to glare, but so far he hadn't strayed more than an arms length from them. "We aren't in any more danger now than we were an hour ago."

The trees were beginning to thin out, but Diantha didn't dare get her hopes up. They hadn't been walking nearly long enough to have made it back to the welcome centre yet, but perhaps they'd walked further last night than she'd realised? Life, of course, wasn't that kind.

Instead of salvation, the trees opened out into a sparkling blue lake surrounded by swathes of thick, prickly grass. Diantha stopped for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of sunlight. After hours of trekking under an oppressively close jungle, the change was jarring. She wished her sunglasses hadn't gone missing at some point during the night. She hadn't even noticed their absence until she wanted them again.

Looking out, it was hard to believe something as terrible as the cave drawings depicted could have happened on such a beautiful island.

"Finally," said Todd. "I'm sick of drinking water off leaves."

"Wait," said Cynthia, reaching out to grab him, but the boy had already bounded off ahead of them with the exuberant energy of youth. "Hang on a second!" Without turning, Todd stuck a single finger up at her and ploughed forwards.

Diantha understood Cynthia's caution, but it was very hard not to laugh at the stony expression on her face.

"I suppose we should follow him," said Diantha. Cynthia licked her lips and then nodded, and the two left the safety of tree cover and headed into the open fields.

Sun beat down on the back of Diantha's neck but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make to escape the heavy smell of rotting jungle vegetation. The pulsing pain between her eyebrows lessened at the first breath of slightly-less-humid air. She wondered if Cynthia had any painkillers in one of her multitudes of pockets, and then discarded the notion as soon as it came to her. Asking felt far too much like complaining.

Todd had already reached the improbably idyllic reservoir. Was it man made or had it already existed on the island? It was hard to tell, but Dr Stone would know.

He fell to his knees and stuck his entire head in the water. Diantha couldn't blame him. She wasn't a particularly strong swimmer, but it was tempting to dive right in, clothes and all. At least it would clean away some of the grime from her skin, if not her clothing.

"Let's hope there's nothing in there looking for a child-sized snack," said Cynthia. She was looking around the clearing with a wary eye. "This isn't where Stone brought us yesterday, is it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure." Diantha looked around. It could have been, but then a lot had happened since yesterday morning. Her memories of the nicer parts had faded into something of a distant haze. "I hope so. It would mean we're getting closer."

"In theory," said Cynthia. She allowed herself a small smile of relief.

Todd's head broke the surface, flinging droplets of water around him that evaporated before they hit the ground. Even from the few hundred feet away she was, Diantha heard him take in another gulping breath of air before sticking his face back in the lake. His knees were sinking into damp soil, churned up from heavy footprints. This was likely a popular spot for the resident Pokemon.

She didn't advise him to slow down so he wasn't sick, but it was a close thing.

They reached the edge of the water and Diantha took a moment to gaze across it. A truly stunning vista. The kind of place she could see herself building a holiday home, had it not been populated by angry local Pokemon. Then again, the Pokemon would likely help her to escape the paparazzi at least for a short amount of time.

Beside her, Cynthia had knelt and was collecting water in her crystallizing plastic bottle. Diantha moved to do the same, but hesitated before her skin touched the muddy ground. She was already filthy, but this just felt like one step too many. She settled instead for squatting awkwardly and dipping her cupped hands into the reservoir. She splashed liquid on her face and sighed as it cooled her skin.

Hopefully none of the blue hair dye from Todd had floated over her way, because it was probably as toxic as it looked.

"Tirtouga," said Cynthia after some time had passed. Diantha paused drinking and looked around.

Sure enough, several sets of eyes peered up at them through the clear water. They seemed content just to watch the humans, but Diantha still felt a cold thrill of fear. Tirtouga they could probably outrun, provided their mother didn't show up.

She took one last sip and then rose to step away from the lake edge.

Suddenly, Todd's head shot up again and he gasped for breath, making her jump.

"Why are they just staring at us?" he said. Moisture ran down his face, which thankfully was no longer dyed blue. "It's like...really creepy." He aimed a glare at the small Pokemon and waved his hands in their direction. "Shoo!"

"Don't antagonise them please," said Diantha. The hairs on her neck prickled and she glanced around, but saw nothing. Surrounded by jungle though, not seeing anything hardly meant they were safe from harm.

"Why? They're tiny. Not like they're gonna do anything to us. GET LOST!"

"It is strange," said Cynthia. She stood up and wiped her wet hands against the sides of her coat. "They weren't afraid of us yesterday."

"Whatever," said Todd. He stepped forward and kicked some water in the general direction of the Tirtouga. It might have done something had they not already been under the surface. So much for not antagonising them.

She had no idea where it was coming from or why, but dread began to creep up Diantha's spine. She looked around yet again, but still there was no clear or present danger. Not a single other living creature around them. She clenched her hands into fists as her breathing sped up.

"Hey," said Cynthia. A hand was on her arm and she startled. "Just me. What's wrong?"

"I don't know."

Todd looked at her strangely. "You've gone really white. And blotchy. And you were really white and blotchy already."

Such a charming young man.

"Diantha," Cynthia prompted. She had hold of both of Diantha's arms (when had that happened again?) forcing her to make eye contact. "What's wrong?"

"I-"

Was she having a panic attack? She hadn't had a panic attack in over a decade. Longer even. Not since her teen years.

"All right," said Cynthia. Did she understand? Diantha doubted it. "Let's get out of here. It's too open anyway."

As though they were safer in the skittering, watchful jungle.

For once, Todd didn't argue. He moved closer to them and allowed Cynthia to direct them around the lake and back towards the treeline. Cynthia's arm was a comforting weight around her shoulders. It was a good job someone had been paying attention because Diantha had already lost track of the direction they'd arrived from. If it had been down to her they'd probably have ended up back at the cave. Absolutely useless.

A cloud crossed the sun, casting long shadows across the sea of green grass.

Except, there hadn't been any clouds in the sky a minute ago and the wind was nothing but a memory from the night before.

Then a high pitched screech pierced the air.

There was too much happening for Diantha's brain to keep up with. The three of them stood stock still for what felt like an eternity, but in reality could only have been a couple of seconds. A hand was clutching hers, so tightly as to be painful, and a corona of sunlight blinded her. Somewhere, someone was yelling. The boy. Todd. Heat and terror stole her breath. Her head throbbed.

Then with sharp, unforgiving clarity her brain narrowed down to a single point, blocking out every other thing around her.

The huge Aerodactyl swooping towards them, mouth agape and serrated teeth gleaming in the late morning sun. She reached for Pokeballs that weren't there.

Move, she thought. Move! Her feet stayed rooted to the ground and her body shook.

It let out another screeching cry and then she was being dragged forwards.

"Holy shit!"

The small part of her mind that hadn't been completely overwhelmed by fear and adrenaline quite agreed.

The thing was massive. At least half times her own height with a wingspan that defied belief. Leathery purple skin stretched across boney wings coming to two curved claws. She couldn't tell how big or sharp they were and had no desire to get close enough for a proper measurement.

Then the three were running in earnest. Her heels sunk into the ground, one slipping off her foot completely, left behind as a sacrifice to the island.

"What the fuck is that?" yelled Todd.

It was gaining on them. Diantha could feel its hot breath against her back.

"Less talking more running," said Cynthia.

The shadow crossed over them and before Diantha could register what that meant, Cynthia shoved her heavily to the side and she tumbled over. She rolled onto her back just in time to see the monstrous Pokemon glide over the two of them, its jaw hanging improbably low.

For a moment it looked as though it would stop and turn back around, but then it spotted Todd, who had already been ahead of them when Cynthia had pushed her over.

"Wait!" Diantha cried, ridiculously. And what would she have done if it had heeded her? "Stop!"

Todd kept running towards the treeline. It was unclear how much safer they'd even be under the canopy, but it was surely better than being out here. The Aerodactyl swooped after him, gaining speed at an alarming rate.

"Shit," said Cynthia. She had already rolled onto her knees and was up, while Diantha blinked stupidly in the Pokemon's general direction. "Get up." Diantha barely heard her over blood rushing past her ears.

Then Todd made a mistake.

He looked back.

The two women were running as fast as they could now, but there was no way they'd reach the boy before the Aerodactyl did. He tripped over his own feet and rolled across the grass. No. Her other shoe went flying as Diantha threw herself forward. There was no way. No way . Todd scrambled to his feet but it was too late. It was almost-

A familiar flash of red light almost sent her face first back onto the ground. She heard Cynthia make a quiet noise of surprise.

The Aerodactyl slowed at the new intruder.

Todd had a Zubat with him. How did Todd have a Zubat with him?

It might have been enough time for him to have turned and made another mad dash for the trees, but Todd had other ideas. He leapt to his feet and faced the approaching Pokemon.

"Zubat! Use Supersonic!"

In comparison to the bulky Aerodactyl, the Zubat looked tiny and fragile. Looks, of course, could be deceiving, yet somehow Diantha didn't rate their chances against such a strong opponent. Even with her own team she'd have been wary about facing down this Pokemon she knew nothing about.

Barely visible sound waves emanated from Zubat's mouth, wings flapping quickly as it bobbed up and down in the air. Concentric circles of light hit the Aerodactyl's face and dissolved into nothing. It wasn't clear if the move had made an effect, but the Pokemon threw back its head and screeched so loudly that Diantha ducked and slammed her palms against her ears.

"Run!" Cynthia shouted. Todd ignored her, hand outstretched as he directed his Pokemon to avoid the snapping jaws aimed in its direction. His ill-conceived confidence might have been endearing if his life hadn't been in danger.

They drew level with him and Cynthia grabbed Todd's shoulder. For now, the Zubat had done its job and distracted their attacker.

"Kid," said Cynthia. She panted for breath, her face red and sweaty. "Call back your Pokemon. We need to move."

"No!" said Todd. His eyes burned with fierce determination. "I can do it."

Above them Zubat and Aerodactyl circled each other. It was a wonder the Aerodactyl even considered the small Pokemon enough of a threat to ignore its prey, even if only for a few moments.

"Do what?" said Cynthia.

Diantha's heart beat painfully in her chest as the Aerodactyl lunged towards the Zubat, which only just managed to flit out of the way. The sound of the Aerodactyl's teeth snapping together rang across the clearing.

"Use Astonish!"

The Zubat glanced back at its trainer before doing as it was told. The move did nothing, and the two Pokemon continued to dive and weave around each other. It was too fast and far too erratic for Diantha's scattered brain to keep up with. They needed to get out of there now .

Cynthia looked at her and for a moment Diantha felt her utter hopelessness, then it was gone and replaced with a simmering determination.

"Todd, call back your Zubat," she said. Shouted. It was hard to hear anything over the cries of the Pokemon above them.

"No!"

"Fine," said Cynthia.

She grabbed him around the waist and he yelped in frustration. "No!" He kicked out at her and missed by a good few inches. For one stupid second Diantha just stood there and watched them. Then Cynthia looked at her and she jolted back to reality.

She darted forward and grabbed Todd's other arm, and the two women started to drag him back towards the jungle.

Todd kicked and screamed and looked at her with such betrayal in his eyes that her heart just about broke, but she kept it together. He could hate her all he wanted to as long as he made it out of this alive. The Aerodactyl screeched and a flailing hand hit her in the stomach. She wheezed for breath but kept tight hold of the thrashing child.

They only made a few feet before the Aerodactyl got bored of Todd's Pokemon and jerked its head back towards them.

"Zubat, use Supersonic again!"

As though that had done any good the first time.

The Zubat hesitated again before following the order. It really wasn't the time to get distracted, but Diantha couldn't help but mentally shake her head - either the Zubat was a new acquisition or Todd had done a poor job of training it. There was no trust at all between them.

The wave bounced harmlessly against the side of Aerodactyl's head. Or perhaps not harmlessly; Aerodactyl's eyes narrowed with irritation. Oh no.

The two women continued to pull the angry teenager away from the fight. Her muscles strained and her shoulders felt like they could be yanked from their sockets at any moment, but Diantha kept a tight hold, moving on instinct alone now rather than anything that might be confused with cognitive thought.

"Todd," said Diantha. "Please. We need to go."

The Aerodactyl turned back to the Zubat and opened its mouth impossibly wide. It swooped forward.

"Dodge it!" Todd cried.

It was too late.

The Aerodactyl pounced, catching the small bat Pokemon in his humongous mouth. Diantha glanced back just in time to see the Zubat flapping its wings madly in a last attempt at outspeeding the crunch of Aerodactyl's jaw. It didn't stand a chance.

Jagged teeth slammed shut and the Zubat was gone.

Todd let out an almighty wail and with an impressive display of strength managed to throw Cynthia's hands from around his torso. He flung himself forward, taking Diantha with him and they both crashed down into the grass.

"Get up, get up, get up," Cynthia chanted, darting forward. Todd didn't even try to fight this time as she hauled him to his feet. Tears ran down his face as he glared up at her. She looked back, unsympathetic.

Aerodactyl turned on them, now empty mouth yawning open into what appeared to be a wicked grin.

This is it, Diantha thought. She was going to die.

"Run!" said Cynthia. She gave Diantha a little push and they were off again.

Todd lagged behind and Diantha squeezed his hand as tightly as she could and yanked him on. The Aerodactyl lunged towards them, gaining on them in seconds. She was sure the thing was just taunting them now. It surely could have caught each and every one of them eight times over.

It liked to play with its food.

Air that had earlier been still whipped past Diantha's face with every beat of wings and her chest burned with each painful gasping breath. Sweaty palms made it hard to keep hold of the struggling teenager.

Cynthia broke away from their group, stripping her coat off as she edged away from them. Diantha glanced over in dismay, but had to divert her attention back to the direction she was running in before she fell. Grass prickled and stung her bare feet, but terror blotted out any pain she might have felt.

Aerodactyl's shadow loomed over them and then it dove. its long, thin wings whistled through the air and Todd let out another breathless sob. His skinny little legs were working as fast as they could. He lacked the height to match Diantha's speed.

Just as Diantha thought that this was it for them, Cynthia jumped.

She leapt for the Aerodactyl's head, coat held high and away from her body. The black fabric wrapped around its long, wrinkled snout and covered its gleaming, cruel gaze. It howled in anger and Cynthia was tossed off its head and fell hard onto her back.

Diantha wanted to go back and help her up, but a surge of hope and adrenaline kept her running. She needed to keep Todd safe. They weren't far from the treeline now. Just a bit further.

Then Cynthia was back on her feet and sprinting to catch up with them. She wasn't moving as fast as she had been just a moment ago.

An unholy cacophony of screeching from the blinded Aerodactyl followed them as it thrashed its head and tried to claw away the offending garment. If she'd been looking, she'd have seen Cynthia's entire body flinch when it successfully gouged a hole through the heavy black fabric. Random items fell from the pockets and scattered across the grass.

Diantha stumbled and this time it was Todd who darted forward to support her step as they continued to propel themselves forward. One foot in front of the other.

Keep running.

The jungle was tantalisingly close. Diantha could barely breathe. Her heart thudded against her chest and her stomach churned. She'd never been so hot or so terrified in her entire life.

The Aerodactyl broke free and shook its head to relieve itself of the last remaining scraps of coat. It gnashed its teeth angrily into the open air and spread its massive wings with a cry of rage.

Faster faster.

Aerodactyl was done playing games now. its wings lit up as it readied an attack. Then with one final echoing cry it shot towards them like a bullet from a gun.

The jungle was just a few feet away. Todd was beginning to lag behind but Diantha pulled him along with her. Cynthia had nearly caught up, hunched forward as she ran.

Then they were through.

A fine leafed canopy covered them at first from the worst of the sun and then almost entirely from view.

The Aerodactyl shrieked in fury, but Diantha could no longer see more than the occasional flash of purple-grey skin above them.

It threw itself towards where it thought they must be, and twigs snapped and leaves shook free from their homes, pelting them all with debris. A heavy branch caught Diantha in the shoulder and she staggered, reaching out a hand to steady herself on a passing tree. Rubbery bark scraped across her hand.

Even though they were out of view, the Aerodactyl didn't seem inclined to give up. If she'd had the energy she might have burst into tears.

Then Todd gave her arm a sharp tug and pointed towards a towering kapok tree. She stumbled in the general direction, not sure why he was leading her there, before noticing a complex maze of roots and branches at its nearly hollow base. Her heart leapt. Yes. That would do.

She looked over to make sure Cynthia was following them (she was) and allowed Todd to drag her away from more falling tree wreckage. The noise was unbearable. Sharp claws and crunching teeth tore through foliage like it was paper. Only thick trees stopped it from dropping right on top of them.

They reached the base of the tree and Diantha pushed Todd down to crawl beneath the tangle of roots. He reached the centre and curled into a ball, shaking with fear. There wasn't a lot of room, but Diantha sucked in a deep breath and dropped to her hands and knees to follow him. Beside her, Cynthia did the same, pausing to allow Diantha to slip between the gaps first.

Twigs and rocks poked at her from every angle and her muscles screamed from both exertion and the discomfort of having to arrange herself into the smallest version of herself she could. She adjusted her legs and inched her body over so she and Todd were pressed arm to arm. It was hard to hear over the racket of the Aerodactyl still trying to rip its way to them, but the tree that stood tall over their heads dimmed sound. Now she could make out Todd's faint sniffling, his body trembling as he tried to hold his tears back. She put a hand on his back and he flinched away, before relaxing back into it. He pressed his face into his knees.

The space became even more cramped as Cynthia tried to fold herself into their makeshift safehouse. She bent her legs to strange angles to, hopefully, keep them out of sight of anything above them and bowed her head. The air around them was hot and muggy and smelly, but the other woman still pressed her body forward so they were all touching. She put her arms around both of them and Todd let out another, louder sob.

Diantha rather felt like crying herself.

She closed her eyes and prayed for the danger to pass.

Author's Note(s): A big thank you to Wolflyn who created the cover for this story! If you're a fan of Steven or Hoenn you should check out her fanfic.

Thanks for reading :-)