9: A Lesson in Surprise

Akari was grateful for the fire, but wistfully sad that it had been built on the destruction of the shelter she'd made last night. Even though she hadn't even built the whole thing, learning how had been fun. A vital skill, Volo had said. Maybe she would make a proper one someday. If she didn't have long left in Hisui, then she hoped the memory would travel through time with her. She could always build one just for the sake of it, couldn't she?

For now, as they prepared to leave, she swept her gaze over all that was left: just a patch of leaves and twigs on the ground.

Volo's shelter was still standing; Akari wondered what would become of it. This time, he hadn't left a Pokeshi doll behind as a souvenir. Perhaps that was why he'd left the tent instead. It made a grander monument than a small wooden trinket, Akari thought.

They had eaten already. Another Catch of the Day from Samurott, since there wasn't much other choice. Akari had watched from a distance as Volo carried out his usual ritual, dropping the fishbones into the river. She was growing fond of this tradition, and no longer thought of zombie Magikarp whenever she saw it. They refilled their flasks, and once that was done, they were ready to leave.

Their path ahead was clear: the narrow, steep ravine. Akari could already feel her lungs protesting, even though Volo's berry-and-moonshine tea had helped.

They had not been walking for long before Volo turned to Akari, full of his usual restless energy. He was practically bouncing on his feet. "Ah…do you mind if I go on ahead, just a little?"

He'd done that plenty of times already, Akari thought, but this was the first time he'd asked. What happened that morning must have really shaken him up.

"Am I going too slow for you? Sorry for catching a cold, I guess." She tapped Volo's arm playfully, just to make clear she was teasing. Sometimes her jokes and sarcasm would get lost in the space-time rift that existed between them. "You probably shouldn't go too far, though. There's always an Alpha Golem up there."

"Righto!" Volo smiled broadly. "I do appreciate the warning!"

"Hey, do you want one of my Pokémon to go with you?" Akari began to reach for her satchel. "They'll listen to you, you know, if you need them to - "

"No, it's quite alright. The Graveler aren't terribly fast, are they?"

"Uh, they are if they come rolling down the hill at you!"

"Then I shall be sure to dodge!"

With a laugh, Volo charged off into the ravine, with strides that looked enviably powerful. Akari wished she could have some of that energy.

By now, Akari had reached the point in the ravine where it began to twist. She knew that this was the Golem's territory, because that was how she'd first met it: rounding one of these corners too quickly on Wyrdeer's back, over-confident, with no idea what awaited at the other side.

The Alpha Golem's roar that day, like the sound of an earthquake, had sent shockwaves through the air. It had knocked Akari from the Noble Pokémon's back, and she'd narrowly missed hitting her head on a rock as she fell. As the creature had stomped its way towards her, only its slow waddling gait had given her enough time to throw Samurott's ball and protect herself. Had the Golem been any faster, or had it decided to tuck its limbs and roll at her, with gravity in its favour, she might have been crushed against the cliff.

It was one of Akari's closest calls with an Alpha, and the reason why she'd never forgotten it.

I'm almost here, she thought, feeling her heart rate climbing much faster than her feet. That must have been her body, reacting to that Alpha energy, before she could even see it.

But where's Volo? He'd said he was going ahead, but there wasn't much more 'ahead' to go.

The girl hesitated, wondering if she should hurry on and find him, or go back and search one of the many smaller paths that led off the ravine - she'd been somewhere around there that morning, in search of salt - in case he'd gotten lost somewhere, though she didn't think that was likely.

In the end, her fear of the Alpha Golem won out.

For most people, that might have meant backing away, putting off whatever they feared, at least until they'd found their friend, so that they could face it together. For Akari, it meant that she had to carry on. No matter where Volo had gone, even if something bad had happened, it would be easier to search for him with the Golem safely knocked out.

Better to get it over with.

Before she started walking again, Akari tried to call for her travelling partner, though she still couldn't speak very loudly. "Volo? You'd better not be trying to pay me back for this morning. That's not funny!"

She held her breath to listen, but the only answer was the wind whistling through the narrow ravine, and the far-off grumbles and crashes of rock against rock. Akari knew that they were either Graveler or the Alpha that she was anticipating. This time, though, she would be better prepared.

She released Samurott now, greeting her first Pokémon with a fond pat and a ruffling of the short fur on his side. She leaned closer to talk to him.

"You remember this place, buddy? You kicked that Golem's ass last time. I know it was tough, but you've gotten even stronger since then. Are you ready to go all out?"

Samurott gave his trainer a low, gruff bark. He sounded just as confident as she did.

Both Pokémon and trainer dropped low, resorting to stealth as they turned the next corner. Akari held up her hand, signalling that Samurott should wait. They had to check every turn. The Golem was not stealthy. But if it were asleep, at this distance, it might have looked like nothing but a large rock. They could not rely on its sleep and try to sneak past it. They would still have to battle it and make sure it was out for the count.

But it was very much awake. Straight ahead, with its back turned, it stomped slowly across the path. Locking eyes with her Samurott, Akari pointed ahead and mouthed her order.

"Aqua Tail. Go agile, then go strong."

Samurott leapt straight into action. Warned by the sound of Samurott's claws scraping against the ground, the Golem turned, red eyes blazing. They seemed to be even brighter than usual. Akari clung to a boulder that she intended to use as cover if she needed it, ducking low as the force of that roar rushed past her head. It was louder than she'd remembered.

As Samurott readied its starting attack, the Golem lashed out first. Not too surprising, coming from an Alpha. But that hit - Akari couldn't tell exactly what it was - knocked Samurott off course. His attack failed, in a huge burst of wasted water.

Samurott found his balance again and rushed in for Part Two. Again, the Golem landed a hit. Akari thought it could have been a Double-Edge, though the Golem barely flinched with the recoil.

This time, Samurott flew. He landed, limp as a ragdoll, within touching distance of Akari's hiding place.

"Samurott!"

Akari's shocked cry echoed through the ravine. Her first instinct was to rush to her Pokémon's side and sweep him into her arms, but she had to withdraw him and continue the fight. The Golem's glare flickered in her direction as she took another Poké Ball from her bag. With only a second to think, her hand away moved from Torterra's ball. She needed someone faster.

"Clefable, Ice Punch!"

It was not her strongest attack, not one she had mastered yet, but Akari was seeking solace in type match-ups for now, and hoping for a touch of frostbite.

The attack landed, but the Alpha remained on its feet. It seemed that, more than doing any significant physical damage, Clefable's attack had done a better job of making it angry.

The Golem hit back with a sharp blow, and Akari's hands flew to her mouth, fearing the worst. But Clefable was still up, though that must have hurt.

Maybe we're using the wrong sort of attacks.

"Try Draining Kiss!"

Clefable seized the Golem in a death grip, and both Pokémon began to glow, the white light expanding until it seemed to fill the whole ravine. It ended with a thud as Golem knocked Clefable back, to the level of Akari's boulder. But the Fairy-type rose up again, with some effort. Pokémon and trainer exchanged determined glances.

Just as Akari was considering her next move, the Golem seemed to retreat into itself, like it was trying to become smaller, denser. Akari guessed what was coming next.

She had no time to get Clefable out of the way; it would have been far too dangerous, to throw herself into the open like that. She covered her head and dropped into a foetal position behind her protective rock, just in time.

The explosion shook the canyon and sent rocks hurtling through the air. Even curled up like this, Akari felt the shockwave rushing past her legs. As she was showered with grit and pebbles from the cliffs above her, she held herself even tighter, teeth clenched, hoping that nothing heavier would rain down on her.

That must have been some kind of self-destructing move. Surely they were done.

But when she opened her eyes, the Golem was still there - significantly weakened, looking smaller than before, but not destroyed. When Akari searched for her own Pokémon, she found Clefable unconscious, sprawled face-down on the ground behind her.

What is happening?

The Golem was coming this way, stomp by slow stomp, probably seeking the source of all these annoying opponents. Akari knew that its eyes would be on her soon. She began to panic as she scrambled in her satchel.

Torterra? Blissey? Both slow, but they could both withstand a lot.

Or what if…?

Akari hesitantly touched one of the newer Poké Balls in her collection. She was so unsure, even in her urgency, that her fingers recoiled from it. But she forced herself to grab it, just as she heard the Golem growling on the other side of her boulder, only inches away. If it decided to shatter that rock into pieces, she would be next.

Akari rolled the ball out of her hiding place and prayed under her breath.

"Cresselia, please…!" Please help me. Please listen to me.

Cresselia was a creature of legend. Even though she'd permitted Akari to catch her, did that necessarily mean that she'd fight for her? Akari had never tried this before.

She'd been so dazed, too, when they had first met. She didn't even know what the Lunar Pokémon could do, besides healing herself and causing a ton of confusion. What else did she use when I battled against her? Moonblast?

The capsule opened in a flash of light. Akari gave no order, and Cresselia did not move. She only hovered above Akari's hiding place, like a peaceful mirage, surrounded by a soft glow of light.

But something changed in the atmosphere. Akari felt as though she were in a dream, about to float away. Even her fear began to float away, but she needed that. She sat up and clung to the boulder, pressing her torso against it, trying to focus on that solid physical sensation, not the feeling that her brain was happily spinning and dancing inside her head.

She peered over her rock, watching as the Golem became agitated. It turned one way, then the other. It struck itself in the face with a flailing fist. Then it charged past her, past her fainted Clefable, and smacked its own head into the cliff wall. Unconscious at last, it rolled away down the ravine, leaving their path free.

It was over, finally. And Cresselia had made short work of it.

I should have trusted her sooner. Then Samurott and Clefable wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Thank you…Cresselia…"

The girl held up Cresselia's Poké Ball in her shaking hand, desperate to dispel the psychic energy that was warping her sight and making her nauseous. To her relief, Cresselia obeyed.

But in the split-second before the Lunar Pokémon vanished, Akari saw something. Not with her eyes, but in her mind.

Those were just thoughts, she might have said, but they could not have been her own, for they were of things she had not seen. They played out like a silent movie, with grainy images and many missing frames.

She saw Volo in his shelter, waking with a sudden jolt, as though from a nightmare. He looked towards Akari's tent and his expression darkened.

Now he was standing by the firepit. He threw on his cloak and checked the pockets. Now he was holding a Poké Ball, gripping it tightly in front of his face, like he was speaking to it. Speaking angrily to it, Akari thought, though she couldn't hear anything. He took the axe out of his backpack and set off…somewhere.

First, he moved towards the ravine. Then down the river, towards Fabled Springs. On his return to the camp, he demolished Akari's empty shelter, first with a kick, and then with the axe, raining down blows until only splinters remained. Finally, he ran across the bridge, where he and his axe disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

That was all. The images faded into bright white, like a film reel coming to an end on a projector screen.

When Akari blinked, she was back in the ravine. The capsule in her hand was warm, and Cresselia nowhere in sight.

What the hell was that?

She stood up and started brushing off the dirt.

"Akari!"

Still reeling from what she'd just seen in her mind's eye, Akari automatically backed away from Volo as he approached.

But this wasn't like before. His voice was filled with nothing but concern, and though he looked worried, it wasn't the same frightening look that she thought she'd seen in the forest. Perhaps she'd imagined that; it could have been a trick of the harsh shadows. There was no axe in his hand this time. His hands were empty, reaching for her. His breaths were quick, like he'd run here, gasping for air.

"Are you alright?" he asked, laying a hand on her shoulder, stooping down so that he could look into her face. "Goodness, look at all this mud and dirt on you! I heard a dreadful commotion, but…I was trapped in one of those smaller ravines back there. A most insistent Graveler kept blocking my path whenever I tried to leave! I managed to fight my way out eventually, but then…oh, when I saw that huge Golem, I knew there was nothing I could poss- "

"You fought?" Akari shrugged his hand off. "With your own Pokémon? A Graveler?"

"Well, yes, I had to!"

When was this? Why didn't he call for me instead, if he was stuck? Was that his pride, again?

"If you're strong enough to battle a wild Graveler round here, I really could have used your help." Akari wasn't quite shouting, but there was a good chance that was only because of her croaky voice and sore throat. "You're telling me you saw me fighting an Alpha Golem and having a hard time, and you…you did what? You hid behind a rock and waited? You watched?"

'Watch? Is that really all you do?'

Cogita's voice echoed in Akari's head. One of the many verbal arrows she'd cast in Volo's direction, which Akari had thought cruel at the time. Now she wasn't so sure. She scowled as she took out Clefable's Poké Ball and withdrew her.

"But...I only went to find some more salt for you, after you said that it soothed your sickness." Just as Akari was about to cut in again, Volo raised a hand to cover her mouth. "Listen. I understand. I'm a most useless travelling partner. This I know. And, yes, I admit…I can take care of myself if I must. Perhaps I have let you shoulder too much of that burden, because of your strength. But an Alpha…? Akari, do you not remember what happened when we went exploring in the Fieldlands? You took care of that Alpha Vespiquen without a single thought, did you not? I asked for your forgiveness then, for my shameful inability to help. I didn't expect I should have to ask it again, but - "

Akari swatted Volo's hand away. She wanted to tell him how rude it was, for him to physically shut her up like that, but she tried to give him some allowances. It's the nineteenth century. And he's usually so polite. I'll let him be a chauvinist, just this once. But next time, he's getting told.

"It's fine. Whatever. I get it."

But what did I see just then?

"Please don't be cross with me, Akari."

Well, what had she seen, really? Nothing she didn't already know. Volo had woken up, found her missing, and gone in search. He'd already explained the business about the axe. Her tent had become her firewood; she hadn't asked about that, but it seemed like a trivial thing to quiz him about, when it had been to her benefit.

Yes, he had seemed a bit agitated in the vision - or whatever it was - that Akari had just had. But it had been so fuzzy. Just a collection of silent, blurry images. And Cresselia must have had something to do with it.

'If the gods wish to send a message, shouldn't they make it clear?' That was what Volo had said, at their first camp. Akari had told him he had a point.

Wasit clear?

It hadn't been that long since Akari had caught Cresselia, and she still had fresh memories of how the Lunar Pokémon had sent her mind spinning like a frisbee, during their first encounter. Akari had barely been able to walk; she'd lost control of her legs, lost all sense of direction. She could not even recall her own name, let alone where she was, or why she was there.

Of course, she'd eventually found a way to break through and challenge Cresselia, and she had won. Cresselia must have respected her for that, otherwise she would not have allowed herself to be captured. But she'd used the same tricks to defeat the Alpha Golem. How could Akari be sure that what she'd seen wasn't just some stray psychic noise?

"It's fine," she said again, softer this time. "I wouldn't have wanted you or your Pokémon to get hurt, anyway. Even if you had tried to step in, I would have stopped you. Or I might have been distracted, and that would have just made it worse. So, I guess you did the right thing by staying back."

She'd never asked to be in this role, to be the one called on to protect everyone. But it had happened, and she couldn't exactly blame Volo for it. She didn't like to think about it too much, but some people would say that she'd helped to save the whole world. Was it any wonder that people also relied on her to save them from much smaller things, whenever she was around? It had become an unspoken rule.

"Nevertheless, I wish I could have been more help." Volo bowed his head. "I am sorry."

Akari nodded. Now that that was over, she thought about the battle she'd just fought. Those images were much clearer than the ones she had seen of Volo, and they bothered her much more.

"Something was wrong with that Golem! I don't know how much you saw, but…it should not have taken half my team like that! Its attacks were…" She pounded her fist into her palm, unable to find the words. "And it just wouldn't go down! Do you think there could be two Alphas? Of the same species? I was even ready for it this time, but it just - "

"Speaking of which, perhaps we ought to keep moving, in case it comes round and finds its way back." Volo peered upwards. "And the day is fast escaping us."

He was right, and Akari needed to find a safe place to stop and heal her Pokémon.

When they reached the spot where the Golem had been wandering around, before Akari had engaged it in battle, she pointed it out.

Volo looked up, scanning the surrounding walls on both sides of the ravine. This prompted Akari to do the same, nervously, as though she expected to see a whole pack of Golem tumbling down the vertical cliff like falling juggernauts.

But Volo seemed more curious than afraid. Sometimes he would look down instead, kicking aside small rocks, looking behind larger ones, like he was searching for something.

"What are you doing?" Akari asked, when the mystery began to annoy her.

"Looking for some answers to your Golem puzzle! Swordcaps, direshrooms…or doppel bonnets, sometimes they grow out of the cliffs…I wondered if some might have fallen and become your Golem's lunch…"

"You think it ate something?"

"I can't say for certain, of course. But, with your battling prowess and experience, Akari...if you say that it was stronger than it ought to have been, I would be inclined to believe you."

"It was like it was..." No, not quite. Frenzied Pokémon would have that telltale golden aura, and they would be even more aggressive than the Golem had been. "But it couldn't have been. Frenzied. Right...?"

"No, I dare say the time of the frenzies is over." Volo looked at her with a sympathetic smile. "Perhaps you just caught it on a very good day. Good for the Golem, that is."

Their climb was slow as the path steepened, each step requiring more and more effort as they ascended. Torterra walked with them for protection now, taking care of any Graveler that rolled their way. Volo had nothing to say about that, since they could not be any faster than Torterra was: though the ground was far from flat, the playing field had levelled out, in that sense.

Even Volo, with all his energy, could not rush ahead. He tried, now and again, but it was like watching a weak Basculin trying to swim up a waterfall. After a few paces, he would have to stop and catch his breath. Sometimes he would try to talk, but that would end in the same kind of failure.

Just shut up and keep climbing, Akari thought.

She was too sick and uncomfortable to be amused by his efforts right now. She was sneezing, and her nose streaming, made worse by the air as it got colder and colder. With no tissues, she'd resorted to using the back of her sleeve, even though she felt disgusted with herself. Her chest and throat itched, but coughing was painful.

Her eyes were fixed on the top of this particular stretch. It was not the end of their climb. But there was a large plateau, a spot where they could take a quick rest, and where she could finally heal her fallen Pokémon. Up until now, she had not felt safe enough to stop.

When they reached the level ground, the travellers did not stop immediately, but carried on until they found a grassy bank to sit on, where they'd be a bit more comfortable. It would also take them out of the ravine for now, which meant they would be out of the path of any rolling Graveler. At last, they could rest.

Without a word, both collapsed onto the grass, breathing heavily. Akari's pain was everywhere, but she guessed that Volo's legs and back might have been aching by now. Partly his own fault, she thought, for trying to race up the mountain whenever he got a burst of energy. Why does he do that?

"You'll need…potions and such…" Volo said after a long pause. He was almost slurring his words. "Always glad to...help...my favourite customer..."

When all of her Pokémon were fully healed, Akari kept Samurott out of his ball, feeling protective over him. Though he was revived, he still seemed tired. He lay next to his trainer, his head resting on her leg.

"Well, we shouldn't sit for too long." Volo had been rearranging his backpack, but now it seemed that he was finished, and already raring to go again. Apparently, that was all the rest he needed. He slipped his arms into his backpack's straps. "It makes the pain worse, you know, if you don't keep moving! Come along, Akari!"

Akari frowned and rubbed at her grumbling stomach. "Do you have any food, first? I feel like I'm gonna pass out."

If only Beni had agreed to give her more mochi, although she wondered whether they would still have been edible by now. Or she could have made some more cakes, or bought a bag full of beans or grains. You didn't need to be an expert explorer to know that you really shouldn't go climbing a mountain without enough provisions. But Akari feared there had been a miscommunication. When Volo had promised to take care of the supplies, she'd assumed he would have some food, too. Not just items for her Pokémon. She had not been clear enough. It was too late now.

"Food? Oh, that's a good point. I fear we didn't make the best preparations this morning, did we? Though I'm not sure what we could have brought with us." Volo stood up and looked around, which only made Akari rub at her forehead in frustration. What does he think he's gonna find here? Dirt? Rocks? "Aha! Can I interest you in some fresh Hopo berries?"

The merchant laughed to himself as he walked off towards the only trees on the hill. There were only two of them, thin and straggly, with hardly any leaves. They looked half dead, but Hopo trees always looked like that. When he came back, it was with a large handful of yellow berries that he offered to Akari.

"Are these safe?" She felt ungrateful just for asking. "I've never eaten them before. I thought they were for making wild Pokémon slow down, and I don't think I could get any slower..."

"I've always eaten them," Volo replied with a shrug. "Things that affect Pokémon a certain way don't always do the same to humans, you know."

"So, why are you not eating some now?" she asked, though she was too miserable and hungry to refuse. She took the berries into her hand. "You never seem to be hungry. How do you do that?"

"By growing up starving, I suppose!"

Akari glanced up at him. Those Celestica genes must really be something, she thought. Don't starving kids usually grow up to be tiny?

When she put one of the berries into her mouth, she thought it had a similar note to Volo's drink, something sour and bitter, but without the burning. Maybe he'd used Hopo berries to make it.

"Doesn't that just make you want to eat more, now that you can?"

Volo's only answer was to offer Akari his bottle of liquor. Standing over her, he held it under her nose, shaking it insistently.

This time, she didn't make any arguments or jokes about it; no matter how bad it tasted, she was sure it couldn't have made her feel any worse. One mouthful warmed her belly, and it didn't even burn as much as she'd remembered. Perhaps it was just a matter of getting used to it. Or perhaps she was just going numb.

"I don't think I'm ready to keep going yet. But if we don't go now..." Akari already knew that the sun had started to fall towards the horizon. The sky was tinged with red.

"Then we shall have to go by night," Volo said, shrugging, as though it were nothing at all.

'How nonchalant you sound. How confident of successes to which you contribute nothing.'

That remark from Cogita had seemed so unnecessarily spiteful, back then. But Akari had been reminded of it, and she understood why.

"Volo, how would we get up there in the dark?" she asked. "All the ghosts - "

"The brave Mister Samurott would deal with the ghosts, I'm sure."

With no warning, without asking for permission, Volo leaned down and patted Akari's Pokémon firmly on the side of his body.

Samurott didn't exactly seem to mind, though it disturbed him from his rest, but Akari thought that was beside the point. There was something so familiar, so possessive about the way Volo had done that. She'd been enjoying Samurott's presence and his warmth, but now she withdrew him back into his ball, just so that Volo couldn't do it again.

Akari glared up at Volo as he continued to speak. She could not see his face clearly, but she was sure that she heard a mocking note in his voice.

"You must be used to that, no? Or have you only just noticed that there are ghosts everywhere at night? All over Hisui! They're hardly confined to graveyards."

That's a graveyard?

Akari turned to look at the path ahead. Another steep climb, but thankfully much shorter than the one they had already made, this one flanked by terraces that looked as though they had been cut into the ground on purpose.

Her maps called it Stonetooth Rows, for the vertical stones that decorated the terraces. They were all a similar size and shape, though not identical. From this distance, she could understand the meaning behind the name, since the stones did look like rows of crooked teeth. But she had also wondered, before now, if it was a cemetery.

"Can't we just...camp here and go tomorrow?"

"Dear Akari…!" Volo ran his hand down his face, then gestured to their barren surroundings with wide open arms. "Do you see a forest here? We are almost there. It will only take an hour or two, if we leave now. What's another hour? Come on."

Akari resisted the childish temptation to point at the Hopo trees. Even if Volo chopped down both of those at their trunks, which seemed unfairly destructive, they would not have enough wood to build shelters. They could have made a fire, but at this elevation, it was far too cold and windy to spend the night exposed to the weather. And they were almost there.

Don't say it. Don't say it.

"We could get up there right now if we had Wyrdeer."

Well, I said it.

There was a loaded silence, but it only lasted for a second.

"Then call it." Volo adjusted the bag on his back, turned around, and started down the hill that would take him back onto the path.

If Akari had felt more alive, she might have laughed at how silly this was. "Where are you going?"

Volo did not turn around or stop. "I shall meet you at the Summit Camp."

"Fine."

Akari reached into her bag. Her fingers closed around the Celestica flute and held it tightly, her glare fixed upon Volo's back as he gradually became smaller in her sight. Her breaths were heavy and loud with anger. She was going to call for Wyrdeer. She was.

Maybe she would wait until Volo was out of sight, if the sound of the flute bothered him so much. And maybe she would call for Sneasler instead, and go via the cliffs, so that Volo wouldn't need to see her riding on Wyrdeer's back. She was trying to make this comfortable for both of them. She had tried.

And it wasn't like either of them had done anything wrong. They had mismatched energy levels, and probably a whole bunch of subtle misunderstandings to go with that. Akari always got moody when she was sick, especially with no remedy to help ease her symptoms. Volo's drink had been the closest thing she'd had to medicine.

Akari continued to watch, her hand still lodged in her bag, turning the flute over between her fingers.

When Volo reached the first terrace, he slowed down. At this distance, Akari could no longer read his facial expressions, so she could only guess at what he may have been thinking. She wondered if he might be having second thoughts about storming off on his own. The light had turned golden now. Maybe he was thinking of the Alpha Mismagius, and whether he'd be able to reach the top before that thing showed up.

She told herself that, if he came back right now, she would get up and walk with him. She wouldn't force him to accept the Noble Pokémon's help, if he didn't feel comfortable with it. If he was stubborn enough to carry on, well, she was going to play that flute. Leave him to his own devices.

Volo stopped next to one of the vertical stones - or the grave markers, if that was what they were. He crouched right next to it, brushing his hand over its uneven top, almost embracing it. Even from this far away, Akari could see the sadness in his movements. The way he dipped his head towards the gravestone as though he were talking, offering some comfort to the dust that lay beneath it.

Akari shivered, and a lump rose in her throat as she wondered if he knew who was buried here, even though she'd never seen any markings on any of those stones.

The whole of Hisui is Celestica ruins.

Was that why there were so many ghosts? Is the whole of Hisui a Celestica graveyard, too?

Akari no longer saw those gravestones as teeth. She saw them as eyes, each one staring down at her in both sorrow and judgment.

She pushed the flute all the way to the bottom of her bag, letting it be buried beneath everything else. Then she stood up. She still couldn't raise her voice, but she tried.

"Volo, wait…"