I gotta be honest... the lifestyle was starting to grow on me again. Sure, we were caught in a cycle of scrambling through a new unknown place every couple of days, battling a new monster, and going through a new portal. But, with all this considered, at least we managed to skip the history test scheduled the Friday following the Pokémon universe eating our school bus.

... Kieran would've laughed at that one.

The level we were now in was a plain mountain. It was the average fare, just a rocky gray peak. My mind was blown. All I'd ever seen in person were the Turtle Mountains, but I'd always wished to see a place where people could ski for more than two minutes. Well, goodbye to Manitoba, and hello to Vancouver. Other mountains were visible from our vantage point, gaining a lighter tint as they grew in distance from us. This was a chain of peaks; what had to be the largest level yet. I knew some odd shenanigans would later turn this setting into a nightmare, but for now I enjoyed the view. And the air was stupid fresh.

We walked on a mountain path that would've been way too thin for a human, but fit us fine. Micheal and Valérie led the charge, Kieran lazily flying a few paces behind. The skies were filled with clouds, and... music? My head sprang up, eyes on the tiny blue and white speck that was our resident bird friend.

"I am a rock, I am an island," sung Chloe. With the echo of the mountains, her voice rendered itself perfectly into my ear. I chuckled, leaning my head toward Gab.

"Does that mean she's been doing that every time she's flown off?" I asked, grinning.

She gasped. "We can't tell her that we know."

I laughed, and slid my paw across my mouth. "My lips are sealed. She needs to keep it up; I haven't heard an actual song in ages."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized it was true. Had it really been over a month? At least forty days had passed where I'd had no access to the outside world, to technology, to as simple a thing as a song recording. I had the rest of the group with me— minus one unfortunate recruit— so camaraderie had had its requirements filled well enough, but I'd lost so much leisure and entertainment.

I guess that's why we're able to make up for it so well. There's nothing to really compete with it.

Gab quieted down with me. I needed to pick it back up. We were talking about a cute song before diving into the depressing, for Christ's sake! I cleared my throat awkwardly and tried to save the conversation.

"Didn't take her for a Simon and Garfunkel fan," I blurted out, and had a bout of nervous laughter.

Nailed it.

To my surprise, though, Gab instantly went from staring into the ominous ether to bearing a more thoughtful expression, complete with hunching over and bringing a paw to her mouth. She was my personal tiny Sherlock. I might've become the Watson in that equation if I had any common sense.

"It does tend to be pretty mellow in sound", Gab finally shrugged. "They've got a consistency in their harmonies. It's safe, supported. Hopeful. It fits Chloe well."

"I mostly know them for being depressing. I want to hear her Sound of Silence," I smirked.

"Ooh, nice, very cliche," Gab smiled. Her ears then perked up. "Lola, you're a Dark type."

"Yep."

She sang, trying to keep it in a hushed tone. "You're the darkness, my old friend."

The Emolga wasn't on tune at all. That was so terrible that I couldn't help having a laughing fit, which Gab joined heartily. Any notion of stealth had been lost. If even Gab could stop overthinking on the negative, sky was the limit.

People had to tell me that night was falling. Absol eyes were so good at seeing in the dark that I would barely notice the difference. Priority number one was finding shelter, as food and water were covered. There was an ample supply of spring water nearby, plus some newfangled device Gab had invented called a "whoa-ah-turr baw-tel." Last level, everyone refused to believe me when I said I'd never heard of such a thing. Yeah, they were correct, but I'd've liked someone to play along.

Oh, and of course the backpacks were packed with berries and apples. We'd made sure of that last level, and Chloe had helped Gab and I with making little satchels full of berry seeds. Unfortunately, there were no places to plant anything. The rocky slopes were too hard and cold underfoot.

As for that shelter, we'd seen a few openings in the mountain walls. None of them were long enough to be leading anywhere, but we hadn't come across suitable temporary campsites. The odd bit of gravel on the floor here and there was fine. We could handle that. Unevenly distributed stalagmites? Not so much.

It was weird how those caves looked so different compared to the outside walls. It was all triangles and cylinders inside, and flat and square outside. It made the mountain look steeper.

"We can't just sleep on the trail, yeah?" I groaned.

Micheal recoiled from the front of the group, briefly facing me. "N-no! I don't want anyone to fall off."

Chloe hopped by. "Falling ain't fun."

I nodded. "Roger that. I'll remember for when I'm, like, on the edge of a waterfall, with sharp pointy rocks at the—"

Aw, crap.

I was close enough to the Litleo to see his stride slow with hesitation. For God's sake, I was just trying to be funny and quoting a Disney movie! Man, that was rough, even for me.

Gab coughed. "Anyway."

"Anyway," I continued.

A few moments later, Kieran landed in front of Micheal. He'd gone off skyward to scout for cave openings or wide platforms and whatnot. Thankfully, Chloe's flight had proven earlier that the invisible walls encasing us were way further apart than the last level. Kieran could fly around and check the peak of the mountain for anything obvious.

"There's a bunch of rock pillars a couple floors up," the Beedrill reported. "But they're in front of a dip in the side of the wall, so there's a ceiling too."

A gated house with a roof? Fancy.

"You heard the man," Valérie shrugged. The Meditite nonchalantly started leading the charge, passing Micheal. We'd have to walk a couple more loops around before rest.

Finally. There was enough room to lie down, and then some. We'd elected not to make a bonfire tonight as we were out of dry wood. Thankfully, by the time we got set up there was still a twinge of sunlight left, as I'd been told. Another day done, and I welcomed the stone floor on my side to make up for the… stone floor I'd walked on.

Scoliosis, here I come.

Valérie laid down on her back, staring at the stone ceiling. At this point, I think it was too dark for her to actually stare at something. "What're we thinking for the boss?" She asked plainly.

When everyone said a different type, leading to an incomprehensible jumble of an answer, I knew this was going to be a good discussion. I was pretty sure I even heard "mountain goat" in there.

... Okay, that one was mine. Statistically, there had to be a Pokémon made after one, though.

"It has to be Rock type, we're on a mountain," Kieran groaned and rolled his eyes.

Okay, wait a minute. I have night vision but how the hell can I tell that a Beedrill just rolled its—

"But we've been through the Rock one, right?" Chloe chipped in. "We fought an Archen."

"That's also Flying," Kieran countered. "It can be that."

Micheal put in his two cents. Man, I thought he was already asleep. "Flying and Rock," he mumbled. "Wonder which it is."

"Ugh, what Pokémon are we fighting here then?" Valérie asked.

"A second Archen," I grinned.

"Well yeah, the dungeon wouldn't ever want us to be sure of anything," Gab said. She was closest to me, and although she also couldn't see in the dark, it felt like she was making eye contact. "Case closed. Argument over and never resolved."

Kieran huffed at Gab's comment. His snobby side tended to come out whenever he wasn't taken seriously. Not my problem, though. I could poke fun wherever I wanted while we were going to sleep. I'd earned my rest.

Speaking of… yeah, that deserved rest wouldn't actually happen for a while.