'Are you sure you're ok with this?' I asked Ronnie.

We were standing at the base of Mt. Chimney. The rest of the mountain stretched up above us, seemingly never ending. Ronnie stood beside me, her eyebrows creased into a light frown. She had been distant since last night, though I wondered if I was imagining it.

'Yes,' Her frown vanished as she turned to me. 'Are you sure you want to do this? We don't have any gear.'

'We won't do anything dangerous.' I promised her. 'Right, let's go.'

'Right,' She muttered sarcastically.

We found a few small caves while hiking up the mountain which were empty. I was starting to worry that we had to mine for the Fire Stone. I didn't have any Pokemon that knew Dig. And I didn't know how stable this mountain was. The hiking was still ok though. The trees were not as dense, and the mountain wasn't that steep yet. We had set off at a good pace and before long, the trees thinned out, giving way to rock and sand. We hiked for a while more before finding a promising cave. As we drew closer to the entrance, I saw a streak of white from my left. That was all the warning I get before a Pokemon vaulted past us with a roar.

'Absol!' It barked a warning

'An Absol,' Ronnie whispered in awe.

I stared at her.

'What?' She asked defensively. 'They are cool. And they almost never come down from the mountaintop. Probably less than 5 trainers alive have seen it.'

'Well, we are 6 and 7 now.' I muttered. 'I wondered what it was doing so far down the mountain?'

Was a disaster about to occur? Wait is Mt. Chimney going to explode? Shit where was the nearest airport again? Why didn't I find out on the first day?

'Absol, ab absol.' The Absol barked again.

I wish I had Estelle out with me, but instead, I only had Neo and Ronnie had kept her Pokemon. As Neo stepped forward to talk to Absol, I started to relax because it didn't seemed like it was attacking us. Keeping the Absol in sight, I took in the sky and the ground. The sky was tinted a slight grey from the ash, but not more than normal. White cloud and blue skies could still be seen. The ground didn't seemed cracked. I was positive the volcano was not about to erupt. Besides, didn't scientists study this place? If the pH level rise, or if there was even a slight tremor, the League would have evacuated people.

'Scyther!' Neo waved at us.

While I was busy consoling myself, Neo had convinced Absol to let us pass. I was about to take a step forward when Ronnie tugged on my hand.

'Cara,' She was frowning. 'If an Absol appears, means there'll be a disaster. Come on, let's get out of here. I'll buy you a Fire Stone.'

Somehow, the idea that she'd buy me a Fire Stone just made steeled my resolve. How am I supposed to be a good trainer when I keep relying on her?

'We'll be fast,' I told Ronnie.

Ronnie didn't seemed too happy, but I didn't dwell on it too much. Her previous girlfriend climbed a cliff in a sandstorm without gear for Arceus' sake. Ugh ok let's not think about her previous girlfriend. Absol stared at us eerily with its red eyes as we passed, then turned to follow us.

'Wait, it's coming with us?' I asked Neo.

Neo shrugged as if to say 'not my idea. Take it or leave it.', continuing down the path into the cave. Of course, I took it. The cave turned out to be part of an extensive network. We spent three whole days in the caves before Dawn spotted a glint embedded in the rock. Three days was way longer than I wanted to spend in a cave, but at least Lexy seemed happy. It probably reminded him of his mother. Dawn just sniffed the air whenever she was out, giving a small growl but nevertheless pressing forward, determined to find a Fire Stone. I couldn't imagine why she didn't want to be in a cave though. I thought all Fire Pokemons like volcanoes. Maybe because this cave was dark. It seemed to be darker as we go in further, our flashlights were our only source of light. I really hope there aren't any pools of lava lying around because I deadass would have stepped into it.

'Neo,' I released him, the bright light signaling his release lighting up the cave for a moment. 'Slash.'

Dawn's claws seemed to do nothing against the hard wall except emit ear splitting screeching sounds. Luckily, Neo's scythes cut through it in a matter of seconds. As I was plucking the stone out from the wall, we heard voices drifting from further into the cave. A faintly familiar voice, though I couldn't place it. Absol immediately went on alert, its body stiffening, red eyes glowing. Dawn sniffed the air once and darted in front.

'Dawn!' I called as loudly as I dared.

Dawn ignored me, pacing forward in a hunter's stalk, tails up. Faced with no choice and my own curiosity, I pocketed the stone and went after Dawn.

'Damn it, Cara,' Ronnie whispered furiously. 'Let's get out of here.'

'I... Wait what?' I replied distractedly.

The tunnel that we were in opened up to a small cavern. I pressed myself as close to the wall as I could as I peered into the cavern. Luckily, it was dimly lighted. Lamps were hung haphazardly around the cavern, and there was a small tent that looked like it was hastily set up. It was so lopsided it could compete with the leaning tower of Pisa. The people in the cavern looked unworried that it might collapsed though. Some of them lounged by a small table beside the tent, drinking beer. Others scurried to and fro, carrying cages between them. Cages! These must be poaches.

'Yes, these will do,' Came a familiar voice, hidden in the shadowy depths.

'The money?' A gruff voice asked, sounding like every single villain I heard in movies.

'Here,' There was a rustling sound as the voice continued. 'The prof wants to know, why cash this time?'

'They're cracking down on us,' Came the surly reply. 'It's harder to hide now, even with friends.'

Someone stepped out from the shadow, and I had to stifle a gasp. Because the person was none other than Ariel.

What happened next was a blur. Everything seemed to happen at once. Even though I was sure I did not gasp out loud, Ariel seemed to have sensed I was there. Or at least, somebody was. She looked up, directly at me. She froze, her hand clutching two cages, which housed two lifeless Spoinks. What she would have done I do not know, because humans and Pokemon poured from entrances all around the cavern, some of them outrightly burst out of the rocks. They were not wearing League uniforms so this could only be New Helios. Chaos ensued as poaches tried to run and people shouted over each other and the barks and screeches of Pokemon. I heard Ronnie mumbled 'Merde!' and a string of Kalosian that was probably riddled with curse words. She tugged my hand, pulling me away when Dawn burst into the fray.

'Dawn!' I wrenched my hand free from Ronnie as I leapt after Dawn.

Soon, I was unable to return Dawn as my Pokeball signal was completely blocked in the fray of furs and bodies. I elbowed my way past everyone, determined to not lose sight of the flash of orange fur that I still could see. Then the first gunshot sounded, a sharp burst of sound that was made louder by the small enclosed space, and the screams and shrieks started. I found Dawn, who had torn into a poacher's leg, by the collapsed tent. The fallen poacher was panting, fear in his eyes and a wet spot on his crotch. He held up a gun, pointing at Dawn shakily.

'Dawn!' I screamed, tackling her out of the way as he fired.

Fire coursed through the side of my abdomen. I didn't feel pain, not at first, just a numbing pressure in my side and a ringing in my ears. I glanced down to see blood already staining my shirt, stain spreading rapidly. Then the pain hits and I let out a scream. I couldn't help it. It felt like the time when Lexy accidentally blew Ember onto me, except this was a thousand times more painful. I wondered if some lava had somehow dripped onto me. I clutched my side with a groan, curling up on the floor. Dawn was nudging me.

'Growl!' She mewed urgently, licking my forehead.

I let out another groan.

'Scyther, scy scyther!' Neo was shouting too.

Neo? No! Didn't I returned Neo? I forced my eyes open just as two more shots went off. A splash of green fell across my vision.

'GROWL!' I heard Dawn called as she moved away from me.

Two black eyes, big and wide instead of its usual narrow shape, stared at me from the green carapace that was Neo. He gave me a smile, his eyes filled with warmth and strangely, a sense of peace. Then the lights dimmed. No! Neo! Neo must have been hit. The Pokeball, the Pokeball can save him. The realization cleared my head from the haze of pain for a moment. I fumbled awkwardly on the floor to get his Pokeball. Elsewhere, I heard to familiar voices shouting my name. But it didn't matter. I clicked the return button. The Pokeball whirled as the mechanism worked, but nothing happened. Neo was still on the floor, a hint of a smile still on his face, his eyes now blank. Neo!

'Cara! Merde! Cara, stay with me,' Ronnie stripped off her jacket and knelt beside me

'Neo…'

Then, my side, which had turn into a burning kind of ache, flared up in pain as a cool hand pressed against my face. I gave a groan and the world turn black.