Lola and I were watching the clouds pass by during the last shift. We'd been at it for a while, and it was starting to get lighter around us as the sunrise prepared itself. I hadn't felt like using my Flash, but the brightness was comforting. Though no strong wind buffeted us, a soft breeze ruffled my fur now and then. One of those had just come by and I shivered from the morning chill.

"You good?" Lola asked. I didn't think she'd notice.

"Yeah," I said, somewhat honestly. "It's just cold in the morning. But sunrise is coming soon, right? It'll be really colourful, if last night's sunset was any indication."

"Beats me, I didn't notice," she said, then sighed. "Oh, yeah, turns out Absol are colour blind."

"What?" How could this have gone unnoticed? Did Lola even know how to put up walls? She seemed too blunt for that.

"Yeah, I thought... everyone was dealing with it? We all turned into animals. So I didn't mention it. Makes up for it with the night vision, though," she winked.

How did she do it? How was she so good at ignoring and bottling up her problems? Yes, it was something I'd chewed her out for last level, but I wanted some of that! I hadn't recovered any emotional or physical energy from yesterday, so today I'd be at my worst, and the ledge nightmare wasn't even over!

"What's on your mind?" She asked. By contrast, she seemed wide awake.

"I can't do this," I blurted out. "I couldn't do that Quick Attack when my life depended on it. Literally! I went through everything I could think of, and nothing worked. Don't take this the wrong way, but, uh... I can't believe I had to depend on you to get me. I was dead weight back there. And I guess I'm the one person here with a fear of heights? I'm just kinda useless!"

Her eyes went wide. "That's... that's a lot of self-loathing, bud." She eyed me with those big red glowing irises, brow scrunched up. "You can always reach out?"

"... I don't know where to start," I shrugged, tentatively leaning more toward Lola. When our sides made contact, I felt a small, but sharp intake of air coming from the Absol. It was almost unnoticeable, especially since it melted into comfortable, steady breathing immediately after. Her white fur was soft and warm. I could only think Lola was returning the closest thing to a hug we now had, as she'd shifted even closer than a few moments ago.

I felt and heard Lola exhale, guessing she was bearing her signature grin. "Why would you turn to me, then?"

"You're the only one here I actually know."

That took her by surprise. Her side tensed up next to me and I swore her temperature skyrocketed.

"We've spent two weeks with everyone else," she blurted out. "We just battled solo once."

"I don't... I don't know, maybe I just want to talk. You might not have an answer—"

She interrupted me. "But it's good to complain. That's what you're saying?"

I turned my head upward so I could see Lola's face in clearer detail while still leaning. "I guess it's always good to complain before other things happen."

"Yeah," she agreed.

Neither of us felt it was the right time to bring up examples of 'other things'. Both our outbursts last level could go unmentioned, but the thought still seeped into the mood. Silence crept in for a bit. Still, the sky got brighter.

Lola was the first to talk again. "So, you overthink a lot, huh?"

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, is that obvious?"

"I guess we've had the opposite problem," she replied, "but the same solution. You care too much, I cared too little. But we both gotta address things and move on."

I flinched and glanced away. An attitude adjustment was completely different than conquering a long-standing phobia!

"Oh, you're gonna look away, Miss You-Gotta-Help-Yourself?" She retorted. "We need all of us to get across. We need you to be there."

Twisting my words against me- that was low, but it was Lola, after all. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it was the best she had. I looked to her, letting the mask drop despite my mind screaming otherwise. I felt guilty, and somehow, I felt that showing it was important.

But Lola wasn't looking back. She was caught in a loop of pawing at the ground and staring up at the sky. Her eyes finally landed on me again, not with her usual lethargy or occasional piercing glares. This time, her gaze reflected my own.

"I want to go home, Gab. And I want you there too. I'll catch you if you need it, but you gotta try."

That was all she said before getting up and turning away. As my gaze followed her, I had to squint away from the sudden appearance of the sun.

Chewing on one of the Oran berries, I noticed it was more bitter than usual. I chomped at it anyway. We all needed breakfast. I would've preferred a Persim berry myself, but at this point we all knew to not get between Kieran and his new favourite fruit. It was less because he was a dangerous walking poison vial with javelin arms and more because if he didn't get his way he never shut up.

Wow, I was kind of judgy that morning.

As we sat in a sad circle eating our meagre breakfast, silence took hold. No one had gotten nearly enough sleep, but this was a level we could all agree on getting out of as fast as possible. It was also very hard to stay asleep when nothing blocked out the sun. I just hoped that wherever we landed next would have an ample supply of berries. Micheal had eaten the two Cheri berries in a single bite, but there wasn't any more food to add to his ration.

I held one last Oran berry mouthful in my hand, the blue flesh as vibrant as the peel. I briefly wondered how Pokémon berries could be planted, seeing as I hadn't seen a single seed or pit inside one yet. I chocked it up to potato logic. However, my thoughts were pulled away when Valérie pointed toward the direction of the sunken platforms.

Far away, a green object was falling from high above. It took me a while to discern what it was, and someone else with good long range vision figured it out before I could.

"It's the backpack!" Chloe gasped. "But what's it doing there?"

That bag was useless since it was dehydrated, which was why I'd ditched it, but I still felt a twinge of sadness at seeing it again. I could only watch it fly by, slowly falling out of our sights.

"Maybe it's one of those out-of-bounds glitches that allow you to spawn at the opposite of the map," I said. "That's why it was at the top."

"So, what, there's no floor?" Lola asked. "We can just jump off and be fine?"

"No!" Chloe and Kieran immediately responded. They didn't explain themselves and simply looked at each other, maybe confused that the other one had answered the same way.

Kieran sighed. "It's probably not."

"Nope," Chloe continued. "Let's not even think about it."

This garnered a few raised eyebrows from around the camp, but it was a valid fear when I thought on it. The only way to confirm something like this at this point would be if one of us deliberately fell off. The thought, and the possibility of smashing into a platform that was previously above but was now miles below, was not especially appealing. We didn't know what would happen if we died here. Judging by how everything felt so vivid and real, it would at the very best just be painful. And at worst, it would be painful and we wouldn't get another life.

With that grim thought, breakfast was over. I ate the rest of my Oran berry and stood up. I tried to grab nonexistent backpack straps. My fingers only met air, of course. Oh, how habits can betray you.

Well, off we went, semi-well rested and on nearly empty stomachs.

Hard as it was to be sure how much time had passed, I knew it had been over an hour when we finally reached another cliff. My feet and back ached from all the walking and lack of a mattress.

In front of us stood the last slab of stone, a gap at least five meters long looming between it and us. I knew it was the last because it was way smaller than the others, and I could see there was nothing but air after it. It was maybe the size of our history classroom. Hopefully that would be enough room for us to dodge the boss Pokémon if it was dangerous. And, if not, I guessed we'd have to knock it out first. Given our track record, we had an okay chance of survival, but only if sheer dumb luck was on our side.

After an awkward silence when we all stopped to look at the gap, Micheal was the first to speak. "Well, we know we need to get across. The question is... can we?"

"Chloe and I can just fly," Kieran followed. "I think Lola and Valérie were good last time. Didn't you have a hard time, though?"

"I had to jump for height too!" Micheal replied. "It's... kind of a big jump here too, but I should be okay."

Then, all eyes turned to me.

We need all of us to be there, Miss You-Gotta-Help-Yourself.

My inner monologue echoed Lola's earlier talk with me. It was a bit condescending, sure, but was it ineffective? Why did my gut stop churning so violently? Did I just need condescending all along? If so, why had none of the talks I'd had with my parents about stress management ever changed my outlook back on Earth?

Then again, I realized Lola hadn't been talking about getting over a fear or to keep bottling feelings up. I hadn't let her in nearly far enough for her to see that! She'd seen me struggling, failing to try things, and assured me she'd be there to catch me if I was willing to fall. Taking advice from people who'd only seen a piece of the problem and getting mad that the advice didn't apply to the whole puzzle— that wasn't healthy.

I was still scared to my core. I allowed a shaky breath to shoot out of my lungs, letting the wall down the tiniest bit. If that was what worked, it was what worked. I was allowed to be condescending to myself because it worked for now.

If I had to miss the forest for the trees, so be it. I'd take things one at a time. And right now, the one thing I had to do was get across, fear or insecurity be damned.

"Need a ride?" Lola asked before anyone could say anything.

I nodded. She lowered herself and I climbed on, just as I had during the previous level. She stretched as I grabbed some strands fur around her neck for grip.

"That doesn't hurt you, right?" I asked.

She shook herself like a dog. "Even if it did, that's small potatoes compared to falling to your death, right?"

I inhaled sharply, fear in my gut. "Can we not joke about that?"

Looking back at me, the Absol slowly nodded. The rest of the group ready, we got into position. Micheal, Valérie, Lola and I were side by side, about ten meters away from the edge. Our two fliers stayed behind and would jump after us.

"Ready?" Micheal asked, the Litleo's tail swishing rapidly against the stone. It lifted upright when everyone confirmed. "Good. Three, two, one, go!"

Valérie and Micheal shot forward, but I didn't feel any rush of air. Lola stayed put. She turned her head, her eyes locking onto mine.

"What day is today?"

"What?" I said.

Then she started running. Her four powerful legs made short work of the buildup for the running jump. The wind roared in my ears, but her voice was louder.

"What day is today?" She asked.

"I don't— please tell me you know when to jump—"

"What day is today?" She insisted.

"I don't know!"

We were in the air. Judging from her trajectory, we were about to land with at least one meter to spare. I looked down and saw the clouds flowing miles below.

"What day is it?!" She yelled.

"November 29th! We're the 29th!" I spat out. "What is wrong with you?"

The wind stopped rushing around us. We were no longer moving. When I noticed the gray floor under us, I slid down to it, laying on my back and groaning.

"Someone needs to keep track," Lola sighed. "Thought it might be you."

"I did too," Chloe whispered off in the corner. She flew next to us, landing softly.

"But anyway," Lola continued, "we're across now, huh?"

She looked at me with those big crimson eyes and a big grin. Wow, was she proud of herself. Sure enough, we were all across, with no accidental attacks or person lagging behind. This was the first jump to go completely right. It wasn't as if I wasn't stressed from it, but it was a lot less than I was expecting.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Stay sharp," Kieran ordered. "This is the boss room."

He raised his stingers defensively as we grouped together and got into battle stances. I remembered I didn't have the backpack this time and formed fists, as if Emolga-sized punches packed any power. A Quick Attack was too risky here.

However, the boss was not the first thing to change on the battlefield. The platform split itself! This wasn't a quake like before. The stone cut itself into nine squares with clean, straight edges. Anyone caught between a gap evaded it quickly, so we got scattered. Even when the rocks moved so fast, it felt steady and calculated. It was eerily silent. They finally stopped at about a meter apart from each other. It was a dangerous fall, but a reasonable jump.

Then, we heard static.

On the middle platform, the familiar mound of red and white pixels appeared. Though smaller than the others I'd seen, it didn't lessen my stress. It shaped itself within seconds, adding a head, legs, and wings. A couple more adjustments later, the shape refined itself, shaving off the last layer of cubes to reveal what we'd been pitted against.

It was an Archen. As per previous boss battles, this one had red pixels pouring out of its facial orifices. It didn't stop it from shrieking menacingly, giving us a glare, then taking off.

Before we could react, the Archen glided from platform to platform, the quasi-sound of multiple tremors felt in my gut. This wasn't going to be a battle of wear. We had to take this thing out now, before we fell. But it was too fast! I'd always thought Archen were flightless, but this one, through rapid and forceful wing beats, was managing to stay above us.

"Split up!" Micheal shouted. "If we cover more platforms, there's more of a chance we can hit it when it lands! Kieran, Chloe, you can fly— look for an opening!"

Chloe shot forth, making wide circles around the Archen. Kieran was less enthusiastic about the plan.

"We're both weak against it!" He argued.

"We all are, one way or another," I stated. "Except for Lola. It's not like she has a resistance to Rock or Flying, though."

The Beedrill shot me a glare and took off after Chloe. The four of us remaining jumped to the corner squares. A gap a meter long was a bit challenging, but nothing compared to the ones before it. I cleared it without opening my wings.

On the opposite side, Micheal spoke to me. "I, uh... sent my other two Pokémon experts to do recon on a bird. Is there anything we can do that's good against that thing?"

I thought a bit, watching the fossil Pokémon struggling to stay airborne. "Super effective moves weren't the end-all for the other battles. I think we just need something long-range."

"Got it!" Micheal nodded. "Coming right up!"

He started doing the retching sound that signalled he was going to use Ember. He'd come a long way since his first try, but charging it always kind of sounded like he was going to puke. I saw a faint orange glint on his teeth before he spat out the flaming hot ball.

The projectile reached a pretty good height, but ultimately hit nothing as it plummeted to the ground far below. Micheal's technique had come a long way, but his aim hadn't.

The attack did catch the Archen's attention, as it started to swoop down to our level. It screeched and circled Valérie's square, but she was anything but a sitting duck. She kept throwing punch after punch at it, though none of them seemed to make their mark. However much of a clumsy flier the Archen looked to be, it managed to dodge all of the Meditite's attempts.

"Take that!" Valérie shouted. "Hey, come back here— will you stand still?"

The Archen laughed— it laughed?— and took an offensive approach. It avoided another punch, only to slice at Valérie's face with one of its wings. She blocked it with her forearm, and, seeing the bird hesitate, socked it in the jaw. There was karate girl!

It was sent flying, dazed and spewing red pixels in its path. It caught itself and landed on the platform in the center. Barely after regaining its footing, it had to dodge another Ember, along with a swoop from both Kieran and Chloe. It growled and took off again, leaving a few blue and yellow feathers behind.

Meanwhile, I felt a strong lurch from the platform I was on. It fell several feet downward before slowing, but not stopping. I gripped the edges as if it was going to be any help. I needed something to hang on to, to distract me and help me think clearly! Just something, anything—

My eyes met Lola's. The other platforms, including hers, had also fallen down considerably. Her red irises darted around and she let out a frustrated groan when glaring at the large stone we'd come from. It was nowhere near reachable, except for those who could fly.

When glancing back to where we'd come from, I caught... a flock of yellow birds in the distance? That couldn't be, right? I squinted and realized that wasn't it. They were pages. There were about a dozen of them, grouped together but moving in a disorganized way, obeying the wind's whims.

The notes. Oh, no.

An added stressor was not going to help. How in the world had I kept my cool while fighting that Umbreon? I told myself to focus, to return my thoughts to the battle at hand. However, I felt my platform sink abruptly, bringing me several meters lower. The other platforms followed that movement and resumed their respective previous speeds shortly after.

The clouds started to lap at the floor and eventually overtook it. The cold droplets filled the area with white fog that caused me to squint. If the platforms continued to lower, we'd lose all visuals. Any trip beyond this point would be disastrous. I frantically looked back to the previous platform, but it remained way past our reach.

Kieran stayed above the clouds, avoiding them like the plague. Out from below them shot Chloe, flying like a rocket toward the Archen. She hadn't even landed a hit before it screeched, summoning boulders to its side, each lined with an ominous purple glow. With a fast swipe of its wing, the rocks were sent hurtling toward Chloe.

Ancient Power. Yeah, it could get stat boosts from it, but it's only got 5PP. It'll run out—

Turns out you don't need to worry about things running out if your first hit lands.

I could only watch as the biggest boulder collided head-on with the Swablu. She didn't let out a yelp or a chirp, just a breath that was knocked out of her. She didn't make any other sound as she went past the cloud layer.

Immediately, panic redoubled within our team. Lola lunged at the Archen, claws glowing. She got a couple hits in, but even though a couple more feathers had fallen off, the struggling bird flew out of her reach. Kieran dove down into the clouds for Chloe, but only ended up going halfway. His abdomen and legs were still sticking out over the fog as a thud and grunt resounded through the area. Micheal had located Chloe at this point, the Swablu having crashed too, but otherwise being fine. The two cautiously made their way back toward the Archen. Kieran got up from the platform he'd crashed on, dazed and clearly too stunned to take off anytime soon.

God, if only I had a Persim on hand! That should've helped.

On top of everything I was already worried about, I was brought to think about how we didn't have our med pack anymore. There was no safety net if we got seriously hurt, like the stone platforms falling from the sky. We were the worst kind of trapeze artists.

Wait.

I'd had an idea. It was crazy, and impulsive, and I had no way of knowing I could pull it off. Still, with the time we had, I couldn't waste seconds on coming up with a better plan.

"Valérie?" I addressed. "You know how lightning comes out of me when I glide?"

She turned toward me, bearing a confused look. She was still panting from her multiple punch attempts. The Archen was flying in shaky circles over the battlefield, and everyone else kept switching between throwing frustrated glances at it, and trying their honest best to navigate the floor without falling off a cliff. At that point, the clouds went past Valérie's knees and almost reached my shoulders.

I continued. "You know how Meditite can throw stuff?"

"You think I can hit a target that far?" She asked, before offering me her arm.

I jumped to her corner and hesitantly climbed on. Emolga were less than half the size of a Meditite so there was no problem with me fitting there. No, the problem was that I was volunteering to be catapulted. I sighed in anticipation and nodded to Valérie.

She threw me. I tucked my limbs in for Plan Projectile Part 2.

The rush of air as I closed the distance between the bird and I was intense. It tugged at my fur and roared in my ears. As I zipped through, I felt the electricity in me growing. I was in the air for what seemed like forever, but I was getting close to the Archen alarmingly fast. Ten feet to go. Five. Four. Three. I spread my wings.

Impact.

Time slowed even more than before. The Archen hadn't let out a surprised shriek yet as we collided and I wrapped my arms around its ribcage. I let loose all that tension, all that stress, all that adrenaline. I shot out my Spark attack, then let go. We fell, an estimated twenty feet between us and the floor.

After regaining its senses, the Archen scraped the air for any semblance of a foothold, and flapped its wings whenever it wasn't trying to grab onto something. I realized that at this rate, one more attack would knock it away for good. And we couldn't afford the chance of it somehow coming back up. I wouldn't let it.

I spread my arms and let my winglets slow my fall, like a parachute. I felt more overgrown tension course through my body and concentrate in my winglets and cheek pouches. I didn't let it linger and shot it all out, a thin, precise streak of electricity reaching the enemy.

It hit the Archen head-on. And just like that, it gave up and fell, its upside-down face wide-eyed and mouth agape. When it disappeared past my view, I realized it was scared. I felt a twinge in my heart, but I couldn't stop a lightning bolt that had already been fired. The Archen had sunken down past the clouds like a stone while sheets of paper still lingered in the wind.

There was a sickening crack, then everything fell silent. The rumbling stopped. The platforms weren't moving anymore. My heart thumped in my ears and my exhalations were deafening. As the clouds dissipated, leaving us with a clear view of the floor, I caught a quick glimpse of a limp Archen on the lowest platform. A split second later, it crackled and dissolved into a mass of red and white pixels, sinking into the floor.

I landed on a platform in a controlled way. Flying was scary. Gliding, not that much anymore. It was like falling, but slower, and isn't speed the main reason falling is scary? I still tumbled, but I did catch myself before colliding with anyone. I stood up shakily.

"Nice job!" Chloe cheered, landing on the same platform. She hopped up and hugged me with her fluffy wings.

"I'm going to throw up," I moaned, not questioning whether Emolga were physically capable of the feat.

It didn't deter Chloe, as she just hugged harder. "There's the girl who beat up an Umbreon!"

"Didn't you just get hit by a rock?" Kieran asked her, still sitting on his platform. Technically, he had too. Or, at least, he'd thrown himself at it.

That question would remain unanswered. A jolt from the rocks knocked us to the floor, but thankfully they started going up. Once back to their initial levels, they moved back to form a single stone slab again. Back on solid ground (or the closest thing, at least), we all padded toward each other. Nothing like being forcefully separated makes you want to stick together.

"I've never been so glad to be so high up", Micheal sighed. That got a laugh out of all of us.

Suddenly, the center of the platform started glowing. No one was close to that spot, so we all stood still and stared as a circle of light formed on the stone, before it opened up as a portal. Pink and purple coiled and swirled together inside. I didn't know what those colours even meant, but anything was bound to be better than here. I sighed, a smile on my face.

Behind me, I heard the rumble of platform movements, but didn't feel any vibrations from the one we were on. When I looked back, as did everyone, the other flat stone bridges rose through the clouds, repositioning themselves. The level was rebuilding itself!

"Do you think..." Kieran started. "Do you think this means other people are coming behind us?"

"Possibly," Micheal answered. "That, or we're just not the first."

Silence fell over us as we stared, contemplating the suggestions. Were we alone? Were we the first or the last? The note guy must've come before us, but where was he? Most of his writings were gone, left to float in the clouds forever. Who knows? Could there be a fellow passerby Flying type destined to find them here, and would decipher them? I saw my backpack falling in the distance, it having completed another loop. It contrasted the barren, flat rocks by adding colour and texture. Our impact was felt in this level.

"Maybe someone will know we were here," I said.

The backpack landed on one of the furthest platforms. Had I known, I would've left some kind of signature, or a couple berries. For now, hopefully my handiwork was enough for others who'd pass by, if they'd ever come. Maybe that's what the note guy had thought too.

"Well, I've had enough of here," Valérie stated, walking confidently toward the portal. "Tourlou!"

With that, she jumped into it, followed shortly after by Chloe. At different paces, we walked toward it. I was at the back of the pack, so Lola slowed down to let me catch up.

"That was pretty gutsy back there", she laughed.

"Oof, yeah, it was!" I answered. "I don't know how I managed to ask Valérie to throw me."

"Did something change this level?" Lola joked. "Did you evolve into, like, a braver Emolga?"

"I'm... lighter," I confessed. "I'm tired of overthinking things. I'm not doing that anymore."

Of course, that was easier said than done. Overthinking had its advantages! But here, in battle or during exploration, those advantages wildly varied in effectiveness. Shrugging things off was nowhere near a solution for absolutely everything either, though! Again, my morning conversation with Lola arose in my mind. There was kind of a balance to us, where we each needed to listen to the other one if we wanted to survive. Be it a dangerous codependency waiting to develop or a productive friendship, I was okay with letting it happen.

"Heh," Lola chuckled. "The way I see it, a bit of dumb helps everyone, right?"

"Oh yeah. For sure."

"Look at us, being sane teenagers," she added. "Only took us braving four boss battles and turning into Pokémon."

We were interrupted by Micheal calling us. "Pick up the pace, people!"

He was the only one other than us two still on this side of the portal. He was sat right next to it, the pink glow reflecting off his black fur. His ear flicked.

"Say something else, please!" Lola answered. This was met with more laughter from me than I'd expected.

"Coming!" I yelled when I regained my senses, then whispered to Lola. "I'm not giving up on you if you don't on all of us."

"Ugh, I even have to believe in Valérie?"

"Valérie doesn't need us believing in her, she could cross an entire desert and no one would be able to stop her."

Lola snorted, and we were headed toward a new world again.