Chapter 2

Silver Obelisk

The cold darkness filled the room and the sounds of an agonizing scream echoed through the underground chamber. Lighting was scarce, the air was damp, and a moldy smell lingered. Rusty metal cages hung from the ceiling swaying gently from their brittle chains. Withering pokemon were confined within the cages. Below them were plenty of stalagmites that were freshly sharpened awaiting an unfortunate victim to fall into them.

Through a tunnel walked one of the many krookodile guards. He was dragging a scraggy behind him. The scraggy was gnashing his teeth in pain while a visible trail of blood was left behind from where its left arm used to be. Another krookodile guard noticed him and used a windlass to lower an empty cage. With haste, it then unlocked the door and opened it for the other. As the previous guard reached the cage, he forcefully slammed the scraggy in the cage against a wall and spat on it before walking away. The door was then shut and locked, then hoisted back to its original position.

All of the other prisoners watched in pity at the sight of the scraggy who was bleeding out slowly. All except one. A poochyena was sitting in his cage almost lifeless, staring blankly at the wall. He seemed not to care anymore, there was nothing left for him to live for in life, so why would anything matter to him? The same krookodile from earlier entered the cavern again and ordered the other one to lower the poochyena's cage. He did so after lowering it and unlocking its door.

"I've been waiting to deal with you, pest," the krookodile said bitterly.

"..." the poochyena said nothing and showed no emotion towards the guard. The krookodile then grabbed him from behind the neck and flung him out of the cage causing him to skid and tumble against the rocky surface of the cavern floor. The poochyena winced knowing some of his skin had been pulled off, but still, he didn't care.

The krookodile escorted him through a dark tunnel. The darkness didn't matter to dark types since they could naturally see in the darkness without the use of lighting. They kept walking until they came across a metal doorway. The krookodile slammed his first against it to knock on it. The door opened slightly and once the pokemon on the other side saw the other two, it opened the door for them to enter. A cacturne escorted the poochyena and krookodile into the room, a single torch lit up the room. Other than that, the only other object in the room was a square table in the back corner. The cacturne shut the door and locked it.

"You know why you're here, don't you Nightfang?" The krookodile asked the poochyena known as Nightfang. Nightfang chose to stay silent which only irritated the krookodile, "Answer me you bitch!" He was still silent with his eyes towards the ground. The cacturne, displeased with his silence, smacked Nightfang across the face with his prickly arm throwing Nightfang into the wall.

"Feel like talking now, traitor?"

Nightfang struggled to stand on all fours at first. Blood gently flowed from the open wound on his right cheek. He finally decided to speak after taking a breath, "Go to hell."

"How cute," the krookodile said then decided to grab Nightfang by the throat and slam him into the wooden table shattering it into many pieces.

"You can make your pain stop if you tell us what we need to hear," the cacturne told Nightfang, who was having a hard time breathing after the wind was knocked out of him.

After breathing air normally again he replied, "That's a damn lie. I'm not going to tell you anything, nothing good will come out of it. You think you can get the answers out of me, but I'm not saying a damn thing."

"It'd be in your best interest to tell us where that gem is or else I'll slaughter you," the krookodile threatened.

Nightfang laughed, "Do humor me more. If you kill me, then you'll never find the gem. I did the world a favor by disposing of it, you're all too blind to see what type of chaos you're all about to unleash with that in your possession."

"Your words are meaningless to us, traitor, you're trying to deceive us of what is just. You call it 'chaos,' but lord Tenebris himself said it's a mass natural selection for the good of our god, and if you can't see that, then you're a bigger fool than we thought."

"Why can't you all get it through your thick skulls that you're being lied to-"

"Enough!" The cacturne interrupted, "You're wasting precious time, the beatings shall continue until you tire out or until we get our answer for what you did with the gem."

"I already told you I disposed of it!"

"Ha! Do you take us for idiots? Even we know an artifact like that can't be destroyed, especially by you. So, I think it's time for the beatings to continue until the truth seeps from your tongue," with that, the cacturne punched upward at Nightfang's stomach sending a burning pain through his body as he flew across the room. The krookodile followed up by kicking up sand which found its way into the newly formed puncture wounds which, in turn, caused a burning pain for Nightfang.

Nightfang usually considered himself a tough pokemon, but he wasn't sure how much more of the pain he could take. He had to keep reminding himself that pain is temporary and his brain was making it seem worse than it was. Also, he could tell the two were just getting started.

It was a bright and new day for the little town known as Grassroot, inside the local tavern, Flint and Rose found themselves finally awakening from a long healthy rest. Flint was double-checking his backpack to ensure he had enough supplies for Rose and himself. He also decided to see how many coins he had left in case he needed to buy anything. He had three ropes, one for each type of coin. On the first string, he counted ten bronzin. On the second, he had six coins that were a shiny grey in color and triangular-shaped; these were known as silvin in most lands, and triton in other areas. One silvin is equivalent to three bronzin. The final string consists of three gold coins shaped like pentagons; these were known as pentra. One pentra is equivalent to five silvin or fifteen bronzin.

Meanwhile, Rose was looking around the room as if she had lost something, Flint noticed and asked, "What are you looking for, Rose?"

"The song! I can't find it!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The journal Idwon lent me with the song lyrics in it. I can't find it."

"I don't recall you bringing it with you to the tavern," Flint noted.

Rose then traced her memories and realized she hadn't brought it with her, she didn't even have it when they arrived in Grassroot, "Well if I don't have it, then where is it?"

"I'm sure Idwon has it, but he and Emalra are already long gone by now."

"But I was the last person that had the book, I don't remember giving it back to Idwon. The last time I remember having it was..." she stopped and realized, "I must have lost it during the storm!"

"Rose, calm down, it's okay," Flint says trying to calm her.

"No, it's not. It was Idwon's songbook. What is he going to do now without the book? How mad will he be when or if I see him again? Also, how will I learn 'Her Majesty' now?"

"Rose, it's okay, we can have another bard teach you the song when we arrive at Whitestone."

"It's not the same," Flint was confused when he saw her emotion quickly change from worried to saddened as a tear flowed from her eye down her cheek.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Flint asked

"No, I'm not," she said while flopping onto the bed and crying into the blanket. Flint had no idea why she had this sudden change in mood, she had never acted like this previously.

He was unsure what he could do to cheer her up in a situation like this. He was taken away from his thoughts as his stomach grumbled, "Uh, hey Rose, do you want to get some food?"

Again her mood change, this time she seemed happy, "Yes please! What are we going to eat?"

"We'll have to see what they serve. Come on, let's go downstairs and see what's available."

Flint put his backpack on and headed downstairs with Rose. Flint was happy to see the party had died and it was less crowded than last night. A few pokemon had fallen asleep at their table, and the spinda was still serving drinks to two pokemon at the counter. Flint turned in his key to the spinda and made his way to the backroom to sit at the large round table. He figured he might as well wait for the others there. Rose and Flint each found themselves a chair and waited for a waitress. Eventually, a kirlia walked out from the kitchen area walking towards the two.

"Good morning," the kirlia greeted, "what could I get you two this morning?"

"What do you guys have?" Rose asked.

"For food, since it's breakfast, we have cereal, pancakes, and eggs. For beverages, we have water, milk, and an assortment of juices and brew."

"I'd like pancakes please, with orange juice," Rose said.

The kirlia made a mental note of the order then turned to face Flint, "And for you handsome?"

Flint pushed the slight flirt of the kirlia aside and said, "I'd like to get two eggs and a water please."

"Sure thing," she said with a wink and walked off to prepare the meals.

After she left, Rose couldn't help but ask, "Flint, why did she call you handsome?"

"Well, she was slightly flirting with me," Flint explained.

"What does flirting mean?"

"Huh, it's kinda hard to explain, but the kirlia was attracted to me and was trying to get me to feel the same way."

"Gross," was all she said.

"Yeah, but that's adult life, I won't be surprised if you start liking boys sometime soon."

"Eww, no way."

Flint suddenly started realizing something. The sudden mood changes were the first sign. Flint hadn't known for sure what Rose's age was but assumed she was still a child, but real close to being a pokemon equivalent of a teenager. What he didn't realize until now was that the mood changes could be the first sign of her maturing meaning she might go into heat soon. He wasn't sure how to prepare Rose for that, nor how to inform her about it.

After a reasonable amount of time had passed, the kirlia returned with a platter containing the ordered food. She placed the pancakes and orange juice in front of Rose and placed the eggs and water in front of Flint. They both thanked her as she walked away. The two enjoyed their meals in silence, before they finished, they noticed Tesla and Kindle were approaching the table. Tesla looked tired, while Kindle seemed as happy as could be.

The duo found themselves a chair and sat at the table now joining Rose and Flint. Tesla practically fell asleep at the table while Kindle decided to greet the others, "Good morning you two!"

"More like good mourning..." Tesla mumbled.

"Good morning, um," Flint struggled to remember the fennekin's name.

"Kindle," she reminded him happily.

"Right, Kindle. Sorry, I'm kinda bad at remembering names, I usually have to say it a few times to remember," Flint admitted while drinking the last of his water.

"That's fine," she said with a smile.

"So, what's wrong with him?" Flint said directed at the mareep.

"Oh, Tesla? He's fine, just tired."

"I wouldn't be so tired if you weren't so rowdy at night," Tesla protested. Before the two could argue more, the kirlia from before stopped once again at the table.

"May I get you two anything?" She asked Kindle and Tesla specifically.

"Yes I would love some cereal with fresh strawberries," Kindle said.

"Okay, which cereal would you like?"

"Hmm, how about some maple flakes."

"Sounds good," the kirlia said while mentally writing it down, "and how about you handsome?" She said directed towards Tesla.

Feeling a little weird, he didn't answer immediately, "Uh, I'll just have coffee, for now, light cream, no sugar."

"You got it," with a wink towards Tesla she walked off to take Rose and Flint's empty plates.

"How much do we owe you for our meal?" Flint asked.

"For you, it'll be one silvin," she said with yet another wink. Flint paid her the necessary price and she walked off with the dishes while the others awaited their orders.

"So," Flint started trying to start a conversation, "how did you and Tesla meet?"

"Well," Kindle began, "we didn't meet on the best of terms. To make a long story short, Tesla found me in an area I want supposed to be in and threw me in the streets."

"That's awfully vague."

"That's because she's barely telling you anything," Tesla jumped in, "What she isn't telling you is that she used to be a thief. She was good at getting inside anything locked as well as stealing valuable items."

"Which I then turned around and sold them for more than they were worth," Kindle interrupted.

"Anyway, I was working security at a museum, then I heard the sound of glass shattering. The fennekin was trying to steal a diamond located on top of a tower made of glass, she lost her footing and came tumbling down just like the tower. So I found her, recognizing her from rumors that were spreading. Due to my 'kindness,' instead of fighting or turning her into the guards, I threw her in the streets and intimidated her with a warning."

"So, how are you two together right now?" Flint asked

"Well," Kindle began, "you see, I was so disappointed in my failure that I drank my depression away at a local tavern for about a week. Afterward, the owner realized how often I had been there and talked with me, and considered I go to the chapel and ask mother mew for forgiveness. I did so, and I felt I was a changed pokemon and decided to visit Tesla the next day," the kirlia had now arrived with their food and drinks and handed them the appropriate items.

"Okay? I still don't see why you two are here though."

"Well, it turned out Tesla was fired from his security job after taking the blame for not handling the situation the best of ways. So, needless to say, he wasn't too thrilled to see me the next day. But, I told him that I had become a believer in mew and changed my ways. I basically told him I wanted to repay him in a way, so eventually, we started accepting bounties and helping out with the community for a while until we eventually accepted this one we're about to do right now today."

"What about you and Rose?" Tesla asked, "Is she your daughter?"

"No, I'm just looking out for her. We're unsure about her parents, I found her in a forest unconscious and decided to take care of her while I do bounties at the same time," Rose looked a little sad, Flint assumed she was sad not knowing her parents. The other two didn't ask any more questions and instead enjoyed their consumables.

After they finished and paid for their meals, Aurora had entered the room and sat at the table, "Good morning everyone. I hope you all slept well?" Tesla gave an annoyed look at the happy fennekin who nodded at Aurora, "Well, good, it looks like you've all had something to eat by now, so I suggest we head out now."

"Aren't you going to eat?" Flint asked.

"No, I'll be quite alright," she said while preparing to lead the way, "besides, I've eaten enough food here and the only thing I'm hungry for is an adventure."

And thus the group had left the tavern to start their mission. Aurora was the happiest since she had been living in the tavern for some time now. Kindle was happy as usual, while Tesla had neutral emotion. Rose was curious as to what they would find. She had never been in a cave and Flint seemed not to like the idea too much. Nonetheless, Flint was still committed to protecting Rose, no matter what stood in his way.

The trail they followed headed northeast and winded through the mountain cliff. For now, though, they were still traveling the plains leading to the mountain tail. There wasn't much for the group to do but observe their surroundings as they ventured towards the cave.

Flint decided to start a conversation, "So, how is the weather like here in Mardol?" He asked Aurora.

"It's fair for the most part, usually clear sky's with light wind. Then again, it is still spring, once summer comes along, it tends to get hot and rain here and there. Winters are harsh the closer you are to the mountains. Nothing too much out of the ordinary."

"How about your neighboring province, Zerith?" Tesla asked.

"Harsh weathers year-round. Most notably in the northernmost mountains, their swamps, and dense forests. It's best to avoid it altogether, especially since Mardol isn't friendly with Zerith occupants."

"Why's that?"

"Well, honestly, we're at war with them at the moment."

Flint nervously looked at Rose. He was already uncomfortable taking her into a cave, but leading her through a country at war was even worse, "Why are you at war with them?" He asked.

"Look, I don't have time to ask all of your questions right now, they're irrelevant right now. If you're interested in knowing more, you can ask around once we get to Whitestone. For now, just focus on your mission."

Flint didn't like the attitude she used but knew she was right. They needed to focus on more important things other than a war he wasn't involved in. He just needed to complete his bounty, and continue with his life.

The path had narrowed once they reached the base of the mountain. The path ahead of them was forged into the rocks, causing walls to force them to follow the path. As they walked towards the entrance of the new path, Aurora spotted something next to the rock walls. Growing from the grass, alongside the wall, was a patch of flowers that had dark red petals with black spots on it, and a yellow center. She picked three flowers and presented them to the group.

"What are those?" Rose asked.

"These are an uncommon flower known as the sun's eye. Most females around Mardol wear them for good luck. As the princess told me, 'it's your light that will guide you through the darkness,' whatever that means."

"I think they look pretty!" Kindle exclaimed

"They are, but not as petty as Mew spore, those are so rare, that there's only two known within Mardol."

"What are those flowers for?" Kindle asked curiously.

"We aren't too sure. We're unable to experiment with them due to their extreme rareness. The two that we know about are guarded as we wait for them to pollinate and create more. But, from what we've seen in the past fifty years of observing one, they don't pollinate."

"Whoa, that's incredible. I want to see one now!"

"Well, lucky for you, one of them is in Whitestone. Anyway, I have these flowers to give to you and Rose for good luck."

"What about Tesla and I?" Flint asked.

"I'm sure you too will be fine, we don't have any male good luck charms with us."

Aurora had placed one of the flowers on both Kindle and Rose next to their ears. Afterward, she managed to attach a flower to herself as well.

"Well Tesla," Kindle said while making a cute pose, "how do I look?"

"Usual like most pokemon, with your eyes," he replied sarcastically while avoiding answering what she was asking.

"You know what I mean. How does it look on me?"

"It's just a flower," he said nonchalantly.

Kindle frowned at him. The group then made its way through the mountain path. Unlike the previous trial, this one was narrow to where everyone walked in a line. Aurora was leading the way while Flint followed behind her. Rose followed behind Flint who was being followed by Kindle, leaving Tesla in the back of the group. The trail winded like a river to a point that happened to be the entrance for the cave.

"Looks like this is it," Aurora pointed out. The entrance was a hole that naturally formed in the side of the mountain and was a little wider than the trail they traveled on. The wind was emitting from the entrance and there were no visible light sources.

"Are we just going in blind?" Flint asked, "There's no natural light source down there."

"I'm sure we'll be fine, you and Kindle can shoot flames, Tesla can generate electrical lighting, and I'm capable of emitting light as well. Now come on, we don't want to waste too much time."

Not wanting to argue, Flint followed the amaura into the cave. Rose was sure to stay close to Flint while Kindle and Tesla followed behind. Sure enough, as it grew darker, the fin-like appendage on Aurora glowed yellow, providing light for the group to see about a twenty-foot radius. At first, the cave started with a decline that descended them into the dark unknowns, which eventually flattened and continued heading north. They were met with a set of rocky double doors as a dead end.

Aurora approached the doors and attempted to push them open. She struggled but was unable to make it budge. Flint began pushing in the door to help and even he struggled. Soon the whole group was pushing on the door until it opened, its heavy base scraping along the rocky ground.

The next room was breathtaking, it was a large circular dome-shaped room. They were on an island made of rock that was surrounded by water. There were seven other rock islands along the walls of the room, with a larger island in the center. The center island had grass and flowers growing on it as well as a small silver obelisk that was reflecting sunlight off of it. Sunlight made its way through various holes in the ceiling and provided plenty of light in the room for everyone to see.

"This place is huge," Kindle marveled.

"Where do we go from here?"Flint asked.

"I'd suggest the central island," Aurora suggested.

"How exactly are we going to get there?"

"By swimming, obviously."

"I think you're forgetting that Kindle and I have fire genetics inside us," Flint argued.

"That's a pathetic excuse, swimming in water only harms fire pokemon with exposed flames. All you have to do is avoid drowning in it so it won't extinguish your internal flames."

"That's easier said than done, I'm sure you wouldn't like adventuring through a volcano."

"That's a whole other extreme!"

"It's practically the same!"

"Both of you, shut the hell up!" Tesla yelled, "Your both being very childish right now. Just come to a damn agreement instead of wasting precious time!"

"Whatever," Aurora said, "I'm going to that island. If you want to stay here and not get paid, fine by me."

"Fine, let's make this quick then," Flint said.

"Flint," Rose spoke up.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I don't think I... know how to swim..."

"Oh, this is just great," Aurora said, "I knew bringing a kid wasn't-"

"Just shut up, okay? We don't have time to be at each other's throats, I'll carry Rose if I need to. Now let's go."

"I don't think that's a safe idea," Rose said.

"We don't really have any other options right now."

"Don't amaura have ice genetics?" Rose asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Can't she just freeze parts of the water and give us a surface to walk on?"

"Rose, that's a brilliant idea," Flint said with excitement causing her to blush from the attention.

"Yeah," Aurora said, "we can try that. Stand back," she opened up her mouth and shot a bluish-white beam at the water which froze on impact. Using the steady beam, she made a bridge of ice from their island to the central one.

"And here you were complaining about Rose being here a second ago," Flint said. Aurora just rolled her eyes as the group walked across the frozen surface that was surprisingly not slippery.

The group found themselves on the grassy terrain. All of them had their attention on the glistening silver obelisk at the center. Kindle reached out a paw to touch it, as it made contact, the room began to vibrate with a low hum. On the northeast, northwest, and southwest islands, new pillars had formed. However, at the southeast island, a large white lantern had formed. The north, east, and western islands had doors that lead to more rooms. Above the northern door was a large spherical glass that had an ancient pattern around it. Above the eastern door was a red gem. Above the western door were blue and yellow gems.

"Looks like a puzzle," Flint observed.

"Indeed," Aurora replied, "might have something to do with these pillars around the room," at closer observation, the three pillars all were colored. One red, another blue, and the last were yellow.

"I'd assume that these rooms hold an item we need to unlock the door," Tesla noted.

"What are we waiting for?" Kindle asked, "Let's go!" She said with excitement as she ran towards the western door.

"Kindle! Wait!" Aurora exclaimed.

Kindle halted immediately, just barely falling off the edge into the water. The suddenness of her stop caused her flower to fall off her head and into the water. As it touched the water, the flower began to corrode almost instantly, "How did you know?"

"I didn't. I was trying to stop you since I can make a bridge with ice. It's a good thing I stopped you though. From the looks of it, we have acidic water here."

Flint was feeling more uncomfortable having Rose here, and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse. He made a mental note not to take her to any more caves. Aurora shot a beam into the water and created another bridge that lead to the western island. They all crossed safely and approached the new door. Carved into it was a tree that bared a variety of fruits. At the top sat two pokemon, one was happily eating a banana, while another enjoyed a blueberry. At the bottom of the tree was a pokemon entangled in roots who was reaching for an apple.

The group then opened the door to see what awaited in the next room. They were amazed by what they saw. A large tree with golden leaves stood before them, sprouting hundreds of fruits. The only unnerving thing was the status of pokemon that was covered in vines with half-eaten apples next to them.

In case you guys haven't gotten the hint," Tesla began, "I don't think we should touch the apples."

"Sounds simple enough," Flint replied.

They reached the base of the large tree and found a path carved into the tree. They all followed the path which took them up the tree's trunk. Once they were at a point where the path ended and led to the three's branches, which were more like a maze. The tree branches lead to many more tree branches.

"I say we split up," Aurora suggested, "Tesla and Kindle, you two will travel with each other while Rose and Flint travel with each other. I'll stick with myself. Just try and find anything that looks useful, and once you've found it, just yell to inform the rest. Most importantly though, do not touch the apples."

Everyone complied and separated, Rose and Flint taking the right path, while Tesla and Kindle took the left one, leaving Aurora with the center path. It wasn't easy, and they managed to spend over an hour just barely making it halfway up. Though it didn't sound that far, it indeed was, as the tree was about half the height of the mountain. Flint and Rose decided to rest a little and snack on some of the fruits. Flint had picked out a couple of bananas and blueberries for them to eat.

"Flint?" Rose asked.

"Yes?"

"What do you think of the others?"

Flint wasn't expecting the question, especially since she'd never bothered to ask the previous times Flint had worked with others, "What do you mean?" He simply asked.

"What's your opinions on them so far?"

"Hmm, to be honest, everyone in the group has a flaw. Aurora tends to think that there's only one way a thing can be done and she's a little bossy, but that's understandable since she is the client. However, I think she should consider decisions with the group first. As for Kindle, she seems too eager, and she's not aware of her surroundings. Just one slip up and she could get us all in a lot of danger. Tesla? Well, he just doesn't seem to care really."

"And what about us? What are our flaws?"

"Us? Well, um. Hmm," he thought, "I'm not too sure, but anyway, I think we've had a long enough break, we should continue searching."

The two of them continued through the maze made of branches. They faced many dead ends and checked the same areas numerous times, yet they eventually did find their way through. As they climbed higher, the tree branches grew thinner, thus they were more fragile and bent easily. Aurora was out of breath at this point and needed to find a resting point. What she found was a nest made of white twigs, she decided it was the most suitable area to rest.

As she hopped over the nest onto the other side, she saw something that made her freeze. In front of her were three orbs that radiated light and let out an unusual sound similar to that of a whistle, yet almost unnoticeable. Could these be what they were looking for? The orbs each had a respective color that matched the pillars just outside. Immediately Aurora yelled for everyone, which gave them an idea of where to head. After a few minutes, everyone had reached the nest and shared the same excitement as Aurora.

"Don't just stand there, let's grab them and go," Tesla said as he grabbed the blue orb. As he did, the tree shook rapidly and let out a humming sound that had a changing pitch. The leaves rustled violently along with the roaring hum, but just as quickly as it came, it stopped.

"That was strange," Flint said.

"To say the least," Aurora added, "but let's not waste time," as Tesla put the blue orb in his backpack, Aurora grabbed the yellow. Again, the tree shook along with the leaves, and an audible hum was heard.

Aurora had placed the yellow orb in her backpack and Kindle was reaching for the red orb. Flint noticed a banana falling from the tree, he leaned over the edge of the nest to watch it fall. As he did, he noticed the floor was covered in bananas and blueberries. It then hit him what was about to happen, but before he could say anything, Kindle had snatched the red orb.

Nothing happened, there was no shaking of the tree, nor was there any humming sound. Flint thought nothing of it until he heard a popping sound. Then there was another, and another, and another. Soon there were hundreds of popping sounds. He looked over the edge again and saw the apples on the tree bursting.

"Guys, I think we need to get out of here quick!" Flint said.

Before anyone could react, a large cracking sound shot up the entire tree. It was split straight down the center. The group was then separated as the two pieces of the tree stretched from each other. Everyone began racing back down the branches. It was much easier to go down than up as the entire group made it to the base of the tree in five minutes. They weren't safe yet though, they still needed to escape.

The group began running for the door, Rose had caught her hind paw in the grass causing her to trip. Flint didn't hesitate to stop and go back for her. He was quickly by her side and flung her on his back as he had done during the storm. He then charged for the door with all the might his legs could give him. Suddenly, a vine uprooted itself from the ground and grabbed onto Kindle.

"Help!" She cried, trying to escape the snare, but to no avail.

Flint then thought it had something to do with the red orb, "Kindle, get rid of the orb!"

"Are you crazy?" Aurora asked, "We need that orb, go in there and save her!" She demanded.

Flint had no time to argue and Kindle didn't seem to be complying either. Flint set Rose by the door and then ran back to save Kindle. As he reached her he saw the orb. He used his momentum to then kick the orb away from her. Almost instantly, the vines stopped attacking Kindle, and instead focused on the orb. The two of them then hurried back to the entrance.

"What were you thinking?" Aurora said, "We needed that orb."

"We'll get the orb," Flint interjected, "I just saved her life."

"Yeah, at the cost of losing the orb to help us get out of the cave."

"I don't care what it costs to get out of here, or how long it takes, everyone on this team is important."

"Nevermind your argument guys," Kindle said, "Flint, how did you know what to do?"

"Well, it happened after Aurora took the yellow orb, I saw a banana falling from the tree, and as I observed it fall, I noticed the ground was littered with bananas and blueberries. That's why that tree and leaves were shaking, it was shaking off the fruits. Also, it seemed the fruits were color-coated, so as soon as you were going for the red one, I immediately remembered the apples. Anyway though, to make it all short, since taking the red orb angered whatever was in there, I felt forgetting it was a better idea."

"Wow, that's awesome," Kindle said, "thanks for saving me back there."

"What are we going to do now though?" Aurora asked 'Without a red orb, we're stuck here."

"Not quite," Tesla said, "the eastern door probably holds the red orb. If you look above the doors, it tells you what you're looking for. For instance, this door has blue and yellow gems above it."

"Whatever, let's just take these orbs to their pillars."

Aurora built another icy bridge that lead to the southwestern island which is where the blue pillar was. Tesla grabbed the orb from his bag and placed it at the top of the pillar. The orb itself radiated even brighter, then, in a blink of an eye, it shot a blue beam towards the silver obelisk. A blue aura enveloped the obelisk now. The group then made they're easy to the northeast island, which is where the yellow pillar was. Aurora placed the yellow orb on it and it repeated what the other orb did. A yellow beam shot towards the central obelisk, this time the two auras mixed and created a green aura around the silver obelisk.

"That's fascinating," Kindle exclaimed.

"Yes," Aurora rushed, "now let's hurry, the last orb is over here." She said while building a bridge to the eastern island.

The group had crossed the bridge and found themselves at the next door. The carvings in this door were different from the previous one, this door had a scale on it. On the left side was a pokemon, a circle on the right. The scale was leaning on its left side.

"Before we enter," Flint said, "I want Rose to stay out here."

"What?" Rose said, "Why?"

"Because I don't feel safe with you in this cave."

"Did you feel safe dragging me into all of your other bounties?" She said with a little bit of an attitude in her voice.

Flint flinched in the way she responded, "Of course not, I've always wanted to keep you safe."

"Then why? Why do we do all of these bounties? You're putting both of our lives in danger. If you die, who's going to look after me?"

Flint didn't want to admit he never thought of that 'what if' scenario. It never once crossed his mind of him possibly dying. He has been selfish, risking their lives for a few coins, "I'm sorry..." He finally said, "This is the last bounty I'll drag you into."

Rose didn't answer. Flint could tell she was upset. Why hasn't she told him soon was all he could think about. He didn't know what other dangers awaited them in the cave, but he now had a wave of guilt cover him knowing he had forced Rose into all of these bounties without ever considering how she felt.

"I'll stay here with Rose," Kindle spoke up, "I'll more than likely get in the way again anyway. So it's probably best."

Tesla and Aurora agreed and headed towards the door with Flint. The three of them opened the door with ease and headed into the next room. As they entered, the door behind them shut. There was a platform in the room that was just barely the entire size of the floor, it wasn't touching the walls except for two round areas found at the east and west side of the room. In the middle of the platform was the red orb.

Aurora decided to take the first step on the platform. She crossed the rounded area onto the platform, after confirming it was safe, she beckoned for Flint and Tesla to follow. Tesla was the next on the platform, he decided to walk to the right of Aurora. As soon as he did, he started to slip and noticed the platform was rotating.

"Shit," Flint said, "it's on an axis."

"What does that mean," Tesla said while repositioning himself in the center.

"It means the platform is going to lean to whichever side has more weight."

"Son of a bitch."

"It's okay, let's just think about this. Mareep aren't too heavy, so it's not too bad if you go to the side. However, amaura are heavier because of their rock genetics. On average, I believe growlithe are close to the same weight as an amaura."

"Instead of overthinking this," Aurora said, "let's just have one person on the platform. The orb is already aligned with the axis, so we don't need to worry about it rolling anywhere."

"Good idea," Tesla said, "I'll go back, and you grab the orb."

Almost just as easy as it was to say, Aurora gently walked to the orb and grabbed it. They then all easily made their way out of the room to meet up with Kindle and Rose. The pillar they needed to turn the orb to was located on the northwestern islands. Aurora built what she had hoped was the last ice bridge to get over to the island.

She took her orb and placed it on top. Similar to the previous pillars, it lit up and shot a beam at the central obelisk. As the red mixed with the other two auras, the three of them created a white aura. Relieved, the group headed back to the center island to inspect the obelisk.

"What do we do now?" Kindle asked, "we have all of the orbs, but the last door isn't opened."

"Maybe it has something to do with the lantern?" Tesla suggested.

"I'll go see," Aurora said while heading towards the lantern with a new icy bridge, irritated at having to create another.

She inspected the lantern but saw nothing that gave a clue as to what they needed to do. Flint was observing the aura that was glowing in a white obelisk. He didn't know why, probably curiosity, he decided to touch the aura to see how it felt. He felt as if his entire body was filled with air, he even felt numb to a point. He instantly retracted his paw from the obelisk. The top of the obelisk then shot two beams from it. The first was sent towards the lantern, the second shot the large glass sphere above the northern door.

The beam that hit the lantern caused the lantern to collapse revealing a mysterious item. Aurora observed the new object, it was a golden staff-like item, with a black glass sphere at the tip. Not needing to think about it, she shoved it on her bag and regrouped with the others.

"You okay?" Tesla asked.

"I'm fine," Aurora responded.

"What happened?" Kindle asked.

"After the lantern collapsed, I found some staff or something. I suppose it's a reward for solving the puzzle."

"Anyway," said Flint, "looks like the door is opened now. No need to stay here any longer."

The five pokemon made their way to the northern door, behind it was pitch black. Aurora's fin lit up as they all passed through the door into the mysterious void. They could hardly see five feet ahead of them, and all they did manage to see was a staircase that continued to lead downward.

The group had then entered a new room, as they did, numerous torches began lighting up. It was another circular room. In the very center of the room was a slab with a hole in it. There were three-ring platforms that lead to the slab each with a large towering pillar on them. At the other end of the room was a sealed-off door. Standing in front of the door was something no one had been expecting, but of everyone, Aurora was shocked the most.

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