Grand Underground

Trees far below me look like tiny shrubbery. A river snakes through the landscape. Winds rush past my ears in a deafeningly loud noise. The only sounds capable of piercing the wind's curtain are from the rock slide. Like constant rolling thunder, rocks crash against each other in the middle of the air.

My arm stretches out, holding Lopunny's pearly white premier ball. One flash of red lightning after another shoots out of it and bashes uselessly against the wall of rocks. My vision blurs, the wind stings in my eyes, I can't reach Lopunny. It's just not working!

She is still stuck in there.

It's impossible; no matter how often I keep trying to recall her. All I need is a fraction of her body to be visible! Please!

"Riolu! Use Aura Sphere! Salandit, Mud-Slap!"

Everything is moving so slowly. I can almost see the pokeball's red bolt blazing through the air. The rocks shift around constantly, but their trajectories seem impossible to predict even though they move in slow motion.

Riolu and Salandit prepare their moves.

But they are so slow! Why are they so slow?!

It's still hundreds of meters down.

Mud-Slap and Aura Sphere shoot through the air.

Fighting type and ground type should both be strong against rocks... Oh, Arceus, please work.

The pokeball heats up in my hand as it works overtime, trying to find Lopunny with its light beam but only bouncing off the rocks before fizzling and disappearing every time.

"Attack again!" The projectiles have not even reached the avalanche yet. I can only hope they can blow a hole through; just a tiny hole for the pokeball to connect. I'm running out of ideas. We'll need to try again if it fails.

An explosion, louder than the rest of the noise, rings out as the moves hit their target. I feel like my ears are going to bleed at this rate. Rock fragments and shards fly all over the place in slow motion.

Time dilation.

It's my perception of time that has slowed down.

Adrenaline's effect, if I remember correctly.

It allows me to see each nearby boulder as it falls, to predict its movements for a short time, to spot Lopunny's foot for just a split-second before another massive rock would fall into place and block the line of sight again.

It gives me just enough time to activate the recall function of the pokeball within a fraction of a split-second.

The beam races through the air. The boulder from above falls slightly faster than Lopunny. Dust moves in from the sides and below to obscure her again. Despite the darkness, despite my vision failing at the edges of my view, I can see it all.

But then I lose sight of her foot. The boulder fell in place between us. Did it sever the beam?

No, this time the beam of light did not simply disappear into thin air! Instead, it pulls back as if reeling in a blob of energy!

Success! I returned Lopunny!

And a moment later, she breaks free.

My personal guardian reappears next to me in all of her hazelnut-colored glory.

"Lopunny!" I scream as loud as my lungs can manage, to be heard over the rushing winds.

She's back! She won't be buried alive under hundreds of tonnes of rock!

~"Maaaster!"

And then she flies up and away.

Our velocity is much greater than hers, so it appears as if she's flying away.

Fun fact: Velocity is defined as a vector. Meaning, it has a specific force, origin, and direction at the moment of measurement.

I'd estimate that my current velocity is around 50 meters per second. From my current position as the point of origin. Aimed towards the ground...

Aimed towards the ground!?

Oh no!

We'll hit the ground in a few seconds!

Rapidly growing trees litter the sides of a large river that flows directly underneath us. We're going to splash in there.

Falls aren't deadly, but drowning is. Can falls still knock me out?

I clip Lopunny's pokeball back into my belt and press the button on the other two balls to recall Salandit and Riolu.

"Lopunny!--" Riolu pops out of her ball and zooms up too. "I need you to save me, Lopunny! And Riolu, stay inside your ball!"

I press Lopunny's and Riolu's buttons again before bracing for impact.

Two seconds left...

That's going to hurt so much.

The ground is closing in so quickly.

I really hope the media didn't lie to me! Please don't let me splatter into pieces!

Lopunny pops out and takes hold of my body instantly. I feel the forces trying to tear us apart.

One...

That doesn't look like a very deep river! 

And the low light makes it look spooky.

I wonder what being KO feels like.

Riolu pops out again.

~"I can help too--"

---

...

...

...

"What-"

Fffuck me. Everything hurts so much. What the hell happened?

We had just finished fighting Dugtrio and his family... then... the ground fell apart? We fell...

That can't be.

I was in the tunnels. I know that! But then why is there a star-covered sky above me?!

No, wait. Those aren't stars. They are far too large to be stars. And the moon is missing.

Some kinds of pillars reach up from the ground to the sky in the distance. None of these pillars are nearby, so I can't make out any details. But they glow in the same light blue color as the stars.

I feel like I have seen that somewhere before.

Lopunny's rhythmic breathing keeps me calm and collected as I take in the sights. Riolu placed her head on my arm. Lopunny slept face-down on my chest. Her ears and torso are doing a great job as a blanket.

Salandit is-- Where is she? "Salandit?"

My brain feels foggy... vision lags and blurs. When I turn my head to look for the familiar purple of Salandit's reflective eyes, I can only see darkness and the motion lines that the stars leave behind them.

Only when I keep my head still can I see properly. I check left - nothing, right - my backpack. It was carelessly thrown on the ground. Salandit isn't around.

This is worse than the next morning after I got drunk.

"Lopunny? Have you seen Salandit?" No response. She doesn't react when I move my hand through the fur on her head and ears either. She's sleeping like a brick.

I'm sure I fell, I just can't recall any details.

Did Salandit fall nearby?

The area is weird and unrecognizable. A sparse couple of trees. It looks as if I'm at the beach of a dried-up river. No landmarks.

The trees seem weird. Alien almost. The leaves are a deep black in the low blue light of this... underworld.

The sky is a cave's ceiling. The stars must be crystals, like the ones I saw at the Tree of Beginning. It all reminds me a little of a conspiracy theory.

What was it? 'Hollow earth'? 'Grand underground'?

Doesn't matter. I'm stuck. My head hurts. I don't know where I am. I'm glad Professor Hedera, the survival professor at pokemon school, taught us the basics of survival.

First things first: Checking myself for wounds.

My head hurts but I don't feel any bumps or bleeding. The rest of my body feels... alright. Exhausted, but unhurt. Perhaps a minor concussion. At least I don't feel sick or nauseous.

Lopunny seems fine too. Her fur is dishevelled and messy but there are no open wounds or broken bones, as far as I can tell after pulling her off of me and examining her.

Riolu seems to be knocked out from exhaustion as well. Her breathing is steady and her body doesn't feel broken either. Again, only her fur is a mess.

Neither of them react to my touching. Heavy exhaustion.

Salandit is... still missing!

Where is she?!

I fell into a river, right? Salandit can't swim! Did I recall her?

"Salandit, come out." I press the button on her black and golden luxury ball, hoping to Arceus that I'm right.

And as luck would have it, a red beam shoots out. Salandit appears shaking like a leaf, eyes clenched and her body tensed up like a spring.

"Salandit?"

She jumps at my voice.

~"M-masster? D-did we drown?" Her eyes are still closed while her head tracks the source of my voice.

"No, Salandit. We're alive and dry. Now open your eyes and come here."

She opens her eyes and takes in the strange sights. The same way I did, her eyes first look at the stars, the distant pillars, the weird trees, and finally at the dried-up river. She spits at it before approaching me slowly.

Too slowly. So I move closer and pick her up instead.

I cuddle with her for a moment, which she likes, before letting her go and picking up my backpack. She didn't like being let go. She scaled up my body instead.

~"What happened with them?"

She asks as I pull the emergency potion from my pocket and add two more from my backpack.

It's a wonder my equipment survived the fall if I really fell all the way down. The ceiling is, like, at least a kilometer up.

I reach up to my shoulder and pick Salandit up again before giving her whole body a quick treatment with the potion.

She didn't get hurt from the fall too much. Just a few rocks smacking into her, I guess, and the damage she had received from the previous battles.

She struggles in my arm against the painfully stinging sensations of the potion but calms down once I'm done.

"They are out with exhaustion. Lopunny saved us in the river and Riolu saved my backpack, I think."

~"Hiss hiss. Once again she got KOed and I am sstill standing. Aren't I great-- Ouch!"

I flick her snout. "Now is not the time for that sort of joke. Can you check for enemies?"

She pokes her tongue out at me.

~"Nothing around. Dead fish, salty air, and rotting plants."

I sniff at the air myself.

It does smell a little like at a fish vendor's shop. The plants are probably algae and other river vegetation.

It's hard to see much from this location. Small hills surround us on every side. Beyond that is darkness and what appears to be a starry night.

The ground is soft but dirty. Sand tends to be like that.

I dig out the tent's air mattress and roll Lopunny on top of it. Riolu too. So they don't need to sleep on the dirty ground.

"Still no enemies around?"

~"None."

In that case, I pull out the girls' grooming supplies.

I might as well make myself useful and clean up their fur while we wait. Once they are awake, we can search for sources of water.

Lopunny lets out a light purr when I brush over her ears. I leave the fluffy tips of her ears for last since the fluff requires a different type of brush.

Her fur quickly becomes presentable again, but more importantly, it becomes softer. When her fur dries without special care, it bunches together and becomes stiff.

Her back, stomach, legs, arms, and thighs are easily handled. I only stop at her chest and gluteus maximus.

They look exactly like the ass and breasts of a human. Except covered in fur instead of clothes.

I wonder...

~"You sshould feel her up."

The ever-present devil on my shoulder whispers her temptations in my ears with her usual snake lips.

She is right though. Lopunny is asleep. I would never get the chance again to check if it feels the same as a human's, without her knowing what I did.

Her chest rises and falls with her steady breathing. She must be having a pleasant dream, considering the slight smirk on her face.

Does that count as rape? No, right? Rape only works with penetration. So, sexual assault?

I mean, it's just a kind of medical examination.

Right. I'm getting a baseline feeling in case something happens in the future.

I'm not a pervert who is weirdly attracted to their pokemon.

It's not like I can barely keep my eyes off of her supple breasts, an ass so tight, I could bounce a coin on it, wide childbearing hips, or thicc juicy thighs.

My hand already hovers over her chest, I didn't even notice it move.

Unbelievable. Salandit has managed to wear down my mental resistance to this point. Perhaps the concussion is at fault too.

... Good grief. I have a problem.

~"Do it."

I lower my hand the rest of the way. A conscious decision... I am so cooked.

It feels nice. So soft with the fuzzy texture of her fur only adding to the softness. My hand practically sinks into the flesh of her breast.

I haven't choked my snake in such a long time. I'm really feeling it now.

My pants grow tighter as I squeeze my hand around her miniature mound. She fits perfectly in my grasp, almost as if it was meant to be.

Near the center of my palm, I can feel a tiny nub through her fur. I wonder, are pokemon closer to mammals or reptiles?

They clearly have mammary glands, but they lay eggs. Maybe they are more like platypus or echidnas. Monotremes, I believe they are called, so technically egg-laying mammals.

No matter what they are, her bosom feels nice and symmetrical. She doesn't have any scars left either. Truly, she has a perfect body.

Her face looks rather cute too, with barely a hint of human features, but her button-nose, tiniest whiskers, and her large expressive purple eyes are all adorable in their own way.

Her whiskers vibrate a little with her purrs. They can barely be seen usually, however, I'm close enough to spot them.

The tiny nostrils of her mini-nose expand and contract quickly, as if taking in the surrounding scents.

Her pupils have dilated and they show the excitement she feels clearly. The black sclera she has instead of the human-white, makes her almost look like a sort of demonic figure from foreign religions and myths. Like a succubus.

Her mouth opens slightly. She must be dreaming of something that involved using her mouth and my horny brain jumps to the first conclusion.

I heard that a near-death experience oftentimes creates arousal. They really weren't kidding.

~"Hi, master." Her voice is husky and laced with obvious seductive intent.

A weaker man might fall to temptation right then and there, but not someone like me; that person is just far too startled from the realization that Lopunny woke up long ago.

An ice cold shiver runs down my spine as her furry hand grasps mine and keeps it in place.

"H-hi, Lopunny. How are you doing? Do you feel pain anywhere?" I try to pull my hand away but her hold is too strong. My arm won't move an inch.

Her ears twitch. Her eyes quickly dart all over our immediate surroundings. She rubs my hand along her chest, forcing me to feel the nub of her nipple stiffening slightly.

~"Salandit?" She addresses her teammate. ~"Enemies?"

~"No-- I mean, yes. Lots. I ssmelled a few nearby but they don't dare to approach me."

~"Tsk." A dangerous and annoyed look flitters across Lopunny's face. ~"Next time, then."

G-good grief!

She lets go of my hand and stands up before giving me a hug. ~"Good morning, master."

"It's afternoon. We're in a cave." I used my phone to check the time. As long as it doesn't desynchronize, it will be the only reliable way to track the time down here.

"We're going to stay here until Riolu wakes up as well--"

~"I'm awake." She opens an eye while relaxing on the air mattress.

"In that case, I will fix up your fur too and then we can look for the hole we came out of."

~"Your mom. Hiss hiss hiss."

I ignore Salandit. Instead, I grab Lopunny's brush again and give Riolu the luxury treatment as well.

I place her on my lap and comb through her furry head.

Her tail wags excitedly until it suddenly stops and freezes mid-motion. Then she wiggles around and looks over her shoulder as she grins mischievously. ~"What is that, daddy?"

"It's uhhh, it's--"

~"Oh! Now I remember. It's your penis!" Who taught her that word?! ~"The thing you use to make hatchlings with."

Instead of a literal spit-take, all I can do is choke on my saliva.

My eyes search for the responsible lizard who is dying of laughter. Hiss hiss hiss, she says over and over like a wheezing snake.

Riolu continues. ~"You would use it for hot, sweaty, steamy, hatchling-making sex."

"Salandit! You're in big trouble now!"

Finally, I managed to shut her laughter up. ~"Hiss-- What?! I didn't do anything!"

Riolu rubs herself against me some more-- No, she's stifling her laughter!

I flick the back of her head and give her the meanest look I can manage when she turns around.

~"Hehe." She laughs sheepishly. ~"She didn't have to teach me. Did you forget? I'm older than I seem."

I actually forgot. Or rather, I didn't want to think about it. She is partly Lucario, who carried an egg... fathered by a human...

That's weird.

I should stop thinking about it again.

I quickly unbothered myself by thinking of pictures of Captain Braviary, Roark, his brother Byron, and old man Mr. Gump sitting together naked in a hot tub.

Yuck. Instantly shriveled up.

"Let's finish your grooming. And stop copying Salandit's humor. It's too low for you."

"Hey!" Salandit hisses at the insult.

---

~"What are we going to do next, Daddy... Swole?" Riolu looks up at me from my lap. Her fur is properly groomed once again, and she enjoys a bit more petting before we leave.

"We must walk upstream to find the hole we fell out of. Once there, we can wait for the rescue team to clear the remaining tunnels. And then, once they come down to investigate, we get rescued."

Solana comes to my mind as the most likely first responder. She's a pokemon ranger who is already nearby.

"We will probably get a ride back up on Charizard's back."

~"Hmh. Makes sense." Riolu hums.

~"Of coursse it makes sense. What did you expect?" Salandit asks her. ~"He'ss our master, after all."

Lopunny nods in agreement. ~"True. He is the best in decision-making."

It might be unhealthy for my ego to grow so much.

You need to head north instead.

"Maybe waiting for help isn't the best choice. We miss out on potential profits and adventures if we don't head north. We should go north."

All my pokemon look at me in confusion as if they don't know what came over me until clarity and understanding wash over their eyes.

~"You're right master." Lopunny pulls herself against my arm as she says it. ~"North does sound a lot better."

~"What did you expect? Of course, north ssounds better. He came up with it, after all." Salandit nods as if she's handing out sage wisdom.

Riolu doesn't look quite convinced. ~"Did something just happen? Why are you all agreeing--" Her face suddenly takes on a serene smile. ~"Of course. Let's head north. The only sensible direction."

The mission is clear. No one disagrees. We're heading north.

We'll search for water along the way. I've got enough food to last for now, and shelter is already sorted with the tent. Every wound has been treated, everyone is back on their feet.

Only minor exhaustion lingers, but that's no reason to delay any longer.

Still, let's crest the hill first, see what's ahead, then decide.

"So," I slap my legs, rising to my feet, checking the compass. "North is that way."

Thus, we march.

Lopunny stays close, her arms looped around my right. Salandit perches comfortably on my right shoulder while Riolu takes up her usual spot on the left.

As a walking fortress, guarded by dangerous, deadly, cute pokemon, I climb.

...

On the other side, at the foot of the hill, is a whole fucking underground ocean.

Low, small waves crash against a pearly white shore.

The dark ocean reflects the lights of the stars and pillars, like an endless expanse of sparkling lights.

What a beautiful place.

We could continue further north along the beach.

Or we could wait here just a little longer.

I could use a break. My mind is still foggy and I feel a little detached from the surrealism happening all around me.

Like, what the hell is going on?

I just wanted some extra money, and this is what it turned into? I'm basically stuck in another world!

... That's really the best description for this place. It's an underground cave, so vast that I can't see the walls; the ceiling is as boundless as the sky outside.

There are no clouds. Just a marvelous sight of jewels sparkling in the darkness.

I wonder what it will look like during nighttime?

I hope it won't be any different from now. If the cave becomes completely dark, some pokemon might become a serious threat.

My toes sink into loose beach sand after I pull off my boots and socks. It looks the same as regular beach sand, except the blue light makes the colors seem off.

Everything here looks so normal, yet extraordinary at the same time. Trees, but they are weird. An ocean, but it's a deep, dark abyss with sparkling lights on top. Loose sand, but it sparkles like diamonds.

"It's sus, isn't it?"

Various forms of affirmatives come back to me.

Riolu's affirmation sounded more like 'what is a sus?', but I take what I can get.

The sand seems normal enough, so I set up camp and prepare dinner. We had a long and arduous quest behind us with the tunnels and we didn't even get a break after the gym battle!

We deserve a hearty meal and a nice long break from it all.

"Wouldn't you agree, Lopunny?"

She can feel enough through our bond to get a general understanding of what I meant.

~"You mean it's steak for dinner!?"

I love how excitable she is despite her evolution. She changed so much.

However, when she is excited, she doesn't seem cute anymore... It makes her look... erotic. The way she presses herself against me while looking at me with those wide eyes. The way her boobs squish against my arms.

Dawn and Zoey have never begged me for anything this way. I can't imagine Akari ever stooping to this level.

The way Dawn and Zoey do it is very different from Lopunny's. They press my arm between their breasts: A show of ownership. I am their man.

This feels so different. She practically throws herself at me. She desired to be owned by me.

She begs me for steaks... I could tell her no. I have the power to deny her.

"Actually, let's make a salad instead. I'm hungry for some greens."

What a rush.

The way she deflates, before pulling herself up my arm again, to get closer to my face. ~"Pleaaase!"

"Hmmm, but I'm yearning for a salad."

~"Nooo! Please make steaks!"

I'm not sure how serious she is being, or if she is just playing along, but I like it either way.

"Alright. You convinced me. We're having steak for dinner."

~"Yay!"

So easy.

I run my hand over her head and ears, prolonging her moment of bliss.

I enjoy this: Her reactions, her behavior, that instinctive obedience ingrained in pokemon to follow their trainer's commands.

She enjoys it too. In the end, that's all that matters.

It's fascinating, really. As if trainers and Pokémon were designed to work together like this, two halves of the same whole.

As the steaks sear in the pan, their aroma fills the air. Memories of my last time cooking resurface in my mind.

It's been a while.

Solana had cooked for me while I was in the tunnels. Before that, Dawn and Zoey have taken care of meals for me too.

Now, as I prepare an egg salad on the side, it almost feels like... a vacation.

A beautiful beach, just me and my pokemon. No enemies lurking. No girls to distract me from my goals. Down here, training is too risky; any injury or exhaustion could be fatal in this unfamiliar terrain.

We don't have a choice but to relax.

A vacation... Have I lost sight of what it means to be a pokemon trainer?

It feels like all I've done lately is train, solve crises, and go on dates.

When was the last time I did something nice for my pokemon?

Sure, I groomed them, but that's just to keep them presentable. It's egoistic.

Sometimes, I fulfil their wishes, but only as a reward.

... Have I ever just done them a favor? Or is this just the concussion talking?

As I set down the cutlery and plates for everyone, I find myself wondering: What do my Pokémon actually want?

Is there something I could give them, or do for them, beyond the usual?

I pause, glancing at them. "Is there something you girls want?" I'm blessed as a trainer. I can just ask them. "Not as rewards; in general."

~"Make me even stronger!"

~"I want to lay ssso many eggs, my mom would become jealous."

~"I don't desire anything."

There's a lot to unpack. Lopunny is already on her way to becoming stronger.

Salandit is joking, as always.

And then there's Riolu... I am at fault. She's not truly her own pokemon yet. I need to find a purpose for her.

In the end, just because I can talk with my pokemon doesn't mean I can fully understand them.

I swallow the last piece of my steak, noting that I was the slowest to finish. Too distracted. But it was delicious.

"How about we cuddle before bed?"

They always sleep on top of me, but we rarely have the time to just enjoy the moments before or after sleep.

And now, we have water, a long-lasting food supply, shelter, treated our wounds... We're stuck in this cavern until we find our way out somewhere in the north.

I let out a deep sigh into Lopunny's fur near her neck. I don't even bother to replace it with my 'good grief'-catchphrase. I don't feel like it.

Taking a vacation from the surrealism... What an apt description as we lie down on a white sand beach of a dark world, surrounded by stars in all directions.

Truly a magnificent view. Sharing it with my pokemon makes it even greater.

~"Master?"

My very first pokemon asks.

"Yes, Lopunny?"

She rubs her head against my chest before she continues talking. ~"I know what my first reward is going to be."

I feel my mind switching gears at the sudden change of topic. "Your first? For what?"

~"I won the gym battle on my own, it's only fair that I get Riolu's and Salandit's rewards as well."

The pokemon in question want to protest but a glare by Lopunny is enough to shut them up.

"Good grief. Alright, what is your first wish? Please remember, I cannot grant extra wishes, I cannot bring back people from the dead, and I cannot create love."

~"... Aha." She didn't get the reference. ~"For my first wish, I wish to receive goodnight kisses. The same kind that Dawn and Zoey always get."

Just a single kiss on her lips? That's all she wants? It's not like we hadn't accidentally kissed each other on the lips before.

"Sure. Your wish shall be granted."

I lean down and meet her furry, puckered lips with mine.

They still taste of caramel and hazelnut. I love her taste and smell.

However, the tongue that suddenly digs into my mouth isn't part of the deal, so I struggle to pull away.

"Hmumpf."

I can't escape.

Lopunny is too strong.

I feel her tongue sliding past my lips, over my teeth, across my tongue, and if hers was any longer, I would have felt it travel down my throat as well.

She is relentless in her exploration and I'm powerless to stop her.

Unlike Dawn, she clearly isn't shy. And it doesn't feel as passionate as Zoey either. It's more curiosity. As if she's trying to map out the entirety of my mouth with her tongue.

Until, with an actual audible plop, she pulls herself back and stares at me with her wide open eyes and a manic grin splitting her face.

The next moment she presses her face against my neck and rubs herself against it.

Cute.

~"Thank you for agreeing to do this every night." She mumbles, and I can't believe my own ears.

"What do you mean? I agreed to a single goodnight kiss and that wasn't a goodnight kiss."

She looks up again. Mischief sparkles in her eyes as she grins at me.

~"I asked for kisses. Multiple. And I have seen what you and Zoey do each night. You should have been more careful about the kinds of wishes you grant, maaaster." Her husky voice drags out the final word and it makes my heart skip a beat.

~"You got tricked by the rabbit..." Salandit's disappointed voice kicks my heart back into regular working condition.

Lopunny and Salandit begin to argue as usual afterwards.

Damn it. She's right. Even though I was supposed to be the one who was tricky with the wish granting.

That's the second time we have tongue kissed now. And it was the second time that it really wasn't all that bad.

Different, definitely weird, but not bad. Kind of good, actually.

And it's not illegal either.

And she's so happy because of it.

"Good grief. Alright. You win, this time."

~"What?" Lopunny looks up at me. She was too preoccupied with her and Salandit's quarrels.

"You can have daily goodnight kisses. Just... let's not let the girls see it. Alright? We're being weird, and I don't want others to know how weird I am."

~"Deal!" This time, she nibs at my ear before pressing and rubbing her head against my neck.

Salandit pokes her head into my view. ~"Can I have those too?"

~"No!" Lopunny shouts and screeches at the top of her lungs. ~"You didn't earn them! I did! You don't get them!"

... I guess this is my life now.

They start another round of flinging insults at each other.

---

Narrator-POV:

The hero and his team of trusted companions rest for the rest of the day. They cuddle, watch the stars, feel each other's warmth, and enjoy the most marvelous sight imaginable.

The stars twinkle, their reflections on the calm ocean sparkle, and every once in a while a pillar pulsates with power.

They are the roots of the Tree of Beginning.

It has embedded them all over Sinnoh and protects the region from collapsing into the grand underground, capable of even withstanding the mightiest space-quakes.

Overnight, the pokemon manage their guard duties and they get as much rest as they can: Riolu always volunteers to take the first watch. She uses the time to meditate and train her aura while keeping her mental eye open for predators at the same time.

Salandit takes the second shift. Once she is sure everyone else is fast asleep, she rummages around in Swole's backpack.

Tonight, she pulls out a Nentindo 3SD to play the game "Animals" for a bit before returning it again.

~"Animals are boring." She determines and eventually passes guard duty over to Lopunny.

Lopunny spends the rest of the night going over her master plan. A highly detailed step-by-step plan she hatched to reach her goal.

A plan she spent countless hours on to fine-tune and improve. Every night ever since she brawled with her trainer for the first time.

... It boils down to 'do what Zoey does'.

She is not very great at planning.

However, the next step of her plan requires her to listen to his heartbeat. She needs to be ready for the moment he wakes up.

She cannot use the sun or the sky's brightness as an indicator to help her either. But she has the determination and endurance to see the next step of her plan sprout to fruition.

She spots the change in his heartbeat and gets ready.

She moves her face directly above his.

And when his eyes squeeze open through a thick layer of sleep-sand, she is ready. ~"Good morning." She whispers before softly biting his earlobe.

A twitch, a slight movement she feels near his groin, clues her in on the success of her operation. The signal to stand up again.

However, her job is not over just yet.

She moves her hands over her ears as if they were hair and strikes a pose. She pushes her hip to the side, bends her torso just a bit, and spreads her stance as she motions with her hand to come closer.

~"Come on, master." She whispers. ~"Get up. We need to get going."

A grin spreads over her face when she hears him mutter, "I'm already up."

Needless to say, Swole Solo, the hero from Twinleaf Town, had an uncomfortable morning with a lot of unnecessary tension in his pants.

And it will not be his only uncomfortable morning either, for their journey is arduous, difficult, and most importantly long.

They walk north, along the shore until the environment changes. They find the end of the underground ocean and enter a vast land of salt flats.

As far as the eye can see, and even further beyond, there is nothing else.

A completely flat landscape with ground that sparkles from the dim lights of the crystals above.

Each step they take sounds out with the crunching noise of cracking salt crystals.

"That's a lot of salt." Swole looks around, even turning on his flashlight to look farther. But after a day of walking, they could only see salt in every direction.

A wild Mandibuzz flaps her enormous wings every few minutes as she watches our group of heroes from far above. She circles them a few times; thinking, plotting and waiting.

In the end, she flies off again. Her potential prey outnumbers her and they looked far too happy and healthy to be carrion.

At night, they drink, they rest, they kiss, they seethe. The next morning everything repeats.

For another day, they walk through the salty desert where they see nothing besides darkness and salt.

Monotony.

As beautiful as the sight is, it is all they get. No wind, no sun, no clouds, no sounds. Except for the crunching ground whenever they move.

With every step they take, the ground crunches as their feet crush salt crystals to crumbs.

~"Can we take a break, master?"

Surprisingly, Lopunny is the first to succumb to the harsh environment.

The salt has driven moisture out of the soles on her feet. The once soft paw pads have become cracked, hard, calloused and bloody from the march.

Swole treats them with a potion, a moisturizing salve that Dawn insisted he would need, and binds them up in bandages before crafting a pair of shoes to the best of his abilities.

"Good grief. I wish Akari was here. She could have made a proper pair of boots for you." He also really misses her. But the utilitarian reason is the only one he is willing to say out loud.

"At least Salandit was able to find her crafting supplies in my backpack. I had no idea she kept some of it there."

Akari stores crafting supplies everywhere for crafting-related emergencies.

After solving their current emergency, they get up to their feet once more and restart their journey.

Walk, eat, drink, rest, kiss, seethe, sleep, repeat.

For three days, nothing changes.

... Until, they find a little green island in the middle of it all.

A tiny thing, but oh-so-obvious within their monotonous world.

The siren's island beckons our group closer.

"Let's check it out."