Stuck in the Past

Huh.

'To reach Canalave City, we need to get past that tree.' ... That seems a little out of character for master.

Usually he would suggest to head back and to make sure to be as well prepared as he could be before venturing out into the unknown.

But whatever. First comes breakfast.

Swole quickly wrote up a basic diet plan for Salandit and I can't help but notice that he put a lot more effort into my planning than hers. 

Being the favorite feels awesome!

Basically, she gets the same food as me, except much less than me but a bit more eggs for 'sulfur' and 'citrus fruits' for some reason. 

She also has to eat coal. Or 'dietary carbon' as master calls it.

I told her she was eating like a furnace and then Swole had to convince her to eat her 'healthy food' when she started to worry about her weight.

In the middle of breakfast, while I'm still devouring-- I mean savoring, my ham-and-spam sandwich, Akari starts talking about her former home.

The one before she moved to Sinnoh. Kanto, I think I heard them call it.

She talked about how this area looks very similar to some 'Rota' and questioned how certain Swole was that we are indeed still in Sinnoh.

An unnecessary question. Master is obviously right.

He explained something about GPS, satellites and phones not needing the internet for GPS. It's all a foreign language to me but Salandit seems interested in the topic.

Akari mentioned that we are inside of an ancient, overgrown battlefield. The scraps of metal apparently being ancient swords and armor.

Right after breakfast, and right as we are packing up and about to leave, Salandit sneaks back into Swole's backpack to eat another egg.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." She says when she notices me staring. "You ssaid I was eating like a furnace but then you eat almosst twice as much as I did!"

Hehe, that I did. But Swole keeps telling me I'm too thin, so it's alright.

I simply ignore her and look back ahead, making her seethe more in the process... 

What even is 'seethe'?

We continue our walk towards the tree.

The environment shifts and becomes less and less hospitable.

Mosses stop growing and it's just lichen everywhere.

There is not enough food for lots of pokemon to survive and it shows. Nothing attacks us.

Occasionally, I can hear a pokemon running away from us but I don't blame them. I wouldn't attack us either.

"Hey..." Swole says to us in a subdued voice. Something seems off with him. "Did you see that staff over there? Let's check it out!"

What? Where is-- 

Huh!? It's still so far away! How did he see that before me?!

Well, hearing is my specialty... But I won't lose my position as the scout to a human of all creatures!

Stuck on top of a rock in the distance; A long, dark-blue metal staff with a bright-blue, round crystal on top. 

The crystal is encircled with some metal structures and has a few dongles, which look like the earrings of Lisa, Swole's mom.

It looks like new. Everything else around here is rusted. That's 'sus'.

Just like everything else! Why is everything so 'sus'!? 

The tree in the distance looks weird. I can't put my paw on it, but something feels 'fucked' with the tree.

Then there is the whole sudden transportation, master's weird behavior and everything else on top!

Sus!

Swole begins to slow down his approach as we get closer to the staff. 

"It's calling out to me... I heard someone... A woman. She said, 'Release me' ... Do you not hear it too?" He talks as if in trance and I kick him to try and snap him out of it.

His eyes look around in worry, as if not understanding how he got here.

Master...

Dawn steps up closer, worry on her face. "Swole... I'm sorry to say, but that means you're transgender."

This seems to finally snap Swole out and he feels normal again.

"What? Oh! Hahaha, fuck off!" - "Haha, sorry, I couldn't resist."

"What's transgender?" Akari asks and Dawn explains it to her.

"That sounds stupid. You made that up." Akari complains but Dawn and Swole both insist that it is true. 

"Nobody could be insane enough to think they were born in the wrong body. And they cut off their... you-know-what too? Gross."

Yuck. Seriously? That's gross.

But as soon as the banter stops, Swole starts marching towards the staff again.

"Swole, I don't think you should touch any magical staves that try to talk with you."

"Dawn is right." Akari agrees. "It might be cursed. Oh, and watch out! You are about to step on a Time Flower. I thought they only grow in Kanto..."

What the hell is a Time Flower?

"What the hell is a Time Flower?" My master parrots my thoughts like a well trained pet, before leaning down and touching it, causing it to open up.

---

All of a sudden, a wave of light washes over us and the scenery changes-- No, it's more like there is another image layered over our environment.

We are now witness to a scene of battle.

I move in front of master to protect him and Salandit hides further into the safety of the backpack and only peeks her head out over Swole's shoulders.

The lichen-covered area is superimposed with a dry and rocky environment. Not a single speck of green grows here. Just dry rocks.

A Lucario is being chased around by 3 Houndoom. Lucario has her eyes closed, seemingly in pain, as if hit by Sand Attack.

The Houndoom are wearing red battle armor.

She is currently surrounded by the Houndoom and they are preparing to use Flamethrower.

They don't seem to want to attack us but I remain vigilant. They might not even be aware of us, so I make sure not to make a single sound.

With nowhere to escape but up, Lucario jumps high into the air and charges some fighting type move in both of her paws at the same time.

The moment she lands, without spending any time to aim, she releases two orbs of blue light at the 2 Houndoom behind her.

The power of the quickly charged move was immense. The Houndoom stood no chance and were blasted away.

Then Lucario charges another orb, a much larger one, with both paws and fires it at the last remaining Houndoom.

He too, is blasted away and disappears like a wisp of smoke.

A look at where the 2 knocked out Houndoom should be, but it only shows the overgrown battlefield with the mirage of rocks over it.

Lucario is exhausted from the obvious overuse of her fighting type and collapses on to one knee. 

She is breathing heavily but remains dangerous.

She is clearly powerful.

Much stronger than even Quilava. And by the looks she is giving Lucario, she agrees with my assessment.

The only pokemon I have ever seen on the same level of power was the Garchomp on TV. If she wasn't a potential opponent, I would be impressed.

The next moment, Lucario's face turns up and a human on a Pidgeot appears out of nowhere. The Pidgeot is exhausted and flies off after dropping the human off on the rock where the staff is stuck in the ground.

The human has black, spiky hair and his costume looks as out-of-place as the Roselia trainer-guy, who we saw in the forest. Except it's using blue colors instead of green.

He carries his own ghostly version of the staff on his back.

Is this some kind of vision? Is any of this real?

"Sir Aaron!" Lucario's voice rings out. "I knew you'd come!"

"Lucario, what happened to your eyes?" 'Aaron' asks with concern in his voice.

"Don't worry about me, master." ... 'Master'? She said it out loud! How lewd!

"Don't call me that." He turns away from Lucario. Hiding his face with his hat. "I'm no longer your master. I have abandoned you, the queen and the kingdom. And I will never return."

Right after he said that, he runs away.

... He... he abandoned his pokemon?

My eyes dart to Swole's, only to see anger visible in them. 

My master would never abandon me.

"Master! Wait!" Lucario jumps up the rock and tries to run after him but Aaron simply throws his staff at her.

The staff lands and strikes the rock, the ghostly image and the real one becoming one and the same in the process.

Lucario stops in her tracks when the staff begins to glow brightly, as if her body was frozen in place. 

The next moment, Lucario turns into white light and is sucked into the crystal. 

Is that thing some kind of pokeball? Only with white light instead of red?

Aaron ran away. Lucario disappeared into the staff. The Houndoom are gone.

The stage is empty but the vision keeps playing.

"What now?" Asks Dawn but she is shushed by Akari.

"Be quiet. Every Time Flower releases its memories only once. Look out for any details." A memory?

I look around. Nothing happens.

The staff is dormant.

The dust of the fight has settled...

The ground is quaking?

Out of nowhere, an army of pokemon appears from both sides of the ghostly stage. They rush to the center of the vision.

I move closer to Swole to protect him; I realize now that this isn't real but I still have the urge to be closer to him, just in case.

The moment the first pokemon meet in battle in the center, the phantasmal scene dissipates into thin air.

---

Does this mean that Lucario is still sealed inside the staff?

Is she the one who told Swole to release her?

"Hey, I remember who that was!" Swole announces. "Dawn, remember how in history classes we would only be taught about the Kanto wars?"

"Yea... And he does look familiar, I just can't put my finger on it..."

"He was part of the Thirty Years' War. The longest lasting war between Kanto and Johto ever. That guy, Aaron, was attributed with stopping the war before it could destroy another kingdom in Kanto. Rota still worships the guy as a hero... But it looks like history was wrong..."

HA! Him!? A hero? He abandoned his own pokemon!

What a fraud!

"I remember him too." Akari says. "'Sir Aaron and Lucario', they are - or, were - guardians of aura. They were supposed to protect us... But after seeing this... I am not surprised anymore that the war reached our farm."

That too. He abandoned the humans that he supposedly saved. What an asshole!

"Is that Lucario still stuck inside the staff?"

"I think so." Swole answers me. "I'm getting her out."

"Good. She doesn't deserve to be trapped forever." ... When did I become so sappy?

Swole climbs up the rock and I follow him.

The closer I get, the more nervous I become. That Lucario is seriously strong. 

My instincts are telling me to get ready for a brutal fight. Even though she is sealed away, I can still feel her pressure on me.

Swole seems to feel it too since he hesitates before touching the staff. 

The moment he does, bright, white light spills forth from the crystal on the staff's tip.

The light arcs through the air and collects as a small blob on the ground, just like it does when a pokeball releases a pokemon.

The blob first takes up the shape and then the colors of Lucario. She's on her knees but she rises to a battle-ready position as soon as the light is gone.

Her eyes are still closed and she seems in great pain--

Fuck! 

She's moving so quickly! She's charging her attack! And she's aiming for master!!

"Stop! We're friendly!" Shouts Swole out as he stumbles back but Lucario releases the ball of energy without mercy.

I charge Jump Kick as fast as I can and jump into the path of the attack.

Boom!

With all my effort I try to parry the move but it's not enough!

Argh! Fuck that hurts!

The attack easily breaks through.

The world rushes past me as I'm thrown through the air but as soon as my feet touch the ground, I switch my movement direction with a quick Splash in order to change it into Quick Attack right after.

Salandit wasn't useless in the meantime and managed to hit Lucario with Poison Gas. 

"Buneary, use Sweet Kiss! Salandit, use Sweet Scent! Get her to calm down! Be careful with the Aura Sphere!" I instantly dismiss the normal type energy I had collected and change to fairy type.

Lucario can somehow see me coming despite her closed eyes and prepares to smack me away with a bone which she materialized out of nowhere.

As I get closer, I see the bone aiming to the side of my head and I duck below it.

Lucario instantly follows up with a backswing, this time aiming for center mass and I jump over and aim for her lips.

Damn it! She falls backwards to dodge, lands on her paws and pushes herself off the ground. Her feet, aimed at me, trying to kick me away again.

But she didn't expect my own acrobatic skills, because I managed to grab a hold of one of her legs and stay in the fight by clinging to her.

I aim for her knee and deliver Sweet Kiss.

The fairy type energy seeps from my lips into her knee and I let go to retreat as a cloud of pink smoke moves in.

And then, out of nowhere, a dark, shadowy cloud forms above Lucario's head and a nail emerges from it.

Akari and Quilava are both covered by smoke but I don't think that will do anything against Lucario.

"Give up! We don't want to hurt you! And we're not who you think we are!" Swole tries to reason with her again but she aims another Aura Sphere at him!

Once again, I jump into the path to save my master. 

My hasty Jump Kick is far too weak to offer decent resistance against the move and I'm smacked away again. This time Swole catches me before I fly away too far.

"Aaargh!" The pain is starting to get to me.

Failing Jump Kick hurts so much!

"Why are you protecting him!?"

"He's my master!" - "He'ss my mate!"

I shoot Salandit one last glare but then I pass out.

---

Swole-POV:

"Why are you protecting him!?"

"Buneary!" - "Salandit!"

I feel powerless. I can't do anything but hold Buneary as she slowly passes out in my arms.

She saved me. Again. She truly is my guardian angel.

"He is... your mate?" Lucario asks-- Mate?! "Who... are you?"

Did-- did Buneary call me her mate? ... Is this what she sees me as? I-- I don't know what to think. 

I mean, she is cute, but... she is just my pokemon.

But we have kissed already and went on dates together... Can I really still claim that she is only my pokemon?

What if she left me if I rejected her feelings? Fuck. I-- I know I can't live without her anymore.

But... I'm not sexually attracted to her. Sure, she is cute but she isn't sexy or hot. And there is this whole language barrier too!

But if she was a human, I would definitely--

"Where is the war? ... Where is Sir Aaron?" Lucario's voice rips me out of my spiraling thoughts.

Her eyes are open now. She's looking around, lost. Abandoned.

"The war is long over. And Aaron... he is long dead."

"No-- NO! I was running away from the Johto invaders... Over there is where I fought off a group of scouts... And here-- Aaron was here, just a moment ago-- Argh, why can't I think!?"

Lucario collapses to her knees. Head, clutched in her paws.

I'm tempted to approach and help her, but the look she shoots at me when I get a step closer, stops me in my tracks.

"Aaron abandoned me... No... that had to be a dream! A nightmare! ... Where did he go? I-- I can't remember. He was right there... And I followed him like always and... and..."

Her eyes widen as she stares at Aaron's staff in disbelief.

"That can't be right. No. No! NO! NO! NO! YOU! HUMAN! Tell me everything you know! Cough. Now!"

Gulp. Her eyes are piercing mine like a wild animal. Her pupils are pinpricks and her face contorted in despair.

I eye the nail that keeps hovering just above her head. Ready to end the fight at any moment. My safety net. 

Quilava can knock her out in just a split second if she flips out.

But I don't like being this close to her. Especially with Buneary knocked out.

I move a foot back but she gets ready to pounce like an animal. I can't get out of this.

"Can I heal my partner first?"

Her eyes dart down to my chest, where Buneary is pulled in tight. Her breaths, labored and her body, bruised and battered.

Lucario's face loses a little bit of the edge it had. "... You may. But I'm not letting you leave before I get my answers. And don't think I can't kill you before this curse takes me out either. I'm fast. Cough."

Then she steps closer to me. I'm now in striking distance. Gulp.

I sit down slowly and pull off my backpack equally slowly, while making sure Salandit always stays in Lucario's sight.

Then I pull out the berry case and feed Buneary the juice of a Sitrus Berry. 

I also pull out a Pecha Berry and offer it to Lucario for her poisoning. She accepts it and offers a "Thanks.", before calming down a little more.

She even sits down to talk with me on the same level now.

Now, she looks less like a cornered, crazed and caged animal and more like a beaten up puppy.

"The war you are talking about... It is now known as the Thirty Years' War and it ended 304 years ago."

I know the year exactly because it was part of an exam. Who could have ever guessed that knowing a history date would ever end up useful outside of the classroom.

"It... It is considered a fact that the 'true guardian of aura', Sir Aaron, with his trusted pokemon Lucario, ended the war together. They became known as heroes... However..."

I point out the 'Time Flower' and the staff.

"It seems like history has it wrong. The Time Flower showed us that Aaron abandoned the queen, the kingdom and you. Even going so far as to seal you away in his staff and leave you to rot."

My own dislike for the guy managed to peek through my recap in the end. And from the dangerous look Lucario is giving me, my personal opinion on the matter is not very well appreciated at all.

"Sorry."

"Grrrr, he didn't leave me to rot! ... But the rest matches what I know. 30 years... so it ended shortly after this battle? And I wasn't even around to finally see it come to an end... I was stuck... in the aura-staff... because Aaron-- NO! There MUST have been a reason!"

Her crazed look returns with a vengeance. A sudden blast of energy rushes forth from her and knocks me over. 

Causing me to tumble down the rock and knocking the air out of my lungs as I hit the hard ground.

Buneary and Salandit are still safe because my body managed to cushion the fall for them...

After reopening my eyes and wincing in pain, I can see Lucario shooting out Aura Sphere at random. 

A look at the panicking Quilava and Akari, tells me they somehow lost control over Curse and we have to hunker down and wait until Lucario calms herself down.

Some Aura Sphere are really close calls but since Lucario is rampaging up there on the rock, we are pretty safe down here.

An especially close call even shakes the ground enough to wake Buneary back up.

She immediately tries to move out of my embrace to be able to intercept attacks but I pull her back in. Her body is too damaged. I'm not risking further injury for her.

Loud crying and the explosions of Aura Sphere hitting rocks is all I can hear. 

Dawn, Akari and I are all smart enough to stay silent so Lucario doesn't accidentally focus on us.

...

She stopped rampaging.

She's only crying now.

And if my recent escapades with Akari and Dawn have taught me anything, then I should get up there and console her.

So, I climb back up the rock, making no effort to be quiet about it. I really don't want to startle her and set her off again.

I peek over the edge of the rock.

She's just sitting there. Crying to herself. Like a small girl with a broken leg... Or a big girl with a broken heart.

I approach her slowly and carefully and put my hand on her shoulder.

Slap

"Don't touch me!" She screeches after slapping my hand away so hard that it might have actually broken my wrist.

I quickly take some steps back and hold my wrist until the pain leaves.

My inaptitude at consoling people is once again shining through. And this time, humor isn't going to solve shit and just hugging it out isn't an option either.

Fuck. What else is there? Just wait and cope?

"Salandit." Salandit's voice comes from my left shoulder and Lucario glares at me.

Why!? For what am I getting blamed now?!

"Buneary." Buneary's voice comes from my right shoulder and she nods as if confirming something. 

Lucario's glare intensifies.

Does it count as consoling when she stops crying because she's too angry? 

Either way, I'm preparing to jump down the rock again.

"I'm NOT going to let him court me!" Lucario shouts. What?

This is completely out of context... No, did my pokemon have somehow decided to ride me into trouble. 

"I already have my master!-- I... I had my master... Sir Aaron... WHY!? Why did you abandon me!?"

At least she aims the new set of rampaging away from me.

I hop back down the rock and wait for the next round of destruction to end.

The occasional scream of anguish, pain, misery and hatred filling the silence of our group.

---

For the next hour or so, we kept alternating between hunkering down and trying to console Lucario.

Every time any of us say or do anything, something, somehow reminds her of Aaron and she restarts her carnage.

In the most recent attempt, Akari must have told Lucario of her own backstory because her next complaint was: "How can you just go on? Like they meant nothing to you. Aaron meant everything to me! Aaron, why!"

It's a good thing that Akari left her egg down here in safety because Lucario went into another rage-phase right after.

The thought of leaving her behind to fend for herself did cross my mind but that just feels so wrong. It would be like meeting a child with a broken leg and just ignoring her. What kind of monster would do that?

My father? Maybe.

But it's just not something I would feel comfortable with.

... Besides, I need something to distract myself. 

My own thoughts keep drifting to Lucas. He's effectively dead. The only consolation I have is that he had a good life and lived... to a decent age. The common cold is a lot more scary after reading some more of Akari's letters.

Another thought that keeps plaguing me, is what happened to his pokemon? 

Chimchar and Buizel were not transported back with him. They were left behind, somewhere between Jubilife City and Sandgem Town...

The very idea of being forced to leave my own pokemon behind gives me the chills and physically hurts.

I give Buneary a tight hug to get rid of the pain. 

I'm simply never going to abandon her. That solves that issue.

"Sa!" Salandit complains over my preferential treatment and she tries to weasel into my hug too.

"Haha, come on. Get in here."

I hold out an arm and she immediately scurries into the hug before licking my face, like a cute, hairless, scaly puppy.

Buneary grumbles and growls a little about having to share her special treatment.

Honestly, I'm starting to really like Salandit. She is so cuddly and always seeks my attention. 

A textbook pokemon-trainer relationship.

Just how it's meant to be. And I think her behavior is rubbing off on Buneary.

She is also a little more affectionate since we added Salandit to the team... Maybe too affectionate... I'm not her mate.

"You hungry yet?" I ask and receive nods in return from my pokemon.

"You girls hungry too?" I ask Dawn and Akari for some more nods.

"Hey Lucario!" I shout up the rock, causing the current stream of Aura Sphere to pause. "We're cooking dinner, you want some too?"

The only response I get is some incoherent muttering and just as I'm about to interpret it as a 'no', she shouts down, "Yes, please. I'm starving."

I'm not sure whether it's because she hasn't eaten in 300 years or because she has been using her attacks for over an hour, but either way, I will simply add 2 human-sized portions to today's dish.

Usually, we wouldn't risk cooking in the wilderness. But Lucario has already ensured that most wild pokemon are as far away as they can be.

There is no way a pokemon would get close to a powerhouse like Lucario, releasing Aura Sphere all the time.

And so, I sit down with the girls to discuss today's meal.

We agree on a spaghetti bolognese recipe.

First we fry up some ground beef and diced onion in olive oil and then we add some chopped tomatoes from a can to the pan.

Akari takes care of cooking the noodles while Dawn and I take care of the sauce.

For added complexity in the flavor we add a shot of vinegar and illegally bought wine, as well as some lemon zest and some ground-up black pepper.

It ended up a little too watery, so we had to let it simmer without a lid for some time.

For the pokemon, we also have to prepare some garnish or side-dish. Quilava and Salandit both get some crushed charcoal on top of their portions. And for Salandit, the rest of the lemon is sliced and fried as a side-dish.

The normal type pokemon, Zorua and Buneary, don't need anything extra and Piplup just needs an extra glass of water.

As for Lucario's portion, we didn't buy any dietary metals before we set out, so she gets a human-portion instead. If I guesstimated her weight correctly, then 1 to 2 portions should be enough for her needs.

Speaking of Lucario, when the smell of the frying meat spread over the area, she also stopped her rampage and I caught her stealing a few glances over the ledge of the rock.

"Do you want to eat with us?" I ask and startle her. 

Her mouth was already drooling and she was too focused on the food to notice me.

"Or I can deliver the food to you too, if you prefer that."

She only nods, so I take her portion and... Well... And I stand at the foot of the rock.

There is no way I can climb up with a plate of spaghetti in my hands.

Maybe... I could put it in my pockets? ... Nah, that would only spill out.

"Heyyy, sorry, but you have to eat down here, alright?"

I call up and after some hesitation, she jumps down with Aaron's staff held in her paws.

She tentatively takes the plate and steps away from me.

"What is that?"

"It's spaghetti bolognese."

"What?"

Dawn gives clarification. "Just call it noodles with tomato sauce! You snob!"

"You're uncultured!" I call back. "But yes. It is noodles with tomato and meat sauce."

"Sounds interesting... And what are these?"

"Utensils. A spoon and a fork. To eat with."

"... Where are the chopsticks?"

This time Akari responds. "I have some! You want some? They truly are the superior eating-implement!"

"You're literally a cave-woman from the distant past, eating with sticks! ... But yes, I can bring you chopsticks if you prefer them."

"Haha, yes, please." Oh!? She laughed? Great! Progress!

One set of sticks later, and she digs into her portion with gusto.

"Moan, wow! This tastes good! Where did you get all the fresh food from? Usually, when we were traveling, it was always just dried food or foraging... What is that fruity flavor?"

"Lemon. A fruit from Alola, a warmer region of the world. As for the fresh food... Modern technology!" I say the final part with a flourish of my hands.

"Are you playing a joke on me?"

Woups. She is no-nonsense. Gotta remember that. 

"Nonono, I would never! The bags and backpacks we carry have infinite space inside. I--, well, nobody knows how it works, besides the few people who make them."

She looks skeptical, until I pull out the large garbage bag of recyclable bottles I had stored inside. It's far too large to fit inside the much smaller bag. At least if it was a regular bag.

With her suspicion satisfied, she returns to messily eating her food. I don't blame her; You can't really eat spaghetti with chopsticks.

The sauce ends up all over her face but it doesn't look like she cares about that. Just like Akari. They are both eating it like they would do with ramen.

Lucario's anger seems almost forgotten now. Her eyes periodically tighten up in madness, giving us a glint into her thoughts but she manages to remain calm while eating.

Now, with most food eaten and the portable kitchen packed away, all that is left to do is to wait for Buneary, Salandit and Lucario to finish their far too large meals.

I wonder why these pokemon don't fit into the standard model?

I can get that Lucario is really hungry, but both Buneary and Salandit eat too much.

Actually, I should probably start writing down all the discrepancies with Buneary and Salandit. 

I have to double-check Salandit with her averages but whatever abnormality they have, it seems like the professor would be interested in it.

It's not as impressive as Akari's weird version of Curse or her "Hisui Zorua", but if I do find out what makes Buneary special, then I might be able to make some extra cash.

Anyway, "Lucario." I think over the question I want to ask her one last time and she looks up from her food. 

"We are pokemon trainers on our way to Canalave City. It's that way, past that tree. And Canalave's university is world renown for its history classes. I... I can't promise results, but I can promise to help you look for answers."

She is a lot like Akari. 

Except Akari has her pokemon at least.

It's the right thing to help her. To leave her alone would only invite tragedy.

... And it would also help me greatly if I could convince her to join my team at some point. Hehe-- But helping comes first.

Obviously.

However, her face does not appear like she appreciated my offer. 

At all.

Her eyes are focused to pinpricks, her head-ornaments are upright and she looks like she is about to fight us.

"You should run." She says and I take an involuntary step back.

Akari and Dawn have spotted the shift in atmosphere and are preparing themselves for the next round of battle.

"I can't just leave you alone like this. I-- I understand now, how it is to lose people but--"

"NOT LIKE THAT! Idiot! Something big is coming!" She points down. My mind wanders to places but I quickly refocus on the here and now.

Below ground?

Buneary stood up from eating too and is now looking around in panic.

Salandit runs to safety on my shoulder... HEY! That means I'm the meat-shield!?

Suddenly the ground starts to shake.