Chapter 23

I brush off the comment about my eyes as I am not quite ready to tell anyone about my abilities. Once things get harder to conceal as I develop other powers, if Bea and Flannery are still traveling with me at the time, I will likely tell them a bit more. As we walk further away from the entrance, the girls pull out their flashlights and I pull out a flashlight of my own to mask that I can see in the dark. Bea walks in front leading us further down into the mountain and I take a chance to look around at the cave.

The cave itself was nothing special. It is about four meters across and about three meters high. There are no stalagmites or stalactites as this isn't a cave formed by water and the area leading up to Pewter City is located on the leeward side of Mount Moon. As we get closer to Cerulean City, I expect the cave to change more. From how smooth the sides of the cave are, I can't tell if this cave was dug or if it was here naturally from a pokemon opening the way. After ten minutes or so of walking, the cave opens into a huge cavern that is at least ten meters tall and deep enough that the flashlights disappear into the darkness without hitting anything. 

"Is this place supposed to be this dark?" I quietly ask as I take my flashlight and shine it around randomly in the cavern. I take note to not shine it on any pokemon that I can see. The ceiling has swaths of Zubat peacefully sleeping above us. I notice on the walls about three-quarters of the up have man-made depressions and I can see places where lights could be strung. 

"I hope not, having to travel for days in this dark will not be fun." Bea replies. "Though I think that fighting in the dark would be an interesting experience."

"I would rather not need to fight in the dark." Flannery replies as the sound of a pokemon being released from a pokeball can be heard beside me. I look over and see that she let out Ponyta for some ambient light.

"Scared of the dark are we?" I tease lightly.

"Nope, I just don't want to hold a flashlight until my arm falls off." 

We quietly banter back and forth in the quiet of the cave. I'm sure if I was going through here alone, it would get to me even if I can see perfectly fine. After some time I check the time on my phone and see that it is well past sundown. I still feel perfectly fine but I figure I should ask my girls.

"My phone says it's nearly ten at night. Want to call it for the night?"

"I was wondering if someone was going to ask. I'm beat and the darkness isn't helping."

"Alright, let's find a spot to set up camp."

We spend the next thirty minutes locating a place to set up camp in the low light of our flashlights. I cheat by looking around for a nice alcove we can use outside of the flashlights and gradually lead the group over to it. It only takes a few minutes to actually set up camp as like me, Flannery and Bea have a similar tent that is set up in their bag already. 

We arrange our tents in a triangular shape and I pull out my cookware and Thunderstone Lamp. I adjust the lamp to be just bright enough to light up the area around us and then get to work making dinner. During our time together, I found that Flannery doesn't know how to cook and Bea can only cook instant meals so it was decided that I would be regulated to cooking duty.

During dinner, I brought up the topic of keeping watch and the rotation. I offered to take the first watch as I was the least tired of the three of us and I found I need less sleep recently. After we finish eating, the two of them wish me a good night and head into their tents. I wait about thirty minutes, listening for them to fall asleep before I turn down the lamp to its lowest setting. I move outside the circle of tents and find a nice flat rock to sit on and pull out a sitting cushion that I had bought back in Pewter. I pick up Skadi and sit down lotus style on the cushion and softly pet her. Her ears occasionally twitch cutely as she listens to the foreign sounds of the cave.

The hours seem to tick by slowly as I keep watch. I remember from stories I have read that watch is boring but until now I never truly understood what that entailed. The first hour isn't bad as you have things to think about and can easily distract yourself. The second hour is when it truly kicks in. You keep looking at the same unchanging scenery, trying to stay focused so you don't miss something and after your nth time scanning the area, you realize only fifteen minutes have passed and the dread starts to sink in. 

As the third, and thankfully final, hour hit I was having trouble staying focused enough to watch for wild pokemon. Suddenly, Skadi jumps from my lap and quietly growls at something just outside my field of vision. I look over and see a group of five Paras that are silently moving towards the light of the camp about a meter away from me. 

"Shit. Skadi, use Powdered Snow," I call quietly to my little sweetheart. She fires off a blast of snowflakes towards the group of Paras which causes them to stumble. After the attack, they turn towards us and stare in our direction with white lifeless eyes. I see a mixture of green and purple colored light coming from the mushrooms on the back of the pokemon as they send out a burst of something that flies in our direction. 

"Send it back with Icy Wind, keep them at a distance." Skadi follows my command as she fires bursts of frosty air from her mouth which causes the sickly colored cloud to stall in the air as we move backwards away from it. "Are you able to see them sweetie?" I ask and she shakes her head slightly, still facing the direction they are in. "Alright then, we are going to do the spray and pray method. Use Icicle Spear and fire it close to the ground and fan it in front of you. Hopefully we can hit some."

She fires off a fan of icicles towards the group and manages to score a hit on one of them but the rest miss by a wide margin. "Only one got hit. Try it again but not as spread out." I relay to her, hoping that she would be able to hit more a second time. As she sets up to fire again, the Paras she just hit sends out a green pulse of energy that hits both of us. A moment later the Paras glows green and that is when the pain starts. 

I cry out in pain as I feel something being ripped from my body before a green orb of something flies appears and files towards the Paras that just attacked. I watch as the orb flies over to the pokemon and I can see it heal in real-time. The pain from the attack clouds my mind as I release Zephyr from her pokeball and give her a command. 

"Heat wave, that direction until I say stop." I order coldly with a raspy voice as I place my hand on her body to guide her in the right direction. My brave bird hears the pain in my voice as she fires out a bright blue flame from her beak in the direction of the Paras. The flame lights up the area as I command Skadi to fire off ice shards to pick them off. One of the pokemon bursts into flame and lets out a sound similar to a tea kettle. 

"Frost! Are you alright?" I hear someone call from the tents.

"I'm alright," I call back briefly as I focus on what is happening in front of me.

I see a couple more bursts of green energy, similar to the one that just hit me. I back up quickly and dodge the waves. I watch as three different orbs, two from Zephyr and one from Skadi, fly back towards the group of Paras. Halfway there, one orb fizzles out as another Paras goes down. This back and forth continues for another minute until I see Zephyr's flame weakening.

"Zephyr stop, Skadi use Icy Wind to finish this!" The cave goes dark as Zephyr stops her fire attack and weakly lands on the ground panting. Skadi on the other hand unleashes a blast of freezing cold wind that causes the super heated ground to shatter in its wake before it hits the Paras. A sickening crunching sound can be heard as the carapieces of the remaining Paras implode. 

I wait for a minute to make sure nothing else is coming before letting out a sigh of relief. Soon I feel a hand on my shoulder which causes me to jump slightly. The sudden movement makes my whole body ache from the exertion. I furrow my brows as I'm not sure what that move did to me but whatever it did affected my whole body. I look back and see Bea standing there with a concerned face.

"Are you sure you are okay? I heard you scream in pain earlier, it's what woke me up." She asks me again.

"I-I think I'm okay. I got hit by a move from the Paras I was attacking." I tell her truthfully, not trying to look tough in front of a concerned friend. Bea frowns and leads me back to the campsite as I recall Zephyr. Skadi follows beside me as she looks up at me in concern as well. Once we are back in the light of the campsite, Bea thoroughly checks me over, her warm calloused hands running all over my skin as she looks for any place where I am physically harmed. I blush hard when her hands brush over my butt and I have to hold back a small gasp when she checks my breasts as well.

"I-I-I'm fine Bea!" I whisper as my face could probably start a fire from how hot it is.

She ignores my comment and talks to herself as she looks me in the eye with her hands sitting on my hips. Her thumbs gently drum against my stomach as she mumbles to herself. "It doesn't look like it was a physical move. Maybe a status type move?" She tilts her head to the side slightly before asking. "Can you describe the move to me?" 

While fumbling with my words, I describe everything that happened before she woke up. I am highly distracted by how close she is and the fact that she is still holding my hips and unconsciously stroking her thumbs across my skin. I don't say anything about it as I know she is concerned about me, and truthfully I don't mind it at all.

"It sounds like you were hit by Absorb. It is a move that absorbs nutrients from the opponent. The feeling of pain is likely from how it forcefully takes the energy. If anything I say it might have helped you as you seem a little skinnier than you were." Bea tells me with a slight smirk on her face.

"If it didn't feel like getting stung by a million Beedrills, this would be a new fad among women to lose weight." I give her a small smile back as I laugh off the pain in my body. "Since you are up, mind taking over early? I'm feeling rather drained from the fiasco."

Bea gives me a hearty laugh at my horrible pun and pats my hip playfully. "Alright then, sleep well and I'll get Flannery to wake you up in the morning."

"Thanks Bea. I'm glad you came to check on me." I give her a soft smile and then give her a quick hug before retreating to my tent. Once inside, I grab an Occa berry bar that I promptly consume before stripping off my clothes and settling into a lotus position once again in the snowy interior of my tent. Skadi finds her spot in the tent and quickly falls asleep. I close my eyes and slowly drift into my meditation for the night.