Chloe smiled as she watched Mochi and TJ tussle. They had stopped for lunch in a larger cavern, giving them a chance to spread out a little. It was big, lying at the crossroads of several tunnels, a good half dozen dark paths leading away into the mountain.

  The two Flying Types, Echo and Thistle had particularly embraced the chance to spread their wings a little, though they had each perched for the time being. Thistle sat preening for Eleanor while he waited for his turn to wrestle with TJ, Eleanor having her camera out, deciding to test out some low light photography.

  Echo meanwhile sat on Troy's shoulder, gleefully imitating Happy’s chimes, the resulting conversation sounding like someone had thrown a bell in a washing machine. The big guy was sitting next to Lumen in the centre of the cavern, the Mareep still being on lamp duty.

  Mimi and Heather played together over to one side, Fiona and Reinette perched on nearby rocks, each pretending that they weren't supervising the game of tag, and enjoying watching them in the process.

  “There is no way I am using that, you know that right?” Fiona called to Chloe.

  “You say that now, but just wait till you see it,” Chloe replied, from where she was fussing over Star’s Pokeball. She carefully applied another rainbow sticker, sticking it firmly to the capsule. It was a crime to have a damn Galarian Rapidash and not to have a ball capsule and sticker for him, so Chloe was in the middle of fixing that for Fiona. Tank’s Pokeball sat next to her, awaiting the same treatment, while Salad was providing enthusiastic opinions. The Oddish had a good eye for colour as it turned out, and was happily chatting away to Chloe.

  The rumble was the first warning that something was up. A low shaking of the floor and ceiling that vibrated their very bones.

  “Uhh, did you guys feel that?” Chloe asked, looking around at the others.

  “Sorry,” Troy admitted, “I farted.”

  “I don't think that was it…” Chloe replied, climbing to her feet.

  Troy shrugged, “I had gas.”

  Eleanor sighed, “Gross as it is, he does fart loudly.”

  Fiona also stood up.

  “Yeah, no. We should get ready. Something is…”

  The floor exploded. Massive plumes of red hot magma bursting through the rock.

  “What the fuck?” Fiona shouted, as Eleanor screamed and Troy stumbled backwards, surrounded by the plumes.

  Heat slammed into them. Raw, blistering temperature. The ground shook, an overwhelming roar of noise accompanied by a cloud of choking, billowing dust.

  “That's Earth Power!” Chloe shouted, scooping Salad up, clutching the little Oddish protectively to her chest.

  “Fucking move it Troy!” Fiona shouted, the big guy doing his best to get the hell out of the middle of the cavern as the place began to crumble down around him.

  “What do we do?” Eleanor screamed, eyes wide, voice trembling. She backed away, TJ and Mochi at her feet, Thistle squawking with alarm next to her.

  “Get into a fucking tunnel!” Fiona shouted back, following her own advice, moving into a nearby tunnel entrance, making sure that Mimi and Heather were following, Reinette close behind her.

  Chloe hesitated, before tossing Salad towards the closest tunnel. She couldn't risk trying to get to one of the others. She grabbed her bag and the two Pokeballs at her feet, belonging to Star and Tank, before following the Oddish, scrambling to avoid the crumbling floor. The cavern shook, the plumes of magma subsided, but the damage was already done. The floors and ceiling above were collapsing, falling into whatever hole was below. A roar and a crash told of some monumental battle happening beneath them.

  She didn't have time to consider that they were being split up, not with the mountain coming down around them. She had already lost sight of Fiona, the other girl obscured by the clouds of billowing dust and falling rock. She had to trust they would be okay.

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  Chloe ran, making her way down the tunnel, Salad at her heels until the shaking stopped and the noise subsided. She collapsed to the floor, leaning against the wall of the dark tunnel, the only sound her gasping breaths, alone except for the Oddish next to her, the darkness broken only by her headlamp.

  She took stock. She had her bag, she had Salad, and she had Tank and Star. What she didn't have was any clue where her friends were, nor did she have any of her own Pokemon. She had seen them each get to safety, but her heart clenched. Her babies. Her girls. Chloe couldn't help it. She was alone and lost. She began to cry.

  Fiona:

  Fiona swore, backing away from the collapsing cavern, the heat from the rapidly cooling magma still enough to make her skin prickle. She desperately wanted to charge in, to link up with the others, but she couldn't. She had to trust that they would be okay. She had already lost sight of Chloe, the blonde being clean on the other side of the cavern. She saw Troy scrambling to safety, Lumen at his heels, Happy desperately trying to keep the falling rocks from striking him. She sighed with relief as she saw him escape. No one had gotten hurt. She lost sight of him, and turned to check on Eleanor. The other girl was the closest, but still separated. She stood, eyes wide, not moving.

  “What do we do?” Eleanor shouted over the falling rocks.

  “Our tunnels should meet up!” Fiona called back, trying to remember the map she had studied. She was pretty sure she was right. She had no fucking clue where the other two would end up, but if she had it right, the tunnels her and Eleanor found themselves in would converge.

  “Are you sure?” Eleanor shouted, voice full of panic.

  “See you soon!” Fiona replied. She couldn't stay here. She looked down at her feet to see Reinette forcefully dragging Mimi away from the cavern, the Mawile doing her damnedest to get back in and rush after Chloe.

  “Wile! Maw!” Mimi shouted, and Fiona bent down to scoop up the struggling Pokemon.

  “She's fine, we gotta go!” she said, but Mimi wasn't listening, trying to wriggle out of her grip. Fiona checked to make sure Heather was following, and moved, backing away from the cavern, trying her best to ignore the heart breaking cries coming from her arms.

  She could break down later. First, safety. Then, Eleanor. After that she could figure out what the fuck to do next.

  Eleanor:

  Eleanor moved into the darkness, Thistle trudging along beside her, Mochi and TJ unusually subdued. She resisted the urge to panic.

  Mostly.

  Her heart pounded, her arms trembled, her knees threatened to give out. But she moved anyway. She chose to trust Fiona, chose to believe that she wasn't lost. She was reasonably sure that Troy was safe, that was her big worry. The second worry was that she was trapped in Mount fucking Coronet with three Pokemon that weren't hers, and her bag was still in that Arceus-damned cavern.

  She had her camera, and she had her headlamp. That was it. She almost cried when she realised that she had lost another phone. She couldn't afford to keep replacing them. Mum was going to kill her. Assuming she made it out of this cavern.

  Eleanor was so out of her depth. Every time she began to think she could handle this, another fucking thing like this happened. She couldn't help it. She collapsed. Her knees gave way, and she fell to the floor, wrapping her arms around her.

  She wanted to cry. To give up. She sobbed.

  Then, a tug. She looked up to see Mochi standing in front of her, cheeks puffed, hands on her side. Thistle and TJ stood next to her, all collectively glaring at her.

  “Puff,” Mochi said firmly, and the other two nodded.

  Eleanor didn't speak Jigglypuff, but the message was clear. The Pokemon were telling her to toughen the fuck up. They were right. She couldn't collapse. These three needed her. She needed to find the others, to make it out. She would make it out.

  She couldn't just collapse every time something went wrong. The others wouldn't be doing that.

  She dried her eyes and stood.

  “Okay,” she said, balancing on shaky legs, “Let's get going.”

  Troy:

  Troy dove for cover, skin raw from the blistering heat behind him, Lumen at his heels, Echo flapping before him. He had managed to snap a bag on the way out, Fiona’s he thought, he would check later. Right now he needed to move. He had no idea where he was, or where the others would be. He had gotten all sorts of turned around in his mad dash, the collapsing chamber not really giving him a chance to pick a direction.

  But there was no use in panicking. It would all work out.

  It was Eleanor he was most worried about, but he thought he saw TJ with her. She would be fine, if she could pull it together. She was way tougher than she gave herself credit for. She was smart, she would be fine. She had to be.

  As for the other two?

  Well, Fiona was terrifying. Honestly, he almost felt bad for the Pokemon of Mount Coronet, being trapped down here with her. He fully expected her to emerge on the other side of the Mountain, army of new powerhouses in tow, having personally kicked them into submission with her oversized boots. Fiona was an ass kicking machine on a mission.

  Chloe? Chloe was an enigma. He gave it even odds of finding her crying in a corner or skipping along happily, having made friends with whatever monster had just levelled the cave they had been in. Honestly, it was probably going to be both. The pretty blonde was just as terrifying as Fiona.

  Regardless, there wasn't anything he could do right now. He had to think about himself, and the three Pokemon with him. Speaking of.

  “You guys okay?” he asked, checking on them. Lumen was a little singed, but looking fine. Echo was a mess of ruffled feathers, but seemed unharmed, while Happy was exhausted from all the Protects she had used. Nothing to be concerned about then.

  “Well,” he said cheerfully. “We have walking to do.

  He set off into the tunnel, beginning to whistle as he walked. After all, the best way to handle stress was to walk it off.

  Chloe:

  Chloe stood up, drying her eyes and patting her cheeks.

  “Right!” she said, shouldering her bag, “Let's get going shall we?”

  She looked down at Salad, who was staring at her with concern. She laughed.

  “I’m fine!” she said, “Just needed to have a quick cry.”

  There really was nothing like a good cry to cheer you up, after all. Salad didn't look convinced, so Chloe bent down to pat her on her leafy little head.

  “Come on,” she said, “Let's go find Troy. I bet he's worried about you.”

  Then she paused, “Or he’s doing squats. Either way, no use staying here.”

  She picked Salad up, unfortunate that she didn't have the Oddish's Pokeball, but it couldn't be helped. Together, they set off into the darkness, Chloe beginning to hum as she skipped along.

  Life was better when you skipped. After all, it was impossible to be sad that way.