It's late, and I don't feel like struggling through the rest of the cave half-asleep, so we set up camp. Chrona is boasting her new evolution, but unfortunately she still can't mega evolve. "Do you think I'm doing something wrong?" she asks me.

"No, I have even less of an idea of how this works than you do." I say, yawning.

She looks irritated but says nothing more. Crypt and Gaile run up to me, both talking at once.

"We did a thing!"

"Caught a-"

"Just like you wanted!"

"Slow down," I tell them, giving them both a pat. "You caught what exactly?"

"You told us to get a teammate- so we did!" They both say at once. Crypt gags and up comes a Pokeball.

I back away a bit, slightly revolted, but they're both smiling so I pick it up and put it in my bag. "What did you catch exactly?"

"A Nidorina." brags Gaile.

"She was huge and super angry!" Crypt exclaims.

"But we brought her down." Gaile smirks.

"We should show Chrona!" yells Crypt, far too loudly for this hour of the night.

"Please don't swallow it again." I beg them, and then gently give it back. Gaile takes it in his mouth and they run towards a tired and thoroughly uninterested Chrona.

Rune, Pich, Shruikan, and Iris are all sleeping with some of the blankets Bronze uses on occasion to set up camp, and I give a sigh of relief. I sit on Rune's back, letting the fur cushion my face. He's warm and fluffy, like a stuffed animal. He growls a bit, but then rolls his eyes and lets me be. I fall asleep there, in the middle of a cave, curled up in a dogpile of fluffy Pokemon.

I wake up the next morning when Rune gets up and I slide and hit my head on a pillow with a solid "oof'.

"Well." he says, "Hope you enjoyed that because you are never going to sleep on my back ever again."

"Why not?" I complain.

He scoffs, a foxish noise that's half growl and half pure distaste.

Before I know it, everyone's up and Bronze is passing out berries for the Pokemon and granola bars for the two humans in our party- him and I.

"These taste like cardboard." I say, then cover my mouth. "Oh Arceus, sorry, they're fine I swear..."

"Eh. Nah, it's fine. You're right." He yawns. "We should get going." Thankfully, he's already changed the subject for me. Good old Bronze.

Feeling like a complete idiot, I watch for a while as Chrona lumbers around, falling over and laughing in her new form, and Rune and Pich are up ahead, alone.

"Think they're doing anything we should be worried about?" Bronze asks.

"No, but I do think I should probably keep an eye on them. Never leave any Pokemon unattended while grinding." I say, reciting one of the most useful nuggets of knowledge I've learned on this journey.

"Amen to that." he says.

An hour later, I'm running through the cave looking for Rune. The irony is not lost on me. "Rune, what are you doing?" I yell.

"Pich is gone!" he yells back.

A bit concerned now, I follow. "When did you last see her?"

"I don't remember. I was fighting a Trainer and she was watching me when suddenly-" he stops talking with a huge wheeze, shaking his head.

"What?" I ask, noting his sudden silence.

We turn a corner and the cave closes in around us. There are crystals everywhere, reflecting light in beautiful patterns. Towards the end, spiky red crystals lead to a body.

"OH MY ARCEUS, PICH-" I scream, and a crystal breaks off and lands right next to her. She shudders a bit.

"She's alive." I breathe.

Rune runs to her, down on all fours in this terribly awkward way and then tripping. He picks her up, muttering something into her ear, when a Wobbuffet emerges from the darkness.

Rune runs back, only to hit a wall of energy. "Shadow Tag." he mutters. For a second, he hesitates, and then throws Pich through. She lands in front of me, wings spread out unnaturally.

"Rune, be careful!" I clench my fist and Rune brandishes his stick.

He fires off a psychic blast and the Wobbuffet glimmers for a second and the energy bounces off, hitting Rune squarely in the stomach. He staggers to his feet, firing another one, only to be hit again. This time, he gives a little whine of pain.

"I can't... can't..." He presses the barrier. "Pich, just go."

Pich shakes her head. "Rune..."

The Wobbuffet is standing over him now, and he yells and bites it, blue blood spraying, and the Wobbuffet just stands there, bleeding with that awful smile still across it's face. Rune stabs it with his stick, again and again, and it keeps doing nothing. Suddenly, it glows a bright red. Rune, terrified, stumbles to his feet and presses up against the barrier.

There's a blast of red light and then a second of silence before crystals fall everywhere, a tinkling noise that's beautiful and awful at the same time.

I try to flash to him, but feel nothing. My heart begins pounding. Is he okay?

Rune cuts through the crystals with a stick twice it's normal size. He's two feet taller now, red fur shaped like suns flowing out of his ears and gleaming bright red. His fur is mainly maroon now, in what almost looks like a dress. If this wasn't a life threatening situation I feel like I would be laughing, but right now I just stand there in awe as he beats the thing to a pulp.

He mutters, "More of them. At least thirty. We need to go now."

I want to say something, but Rune pushes me down the tunnel and we're off. We don't stop running until we've reached the group. The others are all just waiting around, with the exception of Bronze and Pacifica, who are missing.

"Where's..." I take in a deep breath. "Where's Bronze?"

"Looking for you." says Crypt innocently. "Chrona's takin' care of us!"

Chrona rolls her eyes. "Let's go with that. These guys aren't going to train themselves, you know. If I let them out of my sight they'd probably die."

Crypt and Gaile both nod.

"Totally useless." Gaile interjects.

"100% need chaperone." says Crypt in less than perfect syntax.

While they continue talking about their incompetence, I get out some potions for Pich. "Why did you do it?" I ask, almost pleading her for some sort of logical answer.

"Sorry." she says, "I.... I felt... there's something down there. It was a rock. I think it may have been a m-m-mega stone."

"Pidgeotite." Chrona confirms. "Rare as heck. Anyhow, be careful next time. Your life is worth more than a rock."

It's so blunt I can't tell if Chrona just insulted her or genuinely said something nice to someone who in her head must be a sworn enemy.

Either way, we're safe now.

Safe and almost out of this awful cave.