The Ketchum Family

Reigniting an Old Flame

This chapter takes place during the previous chapter. Bonnie is in the middle of an investigation. What will she discover? What dangers will she confront?

Content warning! This chapter has some mild peril and violence in it. Nothing terrible but it is a deviation from what this story usually is.

I hope you enjoy this chapter and the big plot reveal!

An eerie silence hung in the cool, damp, air of Mistralton Cave. The only sounds were random plinks and bloops of water droplets falling from stalactites. There were no sounds of life to be heard. Pokémon no longer inhabited this part of the cave; they'd all fled some time ago.

On a ledge overlooking a large chamber some distance inside the cave, a faint blue light slowly rose and fell in brightness as it cycled on and off. The source of the light was a small cylindrical device, standing on four, skinny metal legs. The cylinder featured a pair of round knobs rotating around a bearing, near the top of the device's body. The device was a collection of many parts; some given; some bought and some stolen; all cobbled together in a mostly elegant manner which looked functional but a little hodgepodge.

The slowly cycling light illuminated the creator of the device, who was propped against the cave wall, just an arm's length away. The creator's blonde hair appeared a ghostly, pale blue in the faint light. Her twin braids drooped over her shoulders as she slowly breathed in and out. Her eyes were closed and her head was canted to the side as Bonnie drifted in the peacefulness of sleep.

Tucked into the pocket of her messenger bag, Dedenne slept as well. Bonnie's hands were cupped together at her waist, holding the Pokéball of her other traveling companion, Charmander. The final member of the small group also sat with eye closed; however this one was not sleeping. Squishy slowly shifted as it peered out into the world, using its countless cells to see throughout the cave and its many entrances.

Time passed; it had no meaning inside the cave. The sun could rise and set and nothing would change inside their tomb-like abode. A small pile of snack wrappers and empty water bottles attested to the length of their stay. Bonnie softly sighed as she floated within a dream and then Squishy shifted!

The small, legendary Pokémon opened its eye, blinked a couple of times and turned around toward the young girl.

"Bonnie!" the psychic-capable creature gently nudged within the sleeping girl's mind.

The blonde haired girl hummed and smiled subtly. "Hiii Squishy..." she replied in a drowsy voice as she continued to sleep.

Squishy waited a moment and nudged again. "Bonnie!!" it said with a bit more insistence.

At this, Bonnie's face scrunched up and she gradually pulled her limbs in as she woke up. She groaned softly and rolled her head as her eyes blinked open. She groaned again, ran a hand over her face and looked at the small, green Pokémon who'd awakened her.

"Squishy?" she questioned in an anxious voice.

At that moment, a soft, beeping sound began to emanate from the device. A small display lit up and showed a trio of red, yellow and blue bars all slowly increasing in height as the device tracked what was going on. Bonnie's eyes widened and she crawled to the device on all-fours. She stared at the display and then shut the device off. The girl from Lumiose City looked at her small friend and nodded.

"It's time," she said in a low determined voice.

Dedenne stirred and suddenly chattered as the electric type came awake. Now in total darkness, Bonnie shifted to a crouching position and held a finger over her Pokémon's mouth.