Sky's the limit

Chapter 12

Soren led the way on a path along the top of rugged cliffs hanging over a vast body of water. He rarely looked up from the Wonder Map, since he wanted to be sure they were always on the right track.

The teams had all split off to get to the base camp on their own when they all left the guild. Chatot had made it perfectly clear that no one should be separating from their teammates or aiming to be going somewhere other than the base camp. Those who didn't make it to the camp in time would be left behind.

"Are we there yet?" Gina whined. "My feet hurt, and I'm tired."

"We get there when we get there," Soren replied without looking at her. "And I think we should be at the first destination in a little while."

"Where are we going to end up first?" Bidoof asked.

"A place called Craggy Coast, from the looks of it. We'll know we're there when we come to a cave at the end of this path."

Gina bit her lip impatiently. She wanted to get to the camp as soon as possible so they could look for Fogbound Lake before everyone else. Her paws tingled with excitement at the thought of it.

Up ahead, there was a large cave mouth in the side of the cliff. Soren was too busy looking at the Wonder Map to notice. "Uh, Soren? I don't mean to distract you, but-"

"Gina, I can't look away right now. I think we're almost-" He cut off as he walked right into a statue just beside the cave mouth. He stumbled back with surprise and looked up from the map. "Oh, I guess we're here." He chuckled. "All thanks to the Wonder Map, of course!"

Gina rolled her eyes with amusement, then she walked over to the edge of the cliff, staring down at the clear water splashing up against the rocks. "The water's so high up! This is awesome!"

"It sure is starting to look like a real expedition, yup yup!" Bidoof remarked. He stared at the statue that Soren ran into. "I suppose this here must be a Kangaskhan Rock."

"So that's what this is?" Soren examined the statue closely, eyes narrowed. "What's so special about it?"

"When you find a Kangaskhan Rock at the entrance of a dungeon, or at a dungeon's midway point, it marks a safe place for explorers to rest, since wild Pokemon don't come to them." Bidoof gulped. "I haven't exactly ever seen one, the older explorers just talk about them a lot. I reckon I shouldn't be talking like such a big shot..."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Gina said cheerfully. "It's our first expedition, so of course we're all feeling nervous. Right, Soren?"

"Right!" The three of them gathered around the Treasure Map, which Soren held out for them all to see. "So right now we're at Craggy Coast, right over here. We need to get to the base camp, which is over here." He pointed at each location in turn.

"It looks like it'll take a long time for us to reach the camp from here without stopping," Gina said. "Maybe we should try to find some kind of halfway point?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Soren tapped his chin thoughtfully. He then pointed to a mountain that was halfway between Craggy Coast and the base camp. "How about here?"

Gina grinned. "Let's do it!"

Bidoof nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea to me, yup yup!"

As Soren led the way into the cave, Gina couldn't help but admire how her partner had taken charge. He was certainly growing in confidence, and was beginning to look more like a leader, despite Gina having taken that role in their team.

With a smile, she ran up to walk alongside her partner as they made their way through the dark, damp cavern.

~o~o~o~o~