Broken Souls

Stone Cold

I feel my whole body shudder as I inhale heavily, suppressing the panic that shakes my whole body. The shadows of the cave are beginning to recede, allowing me to see in the dull light. Something swoops by overhead and I instinctively lob a Pokeball at it. Even though it's not weakened, it clicks immediately.

I bend down and pick it up with an enormous grin. "Alright! There we go."

I pull out my Pokedex and begin loading the data on our new teammate. The Pokedex dings as it finishes loading. I frown at the blue mark dashed at the very top, hidden away into the corner.

"What does it say?" asks Sunny. "What'd we get?"

"He... he's a guy." I state, disappointed.

"A male... what?" asks D'spinas. "Out with it."

"Zubat." I tell them with a sigh.

"You're disappointed that it's a male but not that it's a Zubat? That's kind of sexist." Reginae says.

"S-sorry. For a second, I just thought it was... someone else." I tuck the inactive Pokeball away in my coat instead of my pocket. It will be safer there, if nothing else.

"You're thinking about Sky, aren't you?" Ten inquires.

I blush fiercely, hoping that it's invisible in the darkness of the cave. "Maybe."

"She'd be proud of you, Ashley." he cooes.

"Who's Sky?" asks Sunny.

"An old teammate." I look away anxiously into the dark of the cave.

Rattata and Sandshrew skitter about, upset by the presence of foreign Pokemon. I regret not catching a Sandshrew, but I already have a ground type and I never catch more than one Pokemon a route. Still, the thought of Dusty upsets me. Something aches within me just watching the timid Sandshrew cluster about.

Even if they were here...

wouldn't they be happier without me?

"So are we going to grind or not?" asks D'spinas impatiently.
"Right, right." I turn back. "Partner up?"

I feel as if cold eyes are peering at me from the darkness, and fragments of stone cover the ground. It's probably just some Geodudes, but I remember a giant Onix from blurry memories and nightmares and I feel uneasy. I try to use Celebi's power to pry into the future and although it might just be my own mind, I can almost imagine the crunch of flesh beneath jaws made of rock.

"On second thought? Maybe Chiaroscuro should stay close to me." I laugh nervously, and the Rattata skitters close to my leg, grasping it with his tiny claws.

The mourning roar of an Onix sounds in the distant.

"Actually? All of you need to stay as close as possible." I hiss under my breath, but all of them must have heard me because they come slightly closer, save for D'spinas.

"It's just an Onix," Reginae sneers as we walk through the cave. "Those things are pitiful against grass and rock types. Sunny could probably knock it out with her eyes closed."

"I don't know..." murmured Sunny, who is hardly bouncing off the ground. Her leaves are tucked down so that she seems almost forlorn. I want to scoop her up and never let her go, but I hold myself back. If we do run into trouble she's going to be one of the more helpful Pokemon.

D'spinas snipes Pokemon from a distance, and Sunny finishes them off with PoisonPowder. The blank expression on the Beedrill is unnerving, even more so than how sharp her stingers are. As I watch, she begins drilling them against a rock, lining it up with the side so that it only serves to sharpen them.