Living in the Shadows

CHAPTER 2 A NEW FRIEND

(Jenna)

Somebody must be battling somewhere because the cave walls and ceiling were shaking, and dust was raining down. It was when rocks started falling that we left the area.

Ben had my flashlight and was in the front, so he took the lead. Crystal was in the center of the group and she used Flash. I brought up the rear with my glowing.

Just so you know, I still can't walk properly. Unless I move very slowly or keep my hand against the wall as I did back at Borac Town's hospital. Talking and clearing the air back in the Cave of True Reflections helped, but there was still a rift that was not going to go away or be mended overnight. (Darkrai's words, not mine.)

On the plus side, there now was a bridge; which I saw when I last meditated.

We hadn't been walking for long when disaster struck. The cave floor caved in and those that weren't able to grab onto anyone fell.

Ironically, it was like being on a big slide. I didn't see Jake, Hannah, Ben, Diane, or Jack. Given the fact that Hannah had been riding on Ben's shoulders, I'm thinking the other three must have maintained their grip on each other. But the rest of us lost ours as we fell.

Three or four separate slide tunnels were connecting to the one we were on. I slid down one tunnel while everybody else, who still had a grip on each other, slid into the others. I don't know about everyone else, but my slide led to the outside and into another pool of water; deep this time.

Luckily I can still swim in my Pokemon body.

My irritation about always landing in water was set aside when I saw a severely injured Elgyem floating downstream, holding onto a piece of driftwood. The little guy was barely conscious when I swam over and brought him to shore.

Luckily my satchel didn't fall into the water with me. It had dropped onto the dirt by the water.

Elgyem's injuries were so serious that I didn't have time to mix up any medicine. So I gave him some Lunala Flower Nectar. His reaction was the same as Zorua's.

"BLEUGH!" He cried out as he shook his head vigorously. "What, in the world, is that stuff!" he exclaimed as he shuddered. "I am never complaining about Healer's medicine again!"

Then he noticed me. "Who are you?"

"The person who just gave you the most horrible-tasting medicine ever," I told him with a smile.

Elgyem sweat-dropped. "I'm really, really, sorry! I didn't mean anything by it! It's just that-!" He began frantically before I interrupted him.

"Hey!" I practically shouted. "It's OK. I know this stuff tastes terrible, but you were in such bad shape I didn't think there was time to mix up a more tasty medicine batch."

Elgyem blushed and hung his head. He twiddled his hands before saying; "Thank you for saving me, miss."

"You're welcome," I said as I put the crystal back in my satchel. Elgyem seemed to be not much older than Zorua or the boys. "How did you receive those injuries?"

"My team and I were tracking down a notorious gang of Skarmory," he began. "After one dead end after another, we finally found them." He paused. "Or rather, they found us."

He sighed. "I don't remember much after the first attack. Except that I found myself floating on that log when I first woke up, and in a whole lot of pain."

"Can you find your team from here?" I asked as I stood up.

Elgyem looked around. Then he sweat-dropped again. "'Fraid not, miss," he replied as he shook his head. "I don't even know where in the Shadow Mountains I am."