“I don't suppose you know where we are?” Chloe asked Salad, looking down at the map on her Poketch.

  “Dish,” Salad said, dejected, and Chloe patted her on her leafy little head.

  “Don't feel bad, I don't either,” she reassured the Oddish. Then she frowned.

  “Wait, that's not reassuring at all,” she muttered.

  Chloe was lost. She was separated from the others, separated from her Pokemon and was trapped beneath an enormous mountain with no idea how to get out. Still, it could have been worse, she had Salad to keep her company, as well as two of Fiona’s Pokemon.

  Tank she had decided to leave unless she needed him. She wasn't sure the big Heracross would listen to her at all, unlike Salad who was supremely helpful in her nature, if not the most capable Pokemon in the group.

  Then there was Star. Chloe sighed, she didn't have a choice. She needed him. She hadn't released the Rapidash yet for one simple reason: He was going to be extremely grumpy. Chloe adored Star, but he had a bit of a mean streak, and only tolerated the others thanks to Fiona. Chloe got the impression that if they didn't need him for his barriers, he would happily stay in his ball the entire time.

  Still, and she would never admit this out loud, he was definitely smarter than she was, and she needed his help.

  “Here goes nothing,” Chloe muttered, pressing the release on Star’s ball. The Rapidash appeared in a flash of red light. He examined his surroundings with a critical eye, before turning to glare at Chloe.

  “Yeah, sorry. It's just us,” she explained quickly, “We got separated.”

  Star snorted derisively, glaring at her.

  “I know,” Chloe agreed, “I don't like it either. But at least Salad is here!”

  She held up the Oddish helpfully. Star simply snorted again, rolling his big expressive eye.

  “So anyway,” Chloe explained, “It’s you, me, Salad and Tank. No idea where anyone else is. Can you maybe sense them or something?”

  Star considered, closing his eyes. Chloe waited in silence, watching him work. After a moment, he nodded, gesturing in a direction with his horn.

  “That way?” Chloe asked, and Star nodded.

  “Do you know how we get to them?” she asked hopefully, and Star snorted.

  “Okay, yeah, silly question,” Chloe admitted. She stood up, shouldering her bag.

  “Well, guess we head… that way,” she said, gesturing vaguely at the direction Star had indicated. It looked like she needed to find a tunnel that branched off to her left, and hope it connected to the others.

  “Do you mind staying out, or should I put you back?” Chloe asked, and Star considered, before gesturing at the Pokeball. Chloe nodded.

  “Can I call you if I need help?” she asked, and Star nodded to agree. Well, she had that at least. She recalled the Rapidash, looking down at the Oddish in her arms.

  “Come on Salad, let's find the others,” she said, setting off into the darkness.

  “Dish!” Salad agreed, and Chloe made her way along, the light from her headlamp illuminating her steps. They walked in silence for a while, just the echoing of Chloe's boots and the occasional drip of water to provide ambience.

  “You know,” Chloe said to Salad, “I was afraid this would happen. But there's no use worrying about it now.”

  “Odd,” Salad reassured, and Chloe grinned.

  “That's the spirit. Still, it's kind of weird not having the others with us. More company is always nice, even Fiona’s.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  They walked for a while, thankfully only encountering a single Roggenrola that had no interest in bothering them. Chloe debated asking it for directions, then realised that she had no idea where she needed to go anyway. Instead, she left it alone, trudging on for a while before stopping to have a quick bite to eat.

  There she had released Tank, explaining the situation to the placid Heracross. She wasn't entirely sure if he heard or understood her, but he ate the food she gave him and returned to his ball with no complaints, so Chloe assumed he understood. She might need him if they encountered anything strong. Bless her heart, but Salad still wasn't much of a fighter.

  Chloe and Salad shared a juice box as she walked along, chatting away. She didn't understand the Oddish, not really, but she was talkative and the distraction kept her from dwelling on the situation.

  In a way, it was almost nice. Chloe could almost forget that she was trapped alone underground in what was literally the nightmare she had been dreading for the last three days.

  “At least nothing is attacking us,” Chloe said, relieved. Of course, that was when the Graveler emerged from the darkness.

  “I really need to stop jinxing myself,” she told Salad, recalling the conversations she had with the others earlier. She considered her options, before deciding to try diplomacy first.

  “Hi,” she said with a cheery wave, “Don't mind us, just passing through!”

  Unfortunately, Diplomacy didn't appear to work. The Graveler attacked, throwing a large rock at her.

  “Eek!”

  Chloe ducked, avoiding the attack, heart pounding.

  “Tank!” she said, mashing the release button on his Pokeball, “Help me please!”

  The Heracross emerged as the Graveler used Rock Throw again, the boulder cracking into Tank’s hard blue carapace and splintering. Tank barely seemed to notice, looking at Chloe placidly.

  “Get the Graveler!” Chloe said, pointing, hoping he would listen. He didn't move.

  “Please?” Chloe added.

  Stone cracked as the Graveler moved, racing towards them with Rollout.

  Tank turned, lowering his head, horn glowing. He met the large Rock Type with a charge of his own, the impact rocking the tunnel. Chloe squeaked and retreated.

  Graveler ground forward, while Tank dug his feet in and pushed, muscles straining in an immense contest of pure strength. Then, finding purchase, Tank heaved, sending the Graveler flying back down the tunnel to crash into a wall, rubble flying. He followed, laying into it with a series of Brick Breaks that shook the ground.

  “Yeah, get him!” Chloe cheered. Tank was a marvel to watch, so much raw strength. Graveler however was no slouch. It fought back viciously, knocking Tank back with a powerful Body Slam that sent the Heracross reeling. Graveler followed up with Stone Edge, turning the tunnel into a maelstrom of flying rock.

  Chloe squealed, diving for cover before releasing Star. The Rapidash looked singularly unimpressed at the situation, but immediately threw a Protect up between the two of them and the battle of giants occurring further down the tunnel.

  “Thanks,” Chloe huffed, daring to peek back into the open. Rock splintered and the tunnel shook as Tank drove into Graveler once more, the two Pokemon impacting the wall so hard that it began to fall away in chunks. Chloe looked up nervously, she really didn’t want another cave in.

  “Can you help?” Chloe asked, looking at Star. He rolled his eye, but fired off a Psybeam anyway, the rainbow blast drilling into the Graveler, distracting it enough that it failed to block the next blow from Tank. The Heracross’s mighty horn, glowing with the telltale light of a Megahorn struck home, and the Graveler fell, unmoving.

  Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks guys,” she said, examining the corridor. It was a warzone, yet another reminder of the sheer power of Pokemon.

  “Which way were we going?” Chloe asked Star, who pointed down one of the dark tunnels with his horn.

  “Gotcha,” Chloe said. She turned to leave, then paused. She had spotted something.

  There was a crack in the wall behind the Graveler, through which some faint light was leaking.

  “That's weird,” Chloe muttered, before carefully picking her way through the rubble to investigate. She took great care to avoid the Graveler as she stepped up to the wall to peer through.

  She couldn't really make anything out, except that there was definitely a cave on the other side, and something within was glowing.

  Chloe debated. She should move on, find the others. It was the sensible thing to do, and it was probably just like, some moss or something. Or, perhaps even something dangerous.

  But also, she really wanted to know what was behind that wall. What if it was treasure? Chloe could really use some treasure. It might even be a Moonstone! She needed one of those.

  Chloe turned to Star.

  “What do you think?” she asked. Star just snorted, pawing at the ground impatiently.

  “Okay, one vote for leave,” Chloe tallied, “Salad?”

  “Dish!” Salad replied, nodding at the wall.

  “One for investigate,” Chloe said, “Guess Tank decides.”

  She turned to the Heracross, who was standing placidly once more, not paying attention to the conversation at all.

  “Hey Tank, do you think we should hunt for treasure, or keep moving?” Chloe asked him, gesturing at the wall.

  Tank replied by turning and punching the cracked section of wall as hard as he could. Bits of rock tumbled to the ground and the crack widened.

  Chloe looked over at Star, who rolled his eyes.

  “Apparently he voted for treasure,” Chloe told the Rapidash.

  “...or he thought I was asking him to break the wall,” she muttered. “Either way, decision made I guess.”

  Chloe stepped back as Tank got to work on the wall, rapidly reducing it to a pile of rubble as Star kept the shards of rock from hitting the rest of them. Chloe spent the entire time watching the roof nervously, watching as the impacts shook dust and pebbles loose, ready to dive for cover if it began to collapse.

  Thankfully, the rock held, and the crack soon widened to the point where Chloe could slip through, so she stopped Tank before he could continue bringing down the whole tunnel. Which was probably something Chloe should have been worried about earlier, she realised with a bit of a blush.

  Still, what was done was done, and there was no point worrying about it now. Chloe stepped forward to peer through the exposed hole in the wall.

  Now she could see that the gap led into a small cavern. The walls and floor were lined with faintly glowing moss, clearly the source of the light from earlier. It was a small round room, stalactites and stalagmites filling the small space… whichever was which. Chloe wasn't sure.

  Chloe sighed with disappointment.

  “No treasure,” she said dejectedly, “Just some glowing moss.”

  “Guess you were right,” she told Star, who tossed his mane in response.

  “Alright, come on Tank,” Chloe said, turning to leave. But the big Heracross didn't follow, instead staring through the hole he had created.

  Chloe frowned, “What's up? You want some of that moss?”

  She followed Tank’s line of sight, then froze. She had missed it earlier, but in the middle of the cave there was a raised bowl of moss-covered rock.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Chloe asked, already knowing the answer.

  Sitting in the bowl was a large, round object. It was completely covered in moss, but the shape was unmistakable.

  Chloe squeezed through the gap, approaching it carefully, stepping around the densely packed spires of rock. She reached the bowl, and examined the object.

  Gingerly, she reached out and brushed away some of the moss. It came free easily, revealing a smooth, hard surface beneath.

  It wasn't the treasure Chloe had expected, but something else entirely. Sealed in this small cave for who knew how long, left forgotten, lost to time, covered in moss until she had accidentally stumbled onto it.

  Chloe had found an egg.