I brush off the ent about my eyes as I am not quite ready to tell anyone about my abilities. Ohings get harder to ceal as I develop other powers, if Bea and Fnnery are still traveling with me at the time, I will likely tell them a bit more. As we walk further away from the entrahe girls pull out their fshlights and I pull out a fshlight of my own to mask that I see in the dark. Bea walks in front leading us further down into the mountain and I take a ce to look around at the cave.

  The cave itself was nothing special. It is about four meters across and about three meters high. There are no stagmites or stactites as this isn’t a cave formed by water and the area leading up to Pewter City is located on the leeward side of Mount Moon. As we get closer to Cerulean City, I expect the cave to ge more. From how smooth the sides of the cave are, I ’t tell if this cave was dug or if it was here naturally from a pokemon opening the way. After ten minutes or so of walking, the cave opens into a huge cavern that is at least teers tall and deep enough that the fshlights disappear into the darkness without hitting anything.

  “Is this pce supposed to be this dark?” I quietly ask as I take my fshlight and shi around randomly in the cavern. I take o not shi on any pokemon that I see. The ceiling has swaths of Zubat peacefully sleeping above us. I noti the walls about three-quarters of the up have man-made depressions and I see pces where lights could be strung.

  “I hope not, having to travel for days in this dark will not be fun.” Bea replies. “Though I think that fighting in the dark would be an iing experience.”

  “I would rather not o fight in the dark.” Fnnery replies as the sound of a pokemon being released from a pokeball be heard beside me. I look over ahat she let out Ponyta for some ambient light.

  “Scared of the dark are we?” I tease lightly.

  “Nope, I just don’t want to hold a fshlight until my arm falls off.”

  We quietly banter bad forth in the quiet of the cave. I’m sure if I was going through here alo would get to me even if I see perfectly fine. After some time I check the time on my phone ahat it is well past sundown. I still feel perfectly fi I figure I should ask my girls.

  “My phone says it’s nearly ten at night. Want to call it for the night?”

  “I was w if someone was going to ask. I’m beat and the darkness isn’t helping.”

  “Alright, let’s find a spot to set up camp.”

  We spend the hirty minutes log a pce to set up camp in the low light of our fshlights. I cheat by looking around for a nice alcove we use outside of the fshlights and gradually lead the group over to it. It only takes a few mio actually set up camp as like me, Fnnery and Bea have a simir tent that is set up in their bag already.

  We arrange our tents in a triangur shape and I pull out my cookware and Thuone Lamp. I adjust the mp to be just bright enough to light up the area around us and theo work making dinner. During our time together, I found that Fnnery doesn’t know how to cook and Bea only cook instant meals so it was decided that I would be reguted to cooking duty.

  During dinner, I brought up the topic of keeping watd the rotation. I offered to take the first watch as I was the least tired of the three of us and I found I need less sleep retly. After we finish eating, the two of them wish me a good night and head into their tents. I wait about thirty minutes, listening for them to fall asleep before I turn down the mp to its lowest setting. I move outside the circle of tents and find a rock to sit on and pull out a sitting cushion that I had bought ba Pewter. I pick up Skadi and sit down lotus style on the cushion and softly pet her. Her ears occasionally twitch cutely as she listens to the fn sounds of the cave.

  The hours seem to tick by slowly as I keep watch. I remember from stories I have read that watch is b but until now I ruly uood what that entailed. The first hour isn’t bad as you have things to think about and easily distract yourself. The sed hour is when it truly kicks in. You keep looking at the same unging sery, trying to stay focused so you don’t miss something and after your nth time sing the area, you realize only fifteen minutes have passed and the dread starts to sink in.

  As the third, and thankfully final, hour hit I was having trouble staying focused enough to watch for wild pokemon. Suddenly, Skadi jumps from my p and quietly growls at something just outside my field of vision. I look over and see a group of five Paras that are silently moving towards the light of the camp about a meter away from me.

  “Shit. Skadi, use Powdered Snow,” I call quietly to my little sweetheart. She fires off a bst of snowfkes towards the group of Paras which causes them to stumble. After the attack, they turn towards us and stare in our dire with white lifeless eyes. I see a mixture of green and purple colored light ing from the mushrooms on the back of the pokemon as they send out a burst of something that flies in our dire.

  “Send it back with Icy Wind, keep them at a distance.” Skadi follows my and as she fires bursts of frosty air from her mouth which causes the sickly colored cloud to stall in the air as we move backwards away from it. “Are you able to see them sweetie?” I ask and she shakes her head slightly, still fag the dire they are in. “Alright then, we are going to do the spray and pray method. Use Icicle Spear and fire it close to the ground and fan it in front of you. Hopefully we hit some.”

  She fires off a fan of icicles towards the group and mao score a hit on one of them but the rest miss by a wide margin. “Only o hit. Try it again but not as spread out.” I rey to her, hoping that she would be able to hit more a sed time. As she sets up tain, the Paras she just hit sends out a green pulse of energy that hits both of us. A momehe Paras glows green and that is when the pain starts.

  I cry out in pain as I feel something being ripped from my body before a green orb of something appears and files towards the Paras that just attacked. I watch as the orb flies over to the pokemon and I see it heal iime. The pain from the attack clouds my mind as I release Zephyr from her pokeball and give her a and.

  “Heat wave, that dire until I say stop.” I order coldly with a raspy voice as I pce my hand on her body to guide her in the right direy brave bird hears the pain in my voice as she fires out a bright blue fme from her beak in the dire of the Paras. The fme lights up the area as I and Skadi to fire off ice shards to pick them off. One of the pokemon bursts into fme as out a sound simir to a tea kettle.

  “Frost! Are you alright?” I hear someone call from the tents.

  “I’m alright,” I call back briefly as I focus on what is happening in front of me.

  I see a couple more bursts of green energy, simir to the ohat just hit me. I back up quickly and dodge the waves. I watch as three different orbs, two from Zephyr and one from Skadi, fly back towards the group of Paras. Halfway there, one orb fizzles out as another Paras goes down. This bad forth tinues for another miil I see Zephyr’s fme weakening.

  “Zephyr stop, Skadi use Icy Wind to finish this!” The cave goes dark as Zephyr stops her fire attad weakly nds on the ground panting. Skadi oher hand unleashes a bst of freezing cold wind that causes the super heated ground to shatter in its wake before it hits the Paras. A siing g sound be heard as the carapieces of the remaining Paras implode.

  I wait for a mio make sure nothing else is ing before letting out a sigh of relief. Soon I feel a hand on my shoulder which causes me to jump slightly. The sudden movement makes my whole body ache from the exertion. I furrow my brows as I’m not sure what that move did to me but whatever it did affected my whole body. I look bad see Bea standing there with a ed face.

  “Are you sure you are okay? I heard you scream in pain earlier, it’s what woke me up.” She asks me again.

  “I-I think I’m okay. I got hit by a move from the Paras I was attag.” I tell her truthfully, n to look tough in front of a ed friend. Bea frowns and leads me back to the campsite as I recall Zephyr. Skadi follows beside me as she looks up at me in as well. Once we are ba the light of the campsite, Bea thhly checks me over, her warm calloused hands running all over my skin as she looks for any pce where I am physically harmed. I blush hard when her hands brush over my butt and I have to hold back a small gasp when she checks my breasts as well.

  “I-I-I’m fine Bea!” I whisper as my face could probably start a fire from how hot it is.

  She ignores my ent and talks to herself as she looks me in the eye with her hands sitting on my hips. Her thumbs gently drum against my stomach as she mumbles to herself. “It doesn’t look like it hysical move. Maybe a status type move?” She tilts her head to the side slightly before asking. “ you describe the move to me?”

  While fumbling with my words, I describe everything that happened before she woke up. I am highly distracted by how close she is and the fact that she is still holding my hips and unsciously strokihumbs ay skin. I don’t say anything about it as I know she is ed about me, and truthfully I don’t mind it at all.

  “It sounds like you were hit by Absorb. It is a move that absorbs nutrients from the oppo. The feeling of pain is likely from how it forcefully takes the energy. If anything I say it might have helped you as you seem a little skihan you were.” Bea tells me with a slight smirk on her face.

  “If it didn’t feel like getting stung by a million Beedrills, this would be a new fad among women to lose weight.” I give her a small smile back as I ugh off the pain in my body. “Since you are up, mind taking over early? I’m feeling rather drained from the fiasco.”

  Bea gives me a hearty ugh at my horrible pun and pats my hip pyfully. “Alright then, sleep well and I’ll get Fo wake you up in the m.”

  “Thanks Bea. I’m gd you came to chee.” I give her a soft smile and then give her a quick hug before retreating to my tent. Onside, I grab an Occa berry bar that I promptly e before stripping off my clothes aling into a lotus position once again in the snowy interior of my tent. Skadi finds her spot ient and quickly falls asleep. I y eyes and slowly drift into my meditation for the night.

  Kurotsuki007