Running Blind

The pair of them traveled eastward for several hours before spotting smoke on the horizon. Lots and lots of smoke.

“Terry, that isn’t the Berry Forest is it?” Roz asked, pointing.

The Cubone growled. “Yeah, I think it is.”

The flames came into view as they approached. The entire forest was nothing but a wall of fire. The only thing louder than the roaring flames was the occasional *BOOM* as a tree exploded when the sap inside it boiled.

“Here to appreciate your handiwork, huh?”

A Jolteon and an Arcanine approached, panting heavily.

Roz floated closer to Terry. Great. Trapped between a pair of Rangers and a forest fire. Their pursuers were winded, but not exhausted. There was no running from this.

Sparks crackled through the Jolteon’s fur as it fired a Thunder Wave at Roz. The Elgyem braced herself, but the electric charge curved toward Terry, who absorbed it harmlessly.

“My turn.” Terry dropped his bag, drew his club, and rushed the Jolteon, smacking him in the side of the head. He stumbled backward, and Terry seized the opportunity to hit him again.

The Arcanine’s mouth ignited and she ran at Terry, only to be pushed out of the way by Roz’s Confusion. Shaking herself, the Fire-type turned her ire toward Roz.

Without his partner to protect him, the Jolteon fell victim to another Bone Club. “What are you doing? Do you realize who she is?” He fired a volley of quills at Terry. Most of them went wide, but a few managed to pierce through his scales.

Roz meanwhile floated upward out of the Arcanine’s reach. Or so she thought. With a mighty leap, she launched herself skyward and tackled the Elgyem to the ground. “Give up! Turn yourself in before this gets dragged out any longer than it needs to!” A sleep seed floated out of Roz’s bag and into the Arcanine’s open mouth. Her eyes went wide before immediately closing, and she fell limp on top of Roz.

Terry jumped forward and tried to bring his club down on top of the Jolteon’s head, but the Electric-type was prepared this time, nimbly hopping aside. Terry let out a roar of frustration and stomped the ground, actually generating shockwaves that knocked the Jolteon over. Roz extended her hand, fingers flashing rapidly, and fired a beam of psionic energy. The Jolteon went cross-eyed and stopped moving.

Terry stood panting for a moment. “Didn’t expect them to find us so soon.” He winced as he put his club away. “Right, stupid Pin Missile.”

“It has been a few days. These two were probably their fastest. There are only going to be more from here on.” Roz examined Terry. “Let me help with that.”

“I’ve got it. Let’s just get out of here before they wake up,” Terry said, brushing her aside.

“It’ll only take a few seconds.” The quills embedded in Terry’s scales seemingly pulled themselves out one by one and tossed themselves aside. The Cubone looked at the pile of quills for a brief moment, then picked up his bag without another word.

“We’ll have to go the long way around,” said Terry. He pulled out his map to figure out which “around” would be faster. Roz floated upward for a better view, but quickly stopped, coughing on smoke. Terry rolled his eyes. “I know you like showing off, but maybe don’t make yourself even more visible? Anyway, we want to go this way.” He pointed to the northeast.

“Are you sure?” asked Roz. How was he supposed to know exactly what part of the forest they were next to without some sort of satellite tracking?

“Yes, I’m sure. Now hurry up; we’ve wasted enough time already.”

Roz looked over the unconscious forms of their pursuers and wished she could make them forget about her. “Roz, what are you doing?! Let’s go!”

Several more Ranger encounters occurred over the next several days. Roz and Terry managed to avoid most of them by hiding in trees, bushes, or whatever cover they could find. Thankfully, these Rangers were lightly equipped. They’d likely left town as quickly as possible. Roz’s stash of items gave her and Terry an edge, but her supply was quickly dwindling.

They passed several patches of woodland, some healthy, others dying, and more than a few that had clearly just experienced wildfires. Massive fissures rent the ground at multiple points along the journey. They managed to take advantage of one by teleporting across it to escape pursuers at least.

Even after only a few days, Terry regularly spotted fliers in the sky. It was only a matter of time before everyone converged on their location. They slept with one eye open and had to fight off attackers in the middle of the night more than once. Food was running low, and Roz was out of items. Finally, Terry brought them somewhere they might have a real chance of shaking pursuers: Lapis Cave. 

Unlike Thunderwave Cave, this place wasn’t lit by electrically charged rocks. Terry pulled a torch out of his pack and lit it with some flint and steel. Pale blue crystals glimmered in the flickering light. The tunnels forked a short distance ahead, and as the two of them approached, Roz noticed additional split paths further on. “I assume you know which way to go?” she asked.

“No,” Terry responded as he started down the left path. “That’s the whole point.”

“What’s your plan then?” Roz asked shakily. She picked up a rock and went to scratch a mark on a wall they were passing.

“Don’t!” Terry hissed.

“If we don’t track where we’ve been we’re going to wander in circles.”

“Again, that’s the point. If we don’t know where we are, nobody else will either. We should stick to telepathy for now. Someone might be following us.”

Roz was sure she caught things out of the corner of her eye more than once. She sensed other Pokémon nearby, but in the labyrinthine caverns there was no way to tell how close they really were. Was that sparkle just the gleam of the walls or was it the eyes of a Sableye? Maybe some of those gemstones were Carbink?

<Terry?>

The Cubone jumped and held out his torch, ready to strike. Once he realized it was only her, he calmed down. <What?> he returned irritably.

<Does anyone live in here?>

<I think so. Mostly Pokémon that don’t mind the dark or can feed on the crystals. Why, do you sense something?>

<I think so. It might be on the other side of the wall. It’s hard to tell.>

Terry gave the mental equivalent of a grumble. <Not much we can do except hope we don’t make too much noise if they find us.>

Roz tried to guide Terry away from the other Pokémon in the cave when they came to split paths, but with the cave walls in the way all she could get was the vague notion that someone else was around. They’d been traveling for hours at that point. Terry’s torch had long since burned out, so Roz lit the way with her holotab’s flashlight.

Their current tunnel terminated in a dead end. <Great,> Terry huffed. The two of them turned around to pick a different path, as they had done numerous times up to this point, and noticed something gleaming on the ground: a pair of gemstones. A shadowy form emerged from the cave floor. “Hey Terry. Finally caught up wit’ you.”

“Kelly.” Terry tensed. The fingers on his right hand twitched, ready to draw his club. “What are you doing here?”

“Lookin’ for you. Droppin’ everything and runnin’ ain’t like you. So…” the Sableye’s glittering gaze turned to Roz. “What did you do?”

“So you’ve fallen for Specter’s lies too, huh?” Terry spread his feet slightly.

“I wasn’t sure I did,” Kelly admitted. “But that thing ain’t natural.” She pointed to Roz’s flashlight. “I don’t know how you talked him into this or going after Registeel, but there’s somethin’ funny goin’ on.” Kelly’s eyes flashed.

Roz’s body seized up. “You got outta Crosswind by teleportin’. That ain’t happenin’ again.”

“Urgh…stop…” Roz struggled against the effects of Kelly’s Mean Look. “You can’t seriously believe that Gengar!”

Terry frantically looked between the two of them.

“C’mon Terry.” Kelly extended her hand. “Why are you letting her do this to ya? You deserve better than this.”

Roz and Terry locked eyes. This was the part where she was supposed to make her case, right? “Terry…you can go back. I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”

“You’re wrong,” Terry said wearily.

Kelly frowned. “Huh? Terry, what are ya talkin’ about?”

“No matter what she thinks, Roz still needs my help. And well, I still haven’t made up for what I’ve done.”

“Terry, seriously, what the heck are you goin’ on about? You’re starting to scare me.”

The Cubone drew his club. “Let us go Kelly.”

“Are you even listening to yourself right now?” The Sableye turned to Roz with a look of disgust. A dark aura flared to life around her.

“I can make my own decisions. I don’t need everyone else treating me like a hatchling.”

Kelly looked between Roz, floating immobilized, and Terry, brandishing his club. The shadowy aura faded, and Roz dropped to the ground. “You’re right,” said the Sableye. “You’re not yourself Terry. But you’re not actin’ like someone else has ya on a string neither. Get goin’, the both of youse.”

“We’d love to,” said Roz, propping herself up. “But we’re lost.”

The Sableye turned to Terry, who averted his gaze. “You gotta be kiddin’ me.” She covered her gemstone eyes with her hands. “You came in here not knowin’ how to get out?”

Terry knocked some gravel around with his tail. “The whole idea was to lose people,” he grumbled.

“Well, I suppose youse woulda managed that if I couldn’t go through walls. I dunno if I can get youse outta here, but I’ll try.”

<We’ll talk telepathically from here on out,> Roz suggested.

<Nice trick that.> The Sableye’s response was muffled due to her Dark-typing, but still “audible”.

Nice as it would’ve been to turn off the Elgyem’s flashlight, Kelly was the only one who could see in the pitch darkness of the cave. It quickly became evident how she’d managed to find them, as her means of navigation was to simply stick her head, or sometimes her whole body through walls.

Roz detected faint telepathic noise from Kelly during one of the excursions where she went entirely through the wall. <I can’t understand you,> she said.

<Someone’s coming around that corner. Can you turn that thing out?> she asked, pointing to Roz’s flashlight. It went out. <Great, now hide!> Roz pressed herself against the ceiling.

<What am I supposed to do?!>

<Take a deep breath,> Kelly said in response to Terry’s panicked outburst.

<Wha- AAAAAAH!>

<Terry?!> Roz called.

<I’m fine just…> The Cubone’s psychic voice was slightly muffled.

<Quiet youse two! I think they had a Swoobat with ‘em!> Another Psychic-type might be able to pick up their conversation. Roz closed off her mind. Doing so made her much harder for other Psychics to sense, but it also cut off all of her telepathic abilities, including her own presence sense, and severed her connection with Kelly and Terry.

Minutes passed in uncomfortable dark silence. Roz occasionally heard soft gasping from down below. She had a good idea of how Kelly was hiding Terry. Eventually she heard footsteps. There was the sound of wings flapping, and before she knew what was happening, something cut across Roz’s chest. “Gotcha.” Just because she was psionically cloaked didn’t mean she could hide from echolocation.

No point blinding herself if she’d been spotted. Roz’s light flared to life, briefly blinding the Swoobat in front of her. The Elgyem levitated a few rocks off the ground and hurled them at her attacker, then took off down the passageway. The sound of wingbeats followed. 

Roz cursed inwardly. Both Terry and Kelly were much better equipped to deal with this thing. It was eerily silent as it pursued, likely using telepathy to alert others. The Elgyem gathered any decently-sized rocks she passed. Once she came to a straighter part of the tunnel, she turned around and threw them at the Swoobat in a scattershot pattern. She didn’t stop to see the results, but based on her pursuer’s cries of pain, at least a few had hit. 

Another Air Slash hit her in the back and Roz tumbled to the ground. “Your little game’s over.” The Swoobat’s bizarre tail extended and grabbed her by the wrist while he lifted her with telekinesis. The Elgyem tried to throw another rock, but her captor shook her violently as soon as she lifted it, breaking her concentration. “That’s quite enough of that.”

The Swoobat made sure to jiggle her as it carried her off, preventing her from getting the focus she needed to teleport. With no psychic link, she could try calling out, but that would only attract more Rangers. Then again, her captor was probably already talking with them telepathically. But what if he wasn’t? Would more people finding her actually make her situation any worse? Screw it, she thought. “Terry!” She stopped herself before calling for Kelly; no one else knew the Sableye was helping them yet. Or was this all part of her plan?

“Call out all you want honey, I can take your friend too. Makes my job easier if anything,” Swoobat taunted. “Oof!” He dropped her as he was abruptly knocked to the ground. Roz was really getting sick of this cave floor. 

Looking behind her, the Elgyem saw Terry charging forward with his club aloft and covered in dark energy. The Cubone swung in a wide arc, bashing Swoobat across the face. Roz sensed his intent just in time to float out of the way. “About time you said something,” Terry huffed.

“Oh darling, you did not just do that.” Swoobat lunged forward and smashed his nose into Terry, who recoiled. He followed up grabbing Terry around the midsection with his tail.

Roz meanwhile searched the immediate area for as many rocks as she could find and telekinetically grabbed them. When Terry cried indignantly at being grabbed, she had 10 or so orbiting her, and, hand outstretched, launched them one at time. Most hit their target in the head, finally knocking him out.

Kelly caught up and, with her help, the two of them managed to navigate their way through the cave, though they hesitated when they got near the exit.

<They know you’re in here,> the Sableye warned. <They’ll be watchin’ the other side. We’ll need to find another way out.>

<Are there any other exits?> Roz asked. She couldn’t see anything when she gingerly poked her head around a corner, but she definitely sensed people up ahead.

<There are as many exits as I say there are,> Kelly answered.

Terry groaned silently. <Not again…>

Kelly led them to a wall that looked identical to any other and stepped right through the solid rock, returning seconds later. <Yep, this is it. Looks nice and clear, too. The both of youse’ll need to find a way to sneak past the patrols out there, but that’s a heck of a lot easier than tryin’ ta get out the normal way.> The Sableye extended her hands.

<What about you?> Terry asked. <Won’t they figure out that you helped us?>

<Maybe, maybe not,> Kelly shrugged. <You got yourselves to worry about though. Focus on that.>

The Cubone awkwardly grabbed his arm and brushed his tail across the ground. <Actually…I was wondering if you wanted to come with us.>

Kelly folded her arms as she considered his suggestion, then shook her head. <Terry, I believe you think this is somethin’ you need to do. But I don’t believe in it enough ta follow you across the continent on a hunch.> Her gemstone eyes glowed ominously in Roz’s flashlight. The Cubone opened his mouth to respond, but simply nodded. <Now come on; the longer we stand here with that light on the more likely they find us.>

Roz and Terry grabbed hold of the Sableye’s hands. Roz remembered to take a deep breath just before was pulled straight through solid rock. She clamped her eyes tightly shut, but even if she had opened them her light would have been useless. There was no air; instead everything around gave the impression of coarseness. More than anything though, was a feeling of resistance, like her whole body was being pulled through thick syrup, but orders of magnitude more viscous.

Mere seconds after it started, it was over. She and Terry popped out of the wall gasping for breath. How Terry had managed to stay in a wall for so long earlier, she had no idea. Sure enough, even though Roz could sense others nearby, she saw no one. She and Terry quickly made their way behind a rock and out of the open.

<This is as far as I take youse. Terry, I know I ain’t changin’ your mind so…be careful, yeah?>

<I will.>

<And you. I’m trustin’ that you’re not behind all this mess. I’d better not regret this.>

<You won’t>

<Good. Best of luck, the both of youse.> With that, the Sableye stepped back and merged with the wall behind her.

“Thanks Kelly,” Terry muttered. “Thanks for trusting me.”

~~~

“What’s our next move?” Roz asked as she and Terry looked over the map.

The Cubone grit his teeth. “Mt. Lithstone,” he answered, pointing it out both on the map and on the horizon. “There’s no way they’ll follow us there.”

It wasn’t particularly impressive. Mt. Lithstone looked identical to any other mountain Roz had seen in her life other than maybe being a bit bigger. That having been said, the significance of the name wasn’t lost on her. “That’s where Regirock is, isn’t it?” Terry nodded.

“Then there might be another Speaker there.”

Terry grumbled as he put the map away. “We don’t have time for anything like that right now.”

Then when will we have time? Roz looked back in the direction of Lapis Cave, no doubt swarming with Rangers all looking for her. No, of course he’s right.

First thing’s first, they needed to put as much distance between themselves and the search party as possible. She and Terry slowly crept forward, ducking behind boulders whenever they could. The Elgyem was happier than ever that her default mode of movement was floating as it made moving silently effortless.

The pair teleported across an empty area with no cover. As far as either of them could tell, they still hadn’t been spotted. A Pidgeot passed overhead, coming from the direction of the boulder they were pressed against. Thankfully it was at a bad angle for it to spot them, but they both remained motionless until it was out of sight. It was oh-so-conveniently flying directly toward Mt. Lithstone.

“Are you sure we should go there?” Roz whispered. Her reserves were running low from the day’s heavy exertion. Speaking aloud was risky, but a few minutes of telepathy now could cost her a teleport at a crucial moment later.

The clock was ticking. Eventually the Rangers would suspect that they’d escaped the cave somehow and start combing the area more thoroughly, and they were running out of rocks to hide behind.

“Do you see any other options?” Terry gestured back toward the assembled Rangers.

“There has to be a town or something near the mountain, right? Like there is with Mt. Steel?”

“Doesn’t help us,” said Terry. “We’ll be wanted criminals in Golden Quarry just as much as anywhere else. Doesn’t change the fact that we desperately need supplies, but no one’s gonna sell to us.”

“We’ll worry about that when we get there. For now, I don’t think we can go any further without being seen. Let’s wait until nightfall,” Roz suggested.

Neither of them was particularly thrilled with the idea of waiting around, but Roz was right; going any farther wasn’t a smart move. With any luck, Lapis Cave was large enough to keep the Rangers occupied for at least a few more hours. Better yet, most if not all of the nocturnal Pokémon would be inside, hopefully accompanied by the Psychics.

The two of them spend the next couple of hours in tense silence. Once, a Machoke riding a Cyclizar even passed their hiding spot, but mercifully didn’t look their way before disappearing around a corner. 

Once they were confident it was dark enough, both Pokémon left their cover and made for Mt. Lithstone. Terry’s innate resilience kept stiffness to a minimum, and the respite gave Roz time to recover her power a bit. Still, she was wary of overusing her presence sense, as it would make her easier for other Psychics to detect, and turning it off and on repeatedly was far more tiring than keeping it active for an extended period of time.

After an hour or so of travel, they came upon a sizable depression in the ground, clearly monmade. Though even Terry would hardly call it a large city, the firelight illuminating the mining settlement at its base gave it an almost golden glow.

“I’m sure the Rangers have already given the townspeople a description of us,” Terry said. “And both of us stand out in a crowd.” He indicated his own exposed head and the peculiar bracelet on Roz’s wrist. “You should probably take that thing off.”

“I can’t, remember? It’s a cybernetic implant. Essentially a part of me.”

“Right. How are we gonna get supplies then?”

They were both thinking it, but neither wanted to voice it. “We have no choice,” Roz said at last. “We’ll have to steal them.”

Terry sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been trying to think of another option for the past three hours and I got nothing.”

“Let me handle it. I’m far better equipped to handle this than you. Besides, it’s my fault we’re even in this situation to begin with.” The Elgyem hitched up her backpack.

“Just be careful, okay? We’re in enough trouble already.”

“I somehow doubt petty theft will mean much compared to…whatever they call the crime I’m guilty of. Treason I guess? Anyway, just wait here. I’ll try not to take too long. If I’m not back by morning–” 

“Then there’s probably nothing we can do,” Terry cut her off.

Roz swallowed, but nodded, departing without another word. She kept to the shadows, flitting between cover. She risked drawing unwanted attention, but given how many Rangers she and Terry had seen traveling toward Golden Quarry that very day, there was a good chance the townsfolk were on the look out for an unfamiliar Elgyem. Since most of the locals were Rock-types, she’d stand out like one of her own glowing fingertips.

For now, her priority was figuring out where she could find supplies. Getting an aerial view of the town was the most intuitive course of action, but she was too paranoid to expose herself that much. Still, she knew roughly where the edge of town was, so she did her best to navigate toward the center in hopes that it would be some sort of business district.

As both she and Terry had hoped, most of the populace looked to be turning in for the night. She spotted a few people heading home, likely from a late night at work or a pub, given how unsteadily they walked. Still, there were plenty of spots to take cover.

Eventually, Roz wandered into what appeared to be a market square. Sadly, there were Pokémon conducting business, even at this hour. Not all that unexpected really, but unfortunate nonetheless.

There were plenty of empty stands, but they were all completely empty–no products. Again, to be expected given the universal supply shortage; a stocked stand would make a very attractive target for a desperate thief (like her). Roz’s only option looked to be finding a proper store.

The market was, thankfully, quite close to the business district, and the Elgyem quickly located multiple stores likely to carry what she needed. After briefly checking to confirm no one else was around, she floated toward the front window of one of the stores and shone her light in. Easy. She focused and…

“Hey! You!”

Startled, Roz shut off her light and whipped around to find a Misdreavus glaring at her. Not good. She tried to flee, but found herself unable to move. Mean Looked twice in one day, are you kidding me right now?!

“You looking for something?” the Ghost asked with a brow raised. Roz noticed a Ranger’s badge on the bandana around her neck.

This Misdreavus had probably been following her for a while now, watching from the shadows or phased into the ground. If she’d used her presence sense she likely would’ve noticed her.

“I was checking to see if they have something I need.” Technically true.

“Uh-huh. And I’m guessing that’s why you were about to teleport inside?”

“Wha–I didn’t–”

“Ma’am, I know what it looks like when a Psychic is about to teleport. Wait a minute…where was that light coming from?”

“What light?” Roz asked innocently.

Misdreavus narrowed her eyes, then gasped, noticing Roz’s bracelet. “It’s you!” Wisps of ectoplasm coalesced in front of the Ghost. Roz had no choice. She fired a beam of Psychic energy from her fingertip. 

The Psybeam hit, but Misdreavus kept her focus and unleashed Shadow Ball. With Mean Look still in effect, Roz could do nothing but brace for impact. There was no physical force behind the attack, but Roz reeled all the same. She fired again, but Misdreavus vanished into thin air just before impact. Since Misdreavus broke eye contact, Roz tried once again to escape. Without warning, Misdreavus materialized right in front of her and rammed her, knocking her to the ground. She briefly caught sight of a metal loop floating in front of the Misdreavus before everything went black.