Chapter 28.4

The mountain's interior remained unchanged in its fundamental nature: a cave.

Civilization had merely carved a path through it.

The main corridor opened into vast chambers where underground rivers channeled water through the darkness below. Immense stone pillars rose from floor to ceiling like ancient giants holding up the roof. Mineral deposits sparkled in the steady glow of mounted lamps, veins of crystal catching the light and throwing it back in tiny rainbows. Metal railings guarded steep drops, their surfaces cool to the touch. Rest alcoves had been methodically carved into wider sections; some featured rough stone benches, while one even boasted a functioning water tap.

Ravina stared at the tap as if it might transform into something else entirely.

"No."

Victor drifted closer, his gaseous form hovering beside her. "Eight."

"That's not even a lamp."

"I am expanding my count to include all artificial fixtures."

"Absolutely not."

The side passages told a different story.

These yawned dark and threatening from the main route like mouths waiting to swallow the unwary. Uneven stone floors promised twisted ankles; the air felt heavier, colder. Warning signs marked each entrance:

RANGER SURVEY ROUTE.

RESTRICTED DURING HIGH WATER.

UNSTABLE - AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY.

WILD HABITAT - DO NOT ENTER.

Ravina peered into one of these tunnels. Nikola's illumination penetrated barely a few meters before the darkness devoured it completely. Something stirred deeper inside, the sound of rock scraping against rock, faint but distinct.

Toni leaned forward in her sling, wide eyes peering into the blackness.

DARK.

"Yep."

Ravina turned back to the main passage. "We are not going that way."

Victor's sigh echoed through the gaseous form. "A tragedy."

"No."

"Adventure awaits."

"No."

"Mystery."

"No."

"Potential haunting."

Ravina gestured vaguely in his direction. "We already have one of those."

Victor paused mid-air. "That is... fair."

- - - - -

Chapter 28.5

Their first encounter emerged as a Zubat, its dark form suspended upside down from a distant ceiling outcrop.

Owlbert's head rotated first, his sharp eyes catching the faint movement. His hoot was barely audible, a soft alert before pointing with a subtle tilt.

Ravina traced the line of his gaze, her free hand instinctively tightening around a Repel canister. Above, the Zubat shifted slightly, wings rustling against stone, before settling into stillness.

Seconds stretched.

Nothing.

Cinder's orange-red eyes followed her attention upward, ears tilting forward. Nikola's tail pulse quickened, her golden light making the Zubat's purple skin shimmer dimly.

Victor drifted past them all, purple smoke barely stirring the air.

The Zubat remained, nothing more than a living decoration in this illuminated corridor.

Slowly, deliberately, Ravina lowered the Repel bottle.

"Right."

A hundred paces further, a Geodude nestled into a crevice beside the path. It cracked open one stony eye, scanned their party with what might have been disinterest, then shut it completely.

From the shadowed mouth of a side tunnel, a Sandshrew emerged. It froze mid-step, armadillo-like body rigid. Cinder met its gaze with calm interest.

The Sandshrew retreated.

Victor floated closer, his voice resonant with dry amusement. "I believe we have become the encounter."

Ravina surveyed her team, Cinder's steady presence, Nikola's helpful glow, Victor's dramatic surveillance, Owlbert's watchful perch above.

"Fair."

Toni chirruped from her sling, a bright inquisitive sound.

AGAIN.

Ravina glanced down, magenta eyes meeting the Togepi's unblinking gaze. "What?"

Toni's head cocked, tiny points twitching.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Her eggshell bobbed with interest as she processed the pattern.

AGAIN.

Ravina's smile surfaced slowly. "Oh."

The distant dripping answered, a steady rhythm echoing through the vast chamber. Toni's entire demeanor brightened, the earlier hesitancy dissolving like mist in sunlight.

Yesterday's oppressive gloom had been replaced. Electric lamps marched ahead at precise intervals, carving a path through the mountain's heart. Paved walkway, metal railings, even the Ranger's checkpoint had transformed the threatening void into something... manageable.

The darkness now clung to side passages rather than swallowing them whole.

Toni blossomed into a living commentary, her simple psychic concepts flowing like a babbling brook:

LIGHT. (As they passed another lamp.)

BIG. (When they entered a cavern whose ceiling disappeared in shadows.)

SOUND. (Water cascading somewhere below.)

ABOVE. (As Owlbert soared from one railing to another.)

Ravina adjusted the sling's fit, her voice gentle. "Better?"

Toni's gaze lifted, meeting hers with that same unwavering trust.

SAFE.

Something in Ravina's chest eased at the single concept. "Yeah."

That made the emergency ropes in her pack feel slightly less ridiculous. Almost.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.6

Even with the electric lamps lining the path, Nikola continued to provide her own illumination, her steady glow a warm presence against the cave's cool darkness. Ravina felt a pang of guilt, Nikola had worked hard to master this technique, and now the mountain's artificial lights made her careful efforts seem unnecessary. Still, whenever they entered stretches where lamps thinned or shadows pooled deeper, Ravina found herself asking the Mareep to maintain her Flash, and Nikola seemed genuinely delighted to be useful, her tail pulsing with quiet satisfaction.

The golden light traveled with them, casting dancing shadows across the passage walls. Toni especially enjoyed it, spending long minutes mesmerized by how the glow caught in Nikola's fleece, her simple thoughts flowing across their connection: 

SOFT.

"Yes."

LIGHT.

"Exactly."

Nikola's chest puffed with pride, tail brightening.

"Just remember not to go sun again," Ravina cautioned, and Nikola responded with a soft, offended stomp.

"I'm just saying."

Above them, Victor drifted lazily, counting as he passed each lamp. "Two hundred and eleven."

Ravina shot him a look. "Lamps."

"Two hundred and twelve."

"Don't make me pay Cinder to discourage you."

The Quilava's ears lifted with sudden interest.

Victor paused, his counting interrupted.

Ravina glanced down at Cinder. "You weren't actually going to do anything."

Cinder shifted his gaze away with practiced innocence.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.7

Midday found them at one of the designated rest alcoves carved into the cavern wall. A stone bench offered respite from the long walk, beside a functioning water tap that tapped out a steady rhythm against the cave's natural drip. Under a glass cover, a detailed map stretched its lines, main route glowing brighter, emergency exits marked in red, Ranger access paths in blue, flood channels winding like veins through the mountain's interior. Farther south, a rest station appeared with estimated walking times between each point.

Ravina stared at the map, then glanced down at the coiled rope that felt increasingly ridiculous in her pack.

Cinder stretched out on the cool stone, dark teal body a stark contrast against the bench as he settled with a sigh. Nikola curled close beside him, fleece crackling softly, her tail bulb maintaining its steady golden glow. Toni scrambled up the Mareep's back, burrowing into the warm wool with happy chirps. Above, Owlbert perched on the map frame, his unblinking gaze methodically scanning their surroundings while Victor floated near a warning placard about flash floods, reading it with dramatic gravity.

Ravina unfastened Ito's food package with deliberate slowness. Berries first, bright colors that promised safety, simple and familiar. Then came the smoked game, wrapped in paper that carried a distant forest scent.

She stared at the dark, smoky strips of meat. Completely impossible to identify. Rattata? Pidgey? Sentret? Something else entirely?

Cinder's nose twitched immediately, orange-red eyes lifting to meet hers.

"Lunch time," Ravina announced, though it came out more like a question.

He stared harder.

Ravina sighed. She tore off a piece, the gesture feeling foreign and uncertain. The aroma rose immediately, savory, smoky and complex. She held it out to Cinder.

He took it without hesitation. Chewed. Swallowed. His gaze fixed on her hands, searching for more.

"Well?"

Victor drifted closer, his gaseous form swirling. "A culinary review of great sophistication."

Cinder ignored him completely, his attention fixed entirely on the remaining meat.

Ravina lifted the remaining strip, examining its surface under Nikola's golden light. The texture seemed wrong, too familiar despite its mysterious origin. She brought it to her lips, teeth closing slowly.

Victor's gaseous form stilled mid-drift. Nikola's head swiveled toward her. Owlbert rotated his entire body, Crimson eyes fixed on her mouth.

Ravina chewed, the flavors blooming against her tongue, salty first, then smoky depth, then the clean taste of lean protein. Her expression remained unreadable as she processed something remarkably... ordinary.

Swallowing, she met Victor's gaze. "...Fine."

A spectral smile bloomed within his purple haze. "Fine?"

"It tastes like meat." She gestured vaguely. "Like... meat meat."

"Profound culinary analysis," Victor responded, voice thick with mock reverence.

Ravina took another, more deliberate bite. "I don't know what I expected."

Nikola rose, hoof scraping stone as she stepped toward the package.

Ravina instinctively pulled back. "Hmm?"

Nikola's black eyes fixed on the smoked strips.

"You eat grass."

A sharp stomp sent sparks dancing across Nikola's fleece. Toni chirruped from her perch, startled by the discharge.

"That wasn't an insult," Ravina amended quickly. "Oh, right, the berries. Those should be okay for you."

Victor drifted backward, gaseous form expanding dramatically. "Parenthood has demolished your commanding presence."

"I never had commanding presence."

"True."

Ravina watched him hover above the stone bench. "Do you want some?"

Victor considered, his purple form swirling contemplatively. "Emotionally?"

"No."

"Then I shall remain satisfied by observing."

As her team ate their respective meals, berries for Nikola and Toni, mysterious smoked strips for Cinder, Ravina settled on the bench, taking small bites of the unfamiliar but strangely comforting meat. Owlbert maintained his perch on the map frame, his watchfulness interrupted only when Toni offered him a berry, which he accepted with meticulous precision. For a moment, in this illuminated cavern, with electric lamps marching into darkness ahead and a strange shared meal bridging species, they became something ordinary. Almost.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.8

They walked on.

The hours unspooled behind them, the steady rhythm of their footsteps on stone marking time as the electric lamps stretched endlessly ahead. The darkness now felt almost companionable rather than threatening.

Much too companionable.

Ravina paused at a stretch where side passages seemed to breathe cold air into the main route. With deliberate purpose, she unclipped a Repel from her pack, the metal canister cool against her palm.

Victor hovered nearby, purple haze swirling with interest. "Defending us from nothing," he observed, voice resonant through the cavern's acoustics.

"I paid for this," Ravina replied, shaking the canister before spraying a wide arc along the path edge. The chemical scent drifted upward, instantly dissipating into the cave's cool air.

"A compelling tactical doctrine," Victor acknowledged with a spectral bow.

"Quiet."

They encountered other travelers, the route was alive with them. Two hikers with sturdy boots and walking sticks nodded as they passed. A family with excited chatter and a Furret that rode the father's shoulders. A courier whose loaded cart squeaked under the weight, pushed forward by two muscular Machoke whose breathing echoed in the passage. A teenager walking beside a perched Golbat that occasionally flapped its leathery wings just to startle.

None of them appeared remotely concerned about the darkness, the wild Pokémon, or the vast stone archway arching overhead.

Ravina watched the courier's back disappear around a bend before looking down at her own pack, bulging with preparedness. Rope coiled tight. Repels clipped to the outside pocket. Emergency kit with waterproof wrapping. Backup lantern with spare power cells. Dry socks.

She sighed, the sound barely audible in the cave's steady drip.

Nikola lifted her head from examining an interesting mineral vein, black eyes questioning.

"It's fine," Ravina said, though the words felt hollow even to her.

Nikola blinked, waiting.

"I'm glad we prepared." This time, her voice carried something genuine.

Nikola continued walking, her tail maintaining its steady golden glow beside the electric lamps.

"I am," Ravina added, almost to herself.

Victor drifted closer, his gaseous form nearly brushing her shoulder. "Acceptance is the first stage."

"Of what?"

"Comedy."

Ravina shoved her hand straight through him. Cold mist enveloped her fingers, tasting faintly of ozone and something unplaceable.

Victor gasped theatrically. "Violence against the incorporeal! Such passion!"

"We're at lamp six hundred," Ravina announced without breaking stride.

Victor stopped mid-air.

Ravina's smile broke across her face. "See? I can count too."