Chapter 27.8
Flash training began in a secluded corner behind the Ranger Station, where the building's long shadows provided darkness for Nikola's light to push back against.
Ravina retrieved the manual Li had given her in Violet City, its cover now creased from travel. She flipped directly toward the appendix, fingers running down the compatibility listings until finding the exact entry.
"Pikachu, Raichu, Magnemite, Magneton, Bellsprout..." Her finger paused. "Mareep."
Nikola lifted her head from grazing, tail bulb flickering with curiosity.
Ravina tapped the page with purpose. "Verified compatible," she announced.
The Mareep stepped closer, nose twitching as she tried to decipher the text that held her name.
Victor drifted into position above Ravina's shoulder, his gaseous form swirling with false boredom.
"The thrilling literature of illumination," he murmured, voice thick with mock enthusiasm.
"Be useful."
"I am atmosphere," he declared with dignity.
"You're a gas cloud."
"I contain multitudes."
Ravina returned her focus to the manual, ignoring him completely.
The manual defined Flash as a sustained utility technique, requiring precise electrical output managed through controlled, diffuse illumination rather than sudden discharge. Avoid direct eye contact. Light must be maintained consistently while in motion.
Ravina tapped the instructions against Nikola's fleece. "Simple."
Nikola's black eyes shone with confidence as she positioned herself facing the shadowed building.
Ravina pointed. "Light."
Nikola's tail bulb erupted. Not a gentle pulse but a solar flare that painted the world in blinding white.
Ravina shouted as she threw hands over her eyes, spots dancing behind closed lids. "LESS SUN!"
Victor's gaseous form dispersed into the wall behind them. Cinder scrambled backward with a hiss. Owlbert shot straight up into the air in surprise. Toni, secured safely beside Ravina's bag, let out a squeal of pure delight.
As sudden darkness returned, Ravina blinked furiously, her vision filled with afterimages.
Nikola stood rigid with offended dignity, her fleece crackling with remaining static.
"That was impressive control," Ravina amended, lowering her hands gradually.
Nikola relaxed slightly at the revised assessment.
"Just... more measured next time."
The Mareep huffed, small sparks popping across her wool.
Ravina massaged her temples. "Again."
This attempt produced a dim golden glow, barely sufficient to reveal her own hooves.
Ravina nodded cautiously. "Better than candlelight."
Nikola stomped once, indignation obvious in the motion.
"I realize." Ravina sighed. "Apparently light has volume settings."
Victor phased back through the wall with deliberate slowness, his form still somewhat wispy. "Your command of technical jargon fills me with boundless inspiration."
"Stay out of this."
Nikola tried again, her concentration evident in the slight tremble of her black-tipped ears.
This time the glow expanded stronger, yet controlled, a softened radiance that didn't sear the darkness but gently pushed it back.
Ravina nodded, the gesture carrying approval. “There. You found the middle.”
Nikola’s chest puffed slightly, her tail lifting with quiet satisfaction.
“Maintain it,” Ravina directed, settling cross-legged on the grass to watch.
Nikola held the technique, her light creating dancing shadows on the station wall. Ten seconds stretched into twenty with admirable stability, then the illumination wavered, dimming as her focus wavered.
Her tail drooped in sync with the flickering light.
“Easy,” Ravina soothed, shifting closer. “Different than battle discharge. Think of it as breathing light, not shouting it.”
Nikola’s gaze met hers, understanding dawning in her expressive eyes.
“Just… sustained illumination.”
The Mareep took a deep breath, her fleece swelling with the intake.
When the glow returned, it transformed into a perfect balance, a steady, golden ambiance that illuminated their training space without overwhelming it.
Ravina offered a genuine smile. “Excellent.”
Beside her, Toni bounced in excitement, her tiny hands clapping together. Light. A simple concept that manifested with joy.
Nikola’s pride swelled her tail into brilliant celebration, a sudden luminous burst that nearly replicated their first painful attempt.
Ravina shielded her eyes with a laugh. “Not that proud!”
- - - - -
Chapter 27.9
They began with walking practice.
Nikola could sustain her illumination while standing still, but movement transformed her steady glow into an irregular pulse. Each turn sent the light wobbling across the ground, and even the briefest glance at Toni caused the lamp in her tail to flare dramatically.
Victor made himself a nuisance, intentionally drifting into shadowed corners before critiquing the dramatic composition. Ravina threatened to seal him in his ball twice before he relented.
Owlbert, surprisingly practical, positioned himself just beyond the edge of Nikola's reach. Whenever the light faltered enough to create genuine darkness, his sharp hoot cut through the air.
"Good catch," Ravina called up.
Hoot.
Nikola reset, walking with focused deliberation: maintain illumination while moving, hold steady through turns, resist the urge to brighten when Toni squealed nearby.
Cinder positioned himself alongside her, his dark teal body absorbing the light as they moved together. Ravina observed their paired shadows stretching and contracting across the ground.
"Good," she encouraged. "Now turn."
The light barely wavered this time.
"Again."
On their sixth circuit, Nikola's movements had grown fluid, her concentration shifting from deliberate effort to instinct. The glow from her tail bulb settled into a calm yellow-white radiance, her fleece diffusing it into a softer ambiance, less beacon, less weapon, more of a dependable lantern.
Ravina's smile broke across her face, genuine and bright.
"There."
Nikola's legs stilled. The light remained, unwavering, a small yellow star against deepening dusk.
Ravina crouched, the motion sending quiet ripples through Nikola's steady glow. "You did it."
The Mareep leaned against her trainer's leg, the weight of her fleece warm with residual electricity.
Ravina's fingers found the base of Nikola's wool, scratching through the thick outer layer to softer fleece beneath. Toni toddled forward on unsteady legs, captivated by the dancing light. LIGHT. LIGHT. LIGHT.
Nikola dipped her head, lowering herself to Togepi-level.
Toni's tiny fingers reached out, pressing first into Nikola's fleece, then stretching toward the tail bulb, drawn like a moth to flame.
Ravina intercepted the hand with gentle precision. "Look, don't grab."
Toni protested with a soft squeal.
Nikola responded with a soft bleat, tail pulse shifting in rhythm with her contentment.
"You're going to be useful in there," Ravina murmured.
Nikola lifted her chin, pride evident in every fiber.
Victor descended like purple smoke. "Assuming the cavern does not simply contain lamps."
Ravina tilted her head. "Why would it contain lamps?"
A smile formed within Victor's gas. "No reason."
Ravina's eyes narrowed. "Why is everyone doing that?"
Above them, Owlbert hooted.
Ravina looked up. "You too?"
Another hoot, this one definitive.
"Traitors."
- - - - -
Chapter 27.10
That evening, Ravina arranged her new purchases across the bedspread in careful rows. The Old Rod's case sat atop folded supplies, casting a faint shadow beside organized piles of Repels, coiled rope, and a compact lantern with its spare cells. She'd arranged medical supplies at one end, trail food and water bottles at another, with Ito's unexpected provisions taking their own corner. The Mystery TM packet lay half-opened, taunting her beside the freshly acquired manuals for both Flash and the Vs. Recorder. At the very edge of the arrangement sat those dry socks, a single pair that had somehow made their way into her essentials pile. Still ridiculous.
Around the room, the team settled into evening routine: Cinder claimed the space at the foot of the bed, his dark teal fur creating stark contrast against the pale sheets as he circled twice before curling into a compact ball; Nikola had claimed the floor space directly beside the bed, her fleece crackling with static as she arranged herself into a comfortable position, tail bulb pulsing with soft contentment; Owlbert had positioned himself precisely at the headboard, one foot clenched around the wood as his unblinking stare swept the room in methodical surveillance; Victor drifted near the ceiling, his gaseous form expanding and contracting in slow, deliberate breaths that made his purple shadows dance across the wall and occasionally distort the carefully organized displays below. Toni had found the ultimate comfort spot, nestled deep in Nikola's fleece where the Mareep's steady electrical pulses created a vibrating lullaby that had already drawn the Togepi into slumber, her small body rising and falling with each of Nikola's breaths.
Ravina's finger broke the seal on the mystery pack with deliberate precision. The thin booklets slid into her palm: BULLET SEED, ROCK TOMB, and U-TURN. Their covers gleamed in the lantern light, the weight adding to her existing collection of Flash, Roost, and Rock Smash. A slow smile spread across her face. Pudding had been irritatingly right. The gamble paid off. She arranged them in a neat stack beside the Flash manual, the row of techniques growing as the evening shadows deepened across the room.
She retrieved the Vs. Recorder instructions next, the familiar slim booklet feeling heavier in her hands. With deliberate slowness, she flipped to the League data section, her eyes scanning the text that confirmed everything Pudding had explained. Then she read it again. Snap. The booklet closed with a sharp sound that cut through the quiet room.
"I am going to strangle Ito."
Victor drifted lower, his gaseous form coalescing near her shoulder. "With affection?"
"No."
"Then inefficient."
She ignored him, instead surveying her supplies arranged across the bedspread like a tactical map.
Tomorrow.
Union Cave remained unchanged in her mind's eye, the same yawning darkness, the same winding passages, the same unseen wild creatures lurking in the shadows.
Toni was still impossibly small, a fragile thing against such depths.
But this time, Ravina's approach differed. She wasn't simply advancing because the road demanded it. She held knowledge, guidance from experienced locals who had whispered warnings and supplied tools. Light in Nikola's budding ability. Equipment in the carefully selected supplies lining her bed. Repels, rope, lantern with spare cells. Sustenance for the journey. Backup tools for emergencies. A strategy rather than mere impulse.
That novelty settled over her like a mantle. Almost... responsible.
A slow smile spread across Ravina's face, turning toward where Toni slept curled against Nikola's warm fleece.
"See?"
No response from the sleeping Togepi, only the rhythmic pulse of Nikola's tail bulb.
Ravina's voice dropped to a near whisper. "I can learn."
Victor's resonant hum vibrated through the air. "Debatable."
Ravina snatched one of those absurd emergency socks and hurled it at him. It passed harmlessly through his gaseous face.
A spectral smile formed within his purple haze. "Excellent choice of ammunition."
With a sigh, she collapsed backward onto the bed, the mattress groaning beneath her.
Tomorrow.
Armed with preparation instead of just determination.