Chapter 28 

The Terrifying Public Road

Ravina’s Travel Journal — Day 27

Union Cave was terrifying, Absolutely horrifying. 

There were:
LAMPS.
SIGNS.
HANDRAILS.
A WATER TAP.

I trained Nikola for darkness.
There were lamps every 10 to 20 feet
Victor counted them.
I hate him.

The main route through Union Cave is apparently a maintained public road because normal people use it to travel between Violet, Azalea, and everywhere beyond.

Nobody told me this.
Ralph knew.
Pudding knew.
The Rangers knew.
Victor somehow guessed.
Nobody told me.

I used one Repel because I paid for them and refused to carry every single one unused.
Nothing attacked us. Most wild Pokémon looked at Cinder, Nikola, Victor, Owlbert and decided they had somewhere else to be. Probably smart.

Toni did much better once we were inside. She liked the echoes, and the lights, and Nikola glowing.
She stopped being afraid once the cave stopped being one enormous unknown dark thing.
So. Still worth turning around the first time. Still worth preparing.
Maybe not worth the rope.

I tried some of Ito’s game meat.
No idea what Pokémon it used to be.
It tasted like smoked meat.
Cinder approves, of course.

We reached Route 33 without incident.
Slowpoke Well is closed for maintenance.
Apparently unsafe.
Fine by me.

AZALEA TOWN. FINALLY.

Next problem:
Find work.
Train.
Sign up to face the Gym Leader
Badge two.
Something normal.
Please.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.1

Ravina stood before Union Cave's gaping maw, her pack weighted with expedition gear that felt both excessive and necessary.

Repels lined the outer pocket in neat rows. Climbing rope coiled tight against the waterproof wrapping. A compact lantern with spare power cells sat beside bandages, trail food, and water bottles. Among them, the Old Rod's case, unasked for and unavoidable, sat wedged between her new TM booklets and the Vs. Recorder manual that should have been hers weeks ago. Dry socks. Always the dry socks. And Nikola.

Her Mareep's tail bulb already glowed with a calm, steady light that pushed against the cave's oppressive darkness.

The entrance yawned wide, stone teeth framing a void that swallowed daylight almost immediately. Cold air rolled from the mountain in visible waves, carrying the metallic scent of damp rock and distant dripping water.

Toni shifted in the sling against Ravina's chest, small body pressing with sudden alertness.

BIG.

Ravina's palm rested against the Togepi's shell. "Yeah."

Toni's gaze locked on the darkness ahead.

DARK.

"Yeah."

Cinder pressed close to Ravina's leg, his dark teal body a warm presence against her thigh, nose twitching at unfamiliar scents. Owlbert had claimed higher ground on a weathered signpost, his unblinking eyes methodically scanning the terrain. Victor floated slightly ahead, his gaseous form already swirling with delight at the ominous atmosphere. Nikola stood ready, her fleece crackling with contained anticipation.

Ravina drew a slow breath. "Okay."

Victor rotated toward her, voice resonant with mock sincerity. "An inspiring speech."

"I wasn't finished."

"My apologies."

Ravina looked down at Toni. "We know what's inside this time."

Toni stared back with unblinking trust.

That wasn't technically true. But they knew more than yesterday, which counted as progress.

Ravina adjusted the sling's fit. "We have light."

Nikola's tail brightened in response, the illumination strengthening slightly.

"We have supplies."

Cinder's nose pressed against Ravina's pack, sniffing the trail food arrangement.

"We have food."

His ears lifted with sudden interest.

"That was not for you."

He looked away with innocence.

"We have Repels."

Victor drifted closer, form coalescing with theatrical flourish. "We have me."

Ravina stared flatly. "That was not part of the list."

"A grievous omission."

She ignored him completely.

"And if anything feels wrong, we turn around."

Toni absorbed the statement, her head tilting with contemplation.

Then:

THERE.

Ravina's smile was brief, genuine. "Yeah."

She stepped into Union Cave's waiting darkness.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.2

The first stretch was exactly as bad as she remembered, the sunlight extinguished as if a curtain had fallen, plunging them into the cave's waiting maw.

Cold air thick with the smell of damp stone and something older wrapped around them. The path narrowed between rock walls that seemed to lean inward, their footsteps reverberating like accusations in the compressed space. Water dripped somewhere ahead—steady, rhythmic, ancient. Far above, something fluttered, just at the edge of hearing.

Toni pressed closer against Ravina's chest, a tiny warm presence in the sudden cold.

Nikola's Flash filled the passage with soft yellow-white light that worked beautifully. The glow from her tail and fleece softened the hard edges around them, gentling the shadows that threatened to consume them. It transformed the oppressive darkness into navigable space, each glistening wall and damp stone becoming visible in the steady illumination.

"Good girl," Ravina murmured.

Nikola's head lifted, tail pulsing with pride as she maintained the technique with newfound confidence.

They kept going. One bend, then another, the passage twisting deeper into the mountain's heart. Victor drifted ahead, his purple form dancing at the edge of Nikola's light, while Cinder pressed close to Ravina's leg, a warm presence against the cold rock. Above, Owlbert moved from ledge to ledge, his shadow briefly crossing their path with each hop.

Ravina kept one hand on Toni's shell, the other brushing occasionally against Nikola's fleece.

Then they rounded a corner.

And Ravina stopped.

Nikola stopped, her tail dimming slightly as her concentration wavered.

Cinder stopped, ears tilted forward, nose twitching at the sudden change in atmosphere.

Victor did not.

He continued forward, floating past the first fixed electric lamp with what seemed almost deliberate curiosity.

Then past the second.

Then the third.

Ravina stared.

A neat line of lights continued deeper into the mountain, running at precise intervals down the corridor beyond, electric lamps mounted to the stone walls, casting a steady, unwavering glow that made Nikola's careful illumination suddenly redundant.

The passage stretched wider here, the rough floor smoothed flat and reinforced with packed earth. Where the stone fell away toward a dark channel below, a metal handrail stretched along the safer side. Painted markers punctuated the wall at measured intervals, their red and white bands catching the steady glow of mounted electric lamps.

A metal sign stood bolted beside the path.

UNION PASS - MAIN ROUTE

AZALEA TOWN - 6.8 KM

PLEASE REMAIN ON MARKED PATH

Below that:

SIDE PASSAGES MAY CONTAIN UNSTABLE ROCK, FLOODING, OR WILD POKÉMON HABITAT

Ravina's gaze fixed on the sign. Behind her, Nikola waved her glowing tail

Victor turned slowly, his gaseous form rotating until he faced her. Ravina met his gaze across the illuminated passage. A smile bloomed within Victor's purple haze.

"Terrifying."

Ravina slowly pivoted toward the dark entrance they had just navigated, then back again. "Nobody told me."

A Ranger sitting at a small checkpoint desk nearby looked up from his paperwork. "Told you what?"

Ravina gestured upward. "That there were lights."

The Ranger glanced at the lamps, then back at Ravina. "It's a public road."

Ravina stood motionless, her hand tightening on Toni's sling. The Ranger returned her stare, clipboard poised.

Nikola's tail glowed steadily.

Victor drifted past them. "Light number four."

Ravina turned. "Do not."

"Five."

"Victor."

"Six."

"I will put you in the wall."

"You have no means of doing so."

"Cinder might."

Cinder's ears lifted, orange-red eyes brightening with sudden interest at the prospect.

Victor paused in his counting. For almost thirty seconds.

- - - - -

Chapter 28.3

Ravina stepped toward the checkpoint desk, its worn surface scarred with years of use. A woman with rumpled hair sipped steaming coffee, her station jacket zipped against the cave's chill. Steam curled upward in the lamplight.

"Morning."

Ravina nodded in return, adjusting Toni's sling against her shoulder. "Morning."

She gestured down the illuminated corridor. "This goes straight to Azalea?"

"Main route does, yeah." The Ranger took another sip. "Mostly."

Ravina's eyes narrowed slightly. "Maintained?"

"The main path, yes." The Ranger tilted her cup. "Lit too." She set her mug down with a soft thud.

Ravina closed her eyes, squeezing them tight for a full second before opening them again.

A smile touched the Ranger's lips. "First time on the official route?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ravina asked, a hint of defensiveness creeping into her tone.

"Your pack's pretty well stocked for a simple walk." The Ranger's gaze flickered toward Ravina's overloaded gear.

Ravina shifted her weight. "That feels judgmental."

"Not judging." The Ranger's smile widened slightly. "Just observing."

Ravina sighed, the sound swallowed by the cavern's damp acoustics. "What about wild Pokémon?"

"They're around, sure." The Ranger waved a hand toward the dark side passages yawning off the main corridor. "Most stay clear of the main route though. Too much foot traffic."

Ravina glanced back at her small family huddled near the entrance. Cinder pressed against her leg, Nikola's tail glowed warmly, Victor drifted with theatrical curiosity, Owlbert kept watch from above, and Toni stirred sleepily in her sling.

The Ranger followed her gaze, taking in the unusual assembly. "And with that crew?"

She shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "I wouldn't expect much to bother you."

Ravina stared at the perfectly spaced electric lamps dotting the cavern wall, the glossy sheen of unused Repel cans suddenly weighing heavily in her pack.

“I bought Repels.” The words came out flatter than intended.

The Ranger took a deliberate sip of her coffee. “Useful if you go exploring.”

“I’m not going exploring.” Ravina gestured down the illuminated corridor, a perfectly maintained path stretching into the mountain’s heart.

“Then you’ll probably take most of them to Azalea.” The Ranger’s voice remained matter-of-fact.

Ravina’s hands found her face, palms pressing against eyes already tired from cave darkness. Above her fingertips, Toni stirred in her sling, sensing her trainer’s sudden tension.

The Ranger’s voice softened slightly. “Better to have them.”

“That is what everyone keeps saying.” Ravina’s muffled response emerged from behind her hands.

“It’s true.” Setting down her mug with a soft thud against weathered wood. “Does everyone also know this cave is basically a hallway?”

The Ranger’s smile barely touched her lips. “Pretty long hallway. Seven kilometers of it.”

Ravina let her hands drop, the cave lights blurring momentarily. “Right.” She looked down at Nikola, whose tail continued to pulse with steady golden redundant light,

“I trained her for this.”

The Ranger’s gaze shifted from Nikola’s determined glow to the electric lamp above, then back to Ravina. “Useful skill.”

Nikola lifted her chin slightly, a flicker of pride making her fleece crackle.

Ravina pointed. “See? She gets it.”

“Lamp outages happen,” the Ranger conceded.

Nikola’s chest puffed out, her tail brightening with sudden satisfaction.

Victor drifted back through the corridor, his purple gaseous form hovering just beyond the edge of Nikola’s light.

“Seven.”

“Go away.”