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Reflection Cave
"The sheer faces of these rocks reflect the images of people and pokemon like nature's mirror."
.
Serena's. There were Serena's everywhere. That was the first fact that ran across her mind upon entering the cave.
It was the most peculiar thing.
Though what was more peculiar was that there was also a lesser fear of traversing through the cave; an experience she never thought she'd have in this life time. The cave was surprisingly illuminated; there was not so much as a dark crevice in some places—the only mere traces of shadow. That's how bright the place was. But where the source of light came from, she didn't know.
After a few minutes' worth of continuous walking and turning, she gets the idea of the maze, but also doesn't. She was getting more and more scared the easier navigating through it became. That is, there was no longer the game of mindlessly picking a course to take, but she had to choose wisely and use her memory. And there was so much remembering to do.
She chooses a path. Dead-end. Go back. Three other paths. Go there, dead end. Go back…which way had she taken already? What was the first path…?!
So, becoming too stressed out, she reverts back to the old game, her temples feeling much less strained this way.
Eventually, however—after about an infinite number of attempts—she gives up and slumps down to the ground in the middle of the walkway, not even caring. She needed a rest. She was getting tired.
Her mind goes hazy and slightly loopy, like she wasn't in the present. She hoped she wouldn't resort to this state of mind but…she couldn't help but wonder, 'what would Calem do?' He had always seemed to know how to coordinate himself within caves. He knew how to do a lot of things, surprisingly.
Where—was he?
She huffs, letting her thoughts run in pointless circles for lack of better use of her time—
A tug on her skirt—
"Ch?" She hears Chespin say from beside her.
"I am ok," she types with half of a conscious, and hits the mic. Then, as if a switch was flicked inside her, she suddenly realizes the situation at hand.
She turns her head to his wide eyes.
"We need to find Calem."
The pokemon hesitates for the slightest, and then gives her a firm nod. He jumps up to set off marching. Serena gawks at his back.
Her mind processes….
She reels forward with a hard sprint of her feet, immediately getting in stride with the tyke.
"Hold right there, soldier."
Both trainer and pokemon freeze and tries to seek out the voice. They couldn't pinpoint the owner until an adolescent mysteriously steps out from behind a mirrored wall. He seemed oddly proper with his purple frock and styled, black, wavy hair. There was something unnerving about his smirk.
"I have never seen you two around these parts before. I'm guessing you're newbies." He gives a sly smile. "How about…a battle?"
Serena wasn't up for a battle. It was the last thing she wanted right now. The priority was to find Calem, and that was that.
She could easily have said no to this guy, but something about him held her fingers back to grab the caster and request a forfeit. She shook her head at him instead, backing away to end up beside Chespin.
"Being a chicken, aren't you? Come on, your little chespin right there looks rearing to go. Look at his face!"
She shakes her head again, but this time more sternly. There was no way she was going to battle him with Chespin. She felt she couldn't trust this guy. She had to get away.
She snaps her fingers, trying to get Chespin closer by her side while keeping an eye on the suspicious trainer.
Chespin did not budge. Instead, he runs forward in a diagonal to get in front of her, growling at the offender.
"See? What'd I tell you?" He shoots a hand into his frock and reveals a pokeball in his hand. "We obviously have to battle."
Serena snaps her fingers some more. She even claps for Chespin to hear, but to no avail. The thought of returning Chespin to his pokeball ran across her mind, but he would only just pop out again like he always did! There was no point to return him!
The trainer throws out his pokemon.
"Go, talonflame!" The bird materializes and snarls menacingly from his altitude in the brown sky. Chespin growls back just as loudly.
If she couldn't get sense into Chespin, maybe she has to talk to the trainer. She rapidly types into her caster, her fingers overpowered with adrenaline.
"We can't battle right now we have to go no battle no battle!"
The trainer lifts a brow. "Can't talk huh? I guess this makes this battle much more easier."
She bites her lower lip and wishes she were back in her room, sleeping.
(***)
He stalks stiffly down the hallway of mirrors along with two other versions of him: one on the right and one on the left side. There's no telling how his clones feel. Their hair covers their face from anyone's view.
The Calem in the center, however, is blatantly upset. His brows are set in dangerous slants and his grimace is straight and rigidly tucked in. His hands shoved into his jacket's pockets, his eyes roaming the spots ahead occasionally, searching and calculating.
Why does this cave seem endless? He wonders resentfully. Each path and corner he took he came face to face with more mirrors to reflect his sorry mood.
Soon, he sees someone up ahead, messing with their reflection in the mirror. It was a kid making faces at himself. The kid also had pokeballs lying precariously near his feet. The hands in Calem's pockets twitched, and he brought them out to hover at his side near his satchel.
Calem's footsteps interrupted the boy's antics and he looks to him, his face no longer making lame expressions. "What do you want, sneaking up on me like that?" The kid spat.
"Why you…" Calem muttered under his breath. Then he took out a pokeball and took a step towards the kid. "I want a battle. Right here, right now."
The boy snatches up his pokeball with a devilish grin. "Hah! If that's what you want, then let's go. My zubat will blow you away and make you go cry to your mommy!"
Calem gawks and his fingers twitch once more. This immature runt…
A zubat suddenly makes its presence with a screech and Calem automatically throws out his own pokemon.
(***)
"Talonflame! Why?!" The pitiful guy yells at the fall of his pokemon. The bird lies on its back in an unpleasant position, its feet sticking up to the ceiling.
"Return," he mutters, and the bird's white particles trail its way back home. The ace trainer's face goes from crestfallen and bewildered, to absolute determination and anger. Serena takes a step back, though tries to stay in place, refusing to look the slightest bit fearful.
"I've got to be honest. Your Chespin's got spunk. Did you spike its food or something? Gave it a battle boost when I wasn't looking—?"
She sends him a disapproving look. She would never do that to Chespin.
"Go, Ampharos!"
The pokemon's particles makes its way out and comes to life. It stretches, yawns, and bounces forward, its face and body set to cause annihilation. Serena steps back, startled.
"Ampharos, use thunderbolt! And keep striking until you hit that stupid thing!"
The pokemon yells and the first strike of lighting comes down from the ceiling, directly above Chespin. Chespin dodges instantly, but then looks back to Serena, waiting for her command to attack. She only stares straight ahead, her face oddly shrouded by darkness.
The next bolt comes, and Chespin dodges it again in advance. He looks back once more with an increased panic in his eyes. She wasn't responding to him.
A third bolt stirs and shoots down. This time, Chespin doesn't dodge. He figured he needed the light from the bolt to illuminate her face. He needed to see what was wrong.
The lightning crackles, and before he was paralyzed, he saw her eyes were filled with a dark tint, void of any expression. She was transfixed on the ampharos on the field.
It seemed he wasn't the only one paralyzed.
(***)
"W-what? My pokemon!"
"That's right, kid," Calem snaps, allowing his _ to return.
"All three of my pokemon fainted! All in one go!"
"I believe that's what happened."
"You're such a meanie! You didn't have to show off in the first place, and now it's like you don't care!" The kid yells, his angry, puffed cheeks deep red.
Calem can only stare blankly, suddenly noticing the situation.
"What? Do you hate pokemon or something?! You're not very nice!"
He begins to stalk away, but then reluctantly takes out a few coins and tosses them to the ground in front of the winning trainer, shouting "Here's your stupid money!" before stalking out of view.
Not knowing exactly what to feel, Calem picks up a coin, blankly inspecting it before tossing it to the side. He couldn't accept it. The battle wasn't played with the best of spirits. He's never treated another trainer with such contempt and disrespect, and the fact that he did disgusted him to his very core.
'What? Do you hate pokemon or something?'
'Calem—! H-How could you…? That's it—we're through. I'm sorry.'
A crackle suddenly shatters the air and he jumps to attention. He peers down the road and up the road.
It was from up ahead. All sorts of flying type pokemon were fleeing from the spot. Tucking in his pokeball, he makes a run towards the lightening.
(***)
The ace trainer dips his head in shame. "How? How in the world did I lose?"
He returns his slumped over, fainted ampharos and shoots Chespin a loathing glare. "I don't know how you managed little guy, without your trainer commanding you, but whatever. It' s 'what-evs', you know? You just had luck on your side."
Chespin crosses his arms and rolls his eyes as the trainer stalks away in muttered harrumphs. Chespin may not have heard and understood a single word the guy just said, but he knew the ace trainer was a horrible person who deserved that kind of a beat-down.
The tyke turns his attention to his hidden trainer in the shadows. She was completely in her own world, and it scared him. But only a little. He was a tough guy-pokemon.
He knew he needed to lend her his strength.
With his short little hind-legs he dashes over to her side. He taps her knee with a small amount of force as to be careful of his claws, but also to try to knock some sense into her.
It works, but to an extreme. His wind is taken from his chest as Serena swiftly scoops him up in her arms and flies down a random direction. He only blinks stupidly against the crook of her elbow, his face uncomfortably mushed up on her wet, tear-stricken skin as he wonders where they were going.
Soon enough, after seconds of intense running and curving around the corners, they end up in a secluded corner. Serena sets him down and plops down to a sitting-position, covering her face with her hands, her back dipped so far and abnormally slanted.
Chespin huffs, wrists on his hips. He wished Calem were here to sort her out and to talk to her, because what he supposed to do?
Confused on how exactly to make his trainer feel better, he taps on her foot repeatedly, patiently waiting for her to look at him. She finally does after a while. He brings up a paw to wave at her, giving her a bright show of his pointy toothed grin.
She doesn't smile back, but remains unfazed with a frown.
She takes out her caster and slowly taps at the screen.
"I'm sorry, Chespin."
He cocks his head and lifts a brow. She sighs, but not out of irritation.
"I'm sorry for acting like this. I just did not like the battle we just had."
"Ch-Chespin?!" He points at himself.
She shakes her head. "No, not your fault."
He lets out a relieved sigh.
She takes a minute of hesitation to type out her next few words. Great concentration and reluctance furrowed her brows throughout doing so.
"I used to have an Ampharos. He battled with me the same way we battle all the time, Chespin. But then I"
She wipes at her imaginary tears and resumes typing.
"I lost him."
She breaks down then, her chest racking and trembling at frequent jumps of her quiet sobbing. Chespin didn't know what to do. He only frowns.
"Serena! Chespin!"
(***)
This stupid cave…stupid, stupid cave.
He finds himself muttering the words over and over in his head as he continues walking towards an unknown destination. The lightning has long gone now—for about ten minutes or so. He wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction anymore. Had he passed Serena without knowing? Was the lightning even connected to her? Where could she be?
He dips his hand into his jean pocket to take out his caster. Still dead, even with the back-up battery inside it he'd replaced earlier. His caster just didn't have signal in here. Serena's must not have had signal as well. With a disappointed sigh, he puts away the caster. He doesn't even know why he even bothered to check the thing once more. It's not like the third attempt would bring lucky results.
He keeps walking aimlessly. Surely there would be at least someone to cross paths with eventually, then he could question the person about the lightning. The odds of finding a stranger compared to finding his companion seemed much broader, and it gave him mixed feelings.
But he knew all he felt at the moment was dejection. There was no denying it. And maybe even guilt. Serena was capable of doing a number of things without a voice. But this? Getting lost in a cave? No, she wouldn't survive.
A voice echoes from ahead, echoing down the hallway to his ears. The gender of the voice he couldn't quite place. He walks lighter on his feet, trying to zone in on just the voice, and only the voice.
There was no sound, however. Just the faint dripping from the stalactites and his stepping feet.
There was a turn up ahead, and just as he was about to reach it, the voice came back and it was much clearer this time. 'No, not your fault.' It said, sounding robotic. Then a light sigh, as if from a child.
Could it be…?
He wasn't sure. He'll eavesdrop a little longer to make sure it was them.
'I used to have an Ampharos. He battled with me the same way we battle all the time, Chespin. But then I'
It was her. But this was wrong. He shouldn't be eavesdropping—he should make his presence known. He runs around the corner, but only to come upon a wall, a reflection of himself.
'I lost him.'
They were behind it. The voice from her caster was so clear.
"Serena! Chespin!" He shouts. "It's me, Calem! Are you guys alright?"
A scramble of some sort seems to play out. "Yes," Serena's caster says, sounding much clearer and louder, "We're okay."
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Thank goodness. Okay, we need to find a way out of here. Have you seen the exit yet?"
"Are you okay too? And no."
"I'm okay." He smiles faintly. Ever since that time in the Glittering Caves she's been more and more concerned with his wellbeing. "Well try to find a way out and I'll meet you there, alright?"
"Okay."
"Che-Che-Chespin!" He hears the pokemon squeal.
"Hi to you too, little guy. Look out for Serena for me, okay?—while you both find the exit."
"Che-Che!" He confirms back. Then until the sound of paw and feet echo down to a decrescendo where he couldn't hear them any longer, he starts his own searching as well.
(***)
She stands at the border of bright sunshine and eerie darkness, patiently waiting. The welcoming embrace of warmth that showers down upon her back doesn't persuade her to take that one step back to leave total torture. Her feet are planted firmly to the ground, being strong as the will of a weather-beaten tree trunk.
"Ches….pin.."
She blinks down at the dozing tyke in her arms. His torso down to his toes were left dangling as her arms were encircled around under his arms. He'd been sleeping for a while now; however she didn't blame him. He'd been through a lot today. They've been through a lot today.
A whimper escapes from upon her chest and she looks down, surprised to see a very purple-faced Chespin.
Purple-faced—!
She releases her arms in a flash, dropping the creature down on his bottom with lots of heavy breathing that followed.
Chespin—he—he was about to die because of her. Stricken with fear and worry, she quickly returns the confused pokemon to its pokeball. Afterward she steadies a rock against the ball's lid on the ground.
"Um..Serena?"
She jumps and whirls around to see Calem walking up, his hair utterly disheveled.
"What are you doing with that pokeball?"
She looks from his hair to her contraption, his hair to her contraption. She stares off to the distance, puzzled on what exactly to type up on her caster.
Calem sighs and begins to walk sluggishly, teetering this way and that towards the bright exit way, going past the girl's gaping.
"I'm tired," he blandly states. "I can't deal with anything right now. I'm sorry."
Watching as he gradually disappeared down the road; she quickly flips over the stone, grabs the pokeball, and runs after him.