Timeline of Errors

Part 8 - Into The Cave

"Because it's you. The girl who has never been defeated for years..." she said, "you can hear the thoughts of Giratina and that's the most discreet way I can tell someone about all these. You're the hero saved so many people from the kidnapping case, so... I trust you,"

The hero from the kidnapping case.

As those words entered my ears, I could feel a pang sadness echoing inside. Of the thought that the figure exists no more but in talks, in the idea of it. Or perhaps, because she never existed in the first place. That person wasn't me.

I don't deserve any of it.

...

"...what should we do?" she asked softly, waking me up from my thoughts, "I... wanted to take responsibility of this whole mess too, I'm just... at loss as to what I can do now... so..."

Right. Focus on this, I thought as I stood up and looked around, hmm, what's the best place to start...

"Can you tell me more about Giratina?" I asked, "maybe we can figure out how to reverse this whole situation-"

Suddenly, the view in front of me shook. The young girl shrieked and held onto my waist.

What was that? I thought as I looked around.

"Gista, let's get out of here first," I said and nodded towards the exit.

However, I could hear a loud roar coming from the entrance of the cave. When I turned around, I spotted a navy blue shark-like head with appendages peering into the cave, its beady eyes darting towards us. As it tried to squeeze inside the cave, I could see one of its protruding long triangular fins brushing the cavern wall.

What the... a Garchomp? I thought.

Just as I thought so, I could feel the ground moving beneath me and spotted a drill resurfacing from the ground. Then before us, stood a bipedal, mole-like Pokemon with a dark brown body with diagonal, red splotches. On its forehead was a large blade nearly twice as large as its face pointing at us.

And an Excadrill, I thought.

I quickly grabbed the first Pokeball in my arsenal and threw it between the two Pokemon. The Pokeball opened up, revealing a Froslass who quickly unleashed a powerful blast of snow and wind across the room. Within seconds, both Garchomp and Excadrill stopped moving and toppled on the ground.

"Come on-" I said.

However, before long, I spotted two Pokeballs rolling towards us. Then they opened up. One of them revealed a huge Pokemon covered in yellow fur with black stripes. Its beady red eyes glared at us as its two black tails began to charge up electricity. Next to it was a bipedal Pokemon covered in a set of red and yellow armour, with fire burning on the top of its head.

"Wh-where did all of these Pokemon come from?" Gista said as she clutched onto my skirt.

"Does the noble you work for use these Pokemon?" I asked as I switched Froslass in with Krookodile.

"I don't know - he always uses a different team every time I see him," she answered.

That's... quite unusual for a trainer, I thought and scrunched the space between my brows.

Electivire swung its fist and hit a Brick Break on Krookodile's head. Meanwhile, Armarouge was balling up a Focus Blast on its chest, only for Krookodile to roll behind them quickly and dodged the attack completely. The attack zoomed past my ear and bore a hole on the cavern wall, blasting dusts all over the space.

"Hold on," I said and lifted Gista from her waist, "Krookodile, Earthquake!"

With that command, the ground began to shake violently. I stood my ground, leaning on the wall behind me as Electivire and Armarouge lost their footings and toppled onto the ground.

That earthquake and focus blast might weaken the cave's structure a little bit... I thought, it should still be sturdy enough while we make a run for it-

"D-don't worry about me," Gista said weakly.

Turning to the front, I could see that only Armarouge is left standing.

"Krookodile, Crunch!" I commanded.

With that, Krookodile jumped forward and bit Armarouge, throwing it across the cave all the way to the entrance. However, suddenly Krookodile fell on its knees and went down with a loud thud.

"Krookodile...?" I asked and walked up to it slowly.

However, the Intimidation Pokemon did not move one bit. Its bulky red body with black stripes stayed still on the ground right behind Armarouge. Its flames have died out, the yellow armour clattered on the ground. The light from the cavern entrance shone on their closed eyes and mouth. It was only then did it dawn on me. Destiny Bond.

I could only watch the scene in horror, clenching my skirt.

All because...

I wasn't...

Paying attention, I-

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Pokémon-related institution (The Pokémon Association) as it belongs to Nintendo and Gamefreak.