"Okay it's not that I don't appreciate the help, but do you have to use the most painful healing method known to man?" Sophitia said, and then squealed out loud as her wound was rubbed and prodded. Gen the Meowstic had a spray bottle and a cloth to deal with the Sylveon's open wound, and although Sophitia allowed her to work, she kept cringing hard with every touch.
"Do you want to get infected?" Gen warned.
"Well no, but like, isn't there a pain-free way to do this? Ow-eep!" She stifled a scream with a raised head. "You guys have all this scary technology like gondolas and automatic doors, but you couldn't come up with something useful like a painless medicine?"
"I don't think it's that simple," Esther giggled at the scene. Phoenix sat in a corner and watched, while Lute was lost in thought in the middle of the room. After a few more squeaks and screams, Sophitia was bandaged up just below her chest, though she scratched at the bandages.
"Don't pick at them. Stay like that for a day or two and you should be fine. And obviously, stay out of fights," Gen instructed.
"Kinda tough when the agents probably have work for us. So er, Lute. What're we doing about food?" Sophitia asked.
"Food?" Lute mumbled, half-paying attention.
"Yeah, food. I dunno about you, but I'm ready to pass out back here. And I assure you, blood loss has nothing to do with it," she said. He blinked in thought. He only now realised that they hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast. He certainly didn't feel it until she mentioned it.
"Wonderful. Agents damage my ruins, crash my home, and now they don't even have a plan to look after themselves. Why did I sign up for this?" Gen shook her head as she marched off into another room.
"U-uh, sorry. We didn't mean it that way. We'll sort something out," Lute trailed off as Gen returned with a bowl of berries. The sight of them awakened his actual hunger, and he felt his stomach rumble. "U-um..."
"Help yourself. I'm pretty sure I overstocked anyway," Gen said.
"Don't mind if I do," Esther sung. "Don't worry, I'll pay ya back. Lady's promise."
"Wait, overstock? And you have these. You don't really live here, do you?" Lute said, grabbing an Oran Berry.
"Yes. I do. I am a Pokémon who preserves history. So when Spirle members or petty criminals do their dirty work here like it's some kind of abandoned location, I have to drive them out," Gen stated as she played with a Pecha Berry. "Ruins and history are important, but so many Pokémon nowadays have no respect for them. All you can think about is building new things and 'advancing society', but I believe none of you are actually thinking about that."
"Thinking about it?" Sophitia said with a full mouth.
"Like you just said. You're all happy to build stuff Pokémon don't need like automatic doors or whatnot, and all without thinking about it," Gen clarified. Her face became fierce as she spoke, and her paws were dug into the berry. "You're happy to erase history like it never happened. Too quick are Pokémon to convert to things they don't fully understand. No matter what, I won't let a single Pokémon touch this country."
"Well if you wanna protect this place, then I'll make sure I don't touch anything," Esther said. "Seriously, before was an accident. I really wanna look around 'cos I'm super interested in this place, but once I'm done, I'll be outta here."
"But why do you want to protect this place? It's clearly seen better days," Lute asked. He flinched when Gen gave him a look. "I-I don't mean that to be rude or anything. I can understand appreciating history. My teacher at school is like this, too. But choosing to live in a place like this, driving out intruders, there has to be a big reason."
Gen stared at him until he looked away, and then sighed. "This place is Angard, an integral part of Aserian history. The country of Angard thrived off technology that was decades ahead of what we currently have. But with the power-hungry nature of the world at hand, it was forced into war and erased from the atlas."
"This place was destroyed by Pokémon? Who and why?" Lute said.
"I told you. For its technology. It was ruthlessly drained of all life and turned into the fragile wasteland you see before you," Gen closed her paws into fists. "I won't let the modern world just forget its mistake. And so I will protect these ruins. For as long as I live, Angard will remain as a scar in our planet, a scar of the Pokémon's sins."
A scar of the Pokémon's sins, Lute repeated to himself.
Despite that conversation and their intrusion to her home, Gen allowed the group to stay the night. Her home stood out in the dead lands of Angard as a giant tree stump, surprisingly functional as a habitat even for what Lute was used to. It had spacious rooms, warmth, and makeshift furniture that made room for storage, beds, and all else. The five of them were able to split up to sleep in three separate rooms, and in Lute and Sophitia's case, their room even had a window.
Well, he thought everything would be alright. Past midnight, the two were still awake and staring at the single bed in their room. He knew exactly what the problem was, but he didn't want to rush for it and look like a child, either.
"So uh, how're we doin' this? Heads or tails?" Sophitia snickered.
"Why does she even have multiple rooms if one of those rooms only has one bed?" Lute hung his head. "Forget it. You need it more. You're the one who's bandaged."
"Oh, how gentlemanly of you. I'll gladly accept," She skipped over to plonk herself down on it. "You er... gonna be okay there?"
"We don't really have a choice," he said as he settled down. He immediately regretted it, though. The stump's bumpy floor made for the worst possible place to sleep. He had a cushion at least, so he'd figure something out.
"There's enough space for both of us," Sophitia said quietly.
"H-huh?" he replied.
"Look I'm just giving you a choice to not sleep on the floor. Take it or leave it," She looked away. It looked like she had the slightest hint of a blush for a moment, but the thought only made his own face red.
"No. I can't be that useless, too. Don't worry about it," he said, and turned away. He slapped his head on the cushion and forced his eyes shut. "Goodnight, Sophitia."
There was a pause. "Useless?"
Another pause. The word began to repeat itself in his head, and he growled. "Yeah. Useless."
"What's so useless about not sleeping on the floor? Everybody needs to sleep in a bed," she said.
He growled harder. "That's not what I mean. I just- never mind."
There was quiet again, enough for him to hear her shuffle a little bit. He couldn't tell what she was doing until he felt the light touches of her feelers wrap around him, and all so suddenly that he flinched. He kicked his feet as he was picked up and brought over to her side, where he was surprised to meet a warm smile. "S-Sophitia, wha-what're you doing?"
"I can sense emotions silly, remember? So whatever's ailing you, I can feel it too, kinda," she said, and playfully brushed his nose. She pulled the covers up to his neck and slid back so that she was under them as well, although she had to coil her body a bit. "I can't force you to talk about it or anything. But if the company helps, I don't mind, okay? That's all I'm saying."
"So-Sophitia—" he mouthed as he tensed up. Being this close to her, the familiar vibes he felt with Infia resurfaced. He couldn't stop himself from blushing, and the fear of making any embarrassing mistakes made him freeze completely. He gulped and snuck at glance at her anyway, hoping she wasn't watching his eyes.
Sophitia was curled around him like a parent. Her hind legs cushioned his, while her front legs were settled near his mane, possibly an inch or two from an intimate cuddle. He was so close he could see her chest move with her relaxed breaths. He couldn't understand why she wasn't as nervous as he was right now, or maybe her soft curves hid her tenseness.
He almost stopped breathing for a moment. He always thought of Sophitia as strong, but he never realised how strong she looked until now. She wasn't small and skinny like he was, but she wasn't exactly as chubby as he initially thought, either. She was actually rather built, but her soft appearance on top of that muscle gave her body a look that he couldn't not describe as attractive. He thought that until he got to the bandages around her chest, and his heart sunk.
"It's my fault you got hurt. It's my fault you got hurt again, and this time, this badly," he sighed.
"Huh?" she replied, and glanced at the bandage. "Oh, this? That's literally my fault for not paying attention. Let alone getting hit with super effective twice."
"It's not. You don't have to butter it up." He hopped off the bed to look out of the window. There was nothing but black sky. "I'm a member of the Agents of King's Shield now, just like I always wanted to be. But it's way harder than I ever imagined it'd be, and because of that, I'm seeing how weak and useless I really am."
"You're not weak and useless. Why do you suddenly feel that way?" she asked.
"Suddenly? This isn't sudden, it's every time." He shook himself. "You're always having to tell me off for giving stuff away to the High Points. I wasn't able to damage the Risen at all. Not the ones at the Ministry of Science, or the ones at the Radial Castle. Victor beat me like nothing, and against Tetra, I couldn't even damage him."
"To be fair, nobody could damage tetra," she commented.
"Yes they could. Everyone's attacks forced him to regenerate his body but mine. And yours are not very effective! That's just how weak I really am," he growled at himself. "If I wasn't here slowing you down, you wouldn't be getting hurt like this."
She stood up and stared at him. "So, what're you going to do about it?"
He shuddered.
"Are you going to wallow in depressive thoughts like that, or are you going to work on actually getting strong enough to follow your dream?" she added.
He took in a breath, raising his head to hold back tears. "I want to say the latter, but I—"
"Then do that. Find your way of getting stronger, and take your time doing it," she said. He breathed out and glanced back, surprised to see her smiling. "Hey, what kinda team leader would I be if I wasn't supportive? I know I said about getting good at battles and learning lots of moves and stuff before, but maybe that's not your thing, you know? You gotta get strong in your way. The real way."
He looked down, to avoid eye-contact. "You'll wait for me?"
"I'll walk with you, wherever I can. That's what friends do. Plus, if you wanna put a value on it, I do sorta owe you for convincing Marina to take me in and stuff," she promised. That made him look up at her, and he gulped again. "Just think how this could've gone if you weren't such a nice person. And if you weren't so determined, what would've happened to Infia?"
"That was you, though," he said.
"What, jumping off the roof to save her? Skipping out on school? Shouting at a guy as scary as Phoenix?" she praised. "When I think about it, you've definitely got strength where I don't—"
"No I don't! Stop it, you don't have to be nice to me just because of all that," he raised his voice and turned his back. "You don't understand. I want to be a hero. I want to fight. I want to save Pokémon like you and Infia, yet whenever something comes up, my body just... weakens. I panic, I try even though I panic, and nothing comes from it. I'm just too weak."
Sophitia went quiet. "There's nothing I can say that'll make you think otherwise, is there?"
"It's not about thinking otherwise, it's about what's actually happening," he argued.
She grumbled something and shuffled back into bed, which for some reason only made him feel guilty. He wanted her to retort with something supportive again, but she didn't say anything, not even goodnight. Believing it would be worse if he said goodnight instead, he gulped and curled back into the cushion. It was barely any better than the floor – tonight would be a long night.
Morning came before he knew it. Without the usual sunlight or homely sounds to wake him, Lute passed out deeper than he ever knew he could. He was woken up by Esther of all Pokémon, who shocked him awake after shaking him for a good five minutes.
He didn't know whether to say he slept well or horribly. Either way, it hurt to stretch, and every noise irked his head enough to groan at. Knowing he was an unwelcome guest though, he put up with it and behaved as conveniently as he could. He was worried about not having a proper bath, but with everyone in the same position, they didn't seem to mind.
"I gave a report to Silver last night. She called this morning and requested your presence." Phoenix greeted them at the front of the stump. Lute groaned again, not at the blunt greeting, but that the sky was still totally black. If it was morning, it certainly didn't feel like it.
"Did she say what she wanted?" Sophitia asked.
"No. Usually, missions and reports shouldn't be given over a video call, only face to face," Phoenix informed. "Last night was an exception because of the circumstances. You should make your way over there immediately."
"Great, that means we're in trouble," Sophitia sighed.
"It'll take a while to get back, too," Lute said.
"You two can do that thing where you travel through Deposit Boxes, can't you?" Gen asked and folded her paws.
"Wa-wah! Were you listening?" Sophitia jumped.
"You don't need to hide stuff like that from me, I know all about the agents. I have a Deposit Box behind the house, but I hacked it to stop them from locating it. To them, there aren't any boxes here," she said, showing them to the back of the stump. There it was, the familiar purple chest. "Don't go telling anyone this is here. And when you leave, don't even think about coming back here through this box. Do you understand?"
"O-of course! It's all to keep Pokémon out and stuff, right? We won't tell anyone, Miss Gen." Lute bowed.
"That's Mrs. to you. But forget it, call me Gen," Gen corrected. Lute uttered a sound, but didn't argue.
"Hey uh, if we're keeping secrets and stuff, could you do me a solid and not tell the bigups where I am, too? Last thing I want is Pokémon like that Goodra worryin' about me too," Esther added.
"That's already been dealt with. They know you're in my care," Phoenix said.
"In your care? Yeesh, I always gotta belong to some guy, huh?" Esther rolled her eyes. "Whatever works, I guess. But I'll see you later, Lute, Sophitia! Let's meetup sometime. I still owe you guys big time, too."
She waved and skipped away before Lute could reply. He watched her run off on all fours until Sophitia nudged him. "Look at you go. You're gettin' all the pretty ladies."
"That's not- okay no, we're not going there," he said, activating the Deposit Box. She laughed aloud and followed. The duo disappeared into the box in a flash.
Gen stared at the box even after it locked itself and folded her arms. "Damn it Kuri. What've you done now?"
...
"Silver," Lute greeted, wary as they stepped into the main room. The Goodra met them by the metal platform in the corner of the room. He was immediately drawn to it, remembering that it was the teleporter to Moand Dia.
"I heard about what happened with Phoenix. I wish I wasn't bringing you here on circumstances like this. Are the two of you alright?" Silver began, one hand on her other arm.
"Why? What've you got planned?" Sophitia said.
Silver cleared her throat. "Do you remember the world inside the planet, Moand Dia? We've come to the conclusion that we need your help to properly explore it. We've come up with a plan to do so."
Lute's face went straight and his heart sunk. Exploring a place like that was all his dreams coming true, but he also had to accept that he wasn't ready for it. With Sophitia bandaged and him so weak, he wasn't sure if they would survive another fight.
"I-if you want us to explore, I don't think we can," he replied quietly. Sophitia gasped.
"Are you concerned about Sophitia's wound? Won't you go on your own?" Silver asked, and Lute beamed up a bit.
"I—" he raised a paw, but put it down shortly after. He didn't know what to say.
"Oh no, this one's not happening. We're perfectly fine, Silver," Sophitia objected. "If you want the finer details, we probably smell or something. Didn't have access to a bath this morning."
"I noticed. But it doesn't matter." Silver turned to a computer screen. A Breloom operating it touched a few things on the screen, and an atlas-like layout showed up on it. "We've managed to scan the region we currently have access to. We only need you to explore one section. That section is beyond our scan radius, but if you can setup computers there, we can expand our scan radius and figure out more of it. You won't need to be down there long. Think of it more of a test mission to see exactly how an exploration of this place will go."
"What exactly do you need us to do? I'm not very good at working computers, to be honest," Sophitia admitted. Silver handed her a small ball split in half by a black line, with the top half red and the bottom half white.
"This is a storage capsule device. If you press the button, everything inside will come out. All the equipment we need to scan Moand Dia is already set up and constructed inside. So what you do is find an open area, then throw the ball into it, and then switch on the computer. That will be all," Silver instructed. Sophitia eyed the ball and brushed a feeler over the button. "Press the button now and you'll probably destroy this room. So don't even think about it."
She flinched and promptly slipped it into her belongings. "R-right. We can do that."
Lute's conflict drove him crazy inside, yet all he could do was shudder. He knew exactly what Sophitia was doing, knew what he had to do, and was so wary of what he was getting into that he could only foresee disaster. Yet he didn't say a thing, speechless at the Sylveon's confident responses as Silver continued to detail procedures and precautions.
For the first time since all of this started, he was distracted. All he could think about was the possibility of either of them getting killed and him not being able to do anything about it. Right here and now, he could recall the scene so clearly in his head. Sophitia shouted at him and then getting torn apart by the blast of an attack from a powerful Pokémon.
"Now go. And no matter what happens, stay together and do not engage in combat with any unknown life forms. If you come across one, add it to your report and retreat. Do I make myself clear?" Silver finished.
"You have our word. Lute?" Sophitia replied. He shook his head, brought back to reality just then. He actually felt relief that she was okay, even though it was just his daydream.
"I... yes. Understood," he nodded slowly.
"Wake up, silly! You were supposed to be hyped about this," Sophitia giggled. "C'mon, let's go."
"It's actually you that's in surprisingly cooperative spirits," he said with a groan. He had to be dragged along to the platform. "What's gotten into you?"
"I dunno! I'm just feeling real good and giddy lately. Guess I'm starting to see your appeal in exploring places." She crossed her feelers. She swiped them aside quickly, and that activated the platform, whisking them away in a flash of bubbly lights. Silver gasped, and then a moment later pushed aside the Breloom on the computer.
"You really need to stop doing that," Breloom groaned.
Lute gasped when they landed and then gawked at his rambling partner. Sophitia didn't seem to notice what she had just done at all. "I mean, when I think about it real hard, it's amazing that we're like, the super special Pokémon who can freely go about this place."
"Sophitia—"
"Okay there's nothing here and it's sorta empty, but that's what's exciting about it, right? Nobody knows anything about this place, this mysterious world inside of Aseria. But soon enough, we'll be the only ones that know about it. We're so privileged!" Sophitia said as she led the way.
"Sophitia—"
"And just thinking about that one, too. A world inside of the planet. Just look around you, this is nowhere near what I expected inside the planet to look like. All this golden sand, green water, and the fact that there's even a sky down here. Ah, now that we're not here and running on fumes, I'm like, super excited to look around!" she cheered
"Sophitia!" Silver's voice boomed so loud the duo cringed.
"Wah! S-Silver, where, how did?" Sophitia gasped. She scrambled through her belongings and pulled out her badge.
"How did you activate the teleportal?" Silver's voice boomed.
"Huh?" she replied.
"The teleportal! The silver thing we use to get to Moand Dia," Silver shouted. "Only the computer can activate that, and remotely. How did you just do it? No one here touched anything!"
Sophitia's face was blank. "Sophitia!"
"That's what I was trying to tell you. I just saw you do that. How?" Lute gasped.
"I... I-I dunno. I dunno what to tell you, it just sorta came naturally to me. I guess I just, tripped something? Maybe?" the Sylveon shrugged.
"Or maybe," Lute breathed out, a wide smile growing on his face. "Maybe this place has something to do with your missing memories?
"That's impossible. I'm just a normal Sylveon, like I told you. Unless you count the blue fur and all that." She looked away.
"We definitely have to look around, now. Something, anything, if you can remember anything at all," Lute said. She wanted to argue with him, but seeing his revived look of determination brought a smile to her face. That innocent excitement she liked him for was back.
"You two, listen to me for a moment," Silver turned the call into a video call. Her face was intense. "I wasn't going to do this, especially when I saw the bandage, but we have a big opportunity that we can't afford to pass up thanks to this discovery."
"Oh? Go on?" Sophitia said.
"This teleportal was actually already here, long before we built the base around it. Lassic figured out how to get it to work by dissecting it and seeing that it had similar programming to the warp mechanics of the Deposit Box. However, these portals were pre-set to locations in Moand Dia. Fast forward to our predicament with the atmosphere of this place, and we couldn't explore it properly," Silver explained. She slammed her hands on the table. "Our past expeditions uncovered another teleportal deep in a cave to the west. Obviously, we've been unable to use it because we can't connect our machines to it. But if Sophitia can use it without our machines, you can get further into Moand Dia. Further than we intended to a few minutes ago!"
"What're we waiting for!" Lute bounced happily.
"Precautions, of course. You'll be going into the complete unknown. Everything from that other teleportal onward, we have no idea what to expect from there," Silver answered. "But your main objective remains the same: find an open space, open the capsule, turn on the computer and then return."
"We can still do that. It's just a lot more exciting now. And it was already pretty exciting!" Sophitia said. "Which way, Silver?"
"The first teleportal is in a cave to the west. It's next to a waterfall," Silver informed.
"Then we have our path. Let's go." Sophitia nodded.
Lute walked quickly, but only enough so that he walked alongside Sophitia. He wanted to feel like he was leading the way this time. This wasn't about him, but about Sophitia. He knew he wasn't ready for another dangerous fight, but if he could be useful in helping Sophitia recover her memories, then he'd have the very usefulness that she suggested he find. After all, this was something he always wanted to do since she joined him.
He thought about it as they walked. Of all the hints at her past that could have come up, having a connection to Moand Dia and the teleportals wasn't what he expected. He was right on the money in being convinced she was special – her walking across water, magical shield and sword attack, and now this. She had to have been feeling shy when she was trying to tell him she was an ordinary shiny Sylveon, and that thought made him smile a bit.
Silver's directions took them along a cliffside and towards a river of clean, green water. To their left was a dark cave, while the right was an enormous waterfall that was so steep that the bottom couldn't be seen. He had to stop for a moment to recall it, but this was the area they had woken up in when they first fell down here.
"It's over here?" Sophitia said, wary as she headed deeper into the cave.
Their view darkened as they proceeded, but the mystical gold of the sky outside kept everything lit enough. Her feelers brushed the sandy walls to act as a scout for anything they couldn't see as they trod deeper in. Even as the exit shrunk into the distance behind them, the ground remained grainy and sparkly.
Lute's focus began to melt into uncertainty as darkness shrouded him all around. The only noises were the shifting of their feet and the steady river beside them. No feral Pokémon around was all the more reason for him to suspect that some would jump them at any moment. It made him sick in his stomach, being that horrible reminder of what he was stepping into.
"It's a slope," Sophitia said.
Lute shook his head. He was concentrating on his thoughts so hard he wasn't actually looking around. Now that he was, he realised how deep in they'd gone. The area was awfully dim and the floor sloped so deep it went underwater. He flinched back the moment he felt the splash of it, and his heart sped up. The ceiling descended with the floor so in order to progress, they would need to dive.
"Ah, did we pass it? I didn't see the platform at all," Lute searched around.
"Silver, the path goes underwater here. How far in is the teleportal?" Sophitia asked.
"The reports say it's at the very back of the cave. The layout of our map doesn't indicate anything underwater, though. It sounds like the terrain has changed," Silver said. Her uncertain tone made Lute tense up.
He stared at the way forward again, then the path behind him, and then nodded. "Okay. We'll see how far we can go."
"Re-really? We're diving?" Sophitia said, an awkward smile on her face. "I'm not a very good swimmer."
"If the original path didn't go underwater, then that means we won't be under for very long. I can go first if you want," he said.
"Oh no you don't, you're not showing me up. Besides, you need me to activate the warp," she pointed out. They both turned to the green water, and Lute gulped. "Hey, if you're too tense, you won't be able to hold your breath for very long. Keep it together."
"I-I know," he retorted.
He took a few breaths to try and steady himself. Although he felt a little lighter, he couldn't stop his heart from feeling heavy. Not due to fear of drowning, but because his focus began to falter. He had to do this in order to be useful, and he had to do it well.
Both Eeveelutions took deep breaths and jumped in together, eyes shut upon entry. Lute was first to open, immediately relieved to find his deduction correct. The path sloped down for a little while, and then went right back up above the surface a short way ahead.
What he didn't account for was that this was river water. He only paddled for a few seconds before he found himself spinning totally out of balance, and moaned as loud as he could to alert Sophitia. The river pulled him away from the path and down the stream to the right, but her feelers caught and pulled him back before he was truly lost. He thanked her with a nod, and then they were on their way.
The current also meant that they would be under for longer than they anticipated. He kept telling himself he was fine as he was cradled beneath Sophitia, but by the time they reached halfway, his chest began to tighten. With his air running thin, he shuffled to look around, and then resorted to trying to help her swim faster.
Half a minute later and it began to hurt. He shut his eyes to resist the urge to breathe through his nose, and his chest felt like it was being set alight. He let out a desperate moan as best as he could, and the few bubbles he leaked caught Sophitia's attention.
"You okay?" she said, letting go of him for a brief moment. The instant she did, he shot for the surface, leaving her to follow in surprise. She found him coughing and splashing at the surface like he was dying, and pulled him onto her back as she casually surfaced.
"Ah... hah... tha-that was close," he said.
"Er, you okay there, Lute? We're probably gonna have to come back this way, you know," she said.
"H-how? You talked underwater and you were fine? Are you okay?" he gasped.
"I'm right as rain, I had plenty of air. It's you that nearly drowned. You okay?" she replied.
He gave her a look up and down, his mouth agape. "Ye-yes. The current will help push us back, so won't have to hold our breath as long on the way back."
"That's true. But hey, look. We found that teleportal. Now for the moment of truth?" she said. Lute squinted, but that only put water in his eyes. Even after shaking himself off, this room was barely lit by the glow of the platform. It looked exactly like the one in the agent base.
"Just a moment, you two. Just to remind you that we don't know for sure what will happen when you transport. We don't know what's waiting on the other side of that, and we will probably lose contact with you until you activate that computer," Silver stated. "Please, do not do anything rash."
Lute gulped again. Anything could happen. He finally knew the fear of that. He wanted it to excite him, but it only drowned him in fear instead. He shut his eyes, breathed deeply through his nose, and then joined Sophitia on the teleportal. He took note of the platform's wet surface, realising that the river water was high enough here cover the portal. The floor was sloped around the portal.
"We'll be careful." Sophitia shut off the call. She crossed her feelers, tensed up, then unfurled them and got the same result as before. The teleportal activated, and they disappeared in a flash.
The instant they landed on solid ground; the first thing Lute did was jump in front of Sophitia to stand guard. It was needless as they landed in the middle of another cave that was devoid presence. It was noticeably colder than where they just were, but it was thematically similar. Rock walls with a glittery, turquoise dust filtering off them, shiny rocks across the ceiling, and catacombs all around them.
"I'm breathing fine," Lute said as he tested the ground beneath the teleportal. It was solid, but as cold as ice. "We're probably going to need warm clothes or something to look around here. It's so cold."
He turned back to find Sophitia trembling. She was tensed up more than he had ever seen her, even though she was just staring forward. "Sophitia?"
"Shh."
"Huh?" Lute said, and glanced side to side. Nothing. "Is something wrong? Are you rememberi—"
"Shh, shut up!" she hushed him sharply. "Can't you hear that?"
Lute shut his eyes and listened, more afraid of her actions now than what she was probably afraid of. It took a moment, but he began to hear footsteps. Slow, heavy steps on the stone floor that faintly echoed throughout the cave. It was getting louder at a pace that didn't match the rhythm of the steps, either. Whoever it was, they were taking huge strides towards them.
"Holy son of a—" Sophitia became frantic.
Before Lute could say a word, she pulled him onto her back by his neck and jumped into a corner of the room, revealing there was an unforeseen cliff behind them. Lute cried out when he realised that the cliff had no bottom, but Sophitia stopped them from falling by jamming her magic sword directly into the rock. It ripped through the cliff a few metres, leaving them hanging above abyss just below the surface of the main floor.
"S-S-Sophitia, the heck are you—" he choked.
"Shh! Someone really powerful is coming. Like, I can't even—" she said, cutting herself off when the footsteps came closer. Whoever it was, they were right there in the room now. Seeing her face and hearing her voice, Lute became just as tense as she was now and grit his fangs.
There they waited, holding their breaths as they hung above a cliff by the grip of a sword. They had to stay so still was unbearable, and the cold quickly caught up to them. Lute felt his nose run and his body shiver, but dared to do any more than cling to his Sylveon partner.
The steps implied their antagonist was patrolling the room. No breathing, no words, no noise besides the slow, heavy patters of steps echoing across the walls. Being this close, Lute couldn't tell whether they were approaching this cliff or not. He half expected the figure to show up, a terrifying Pokémon looming above them that would attack on sight, sending them to their deaths. The thought made him puff out a breath, and he started to whimper.
"Lute," Sophitia whispered.
It was no good. He couldn't get that possibility out of his head. This super powerful Pokémon that had Sophitia freaking out was going to find them, he would fail in another fight, and they would both die for sure. He was hyperventilated and his grip on her tightened so much she cringed. Every breath came out as a pathetic whine at increasing volume, only furthering their chances of being detected.
Sophitia was quick, though. She adjusted her feelers to cover his mouth and grit her fangs to resist his pinch. Thankfully she didn't have to keep this up for much longer as the steps began to fade. Before they had fully left, she hissed and pulled herself up from the cliff, having to catch her breath for a moment. Lute rolled off her behind the teleportal, but was first to hop up and peek over it.
There had been another Pokémon searching the room. But contrary to his imagination, that Pokémon was no greater than another Eevee. They were fading into the distance, but their tail and ears gave it away.
"It was just... an Eevee?" Lute whispered and wiped his eyes. He hadn't realised he was crying, too. A grunt from Sophitia caught his attention. She was wrenching on the floor, looking like she wanted to scream. It became obvious why when she turned, revealing her bandages were turning red. "Your wound! But how?"
"Shh, they're not gone yet," she hissed as she pulled him out of view. She was in agony, bringing him to the bottom of the guilt barrel. He realised that the only thing that could've opened that wound was the way he had squeezed her just now. She sat back and cradled her bandage with two feelers until she was able to lean back and relax. "Thank goodness Gen gave me this."
"S-Sophitia..." he shuddered.
"It's okay, I'm fine. Just a bit of a shock, that's all," she replied. She peeked over the teleportal, but the Eevee was gone. "Alright. This room is big enough. Let's get to work."
"But your wou—"
"This was our mission, and we've done it. Do you remember Silver's warnings?" she said. "I sensed that Pokémon from so far away. I've never felt such overwhelming power before. And they were just an Eevee? Moand Dia must have some terrifying secrets."
"I..." was all Lute could mutter. He watched the Sylveon struggle to her feet and reveal the storage ball. He could try to help her, but he would probably mess that up, too. Guilty and pathetic was an understatement.
"Let's turn the computer on and get outta here before he comes back," she said, pressing the button and throwing the ball.