Nina gasped as she wrenched the rebreather off her face, feeling a cathartic sense of relief to be liberated from the claustrophobic tunnel that she was just trapped in.

“Fucking finally!”

Nina couldn’t help but swear as she plopped listlessly onto the cavern floor. After hours of crawling through narrow tunnels, countless twists and turns, and numerous empty air pockets, she finally found a cavern with a large enough surface area for her to make camp on.

“Man, where has the time gone?” Taking a quick glance at her diving watch, she could see that it was already night time. An entire day had already passed and gone. “And I barely made any progress as well…”

The girl checked on her Pokedex and frowned. She had enabled a feature that tracked her location, resulting in a chaotic diagram of messy, squiggly red lines that indicated the route she traversed. The winding back and forth meant that, distance wise, she barely left the general vicinity of the main cavern that she came from.

“Po…” Poppy nuzzled against his human’s face in concern, eliciting giggles from Nina as she pulled her endearing baby in for cuddles.

“Don’t worry, Poppy. I’m not out just yet — still gotta dry up and have dinner. And actually, I saw some fishies swimming around in the lake. Can I trouble you to dive back in and catch a couple of ‘em for me?”

“Po-po. Popplio!”

Poppy, ever the energetic little seal, did a fanciful flip and booped his squishy nose against Nina’s before returning to the water to do as he was asked.

Meanwhile, Nina forced herself up with a little groan to peel off her cumbersome wetsuit. Even going as far as stripping away her swimwear to reveal her naked body with an indifferent shrug. “I mean, it’s not like there’s anyone around to creep on me anyway.”

Afterwhich, she pulled out a hand towel to dry her hair. “Gosh, I really should catch myself a Fire Type huh?” Nina was really pining for warmth but didn’t want to risk starting a bonfire to avoid burning away the limited reserve of oxygen contained within this cavern.

She had Nitey of course, but summoning him meant putting him out of stasis. “I’ll ask Poppy to see if there’s enough wildlife in the lake to feed Nitey.” Otherwise she would just make do with a couple of heat packs.

As it turned out, there was enough prey around to just barely feed Nitey. And by barely, Nina meant that she was reasonably confident that her Dragonite’s appetite would not result in the complete decimation of the cavern’s fragile ecosystem… maybe.

But after giving in to the miserable cold, teeth clattering all the while, Nina relented and made the executive decision to let Nitey out.

To be fair, the cavern itself wasn’t really that cool. From what her Pokedex told her, Nina’s surroundings were fairly comfortable at a little under thirty degrees celsius — underground spaces were funny that way.

However, it was considerably damp since the condensation from the underground lake had nowhere to go. Which meant that Nina’s soaking wet body was not drying properly — her little hand towel could only do so much. And not being able to dry meant facing the risk of hypothermia as heat continually escaped her body.

So in the end, the girl spent the night in the comforting embrace of her Dragonite shaped space heater.

***

“Shit!”

“Haunt!”

Nina felt a pull from her shadow, yanking her away as a metaphorical freight train of rock and fury surged past, crunching through the cavern and demolishing every obstacle in its wake, squishy little girls in wetsuits included.

Nina let out a sigh of relief for her Haunter’s clutch save. “Thanks Haunter, love you.”

“Haunt! Haunter!”

“But an Onix nest huh… Nitey, you’re up!”

“NIIITE!!!”

“Don’t hurt it too much, just enough to chase it away!” After all, they were the intruders here.

After an absolutely miserable and sleepless night. Nina decided to pull out all the stops, not willing to endure another night in the caverns.

So she sent Haunter ahead as a scout since the Ghost Pokemon could phase through walls. All the while, Espy expanded her mind and made full use of her limited clairvoyance, and Sir Clodington went knocking around with his tail to check for any nearby caverns within his detection range.

The Clodsire could, after much effort, melt into the walls. But the caves were Rock, not Ground. So progress would be slow. Better to just rely on Haunter’s Ghostly abilities.

In the end, they managed to find a massive empty cavern, within just a short Dig away. One comparable to the hidden Mount Moon arena that Brock and Forrest battled her in last time. Except, as it turned out, the space wasn’t actually empty.

“OOOOOO!!!”

The cavern quaked as the Onix howled, a rain of stalactites rained down from the ceiling. The Rock snake thrashed, tail recklessly whipping around in an attempt to swat down the annoying Dragonite squirting water at it.

“CLOOOD!!!”

With a slam of his tail, Sir Clodington subdued the quakes while Espy shielded them against debris.

“Aqua Punch! Low Power!”

“DRAGOOO!!!”

The Onix was thrown against the wall. But given its impressive length, it was clear that the wild Rock snake was an aged one. And it showed. Because with another roar, filled with pain and fury, it lunged back into the fray, more determined than ever.

“Dammit…”

“Po…”

Nina nuzzled against her anxious Popplio, eyes flickering to scan their surroundings and look for an escape route.

But what she found was more trouble as a mess of what she thought were scattered boulders stirred and revealed another Onix and a whole colony of Geodudes and Gravelers.

“Clody, Espy, Poppy! Get ready for battle!”

The Pokemon cried in affirmation. But before they could act, Espy held them back.

“What’s wrong, girl?”

The response was a deluge of wary apprehension, indicating that the larger group were not intent on fighting. Although, that second Onix was wound up for a lunge, ready to join the fray at a moment’s notice.

“Is that larger Onix their guardian perhaps? And that second one is its mate? How does Onix cohabitation even work anyway?” Nina genuinely did not know. Did they mate for life, kept a harem or was it a seasonal thing? Something to research on a little later.

“Es.” A cry from Espy knocked Nina out of her stupor. The Espeon had been communicating with the smaller Onix all the while and had just came to an accord.

“They want us to pull back first as a show of sincerity?”

“Es, espeon.” With a nod, Espy affirmed her human’s question.

Unlike humans, and outside of a few specific species, Pokemon generally did not lie. Rock Types least of all — Rock Pokemon tended to be more simple-minded. In other words, muscle heads. “Or maybe rockheads? Stoners? Wait, that sounded wrong.”

“And if this is a trick then…”

Nina would have no choice but to faint it. Him? Her? Espy chimed in to affirm that the larger one was indeed female.

“Hopefully, Nitey can hold back enough to avoid a fatal blow.” Worst comes to worst, she’d just capture the Onix and bring her back to the Pokemon Center.

“Onix are cool anyway. And I did say I wanted a Steel Type.” If it was willing, of course. If not, she would just release it. Nina would like to avoid another reluctant team member if possible. Though, given how large this group was, the chances of a successful capture was slim to begin with.

“Nitey! Come back! They’re surrendering!”

Nitey, who was straddled atop the rampaging Onix, casually laying down punches, jolted and looked back at Nina with a confused tilt. Then, with an affirmative cry, slammed down one more Aqua Punch to ground the Rock snake and flew back to his companions.

“OOOO!!!”

Onix rose and cried out in indignation. But before she could give chase, her mate got in the way and wrapped all around her rocky segments to pacify the Onix.

“O, Onix.”

“Oooo!!!”

“Onix! Oooo… O-nix!

“Oooniix…”

The larger Onix did not seem convinced but after another round of back and forth, she finally relaxed and slumped onto the cavern floor in exhaustion. Evidently, in an effort to guard her colony against the perceived invaders, Onix had pushed herself to the brink.

“Espy, can you get permission for me to approach with some healing?”

Without any external support, wild Pokemon needed a long time to heal. And if any rivals barged in for a turf war during that process… Nina shook her head to dismiss the notion. It was the sort of thought that would keep her up at night, knowing that it would be partially her fault.

Espy responded with a nod. The Espeon had directly relayed the genuine concern brewing in Nina’s mind and the smaller Onix had given his consent right away.

“Thanks for understanding. That was a good fight. You should be proud of yourself, not many Pokemon would be brave enough to risk their lives and take on a fully trained Dragonite to protect their family.” Nina said as she gently caressed the injured Onix in appeasement.

“Ooooo…” The Onix let out a low rumble in acknowledgement and further lowered her head for the human girl.

“Hehe… You’re like one of those massage chairs.” Nina cooed and pressed her whole body against the rumbling Rock snake to revel in the vibrations.

Most of Onix’s injuries were to her head, in the form of micro-cracks scattered here and there. Despite Nitey’s best efforts, there was simply too big a disparity in strength.

“Let’s see here… to heal a rocky shell, first start with an application of Potion…” Nina recalled Kerry’s lessons on Pokemon healing. It was a topic that often came up in conversation between the two girls. A result of Nina’s boundless curiosity and Kerry’s incredible passion towards her profession.

“After the potion, we need to seal the cracks because just using Potions isn't good enough to immediately heal mineral bodies. Except…” Nina frowned as she rummaged through her backpack. She did not stock up on any of the special bio-cement that were commonly used for that purpose, given that it did not pertain to any of her current Pokemon.

“Kerry probably has some, but she’s not with me at the moment. Hmm… What to do?”

“Clody, can you conjure up some mud for me please. And Poppy, some Water to clean up the cracks. This might sting a little Onix. So sorry in advance.” If any impurities were sealed within Onix’s shell as it healed, that spot might end up becoming a point of vulnerability in the future.

“Clood.”

“Po.”

Sir Clodington thumped his bulbous tail on the cavern floor to create a little divot. Then, threw in a Mud Shot which Nina intended to use as a makeshift cast to cover up the cracks.

The mud conjured by Sir Clodington was pure Ground, thus devoid of impurities. Same with Poppy’s Water. This would help minimize contamination and hopefully assist with the healing.

With a brush that Nina had originally intended to use for digging fossils, she brushed away any visible debris before allowing Poppy to squirt Water above the cracks, allowing it to flow gently down the boulder’s contour.

“Oooo…” Onix winced in discomfort but was gently held down by her mate, allowing Nina to wipe the surface dry and apply a layer of mud across every gap she could find.

“There, all covered up. Try not to exert yourself in the next few days to avoid worsening the cracks. You don’t want to shatter yourself into a million pieces and leave your family defenseless do you?”

“Oooo…” Onix thanked the girl with another rumble and a light nuzzle before curling up to rest.

Nina giggled and responded with what she did best — pampering Pokemon with Berries!

The group of wild Pokemon cried out in excitement as the human girl laid out a colorful selection for delectable treats, Geodude and Graveler alike rushing in to grab their share.

Meanwhile, Nina reached up to feed the two Onixes, revelling in their jovial vibrations all the while.

“Say, you guys wouldn’t happen to know if there’re any ruins nearby, do you?”

“O?”

“What are ruins? Well…” Unsure of how to answer, Nina produced the sketches that Espy made during their last visit to the Ruins of Alph.

“It’s hard to really describe what a ruin is but…” Nina pointed towards the markings on the drawing. “These are Unown, and they feel kinda like this…” She then summoned Lucy’s Magneton and had it project a mild electromagnetic field around them.

““Oooo!!!”” The two Onixes and all the nearby Rock Pokemon cried out in distress and started wailing in displeasure, prompting Nina to immediately return Magneton to cancel out the effect.

“Hey! Hey! You’re alright! You’re alright! Sorry about that, I didn’t think you guys would have such a strong reaction to that. The EMI’s gone now. You can relax…”

“Ooo…” The larger Onix let out an unhappy huff and nuzzled against Nina to demand for more Berries.

“Hehe… Sure, no worries. I’ve still got enough Berries on me.” Though she would be completely out of stock after this since she only slung two Berry pouches to her belt for this venture.

“So yeah… Going back to my question earlier. Do you know if there’s a place nearby that gives off similar vibes?”

“O?”

“Oniiix.”

The two Onixes spoke. Then, as if coming to an accord, the smaller Onix lowered his body and beckoned for Nina to get on.

“You’ll take me there? Awesome! You guys are the best!”

Nina, along with all of her Pokemon jumped onto the Onix’s back, Nitey included. The silly Dragonite was inordinately excited that he got to be the Rider for once.

“Nite! DRAGONIIIITE!!!”

Then, like a living freight train, the Onix slithered across the terrain at maximum speed, eliciting excited cries from all of his passengers.

“THIS IS AWESOME!!!”

To the side, some of the Geodude and the Gavellers rolled out as well, forming a caravan of Rock Type Pokemon that burrowed through walls and demolished every single obstacle in their wake.

The world quaked in their stalwart advance and eventually, they reached an empty cavern, one that looked like it had caved in at some point. And beyond the broken rock and debris was a singular dark tunnel, just large enough to fit a Pokemon of Nitey’s size.

“Is this it?”

“O.” The Onix replied as he gestured for Nina to get off, unwilling to go any further. Their contingent of Geodude and Gavellers had long tapered off as well, unable to endure the strong magnetism prevalent in the space.

“Thank Onix, you really saved us a lot of time.” Nina did not want to even imagine how long it would have taken for her to find this place. “And here’s the last of my Berries. Take care on the way back okay?”

“Oooo! Onix!”

With a wave of his tail, the Onix turned back. Leaving Nina and her Pokemon behind, each shouting farewells and waving enthusiastically in their own way.

***

Author's note:

Wednesday's are the worst. I hate Wednesdays.

My boy Sunday (from HSR) was right. Let every day be a Sunday!

Only in eternal reverie will we find true happiness.

Except, I would like to make an amendment. Let every day be Saturday instead! For Sunday lies within the precipice of dream and reality.