They didn't speak for a while.
The echo of falling rock still lingered in the air, and the faint light from Charmeleon's tail cast flickering shadows on the broken walls of the chamber. Bits of debris still shifted every so often, but the Nidoking beneath the rubble was finally still.
Skylar leaned against a jagged stone, breathing hard, sweat mixed with ash streaking down his face. Charmeleon stood nearby, scraped but steady, eyes still scanning the dark.
Misty crouched near the wall, gently pressing a bandage to a scrape on her leg while Starmie hovered at her side, projecting soft pulses of calming energy.
Between them, the silence wasn't awkward—it was survival.
Eventually, Misty broke it.
—"That… was a Gym Leader-level monster."
Skylar let out a breathless laugh. "Worse. Brock at least didn't want to kill us."
She looked toward the collapsed tunnel. "We need rest. And a plan."
He nodded.
Together, they started moving again, following a narrow crevice along the chamber's edge that Gardevoir had scouted earlier. It led them to a natural slope downward—one side cracked open by ancient pressure. At the bottom, they found a pocket of cave untouched by the corruption.
It was quiet here.
Peaceful.
Almost wrong.
But the air was clean. There was still water trickling from a nearby wall. And small glowing mushrooms lit the space like a galaxy of stars.
They made camp.
Charmeleon curled near the edge of the pool, flame low. Starmie pulsed quietly, and Gardevoir, ever watchful, meditated in silence while tuning her aura to the surrounding energy.
Skylar sat down on a flat rock and exhaled slowly.
—"How bad is your leg?"
Misty tightened the wrap. "It's nothing I haven't walked off before. You?"
He showed a gash across his shoulder—already cleaned and patched.
—"Charmeleon took the worst of it."
She glanced at the Fire-type, who grunted softly, then looked away.
—"He's changed," she said. "Not just physically. He's sharper. More protective."
—"He evolved during the Zubat fight," Skylar said. "He saw me cornered and didn't hesitate. It was like… the power just came out of him."
—"Or was drawn out," Misty added, her voice quieter. "By the corruption. By danger."
Skylar looked at her.
—"You think the corruption forces Pokémon to grow… unnaturally?"
Misty nodded. "Some twist. Some break. Others… resist. Like your Charmeleon. And like—"
She reached into her bag and pulled out a Poké Ball.
—"Froakie."
She let it out gently.
The small blue Water-type blinked at the light, looked around, then crawled carefully toward the pool.
It dipped a toe in, sniffed, and gave a cautious croak.
—"It watched me fight. Then let me catch it," Misty said. "It knew something was wrong in the water. It survived anyway."
Skylar leaned back against the wall. "Then we keep surviving too. Together."
They sat in silence again.
But it was broken, this time, by something faint.
A hum.
Not a noise.
An aura.
Gardevoir opened her eyes.
—"There is… another."
Skylar sat up. "Another corrupted Pokémon?"
Gardevoir slowly shook her head.
—"No. Something… beneath us. Watching. Waiting."
A cold wind passed through the chamber, though there was no source.
The mushrooms flickered.
Skylar reached for Charmeleon's Poké Ball.
—"How deep does this place go?"
Misty stood, Froakie hopping beside her.
—"Far enough," she said, eyes hardening. "Too far for this to be random."
They didn't know what waited below.
But they knew one thing:
They weren't alone in Mt. Moon.