It was when I woke up the next day that I really began to think about what it meant that Adamant had joined my team. After a few quiet minutes of thinking, I realized something. I had pokémon now. And while it seemed pretty obvious, I hadn’t entirely understood what it meant.

I was officially a pokémon trainer, with two pokémon to my name. I could train them, not just try and escape Mt. Coronet with them. I had been so focused on simply escaping the mountain and defending from wild pokémon attacks that I had simply forgotten to be a pokémon trainer.

I felt a grin crawl across my face. I’d wanted to be a trainer for so long, and now I was! I fought hard not to laugh out loud in delight, knowing that both Ladon and Adamant were still asleep. But even suppressing that urge, I still felt giddy with excitement. Thoughts began to fly furiously through my mind as I tried and considered what I would want to train Ladon and Adamant in and for.

Even without training, Ladon had proven himself to be a powerhouse and almost certainly the centerpiece of my time. He could take hits and deal them back out, something that his King nature would only make more powerful as time passed and he evolved.

Adamant, on the other hand, I knew very little about. What little I knew of Beldum boiled down to the pokédex info and that they were famous steel and psychic-types from Hoenn. I should probably have been confused about why one was beneath Mt. Coronet, but I wasn’t. Too many trainers traveling between regions and releasing pokémon or just letting them breed and then leaving made it not too uncommon to find pokémon from other regions.

Either way, I knew I could go a couple of ways with Adamant. I could try and make it a defensive wall that could take hits all day, or I could try and make it an offensive monster that could smash its opponents into the dust. It didn’t take me long to decide on the second option.

If Adamant eventually became an offensive battler, then he would probably be the best he could be. Steel-types were always some of the toughest pokémon out there, just due to their nature. They could only really be rivaled by rock-types, but even then, steel was tougher. If Adamant used its natural defenses and complimented them with brutal attacks, I had no doubt that it would be a powerful battler.

As soon as I had decided on that, I rolled over and checked my pokégear, noting the time and suppressing a groan as I realized it was time to start the day's march. Waking Adamant was easy, I simply called its name, and it detached from the wall and started floating around as I packed up camp.

Ladon, on the other hand, was much harder. However tough he was, he’d taken an absolute pounding the day before. Fighting a Bronzong was hard on him, and I had no doubt his entire body was aching and hurting. After waking him, he was clearly miserable during the first ten minutes of our march, making me turn to him with concern.

“Hey, do you want me to return you? You can just rest in your pokéball; Adamant can take the fights today, okay? I need to get used to it anyways,” I spoke softly, making Ladon think before dipping his head in acquiescence. I patted his head gently, “Don’t worry, it’s alright to take a rest from time to time. You had a hard fight, and I won’t begrudge you some rest.”

I gave him some love for a few minutes before ending the short rest by returning him. Turning around, I saw Adamant hovering there curiously. “As for you, how does some battling sound? Should help us get used to fighting together, yeah?” Adamant spun in place before bumping against me gently. It floated away and turned back, clearly indicating that we should get going. I laughed softly before following after it.

From there, our travel went oddly fast. Not that we were moving any quicker, but the days sped by faster than I expected. Ladon was back to fighting shape within two days, making me relax a little. Adamant had been doing brilliantly in our fights, but I couldn’t help but breathe easier when I knew Ladon was there to back us up.

Slowly I began training the two of them as we walked further and further in the tunnels. Ladon got to start learning how to form his Crunch faster so that he could attack more quickly. In addition to that, I had him begin trying to figure out a way to use Dragon Dance. I couldn’t wait to see a Dragon Dance boosted Ladon; the mere idea was exciting.

As for Adamant, I was using the combination of its Iron Defense and Tackle to try and learn Iron Head, along with attempting to use what psychic power it had to try using Confusion. I was convinced that if I could train its psychic ability as a Beldum, it would only be that much stronger when it evolved.

And so, time began to pass quickly. A week and a half passed as we made our way further and further down the tunnels that threaded through Mt. Coronet. Halfway through the slow marching progress, I jokingly held up the odd twisted spoon that was in the bag but was surprised when Adamant eagerly absorbed it.

I’d been slowly getting hopeful as I recognized that the pokémon that were challenging us were slowly getting weaker. My hope that we were close to getting out of the mountain was only heightened when we eventually entered the biggest cavern I’d seen yet.

Dozens and dozens of meters tall and close to half a kilometer across, the cavern was massive compared to what I was used to by this point. I could tell that Adamant was surprised by the sheer size of the cavern because it stopped its psychic training for a moment, the rock it was levitating beside it dropping to the ground. Ladon gave it a cursory look before seeming to write it off as just another cavern.

As for me? I was happier than I had been since before getting stuck in Mt. Coronet. There were bridges in the cavern, wooden and man-made bridges! I started grinning uncontrollably. We had to be on one of the routes that went through Mt. Coronet, meaning we were close to getting out!

“Come on!” I shouted happily, quickly running forward while figuring out which direction I should follow the bridges towards. We’d entered the cavern from the side, relative to the direction of the bridges, so I just picked a direction and followed the signs of travel.

I could feel the stupid grin across my face but didn’t care. I’d been stuck too damn long underground; I was not going to wait any longer than absolutely necessary before getting out. I froze where I was in the cavern as I realized something.

The location services of my pokégear and pokédex didn’t work earlier because either the storm interfered or I was too far underground. Eventually, I had just given up on them. But if I was now on a route, I might be able to connect!

Yanking my pokédex out of my pocket, I quickly switched it on and flipped it to the map. Lo and behold, it worked. A little red dot appeared on route 207, surprisingly close to the exit that led to Oreburgh City. I laughed happily and began carefully making my way in the direction of Oreburgh, excited just to leave the damn mountain.

Thirty joyful minutes to following the route towards Oreburgh passed when I began to hear footsteps echoing from ahead of me. I almost broke into a run, wanting to just see another person after so long alone with just me and my pokémon. I hesitated after a moment, looking back at Adamant and Ladon.

Adamant floated in midair, a two-foot steel pokémon with a single red eye emerging from its ball head. And beside it was the close to full-grown King Deino that was Ladon. He’d grown a lot over the past week or so, reaching a height of four feet and around seven inches. He was a big and probably intimidating dragon-type.

I winced for a moment, “Alright, I’m going to return you two, alright? I don’t want to scare off anyone we meet on the route.” Ladon cocked his head at me while Adamant spun in midair, “Let’s be honest, you two are probably intimidating to come across in the middle of a dark tunnel.”

Adamant made a gentle noise that I took as him not minding, so he quickly was absorbed by the red light. Ladon looked back at me steadily before finally nodding. With both of them back in their pokéballs, I promptly continued making my way forward on the route. It didn’t take long for the source of the footsteps to come into view.

A girl a few years older than me, wearing heavy boots and thick clothes, was walking down the tunnel. She had dirty blonde hair tied up tight behind her head and had the tanned complexion of someone who spent a lot of time in the sun. More than that, I noticed she had three pokéballs at her waist.

Walking beside her was a Roselia, with a gentle light emanating from her two roses. I quickly recognized the use of the move Flash and resolved to get the TM for it as soon as possible.

I frowned when her footsteps slowed down, and a wary look crossed her expression as she saw me. Glancing down, I quickly realized why. My clothes were worn down and covered in rock dust, making me look wild and probably a little disconcerting.

“Uh, hey!” I called out hesitantly, not quite sure how to approach this situation.

She glanced down at her pokémon for a moment before responding, “Hello, who are you?” Her tone was curt and a little sharp, reminding me of my appearance.

“I’m uh, I’m Daniel. Look, I know I don’t look great, but I need some help.” She narrowed her eyes at hearing that but didn’t stop me. “I got flung to this fucking mountain in a bad teleport disruption, like almost three weeks ago. I’ve been lost in this goddamn mountain since then, and I just want to get out. How far is it to Oreburgh?”

Once more, she exchanged a look with the Roselia beside her, “Wait….” She appeared to think for a few moments, “Three weeks ago… Wasn’t there some sort of incident in Crown City about then?”

I let out a sigh of relief, “Yeah, that. The orphanage I was at got attacked for some reason, and as the Kadabra was teleporting me out, it got disrupted. I wound up fucking here. Just… just point the way out, please?”

She looked at me in disbelief, “How the hell have you survived for so long then? Especially in Mt. Coronet?!”

I let out a long sigh, “It is… an unbelievably long story. Short version, I ran into a hiker who shoved this bag into my arms before he ran to fend off a pokémon of some kind. A cave-in happened, separating us. I’ve been using the supplies in here. Now please, just… Outside?”

She blinked a few times before shaking her head slightly, “Um, sure. Just, I guess I’ll lead you out if that’s alright? Come on, this way.” I made my way over to start following her out. After a few steps, I spoke quietly, “What’s your name, if it's alright?”

A surprised expression flashed across her face for a moment, “Oh, sorry. I just… I’m Anna, and this is Aro,” she gestured towards the Roselia beside her. I nodded, waving awkwardly to Aro.

Silence reigned again as we walked before she eventually spoke up again. “How have you been avoiding the pokémon?”

I let out a breath, “At first, I didn’t. I got scratched pretty badly by a Zubat not long after getting stuck. But luckily for me, Nathan, that’s the hiker I stumbled on; he had an egg in his bag that hatched not too long after we got separated.” I shrugged when I saw her looking at me, “I feel kinda bad about essentially taking the pokémon he no doubt did a lot to try and get, but… I’d almost definitely be dead right now if I hadn’t. And since Ladon imprinted on me, I doubt I could give him back.”

I waited a moment, considering, “Not that I would. At this point, I’m pretty attached to Ladon. We’ve been through a lot together down here….” I let my voice trail off, not knowing what else to say.

Luckily Anna didn’t seem to know what to say either, and she just nodded before falling silent as well. The three of us walked together for almost ten minutes before I finally figured out something to say, “So, um… What rank trainer are you?”

She glanced at me and then at Aro before answering, “I’m a B-rank, but I’m close to A-rank. I’m getting there.” She looked at me from the corner of her eye, “How about you? What rank were you before all of… whatever happened, happened?”

I snorted in amusement at how she phrased it before speaking, “I was fifteen when this happened. I think roughly a week ago I had my birthday? I only realized like, two days ago….” I shook my head gently, “Anyways, I was going to be C-rank. But if surviving in Mt. Coronet alone and with the pokémon I have isn’t grounds to increase my rank, I’ll be damned.”

Anna laughed at that, “Yeah, I suppose that’s fair. I’d be upset if I did that and didn’t get a rank increase from it. Doubly so if it was before I was even a trainer!”

I was just about to speak when I caught sight of it. The tunnel’s end. Light, glorious sunlight pouring in from outside and lighting the cave. I didn’t even notice Aro stop using Flash. I just walked forward almost in a daze.

For the first time in close to a month, I stepped outside. I squinted and raised a hand to shield my eyes from the setting sun. I could see the route sign standing outside the cave entrance, pointing towards the clear path that led down the rocky terrain and into the valley. A valley that held in its middle, the city of Oreburgh.

A few buildings soared upwards to almost seven stories, while many others were only two or three stories tall. I could see the mine at the end of the valley, coal smoke drifting into the sky. The figures of people moving around in the city below were barely visible from this distance, but I didn’t care.

I took a deep breath of clean, fresh air. I was out. I was finally and truly out. And despite the pain of the sun in my eyes, I grinned so broadly that my jaw ached.