8:06 P.M June 26, Friday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events: The Preliminaries for the Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded; 105 Trainers and their Pokemon have advanced from Bronze to Silver. The celebrations finish tomorrow when the Summer Round Robin Cup will begin, to crown the best of each Tier among those that advanced. Rhea started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 18 Days (17 Officially;18 since getting Maya and Nova).

On Amira’s prompt, Rhea shot left with her team as the Cloyster came between them, heart pounding, and her muscles seized the moment the Cloyster and Pidgeot released their full strength, showing they were getting serious; it only lasted a fraction of a second, yet was enough to almost make her trip. By the looks of Mallory and Amira’s stumbling feet, she wasn’t the only one.

C’mon! Calm … Stay calm, she recited on repeat, for her own nerves as much as her Pokemon. It was a bit difficult when Nova was freaking out behind her, trying to keep track of the fight and if she needed to use Protect.

Mya was wide awake now and itching to have her turn—considering the Pidgey hovering fifteen meters above them, she just might.

On the other hand, Alice was running ahead of them, knowing their objective; the bunny grabbed the life vest and tossed it up at Rhea as she neared, moving to do the same for Amira as Gables got Mallory’s.

They were cutting it close; the Cloyster had been resistant to getting involved in human matters, but Amira and Serenity seemed to have somehow finally convinced him, which might have just been due to the Plasma member’s intrusion past the appropriate boundary the Cloyster set.

Rhea’s lips tightened when Mallory’s nervous hands missed the flotation device—this hadn’t been discussed before, but she was following Amira’s lead, and if anyone needed the vests, it was Mallory.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Roxie caught it in her teeth and urged her flustered Trainer to keep going—Rhea could tell Mallory was having the worst day in her life—a phobia of deep water in front of her and a murderer at their backs.

The pressure building from the Platinum-tier Pokemon was like twenty-pound weights against her chest, and she could imagine it was the same for her teammates; they may have grown up around Grandmaster and Champion-tier Pokemon, but steeling your nerves while under severe pressure was another matter entirely.

Responding to Nova’s questioning crisis about the gun after Amira’s statement, Rhea shot back a glance at the progressing battle. Nova, we don’t stand a chance if he shoots…

Her lips parted in horror as the Cloyster radiated ominous energy that made her spine tingle; this was the aura of death—murderous intent her father trained her to be mindful of, and it seemed the fake Ranger knew it.

The man dropped his gun in a heartbeat, taking off for the treeline as beams of hyper condensed liquid shot into the air like missiles to penetrate the stone ground; the pressure and hissing sound they made burned her ears, rocks igniting across the impact zones to spray deadly shards in every direction.

Bullet-like rocks pelted the man; unfortunately, he dove to the dirt just in time to miss the bulk of the spray—he didn’t come away unscathed, though.

We have to find shelter … This is like getting between Sabin and Katelin’s serious battles!

Fingers tightening around her life jacket, she turned away from the fight, noticing Amira and Mallory’s bobbing hair already pulling ahead of her. Get to safety first! We can’t get to the kayaks from this side of the cliff … What’s Amira’s plan?

She hadn’t made it entirely clear since they’d been watched for much of the time, but Rhea figured it had something to do with diving into the river with prioritizing the vests.

Nova cried out from the rear, forcing Rhea to relay the message. “The Pidgey!”

The Bird Pokemon shot out of the sky, sending gusts to force them off their feet, but Gables and Amber used Protect to weather the bulk of the spray, repelling the gale.

Rhea missed the bulk of the attack after lagging behind and was a little surprised when Alice used her as a launching board to jump into the sky, pulling her energy in to deliver a Thunder Punch to the back of the unsuspecting Pokemon.

Nice!

Nova cheered, too, but the blow didn’t so much as shift the Pidgey three feet out of the air as it recovered, flipping around to turn its attention to the bunny—Alice darted around, using her bursts of speed to evade the much faster Pokemon by using her agile acrobatics.

The Pidgey seemed to have the advantage in the air, but near the ground, it found it more difficult to land hits—still, Rhea’s gut tightened in dread as it sent a sharp gust to suck Alice in.

No … Alice is still too weak for this level of a fight…

By the hair on her chin, Alice managed to cartwheel and flip out of the way of the spinning cyclone—she didn’t have Protect like Nova and Mya.

Their opponent was definitely high Bronze or low Silver; fortunately, the Bird had to keep an eye on the two Platinum Pokemon, and out of nowhere, a flurry of wind blew her hair into her face. The unexpected gale turned out to be the Pidgeot’s charged attack, whipping up dirt and dust that rushed toward them as white blades pelted the Cloyster—it didn’t seem all that effective.

With the Pidgey forced to reposition, they made it to the ledge, Lori peeking back over to groan. “Mmgh! It seriously dodged all of those attacks?!”

Amira hummed, already fiddling with her life vest; she’d lost her glasses in the flight. “Mmh … that Water Spout was pretty—” Her red irises shot up as Rhea slung her own arms through her jacket. “Hurry, get down here!”

Rhea hopped down incremental drops that led to a ten-meter dive to the swirling river; a large whirlpool spun around in a circle to their left. They’d made it to the edge of the island forest, and below was the mouth of the chasm.

“T-This is insane!” Mallory screamed, dropping against the small cliff face at their back to bend over and grasp her forehead. “He literally had a gun—like, a real one! They’re trying to kill us!”

Amira was kneeling down beside them, holding out the life jacket. “We can’t stop, Lori … Roxie…”

The Rockruff was already on it, nudging the vest in her mouth against Mallory’s bare thigh.

“Good! Look, it’s not safe for you to jump with a life jacket from this high; you have to pencil dive—feet first, and then we’ll help you get the jacket on. Rhea and I know how to dive with it, but you don’t.”

Rhea nodded, turning her focus away to peek over the edge for a second; the Pidgeot’s blades of wind didn’t seem to cause that much damage, and the Cloyster sent five icicle lances flying at the Plasma grunt—he dove again as the Pidgeot beat his powerful wings to cause a roaring gale that blew them off course.

Muk! Clearing her throat, Rhea tugged on the jacket, noticing the Pidgey swooping out of the sky to dodge the incoming attack as a wall of dust advanced toward them. Nova! Jump down!

“Stay down!” she screamed, and her Eevee huddled next to them as they pressed against the cliff wall.

They all released a small squeak as a whirlwind shot across the overhead plateau

Lori gasped, purple irises latching onto a few objects. “No … My stuff!”

Rhea caught a large portion of their supplies falling into the river below, and the Cloyster was sent flying into the heavens. We might get caught in the fight at this rate!

A white aura illuminated the Pidgey’s body as it came into view again, its speed increasing dramatically; it dove at her throat—she couldn’t react.

Nova jumped into her arms, forcing the air out of Rhea’s lungs while dragging her to the ground and throwing up a Protect.

The kinetic energy pushed beyond the repelling Move, further pressing the Eevee into Rhea’s tight chest and causing the rough stones of the wall to dig into her back. Wheezing, Rhea felt tears come to her eyes as she coughed, trying to find her breath, yet the shield held, deflecting the Pidgey to their right.

Alice used the wall to take to the air after it, but the Pidgey twisted at the last moment, dodging her glowing feet by a hair’s length.

Amira cursed, following the Pidgey’s rise as it prepared another attack. “Keep it busy!”

Amber peppered the sky with Embers, missing every shot; the bird used his superior speed and mobility to sweep around the fire—their Pokemon didn’t have many ranged attacks.

His next Quick Attack was aimed at Mallory’s breast, but Roxie vanished in shadows the moment it reached the cliff edge, throwing her dark-infused paw at its face; the blow wasn’t all that strong, yet managed to change its course.

Amira finished putting on her life jacket and shifted to look at them. “We need to jump!”

Mallory’s eyes were as big as saucers. “W-Without … I’ll drown! Seriously, Amira! I’ve NEVER done this! I don’t know how to dive!”

“P-Pencil dive,” Rhea quickly replied, rubbing her chest and finishing her own straps as Nova jumped off. “All you need to do is pull your legs together and keep your arms to your side—make sure you hit with toes pointed down to break the water tension. Gables will be there to help bring you back up.”

Trying to remain calm, Rhea watched as the Pidgey rose higher in the air, looking toward the forest—likely where his Trainer was.

Rhea crawled over to Lori in the small moment they had; Amber was still shooting Embers at the bird. “Hey, we’re here for you,” she whispered while rubbing the frightened girl’s cold back; she was quivering uncontrollably.

Amira’s voice was still calm and collected, which helped Rhea’s own pumping heart. “Just breathe for a minute.”

Alice, I think Mya needs to come out, Rhea prompted, noticing that this Pidgey might just be Silver-tier at this point. We aren’t doing a lot of damage to it—we just need time and well-placed Sucker Punches to keep it off us…

Her attention darted to the Unova girl as she started to hyperventilate. “Focus! Focus, Mallory! We’re going to jump off and swim into the whirlpool—there’s a cave underneath.”

“What?! No! No! I can’t! I can’t swim! I told you…”

Cutting Mallory’s shrieks off by reaching up to grab the girl’s face, Amira looked her dead in her wet eyes. “Lori! I know you’re scared. We can’t go anywhere else! Look! We’re surrounded by water, and they’re trying to kill us. I know it’s scary, but it’s the only place we can go!”

“She’s right,” Rhea hissed, double-checking her vest so it wouldn’t snap or tear at her skin too badly when landing. Amber wasn’t happy to be recalled but went inside as Amira prepared them to jump.

Rhea swapped Alice out, pulling her pokeball off her bikini bottom’s built-in magnetic belt and bringing in Mya. “We don’t even know if the Cloyster will win. We need to go!”

“H-How?! I can’t swim!” Mallory cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll die either way! No … I know, Gables!”

Amira guided Lori’s hands to her hip to remove Roxie’s pokeball. “Return her, and let’s get going; the Pidgey’s coming back!”

Following instructions without her Trainer’s notice, the ball activated on its own as Roxie returned, and Amira helped her put it back on her bottoms. “Okay, calm breaths … Mhm … There we go! We need to go; you won’t sink with Gables helping you!”

Rhea glanced back over the edge of the cliff as Amira got Mallory ready; the dust was being blown away, and no one could be seen within sight, but given the fierce battle that was taking place across the river, she was sure the man managed to make it into the treeline.

Mya, be ready to attack the Pidgey when we jump; he’ll try to stop us.

Her Mawile’s fists tightened, serious pink eyes narrowing while following the Pokemon hovering above them.

Finally ready, Amira pulled Lori to the edge, taking her down the lower ledges to the ten-meter drop, and Rhea tailed them, keeping a close eye on the Pidgey.

“O-Okay,” Lori panicked, “Just … Just pencil-thingy…”

Rhea returned Nova to her pokeball, and Lori’s voice caught in her throat while Amira prepared them. “Feet first; here, take my hand! Go!” she said, tossing her life jacket the 10-meters to the water.

“I … I…”

“Go!”

Mallory screamed, catching the Pidgey's notice as they jumped off with Gables beside them; the girl locked up but managed to do as instructed. Just as Rhea predicted, the Pidgey moved to strike after noticing their daring escape.

Mya responded in the nick of time, appearing from darkness midair to target its blindspot. Pounding the bird off-course, its whirlwind was sent against the waves below, which helped break the current a bit.

Entering the river, Lori and Gables sank in as Amira recovered on the surface; Serenity was by her side in an instant, helping her toward Mallory while entering the pull of the current.

Rhea’s left hand tightened around Mya’s pokeball upon seeing the Pidgey’s attack. He tried to force them against the wall … They’d be ripped to pieces on the way down! Muk…

She sent a red beam from the device to drag Mya in as she fell, and the Pidgey hastily rose into the air—Cloyster teleported nearby. Twisting rays of rainbow energy erupted from within its core, creating paths of ice to be made across the cliff edge as it chased the Pidgey away, but the Pidgeot shot out of the sky to sweep it away with another powerful whirlwind.

Relief filled Rhea’s heart while fastening Mya’s pokeball to her hip and jumping; Nova was cheering the Cloyster on. I don’t know why it helped there, but that should buy us enough time!

Breaking the cold water’s surface, Rhea felt the weight of the blow compress against her chest, but her form dissipated much of the shock; dipping below the waves for a moment, she saw the sheer size of the pit hole—it was massive.

She couldn’t help but notice sharp ice crystals forming around the ring, which was concerning, but it wasn’t nearly as dangerous since they had two Water Pokemon to guide them.

Guilt flooded from her connection to Nova as the Eevee lamented that they were the only team without a Water Pokemon, and it was her fault.

Fighting her way toward Amira and Mallory, she saw they were already getting the panicking first-time swimmer into her vest. No! Stop that! You’re not a lousy Eevee because you can’t turn into a Vaporeon yet!

Nova wasn’t convinced while watching Gables and Serenity supporting Mallory in her floundering attempts to stay afloat in the shifting waves; the Pidgeot had inadvertently helped to ease the current a bit in its last attack.

We’ll get through this, and you’ll get it eventually!

Rhea’s lips pulled in upon making it to the pair by swimming with the current; it felt like she was in the ocean.

“How is she?” she asked, latching onto Amira as she acted as the centerpiece for their two Water Pokemon guidance system.

Amria forced a laugh. “Well, she’s not dead.”

The joke helped Mallory chuckle a little, teeth chattering; in truth, it was far colder than Rhea thought it should be, and the ice around the bottom didn’t give her a good picture of what awaited them inside the cave.

“You good?” Rhea asked.

“N-No … Y-You two—s-suck … Onix…” she shivered, coughed, and sputtered, hugging Serenity; Gables was using the Pokemon lifeline on the jacket to help push them around the cyclone.

“Rude,” Rhea grinned. “Just breathe a little … calm your heart—that’s it, big breaths, and you’ll need to hold it … Amira, what kind of cave is it?” she asked, worry filling her chest.

Amira grimaced, shaking her head while readjusting herself on Mallory’s left, not wanting to panic the girl.

Great … We have no clue what we’re getting into.

“Hold your breath!” Amira said, hugging Lori with Rhea.

Sound died in Rhea’s ears as they were pulled under by the strong tide, but Serenity and Gables kept them stable enough to exit the bottom—the problem, it was an underwater cave.

It spat them out of the rotation once inside, forcing them toward the icy ceiling to be skewed on the spikes, but Serenity acted in a flash, wiggled her way out of Mallory’s weakening arms—tail illuminating a bright silver, she spun around to cut Mallory’s straps. Gables helped Amira with one of hers as Rhea unfastened her own.

Allowing herself to be flipped around to let the vests slip away, Rhea saw Mallory had practically passed out from the ride, having lost all of her air—she could still go at least eight more minutes, but they were running out of time for the Unova girl.

It was oddly calming to see the bright hole and spinning vortex that carried down further into the channel, yet where they were was calm and peaceful; above them shone glistening ice while below were various clusters of fallen rock—it was as clear as could be.

Rhea pulled Mallory in as Amira nudged her toward a decent-sized inlet to their far left. Serenity and Gables helped them swiftly carry Mallory’s partially unconscious body to the area.

Breaking the surface, Rhea tentatively tested the air to find it shockingly clear, and light somehow radiated from the opening above them; they appeared to be in a hollowed-out tunnel that led further into an underground system.

Coughing once, Rhea used the edge of the wall for support while holding Mallory from the back and under her chest. “Amira…”

“Got it! Got it!”

The redhead managed her hair to avoid getting it stuck on anything before bending down to carefully drag Lori out of the water; Amira shifted the girl to her side. “Hey, Lori! Are you okay? Lori…”

Her voice echoed in the cave, and as Rhea got out, a small stream of liquid bubbled out of Lori’s throat. Violent coughing, Mallory whimpered, tearing up. “W-Why did—did you do that to me?”

“It’s okay … We made it,” Amira whispered. “We’re here … Just rest for a second.”

Rhea climbed closer, water dripping off her cold body as she laid beside the quivering girl and hugged her; her own teeth were beginning to chatter. “H-Hey … We’re here. A-Amira, could you get Amber to—to heat us up?”

“Yeah—yeah,” she muttered, but the Fire Fox was already jumping out of her pokeball to blow hot air over them, and Amira soon closed in around Mallory’s opposite side as they hugged each other—wherever they’d made it to, it was freezing.