The northern reaches of Dewford's main beach trailed off into a protruding crescent of cliff faces stretching from the ocean to the forest. The initial stretch hosted a modest crowd of people enjoying the beach, many with pokemon alongside them. Astra idly wondered what they would do if Winter's Eye decided to dump a foot of snow on them all. Past that the trail grew increasingly gritty, gravel and barren stone replacing soft sand. At the end of that path was an entrance into the cliff face so large that it could allow six Kirlia standing side-by-side and each thrice as tall to pass through.

Darkness yawned, and a part of Astra's mind was amused to note that it was quite literal: the enormous mouth of the Granite Caves was exhaling a soft breeze from its depths, its coolness contrasting with the warm sun overhead. The rest of Astra's mind was still miserably trying to process the sum total of today. From that foul presence pervading Winter's Eye, to the horrible revelations and outbursts in the Town Hall, to her utter failure in the Dewford Gym...Astra had thought the incident in Rustboro had been the worst thing she'd ever experienced, but the past few hours were making a valiant effort to usurp it.

Brendan and May trudged along beside her, the three of them looking upon their destination with a varying mix of resignation, reluctance, curiosity, and in Astra's case, a painful longing she couldn't quite name. Her home wasn't quite as large as this grand ridge, but her ultimate place of safety and comfort had always been that carved-out cave, and feeling that gentle breeze...if she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine she was back in the village, on the precipice of that familiar hollow.

And if she opened them, she would be very quickly reminded that home, comfort, and safety were a long, long way from here.

She glanced at the various bizarre paintings haphazardly painted around the entrance. It seemed the local humans had taken to drawing bizarrely styled names and phrases all over the place, slathered atop each other like a dozen layers of jam on a Magikarp. Individually fine, but a horrible offense to the senses when put together. Some of them weren't even finished, either abruptly stopping part way through a stroke or ending with a wild mistake. In another time, it would have been the focus of Astra's attention for at least a few minutes, but as she was it barely merited an annoyed scowl at the mishmashed eyesore.

"Well, here it is," Brendan remarked as they passed through the breezy entrance. "Granite Cave."

May peered into the gloom. "Dark in here. Dank, even. Anyone got a flashlight?"

Astra halted a few dozen feet into the cavern. Light was still able to illuminate most of the area, but the tunnel ahead was barely visible as a sharp left curve veering into the rest of the cliff face. For a moment she could almost imagine a door at the end, warm words and soft bedding beyond, but it was merely a trick of the darkness.

Right, how were they going to see in here? She didn't have any way to light up the caves; any psychic trick was out of the question and her Pokedex and Pokenav were...maybe not useless but certainly not meant to illuminate more than their screens. What else was there?

Um. How did she see back home? Discounting psychic lighting...lanterns and firelight. Firelight? Fire!

"May, you said Combusken could light the way, right?" Astra asked, turning to the other girl.

"Well, I thought so, but I don't remember stopping at a Pokecenter, do you?" May huffed, frowning at her. "He's not exactly conscious right now, and we don't have any revives."

Oh. Right. Well, they could....uh...they could...

Astra stared blankly into the tunnel, lightly swaying in place. Silence stretched like an overtuned string.

Brendan hummed.

"I don't think we'll need anything, actually."

Huh? Astra looked at him, bewildered. Why wouldn't they...wait. Human thing?

"Can you see in the dark?" she checked. "Because I can't."

Brendan's mouth twitched, eyes flickering with confusion and amusement before returning to the dull pensiveness he'd been emitting since they'd left the gym.

"No," he answered, sighing. "I'm saying that we won't need a light because we aren't going in at all."

Astra stared. "What?"

"We—"

"What!?" Astra repeated, prickling fury etching itself in her stomach once again. "What do you mean 'we're not going in'!? Did you forget about the letter? The entire reason we came out here is to hand that thing over to Steven!"

[...]

"I didn't forget," Brendan said, raising his hands, "but we don't actually need to go in there to do that. Our job is to deliver the letter, not run through the cave; even Brawly said we could just hang out in the entrance until Steven comes to us."

Astra stared at him incredulously. "What, so we just sit around on some rocks until he decides to come out!? What if he spends the night in there or something!" It was a ridiculous notion, honestly; Astra doubted any human would deign to sleep on a perfectly good bed of greens when they had their plush mattresses as an option, and even Brendan and May had spent their nights on the road wrapped up like Cascoons. But the alternative was waiting and not only did she refuse to have this meeting looming over her head any longer, but if she stopped now then she wasn't getting back up again. Why couldn't they understand!? "Look, we can just get this whole thing over with once we find a light and get in there!"

[...?]

"Well..." May said, speaking slowly as Astra turned a piercing stare on her. "As much fun as that sounds, like I just said, my team's pretty shot, I'm pretty sure yours'd be bleeding the fuck out if pokeballs weren't magic or whatever, and Brendan..." she trailed off, hesitating.

Brendan eyed May, brow furrowed. "Brendan what?"

"Look man, you've never won a fight with either of us. I'm just sayin'! Anyway," she continued, brushing over his offended choking noise, "We don't have a light, most of our pokemon are toasted, and—do we even know where that guy is in there?" May asked, blinking. She turned back to Brendan. "There's like, hundreds of pokemon down there, right? How big are these caves?"

"It's hard to say," Brendan grit out, giving May a flat glare. "But it's labyrinthine; generations of the Aron line have carved out enormous tunnels deep underneath Dewford for a long time, and new passages are discovered all the time. Might be why Steven's down there in the first place," he mused, still frowning. "I wonder what's been found."

"So, yeah, we might get lost down there and miss him anyway," May finished, nodding to herself. "It sucks, but I gotta veto going down. I'd be all up for taking a poke around tomorrow, but—"

"You're doing it again," Astra said, fists clenched tightly at her side. "Both of you. Back at the gym and now here? Why do you keep doing that!?"

[???]

Both of them blinked, confused. "Doing what?" May asked.

"That!" Astra repeated, voice raising as she gesticulated wildly at them. "You—you keep deciding things without me!" She pointed at Brendan, arms shaking. "You dropped out of the gym challenge without even talking about it, and then you," she continued, whirling on May, "Stole the first challenge with Brawly before I could even get a word in! And now you both just decided we're not even going to try going inside like my opinion doesn't even matter!"

[!!!]

Brendan shared a wide-eyed glance with May, the two of them shifting uncomfortably.

"Astra," Brendan started, "I—we both had our reasons for doing that, and—I mean, they were all to your benefit, weren't they? I'd have been out anyway, May probably would have gone first in any case, and we really aren't prepared for spelunking—"

"I don't care!" Astra yelled, glaring at them through blurry eyes. Her pulse throbbed against her skull, stomach churning with a heat far greater than the spice of her Leppa berries. "I don't care if I benefited from it and I don't care if the gym and these damn caves would turn out like this anyway! I wasn't allowed to have a say in any of it! You two just acted like I wasn't even there, like—like—"

[Youngling!?]

"Like I'm a kid who can't make my own choices!" Astra screeched, panting despite her lack of corporeal speech.

[░▒▓▒░▒▓ status?]

"Well maybe you fucking are!" May roared in response. She stomped forward, glaring right back at Astra. "You're the one who kept pushing forward after that mess in the Town Hall, and even after you collapsed in the damn gym! Even I could see you were freaking out, and for what? You wanna burn out so hard you go up like a road flare? Am I supposed to just let that shit slide!?"

There was a haze in Astra's head again. Nothing coherent formed in the mists, and the red blob in front of her was barely visible in the dark cavern. Was she leaking again? She couldn't seem to care.

[!!!!!]

"That—"

"That's enough, May!" Brendan ordered, stepping between the two with arms outstretched as if to physically separate them. He glared at May, the girl's gaze flicking between him and Astra before she finally backed up a step, a thunderous expression on her face. Brendan exhaled, dropping his arms as he turned to Astra.

"Look," he said, exhaustion and mild panic scribbled on his face, "It's just—yeah, we screwed up, and it wasn't right to do that, but we were only trying to help as best we thought we could. Astra, listen, we're on your side, here! We've tried reasoning with you since the Town Hall, but you just kept ignoring us. Something has to give; if you keep insisting on making terrible choices that put yourself in danger, then—"

"Danger!?" Astra asked, a dark, bitter laugh congealing in her throat. "You think this is dangerous!? I've been in fucking danger since the day I left home!"

[░▒▓ left home!? ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ DANGER!?]

"Right now the only one who's going to be in danger are you two if you don't stop refusing me my say!"

[░ Refuse ░▒▓▒! ░▒▓▒░ REJECT ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒!]

"And deciding what I'm allowed to do!"

[░▒▓░▒▓▒ NO MORE ░▒▓▒░▒▓░▒▓▒!]

"Like I'm one of your stars damned Poke—"

[RESCUE! ░ ▒▓ ▒░▒▓▒░!]

"—Who keeps saying stuff!?" Astra yelled, cutting herself off as she snapped her head around, searching for the source of the incessant, bizarre pings.

...Wait, pings? Wha—?

Psychic power flared, purple light illuminating the cavern entrance for a split second.

And in that split second, between Astra and her friends, something appeared.

"Kadabra!" The foxlike figure roared. Tall as a Kirlia, its gargantuan yellow flail thrashed wildly as it brandished its claws at Brendan and May.

Astra stared at the creature's back as twin cries of alarm erupted from her friends. Her legs gave out, what remaining strength she had left vanishing as she fell to the floor. Static and fog filled her head as she stared at this...being.

What—what was—huh?

Huh?

[Not again!] The Kadabra...broadcasted!?

It—they—she—

Felt...familiar, but strange. Why did that voice...put her at ease?

[ ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ Comfort! ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ Protect! ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ Safe!]

Her vision blurred, and for a moment the yellow and brown figure was a different being entirely. Clad in white, with fading green hair and horns as crimson as the evening sky.

Then the figure erupted in purple light, breaking the illusion. Astra gasped as she felt Kaabra's psychic power surge towards her friends. She knew this pattern!

"Wait, wait, stop!" she said, feebly reaching out—

Kadabra roared, and the world flashed purple. Brendan and May only had a moment more to scream before they were enveloped in a lavender glow and vanished, leaving only a clap of air in their wake.

Astra's breath caught. Teleport. Kadabra had—they'd been—what? Where? What had Kadabra done to them!?

[Satisfaction.] Kadabra...purred? Astra heard a yawn. [░▒▓ tired...]

Kadabra went limp, drooping forward slightly before jerking back upright. She grumbled to herself, shaking her head as she began spooling psychic power anew. [Exasperation. Younglings. ░▒▓▒░ danger outside! Repetition, repetition. ▒░▒▓ warn again! Listen ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒! Safety░▒▓▒░▒▓▒! Relief! Relief. Enough ░▒▓▒░▒▓. ░▒▓▒ ░▒▓▒ home together.]

Astra looked up at Kadabra, squinting through the dim light. She could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears, each thrum sending a spike of fresh agony through her skull. What was Kadabra saying? Her head was—her thoughts—it was all too much!

But she could still recognize a side-along teleport.

"No, no..." she said, struggling to slap some measure of her own energy together. But nothing else remained, and she could only look up at the Kadabra in terror. "Stop!"

Kadabra seemed to sigh, psychic energy folding together almost autonomously even as she finally turned toward Astra. [Irritation. {Blood of my blood} ▒░▒▓ damp brain? Injured! ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓ danger! Nearly lost—shocksupriseconfusion]

Kadabra looked at Astra, and her eyes—narrow, slanted, and weary—bulged out of their sockets.

[What!?]

Amidst Kadabra's shock, she automatically completed her technique. Astra felt the world twist as the teleport yanked her away, its meager power still eclipsing Astra's barren attempt at deflection. Between one blink and the next, the dim entryway of the Granite Caves vanished.

And Astra was met by a scintillating ceiling covered in starlight.

As her eyes adjusted, she found herself atop a great cliff. A massive, yawning cavern stretched before her blurry gaze, spikes of rock spearing up from the ground or reaching down from the ceiling above. A thrumming susurration resounded through the air as sourceless wind shifted through patterns in the worn stone while a faint trickle of water echoed from parts unknown. Smaller beings, kin to Kadabra, idled around the cave, playing with rocks or sleeping, broadcasting a muted flood of amusementhungerboredomhungeragitationhungerhungerhunger—

All alit by a soft, gentle blue glow. Cerulean light, prickled by shifting spots of darkness and purer white, crawled along the ceilings, crept along the walls, grew atop the rocky spikes, and slowly consumed a...a...

There was a skeleton.

Bones larger than trees. A spine as long as a river, with a tail to match. Two thick legs heavy enough to embed into the stone. Arms large enough to topple buildings, ending in claws able to rend apart bedrock. A plated skull rested atop a pillow of stone, forehead protruding far beyond its face to end in a point, with two gargantuan horns erupting from the skull on either side. A jaw large enough to swallow a boat, still clamped shut.

A single eye stared right at her, a long-emptied socket softly twinkling azure in the darkness.

It was curled up, tail wrapping around its body, one arm sprawled open while the other lay atop its pillow. Resting calmly in its bed.

As if, one day, it had simply never woken up.

[WHAT!?]

Astra jerked, crying out in pain as the Kadabra next to her finally overcame her surprise and enveloped Astra in a telekinetic field, roughly pinning her in place. Escape! She had to—she couldn't move! No, no, no!

[░▒▓ ▒░▒ not youngling! Trickery! Thieving ░▒▓▒░▒▓!] Kadabra...howled?

Astra couldn't understand. The messages were—she couldn't think. Her body twisted, coming face to face with her assailant. Sharp eyes framed by an angular face, two long, thick whiskers, and two triangular ears glared at her.

[Invader! Foul waste being! ░▒▓ WILL NOT ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒! NEVER AGAIN!]

Kadabra was shaking her, screaming at her. Astra couldn't see anymore, everything blurring together into a mass of yellow, blue, and black. It hurt. Her head, her body, her mind.

Everything. The storm, the rumors, the gym, the fight, her friends—

It wasn't—

Her eyes—

She—

—couldn't breathe.

[NEVER HURT ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ AGAIN! ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒ NEVER TAKE...! Never...?]

Kadabra slowed, then paused.

Astra didn't notice. Nonsensical babble flooded the air without pause or rest, interrupted by panicked wheezes and wailing. Tears ran down her face, soaking through the fabric around her mouth, and her head lolled to the side, insensate.

Kadabra...stared. Blinked. Hesitated. Looked around awkwardly as her captive blubbered in her grip. At last, she peered at Astra closely.

[...Strange. Strange invader. ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ mistake? Invader ░▒▓?]

The Kadabra kept looking at Astra, her confusion visibly rising.

[Power? Rare.░▒▓▒░▒▓▒. Invader power░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒? ░▒▓▒...not invader power. Not invader? ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒. Not {Blood of my blood}. ░▒▓▒░▒, but...what ░▒ this?]

Brow furrowed, Kadabra looked around, then gently levitated the still-crying Astra over to a secluded alcove filled with yellowed grasses.

[Hm. Youngling ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓? Mistake, mistake...sorrow. Regret. Regret ░▒▓▒░▒. ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ regret...(Calm)]

Astra was barely aware of her capturer maneuvering her around until she was set within a soft enclosure onto a sort of resting place she'd known her entire life. Suddenly, her mind went blank, as though the raging river in her head had been gently smoothed into a placid lake.

A bed? She was on...a bed of grass. There was rock above and around her, and, vaguely, the presence of...someone like her. Was she...home?

[Strange ▒░▒▓ trickery? Light ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓? Strange. What...]

Someone reached out and took Astra's hat off. She blinked, head flumping back into the crackling grass cushion. What was...? She turned, looking up at a blob of yellow backed by faint, twinkling blue light.

The blob reached out once more and flicked a bare stream of power at her face. Astra felt the urge to bat it away, but could only let it pass.

Something fell away. There was a sharp inhale, and a moment of silence.

[Not invader. But Invader? Speech░▒▓▒░▒▓▒... Not {Blood of my blood}. Not ░▒ youngling. But youngling. ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒. Yet ░▒▓▒. Yet ░▒▓▒░▒▓▒. Same? Different? ░▒▓▒░ unknown. {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}. Longing. Sorrow. Regret. Unknown. If only...░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒ me...?]

Astra stared at the blob, uncomprehending. The blob looked at the floor, then back to her.

It began to speak. Slowly, as if considering every word very carefully.

[Mistake. Correct. {Blood of my soul}, safety, comfort, protection. Until {Lord of Steel} crumbles. {☹︎︎♋︎︎⬧︎︎⧫︎︎ ☜︎♍︎︎♒︎︎□︎︎} promises.]

The blob was patting her head. It felt like...but not...who...?

Something tumbled from a dusty corner of her mind; a word she'd never used before. But it seemed to fit, all the same.

"Grandma?"

The figure seemed to smile.

[Strange. Strange words. Strange being. If want. Injured. Rest.]

She was piling leaves atop her like a cover. Was this...a nap? That sounded nice. Astra nearly closed her eyes, but...

"My...friends?"

Grandma paused.

[Invaders? Why...? Strange. Very strange. Sent invaders different cave. Far. Unhappy. Alive.]

Reassurance? They were okay then. That was good.

Grandma frowned.

[Questions. Answers? Later. Hm. Invaders... Worry. Sooner. Strain...]

Grandma looked back down at Astra.

[...Worth. {Blood of my soul}, Dream: Sun/Starlight.]

"Goodnight..." Astra murmured.

Grandma held a hand over Astras head, and began to glow.

[Best Sleep. (Fourfold Rest)]

And Astra knew no more.

Something was poking her cheek.

Astra grumbled, lazily flailing an arm to knock the offending object away. Leaves scattered off her form, and her face scrunched up at the loss of weight. She turned over, snuggling deeper into the dried grass stalks. Waking up could wait another hour or three; Grandpa hadn't called for her yet, and she couldn't detect any hint of breakfast.

Or—actually, now that she thought of it, she could smell...was May trying to make the food again? There was a faint whiff of...what was that? It smelled like...dirt? No, mushrooms? Was someone boiling fungus? Why—

What was that sound? Water? It sounded like—was there a leak? She didn't hear rain, but that faint trickle was ceaseless. Why hadn't Brendan taken care of...of...

Um.

Something was...weird. But...nobody was bothering her, so it was probably okay. She could just...pull up her blanket and—

Astra's fist clenched over a handful of leaves. She paused, eyes flickering open. Leaves...? Wait, where was her blanket? She hadn't had leaves in her bed since she'd finished lessons with the caretakers. And—what was with this scratchy old pillow!? Where did—what were these unshielded broadcasts she was picking up!? Were there hatchlings playing outside their cave? What in the world was going on!?

Groaning, Astra sat up, rubbing at her—wait, she still had her dress on? That—she didn't—cave? Dress? Where was her hat? Why was everything blue!? This didn't make any—

She stopped. Looked at her hands again. Her breath caught, the sleepy fog vanishing as her heart roared in her ears.

She was missing two fingers.

Her illusion was gone.

Something poked her face again.

Astra shrieked, jerking away from the unexpected touch. For a brief instant she saw a small face; yellow, shaped like a rounded kite with a snout protruding from the bottom. Two large, Skitty-like ears grew atop their head, and a pair of slit eyes similar to a Makuhita were the only other features on their barren skull. Their torso and shoulders were covered in a brown...carapace? While the one arm she could see—a skinny upper limb that disappeared into an oddly bulky forearm with three fingers (no thumb?) protruding from the end—rapidly withdrew.

Then the back of her head collided with the rock wall behind her, and pain engulfed Astra's world as her vision was replaced with her namesake. She heard a panicked cry of "Abra!" and a brief flare of psychic energy, and when her vision cleared, the creature was gone.

A number of followup flares followed immediately after, the faint pressure of a hundred signals she hadn't been aware enough to recognize all vanishing at once. Astra stared at the empty space before her, grimacing as she rubbed at the bump on her head. Who was that? What were those flares!? Where was she? Somewhere deep in the Granite Caves?

Glancing at her undisguised hands, Astra quickly threw her disguise back on and—where was her hat? Without her hat, her horns...

She looked at her hands again. They hadn't been human hands when she'd awoken, and her illusions wouldn't come apart just because she was asleep, and she knew she had reinforced it back at the gym. It should have lasted until tomorrow, but someone had dispelled it. She could vaguely recall someone...familiar. Were they the ones who'd removed her illusion? Had they put her in that bed? They'd packed her in with leaves. And that being who'd awoken her...

Swallowing, Astra let the mirage fade away. It...wouldn't be of any use, here.

Brushing the foliage off her legs, Astra stepped out of the alcove, taking a proper look at her surroundings. A massive, quiet cavern stretched before her, the ground sharply dropping like a cliff a short distance away. Blue light emanated in patches from the ceiling and walls, lending the expanse a mysterious, calming iridescence. A patch of it was on a nearby rock, and Astra reached out to stroke it, curious.

"Moss...?" she said, surprised by the soft fuzz. It scintillated at her touch, softly flickering through shades of blue, white, and black. She stared at it, mesmerized. "Wow."

Blinking, she turned to examine another alcove next to her own. It was empty, though it had shoddy grass beddings and a pile of withered leaves for cover like hers had. Several alcoves like this lined the wall in either direction, all vacant. Unease pooled in Astra's stomach as she walked away from her resting place. Where had that being gone? She couldn't hear anybody, the sound being the distant trickle of water. That scent of boiling fungus had become a whiff stronger, but she still couldn't place it.

Cautiously approaching the cliff edge, Astra stared at the gargantuan skeleton in the distance. Its azure eye stared back, body alight with the glowing moss.What kind of behemoth was this? It was taller than some of the buildings in Rustboro. Was this some ancient nest? It wouldn't have fit through the cave entrance; had it spent its entire life down here? She could see some tunnels that roughly fit the giant's size down below, though a couple seem to have collapsed on themselves.

Actually, there were a lot of tunnels down there. And up there, and—Astra turned in a circle, blinking at the numerous holes bored in nearly every direction wherever there was ground. Anything that wasn't a tunnel had some manner of alcove carved into it, though Astra wasn't sure if the ones below were supposed to be for sleeping like the...very high shelf she was perched on. The floor looked to be sculpted smooth as well; no awkward bumps or jagged edges to be seen aside from the stalactites and stalagmites, and there even looked to be paths faintly worn into the stone around those entrances.

"How am I going to get out of here?" she murmured, gaze flicking from one tunnel to the next. She could possibly teleport out, but she hadn't examined any area in Dewford enough to use as a target; even if she had, none of the places she'd been to were guaranteed to be private, and who even knew how deep below ground she was? How had she gotten in here anyway? She couldn't recall...

Astra frowned, thinking back to her last waking memories. They'd gotten to the cave, Brendan and May hadn't wanted to go in, she'd gotten mad at them because her friends were huge jerks that didn't let her have an opinion—

Astra grimaced. They...hadn't been wrong; in hindsight, she really was in no condition to do anything. She still didn't appreciate how they kept making decisions for her, though! Even so, following up on that was going to be awkward—that was, once she found them. Where were they? She couldn't sense them nearby—oh, she could message them on her Pokedex!

Astra reached for the device and only grabbed empty air. She stopped, breath catching in her throat. Her bag! Where was her bag!?

She spun around, eyes locked on her resting spot, before scanning the entire shelf. Her woven grass luggage was nowhere to be seen, and neither was her violin case. Fumbling with her sash, she abruptly realized her pokeballs were gone as well.

Swallowing, Astra looked around the deserted cavern shelf once more. Alright, so she was very alone, with no way to get help if she needed it.

...and no witnesses, either. Huh.

Astra paused, raising a hand and looking at it curiously. Glancing around once more, she pushed. With a rush of psychic power, a large, shining purple sphere the size of her head manifested above her palm, peacefully swirling with contained destruction.

Astra stared at her attack, a grim smile on her face. If anything down here thought she'd be easy prey just because she didn't have her friends, they were going to be in for a rude awakening. Right then, new priority: find her stuff, possibly kick some ass, then get out.

Astra dismissed her attack and walked back over to the edge of the shelf, absently examining the cavern while she returned to her previous stream of thought. There had been an argument, Astra had...pretty much lost control over her broadcasting and mental shields, she was pretty sure, and then...they'd been interrupted by—

Astra reached the cliff face, looked straight down, and abruptly stopped thinking. Resting against the bottom wall were a pair of the yellow beings, fiddling with rocks. She stared down at them, shocked beyond words. They'd been so far below that she hadn't noticed them! Focusing her senses, her eyes widened even further at what she felt: unguarded emotions, unshielded thoughts, psychic power! They weren't human, they were pokemon, like her! Psychic pokemon! The crafted floors and alcoves, the tunnels, she had been tucked into bed—Were they...? Could it be!?

Someone had carved a staircase into the wall on her left. Astra nearly stumbled in her rush, sprinting towards the decline as fast as her legs could carry her. But as she ran, a few puzzle pieces began to slot into place. Psychics? Granite Cave? Teleportation? She'd heard that combination before. Hadn't Roxanne talked about this in her lecture? She had called them...Abra?

It was only thanks to her natural grace that Astra didn't fall down the stairs in her mad dash, and even then her exit was a mad scramble to not fall over as she nearly bounced off the wall at the landing. She ran across the flattened cavern under the watchful blue eye of the giant behind her, dodging around the few stalagmites in her way and passing by another, previously unseen giant tunnel in the cliff face.

As she drew closer, part of Astra's mind took in their full appearance, noting that their lower body was bipedal, with a long tail protruding from their lower body and two segmented legs that ended in tri-clawed feet. They looked rather bizarre in full; as though their hands and feet were large, thick gloves and boots rather than limbs, and all their joints were oddly exposed. With their carapace-like outer shell, it was like looking at a living puppet.

The two Abra suddenly started to awareness, doubtlessly sensing her approach, or perhaps just finally hearing her shoes slapping on the bare rock. Startlement that quickly turned to alarm when they fully turned to face her, astonishingly swift teleportation matrixes forming in mere seconds.

Astra bit back a curse; she'd forgotten to ping! She hadn't meant to surprise them, but it had been so long since she'd had to properly announce herself—no matter, she had to try to salvage this!

"Wait, wait!" she cried out, halting in her tacks. She backed up several steps, covering her horn—horns with her hands and emanated as much sincerity as she could muster. "I'm not here to hurt you, I swear on my cinders! Please, I only want to talk!"

Both Abra—paused, hesitating. Their gathered power waited within and around them, teleportation kept at bay only by a single thread of will.

Then one of them decided that they weren't going to chance it and teleported away with a muted pop. Astra and the remaining Abra stiffened, eyes locked on each other. Astra swallowed, still breathing heavily from her mad sprint.

"Please don't run," she started, nearly pleading for the Abra to stay with her. "I just want to ask some questions. I—my name is Astra! I'm a Kirlia, not a human! You're—you're an Abra, right?"

Emotions swirled around the Abra, as visible to Astra as arcade lights. Panic, wariness, fear—spiking when their companion vanished, and now...dampening, with confusion and curiosity slowly pushing their way in. Along with...hunger? Not for her, she didn't think, but...had they skipped lunch or something?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

But the Abra didn't respond, or even move beyond the faint lessening of tension. They hadn't even stood up, still sitting where they'd been when Astra had arrived.

A moment passed. Then another. Astra's face scrunched up.

"Can...can you tell me who you are, at least?" Astra burst out, arms dropping to splay out to either side. "Or where I am? Why am I here!? Where are my friends!?"

Silence was her answer, the Abra shrinking away as she raised her voice. Astra stared at them, teeth grit and eyes burning anew.

"The smoothed stones, the alcoves, the grass bedding—someone tucked me into bed! You can't just be—aren't you...like me?"

Silence. Abra hesitated. Astra snapped.

"Answer me!" she screamed, incandescent purple light flaring into a corona around her body. "Say something, for fuck's sake!"

"Abra!"

Thwip-clap.

Astra—stopped. Stared at the empty space where the Abra had been. Her psychic power faded, and her arms dropped to her side.

It had been a yelp of shock. A physical yelp of shock, spoken aloud. No telepathic link. No messages. Emotions had swirled, panic and fear surging anew at Astra's display, but that was all there had been.

Nothing more. She'd understood more when she'd spoken to Treecko, that first night. Hatchlings could communicate better.

The failures had remained failures.

There wasn't anything here.

Astra laughed; a hollow, bitter sound that echoed across the cavern in peculiar patterns. Why had she even bothered? Humans had never come across any pokemon like her or her village, why would she? They—she—was all alone. Shame on her for getting her hopes up for some fluke—

Thwip-clap.

[Awake, immediately scare younglings? Rude.]

Astra shrieked for a second time, whirling around in utter shock just in time to witness a three-fingered yellow hand chop her forehead. It barely hurt, but the impact sent her reeling to the floor regardless. She rubbed at her forehead and stared up at a familiar, distinctly grown yellow being.

[This define gratitude? Odd! Learn better.] Kadabra chastised, a wry smirk on her face. She leaned down, her long whiskers twitching in amusement. [Made stew. None for you, perhaps?]

"Grandma!" Astra blurted, pointing at Kadabra in astonishment. Her bafflement abruptly vanished, replaced by an entirely new stupefaction at her own exclamation. "Grandma?" she asked, blinking stupidly at herself. Where had that come from?

[Still want?] The Kadabra—Grandma???—asked, suddenly looking very pleased. [Am glad. Still, rude. Hm. Apologize youngling; maybe stew for you. Hungry?]

Astra stared at...Grandma, a riot of thoughts colliding inside her mind. She was talking. Psychic messages, with...contents! Of a sort. Her speech was incredibly bizarre; it was similar to the language the village and Humanity shared so Astra could understand maybe two-thirds of it innately, but it was...off, the words and concepts packaged in a peculiar manner she was having trouble parsing fully. She could get the gist of it, but it lacked...complexity? Like there were whole facets to her words that she just wasn't catching properly. Though it was much more comprehensible than what little she could recall from their initial encounter.

(Had her friends been able to give their understanding, they would say that it was as though the Kadabra had been speaking in a moderately distant dialect with an incredibly strong accent.)

But what was that about Grandma!? Her Grandpa's mate had been gone for longer than her parents had been, and Astra's mother had, as far as she knew, been raised communally. More importantly, none of them had been a Kadabra! Why had the first thing to pop to mind been—the bed tuck!

"You—you're the one that teleported in front of me at the entrance to the cave!" Astra exclaimed, the last few events slotting into place. She'd interrupted the argument and stole her away to the cavern! Then she had...used some sort of calming technique on her and tucked her into bed? But before that—Astra inhaled sharply.

"My friends. Where did you send my friends!?"

Grandma Kadabra watched as Astra scrambled to her feet, weathering her glare with a small sigh. [Invaders, friends? Strange. Talk like them? Stranger. Told already. Safe, unhappy. Check again? Hm. Moment.]

Astra blinked, rage sputtering at Kadabras calm response. There was another clap of air as Kadabra abruptly teleported away again, Astra belatedly reaching out as if to stop her. She might've been able to, but...the Kadabra had already told her? Astra...vaguely remembered being spoken to while Kadabra had laid her to sleep, but she hadn't understood more than the bare emotives.

The Kadabra had been...remarkably gentle; at least, after she had figured out Astra wasn't an—what had she said? [Invader]? It seemed to mean humanity, mostly, though it seemed to implicate any being in the cave that wasn't welcome there. What had changed her mind?

But beyond that, she could talk! There was someone else! Astra and her village weren't alone! The very concept had her head spiraling—and yet...the Kadabra was clearly an evolved Abra, right?

So why hadn't that Abra...?

[Return.] Kadabra announced, reappearing before Astra between blinks. She rubbed her hands together, gently blowing on them. [Invaders fine. Unhappy. But energetic! Found Zubat swarm. Big blue creature protecting them. Red one has Tentacool, freezing swarm with color beams. Very pretty. Cold. Wonder if they take. Can't take all; harvest later.]

Astra frowned, slowly parsing through Kadabra's report. May and Brendan were fighting a swarm of Zubat? And kicking ass, apparently.

"Good," Astra said, letting herself grin a small amount as she relaxed. Those pesky flying blue bats had tried to roost in her cave back home once and the memory of her Grandpa unleashing psychic devastation on the whole flock was still one she held dear, though in the moment it had been soured by the guano they'd had to scrub off all of their stuff.

Wait, harvest?

"You're collecting Zubat?" Astra asked, brows furrowed. "Why?"

Kadabra looked at her silently, confused, before something like a shadow passed over her face.

[Oh.] she said, slumping. [Wonder. Sorrow. Longing...]

Huh? Had she said something wrong? Where did this melancholy come from? And why was Kadabra sort of...she was guarding her emotions far better than any human, but for brief moments it was like she was intentionally broadcasting certain feelings.

[Hm. Not here.] Kadabra decided, pulling herself together. She turned, nodding at Astra. [Come. Questions with food. Again: Hungry? Stew?]

As if summoned, Astra's stomach growled like a Poochyena. Color flushed her cheeks as she clutched at her belly.

"Food sounds amazing, actually." she said, grinning awkwardly. "I don't think I've eaten since—wait, how long was I asleep!?"

Astra felt as though she'd had a full night's rest, but there was no way May and Brendan would be fighting fresh after a half-dozen hours fighting through the Granite Caves; especially with May's pokemon in such bad shape!

[Time? Hm.] Kadabra seemed genuinely puzzled by the question, tilting her head. She thought for a moment, then pointed upward with both arms and then arced one arm downward by a small measure. [Above, light move...here.]

Astra stared at the strange movement. If that was the sun, then...

"Two hours?" she asked, surprised. "I only slept for two hours? I feel like I got eight!"

[My fault. Grateful?] Kadabra asked, giving Astra an amused smile. She shook her head, gesturing for Astra to follow. [Enough. Come sate pang. Then, questions.]

Astra frowned, mulling over Kadabra's words as they started heading around the gigantic skeleton. How had she been responsible for Astra's restfulness? And 'sate pang'? That was an odd way to describe filling one's belly. What kind of meal merited the need to quench pain in the stomach?

They passed around the beast's tail, azure mosslight shimmering as they walked. Astra eyed the massive remains; a single toenail was nearly twice the size she was!

"What is that?" she asked, watching as the glowing eye of the behemoth passed from view. "It's bigger than any creature I've ever seen,"

[{Lord of Steel}], Kadabra answered, looking up at the skeleton. [Biggest Aggron. Carved many tunnels. Big tunnels. Spawned many Larion, many Aron. Now? Bones. Home. Protection. Invaders not found, {Blank Ones} cannot enter.] She paused, trailing a hand over a metallic plate on the tail. Astra stepped closer and saw that a number of lines had been carved into the surface, though the mosslight alone didn't let her make out the details.

[Old place. Old being. Old memories.] Kadabra lingered, claws trailing some pattern only she could see. [All old. Time...only bones. Not yet.] She shook her head, arm dropping back to her side as she pressed onward.

An Aggron, huh? Astra couldn't begin to imagine what it had been like in life, but in passing they certainly looked peaceful. Though, what did she mean by 'not yet bones'? It was already bones...her stomach growled again, and Astra suddenly noticed that the distant smell of stew had grown stronger, as had the sound of trickling water.

"Oh, I can smell it now. Are we getting close?" she asked as they rounded the Aggron's tail. She had spotted many tunnels leading off to who-knows-where along the wall as they'd traveled, and a few of them had been blocked off with boulders or, as far as she could tell, utterly collapsed.

Looking ahead, she blinked as the source of the trickle revealed itself: a small brook ran through a portion of the back cavern, pouring down from parts unknown and flowing across a worn channel into another tunnel alongside a walkway, which vanished into darkness. A large amount of Abra were spread along the river, each one lethargically dunking what looked to be stone bowls into the water and drinking from them.

Every last one of them were just like the Abra from earlier; emitting base emotions carelessly, the depths of their awareness more on par with Slakoth than Kadabra. With a matching appetite, apparently. Astra frowned as one Abra drank down a third bowl of water, wondering how long they had been at the brook. What was with everyone here being so hungry? Couldn't they just grab a...berry?

Astra paused, looking around at the damp, rocky, sunless cave. She peered up at the brook's source, unease pooling in her gut as she wondered if it was a spring—which wouldn't allow Magikarp through—or if they were drinking some form of ocean water. What was...going on, here?

[Here.] Kadabra said, turning left and trodding alongside the Aggron's back. Astra followed, and the two of them soon came upon...nothing? This section of armor looked the same as any other, though she supposed this section hadn't quite melded into the rock like the rest of it.

[Don't use often.] Kadabra mused, reaching out. Astra's eyes widened as a previously seamless portion of the skeleton's backplate suddenly separated from the rest, revealing a door-sized opening. Astra blinked as a warm orange glow erupted from the opening, the pungent smell of whatever stew had been made came out with it. She could hear the Abra behind her drop their bowls on the ground as one as the smell hit them as well. [Teleport easier. But, guest. Come,] she said, wrinkled eyes smiling at Astra. [Home. However long you want. Until {Lord of Steel} crumbles.]

Kadabra turned and entered the apparently hollowed out Aggron. Astra swallowed, glancing back at the small horde of Abra staring longingly in their direction. Steeling herself—hah—she entered the macabre dwelling.

Astra was greeted by a rush of heat, the air inside the corpse-home notably warmer than the cave outside. Flickering light played out across the walls, shadows dancing upon the towering ribs—ancient bones, hard as stone—that held up the ceiling so far above. Walls curved and twisted in line with the Aggron's shell, while crushed and melded stone filled in organic gaps in the floor. Toward the legs, arms, and head were more alcoves like she had seen at the top of the cliff, roughly twenty resting places sculpted into the Aggrons appendages, though the beddings in all save one had long gone dry and brittle.

Each alcove had some sort of collection accompanying it; most had stone shelves embedded into the shell which held cobwebbed trinkets of all shapes and sizes, near-universally crafted out of rock, yellowed bone, or, rarely, ancient and rotting wood—sometimes plain, other times melded with other materials, even small gemstones. A couple alcoves stood out in her brief glance; one had curiously shaped pieces of stone piled in a corner, dusty chisels laying atop pieces of unworked rock, and another had a small collection of what looked like flutes made of aged and cracking bone laid atop the decayed bed. Many were out of view or simply too far away to see what they held in the dull lighting.

In the middle of all of this, in the center of the Aggron's belly, was a stone cooking pot. Calling it a pot was a disservice—it was a full-on cauldron half as tall as Astra and twice as wide. It rested on a giant pile of glowing red crystals, each one burning from within while a stylized flame seemed to dance inside each one. The cauldron bubbled softly, steam escaping to...somewhere, filling the air with the scent of meat and mushrooms. But beneath that, Astra thought she could smell something...not rotten, or rancid, but...off. Against the far wall was a table that held a variety of cooking implements for dissecting ingredients, the stone surface stained a number of odd colors. Next to it was...Astra couldn't really tell. Some sort of sculpture? It looked like a couple blobby stone pillars.

[Hm.] Kadabra murmured, slowly trodding down towards the cauldron. She waved a hand, sealing the door behind Astra. [Long time. Where...there.] Peering around, Kadabra waved a hand, pulling a pair of stone stools out of a nook in the wall. She frowned at the cobwebs that hung between the legs, huffing as she sat them before the pot.

[Sit.] Kadabra said, patting one of the stools and looking at her expectantly.

Astra hesitated, glancing around the room again. Everything about this place reminded her of her own cave, like the collections matching her interesting stones, and the cauldron matching her Grandpa's much smaller metal cooking pot. But everything here seemed...old. Dusty. Worn down.

This wasn't a dwelling meant for one person. But there was nobody else here.

Where was everyone?

Astra sat on the stool, watching as Kadabra flicked her hand, retrieving two stone bowls from—wait, those weird stone sculptures were stacks of bowls!? There must have been hundreds piled up next to the preparation table!

[Here,] Kadabra said, dipping the bowls into the cauldron and floating one over to Astra. She smiled. [Eat well. Thicker. Unusual.]

Unusual? Astra looked down at the stew, peering at the floating bits of meat and presumably mushrooms within. There hadn't ever been a particular appetite for mushrooms back home—most would leave you sick—and this clearly wasn't fish meat. There wasn't that much of either, honestly. How was this 'unusually thick'? Astra could still see the bottom of the bowl!

"What kind of stew is this?" she asked, cautiously poking at a bit of very browned fungus.

[Hm. Good kind!] Kadabra proclaimed, drinking her portion directly from the bowl. [Makuhita meat. Shit-taker mushroom. Special day, special stew.]

Astra stared at Kadabra. "A what mushroom?"

Kadabra stared right back, confused. [Shit-taker. What wrong? Is fine, eat, eat!]

Astra looked back at her bowl. Well, Kadabra seemed fine with it, and it wasn't like the berry fields back home were any better. Briefly lamenting the lack of any spoons, Astra brought the bowl up and drank. She chewed in a piece of mushroom thoughtfully, swallowing after a moment.

The stew was...alright? The meat tasted fine—even if it was much tougher than she preferred—and the fungus was pleasantly earthy and had picked up some flavor, though she wasn't sure if she enjoyed the texture very much. But the broth was watery and, well, there just wasn't anything else. It was just boiled meat and mushrooms. Astra knew a few leaves or flowers that would spice this right up if crushed, hotroot if she had the taste for it, and some berries—juice, skins, or whole fruits—was rarely wrong. If she was really out of options she could put in tree bark or something. As it was, the stew was...boring.

Wait, actually, she was starting to pick up the hint of something...bitter. It wasn't really in the stew itself, but...

"Not bad," Astra politely allowed. "But there's a weird bitter aftertaste. What is that?"

Kadabra grunted. [Make stew. Empty pot. Make stew again. Bad clean? Old stew linger. Regret. Apologies.]

"No, it's fine; this is...still alright!" Astra reassured, wincing at the utter lack of praise she could honestly give. "Though, I guess I do have to wonder, what makes this stew so special if your 'usual' is so bitter?"

Kadabra looked at Astra, her joyous grin dimming. [No Zubat.]

Astra choked on her stew, coughing as broth tried to invade her lungs. "You've been eating Zubat!?" she demanded, turning wild, teary eyes on Kadabra. "Aren't those things poisonous!?"

[Yes.]

Kadabra met Astra's gaze, good cheer fading into a weary, blank stare. [Yes.] she repeated, exhaling softly. [Eat. Questions after.]

Astra hesitated, looking at Kadabra as the other psychic resumed eating their meal. That look on her face...she had to know that eating Zubat would at best make her nauseous and prone to self-fouling, right? Yet she had been eating it anyway, and considering her earlier words about 'harvesting' the Zubat her friends were fighting...

Astra suddenly recalled the Abra drinking bowls upon bowls of water outside. She looked at the colossal pot, then down at her stew, its warmth doing nothing for the chill she felt. Special, huh? Astra closed her eyes and drank.

A commotion caught Astra's ear. She looked up from the last dregs of her meal to see a small creature clamoring out from behind a corner up near the head. It was half as tall as Astra, and looked—honestly it looked kind of like a tan Ralts, but with black hands, two long black bangs extruding from a small patch of black hair atop it's head, and some sort of gargantuan ponytail—

The creature yawned, its ponytail unlatching into an enormous pair of massive, toothy jaws.

Astra dropped her bowl.

[{🕈︎□︎❒︎❒︎♓︎■︎♋︎}!] Kadabra exclaimed, a measure of cheer returning to her form. [Awake ▒░▒▓? ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒ sleep! Lazy, lazy!]

Astra twitched. That first word—what had she just said? It felt like something akin to a name, but entirely unlike the identifiers her home used. Those were akin to how a human's voice sounded, while this was...some sort of conceptual metaphor? She hadn't even understood half of the rest—it was like Kadabra had suddenly stopped speaking human at all, instead emitting strange psychic patterns she couldn't comprehend.

And apparently this creature was a veritable fountain of worries. Astra could verify this, as just being in the same room as them was worrying her to no end.

"Mawile!" the Mawile(?) said, leveling a sleepy glare at Kadabra. "Maw maw—wile!?"

Upon spotting Astra, the Mawile yelped in shock and darted for the nearest alcove, hiding herself out of sight. The effect was rather ruined by her gargantuan mouth-horn-thing still hanging right out in the open, chittering nervously.

Astra snorted, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. Right, well, that explained the name, she guessed.

"Are they alright?" she asked.

Kadabra 'tsk'd. [Fine. {🕈︎□︎❒︎❒︎♓︎■︎♋︎} panic easy. She think: Tiny mistake! Cave collapse! Funny. Frustrating.] She shook her head, a fond smile on her face. [Keep company. Battle {Silent Ones}. Eat those, metal, rock. {🕈︎□︎❒︎❒︎♓︎■︎♋︎}! Come! Meet {Blood of my soul}.]

Astra blinked as Mawile hesitantly poked her head out. {Blood of my soul}? Was that what Kadabra was calling her? Some sort of...spiritual cousin? Well, she supposed they were both intelligent psychic pokemon, so...sure?

Mawile slowly edged her way towards Kadabra at her urging, and, seeing that Astra wasn't about to attack, dashed over and grabbed onto Kadabra's leg, chittering at her rapidly. Astra watched the pair, a smile drifting across her face as Kadabra gently reassured the Mawile, even calling forth bits of...metallic carapace from somewhere and feeding it to her as a treat of some sort. That same smile grew incredibly strained as Astra watched Mawile tear the steel chunks into shrieking pieces with her oversized jaw-horn before eating it. Scary...

Was Mawile part of Kadabra's family? Watching Kadabra fuss over the smaller creature reminded her of her own companions. Feeding Slakoth or Marill treats, stroking the long leaf on Grovyle's head, gently picking through bits of detritus in Swablu's puffy coat, Nincada....uh, sharpening his claws on bark?

Absentmindedly, she reached into her sash for her pokeballs—

Nothing. She frowned.

Right, enough of this. Time to get some answers.

"Hey Kadabra," she started, absently depositing her bowl over on the table. "You've let me sleep in your bed, showed me your home, and even fed me, but I don't think we've really introduced ourselves, have we?"

Kadabra hummed. [Questions? Fine. I ask, too. But, 'Kadabra'?] she looked over at Astra frowning sadly. [Not 'Grandma'?]

"I..." Astra trailed off, scratching her head awkwardly. "I don't know why I called you that. I already have a Grandpa. You...kind of remind me of him, in a way, but—"

[Oh! Grandpa?] Kadabra asked, a mischievous sparkle in her eye. [He handsome? Big brain? Shiny shell?]

Astra stared at Kadabra, completely lost for words. "Uhhh...."

Kadabra laughed uproariously, slapping her knee with a wheeze. [Ah, hope! Dream! Alas,] she chuckled, pulling Mawile off the ground and holding her in her lap. Mawile protested through a mouth full of metal as Kadabra began stroking her head. [Ages since laugh. Apology. Want name?]

"Yes," Astra managed, shaking her head. She loved her Grandpa, but those sorts of questions...no. "My name is Astra," she offered.

[Hm. {Astra}? {Astra}...starlight? Good name!] she declared, grinning at her. [Starlight good. Peaceful. Wish saw more.]

"Grandpa gave it to me." Astra said, smiling faintly. "And yours?" she prompted.

Kadabra looked at her, her face growing weary.

[{☹︎︎♋︎︎⬧︎︎⧫︎︎ ☜︎♍︎︎♒︎︎□︎︎}]

A conclusion to legacy. The final breath before silence. A sound, from many, rebounding through halls of stone for ages until none are left to listen. Fading away, inexorably, towards...one last Echo.

Astra stared, taken aback. What kind of name was that!? "That's...um."

[No.] Echo interrupted, shaking her head. [My turn. Many my turn! Name good, but what you? Not {Blood of my blood}, not Invader. Unknown. What?]

Astra blinked, frowning. That was rather abrupt. Was she avoiding a follow up?

"I'm a Kirlia," she eventually responded. "I used to be a Ralts, and if I'm lucky, one day I might be a Gardevoir like my parents were."

[Hm. Hm! Hm?] Echo mumbled, gently tugging at one of her whiskers. [You get third? Lucky. Only Kadabra. Gardevoir...]

They didn't have a Gardevoir-equivalent? That didn't feel right, but when Astra examined that feeling, she couldn't quite explain why. Hadn't someone mentioned...she couldn't remember.

"It's very hard to become a Gardevoir," Astra told Echo. "My parents were the last ones back home, and they had to, uh, undergo some 'trials'. I don't know what they were, but they sounded pretty horrific."

[Familiar.] Echo murmured, absently scratching Mawile under one of her bang-flaps. Mawile leaned into the touch, cooing blissfully as her massive jaw started to vibrate like Nincada wings what in the absolute—[Tale? Story…▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░...unknown. Forgot. Forgot more. Again.]

Echo closed her eyes, pressing her forehead onto Mawile. Mawile whined, hugging Echo in response. She also glared at Astra, as if it was her fault. Astra...just sat there, unsure what to do. Echo had forgotten a story? Or something along those lines. That strange non-human speech was still incomprehensible, a tangle of telepathic patterns dancing in the air.

[Home?] Echo asked, gathering herself together. She looked at Astra, unblinking. [Many {Blood of my soul}? Wonder. What home like? Invaders?]

"My home?" Astra said. "Uh. No, there aren't any humans there. It's a village of Ralts and Kirlia in the depths of a forest back on the mainland; a little bit inland of the coast to the northeast. They're all like me—in that we can all talk like this. Humanity doesn't even know we exist. Um, everyone lives in wooden houses, sometimes hollowed out trees, but some dig into mounds and have homes underground. I live in a big cave carved into a steep hill; it's actually one of the best ones in the village, I think—"

[How many?]

"Huh?"

Astra stopped. Echo stared at her, face blank.

[Your home. How many {Blood of my soul}?]

"I'm...not sure?" Astra said, shifting uncomfortably. She thought back to the gathering, when Grandpa had announced the great plan for her to become champion. If she had to guess...

"A thousand?" she hazarded. "Maybe two, or even a little over that."

Echo froze. [Thousand...] she murmured, the word tinged with disbelief. She closed her eyes, resting her chin on Mawile's head. [So many. What eat?]

This was getting a bit out of hand. Something was deeply wrong here, and Astra needed to start figuring out what. "Listen, I really think you should tell me—"

[Please.] Echo whispered. [One more. How feed? What eat? Tell.]

Silence. Astra looked at Echo, noticed the dullness of her carapace, the fading color and patchiness of her whiskers. Saw how her hands trembled as she stroked Mawile.

She sighed.

"Berries, mostly." Astra began. "There's nowhere you can go that doesn't have a bush within a minute's walk, and there's a whole section of the village that's nothing but berry brambles. Most of them are Oran and Pecha, but there are a couple of Leppa bushes in a special corner; they don't seem to want to grow very often.

"Otherwise, there's a big river that runs right through the village, and there's always a couple Magikarp swimming around in there. Sometimes someone finds a Goldeen or Corphish but Ralts aren't allowed near those so I've never caught one. There's Seedot in the trees sometimes and you can bake those until they crack open; stuff some jam, meat, and maybe a bit of ground up bark powder in there and it's incredible.

"There's also Wurmple all over the place. You can eat those as they are—without the head, of course—or you can put a stick through them and rotate over a campfire if you like it crispy. Grandpa likes to soak them in Pecha juice and fry them, which is good but I don't like Pecha quite as much as Oran. Silcoon and Cascoon you have to boil, and they turn into a really nice soup broth once you get rid of the shell. Beautifly are mostly like Wurmple but rarer and nobody eats Dustox because of the poison.

"We can also get Lotad and Surskit from the ponds and outer edges of the river—Surskit legs are good as a snack, and Lotad you mostly cook with jam. There are tons of Zigzagoon in the forest and you can basically do anything you want with them. Same with Poochyena, but they're really hard to put down because they're only ever in packs and they're immune to psychic powers, so eating them is, uh...special? It doesn't happen a lot.

"Of course, that's just the main stuff!" Astra proclaimed, memories of past meals dancing merrily in her mind's eye. "I haven't even gotten to things like...eggs..."

She trailed off. SIlence filled the room, save for labored, choking sobs.

[All that.] Echo said, her voice warped and muddled. She curled further into Mawile, fresh tears leaking from her eyes. [All that. {Blood of my soul}. Food. Across water? Nearby? Distant. Unknown. Unfair. ░▒ unfair. {👎︎♏︎◻︎⧫︎♒︎ 💣︎♏︎❍︎□︎❒︎⍓︎}. {👌︎□︎◆︎●︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ☞︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎}. {🕆︎■︎⧫︎□︎●︎♎︎ ✋︎■︎⧫︎❒︎♓︎♑︎◆︎♏︎}. Everyone ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓▒░▒. Unfair. Why?]

A litany of names flashed by too quickly for Astra to decipher. All of them, without exception, spoken with a depth of sorrow and loss that she could scarcely comprehend.

Astra stood, and with one stride came before Echo.

And then she wrapped the elderly Kadabra in a hug.

Echo hiccuped, then wailed, burying her face into the crook of Astra's arm, clutching onto her like a young tree clung to the soil in a storm.

Astra didn't understand many things. What was happening, why things were like this, the past, the future— even the people around her, at times. But she could understand the presence of pain. And she could understand what it meant to be alone, if only a little bit.

So she stood there, exuding as much warmth as she could muster. Echo sobbed, tears tripping into Astra's dress. Mawile still sat on Echo's lap, squished between the two of them and growing incredibly more uncomfortable and annoyed by the second.

"Maw!" she screeched, wriggling out of the press of bodies, dropping to the floor with a thud. The Mawile scrambled to her feet, glaring angrily at the two of them. "Wile wile mawile Mawawawa!"

Astra and Echo stared, the abrupt angry tirade thoroughly interrupting the mess of sobbing. Echo blinked. She coughed, wheezing out a choking laugh before descending into a full blown, teary-eyed guffaw.

She laughed, tears still streaming down her face, as if Mawile's angry pout was the funniest thing she had ever seen.

[Apology. Apology!] she choked out, gathering enough control to reach out and pat the Mawile on the head. [Gratitude ▒░▒▓▒░▒▓. Love. Apology.]

Astra simply watched, a small frown on her face as Mawile begrudgingly accepted the reassuring scritches. When Echo had meaningfully pulled herself together, she spoke.

"Echo."

Echo looked up at her, seemingly puzzled by the name. Astra laid a hand on her shoulder, and continued, gently.

"What is going on?"

They looked at each other, silently. Astra gestured around the room.

"There are two dozen beds here, but they're all full of dust and rotten grass. Nothing on these shelves have been touched in...ages. Every single Abra I've seen is—none of them can talk, and they're all hungry. Your special stew is so thin, your regular stew is apparently full of Zubat, and—and..."

A pause. Astra sighed.

"You're the only Kadabra I've seen. But everything I've seen says there should be more.

"Where are they, Echo? What happened here?"

Echo sighed, turning away from Astra. She stared into the bubbling pot and flicked her hand, many of the glowing stones fading into dull embers. The bubbles stopped as the pot ceased cooking, now merely keeping the stew warm.

[Many things.] Echo replied, listlessly. [Where start...?]

"The beginning?" Astra suggested. "How did this place even form? We had help from our Ancestor, but you all..."

[Mmm.] Echo stared into the glow and closed her eyes.

Then, she began to recount the Great Dwindling of the Granite Caves...