Hiking along Routes 30 and 31 and becoming one with nature is a blissful experience. There's nothing like letting your thoughts fall quiet as you listen to the gentle rustling of the trees and distant songs of bird Pokémon. At first, I thought it'd be awkward marching through the wilderness with a handful of people I didn't know well, but everything's fine. It's awesome to be able to hang out with others in comfortable silence.

Well, actually, I'd be lying if I said everything was going smoothly.

Totodile, my darling, little tiny terror, is a feisty troublemaker with an insatiable appetite. He can and he will try to eat everything he finds. Berries, sticks, roots, shrooms? It doesn't matter 'cause it's all fair game. The worst of his forbidden snacks is hands down the apricorns because those suckers are tethered to thorn bushes. My arms ache from the scratches I've gotten braving the thickets for him.

I sigh to myself as I watch Totodile, careful to never take my eyes off of him. Our small group of four had found a nice place to take a small break from walking in a wooded clearing. The tree canopies give us a good bout of shade to relax in and protect us from the late spring heat. While the temperature might be mild, all this moving around makes you sweat and tire out quickly.

Heck, I'm not even the most pressed person in our group who's mad over having to repeatedly save Totodile. Delibird has herself perched on a flat rock in the center of the grove, clucking haughtily as she glares at Totodile while preening her feathers. She was the last one to rescue him from an unfortunate fate with an apricorn bush. This was something I hadn't been anticipating, to be honest. I thought since Delibird hated me that she'd hate Totodile, but the diva is surprisingly okay with him.

I tilt my head as I stare at Delibird and ask, "Do you think she'll ever forgive me for yelling at you that one time?"

"Yeah, just give her a while. She's quite the stubborn one; one time, she wouldn't speak to me for a week because I lost her favorite sash," Chance says.

"How'd you make it up to her?"

"Through bribery. I mean, I apologized to her because that's what a responsible, mature adult does."

"Mm, sure, Chance."

We share a laugh as we finish off our snacks. There's nothing like a nice, refreshing crisp apple. As I discard the core and wipe my hands off, a thought strikes me.

"Speaking of being an adult," I begin, earning a wary look from Chance, "what are you going to be when you grow up? I don't think I've actually asked you yet what you're looking to get out of this journey."

He sucks in air through his teeth. "Ah, that's a good question. But do I have an answer to it? Well, that's another good question to ask."

Seeing the way he's shifting side to side and avoiding eye contact, I take it upon myself to try to lessen his awkwardness. It'd be mean to do otherwise. I say, "Do you have any goals, like trying to get @delichic to a big follower count?"

He winces.

Backpedaling, I say, "Don't feel bad if you don't. I mean I'm totally not assuming you don't, but hypothetically if you were confused about what you want to do with your life, don't sweat it. You just got out of school: you have lots of time to decide what you want to do."

"You know what you want to do, though."

Guilt tugs at my heartstrings as I watch Chance scuff his feet on the ground. His lips are pulled into a frown, and his cheeks are puffed out in a pout. I find myself pouting in return, upset by how I've accidentally made him upset.

"But I just got lucky," I protest, hating how his smile is gone because of me. "I'm abnormal."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're not like other girls."

"Yeah, I'm—hey! Take that back!"

"I'm just repeating what you're saying, Pres," he teases. Thankfully, his grin is back as he chuckles at his joke. The mischief from his gaze lessens some, though, as he adds, "You don't have to put yourself down to make me feel better, you know."

I look away from him, reminded of how Juliette's told me the same thing repeatedly in the past. Self-deprecation has just always been my go-to when it comes to comforting someone; it's easier to relate to somebody who's struggling as much as you are versus someone who's not.

"Force of habit. I don't like it when my friends are sad." I wrinkle my nose; this conversation is getting uncomfortable, it needs to end. "We should get going."

I stand up and stretch, attracting the attention of Totodile. He waddles up to me and puts his arms up, croaking. Sighing, I oblige to his babyish whine and pick him up to set him on my hip.

"You know you're going to have to grow up and become big and strong so we can battle the Champion, right?" I say, arching a brow.

"To," he chirps, nodding.

"Then you know I won't be carrying you everywhere, right?"

His voice quits. "To."

"So you can get down and walk around like a big, strong Pokémon, right?"

Totodile refuses to look me in the eye; instead, he sinks his claws further into my jacket and rumbles his throat.

"Great." I glance over my shoulder at Chance. "Hey, can we make a detour? I wanna try something before we get to Violet City."

He shrugs. "Sure."

(-o-)

A normal Trainer who's tried from walking all day would go straight to Violet City. Not only does it have the first Gym Leader, but it also has a comfy Pokémon Center to relax in. But as Chance would put it, 'I'm not like other girls.' Instead, I lead the team on an expedition into the Dark Cave. It's no more than ten minutes away from Violet, resting on the edge of Route 31 with only a short stretch of trees separating the two.

Rather than shriveling in fear when we enter the Dark Cave, I find myself sighing in relief. The cavern's cool air is a wintry blessing whose atmosphere relieves me from sweating. Trickling water and shifting rocks echo throughout the quiet area, their noises heightened by the resounding silence. The further in we trek, the darker everything becomes. Surrounding rocks and stones become blurs of black amongst shadows as the light fades away into nothingness.

I freeze; everything lying ahead of me is pitch black. My rose-colored glasses fall off as I register just how dark the Dark Cave is. I instinctively take a step back, unnerved by the murkiness of the cavern. Being scared of the dark is only natural when you've been a control freak obsessed with planning ahead; how am I supposed to plan for what's to come if I can't see it coming?

"It's dark," I mutter as I rummage through my bag, looking for a flashlight. I know I packed the strongest one I could find for moments like these.

Chance snickers. "Don't worry, Pres. I got this."

Right as he says that, Chance gives a cry and stomps his feet. His shoes light up at once, flashing like a kid's toy won from a carnival. To keep the lights going, he has to dance in place and repeatedly slam his feet against the ground, or otherwise, his awesome makeshift flashlight will die. I laugh as he marches on like a clown, strutting with exaggerated movements as if he has something to prove.

As much as I love his plan, though, there's no way I'll be able to find any wild Pokémon to train Totodile with if he keeps this up. I turn on my flashlight and train it on him, freezing Chance in his tracks like a Stantler caught by headlights.

"Your mind is brilliant, and your ideas are amazing," I say, catching up to him, "but your twinkle toes are scaring away the Pokémon we came here for."

He resumes his normal walking style, replying, "I guess those Geodude aren't ready for this sort of high-level innovation yet."

Fighting back snickers, we begin our hunt for Geodude. It takes a while, but my anxiety subsides thanks to the powerful combination of my strong flashlight and Chance's joyful chattering. After half an hour of trekking through the cave, the earthy grumbles of rocks rising from the earth meets my ears. I cover my flashlight with my jacket to dim the brightness and tiptoe towards the commotion. Past a hunk of boulders around the bend is a grouchy, two-armed rock with a screwed up face, all mad because zie woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or, well, ground.

Determined, I shine the light on Geodude. Zie flinches at the unexpected beam and then raises zir fists in a fighting pose. Zie growls. It's on for real now.

I unclip Totodile's Poké Ball from my belt. "Ready yourself!"

Tossing the red-and-white device, Totodile emerges from the capsule with a sneeze. He shakes his head then whines in confusion as he gazes around, trying to figure out how we went from walking through a sunshine-filled forest to a cramped cave tunnel so quickly. Geodude's rumbling snaps him out of it as he realizes what's going on. He tries to growl threateningly in return, but his voice is so high-pitched and nasally that it's just plain-out adorable.

"This is our first real-real battle, alright? Let's do our best," I call out to Totodile. He nods like he understands, so I continue, "Keep your distance, and use Water Gun!"

Totodile does just that, scampering out of Geodude's swinging range to release a small blast of water. Geodude braces for the attack with zir arms shielding zie face, but the Water Gun still pushes zir backward into the wall. Totodile pauses for a moment to catch his breath, and he sends me a toothy grin.

I smile back; maybe the difference in the atmosphere is making him act more maturely. "Good job, buddy! Keep on at it and—watch out!"

Geodude hurls a giant stone twice zir size at Totodile. The tot squeals. Yelping, Totodile narrowly springs out of the Rock Throw's way and summons another Water Gun. Geodude blocks the blunt of the jet with a rock-turned-shield.

"Knock it out of zir hands."

Instead of shooting a Water Gun at Geodude's hands, Totodile bends down to pick up his own pebble. Shouting, he throws his stone at Geodude and smacks zir in the face. Zie flinches.

Hey, a distraction's a distraction. "Go, Totodile!"

Totodile's Water Gun attack lands before Geodude can recover, and the walking, talking rock decides zie's had enough. Shooting us one last glare, Geodude starts to hobble away.

"Wait!" I call out. I'm careful to seem as non-threatening as I can as I kneel down and pull an Oran Berry out of my bag. Holding it out to zir, I say, "Thank you for the practice."

Geodude squints at me, debating whether or not to take my peace treaty. I set the Oran Berry on the ground and hold my breath. After a moment's hesitation, zie takes the fruit and leaves.

"I have five more berries left, but I don't think we'll tackle any more than two battles today," I say, turning around to face Chance, Delibird, and Totodile. "How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Chance says despite how Delibird shakes her head 'no.'

Totodile splashes through the mud puddles his Water Gun formed to run up to me and wriggle excitedly. His muddy paws smear dirt on my legs. "To!"

I reach out and pat his head, praising, "You did such a good job! I'm so proud of you. Let's keep up the hard work, okay?"

"To!"

Pumped up from our success, we head off to find more sparring partners. In less than an hour, we manage to defeat another Geodude and then a rowdy Dunsparce. Everyone's more than ready to desert the Dark Cave at that point. I'm proud of how I've been able to hide my nyctophobia this whole time.

"I think I'm coming down with cave madness. All this darkness is starting to ooze into my brain," Chance says, rubbing his eyes as we try to find our way back to the entrance. "Remind me to never tag along on a cave training expedition again. They're nowhere as near as fun as they are on Digcraft. I need several more lanterns. Three of them, at least."

Just wait until he finds out we have to cross through caves on future routes. I don't say that aloud, though. Instead, I tease, "Your light-up shoes and my flashlight aren't enough?"

"Not when we've been stuck in a cave for this long."

"Touché."

I open my mouth to add on, but a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye stops me short. The cave madness must've sunken into my brain as well because before I know it, my depleted brain cells have me investigating the weirdly-shaped shadow stuck to the ceiling like it's my duty or something.

"Hello?" I call out.

There's no response, so I point my flashlight at it. Well, them. A flock of Zubat who're hanging upside-down from the stalagmites turn all their heads in unison to glare at me.

I step back. "Oh sh—"

In perfect synchronization, the Zubat release deafening, hellish shrieks. They disperse from their perch and fan out to form a storm cloud of anger and violence. Screeching, they fly at us.

Mine and Chance's screams blend into one.

"Move!" I shriek, shoving everyone in the opposite direction.

We sprint for our lives as the Zubat tail us with their crazed screams. Some dive-bomb to smack our heads with their wings, eliciting cries of shock and panic from us. Lights flicker all about as I struggle to keep the flashlight steady and Chance's shoes flicker wildly illuminate the ground.

A sharp corner appears up ahead, and I grab onto Chance. Propelling us forward, I yank him around the bend and press him flat against the cave wall. Not a moment later, the Zubat tear past us with their terrifying shrieks and disappear into the cursed cave's darkness.

Panting heavily, I dip my head and gather enough breath to sigh in relief. "You alright?"

I get the frazzled, high-pitched reply of, "Y-yup."

Confused, I peek up at Chance and find him unable to look me in the eye. It's at that moment that I realize I'm still pressed against him with my hands on his chest to keep him against the wall so the Zubat didn't catch us.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I apologize, parting from him with an awkward laugh. My bright idea to remedy the situation is to say, "Hey, if anyone else is in this cave, they'll definitely believe we're a couple now, right?"

"Right," he echoes, rubbing the back of his neck.

I squirm at the uncomfortable air between us. Chance says nothing, giving only a tense laugh as he tries to wean off his embarrassment. I start to apologize again, but then I realize there's a much more important problem at-hand.

"Wait a second, where's our Pokémon?" I ask. There's no Totodile nor Delibird in-sight. "Totodile? Delibird?" Nothing. My blood turns to ice. "Totodile! Delibird!"

In the far distance, there's a hysterical squawk. I curse and dart after it. Following the trail we'd just taken, we find one of the wider tunnels. Delibird flaps her wings in a mad panic, hooting like she's lost her last marbles. She glimpses us and zooms down a hidden slope we'd missed before to bring us to a body of water. Desperate wailing directs my gaze downward.

Lying in the center of the cave is a large pond bordered by steep cliffs whose edges have been whittled down by erosion. Totodile, my princely sunbeam of joy, cries for help as he thrashes in the water and attempts to scale the slick walls.

Time freezes in that moment, stealing my breath and stilling my heart. Reality becomes no more as my mind struggles to process what's going on. I'm not even a day into my journey, how could I have let this happen? What type of Trainer am I if I let my starter get into this sort of trouble when I've had him for a few short hours?

No, now's not the time for that!

Snapping back into reality, time resumes at its normal pace. I throw my backpack to the ground and give Chance my flashlight, saying, "I'm going to get him." The churning, black water makes me freeze as I go near it, though. I mutter to myself, "Swimming can't be hard."

Before I can leap in, Chance pulls me back by my hood, exclaiming, "You're not going in there if you can't swim!"

"I have to! He's..."

My words die off as Totodile shines bright pink. He can't be evolving, can he? I gape dumbly at him as his shimmering coat plucks him out of the water and makes him hover midair.

That's when I see him.

Standing on the opposite side of the pond with a Pokémon whose eyes are glowing cyan is a stranger. His flashlight reveals only his outline of being a man wearing a trenchcoat. He flicks his wrist, and his Pokémon drops my sopping-wet Totodile at my feet.

"Dile!" Totodile sobs, clinging to my legs and trembling.

I wrap him in a tight hug, whispering, "You're okay. You're alright. Everything's fine. You're safe." The longer I hold onto him, the faster I calm down and my mind comes to its senses. That's when I realize I was shaking just as badly as he was. I swallow the bile in my throat. "Everything is alright. We're fine."

Totodile's whimpers quiet down, and I glimpse over his head at the heroes who saved him. They're gone.

"Let's get out of here," Chance says.

Wordlessly, I agree. I carry Totodile in my arms and walk after him, but not before I look over my shoulder one last time to search for the saviors. Nothing. It's like they were never there; that sudden exit would put Crobat-Man to shame. For a second, I wonder if they were a figment of my imagination. Cave madness can do that to somebody, can't they?

Either way, we're stumbling out of the Dark Cave a good twenty minutes later. I hiss as the outside world stings my eyes and proceed to shield my face from the sun's deadly lasers. Totodile hops out of my arms and throws himself into the grass, rolling around and cheering. I'm fine letting him celebrate his escape until he starts to eat the grass.

"No, bad Tot!"

As I wrestle with him to pry the grass from his mouth, Chance speaks up.

"Uh, Pres?"

I sigh because he sounds panicked. Haven't we been through enough today?

"Yeah?"

"Don't freak out, but there's a Zubat on your head."

There's a what on my what? My hands fly to my hair just to come in contact with a soft, fuzzy squish. Little claws hook into my jacket as I pull my arms down, and a purring Zubat clings to me with a dopey grin. Zie rubs zir cheek against me in the gentlest nuzzle ever, and my knees almost give out from beneath me.

"Oh no," I breathe out, "you're adorable."

"Toda."

Totodile pouts up at me, and my pink vision of Zubat fades. Arceus, I can't catch one of the Pokémon who's just terrorized my starter. What type of Trainer would that make me? Even if this Zubat's small and cute and adorable and precious, zir presence would upset Totodile nonstop.

"Sorry, Zubat," I say, prying zir from my arm, "but it's time for you to go home."

Zubat puts up a struggle, but I manage to get zir loose. Zie chirps sadly as zie flaps overhead, and I have to avert my gaze to the ground. Zie's hurting my heart, my goodness.

"Go home," I say as lightly as I can.

Zubat lingers for a few moments longer like this is some sort of telenovela before zie flutters away. That was so much harder than it needed to be.

"Are you hanging in there alright?" Chance asks, tilting his head.

"Yeah, I think so." I force a smile. "Let's get to Violet."

‒‒‒‒‒

Question of the Chapter

Do you have a favorite cave from the franchise?