Chapter Text
The firelight flickered, casting a warm, soft orange glow upon the walls of the hole. It did little to provide comfort, the hole reeked too much of death and decay, of grime and muck and literal shit. The stars twinkled above, shining their dim light through a small hole in the ceiling. They looked down upon the inhabitants of the hole, the lone girl and her Pokemon who were huddled around the fire, in a place that was just as much their salvation as it was a death trap.
Xe stared anxiously at her phone, waiting for it to charge and wake up. She didn't mean to let her phone die, it just happened in the chaos of the past few days. Getting lost in Pinwheel forest didn't help matters, but she had lost her friends in that dark forest, and she had been - still is - determined to find them. Plus she had to help find the bones that those goons had stolen from the museum.
Xe was thankful that the gym leader came and found her, but at the same time she wished he had let her search awhile longer. Her friends were in that forest, she knew it, thats where she got separated from them. Though, she is kind of thankful Burgh came and stopped her, before she made some stupid decision and lost someone. The forest was not a safe place, it was dark and damp and the perfect place for the fungus to grow.
It seemed silly to be afraid of a little mushroom, but when that mushroom was a genetically modified war experiment that was currently running rampant in her home, and it was known for taking control of the host and literally devouring the brain of the host, plus reanimating the dead… yeah, it was understandable that most people were afraid of a fungus.
Xe sighed, tapping the black phone screen impatiently again. She pulled on the charge cable, getting a disgruntled snort from the Pokemon that was currently tangled up in said cable. Cynwrig, her Blitzle, was being a real champ, seeing as he had the phone charge cable wrapped around his neck a couple times with one end buried into his fuzzy mane.
“Sorry Cyn, it’s not charging. I was hoping it’s not the cable.”
She got another snort in response, and the electric zebra Pokemon shifted to lean father away as he released a soft pulse of electricity. Xe looked down at her phone, waiting impatiently. Luck seemed to be on her side as the screen blinked on, the perfect apple logo of the phone company blinding her for a moment before the screen dimmed to the normal light setting she had it at.
The first thing she did was check her texts and recent calls, which provided disappointing but expected answers. No calls, no texts. The cellular grid was still standing at least, she had two bars of data, but who knew for how long. Xe just hoped that her friends still had their phones on them, and that they had found some way to charge them. While they had been traveling together, she was the only one out of the three of them that had an electric type.
Xe took a breath and pulled up the phone app, she was going to call her friends. She called Bianca’s number first, the hyper socialite always picked up her phone on the first ring, claiming that anything less was rude. Xe held the phone to her ear, and released the breath she was holding.
One ring, Xe took a deep breath, ready to excitedly ask if Bianca was okay.
Two rings. Xe’s hopefulness dissipated like a puff of smoke.
Three rings, Xe sighed, her eyes blinking slowly as she fought back tears. She was only mildly successful as none fell, but they gathered at the edges of her eyes. Ready and waiting.
After four rings the phone went to voicemail, so at least Xe got to hear Bianca’s cheery voice stating she wasn’t available, but would call back ASAP one more time.
Xe lowered the phone, and felt a fuzzy face pushing against her hand, “I know Nilus, I know. She could be with Cheren! I’ll call him next.” She whispered, her voice cracking as she fought to keep it steady.
Nilus the Purrloin just blinked at her, before hauling his scarred body into her lap. Out of all her Pokemon he had taken some of the worst beatings, making use of those magical nine cat lives he supposedly has. The fights left marks upon his body, but the Purrloin carried them with pride. They were his battle scars, proof that he was able to survive and help his new found family.
Xe sighed, and pulled up the next number. Unlike Bianca, Cheren usually left his phone to ring two times, so he could see who was calling and possibly run a number check on the caller. He hated spam calls with a passion, much to the amusement of his friends.
On the first ring, Xe held her breath again, petting Nilus’s Head and making the feline rumble against her legs.The second ring had Xe getting ready to tear into her friend for abandoning her. The third ring left her a little worried, Cheren knew her number and had never let it go to the third ring in the past. The fourth ring had the call going to voicemail, with Cheren’s not so short spiel about spam callers and the scum of the earth coming through the phone speakers.
Xe didn’t realize she was crying until her Pokemon crowded closer, abandoning the warmth of the fire to comfort her. Biz reached up and patted the sides of her cheeks with his paw hands, making her look up at the Dewott. He had been with her the longest, since the beginning. Since before the fungus. Professor Juniper used to let her and the others play with him and his companions in her lab. They had known each other for years, before Juniper pushed his pokeball into Xe’s hands, along with a stack of papers and the shiny black stone orb Xe used to steal as a kid.
Biz stared at her intently, before leaning forwards to headbutt her cheek affectionately. She chuckled, “I know Biz, I know. Bianca and Cheren are both capable trainers, I’m just… worried. We have never been on our own before. We’ve always been together. I just… I hope they’re okay. I’m going to find them, I swear it. We promised we’d make it to the League castle, that we’d deliver professor Juniper’s research. That we would do it together.”
Biz chirped at her, still rubbing his face against her. Cynwrig shifted and leaned closer, resting his head on Xe’s leg. Nilus purred away on her lap, content. Her other two Pokemon, Gunda the Roggenrola and Nathan the Tranquil sat on the other side of her lap, keeping watch towards the two exits of the sewer hole they were camped in. Nathan watched the skylight that the six of them had entered from, while Gunda watched the small but big enough hole that led to the rest of the Castelia city sewer system.
Xe relaxed into their pile, fully intent on getting some sort of sleep, something that had been sparse ever since leaving home. There weren't very many places to sleep comfortably, not even with three humans and over a dozen Pokemon between them. It was a calm night like this one that resulted in the loss of Xe’s Pansear Julia and Cheren’s Timburr Joshua.
That thought alone made Xe glance around warily, the fungus consumed everything, always looking for a new host, always needing more nutrition. Everyone was infected with spores from the fungus, it was impossible to avoid that, but the spores themselves were weak and unable to do much.
The real problem came when the spores were able to take control and start growing. That only happened when their host dies, or when the host got a sudden energy boost, generally from evolution.
Those consumed and controlled by the fungus are at least noticeably different, with mushroom caps growing all of their decaying bodies. Truly a horrific sight, especially when they’re in groups, and accompanied by the stench of decay.
Xe looked nervously around the sewer hole, straining her ears for any unusual sounds. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. Too quiet. It’s set her nerves on edge, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
If she hadn’t been awake, hadn’t been on edge, she would have missed the sound. The cry that she felt more than heard, a cry that slipped through her brain long before the soundwaves echoed through the cave. She was not the only one that heard it either, as Biz and Nilus both jerked their heads to stare at the hole in the ceiling.
Xe knew that cry. Her two oldest team members knew that cry; they had heard it once before and swore upon themselves to never hear it again. The cry of a Pokemon in fear, not just any Pokemon, a Munna, Bianca’s Munna Muni. The Munna she rescued from not only a pair of plasma grunts, but the zombie hoard the two idiots had attracted while terrorizing the poor baby. Bianca saved the baby, and ever since the Pokemon had stuck by her side, Bianca taking the place of Muni’s mother, who had sacrificed herself so her baby and new trainer from the approaching zombie hoard. The Musharna had been one of the last contagion free fully evolved Pokemon, the trio had later found out from Dr Fennel.
Xe remembered Bianca being very upset over the loss of the Musharna, and made both Xe and Cheren vow to help keep the baby safe. Though time and several battles later ended up showing that Muni was doing a better job at keeping them safe, rather than them keeping her safe. Now though, with that cry, Xe could help. She was already on her feet, head searching around for the source of the sound. She knew it was stupid, as she was hearing it in her head, and the chances of finding the source visually was slim to none, but that didnt stop her.
“MUNI! BIanca!” Xe cried out, hoping that the echo of her voice would be able to be heard. Muni’s cry rang through her head again, louder than before. This time the cry pulled Xe in a direction, vertically upwards and to the north. She rushed to the ladder that curved up the side of the wall, leading towards the hole in the ceiling. She launched herself up the ladder, hardly feeling the cold metal in her hands. Her Pokemon swiftly followed after Nathan grabbed Gunda and took to the air, not even being bothered by the heavy weight of the rock Pokemon. Nilus swiftly scaled the ladder behind Xe, leaping off it to cling to her ass and knocked a pokeball off her belt. Biz caught the falling ball between his paws, turning to recall Cynwrig into the pokeball before climbing the ladder behind his trainer and other Pokemon companions.
Xe hauled herself out of the hole, onto the blessedly empty street. Nathan and Gunda were already waiting for her, having flown out before she even reached the hole. Nilus finished his climb up her body, standing upon her shoulders and keeping a lookout while Xe turned around to help haul Biz out of the hole. It wasn’t very long before they were all out of the sewer and a disgruntled Cynwrig summoned from his pokeball. The Blitzle was not a fan of the containment unit, and made it known everytime he had to go into it.
Biz at least tried to look apologetic, but all the dewott got was an angry snort. Their trainer wasn't even paying them any attention though, having once again heard the cry of distress and was taking off down the street towards the source of the noise. Her Pokemon - except for Nilus who just clung to Xe’s shoulders - all groaned and took off after her. Biz made sure to pick up Gunda, the rock Pokemon was not known for being able to move as fast as the rest of them.
Xe raced down the street, heading for the far side of the city. She felt the cry, felt the pull, it gave her a burst of energy that she never knew she had. Block after block passed by while she ran, her lungs heaving and burning, her things aching and her feet complaining to hell and back. Still she did not stop, still she could not, would not stop, not until she reached the source of that cry.
The next cry was filled with such terror and fright that it gave Xe a second wind, spurring her to run faster, harder. Her hair whipped behind and and she was sure she had never run this hard or long in her life but by sheer grit and determination she was doing it now.
She knew she was going to regret it later.
Xe whirled around a street corner, nearly slipping and falling on her face, and immediately regretted her decision. In front of her was a good sized hoard of consumed Pokemon. Even from the good distance that they were from her, she could still smell the stench of decay. The sickening, gag worthy smell of fungus growth and death and everything horrible.
Between her and the hoard was a small pink blob, fleeing down the street as fast as it could float. Which, admittedly wasn't very fast, but it was faster than the fungus consumed zombies.
Xe took a breath of the putrid air, “MUNI!” She shouted, getting the attention of the Muanna. Xe prayed that bianca was near, that she wasnt in the zombie hoard, that she hadn’t been taken and killed. Even if she had been though, her Pokemon was right there, and Xe was going to save the Muanna. She promised Bianca that. She was going to keep her promise. She would rather die than break a promise, as horrifying as that sounds, but that is just who she was.
By the time muni was close enough for Xe to grab, the rest of her Pokemon had caught up to her… as had the hoard. They were too close to outrun, but they were still far enough away that Xe could make the first move. She took a moment to survey the hoard, it was mostly a mix bug types, though a few city Purrloin, Liepard Trubbish, Scraggy and Scrafty were mixed in, as with a decaying human or two.
Xe took in this information and made her best call, “Nathan! Go! Use air cutter, and chop the legs off those zombies! Cynwrig, take Gunda and use flame charge. Gunda, when Cyn gets you close, use Rock blast towards the zombie’s heads.”
Her Pokemon each nodded, and sprang into action. Biz balanced Gunda upon Cynwrig’s back, while Nathan flew ahead to harass the zombie’s from above, his powerful wings creating viciously sharp blades of air. Cyn stomped his feet, electricity sparking around him in arcs, the current so hot that it was causing the air bend to ripple with heat. The Blitzle took off after just a moment of warmup, the electricity transforming into fire as he steadily charged right into the hoard.
Gunda waited until Cyn was in the middle of the hoard before she started using rock blast, using her own energy from her core to blast chunks of rocks - her food ironically, that she had consumed earlier that day - at the heads off the zombies. Cyn was moving too fast for her to have good aim, but that was perfectly fine. The hoard was shifting to flee the fire from the Blitzle, mostly of them moving right into her blasting sight. Those that weren’t hit by her were toppled by Nathan’s Air cutter and then either set ablaze or trampled by Cyn.
At least, most were. One zombie stood out, the leader of the pack, the one with the largest mushrooms growing upon its body. The Leavanny did not take this assault lightly, and it was pissed. It had already taken several hits from Gunda when Nathan flew close, intending to take off it’s head and render it dead once and for all.
However that is not how it went. Xe watched in horror from afar as the Leavanny leaped upwards, grabbing Nathan right out of the air. The Tranquil screamed, beating his wings as hard as he could to attempt to get lift, but the Leavanny summoned razor sharp leaves from its body and slashed at Nathan’s wings. Even from where she stood a ways down the road, Xe could see the feathers and blood fly from his wings, could see the precious flight feathers be reduced to shreds. She watched Nathan plummet to the ground, she heard the blood curdling scream.
Then there was silence, broken only by her terror filled scream of “NATHAN!”