#let's go julinemo

[hamofjustice]

y'know, sometimes I focus a lot on the implications of Juliana/Florian maybe possibly being Nemona's official Greatest Treasure for the semester but not fully confirmed as such, or the undertones of her wanting them to promise to be "rivals for life," when I rant er I mean discuss how it'd be really messed up if she got left behind when they transferred to Blueberry Academy in The Indigo Disc

but I can't believe "I've relished every day since you moved here" is an actual unedited line she says. I just assumed I had embellished that one in my head. nope. there's no way to misread that, no embellishment needed, she just says it! and then gets kind of embarrassed about it and she says she's gonna blush when they say either variation of "you too"

not to be like "there is no platonic explanation for this," because there totally is, but if she's going to be shipped with anyone I think it's really hard to justify it being with anyone else as long as the player character is in the picture

[roxannarambles]

Title: Wings of a Butterfly, Eye of the Tiger (Part 3)

Ship: Nemona x Juliana (Julinemo/Terajules)

Summary: Nemona and Juliana just can’t resist returning to Area Zero once more. They find new places to explore, new pokemon to discover, and a new things to learn … about pokemon battling, but also about each other. (Sequel to Picnic in Paradise)

Chapters: Part 1 Part 2

Tags: Slowburn, Romance, Friendship, Crushes, Action/Adventure, Pokemon Battles, Fakemon

The cave you were in seemed a lot quieter than the rest of the cave system, probably because there weren’t pokemon everywhere you turned. You could hear the occasional drip of water and the distant cry of a pokemon from somewhere, but that was about it. It felt exciting and a little eerie. Hellcat set the pace, creeping forward into the dim cavern, and you both followed close behind. 

For about five minutes, your walk was uneventful. You passed by tera crystals that were growing from the ceiling and dripping water like stalactites, and followed the cave in a gradual downward slope deeper into the earth. Then you began to encounter pokemon again; only some Glimmets and Glimmora at first, until the pathway you’d been following led to a larger chamber, and then some Paradox Pokemon began to show up once more. It was nowhere near their usual numbers, though. As you passed by a Great Tusk plodding through the cave, you commented,

“It’s interesting there’s fewer pokemon back here. I wonder why. I guess because we’re so far in?”

Nemona agreed,

“Yeah, probably. Life’s a lot scarcer the deeper you go into caves or the deeper you go into the oceans.”

“Yeah, that’s true. That’s because there’s less food available, right?”

She nodded.

“Basically. I mean, most food chains have plant life at the bottom, and when there’s no sunlight, well, there’s no plants. There’s pokemon with a mineral-based diet like Carbink or Sabeleye of course, so they can live really deep in caves. But most pokemon eat other plants or animals.”

You gazed around the cave you were traversing.

“Seems like there’s no plants at all though, how do any of these guys eat?”

Nemona hummed,

“Well, there’s a few ways. Some pokemon species don’t live in caves full-time, they just roost in them or raise young there. They leave the caves at some point to eat. I think a lot of the pokemon we’ve seen probably do that since we see ‘em on the surface. Annnd, sometimes resources get washed into caves. Like those waterfalls that dump directly into here? Probably a lot of plants and fish in there. Also poop! Bacteria break it down and bug types can eat the bacteria and bigger stuff eat the bugs . . .”

You looked at her as she trailed off. She added on sheepishly,

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to ramble.”

“No, I was just thinking you really know your stuff!”

She laughed.

“Well, I’ve done a lot of reading, and I’ve listened to Jacq’s lectures for longer than you have. Gotta work hard if you wanna understand pokemon! But I’m sure you’ll pick it all up too.”

You noticed a small pod of Scream Tails ahead of you, floating in the air like weird pink balloons. When they noticed you, they turned to glare with big yellow eyes and hissed. Hellcat hissed in return at them. 

“Let’s leave ‘em alone, Hellcat,” Nemona said, trying to guide the tiger away. The fact that Paradox Pokemon seemed to all have such aggressive dispositions certainly didn’t make exploring any easier. The pod of Scream Tails broke apart, floating their separate ways, apparently unnerved by Hellcat. However, one of them remained, an especially large one.

Now that you were looking closer at it, though, it wasn’t just larger; it also seemed to have longer hair. Instead of a tuft of hair on top of the head leading into a single long ponytail, it had three of them, the tails obscuring most of its face and covering its eyes. Its ears were longer, too, more like a rabbit’s. 

“Umm, Nemona–”

“Yeah, I see it, what is that?? Is that just a Scream Tail or . . .”

The pink pokemon drifted closer, causing Hellcat to bristle and growl. 

The wild pokemon also growled– the sound much deeper than you’d expect from a pink puffball. When it did, it showed its long, sharp fangs, much bigger than a Scream Tail’s. You nervously said,

“I think the answer is definitely ‘or.’”

Nemona enthused,

“Oh man, we found something good already? We’re so lucky!”

A soft pink glow began to surround the wild pokemon, the ‘tails’ drifting upwards at the same time, revealing the huge yellow eyes beneath, pulsing with dangerous energy.

“N-nemona . . .”

“Oh right, sorry. Hellcat, Dire Claw!”

Hellcat leapt into the air, striking a vicious blow before the pokemon could use its Psychic. The pokemon took massive damage and seemed to slowly deflate like a balloon, giving a strangled cry. Nemona praised,

“Great shot, Hellcat!”

You had a pokeball handy, so you gave it a toss, seeing if the pokemon was weak enough to catch already. It clicked with no problems.

“Great shot for you too, Jules!”

“Thanks.”

You both decided to immediately send the pokemon back out so you could heal it up and inspect it more. Hellcat watched over it in case it tried to misbehave.

Leaning against the wall of the cave as she studied the floating creature, Nemona asked,

“So we agree it’s gotta be an evolved form of Scream Tail, yeah?”

You nodded.

“Probably. It’s funny this is the first we’ve seen of it though, considering Scream Tails are everywhere.”

“Well, Jigglypuff can’t evolve unless they have a Moon Stone.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. So you think these are the same?”

“Seems like there’s a good chance. Oh, and maybe there are Moon Stones deep in these caves! And that’s why we’re seeing these guys here but not elsewhere.”

“Hmm. I guess we could always try to test it on one of our own Scream Tails sometime.”

“Good idea! We’ll definitely try that out sometime.”

You spent a couple minutes instructing the new pokemon, trying to check out its movepool and abilities. It showed you Psychic and Dazzling Gleam, nothing too unexpected. 

Eventually Nemona said in an eager tone,

“You know, if it’s a new pokemon species, we’ll get to name it. Since we discovered it and all. That’s how it works, right?”

You smiled at the idea, but pointed out,

“IF it’s a new species. It’s possible Sada might have known about it already, especially if she thought to evolve a Scream Tail.”

“Aw, c’mon Jules, let a girl dream!”

You laughed.

“Okay, okay. What do you wanna call it, then?”

“Ummm . . . hmm. Well . . . I guess the name should be kinda similar since it’s an evolution . . .”

You watched the weird pink creature for a bit before suggesting,

“Maybe like, Screech Tail? Or Tails, I guess, it has three of ‘em.”

She shrugged,

“Works for me!”

You held up your pokeball and recalled the new pokemon. You answered,

“Great. At the very least, it should come in handy when we’re catching Roaring Moon.”

Nemona grinned.

“Good thinking. Okay, Hellcat, onward! To adventure!”

You both continued along the path with enthusiasm, despite the general gloomy atmosphere of the dim cavern. The trail led you deeper and deeper into the earth, growing steep and awkward to traverse before long. The ground was also slick with damp and slime; you fumbled your footing more than once, and Nemona had to catch you one of the times before you could fall on your face.

“You okay, Jules?”

She had an arm wrapped firmly around your side, her amber eyes full of concern as she gazed down into your own eyes.

You swallowed.

“Y-yeah! Fine. Thanks. It’s u-uh, it’s slippery.”

You were full of brilliant observations, as usual. Nemona let go and made sure you were steady before turning and agreeing,

“Yeah, it is getting kinda bad, plus it’s a bit dark . . . oh, I know.”

She pulled her Rotom phone out, hitting a few settings. The phone’s light switched on and it floated in the air, just above her head. 

“There we go! Should be safer now.”

You looked at the phone, surprised.

“I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Yep! If there’s one thing I hear a lot about it’s all the dang features on these phones, I can show you all the other features sometime if you want,” she chuckled. You were too distracted noticing Nemona had apparently swapped her plain black phone case out to an orange one with little pictures of Pawmi and oranges. It was very cute. 

She continued,

“Anyway, careful through this part, there’s sort of a step here.”

You made it past the steep bit just fine, but not too further along, you felt a bit off-balance again, wobbling, and started to wonder if your feet were intentionally betraying you. You swore this wasn’t on purpose–

Nemona asked,

“Whoa, is the ground moving?”

You paused, realizing it wasn’t just you; the ground really was trembling slightly. You answered,

“I think so . . .”

 As soon as you’d finished speaking, it seemed to stop, though.

“Hm.”

You both continued on, curious and cautious. It had been a while since you’d run into another pokemon, but you spotted a Brute Bonnet trundling along up ahead. Hellcat bristled at it.

The ground began to tremble again, this time accompanied by a distant rumbling sound.

“Er . . .”

The Brute Bonnet moved faster, hobbling as quickly as it could on its stubby little legs, wanting to get the heck out of there. Water fell from the ceiling in big droplets. Hellcat shook its head, flicking the water off.

“Is it an earthquake?” you asked, trying to keep the anxiety from edging into your voice. This wasn’t the best place to be during an earthquake. Nemona answered,

“I dunno, maybe? But it hasn’t . . .”

The rumbling sound came again, this time much closer. In fact, it sounded as though it was echoing through the cave itself. You quickly realized the rythmic thumping wasn’t an earthquake at all.

They were footsteps. Approaching footsteps.

“Nemona–”

Nemona squared her shoulders, calling,

“Hellcat, get ready!”

You reached for your pokeballs, ready to back her up if need be, and the pair of you waited to face whatever was coming. The vibrations rattled some smaller stalactites loose from the ceiling, the crystals dropping and splintering, and the rumbling drew closer and closer. Further ahead in the gloom of the cave, you could see small bits of yellow flashing, lights flickering along the floor of the cave in little electric ripples. 

And then you could make the creature out: just a dark figure at first, charging through the cave in your direction, although fortunately it wasn’t especially fast, just very noisy as it lumbered along. As it got closer you had the time to take note of some basic details. It was running on all fours, it was dark red with sooty black paws and legs, and it had zigzagging black stripes down its back. Its long black tail was held aloft and tipped in a jagged yellow spike in the shape of a lightning bolt; its ears were pointed and long, and it had a big spike protruding from its forehead, as well as a big ruff of spiky yellow fur around its neck. As it moved, its paws thumped heavily along the ground, leaving little ripples of electricity in its wake.

You exchanged a quick glance with Nemona.

“Is that a Raichu?” you asked, knowing it wasn’t one, but it bore a passing resemblance to one. A really big, spiky, angry one, anyway. 

“Maybe an ancient Raichu? Hellcat, get ready to use Thorn Fang!”

The tiger crouched, baring its fangs, ready for the foe lumbering towards it. The ancient Raichu gave a cry, the sound more akin to rolling thunder than the high-pitched noise from a usual Raichu. You could see its beady black eyes now as it approached, and the sharp little fangs protruding from its mouth. The ruff around its neck seemed to be charging up with energy, a dangerous yellow-orange flickering of power between the pieces of spiky fur. Something about it struck you as sort of odd, but you didn’t put it together fast enough.

Nemona, however, did. Her eyes widening, she called,

“Hellcat, wait!”

Her hand quickly moved to her belt and she spent a half-second choosing a ball, then snatched it up, throwing it. Her Great Tusk materialized right in front of Hellcat, just in time for the ancient Raichu to charge into it with an earth-shuddering crash. Electricity and flames were thrown off from the impact, crackling in the air, but Great Tusk’s body shielded you, Nemona and Hellcat from any crossfire. 

“Great Tusk, use Close Combat!”

The mammoth swung its trunk, smacking its foe across the face, then reared up, kicking at it with its hefty feet. The ancient Raichu gave a guttural cry, staggering backwards before standing up on two legs, its tail lashing back and forth, beady eyes glaring. Energy started to build around its ruff again, and you got a better look at why it seemed so strange. The yellow-orange ripples of energy flowed between the spines of fur in serpentine squiggles, and it was hard to tell if it was electricity or fire– or possibly both, as seemed to be the case. 

“Great Tusk, Knock Off!”

You silently noted that Nemona was intentionally holding back with her attacks, probably with the aim of wanting to capture this pokemon. Great Tusk whacked its foe once again with its trunk. The ancient Raichu recovered from the hit and then rushed forward, butting hard into Great Tusk with the horn on its head, sending out another mighty sputter of flames and electricity. 

“Knock Off, again!”

When Great Tusk brought its trunk down once more, it knocked its foe clean off its feet, dropping it back down to all fours. The ancient Raichu gave a rumbling cry, sounding tired. 

“Now’s our chance!” Nemona yelled, reaching for an empty pokeball from her bag. She took aim and threw it.

However, the wild pokemon was not intent on cooperating. It dodged the pokeball, then turned tail and began to run. Nemona shouted,

“Wh-uh?! It’s running? Oh no you don’t, get back here!”

Nemona quickly recalled her Great Tusk and then took off after the pokemon. It was stomping away at a pretty good pace, but Nemona was fast.

“N-nemona, wait!”

You and Hellcat chased after her. Of course, Hellcat outpaced you very quickly and then you were alone, splashing through puddles and slipping over rocks in the dim cavern, trying to keep up. You turned a bend in the path and saw the fleeing pokemon was rushing towards a round hole in the cave wall, which was encrusted in tera crystal. When it reached the hole, it got up on two legs and then jumped through, vanishing from sight.

“Hey! You’re not escaping that easily!” Nemona yelled, charging after it and jumping into the hole without hesitation, like an absolute madwoman. You could hear a startled yelp from her before she vanished from sight. You cried,

“Nemona!”

Hellcat had stopped at the hole, hesitant, but you couldn’t afford to hesitate when Nemona could be in danger. You reached the hole in the wall, finding it was a tunnel coated entirely in smooth rainbow crystal, dripping in water. You hopped up and climbed in, calling,

“Nemona?”

You tried standing, but almost immediately you felt yourself slipping on the wet crystal. Your shoes gave way and you landed on your butt– and then, to your horror, felt yourself sliding through the tunnel. You yelped and tried to stick your arms out to brace yourself, but your slide was way too rapid, and you went shooting through the tunnel on your back like some kind of terrifying water slide. You gave a prolonged shriek as the slide swooped you down in a huge drop, then swooped up again and twisted around and around. The world was spinning in sparkling rainbows, completely disorienting you.

After one final drop and swoop upwards, you felt yourself flung free from the slide, which mercifully spat you out at a speed and distance that was relatively gentle.

You landed on your stomach, colliding with something soft. 

“Ooof,” the something grunted, giving you a pretty good idea of what you’d probably landed on. You pushed your torso up with your elbows and met with Nemona’s wide, honey-amber eyes, your faces hardly more than a breath apart.

“Gkkk,” you said, the blood rushing to your face so fast you could hear it roaring in your ears. Nemona giggled. You could feel the giggle ripple through her chest and vibrate your own. 

“Hi,” she chirped. You tried to remember how your vocal chords worked. Nemona’s brows quirked up higher in amusement while you struggled, which was frankly making it worse.

“Hhhhiiii,” you finally uttered, proud to get the syllables out. You were briefly lost in the details of Nemona’s eyes, realizing her streaks of golden amber had flecks of tangerine in them. Gosh you were close. Have you ever been this close to her before? You were pretty sure you hadn’t.

“You, um, you need a minute?”

You blinked at her question, confused. The bridge of her nose and cheeks pinkened a little, highlighting her freckles all the more. Her voice was light and playful when she continued,

“‘Cause I don’t exactly mind resting here with you, but we should proooobably get up before that pokemon gets away . . .”

Your brain finally caught up with what she was saying and you squeaked, scrambling to get off your poor friend. It was an entirely graceless affair, but you finally righted yourself and helped Nemona climb to her feet as well, stammering out an excuse to her.

“S-s-sorry, I-I– ummm– I was, uh, a bit dizzy from the slip-n-slide?”

It wasn’t exactly wrong. She laughed,

“Yeah, that was a pretty wild ride, wasn’t it? I was thinking of going again–”

An awful noise interrupted her, shrieky and shrill, coming from the crystal-lined tunnel. The both of you managed to get out of the way before a bright green tiger was expelled from the slide, splatting onto the ground. Its claws were all stuck out and its fur was all frizzed up, its eyes gone huge. Nemona’s Rotom phone went shooting through the slide next, smacking lightly into Hellcat and causing the tiger to jump. The tiger grumbled and shook itself off, looking incredibly disturbed and disgusted with its experience.

“Oh, Hellcat! Aaw, you came down here for me? Are you okay?”

You watched Nemona try to comfort the tiger, feeling grateful for the distraction. Maybe your face would stop burning in like an hour. Nggh. Hellcat still refused to let Nemona actually pet it, and it withdrew to lick itself and sulk, but at least it wasn’t growling at her or anything, so it was honestly progress. Nemona seemed to recognize this fact, telling the pokemon,

“Okay, you need your space, I’ll let you recover from the scary slide. I’m sooo proud of you though Hellcat.”

She moved back over to you, looking you over carefully and asking,

“And how ‘bout you? Still dizzy or anything?”

You glanced away bashfully under her scrutiny, murmuring,

“N-no, I’m good now, I think.”

She nodded and grabbed her backpack off the ground, answering brightly,

“Great! Let’s go find that pokemon before it gets away then!”

She took off before you could respond or even think about mentioning that running ahead and leaping blindly into tunnels was maybe a bad idea. Exasperated, you shouted after her,

“Nemona!!” 

Once again you gave chase, following her down the rocky corridor. At least it wasn’t too dark in this part of the cave– if anything, it seemed even brighter, probably due to a larger number of glowing tera crystals. You were grateful when you caught up to Nemona not too far along the path ahead, having apparently cornered the weary Raichu lookalike. Honestly it was impressive how fast she’d tracked it down. She had her Great Tusk out again, but she was busy digging through her bag. When she noticed your approach, she called,

“Oh, Jules, I found them! Come quick!”

You hurried to join her, and she said,

“I’m so glad it didn’t slip away, that would have sucked. Ugh, do you know where your empty balls are, mine kinda rolled around in the chaos–”

“Got you covered,” you answered, grabbing a Dusk Ball from your bag and chucking it at the ancient Raichu. The pokemon resisted and popped out of the ball, but after a few more, the ball finally clicked shut. Nemona cheered and went to pick up the pokeball off the ground, while you tried to catch your breath and get your heartrate back under control. Chasing after Nemona was definitely an experience. 

After grabbing the ball, Nemona rushed to you with an excited gleam in her eyes, asking,

“Do you know what this means, Juliana?”

You looked at her, trying to think. After a bit you said,

“Uhmmm, that I probably should have brought more Dusk Balls with me?”

She laughed.

“Well, that too, yeah, but also, Hellcat wasn’t the only new pokemon in Area Zero! There’s more to find down here, I bet a bunch more if we keep going!”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, we’ve already found three species, there’s bound to be more, right? And none of them were mentioned in the Scarlet Book at all, or any of Sada’s notes we happened to read.”

You nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s true . . .”

Nemona pressed the Dusk Ball into your hands, gushing,

“Which means we might be the first trainers in existence to have seen and captured these pokemon!!”

You weren’t entirely convinced you two were the first, since it was always possible Sada had records about them you simply hadn’t noticed. However, it was also equally possible you were the first, and Nemona’s excitement was terribly infectious. You broke into a grin, admitting,

“That is a pretty awesome thought.”

“I know, right?? It’s so cool, I–” She squeezed her hands into excited fists and gave a giddy little giggle, then impulsively grabbed you and hugged tight, your cheeks smooshed together as she exclaimed,

“I’m so glad we got to discover them together!!”

Your skin rippled pleasantly in icy-hot goosebumps, but she released you before your brain had the chance to shut down entirely, which was probably for the best. Then she looked a little self-conscious, saying, 

“Sorry. Got a little excited there, heh.”

You hastened to reassure her.

“No, you– you have every reason to be! It is cool, I think I just have a habit of being afraid to hope for things I really want. But if we really are the first . . . that’s incredible. Like, it’s not just finding a new species, it’s finding an ancient, otherwise extinct species. Which is just nuts. And it’s honestly totally possible, since the Time Machine was transporting pokemon completely on autopilot until we finally shut it down.”

She nodded with enthusiasum. 

“Yeah, exactly! Okay, I’m glad you get it, I woulda felt weird to be the only one this psyched.”

You smiled and looked down at the pokeball in your hands.

“It’s definitely not just you. Plus, not to get too hopeful but I um, I think maybe this ancient Raichu might be pretty special? Was it just me or did it look like this guy was using electricity and fire at the same time? I dunno if that’s even possible, can pokemon moves be, like, dual-type?”

Nemona nodded again.

“I did notice that. Well, I noticed something funny at any rate. I always thought it was impossible, at school they always told us moves can only be one type. But . . . who knows? We’re in uncharted territory here, so I feel like anything’s possible, you know?”

You thought about that for a bit, rolling the pokeball in your hands. It was incredibly tempting to let the pokemon out and study it to try and learn more right then and there, because it intrigued you so much. But you also wanted to keep exploring the cave, and you knew Nemona would want to, too.

You looked at her.

“Guess we’ll find out more when we battle each other later, huh?”

She grinned.

“I like the way you think.”

You heard a quiet little chirp and glanced up, noticing Hellcat had caught back up to the two of you. Funny, you hadn’t noticed the pokemon make that kind of noise before; it seemed to be some kind of greeting. The tiger’s ears were perked and it looked at you both attentively. Nemona greeted,

“Hi Hellcat! You all dried off and ready for more exploring?”

The tiger made another quiet chirp, as if responding.

“I think they’re starting to like you, Nemona.”

“Really?” She sounded hopeful.

“Yeah. They don’t even try to bite you any more!”

She chuckled.

“Well, I guess it’s something.”

You took the opportunity to finally look around at the cave you’d ended up in, since you hadn’t really had the chance to yet in all the rush. The space was relatively narrow and cramped compared to other parts of the cave, but it was packed full of tera crystals glowing from all sides. The ground was sloped downward, the cave ahead leading ever deeper into the earth. 

“How far down do you think that tunnel brought us?”

Nemona was busy quickly re-sorting the empty pokeballs in her bag. She answered,

“No clue.”

You took a glance at your Rotom phone, but as expected, there was no service down here. Obviously. It was a good thing the caves you’d been following so far were generally one-way and not some confusing mazes, or else you’d be worried about getting lost. Getting back up that water slide tunnel would be a bit of a pain on the return trip, but you felt confident Scarlet could carry you guys up if need be.

Turning your focus back to the path ahead, you asked,

“How much deeper do you think it goes?”

Nemona zipped her bag up and slung it back over her shoulder. She smirked,

“No clue. Only one way to find out.”

You couldn’t argue with that logic. As you both began to walk again, you started to tell her,

“So, I was gonna mention, maybe next time when there’s a pokemon or a mysterious tunnel leading somewhere, you could–”

Nemona suddenly stopped, staring ahead intently.

“Wait, did you hear that?”

You frowned.

“Hear what?”

There was a very distant noise echoing in the cave, a low chattery kind of sound that could have been a pokemon cry. 

“Geez. You know, your hearing’s scary good.”

“That’s a pokemon! C’mon, let’s go see!”

Nemona started to run, but you lurched forward and grabbed her wrist before she could get away.

“Wait, wait, this is exactly what I’m talking about, Nemona!”

She turned to you, blinking.

“What?”

“You can’t just . . .” You hesitated and sighed, starting again,

“Well, you can, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t just run ahead every time there’s something going on. I get that you’re excited, but you might be charging right into danger! I was really worried when you jumped into that tunnel blindly, that could have ended up pretty badly if it had spit us out from a bit higher up!”

Nemona looked at you a moment, then slumped a little, looking guilty.

“Sorry, Jules . . . I wasn’t trying to worry you. Or, uh, do anything risky. I guess I just was really focused on not letting the pokemon get away . . .”

You smiled gently and said,

“I understand. You don’t have to feel bad about it, I just want to make sure you’re safe, you know? And also, well . . . I’d rather face things together on this adventure. We’re a team, after all.” You suddenly felt a little unsure after saying it outloud and added, “Uhm, I mean, we are, right?”

Nemona studied you a moment, a soft smile forming on her face. Then she reached out and took your hand. 

Her voice was clear and certain when she answered,

“You’re right. I’ll remember from now on.”

You returned her smile, relieved.

“O-okay! Then, um . . . let’s go see what that noise was.”

“Yeah!”

You both forged ahead, following a path that continued downward and grew more cramped the more you traveled. At several points it was necessary to squeeze past some large rocks blocking the way; it appeared as though there had been some partial cave-ins at some point in the past. It was an unnerving reminder that you were indeed beneath an enormous amount of earth and rock that could crush you like a bug if something cataclysmic occurred. Thankfully Nemona’s excitement for adventure was an easy distraction, keeping you from dwelling on such thoughts for long. Besides, your curiosity overrode the nervousness you felt. The path seemed to meander down into the earth forever, and for a long time, there was not much to see but rock, dirt and tera crystals. There was nary a wild pokemon in sight, but you kept going anyway.

Then, with very little fanfare, the tunnel you’d been following emerged into a massive space, the ceiling towering above you like an enormous vault of crystal, the path soon leading to a narrow catwalk. On either side of the catwalk was a sheer drop, the ground so far below that it was impossible to even see exactly where it ended. Huge columns of crystal jutted up from the pits, growing at random angles, like the world’s prettiest death trap. For a good thirty seconds you and Nemona just stared silently in awe, taking it all in, eyes wide. 

“I don’t know how Area Zero manages to keep getting more and more impressive,” Nemona finally said, her voice hushed, almost as if she were worried that speaking too loud would disturb the peace here. You were gazing down into the pit. 

“How does it just keep going down? I bet you’d fall into the Earth’s core if you fell down there.”

Nemona gave a nervous chuckle, taking your hand again.

“Let’s not test that theory. We’ll just take the path nice and slow, okay?”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

Hellcat moved ahead of you both, not intimidated by the enormous drop. It quickly crossed over the catwalk, reaching a broader area beyond. You and Nemona took your time, mindful of your steps so that you wouldn’t go tripping into the blackness. The air that rose up from the pit was cool and pleasant-smelling, like musty, damp earth. When you reached the other side of the catwalk, you found Hellcat was slinking about, ears perked and nose sniffing the air. It lowered into a crouch and began to stalk forward. Nemona muttered to you,

“I think they found something.”

You both carefully followed after the tiger. Hellcat was approaching a large patch of crystals that were sprouting from the ground. The crystals grew in long and thin columns, almost resembling some kind of plant from the way they were growing, like an aloe vera or some other succulent. You couldn’t see why Hellcat found it so interesting, but as you drew closer you noticed a quiet little chattering noise emanating from the crystals. It sounded a bit like the noise Nemona had noticed earlier, in fact. Perhaps you’d finally caught up to it. 

The cry sounded vaguely familiar to you, and you were busy trying to figure out what it reminded you of when you finally caught sight of some movement: a slithering black shape, coiled among the crystals. Hellcat’s eyes narrowed to slits and it looked as though it was preparing to spring. You glanced to Nemona; it seemed she saw no reason to interfere, since Hellcat was basically doing all the work in tracking down the pokemon. You both watched and waited.

Hellcat lunged, striking at the mysterious pokemon with its claws, but the tiger’s paws impacted hard with a crystal instead of a pokemon. There was a harsh cry, raspy and aggressive, and the serpentine black shape reared upwards, a vivid, glowing stripe of orange suddenly lighting up along the length of its body; there was a flash of teeth and glaring eyes as the body swayed, and you realized the pokemon was being reflected over and over in the array of tera crystals, making it extremely difficult to tell where it actually was. 

“Uh-oh. Um, any guesses, Nemona?”

The wild pokemon hissed, and you could see a purple tongue flicking around curved, black teeth. From all the reflections, you honestly couldn’t tell how many heads the snake had, because at the moment it seemed like you were staring at a very angry hydra. 

“Uuhm, I . . . there! I think. Hellcat, Dire Claw, there!”

Hellcat lashed out where Nemona pointed, but once again was foiled by the fakes, cracking a crystal instead of hitting a pokemon. Despite that fact, the snake didn’t take kindly to the attempted attack. It opened its mouth and spat a fireball. Hellcat tried to dodge but was partly singed by the attack, and it gave an angry shriek in response. 

“Oh man. Another fire type? This just isn’t your day, Hellcat, I’m sorry,” Nemona said, looking guilty about the hit Hellcat had taken.

“Don’t worry, Nemona, I have an idea,” you said, quickly checking through your pokeballs for the right one. 

“Got it, partner. Let’s back off for now, Hellcat, let Juliana handle this one.”

You grabbed up the ball you needed from your bag and tossed it. The purple form of your Gengar took shape. The ghost looked around at the situation, curious, and then turned his eyes to you.

“Gengar! There’s some sort of . . . uhh, something in that patch of crystals. I want you to use Dazzling Gleam!”

Gengar grinned and nodded, then turned to face his foe. Nine different heads hissed at Gengar, but the ghost was not easily intimidated. He floated forward, a small light starting to build as he charged his attack. 

“Cover your eyes, Nemona!”

Gengar unleashed his move, a brilliant white light flashing, reflecting in the crystals dozens and dozens of times; you could see the incredible brightness even behind your closed eyes. The wild pokemon’s cry was loud and grating, and you got the feeling Gengar had hit it hard.

When you opened your eyes, you saw the snake spew a stream of fire in retaliation, engulfing Gengar in flames. The ghost grunted, looking charred and wounded, but stuck it out. You ordered,

“Again Gengar, Dazzling Gleam!”

Your pokemon unleashed another sparkling attack, his foe crying out in pain once more. The snake uncoiled from the tera crystal it was wrapped around and began to slither out of the patch of crystals, perhaps starting to think the better of its hiding place. As its head peeked out, you could see it much better: it had a long, toothy snout and a pair of narrow, purple eyes. The stripe of orange that ran along its body continued up back its neck and onto its head, splitting into a pattern with several prongs on the top of its head. The shape almost made it look as though it were a glowing, orange crown. 

The orange crown began to glow brighter and brighter, a sphere of orange energy forming there. The pokemon flicked its head upwards, shooting the ball of energy up into the air over your heads. Your eyes widened. You’d seen this move enough times to recognize it by now.

“Draco Meteor?! Gengar, watch out!” The orange ball of energy exploded, creating a volley of meteors that began to rain down. Neither you or Nemona had expected such a move, so Gengar wasn’t the only one trying to dodge; Hellcat, you and Nemona all scrambled to get out of the path of the meteors as well. You slipped on the ground in your haste, managing to catch yourself before crashing down too painfully. You grunted and twisted around to quickly assess the others– thankfully, it seemed there weren’t any casualties. You yelled,

“Gengar, Dazzling Gleam, one more time!”

Gengar sprang ahead, the flashes of pure fairy energy overwhelming his opponent. Despite how exhausted the snake was by now, it still managed to spit a fireball in return. Gengar trembled and then fainted, and you called,

“That’s okay Gengar, you did great!”

You returned Gengar to his ball, quickly trying to assess if the wild pokemon was catchable by now– it probably was. You reached for your bag, only to realize it had slipped off while you’d been dodging meteors. Aw, nuts. You glanced up when you heard the snake hiss again. It was slithering towards you.

“Nemo–”

“Got you covered!” she responded immediately, throwing a pokeball. The ball hit its target and shook twice, then the snake popped out again, still hissing. She yelled,

“Don’t be stubborn, get in there!” 

The second ball she tossed successfully captured, causing you to sigh in relief. 

“Thanks, Nemona.”

“Yeah, of course! Great job handling that, by the way– Dazzling Gleam was such a great idea.”

She picked the pokeball up and tried to hand it to you, but you shook your head.

“Keep it, I took the last two.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

“Okay! Heheh, this is gonna be so fun to use. I’m guessing it’s Fire/Dragon? I’ve never seen anything use Draco Meteor other than dragon types before, so that’s my best guess.”

You nodded.

“Yeah, seems a good bet to me. It really surprised me, though.”

“I know, right? But then again, you never know with pokemon. Especially these Paradox Pokemon, they seem to have a lot of surprises.”

That certainly was the truth. You surveyed the damage caused by the Draco Meteor. A number of impact craters in the ground but nothing too serious– no catastrophic cave-ins or anything. You were glad none of you had been struck by the attack, though. 

“Guess we should make sure to really be on our toes from now on, huh?”

She answered, “Yeah, for sure.” Then, with an excited gleam in her eyes, she turned to you and added, 

“But what I tell ya, Jules? We’re already on our third new pokemon, I knew we’d keep finding more!” 

You laughed,

“You were right. At this rate we’re gonna be able to write a sequel to the Scarlet Book.”

It was just a joke, but Nemona looked thrilled with the idea.

“Oooh, that’d be so cool! Well, La Primera would have to be okay with releasing information about Area Zero to the public first, I guess . . .”

“And that’s assuming she doesn’t kill us if we tell her that we keep coming down here.”

“Oh come on, she wouldn’t kill us! She wouldn’t be that mad . . . would she?” Nemona looked suddenly uncertain. You shrugged.

“I dunno, you know her better than I do.”

Nemona seemed to consider for a few moments, then said,

“Um, let’s keep exploring!” You didn’t have a problem with leaving thoughts of punishment for another time– you were already down here, and you were going to enjoy it to the fullest while you could. You and Nemona continued onward, mindful to check any patches of crystals from now on in case they contained any surprises. However, nothing else unexpected seemed to be lurking. There seemed to be very few pokemon in general at these depths, in fact. You passed by a few docile Carbink, then walked a path that wasn’t as narrow as earlier, but was close enough to the dizzying drop that you both continued to be careful and take your time. 

Eventually you met with another tunnel, covered in smooth tera crystal and leading ever-deeper into the earth. This one was different, though, as it was blocked by a very large collection of crystals. The crystals that composed the roadblock seemed to be denser and more opaque than the usual tera crystals. 

“Can you squeeze by?” Nemona asked, trying to see if she could wedge herself between the crystals and the tunnel. You attempted to do so on the other side, but the crystals had grown far too close, almost sealing off the tunnel entirely.

“Nah. We’ll have to use Scarlet.”

You both backed off and sent out Koraidon, then ordered a Rock Smash. Scarlet gave the crystal a good thwack with his tail, but the crystals remained solid. 

“Try again, Scarlet!”

He hit it again, but to no effect. Several more attempts, each time with increasing intensity, also ended in failure. Scarlet backed off and licked at his bruised tail, giving a little whine.

“You okay, Scarlet? Hmmph. I don’t think this crystal is gonna budge. Don’t worry, boy, I won’t make you keep trying.”

You returned him to his ball. Nemona crossed her arms, complaining,

“Well this stinks! I wonder why this crystal is so much tougher than the other ones?”

You shrugged.

“It’s pretty big. Maybe it’s older and thicker? At any rate, this might be the end of the line for us.”

She sighed sadly.

“Yeah. It’s starting to look like it.”

Your hand was still resting against the large crystal when a familiar sound echoed within the cavern: a loud, feral roar. Your eyes widened, and you both quickly turned.

Floating high in the air above the pit was a pokemon with crescent-moon shaped wings tipped in a row of feathers. Its forearms had long, sharp talons and its armored head had spiky tufts of feathers and crocodilian jaws. A pair of yellow eyes peered down at you from above.

“Roaring Moon?” Nemona whispered. You nodded silently.

That wasn’t the strangest part, though. The Roaring Moon was Terastallized, which in itself was not unusual. But it wasn’t like any Terastallization you’d ever seen. The pokemon’s body was glittering in an entire rainbow of colors, and its Tera Jewel was . . . more of a Tera crown, studded with a whole slew of shimmering hexagonal gemstones.

Hellcat bristled and growled at the pokemon while you and Nemon exchanged a look, dumbfounded.

The dragon gave another roar.

[hamofjustice]

Julinemo Week, Day 1: First Meeting "So uh… is he always like that?"

"Ugh, no. Well… I mean, he's usually a prick-- Uh, prickly guy, but… pero bueno, he's not usually not quite that--"

Nemona rattled her head, sending her ponytail swinging, and dismissively pawed at the air between her and her new neighbor as if tossing the unfinished thought out of her mind.

"Ah, whatever! Don't you worry about those weird vibes, Juliana! You've got enough on your plate, signing up to a new school in a new place with your new Pokemon-- You don't need to get sucked into whatever dumb drama the rest of us have goin' on. This is your big day! Sorry about all that."

"Nah, nah, it's fine, you didn't do anything wrong. It's, uh... definitely been an exciting day so far, that's for sure! Hehehe..."

"Ah, haha, yeah, for sure! Heh… man..."

Juliana turned to Nemona with a reassuring smile... and noticed her friend's hand seemed to be hovering over her shoulder. Nemona glanced away and quickly jerked her arm away to scratch her own scalp instead.

"… You okay?"

Nemona froze mid-scratch, eyes wide. "Huh?"

"I, uh… I guess I'm not the only one feeling kinda jittery this morning, huh? I promise I won't fall off any more cliffs for a while." Juliana said with a slightly forced-looking smile.

The taller girl remained frozen for a second as they walked, before snorting and visibly releasing a bit of her own tension. "Ha! Haha! Yeah, you better not, 'cause you know what happens when you scare somebody half to death twice?"

"They… get scared three-quarters to death?"

"… Heh! You've got a quick wit to go with that sharp eye, bud! No wonder you've been such a fast learner!"

"Hehehe. Thanks."

There was a pleasant lull in the conversation as they both grinned down at the road...

Soon, though, Nemona cleared her throat and stopped in her tracks. Juliana stopped too and turned to face her curiously.

"Speaking of fast learning, I should probably get out of your hair and let you have fun doing, uh, Trainer-y stuff without me hovering over your shoulder." Nemona suddenly decided. "Do what you want for a bit and I'll see you up ahead at the Pokemon Center, all right?" she proposed, pointing her thumb at the red-roofed, ad-covered outpost off in the distance.

"Oh, um… wait…" Juliana softly protested when Nemona started to leave, raising a limp hand as if she had a question in class and wished she didn't.

"Huh? What's up? Think you'll need more Poke Balls? I've got a bunch..." Nemona began, already digging noisily through her bag.

"No… well, I mean, maybe later, but, I just, um-- You're not bugging me, you can stay."

Once again, Nemona seemed to not expect that. "Oh... really? You'd... rather I stick around and keep an eye on ya, huh? All right then! You got it, boss!"

Juliana smiled brightly up at her. The morning light seemed to sparkle in the new student's eyes. "Well, yeah. We're friends now, right?"

Nemona smiled back as she zipped her bag shut, then rubbed the back of her neck and suddenly seemed very interested in the grassy field nearby. "… Yeah, but, y'know, sometimes friends might need… a little space and quiet and stuff. Gotta be considerate."

"No, I'm glad you're here! I mean... if you have some business you need to get to right now, that's fine..."

"Nope! No, all my attention's on you, bud! Well, I mean, unless you don't want--"

"Okay, okay! Just making sure." Juliana mercifully interrupted. "So uhhh… you said Normal Pokemon are pretty good against everything, yeah?" she asked casually, starting to walk down the road again.

Nemona's eyes brightened with renewed energy at the topic change. "Oh, uh, yeah! I mean, they've got a FEW issues, there's a few types that-- Uh, I'll warn ya if you're gonna run into 'em, but that Lechonk should be consistently solid against mooost things with some training, which is good if you're not sure what to expect yet! Now, you might end up not keeping it on your team forever, though, 'cause it's not really gonna have the advantage against much of anything, either. Well, unless you give it--" she rambled, then glanced down at her companion's attentive gaze. "Uh, never mind, I can nerd out about all that later. Yeah, Normal-types are nice and reliable, yep!"

Juliana nodded a few times. "Hmm… I dunno… I don't think I'd replace the first Pokemon we caught together. That's gonna be a great memory someday, right?"

Nemona blinked. "Wh-- Oh, yeah, true, can't be, uh, what's the word… too pragmatic about it, heh. Stuff like that matters for sure! Sorry, there's that competitive brain again…" she responded, looking away once more. "I'll make sure to train up that Pawmi I caught with you too, then."

"Nice! More little rivals, just like the Pokemon the Director gave us, hehehe!"

"Heh! Yeah… little rivals…"

"… Ooh, what's that?" Juliana soon asked, pointing ahead at what appeared to be a green-haired baby plodding around in a long white dress that would be a better fit for a green-haired toddler.

Nemona rattled her head again like she'd been caught zoning out. "Huh, wha-- Oh, that's a Ralts! They're pretty rare! Psychic and Fairy type, pretty good with special moves. It's a little flimsy at first and takes a while to train, but it's totally worth it in the end."

"Whoa, Psychic? And Fairy?"

"Yeah, there's a buncha Fairies around here, actually..."

"Well, I'm already sold on this one from how cute it is! I'm definitely gonna try and catch it."

The little Ralts seemed to immediately take notice of Juliana when she said that, and turned to face her.

"Oh, uh, Ralts can sense folks' feelings! It probably knows what you're thinkin' right now. Heh, wish I had that power…"

Juliana, meanwhile, was grinning confidently with a Poke Ball in hand. "Well, I've got nothing to hide from it. Let's make another new friend, Lechonk!"

Nemona beamed as she watched Juliana's battle unfold. The new Trainer was having too much fun in the wide world she'd been welcomed into, despite the bumpty start, to notice that the unrivaled Champion watching over her was wiping something out of her eye.

[roxannarambles]

Title: Wings of a Butterfly, Eye of the Tiger (Part 2)

Ship: Nemona x Juliana (Julinemo/Terajules)

Summary: Nemona and Juliana just can’t resist returning to Area Zero once more. They find new places to explore, new pokemon to discover, and a new things to learn … about pokemon battling, but also about each other.

Notes: Happy Pokemon Day, folks. I don't normally post WIPs, but I already posted the first chapter so. I guess I post WIPs now, lol. Usual disclaimers that I've been slow lately with writing for health reasons, so don't expect fast updates.

Part 1 is here!

When you and Nemona glided down into Area Zero on Koraidon the next morning, it looked exactly the same as you’d last seen it: bright, glittering, with breathtaking vistas and a thriving population of powerful pokemon. You still marveled at the strange, almost eerie feeling of the place, very much like stepping into a portal that brought you into a pocket universe of its very own. It was so incredibly quiet here, all the usual background noises of human civilization like the hum of cities and cars and planes entirely absent; what’s more, the sunlight that streamed into the crater through the haze of clouds seemed to be magnified so that it was incredibly bright down here, almost supernaturally so. You figured it probably had to do with the way the air itself shimmered. Perhaps the tera crystal energy was drifting in the very air around you. Hopefully it wasn’t bad to breathe it in– your previous trips here and the healthy pokemon certainly suggested it wasn’t. If anything, it filled you with a buzzy energy, tingling at your senses and your fingertips.

Nemona was as charged as ever, probably feeling the effects of that buzzy energy too. After landing, you both walked to a wide, open space covered in grass.

“This place look good?”

“Seems good to me.”

“Ok, great! Let’s do this!!”

“Hold on. Scarlet, get ready.”

You nodded to your pokemon, and the giant red lizard stood on his hind legs, unfurling the feathered crests on his head and tail. 

“Aw, Jules, they aren’t even healed up from the last battle! I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Just making sure.”

Nemona smiled, amused at how wary you were, then took the pokeball from her belt. 

“Hellcat, go!”

She tossed the ball, a large, quadrupedal tiger materializing before the both of you. It was green and covered in jagged purple stripes, its limbs stocky and sinewy like twisted vines, and it had a pointed, leafy mask covering its face. A pair of wickedly sharp fangs jutted from its mouth, which looked like giant purple thorns. 

When the tiger appeared, it seemed confused for a few moments, its pupils narrowing in the bright sunlight as it looked around. 

Its gaze settled on you. It curled its lips back in a snarl, the sound a bloodchilling reminder of the last time this pokemon stood before you. 

Then it sprang, purple claws reaching for you in a flash, no hesitation. You hardly had a chance to even register what was happening before Scarlet jumped in front of you, crashing into the tiger. They tussled for a bit, the tiger giving angry shrieks while Scarlet roared, you and Nemona watching with wide eyes. You grew worried when the tiger sunk its toxic fangs into Koraidon’s leg, but Scarlet quickly thwacked it away with his heavy tail and then blasted the tiger with his fiery breath. 

This seemed enough to finally subdue the pokemon, Hellcat staggering to a stop with an exhausted growl. It panted, looking weak but eyes still burning with a feral rage. 

You looked to Nemona. She had a hand held to her mouth in surprise.

“Holy moly. I guess you were right! They had way more fight left in them than I thought.”

Hands on hips, you nodded.

“Somehow I’m not surprised. I think we’re gonna have our work cut out for us, taming this tiger.”

Nemona turned to dig through her bag.

“Well hopefully they’ll be purring like a big ‘ol pussycat before long. Food usually wins over even the crankiest of pokemon.”

She pulled out some berries, but you frowned at the selection she had.

“Maybe, um, we should start with Oran berries instead of Sitrus?”

She looked at you a moment and glanced to Hellcat. 

“Mmm . . . yeah, okay.”

She grabbed one of the little blue berries and took a few steps towards the tiger.

“Okay Hellcat, you’re probably pretty hungry by now. You want a berry?”

You didn’t like Nemona getting closer to this tiger, but Koraidon was watching very carefully, and you knew you guys had to start somewhere. Nemona took a few more cautious steps, holding the berry out.

“That’s a good kitty. Do you like Oran berries?”

Hellcat snarled at her, its pink eyes glaring daggers. Koraidon flicked his tail and seemed about to intervene, but you held up a hand to indicate for him to stay put. 

Nemona cooed to the tiger,

“Aw, don’t be like that. I just want to help you. You’ll feel a lot better after you eat!”

She tried to step closer again, but the tiger’s angry snarl made her stop. She spoke soothingly,

“C’mon, Hellcat, it’s just a tasty berry, I promise. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Nemona, I don’t think this is working . . .”

She sighed and agreed,

“Yeah. Any ideas on what to do?”

You considered it for a moment.

“Maybe . . . maybe we need to be a bit tougher, you know? If you’re too sweet and nice, they might just see it as a sign of weakness or something.”

She looked at you.

“You want me to be mean to them?”

“Not mean! Just . . . firm. Assertive!”

Nemona frowned.

“I guess I could try.”

She cleared her throat, then took a step forward.

“E-eat the berry, Hellcat!”

She tossed the berry. It rolled along the ground until it came to a stop in front of the tiger. Hellcat sniffed at the berry before flicking a tongue out and swallowing it. Nemona took another Oran berry and stepped closer. The tiger growled.

“C’mon Hellcat, if you want the next berry you gotta not growl at me.”

She tried again, but Hellcat still was incredibly agitated and wasn’t cooperating. 

“You gotta be firmer than that, Nemona.”

“I’m being as firm as I can be! I’m no good at being mean, you know that, Juliana.”

“Ok, let me try.”

Nemona stepped back and let you take some berries and approach the tiger, holding one out. The pokemon crouched down, ears flattened as it hissed.

 In your best bossy tone, you said,

“No hissing. Sit down, Hellcat, and I’ll give you a berry.”

The tiger didn’t sit and simply remained crouched, as if ready to spring. It was incredibly unnerving, but you knew you had to show the pokemon who was boss. You inched closer and repeated,

“Sit, Hellcat! If you want food, you gotta sit.”

Scarlet made an unhappy whine. Nervously, Nemona warned,

“Jules . . .”

You tried again, demanding,

“Sit, Hellcat!”

The tiger bared its fangs, the muscles in its limbs taut with tension.

“Sit–”

Hellcat jerked just slightly, as if it was thinking of lunging at you, and Nemona’s voice suddenly rang out so loud and vicious it made your heart leap in your chest:

“SIT DOWN!”

The tiger froze immediately, its pink gaze on Nemona. You glanced to see Nemona was staring the tiger down with pure fire in her eyes. You’d never seen her look so intimidating before. 

Then, miraculously, Hellcat backed off and sat down, its tail drooped and its head lowered. You stared in awe, completely dumbfounded.

“Y-you . . . you did it!”

After a few moments you remembered to give Hellcat the berry and then backed off a few paces to give it some space. You turned to your friend.

“That was incredible, Nemona!”

She seemed just as shocked as you were.

“They really listened to me, didn’t they?”

You nodded and teased,

“And you said you weren’t any good at being mean.”

She crossed her arms and huffed,

“Well I wasn’t gonna let them eat you! I don’t think you realize how close you came to being catfood just now.”

You wanted to tell her Scarlet would have stopped Hellcat before that happened, but in actuality, you’d been so close to the tiger you weren’t actually certain, in retrospect. 

“Erm, well . . . maybe it wasn’t the best approach. But I think we made some actual progress! Try giving them another berry.”

Nemona reluctantly went to try it out.

“Sit, Hellcat!”

The tiger growled at her quietly.

“No, Nemona, you gotta sound like before, when you were all scary and stuff.”

“I’m trying. Sit, Hellcat!”

“That’s not even close.”

Nemona turned and complained,

“Well you’re not about to die, Jules!”

You blinked.

“Yeah?”

“So I’m not gonna sound like I was before!”

“. . . oh.”

You considered the problem for a moment, then asked,

“Mmm, well, can you try to imagine, then?”

Nemona didn’t seem a fan of the idea.

“You mean imagine you’re about to die?”

“Y-yeah, I guess?”

She hesitated before saying,

“I dunno, Jules . . . that feels weird, you know?”

You chuckled. You placed a hand on her arm and acknowledged,

“That’s fair. But look, you obviously can be very commanding when you want to be, you just gotta tap into that! It could be a pretty valuable skill. I mean, if you can tame Hellcat, you can tame any pokemon.”

Her expression scrunched up as she thought about it, and then she sighed.

“All right, all right . . . I’ll give it a shot.”

She approached the tiger again. Hellcat turned to her and the fur on its back ruffled, hot-pink eyes glaring. Nemona didn’t say anything at first, apparently concentrating. 

Then she gestured at the pokemon, ordering without hesitation,

“SIT DOWN!”

Hellcat’s ears lowered and it sat down. Nemona smiled.

“Good kitty!”

She gave it an oran berry. 

“Okay, what next . . . oh, I know.”

She backed up a bit.

“Ok, Hellcat, come. Oh, right.” She cleared her throat.

“Hellcat, come here!”

You watched as the tiger obediently stood up and approached her. 

“Good job!”

She fed it again, the tiger eagerly chomping the berry down. 

“Ok Hellcat, sit!”

You smiled as Hellcat sat once more, waiting expectantly for the berry. Nemona tossed it and Hellcat caught it out of the air. Nemona turned and grinned at you,

“We’re doing it, Jules, did you see that??”

“I did. I knew you could, Nemona. You’re pretty amazing.”

She gave a laugh, then gestured at you.

“C’mon, come give it a try!”

You joined Nemona, helping her put Hellcat through the very basics of pokemon training. That included things like sit, stay, come, lay down, and so forth. Most pokemon picked these up very rapidly, and Hellcat did too now that it was feeling a little more cooperative. The pokemon obeyed you too once you’d managed to be sufficiently commanding (by imitating Nemona), but you could tell that Nemona still had an easier time getting Hellcat to cooperate than you did. Part of you suspected it was because the pokemon remembered when Nemona went up against it with nothing but a rock. You certainly felt impressed whenever you thought about it, and it wouldn’t surprise you if it left a strong impression on the pokemon, too. Quite frankly, you didn’t mind in the least that Hellcat was bonding so well with Nemona. It just made you smile to watch. 

The two of you spent the morning in intensive training with Hellcat. The commands Hellcat enjoyed the least were things requiring restraint, such as ‘wait’ or ‘drop it,’ while learning battle commands were clearly its favorites. Hellcat had a very wild, aggressive disposition and a strong will, but channeling that energy into battling seemed to bring it a lot of joy. It positively wrecked the pokemon it went up against– it seemed to have a phenomenal attack stat, and its moves were pretty potent. You found out that it knew Play Rough, Dire Claw, Swords Dance and a powerful grass move neither of you had ever seen before. The two of you decided to name the move ‘Thorn Fang’ since it was a biting move.

After a busy morning, you both stopped for lunch. It was a leisurely picnic, watching the majestic waterfalls and chatting with Nemona about pokemon battling, while Hellcat and Scarlet lounged in the grass nearby. When you’d finished eating you both just lazed there for a while, breathing the sweet, clean air under the shade of the trees. 

For a while, Nemona let her head slump down and come rest on your shoulder, her eyes closed and her body perfectly relaxed. You felt your heart thumping in your chest and stayed very still, not wanting to disturb her. She drowsed for a bit until eventually waking and apologizing. You missed the feeling of warmth when she moved.

Fortunately, your time in Area Zero was far from over. You had come fully prepared to make it a full-day event. You both packed up from the picnic, revitalized, refreshed and ready for more adventure. You hiked to the bottom of Area Zero, where the earth opened up into a spacious, sparkling cave. The plan was to search for Roaring Moon. The primeval version of Salamence was the only Paradox Pokemon that had eluded you on your previous trip. Nemona was very eager to find one, her eyes aglow with excitement whenever you spoke of how terrifying it had been to face in battle. You hadn’t spent much time in the caves during your previous trip, so you hoped this trip would turn up the dragon type. It was also possible you’d discover even more Paradox Pokemon species, like you had last time when discovering Hellcat. That would certainly be a welcome bonus, although it was perhaps unlikely. In either case, you both felt the caves were your best bet for finding something cool.

If the surface of Area Zero was beautiful, then the caves were downright breathtaking. Your first exposure to them had been under rather stressful circumstances, so it was nice to have the time to truly appreciate them now. The tera crystals down here grew to gargantuan proportions, massive columns of shimmering rainbow that lit the caverns with their glow. Waterfalls fed down into the caves from above, and the pathways through the earth snaked along narrow channels, marked loosely with ropes driven into the ground with stakes by the previous research expedition. In many spots, there were stomach-turning sheer drops, and you made sure to keep away from the edges of the narrow pathways. Nemona had gone up to the edge one time, excited over a pokemon she’d spotted, and you grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. You didn’t care if she had a Rotom Phone with safety measures for falls, the thought of it still twisted your stomach. After that, she kept further away from the edges so you wouldn’t worry. 

She also continued to hold your hand. You told yourself it was also so you wouldn’t worry. You knew you shouldn’t read into it any more than that. 

Eventually, the two of you reached the deepest part of the cave. It had taken quite a while, but that was because you’d taken your time, enjoying the sights and searching for pokemon. Now that you stood here at the bottom, you could see the tall prefabricated buildings made of steel, looking a lot like industrial warehouses. The sight was a bit jarring in such a beautiful, secretive place. The central building was the largest and was encased entirely in tera crystal, the only part still exposed being the hexagonal airlock door that served as an entrance. This was the Zero Lab, of course, Professor Sada’s most secret facility. Out of sheer curiosity, you both couldn’t resist approaching it to poke around her lab again; however, the doors would no longer open, refusing to respond no matter which buttons you pressed on the control panel. It seemed they had powered down in your absence. 

“Hmmph. That’s kind of a bummer. I wanted to look around some more,” Nemona said, poking the unresponsive buttons on the control panel. 

“Yeah. Probably for the best though, to be honest. If we accidentally tripped another wacky defense protocol, that would suck.”

Nemona hummed,

“True. Oh well. We’re not here for this anyway. We’re hunting for Roaring Moon!”

She turned, eagerly returning to the search. You rushed to catch up to her, splashing through the shallow water that covered the floor of the cave bottom.

“I wanted to ask, if we don’t find Roaring Moon–”

“We’ll find them!!”

“Yeah, but IF, I mean, IF we don’t for some weird reason, um . . . I hope you won’t be too disappointed? I don’t want you to feel like this whole trip was for nothing . . .”

Nemona laughed. She turned to you, putting a hand on your shoulder and squeezing.

“Of course I won’t think that! This trip has been super fun, no matter what we find or don’t find. Anytime I get to spend with you is always amazing. Especially in an awesome place like this!”

You smiled shyly.

“Okay, I’m glad. I think so too.”

Nemona grinned.

“Good. If we don’t find anything we can still have a battle down here with all our Paradox Pokemon, I bet they’ll love that. But first let’s scour every inch of this place!”

You nodded.

“Okay. Let’s try that path over there that sneaks through the crystals, maybe?”

“Yeah, okay! C’mon Hellcat– hey, where’d they go?”

She turned, spotting the bright green and purple tiger some paces back. It was sniffing at the floor with a disgruntled expression. Nemona called,

“All right, Hellcat! Let’s go!”

The tiger took a few steps and then shook its paws, one at a time, trying to get the water off them and looking disgusted. Nemona giggled.

“Wait, really? Our big scary tiger’s afraid of a little puddle of water? You’re grass type, Hellcat, water’s good for you, silly.”

The tiger waded forward a few more steps, making a sound not too far off from a sad meow. You gestured at the big lizard beside you.

“Look, Scarlet likes the water! It won’t hurt you.”

Koraidon gave a little trill, swishing his tail in the water. Hellcat didn’t seem impressed by this. 

“Well, I guess they could just return to their ball,” you said to Nemona.

“Yeah, I guess. I was trying to spend as much time with them as we can, though . . .”

You both watched as Koraidon romped playfully over to the feline, crying out to it. The tiger growled, taking a swipe at him.

“Um, Scarlet, I don’t think they like that–” you said, but Nemona interrupted.

“--hold on, let’s see.”

“But Hellcat looks angry.”

“Yeah, but they kinda always look angry. Maybe they can become friends.”

You frowned, feeling a bit uncertain.

“I guess.”

Scarlet did some happy little hops, splashing in the water a little. Hellcat hissed, backing away. You warned,

“Careful, Scarlet. Play nice.”

The lizard lowered his head, trilling in a more placating way, swishing his tail; Hellcat still looked tense but allowed Koraidon to draw a bit closer. 

“It kinda reminds me of when Arven’s Mabosstiff tried making friends with Penny’s Sylveon,” Nemona chuckled. Hellcat hissed again, but a lot less fiercely that time, as if it was just a mild warning. Koraidon suddenly rolled on his back, wriggling on the ground and swishing his tail. You watched in wonder as Hellcat batted at him, in a way you wouldn’t exactly call ‘gentle’ but was definitely not at full strength. Scarlet nipped in return. Hellcat bopped him on the nose, firmly but not viciously. You marveled,  

“Wow. I think they might actually be getting along.”

Nemona grinned.

“Told ya! Pokemon do love to play fight, after all. That’s why we have pokemon battles in the first place.”

“Heh, that’s true.”

The two pokemon wrestled for a bit, until eventually they were chasing each other around the cave. There were moments when Hellcat had too much and snarled, warning Scarlet to back off, but overall they seemed to be getting along pretty well. It was very heartening to see. Not to mention impressive how much Hellcat had come along in so short a time. 

“I’m so happy they’re friends!” Nemona beamed, hands clasped together.

“Looks like Hellcat’s forgot all about the water bothering them, too,” you said. 

“Right! It just goes to show pokemon battles solve everything.”

You looked at her, concern in your eye. She giggled,

“I’m just kidding, Jules! Heheheh, you really thought I meant that?”

“I dunno, maybe??”

She grabbed your hand with a smile, tugging you along.

“C’mon, we gotta get back to finding that dragon!”

You gladly surrendered to her pull, returning to the search. 

The bottom of Area Zero’s cave was very spacious, so you had a fair bit of ground to cover. There were no maps of these caves, of course– well, Professor Sada probably had mapped them out, but you hadn’t bothered to search her messy labs for such things. Still, finding your way around wasn’t too bad. The Zero Lab was at the center and served as a good landmark, and you could more or less just follow the paths between the smaller buildings. It wasn’t even all that dark down here: sunlight filtered down from the top of the cave, reflecting brightly in all the tera crystals scattered about. You both searched the area in a clockwise fashion, investigating every nook and cranny and every pokemon you came across along the way. The place was crawling with Paradox Pokemon as well as Glimmora, but nothing you hadn’t seen before. You made sure to keep looking up, since there was a good chance you’d find Roaring Moon flying overhead, but you never spotted its crescent silhouette. 

After you both made a full pass of the cave, you went back over it again, trying to see if there were any places you’d missed checking, but you still weren’t having any luck.

“I dunno, maybe we should be looking above ground instead?” you asked, starting to doubt you would find Roaring Moon at all.

“But we checked all over there too, when we were training Hellcat.”

“Yeah . . . true.”

“Plus dragons love caves, right?”

“Normally, yeah, they do.”

“It’s probably just super rare!”

“Yeah . . .”

Nemona noticed your skeptical expression.

“What is it?”

You looked to her and answered reluctantly,

“It’s nothing, I just, um . . . I’m wondering if maybe Sada just didn’t bring any here other than the one she had. Or, um, the one her AI had, that is.”

Nemona frowned.

“You mean like with Koraidon?”

You nodded.

“I guess that’s possible . . .” Nemona admitted. She looked so sad, and you kicked yourself for even bringing it up.

“B-but hey, it’s probably just super rare like you said. Those can take a real long time to find, maybe we just haven’t run into it yet,” you added.

“Yeah,” Nemona agreed, although it lacked some of her usual zeal. You racked your brains and then suggested,

“Let’s check those passageways before the Zero Lab again, maybe there were some spots we missed up there.”

Nemona nodded. You were about to speak again, but Koraidon’s happy little trill noises echoed in the cave, sounding more excited than usual, and you were distracted trying to find out where he’d wandered off to.

“Scarlet?”

Nemona pointed.

“He’s over there. Hey, did he find something?”

You both followed after the large dragon. It seemed he’d found a gap in one of the far cave walls. He quickly vanished into it. Her voice full of excitement again, Nemona asked,

“Oh my gosh, how’d we miss this before??”

As you approached the secluded corner, you commented,

“Hm, not sure. I think the way those crystals were reflecting the light, it does make it kinda hard to see over here . . .”

“Well let’s check it out!!”

You both stepped through the gap, finding a small chamber within. It was dominated by a large crystal in the center of the area, but didn’t have much else inside. Scarlet was in one corner, gnawing on something.

“Hey, Scarlet. Bring it here.”

The dragon bounded up to you and dropped a slobbery item into your hand. It was a beat-up TM case. You studied the faded label.

“TM 171. Isn’t that Tera Blast?”

“Yep! Looks like Professor Sada lost some of her stuff here, huh?”

“Seems so. I doubt anyone else would be down here dropping TMs.”

Nemona was wandering the inside of the small room, searching for anything else of note. Hellcat crawled inside after you, sniffing around. 

“There’s gotta be something else here,” Nemona said. You were about to tell her ‘Not really, it could just be more cave,’ but stopped just short of saying it, not wanting to dash her hopes again. Instead you joined her in the search. 

“I’m gonna get a better view,” Nemona eventually said, grabbing onto the big tera crystal and trying to clamber up it. It was really slippery though, so you went to help her.

“Wait, Nemona, your shoes aren’t sticky like Scarlet’s feet are!”

“Oof, I wish they were. Okay, help me up– yeah, like that!”

She was able to hoist herself up there with your help, then stood to gaze down on everything from above.

“Do you see anything?” you asked.

“. . . not really.”

Hellcat was sniffing at a large tera crystal embedded into one of the cave walls. In fact, the tiger had been at that spot for a while now, it seemed. You went over.

“Whatcha smelling, Hellcat?”

The tiger growled softly, its eyes fixated intensely on the crystal. At first you thought maybe the silly tiger was angry at its own reflection, which looked goofy and distorted in the crystal. But then you noticed you could actually look through the crystal, and there were lumpy shapes moving behind it. You couldn’t tell what they were, because it was far too distorted, but it did seem to be something.

“Hey, Nemona. Lookit this.”

She hopped down from the crystal and came up to you.

“What is it?”

“Look really close.”

She squinted, leaning close.

“I just see my face.”

“Yeah, it’s really pretty, right?”

“Jules!” She gave you a playful little shove and you giggled.

“Okay but seriously, look past the reflection, I think you can see through the crystal.”

She stared a bit and reported,

“Oh yeah, I think you’re right! What is that?”

“I dunno. Hellcat doesn’t like it though.”

You both stared intently until Nemona yelped,

“Wait, did you hear that??”

“Hear what?”

“Shh, listen!”

You fell quiet and held your breath, doing your best to listen. A few seconds later, you heard a soft pokemon cry, very faint but distinct. Hellcat growled, bristling.

“Oh yeah, Hellcat heard it too!”

Nemona exclaimed,

“It was a pokemon, there must be more cave back there!”

“Yeah, seems so. I wonder how we could get back there?”

Nemona frowned, crossing her arms.

“Well there’s no pathways from down here. We checked this place really well!”

“Yeah . . . weird. There has to be a way in though, right? Unless they’re living in a sealed-in part of the cave.”

“Mmm, yeah . . .”

Nemona looked thoughtful for a few moments. Then, raising a fist, she suddenly said,

“I know! Let’s bust it open!!”

You blinked at her.

“Uh. Is that . . . is that really a good idea?”

She pointed at Koraidon.

“Scarlet knows Rock Smash, right? I saw ‘em bust some rocks in that cave right by my house, remember? Back when we first met him!”

You hesitated.

“Yeah, that’s true, but . . . should we really be busting holes in here? What if we cause a cave-in?”

“No way, Rock Smash is supposed to be used in caves! The technique is designed to be as focused as possible, so it doesn’t cause any shockwaves or damage anywhere else. We should be fine!”

You considered it a moment. On occasion, Nemona could be a tad . . . over-eager to do something and rush into danger, but you trusted Nemona’s knowledge of pokemon moves wholeheartedly. 

“Okay. It’s worth a try.”

“All right! Scarlet, could you come over here a minute?”

After calling Koraidon over, you all gave him enough space and instructed him to use Rock Smash directly on the large tera crystal embedded in the wall. The dragon stood on his hind legs and backed up a little bit. Then he leapt forward and with a backwards twist, smacked the crystal with a powerful strike from his tail. 

The crystal exploded, shattered fragments flying all over. You reflexively shielded your face, but fortunately the pieces didn’t hit anyone. 

“Good job, Scarlet! Man, that was loud.”

“Look, it worked!!” 

Nemona stooped and eagerly stepped through the hole that had been created, pushing past shards of rainbow crystal. You followed after her, saying,

“Careful, Nemona, don’t get cut or anything!”

You emerged into a portion of cave that had a much lower ceiling than the rest of the Area Zero caves; it seemed about eight or nine feet high, similar to a room in a house. It was also darker here, lacking any natural sunlight at all, but there were still plenty of tera crystals embedded in the walls and growing around you, and they glowed with their own source of light. You blinked, glancing around as your eyes adjusted to the space.

“Whoa. So there really is a whole cave hidden back here. You were right, Nemona.”

Nemona turned to you, eyes sparking with excitement.

“This is so cool! What if we’re the first ones back here? Oh man, I bet we find at least a Roaring Moon for sure!”

“Well we know there’s something back here, at least, we heard it earlier.”

“That’s right! Let’s find out what it was. Hellcat, let’s go!”

The tiger pushed its way through the opening and into the new portion of cave, but when you called for Scarlet, you found he was a little too bulky to fit through the gap. You recalled him into his pokeball, deciding Hellcat was probably enough protection for the moment anyway. You reported,

“All set.”

Nemona nodded and turned, gesturing to her pokemon.

“Okay, Hellcat, take point! Let’s see where this goes.”