Chapter Five
“Ethan vs. Lasers”

This time, the two made good time as they traveled, having already passed Cherrygrove City as the sun began dipping lower in the sky. They had just passed by the yawning opening leading inside Dark Cave, and the path opened up to a spacious grassy area. 

The sun, which was on the brink of setting, still provided its warmth to the two as they walked. The air was still; the grass only rustled with the movements of the Trainers and their Pokémon. This expanse seemed to go on forever, only broken by the frame of trees barely visible in the distance. 

The two were silent as they walked, just taking in the sunshine and fresh air. Some shadows passed above them, and Cyon turned her gaze upward to see a group of Togekiss flying overhead.

She smiled, and was just about to continue walking when she heard something falling. She looked upwards yet again and was met with the sight of a small, oval shape falling to the ground. 

Her heart seemed to freeze, and her eyes widened as she recognized the object. That’s an Egg! One of them must have dropped it! 

Cyon tensed all of the muscles in her body, trying to focus energy into her legs. She then leapt into the air, going further above Ethan’s head. She caught the egg in her arms.

When she landed, she stood still for a few moments before awkwardly looking over at Ethan. “I guess I should take care of this.”

Ethan shrugged, looking upwards wildly. “I dunno! I guess!?”

Cyon awkwardly held the egg, gazing at Ethan. Ethan was just gazing back at her. Both of them were silent.

Cyon was the one to break the silence, as usual. "...So. I think we should get to the Center."

Ethan nodded. “Yeah.”

The two continued on their way, soon arriving at some old, decrepit ruins. It was clear they hadn’t been inhabited for a long, long time. The sun was now dipping below the horizon, and stars were visible high above. 

Cyon was now keeping the egg in her bag, and she seemed rather comfortable with these ancient dwellings. "These are really cool. I kinda like it."

Ethan excitedly rushed into one of the dwellings, much to Cyon’s confusion. She followed him inside and was met with the sight of him messing with an ancient puzzle of some sort. 

Cyon quietly said, "Hey, Ethan? Ya sure you should be doing that?"

Ethan didn’t seem to hear her, and she heard the pieces click. She tried to get nearer to see what exactly he was doing. Just as she did, a hole seemed to open up underneath Ethan, and she could only watch as he plummeted inside. 

She heard his startled shout echoing as he fell, and she fell to her knees in front of the chute. She saw Ali just clinging onto the side of the hole, desperately trying to haul himself out of the hole. She picked him up and placed him gently beside it. 

Cyon started to weigh her options. Maybe Ali saw something… But, no, I can’t do that. I need to keep quiet about it… Do I go in myself? Do I drop Ali in? I don’t know! AGH! WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DECIDE!?

Alpha gazed at Ali. /Did you see anything down there?/

Ali shook his head. /No, it’s just a black hole of darkness./

Cyon looked over at Ali. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to figure out if I’ll die or not!” She proceeded to pick him up yet again and simply drop him into the hole, listening for how long she could hear him scream. 

It kept echoing for a long time, but when it finally did, Cyon knew. 

She was going down there too.

She eased into the chute, with Alpha following. It was pitch dark inside, and the chute had turned to a slide. She kept her bag close, trying to protect the egg as she gained speed in the winding chute. The speed was almost dizzying, her heart was speeding up. 

Suddenly, the chute seemed to disappear below her. She could see the slide tunnel continuing beyond, and she tried to grab onto the ledge to climb back up. But, it was to no avail; she plummeted below into the inky blackness. 

And then, she landed on something soft and squishy. Alpha landed on top of her, startling her enough to scramble off of what she had landed on to catch her breath and let her heart start up again. 

She looked at where she had landed, squinting in the darkness. Her eyes finally adjusted, revealing that she had landed on none other than Ethan. All she could do was awkwardly say, “Um… Hey, Ethan.”

Ethan got up from the floor, smiling at Cyon. “What took you so long? I fell asleep just waiting here!”

Cyon suddenly found it hard to speak, much to Naga’s annoyance. "Uh... I mean, random chute- I thought you died...?" Shut up, Cyon! You’re ruining the conversation already! 

Ethan laughed, finding Cyon’s attempt at speech hilarious. To be fair, it was- Though it may have been brought on by her sudden fluctuations of emotion. 

And then, the two heard an unfamiliar voice, seeming to belong to a male just a few years older than the two. “Hello? Is someone there?”

Cyon answered rather stupidly. “No.”

A purple-haired teen with yellow hoop earrings stuck his head out from behind a wall curiously, gazing at the two. “Huh. I didn’t think anyone else was excavating this…” He trailed off as his gaze locked on Cyon. He looked between the two Trainers as a grin crept across his face. “Ethan... I didn’t know you had a girlfriend! You should have told me, you sneak!”

“H-He’s not my boyfriend!” Cyon quickly blurted, stammering.

Ethan blinked. “Horus, she’s my friend. And she just so happens to be a girl. What about it?”

Cyon interjected with a “Yeah!” She didn’t want to seem weird- she already felt she had been called weird enough. 

Something seemed to flash in Horus’ eyes, and he leaned against a wall. “So, seeing as you don’t currently have a boyfriend, would you consider-“ He pulled a rose out of nowhere, and it seemed to appear in his mouth. “Me?”

Cyon felt flustered. “What!? No!”

Suddenly, Horus was grabbed by the ear, seemingly by a child. “HORUS! I knew something was up when you left!”

Horus started yelping. “Ow! Ow! Let go!”

The person then looked towards Cyon with a gentle look. She couldn’t tell if they were male or female, and they wore a green shirt and yellow scarf combo that reminded her of the Braviary Scout uniforms. They had a long bug net on their belt, too. “Sorry, is he bothering you?” They asked.

The situation was starting to overload Cyon’s brain, and she could only let out an “Uhh…”

The person tugged on Horus’ ear again. “We’ve talked about this! No talking to girls!” They scolded. Horus was in obvious pain, continuing to yelp. “OWOWOW!”

Ethan glanced at Cyon apologetically, noticing her confused expression. Ali started nibbling on her gloves, and she had to keep from laughing, as it tickled a bit. It helped her snap back to reality, and she said, "To be honest, I'm not even sure where we are,” as she figured it was very late by now. 

The person perked up. “Oh! This is the ruins of Alph! Me and Horus here are researchers! I’m Bugsy, by the way.” 

Cyon perked up as well. “Y’know, I’ve had an interest in ancient history myself!”

Bugsy leaned on the wall, interested in what Cyon had to say. “Really? What kind? I’m into archaeology myself!”

Cyon smiled as she talked. "Well, there's this one weird cave in the woods where I live. Strangely, it actually shows signs of having been inhabited long ago! You'd really have to see it."

Bugsy nodded. “Fascinating! Do tell!”

Cyon started to speak, but she was interrupted by a buzzing noise, as if something huge was vibrating nearby. “Do you hear that?” She questioned as she started looking all around, trying to find the source. 

Bugsy didn’t seem to hear it. “What noise…?”

Her eyes stopped on some glyphs seemingly etched into the stone wall. They look like letters, Cyon noted. The buzzing got stronger, and she could feel the floor vibrating underneath her. Something’s wrong, I can feel it.

Suddenly, one of the glyphs peeled itself off of the wall and started levitating in the air. It looked like the letter N, but with an eye in the middle. It spun around, then shot a beam of some sort at Cyon. 

Cyon dodged narrowly, the beam hitting right in front of her feet. She examined the aggressor, trying to figure out what it would do next. Naga whispered in her ear. Cyon, that’s an Unown, a Pokémon from my time! Be careful; they don’t stay alone long.

Bugsy pulled out a notebook and started taking notes. “Fascinating!” 

Cyon was looking all around at the other Unown glyphs on the walls. “It would be fascinating to me if I wasn’t in danger!”

Horus wasn’t much help either. “The Unown are alive again!” He exclaimed, wonder showing in his eyes. 

The other Unown started peeling off of the walls, floating in the air like a swarm of insects. She heard one charging an attack, and she whipped her head around to see one about to fire a beam at Ethan. Ethan! 

Before she knew what was happening, she rushed between Ethan and the Unown. As she saw the beam start to fire, she found herself leaping right in the beam’s path to shield Ethan. 

She felt it hit her chest. Strangely, she didn’t feel pain; it just felt cold. She landed on her feet and glared at the Unown. The Unown just stared back, seemingly unfazed. I’ll stab them if I have to! I’LL STAB THEM ALL!

The Unown just floated down to her passively, its disposition changing from the aggression it had shown moments earlier. As she kept glaring, it started floating around her as if it wanted to play. Huh!? It was trying to hurt Ethan just seconds ago!

All of the Unown seemed passive, much to Cyon’s confusion. For a moment, she thought it might be safe, and maybe she could befriend one. Maybe this is a good thing…

But then, her fortunes did a complete 180. 

There was a loud shout of “GRAB THE MEW!” Black-uniformed people rushed into the room. Their uniforms had giant red R’s on their shirts; Cyon recognized them immediately. Team Rocket!

Naga whispered in Cyon’s ear, changing her demeanor to one even Ethan wouldn’t recognize. They’re the ones who took everything from you. They’re the reason you got so desperate. You want to get your revenge, yes? Show them no mercy, Cyon. No mercy.

Cyon whipped out her weapon as they rolled a cannon-like machine into the room. She could barely hear them shouting to prepare to fire over the blood roaring in her ears. A few Grunts glared at her, and she seemed to snap.

She lunged at one, slashing wildly with The Stick. The cannon was aimed right at her, and red laser-like shots were flying towards her. She saw Ethan shove her to the ground as he took the shots and crumpled to the floor in visible pain.

Cyon leapt over the cannon and knocked the person who had fired it to the ground. She managed to lift him over her head and throw him into some other Grunts and was about to continue her raging assault before she felt a sudden shock of pain in her right leg. 

She gazed down, saw a gash in her leg, and a Grunt with a rather old, rusty-looking pocket knife. She could hear Bugsy calling her, and she realized: she couldn’t do this by herself. She tore away from the fighting and rushed to Bugsy, despite the growing pain in her leg. 

Bugsy was motioning to a golden ring of some sort. He was on the other side, which seemed to lead to a city alleyway at night. She dragged herself through as the shock of the events finally hit her.

Cyon’s leg was numb, except for the wound, which stung horribly. However, she showed no outward signs of pain and was staring down at Ethan with a blank expression in her eyes. 

Bugsy was crouched beside Ethan, who was shivering and unconscious. “Is he okay…?”

Cyon struggled to speak and was barely aware of what she was even saying. "...I... He... He took that hit for me. I think he fainted….”

Cyon started to wobble on her feet. Her vision was getting blurry; she gazed downward at the pool of blood starting to form at her feet. The shock of the experience and the wound were overwhelming her, and her mind was in a haze. 

Cyon crumpled to the ground as her consciousness faded. The pull into the nothingness of unconsciousness was like a Primarina’s song to her.

She had to answer it.