Chapter 16

Lane's heart was still racing, hours after the fight. Some part of her couldn't accept that she was out of danger. That salamence might be stalking her even now, for the crime of getting anywhere close to its children. Didn't dragons live a really long time? Maybe as long as mew.

"I don't… I don't think that was fair," she said. It was as brave as she could manage, under the circumstances. She wanted to scream at Korina, or maybe hit her with a psychic attack. But she couldn't manage that. "I could've died! It's no wonder mew are going extinct, if that's how you teach us how to do anything. Keep making us risk our lives, and soon enough there's no mew left. What a surprise!"

Korina turned to glare back at her. The space wasn't well lit, not like Starfall with its even, inviting lights. There was a narrow opening behind her, one that showed a sliver of sky. So they were outside. That explained the woody look to the world around them. They were nestled inside a tree, who knew how high up. "Don't make me regret saving you, kitten. Be polite."

She pushed something through the air towards her—a green berry, one Lane didn't recognize. But the smell was inviting, and her stomach growled furiously at the sight. It didn't matter that it was bigger than she was. She sunk her tiny teeth into the surface, and was rewarded with a sweet, juicy nectar.

She's trying to make me forget about it. This is buying me off. But Lane didn't think about that, she just ate as much as she could as fast as she could.

She even licked the juice off her paws if that was what it took.

Korina let her finish, or at least eat until the thought of eating revolted her, and she pushed the unfinished berry away. The bigger mew sliced up what was left, eating in delicate bites, without getting a drop of the juice onto her fur. "I always knew the danger you were ready for, Lane. But if I made you think I was right there watching, you wouldn't take it seriously. And it worked, didn't

it? You used your first… what would you call it, an attack? A move? Whatever, you did it!"

She leaned down, rubbing the bottom of her head up against Lane's ears in an affectionate feline manner. "I know I picked the right human for this! It doesn't matter if you didn't have any of the talents going in, you picked up everything quick enough."

"And tomorrow, things get even better. You'll really prove yourself then."

"I will?" She licked away the last few drops from around her lips, following Korina to the back of the hollow. There was a bed in here too, though nothing like the one they'd left behind in Starfall. Here it was made of soft moss, packed neatly into the floor until it formed a carpet. It felt springy and alive under her paws, though the slight touch of moisture wasn't something Lane would've wanted in a bed. "I'm still new at this. I haven't even been a Pokémon for a week."

"You will," Korina said. "Because I'm going to let you do what you wanted. Tomorrow morning, you can try to save your friends. If you can find them, and if you're strong enough."

Lane lifted into the air eagerly, but Korina grabbed her, pushing her down to bed with a paw. "Relax, kitten. I didn't say we were going now. You get a full night's sleep first. When you wake up tomorrow, you can go."

She curled up, wrapping protectively around Lane. It was the same possessive embrace she'd used when they faced off against the salamence.

Korina didn't usually share her feelings, but Lane could sense this one clearly enough. The big mew did care about her. She would keep her safe, and protect her from danger. Lane didn't have to fear a surprise test in the night.

"But if you succeed, I'm going to remember this. Every time you tell me you're too little and too weak, I'll remind you how you went out and saved your human friends. After you 'hadn't even been a Pokémon for a week'. If you want to make things easier on yourself, you might want to fail on purpose.

Then I'll know you are hopeless."

"Not a chance," she whispered back. Lane tried to resist her tiredness, but it was a losing battle almost instantly. She had used more of her powers today than ever before, she'd been out far from home, always moving. And now she was somewhere warm and safe if a little damp. She was doomed before the contest even began.

Still, she stayed up for a little while, if only long enough to argue. "I'll…

get them out of this." She was already thinking of ways to find them. She knew Elisa intimately now, maybe she could listen for her thoughts. How many humans could be out in this jungle anyway?

"We'll see." Korina leaned down, licking at her forehead, straightening up her fur. It didn't make things any easier to stay awake, no matter how gross it should've been. "I'll remember either way."

"You can't keep… lying to me, you know," Lane whispered back. Her voice drifted, and she went almost a minute between each word. "I know you…

care about me. I saw. You can be as mean as you want… I won't forget either."

Korina only smiled back as the world faded to gray.

Lane woke with a start, her paws reaching through the empty air ahead of her where Korina should've been. She groaned and tried to curl up tighter to keep the warmth in—but this wasn't the warm bed of Starfall. After just a few seconds she realized the soft, comfortable moss of the night before had dried up, and pressed into her coat in a dozen places.

"Korina, this sucks," she muttered. "You superior Pokémon should really bring some superior sleeping bags with us next time. Humans figured that one out ages ago."

But Korina didn't answer. After a few moments more of silence, Lane finally sat up, brushing the bits of dried moss away from her coat with paws and psychic powers alike. She licked herself clean in the worst places, then wrinkled her nose at the awful taste.

Even yellow sunlight now streamed in beside her, lighting up the hollow from one end to the other. But that was all. Korina hadn't left her a note, or any instructions. Just a pile of blueberries tucked up into one corner that hadn't been there the night before.

How far away did you have to go for these? Lane wondered, levitating one up to her mouth and taking a single, juicy bite. The sweetness didn't satisfy in the way she expected, though. Mostly it was the moisture she was after, and she licked every drop before taking her second bite.

" Right, she wasn't going to be here today." Lane remembered now: Korina had planned this. Today was the day she got to prove herself, far more than fighting pointless battles against dragons many times her size. Today she would save her friends.

She ate as much as she could, half expecting Korina to appear around when she was finishing up with breakfast. But the big mew never did, and soon enough she began to get restless. She wasn't going to hide in a tree and leave Elisa and Dominic to their own devices—they were out here searching for her.

They deserved her help.

Lane took off, poking her head cautiously out of the tree. She didn't see Korina lingering anyway, but that didn't mean she wasn't watching. For all she knew, the big mew would be just out of sight all day, to make sure she didn't hurt herself.

Either that, or she would go home to Starfall to enjoy a more civilized lifestyle while Lane fought through the jungle, and she wouldn't even look until they reached the waterfall. I might be on my own.

There were no giant salamences outside the tree, or snakes coiled about waiting to eat her, or any of the other terrible dangers that supposedly lurked in Orchidae Zone. She could hear the musical calls of birds high in the trees, and the territorial shouts of a hundred little battles taking place further below.

We can all understand each other. What makes it so hard for humans?

Would the world be different if we could speak their language? Even if no wild Pokémon had said anything particularly interesting to Lane, being suddenly surrounded by voices would still take some getting used to.

Maybe if I don't piss them off first, we can actually negotiate next time, instead of just getting attacked anyway.

Lane scanned the jungle below her, searching for any sign of human traffic. Her friends were traveling together, and Dominic wasn't exactly easy to hide. Maybe a human scent would be enough for her to find them?

Lane sniffed, searching for any smell out of place. But there was nothing—hundreds of different Pokémon, plants she couldn't name, and dangers that she could not explain—but no humans.

" Korina wouldn't have put me here if it was impossible. I wouldn't learn anything by spending the day lost in the jungle failing to find them." There had to be something she could do, some avenue for her to explore.

I care about Elisa. I need to find her. Lane perched on a branch, closing her eyes and clearing her mind. The pressing weight of gravity was a little annoying, but she could always pick herself up if it got too hard to breathe.

Korina had taught her that much at least.

Somewhere out in this jungle were her best friends. They were probably thinking about Lane themselves. They would be feeling plenty of fear. Maybe hopelessness was weighing them down. They were out of their depth, just like she was.

Lane tensed suddenly, spinning off in one direction at random. She couldn't see anything, but there was a slight taste there. Someone familiar, needing help.

She took off. Last night she'd been weighed down with exhaustion from battle and training, but now she was fresh. She flew faster and faster, enough that the wind started whipping through her fur, dragging her tail out behind her. She might not be quick-thinking enough to dodge and weave between the branches the way Korina could, but that didn't matter so long as she stayed up high.

A few birds saw her, scattering out of her way as she came streaking across the jungle towards the one taste that was out of place. It wasn't just human emotions, but the emotions of someone she knew. "I'm coming Elisa!

Dominic! I'm almost there!"

Whatever the feeling was, she was going so fast by the time she reached it that she zipped right overhead, barely slowing a little in her flight. She turned, pushing desperately back the other way.

At least her still-human friends couldn't see her, so they wouldn't be able to tell how embarrassed she was. "Oops." Lane stopped herself above the trees, peeking down through an opening in the canopy. There below, she found her friends.

She was right, they were in danger. A bridge crossed a deep chasm in the jungle, one made of sturdy steel beams and massive concrete slabs. Somehow, the entrances on both sides had slid closed, encasing the bridge itself in razor-wire out until a perilous drop over the sides.

There in the middle were her friends. Dominic was pacing, occasionally lifting up his over-sized phone and fishing through the air like he could snatch a signal for it out of nothing. Elisa just sat on the edge of the bridge, her legs dangling over oblivion. "It's no use," she called back to Dominic. "This is a restricted area, right? There must be a jamming signal or something. We're just stuck until they come by to arrest us."

She lowered her voice to a furious mutter. "I should've known those fences were fishy. We should've hiked around the bridge."