Chapter 19

Elisa was right to be worried about the trip. The primary threat came not from the wild Pokémon that separated them from the middle of Mt. Union—

with the altitude rising and less available to eat, there were far fewer gigantic predators and dangerous fully evolved dragons. Mostly they saw birds and rodents, with an occasional brave deerling somehow scaling the slope not far away.

This was actually an opportunity for Lane, who floated over to the little green Pokémon, ignoring her friends' protests. If she might be changing back soon, she would at least make use of the power while she had it.

"Hey there!" She waved one paw, though she stayed far enough away that she wouldn't be within striking distance for an attack. She hung over open air, with the perilous slope stretching down to the jungle far below. "Do you know this place?"

The Pokémon looked up, noticed her, then grinned. "You seem nice."

"Thanks, I think. You… too?" She drifted a little closer. She could sense no anger from the deer, though there was plenty of curiosity. She seemed shocked to see a mew for herself. Maybe there was some recognition under it all. "Is the waterfall up here? I'm just trying to check if my friends and I are going the right way."

"Them?" the deerling squinted past her, to where Dominic and Elisa struggled against the rock. It wasn't a sheer rock wall, which was good since they didn't have any of the requisite safety equipment. But it was plenty steep to throw them off the instant they stopped paying attention, so they were basically crawling up the whole way. "They smell funny."

"They're my friends," she insisted. "But they're clueless. How do we get to the top safe?"

The Pokémon looked her over, considering. "They're not gonna try to take us away, are they? Are you captured? You smell too powerful to be captured."

I smell powerful? "Neither one is my trainer, no. And they won't capture anyone, promise. They just want to see the falls, so my mom will be nice to them."

The deerling settled onto her haunches on a flat patch of rock, considering for a moment. "I guess that's fine. You can follow me if you want—

I go up and down all the time. You have to be careful, there's lots of traps and stuff on the mountain. Creatures who smell like your friends, trying to hurt us.

Or each other. But everyone knows where not to go, so nobody gets hurt anymore."

More traps? The bridge couldn't be the only one, it made sense.

"Thanks!" She floated closer, grinning. "I'm Lane, by the way. Do you… have a name?"

She shrugged. "I'm Deerling. Maybe I'd have a name before, but I'm the only one mom has, so I'm just me."

Lane tilted her head to one side, trying to make sense of that reply. But the Pokémon felt completely honest. It wasn't like Dominic—there was no way the deerling was hiding something she couldn't feel.

"Well, Deerling, my friends and I will be really grateful for your help. If there's some way to thank you, we will."

She turned, floating back to where Elisa and Dominic had stopped to catch their breath. "You know some of us have to actually climb this thing,"

Dominic said. "You shouldn't wander off. We won't be able to go after you."

"I wasn't wandering off!" she argued, floating up towards him. "I was asking for directions. The locals just warned me about more dangers on the obvious paths up the mountain. She says we can follow her to the top."

"Follow a Pokémon?" Dominic turned. "Elisa, does that make any kind of sense?"

"Yes," she said. "They're not as smart as humans, but they are way smarter than you think. Being able to ask for directions would've made training so much easier before."

Dominic wasn't happy about it, but he didn't keep arguing. They turned towards Deerling, and crossed in her direction before returning to the upward climb.

Lane began to pass freely between them, occasionally chatting with the Pokémon. Partly just to remind her that there were still people depending on her directions, but also because she was still curious about how wild Pokémon actually thought.

Deerling wouldn't be authoring any world-shattering philosophy anytime soon, or curing any diseases. But she knew about the natural dangers in her world and where to find food. She knew what lots of different Pokémon were—which ones would be friendly, and which ones would see her as prey.

" Pokémon really try to eat you, Deerling?" I never even thought about that, but I should have. Those dragons were going to eat me before, presumably they're eating other Pokémon all the time.

Humans ate Pokémon too, of course. There were farms out there somewhere that slaughtered stantler or miltank, gathering eggs and milk and stuff. But humans did see Pokémon as less than themselves. They couldn't have a conversation with the cow they were about to butcher. That probably made it easier.

If I do get to change back when this is all over, I'll probably have to go vegan. I'll be insufferable.

"Oh yeah," she answered, stopping to look seriously back at her. "I'm not powerful and mysterious like you, Lane. I either run away, or… I don't get away." She looked down, scratching weakly at the ground. "Like my brother.

He didn't get away, so now it's just me. That's why my mom tells me to be extra careful, so that she won't lose me too. But you won't let anything bad happen while we're together! You can protect me!"

Let's hope I don't have to, Deerling. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing.

They passed their first sign of human activity near the crest of the hill, where a tunnel through the rock tempted them with passage to green fields beyond. Deerling urged them along past it, and Lane had to stop to convince her friends to follow. It looked like exactly the right way. But there were machines on both sides, and Deerling was insistent.

"If you go in, you never get out! There's gas in there, and when it clears the tunnel is empty again."

That meant a much longer path over and around the little peak, with her friends gradually losing patience the further they got. But considering how they'd been trapped before, she wasn't about to take any chances.

It was the same way with a poisoned pond waiting ahead of them, and a copse of peculiar trees placed just when they needed a break from the sweltering sun. The deerling warned them away from each one, and often Lane could see the signs that she was right. There were bones scattered in the grass—probably Pokémon, but she didn't get close enough to be sure.

She wasn't sure if they would make it—Dominic especially wasn't built for adventuring, and soon enough he was completely soaked with sweat. Elisa did a little better, but even she was slowing down the further they got.

The far greater peak of Mt. Union finally appeared before them through a break in the clouds, piercing the plateau in its lower heights.

"Not a damn chance we can climb that," Dominic said, plopping backward on a nearby rock. "We're not mountaineers, Lane. We can't just fly straight up the side. Unless you've learned to carry passengers since we started…"

"Check the map," Elisa said. "I can already hear water. Don't you?"

Lane bobbed away from them, towards the deerling. She was getting further and further away the higher up they climbed. She probably didn't want to walk back home with a pair of dangerous humans following just behind.

"How close are we?" Lane asked. "My friends are getting thirsty. Aren't you?"

"Yeah." She nodded towards a wider expanse of trees, this one without any of the obvious signs of human intervention. "Just through there. If you listen you can hear it! But I should really get going. My mom won't be happy if I bring them with me."

"That's fine." Lane waved weakly. "Thanks again for leading us here. You don't think there are any other traps to look out for?"

"Nope!" The Pokémon bounded away, accelerating as she got further.

"They never get close to the falls. It's safe from humans, even if the mountain isn't."

She turned, floating back to join them. They were still arguing, though at least Dominic had taken the time to pull out the map. "I can see it's right in front of us, but we don't have a height. For all we know, that could be halfway up that thing. We're not climbing it. It's not that we don't care about Lane, it's that I can't do it. Gotta know your own limits."

"It's just up ahead," Lane interrupted, before Elisa could speak.

Telepathy was good for cheating like that. "Deerling says it's just a little further.

No more climbing or traps."

Dominic rose to reluctant feet. Elisa followed, sweaty and exhausted, but more resolved than frustrated. "We can go that far."

"If the wild Pokémon is right. I've never trusted a deer before. Nothing against your new friend Lane, but it's not a legendary. It can be wrong."

Lane didn't argue. Even if she was flying, she felt much of the same exhaustion. She needed to save what strength she had for their arrival.

Besides, it didn't even take twenty minutes to discover that Deerling was right. Through the sparse trees and shrubs they could see the occasional rainbow of light on falling water. A low rumble built in the distance, getting louder so slowly that Lane almost missed it. One minute they were in silence, and the next it boomed in her ears, pressing them flat.

Finally they stepped through a layer of trees onto another steep slope—

a crater lake, of water as clear as glass. It might've seemed larger, if it wasn't for the torrent of falling water on the far side, making half its length impassable and sending a steady current past the friendly eddy in front of them.

"Damn." Dominic caught himself on one of the last trees, supporting himself as he looked up and up at the waterfall. "This is the place they don't want people to see?"

More than that. Someone is willing to kill to stop people from getting here. What are they trying to hide? Lane caught a brief glimpse of green fur retreating into the trees further to the left—her friendly guide? She didn't call for Deerling. The Pokémon had already done more than they could've hoped for.

"I dunno." Elisa kept going until she was beside the water, dropping to her knees just in front of it. She fiddled with her belt, releasing Lopunny from her pokéball. She filled both hands, splashing the water over herself. She glanced over her shoulders at them, her skin seeming to smoke as the water steamed off in the sweltering heat. "Picked a great place to hike to, even if we don't find the dangerous endangered Pokémon who live here."

"You already have," Korina called, appearing over the water, just a few feet away. "Dangerous, and endangered. Also annoyed, but that's a recent development. Kittens are such a handful."

Lane didn't retreat this time, but floated slightly to one side, until she was between Korina and her human friends. “Leave this to me,” she thought back, eyeing both of them as confidently as she could. She didn't know enough of her powers to stop them from interfering, she could only hope they wouldn't screw this up.

"We did it, Korina. They made it all the way up Mt. Union to the falls, just like you said. That means they keep their memories."

"That is what I said." Korina floated over to her, circling her once in the air and sniffing. She wrinkled her nose. "I thought humans had soap."

"Usually. These humans thought they were rescuing their friend, remember? Also we almost got killed like half a dozen times on our way up here. Were those your traps?"

"Traps?" She tilted her head to one side, curious. The familiar pressure of another mind against her memory froze Lane in place for a moment—but it wasn't as debilitating as last time. Maybe if she pushed back, she could force Korina out. She didn't, though. If she wanted to see this memory, Lane had no problem sharing it.

"I had nothing to do with that. Looks like humans out to catch each other. Guess they didn't want anyone getting to the falls? Don't ask me why they'd do it—you've got two humans with you, ask them."

"We want our friend back!" Dominic yelled, loud enough that he was clearly audible over the roar of the falls. They both turned to stare, and Lane pressed one paw into her face in frustration. “Shut up.”

Korina pushed her aside, gliding smoothly past Elisa and over to him.

Lane couldn't make sense of the emotions bubbling in her. She was eager about something, but beyond that, she kept her emotions tightly concealed.

"I know what you want, human. You think you're doing your friend a kindness by demanding I change her from the high form of life I've made her into something fleeting and weak."

She circled around him, only inches away. Arceus help them if Dominic thought he could hit her or something. "Do you honestly think you would be doing her any favors? Those tiny brains you live in aren't roomy enough for the person she's becoming. Look at all she learned, so fast. Is it really a kindness to take all that away?"

Dominic froze, his body going completely rigid. Lane could sense anger from him, built up over the difficult hike so far. But fear won out, and he froze completely still, not even twitching an arm towards Korina.

"Lane had a life before. He has friends like us waiting back home, a family, and plenty of other people who depend on him to lead the True-Myth Club. You took all that away."

Korina giggled, curling up in the air. Her squeaks might not be English, but her friends seemed to understand just fine. Lane floated closer, though she stopped beside Elisa, resting on her shoulder.

Her friend reached up with one hand, briefly clutching her tail in a few fingers, before letting go again. It was all she dared.

"That's what counts as a life to you, human? I'm more confident than ever Lane was a perfect choice. She has no offspring, yet. I've seen inside her mind, I know her family are fewer and fewer by the year, and she doesn't think much about them. Her organization, if it mattered at all, was ruled remotely, through these primitive devices you humans carry with you everywhere."

She gestured, and Lane's phone appeared in the air between them, spinning slowly in circles. The screen was filled with “low battery", and a frowning red icon. "I might be persuaded to let her keep ruling it, if it mattered to her."

"What about us?" Elisa asked. She spoke as confidently as Dominic, maybe more. "Maybe he didn't have much family, but Lane had us. We played your game for him, went to hell for him. Isn't that enough proof that our feelings are real?"

"She told you that part?" Korina floated until she was between both of them, with Lopunny lingering off to one side. The normal-type clearly wanted nothing to do with the powerful legendary. She wasn't exactly a battle-winner, even in the best of times.

Korina gestured, and something yanked on Lane, dragging her through the air until she was just beside the mew. She put one paw on her shoulder, protectively. "You've proven you care about Lane, so I will leave your memory intact. You would show the depth of your feelings even more by leaving the kitten with me. Rejoice that your friend goes on to a far greater life than the human Lane ever imagined."

"Shouldn't he make that choice?" Dominic asked. "If you care, then why don't you ask what Lane wants. That's the best way to decide."

Elisa nodded her support. "Let him choose!"

Korina glowered at them both, and for an instant Lane saw her eyes begin to glow, as the focus of her power returned. But her friends didn't turn to dust, or get blasted away. Another moment later, and Korina relaxed. "I will let her choose," she said, spinning until she faced Lane. She floated closer, big eyes right above Lane's. "Well, kitten? Do you want to stay with me and inherit the sky? Or spend the rest of your short life aching for what you'll never have again. What do you really want?"

"I want to be human again," Lane thought to all three. But even as she said it, she faltered. She was flying over the treetops, talking to every Pokémon she met. She was exploring the strange mysteries of Starfall, and learning why Korina slept alone in a nest full of plushies.

She would one day learn how to transform, and then she would be human again. When she wanted to be.

"See!" Dominic yelled, pointing. "You heard him! Lane wants to change back! Do it, Mew! You said you would!"

Korina's eyes watered, and for the first time even she faltered in the air.

She laughed, her voice turning bitter and harsh. "You forgot one thing, humans.

I can read her thoughts. Lane lied because she doesn't want to lose you two.

She cares about you , not about being human.

"You might've won this wager a week ago, before I showed her everything she could be. But maybe not. Don't you think someone who dresses up like me, even badly, might want to be like me? I think she would've wanted to stay with me on day one, if I asked nice enough."

"You're the one who's lying!" Elisa's voice cracked. "You just don't like that you lost! Let him go!"

Korina shook her head once. She wasn't looking at Lane anymore. She wasn't wrong—but the lie would still hurt her, too. She'd given everything to Lane, as she saw it. In some ways, Lane had betrayed her kindness.

"You were right about one thing," she went on. "She does care about you two. It wouldn't be right of me to take that away. She's not going anywhere, but… you can stay too."

"Korina, don't!" Lane yelled, flying in front of her again. "Don't change them!"

Her attempt to block was entirely ineffectual, and she was too late. In the time it took her to say it, they were already changing.

Korina dropped out of the air, landing on a nearby patch of green grass and glaring up at her. She sounded winded all the same, tongue lolling out from the effort. "This is your fault Lane, not mine. You could've just told them the truth and sent them home. You did this."

Lane landed beside her, watching in horror as her friends became less and less human. There was nothing she could do to stop it.