I Want To Lay the Very Best!

97 – Feel the Darkness

Brandy gripped the metal bars of the ladder fixed into the stone as the wind raced down the valley and fluttered over her jacket, making a loud rippling sound. Someone had been smart enough to build a circular cage around the ladder, so there was no real danger of falling, but it still wasn't a pleasant descent. Her fingers were cold from the polished metal of the ladders, still as good as new; not even the wear of hands on them had dulled the shine yet. It seems people were sensible enough not to come down here very often.

One of the many warnings she'd gotten as a trainer was that while it was rare for areas to be locked of,  because wild Pokémon could appear and reside almost anywhere, that didn't mean it was safe to go poking about off every beaten track. Exploring the wilderness came with risks, some of which could be pretty nasty if you didn't prepare carefully. Scaling down the side of the bridge felt like one of those places, and there was a thrill to that, a little bit of adventure.

"Almost there," Sparky said from below her. "There's a ledge we can hop down onto. Don't worry, it's got a rail."

A little bit of adventure with safety rails. Well, Brandy was still pretty new to this.

Sparky had gone first because she had her web shot ready to catch anyone if they fell. The payment for her service was the chance to look up Brandy's skirt as they scaled down the ladder.

"You doing good, Calcine?" Sparky called up, "You'll love the view."

Calcine clung to the ladder with one arm hooked through the bar to secure herself. She fixed her gaze on the wall before her and was taking it one slow rung at a time. She stiffened at Sparky's taunt, locking herself in place.

Brandy reached up to pat Calcine's thigh, which was as solid as the metal ladder bars. "Don't listen to her. We're going inside soon, so keep taking it one step at a time. Focus on my voice if it helps. I'm here for you."

Calcine focused on Brandy's voice a little too hard and stepped right on Brandy's face as she tried to find the next rung, but Brandy bit down a cry of surprise and nudged her head forward to get Calcine's boot back on track. It turned out Calcine was afraid of heights, and while she'd been too proud to tell them that, her achingly slow pace down the ladder had done all the talking for her.

It took far longer than it should have, but eventually, Brandy helped get Calcine off the ladder onto the ledge, and hugged her. Sparky was sitting up on the rail, legs kicking out over the drop into the valley below as she looked down at the beautiful vista of the Stony Wilderness. Thick grassy fields, wildflowers, and massive rock formations. It was very much a home for Pokémon, barely even touched by human development.

"I think I see a Cutiefly. Pretty bitches, you got to watch them, Brandy. They use their good looks to get away with so much trouble."

"Imagine that," Brandy said flatly, stroking her fingers over Calcine's cheeks. "Sound familiar, Calcine?"

"Not really. If we ever catch a pretty Bug type, we'll have to watch out for that."

Sparky's mock gasp of offense was overly comical, but Brandy was glad for it. Calcine's thin smile at Sparky's reaction was much better than the flat look of someone whose mind was off imagining the worst. Brandy knew Sparky well enough now to know she was doing it intentionally, teasing to break the tension. But like a sore tooth, she couldn't resist poking the nerve a little.

"Want to come take in the view? It's good rock country."

Calcine's coal skin couldn't pale when it was this hard, but her wide eyes said it all anyway. Brandy dragged her towards the door in the bridge support, the wind picking up again and buffeting them the whole way. "Sparky! I'd smack you if you didn't enjoy it."

"Sorry," Sparky yelled as she hopped onto the bar and ran along it, arms out either side as the wind whipped her fur. Agility was such a cheat moves that she made it look easy. Sparky got to the door before them, pushing it open with her shoulder, the heavy door scraping along the stone with a horrible, rusted groan as the wind seemed to rise to try to blow them back.

"Really not a popular spot," Calcine said as she led the way, cutting a path through the gale into the doorway, a hand pressed to the wall for support as she centered herself with some deep breaths. "Can feel the stone though, solid. Goes deep."

"Rock Polish really lets you see that far?" Brandy said as she came in following Calcine's wake, curious beyond just taking Calcine's mind off the outside.

"If it's the same kind of stone, it's easy. When it changes, my Move gets fuzzier. Outdoors I can only go up to a few feet. Dirt is all too loose."

"So you could shape the whole bridge?" Brandy asked though she was fairly sure the power wasn't that broad. It'd probably take a really long time to do if it was even possible at all.

That didn't stop Sparky from hunching her shoulders and nearly curling up into a ball.

"Don't do that?" Sparky whispered in horror, "To the bridge, we're currently in?"

Calcine pressed her fingers into the wall's stone, and the rock around Sparky's feet bubbled like thick swamp mud.

"Wouldn't you like to see the valley?" Calcine smiled. "I could give you a lift down."

"Truce, truce! No more height jokes!" Sparky said in a rush. "You're scary when you're vengeful. Besides, listen."

Brandy and Calcine listened, then gave each other a confused look.

"There's nothing?" Brandy said.

"Exactly!" Sparky punched the air. "Where'd all the wind go? Someone's fucking with us. I'm an expert in hijinks, and I know some 'jinx when I see them up this high."

"That was a height joke," Calcine said flatly, and Sparky lost an inch as her feet sunk into the stone.

"Woah, woah, doesn't count! It was a pun, not a joke!"

As fun as it was to see them squabble, it was time to get them in order.

"Let's get serious," Brandy said, squeezing one of Calcine's biceps. "Focus till we find Morgan, at least. If someone is messing with us, let's not make it easier for them."

It was dark inside the bridge support, and Brandy's Pokédex flashlight only lit up so much. Sparky got fed up with it quickly as they stumbled about and rolled a wave of electricity between her fingers, lighting the room like daylight had flooded in. Amazingly useful, as long as you didn't look at her hands. Brandy was still blinking away the spots from her quick peek.

A winding steel staircase went down into a pitch black that even Sparky's lighting hands didn't reach, the walls reinforced with steel beams fused into the stone by some Pokémon Move long ago. That was the most normal thing about the place. It got weirder from there. Bits of sharp metal were hanging from strings dangling down far enough they'd constantly get in the way of people trying to use the stairs. The walls had been carved with strange symbols, not particularly intricate, but the shapes bled into each other with harsh edges that were a little unnerving.

A rush of wind ran through the inside of the column and blew past them, a whistling roar in the tight space that made the hanging metal charms rattle together with a horrible scraping noise.

"Be like walking into a blender." Sparky hissed, "Hate that. This is spooky as fuck."

"We don't really have a cutting move. Shame." Brandy bit her lip thoughtfully, thinking of what they did have. "Will they hurt you, Calcine, if you gather the strings as we walk? You can use incinerate to clear your arms off."

Calcine reached up to brush her hand over a bit of the metal. It wasn't anything special, just a shard pulled from some thin sheet metal, and with Calcine's skin hard from her fright outside, all it could do was scrape uselessly against her skin.

"I can gather up, but not really feeling an Incinerate right now, sorry. The fires pretty low.."

"Well, let me?" Sparky raised her crackling hands and rolled her Thunder Wave along the string. It must have been cheap stuff because it blackened and snapped almost immediately. "Heck yeah, teamwork! You grab, and I zap."

It let them progress down the stairs slowly, the smell of fresh paint soon replaced with the scent of burning string. Calcine's arms soon looked like a horrifying murdery year-end tree, sharp metal ornaments jangling against each other madly whenever the wind picked up. The bursts were getting more intense, not strong enough to blow them off their feet, but enough that they had to stop and grab something to keep their footing. With Calcine's arms a danger to everyone, she was in the front so she could lean forward to brace herself, with Sparky sandwiched in the middle of the group for light.

So Brandy was in the perfect spot to see a mass of black feathers swarm up from the central well of the stairway and quickly form together into the shape of a woman with a wide-brimmed hat. Her features were still coalescing, color beginning to form on her face when she opened two blazing red-eyed, grabbed Sparky's hands, and squeezed them together.

The electricity bouncing between Sparky's fingers popped with a loud bang, and Sparky screamed. It was pitch black, but Brandy felt Sparky slam into her legs, her fur cushioning the blow as the Joltik lost her footing.

"Web!" Brandy said quickly, and there was a loud thwip and a splat, then only the panting of Sparky's breath.

"Scared the life out of me. What the fuck!" Sparky yelled from down by Brandy's legs. "Calcine, I hit you?"

"No, I'm fine. You got the railing. What was that?"

"Astonish." Brandy said, "A surprising teleport."

"Oh hell no, if we're bothering a Ghost, we should go." Sparky groaned, "They're too much, even for me."

"I think it's Morgan," Brandy said. "It's pretty common for Dark types to pick up a Ghost Move or two. Morgan? You there?"

The darkness didn't answer.

"She's set all this up to scare us off," Calcine said. It was such an obvious conclusion; stating it out loud made it more of a question than an explanation. Should they keep going despite her clear warnings?

"We should at least try to talk to her if it is Morgan. Someone has to. Sparky, don't use your electricity. You might zap us."

The wind started up again as Brandy used to get the dex's flashlight going, and this time the constant rushing gale just kept building. They had to yell above to be heard.

"See what you mean about fighting Flying types properly!" Sparky shouted, "This is all really annoying to deal with!"

Brandy didn't reply. She knew how to confirm who they were dealing with and just needed them to take a bite of the bait.

Sparky put her hands on Calcine's hips, and Brandy got a hand around Sparky's chest. There was plenty to grab there. They let Calcine lead them down in a chain, with Brandy providing the light. Slow, plodding steps against the gale, not letting it impede their process.

As it passed them, the wind cut out with a metal rattle, and Brandy braced herself. The black feathers surged around her, and a hand formed out of them to grab her Pokédex. Right as Brandy hammered the button and the Pokédex let out a little chirrup of beeps. Brandy felt the hand tug, but she was stronger than whoever was pulling it, and she'd been sure to fix her grip tight. Astonish was surprising, but only if you weren't bracing for it. Ghost types had to be sneaky to maximize their moves, and this Pokémon was already running out of tricks.

The red eyes went wide when they realized they'd been caught out, and with a grab of the brim of their hat, the coalescing form burst apart again into black feathers and rushed away down the stairwell, the wind dying down until the air was still. Brandy quickly checked the screen.

Fast, but not fast enough to dodge Brandy's scan. There was a warm satisfaction to be had at outsmarting someone.

"It's her." Brandy couldn't keep that satisfaction out of her voice. "And she's absolutely perfect for ambushes. We just got to keep going, and she'll have to face us."

"Oh yeah. Chase a Murkrow into the darkness." Sparky said, "We're so good at plans."

"Well, I hope she's ready to talk," Calcine growled, shaking arms coated in metal shards. "Because if I did all this for nothing, I am going to sulk."

Hopefully, Morgan would talk then. A sulking Calcine sounded like it'd take forever to coax back onto the bridge.

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