A/N: This was originally supposed to be out yesterday but my procrastination kicked in. And the fact I was binge watching Re: Zero today so my procrastination continues... But I got this chapter out, at least!

Sapphiria Blaze: Thanks! It's awesome to see you in the reviews again!

Guest: Yeah, I think hectic is the better word.

Matt: I do have a grammar checker but I don't have the kind of money I need to update it. I'll try my best in the future to check myself.

Joshua Ketchum: Well, if you read the prologue you would already know the answer to that.

Shrouded Absol: I don't hate Scrappy. Personally, I have nothing against him. I think he's an alright character. But, you gotta admit, it would be fun to write a villainous Scrappy.

The Caverns: Part 1

Serena was used to the pain from falling - she's been thrown off of Rhyhorn so many times she literally forgot to count at certain points.

But falling from a Rhyhorn was nothing compared to falling off a cliff.

Her mind was still fuzzy from that night but she still remembers them being chased by something with glowing green eyes, being cornered off a cliff, and falling to their doom. Although, that last statement was a lie because she's still alive. And if there's a chance she's alive then so are the others.

She tried to move in order to get herself out of the uncomfortable position she was in but only to find herself gasping in pain as a hot, burning feeling came upon her right arm.

What the heck? Blinking her eyes open, it took only seconds for her to realize that she wasn't lying down on her back against uncomfortable rocks. No, she's being held up against a rocky surface by her own arms, which one of them just so happens to be broken and now she can't even move that one.

She's starting to understand why the Regions has a restriction on certain Pokémon Trainers taking a job in the Continents, and it was not because of the Pokémon.

One look at her surroundings made Serena realized she wasn't in the forest anymore. What she saw were rock walls with uneven formations that easily told her that this was an underground cavern of some sort - she had to thank Clemont for the geography lessons. The entire ground was covered in sand, which was good for her feet considering she was aching all over and the sand's soft. She looks up to see what's binding her hands together only to find them being held up by some old rope.

Wait, old rope? She's been in Team Rocket's trap thousands of times but those three weren't stupid enough to tie her up with an old rope that can break very easily.

She tugs at it - despite the searing pain that shot through her broken arm - only to be met with amazing resistance from the old thing.

Okay, so maybe this person was smarter than Team Rocket.

She turns her attention back to her surroundings, trying to see if there's some way of getting out of these ropes before her eyes widen in fear.

There are bones. Bones everywhere. Bones just surrounding the walls of the area she's tied up at. Thankfully, none of them weren't anywhere near her feet or she would have had a panic attack. But it didn't help the fact that some of these bones came from a human.

She wanted to scream but all she could do was gasp at the sight. She didn't care if they're going to attract the thing that brought them in here, she's far too terrified of the bones more than the kidnapper.

"Ow..." hearing a familiar voice right next to her quickly stops her from panicking. "Bonnie, what I have told you about waking me up so early in the morning?"

She knows that puberty voice from anywhere.

"Clemont!" she whispers, hoping that the young genius could hear her wherever he is. "Clemont, can you hear me?"

"Serena?" to her relief, his whispering voice answers back. "Serena is that you?"

"Yes! Where are you?"

She hears a shuffle of the rocks near her, meaning that Clemont is close and possibly right next to her. A groan was suddenly followed after that before she heard his breath hitched.

"Oh no..."

"What?" she asks, not liking the tone of his voice. "What is it?"

"S-Serena..." the way his voice trembles makes her heart stop for a moment. "I-I can't move my neck... There's a neck brace on me."

She freezes; the fall, of course. Why did she even think they all could've escaped the fall without a scratch - her arm was broken, for Pete's sake! If Clemont has a neck brace then that means he must have a fractured neck. Gosh, if she's the lucky one she didn't even want to know what type of injuries Ash and Bonnie have gotten.

"Okay, Clemont," she begins, trying to calm the older boy down. "I think your neck might be broken," he squeaks at that. "But if you have a neck brace like you said then that's good! Just don't move your neck so much."

She hears him take deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. After a while, his breathing finally eases out.

Then she hears him groan again.

"What is it this time?" she demands, her heart pounding at the idea of Clemont being paralyzed.

"My glasses," he says, his tired voice showing his annoyance. "I think I lost them somewhere, I can't see anything without them."

Upon hearing that, Serena sighs in relief. Leave it to Clemont to make her panic over something like this.

Before she could say anything, another voice interrupts her. "Hey, can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!"

Despite the fact how hoarse it sounds Serena recognizes that sassy tone from anywhere.

"Bonnie?!" she and Clemont whisper in unison.

"What?" the young girl's voice demands, clearly not seeing the seriousness of the situation. "I told you guys I'm trying to sleep!"

Serena and Clemont quickly shush her, hoping that her loud voice didn't attract any unwanted attention. After making sure no one is coming this way, Serena turns back to the direction where she heard Bonnie's voice. "Bonnie, are you okay?"

"My back and legs hurt, I'm tired, do I sound okay?" Serena winces. Okay, so maybe Bonnie's grumpy mood was reasonable at this point.

"Can you move your legs?" She asks.

There was silence. "Well, it hurts but yeah..."

Serena sighs in relief, so maybe Bonnie fractured something that wasn't her back. That's good. But that leads only one person left...

"Bonnie, is Ash there with you?" Serena asks, her heart pounding in her chest.

Silence met her. She didn't like how Bonnie's taking her time in answering her question. Why is she taking so long? What's wrong with Ash?

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Clemont demands, not liking her silence either.

Finally, Bonnie's voice came back, only her voice was a few octaves higher than it usually was.

"Is Ash supposed to be this pale?"

Before anyone could say anything they heard a sound nearby. From Serena's angle, she has no idea where the noise was coming from. She hopes the Lumiose siblings have better luck of locating the noise in their locations than her own. She couldn't even tell if Ash was alright or not!

The noise kept getting louder and closer with each second. In each of those seconds, Serena felt her heart pounding out of her chest. What was coming towards them?

When the noise finally stops she could've sworn she heard the Lumiose siblings' breaths hitching.

Whatever they're seeing it's not there to rescue them.

Serena quickly closed her eyes, playing the act of still being asleep so this thing doesn't get any ideas of what it could to do her if it knew she was awake. Bonnie, however, didn't have the same thought process.

"Hey, keep that away from me! You big, lanky skeleton!"

She resisted the urge to shake her head, why did Bonnie always have to antagonize the bad guys?

Wait, what did Bonnie call them again?

The footsteps begin to sound closer, suggesting that this person or thing is now facing Clemont. It helped that Clemont was whimpering loud enough to confirm her theory.

Then the footsteps finally came up to her and Serena could feel the ragged, hot breathing in front of her face. What was this thing?

Daring herself to open her eyes, Serena took a look at their captor and couldn't help but scream.

Their captor wasn't human like Serena's previous thought but it wasn't a Pokemon either. This thing practically looked like a walking skeleton with skin. Even then, the skin looked like it was barely hanging on, not with the way its skeletal form was poking out from the rubbery fossil skin. Both of its arms and legs were lengthened to the point that it had to crouch just to bend down to Serena's level.

Serena squirmed uncomfortably in her position, the thing's large, blank, white eyes seemed to follow her movements. Even its face was hideous to look at; the skin was pulled back to show off its hallowed cheeks, leaving so many wrinkles in its place. Its lips looked like they were torn off by its long, sharp, black claws so there's no point in trying to hide its terrifyingly long, jagged, teeth.

This thing looked hungry enough to eat a human.

The Chicken Man's story then popped into her mind.

Of course, the Megedagik's hungry enough to eat a human. It's always been hungry.

When it brought its enormous-sized hand up to her face Serena expected it to drive her out of her misery and closed her eyes then. She would rather not look at her own death by the hands of this monster.

But what happened next wasn't the monster snapping her neck and her world ending in total darkness.

No, it was something entirely different. Something that she would never suspect.

The Megedagik...

Was rubbing a clothe all over her face?

Furrowing her eyes in confusion, Serena opens her eyes to see the concerned face of the Megedagik hovering over hers as it carefully wipes her face with a facecloth. When it took the cloth away Serena could have sworn some parts of her face felt like it was getting stung by something.

Wait... Was that washcloth covered in rubbing alcohol?

The Megedagik stood up, showing her its terrifying tall 8'10 height. They way its shadow covers her in the little light of the room made her emit a small noise in the back of her throat. Serena hates to imagine what it would be like if this thing was towering over in a threatening position. She probably wouldn't last a second.

Then, to her relief, the Megedagik stalked off. A breath that she didn't know was holding was released immediately. She never wanted to look at death in the face ever again.

"Serena? Are you okay?" the concerned voice of Clemont asks once he's sure the Megedagik was far enough away.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just gave me rubbing alcohol," she tells him. "What about you?"

"It just readjusted my neck brace, which is surprisingly helpful considering this thing is made out of a really old clothe and a couple of twigs."

Serena furrows her eyebrows. "Wait, I thought you said you lost your glasses?"

"I did," Clemont exasperates. "Just because I'm half-blind now doesn't mean all my other senses aren't a hundred percent."

"Sorry..."

"It's okay..."

"What part of 'I'm trying to sleep' don't you guys get?!" A familiar, sassy, tired voice speaks up. Serena quickly turns to Bonnie's direction once she remembers the younger girl's presence.

"Bonnie, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine..." she responds, sounding exhausted. "It just put rubbing alcohol on me, which is irritating but otherwise I'm okay."

Serena sighs, they're all okay.

Except for Ash.

He hasn't said one word since the three of them woke up. That means he's still asleep. But how bad are his injuries that he can't wake up yet?

Was he still even alive?

They need to get out of here.

Serena tries to pull on the ropes that are holding her arms up - despite the fire in her right arm - but they still remain firm. Why did that thing have to make the ropes so tight?! If only she had something sharp she could use to cut them-

Wait, her bracelet! The one that Ash got her for a prize at one of the games. It has a tooth of a real animal, an animal that's a carnivore. It's perfect for cutting through these ropes. Now all she needs to do is reach it.

She bends her fingers down, hoping it'll be low enough for her to grip the tooth and pull it up towards the ropes. Thankfully, her bracelet was on the broken arm so she could use her other one and not feel any pain from it. When her fingers brush against a familiar sharp surface she could feel the weight lifting off her shoulders.

"Serena? What's going on?" Clemont asks the moment she begins to rub the tooth on the ropes.

"Almost..." she whispers, actually surprised at how fast the tooth's cutting through the ropes. With one last rub, the ropes came through. "Got it!"

Her victory was short lived when the pain in her arm quickly reminded her that it was there, making her nearly yelped from its suddenness.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," she whispers, although the fire in her arm told her it's far from the truth, as she makes her way around the wall to Clemont's side. When she took in the genius's appearance her heart nearly stopped.

Clemont was wearing a neck brace like he told her, so his head was limited to the direction in front of him. But what really got her attention was the bruises and cuts all over his face. He must have hit the rocks face-first if it resulted in him getting his neck fractured and all of these bruises.

Clemont must have noticed her silence and chuckled lightly. "That bad, huh?"

Serena shakes her head before she grabs the tooth from her bracelet and uses it to cut through Clemont's ropes. The genius was able to drop down but yelps when he moved his neck too much.

"This neck brace may be helpful with setting my neck but it's annoying as heck," he comments after straightening himself out.

"I'll get Ash, you'll get Bonnie," Serena tells him, which he nods - the best he could - and they both set off to rescue their friends.

Serena had just turned the corner on Ash's side and what she saw nearly made her scream.

Ash looked basically dead when she saw him; his whole body probably would have crumbled to the ground if it weren't for the fact the rope was holding him up, he's too pale, like Bonnie said, making him look like an undead ghost. Scars, cuts, and bruises literally covered his whole body, which didn't help his near-dead appearance. His clothes were ripped in a few pieces but they were still whole. But when Serena looked down on his leg, she could see his ankle wrapped tightly in this gauze, indicating he must have broken his ankle during the fall.

The fall...

Ash clearly took the worst of it out of all of them.

"Oh my gosh..."

Serena turns around to see Clemont and Bonnie - who's leaning against her brother since her legs look limp - right behind her, taking in Ash's appearance. Even without his glasses, Clemont could tell Ash looked near death. Bonnie, the ever-sassy one in their group, looks ready to cry at the sight of him.

She shakes her head, they need to get him help and fast. Serena cut through the ropes and caught him before he could grumble to the sand below.

Gosh, since when did he get this heavy?

With the help of Clemont, Serena was able to hold onto Ash and the four then made their way towards the path the Megedigaki originally came from.

They will get out of here and find help for Ash one way or another.