Crystal joined Mige and Kai, meeting Viola at a cafe on the edge of town. Viola introduced a friend of hers, a ranger named Nash, as well as Kyle and Sasha; two students interested in lending a hand.
Crystal admired the almost otherworldly beauty of the forest. It was different from the Viridian Forest in a lot of way. The path was at once clear and rugged; they had to do a lot of climbing along large boulders and rock shelves to advance. Near nightfall, the group was attacked by a large Scolipede. Crystal joined in the effort to fight the Pokemon off, and while they were successful in that Kai was injured by the Scolipede. Mige and Viola were going to go back to town to get the Budew that the Scolipede had injured to emergency care. Crystal decided to stay with the others to help Kai and keep an eye on him.
Crystal did just that over the next day and a half; monitoring Kai and getting very little sleep while they waited for Mige and Viola to return in tense silence.
Mige and Viol had returned late that night apparently; after she’d already drifted to sleep. She happily greeted Mige the next morning, happy that he’d returned and bidding him to eat something.
Nash called a group meeting soon after everyone got up and started eating. He once more reiterated that the road ahead would be dangerous, and if anybody had changed their minds and wanted to go back to town, now was the time. When he started insulting Kai and talking up a big game like they were all helpless children, Crystal snapped at him.
She told him that she was getting tired of his posturing; she and Mige had both crossed Kanto and both made to at least the Top 8 of the Indigo Conference. They weren’t some helpless starters from Aquacorde Town! Nash responded with an eye roll and a condescending suggestion of ‘maybe you should just calm down’.
They argued back and forth, Nash making Crystal more and more angry, before she grabbed a Poke Ball off of her belt.
“Okay, throw a ball or throw hands because I’m about to beat your ass!”
Mige and Viola stepped in, managing to descalate the situation. Mige suggested that if Nash didn’t want to worry about them, then he and the others would find Kleavor on their own. Both Nash and Crystal was in glowing agreement with that thought, and Crystal was pretty much ready to just leave Nash behind. Viola, however, seemed to think it’d be a bad idea. She apologized for Nash, and managed to convince Mige and the others to stick with the group, at least for now.
They continued their hike through the rain, though the weather started to clear and things got easier. She spent a lot of the hike either doing what she could to help Kai, or walking a few paces behind the group because she was feeling real grumpy. Nash was a condescending jerk and he was treating her and the others like they were children. Crystal hated being treated like some helpless little girl, and she was pissed about it for Mige and Kai’s sakes, too. Mige spoke to her briefly about it, but Crystal dismissively assured him that she was fine.
Finally, they began to pass into the more rugged parts of the forest. The Desert at the Center of the Forest was surprisingly sparse and rocky and sandy, much like an actual desert. She’d been to Neon Town on business plenty of times, and the badlands and desert around that area wasn’t that different from this.
As they went, they found a small clearing where several small groups of Pokemon were found; at least six dwebbles, two Phanpy, and one Drilbur. Crystal knew better than to assume that what they could see was all there was, and Mige seemed to agree. He and Nash (well, Mige and Chespin figured it out) found that there was something relatively big moving underground. Nash figured that it was likely an Excadrill. They hunted based on movements, so making their way past here would need to be done carefully.
Kyle asked why they couldn’t go around, but Nash said he don’t think that’d matter too much; it’d just bring you closer to other wild Pokemon. This path was the most direct, so that’s where they would go. It was agreed they’d go one at a time. Nash volunteered to go first, in an effort to scout out the past method; the others could follow his lead.
He made it across fine, though it took time (Crystal didn’t really blame him for that one) and Crystal volunteered to go next. It started out fine, but about halfway across she could feel her foot slip across the rock and it was like time slowed down. She hit the ground, the air knocked out of her breath. Nash quickly told her to hold very still, not to make a sound.
He very carefully explained that there was a tree about twenty yards behind him. When he gave her the signal, he wanted her to get to her feet and start running, and not to stop until she made it to the tree. Heart racing, Crystal nodded with determination. She didn’t know what his plan was, but she hoped his experience counted for something.
The man began to run, pounding his heavy boots along the ground as he ran toward the others; away from where Crystal would be. Everybody but Mige and Viola began to fall back, and Crystal scrambled to her feet, and like Nash said she started to run….until she heard the Excadrill break the surface. A spray of sand and dirt shot high into the air as it emerged, swinging its powerful and weathered claws at Nash and Mige—-wait, and Mige? He just had to be a hero.
Crystal turned and began to run toward that fight, throwing out Heracross to help (Froakie and Litleo were too little, she figured, and wasn’t sure if they were experienced enough to actually fight the Excadrill). Mige, Viola, and Crystal fought Excadrill with Houndour, Vivillon, and Heracross respectively. Their Pokemon surrounded the Excadrill, attacking it with beams of psychic energy, blasts of fire, and powerful punches and shoves. The Excadrill was strong, though, able to shrug past the attacks. Nash tried to calm it down, but it was in a sort of frenzy and badly wounded Nash. After a brief combat, Mige pulled Nash out of direct ranged of attack, but instead of pursuing, the Excadrill dug down. Nash called for everyone to fall back, and as Crystal moved to recall Heracross, the ground erupted at her feet.
Agonizing pain tore through her body, her flashing white-hot as the Excadrill’s claws raked across her stomach, digging into her side, and hooking into her hip. It slammed another claw down, and she barely managed to avoid it. Heracross threw himself into the Excadrill as the other Pokemon focused their energy on stopping it, but it was focused on trying to drag her. Crystal tried to grip the ground, finding only handfuls of sand as it pulled her toward a hole. She used her free foot to try to brace herself, but her found no purchase in the soft ground.
Suddenly, through the haze of pain and dust swirling and raining down around her, she felt a hand grab hers and she instinctively gripped it in return. Mige had grabbed her, and as Riolu grabbed her other hand, Mige kicked at Excadrill’s claw just enough to pry it off her. Riolu took that opening to pull her up, over his head, and away from, Excadrill. The pain was too much, she screamed and as Mige croughed beside her, the Excadrill advancing, she briefly passed out from the pain.
When she came to, only minutes later, she Sasha was cleaning her wounds and softly told her to stay still. Crystal bit her lip, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to keep from screaming out. Mige and Viola came over, and Sasha assured them that she’d stopped the bleeding and Crystal would be okay. Viola took Sasha over to help Nash and Mige stayed with her, with Kai coming over shortly after the others left.
She assured them that she was okay, forcing herself to smile despite the intense pain she felt searing across her abdomen. Kai seemed disturbed by the sight of her, and she offered a sweet smile and in an attempt to try to bring some levity to the situation commented, “Honestly, I’m more upset about this,” she said, tugging at the collar of her shirt, “I really liked this top.”
The joke didn’t seem to land. The two stayed with her until Viola returned; Nash was okay. They had a few minutes before Nash wanted them moving. As Mige took Kai to check out a Phanpy, Crystal did her best to keep her breathing even. She focused on that, the in and out of her lungs, instead of the pain. That bastard wants them to walk. She’d been hurt before, but not like this. Never this bad. A few minutes later, Sasha and Kai helped Crystal to her feet and the group continued to walk, with Mige doing most of the work in helping Crystal walk. She hated having to lean on Mige; she felt embarrassed. Probably an irrational feeling, she knew that, but still.
Knowing they weren’t in any shape to deal with Kleavor or poachers that night, Nash was leading them somewhere else, where Nash claimed they’d be safe for the night. Along the way, Mige saw someone watching them. After checking it out, he came back with Selene Reno; supposedly a recruit for the Kalos International Police Department. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that Selene and her Patrat partner joined their operation, and led them to a safe space where she’d been camping.
Along the way, Mige and Selene went to investigate a Pokemon in distress, saving an injured Deerling from a pair of Seviper. By mid-afternoon, the group arrived at Selene’s rock. It would be tight, but they’d all fit up there. Everyone set up camp, and Crystal waited at the bottom of the rocks with Kyle until a tent was set up for Crystal. She protested that she didn’t need a tent to herself, but Nash insisted.
In the tent, she discarded her bloody clothes and Sasha changed her bandages. Crystal saw her wounds again and she felt sick. Her mind immediately went to the shoot she was supposed to be at in just a month’s time. She shut her eyes and sighed. If these scars didn’t heal…Sasha tried to encourage Crystal, but it didn’t really stick. Sasha left and Crystal laid back, staring at the sunlight filtering in through the canvas of the tent, her fingers absently tracing along her bandages. She could probably keep modeling, she thought to herself. Probably wouldn’t get many swimsuit shoots anymore, she supposed, but there were other things people wanted to see. Gowns, cute tops, suits, that sort of thing. Even if she got fired, she’d be fine; she’d manage. She always managed one way or another. Then, she felt annoyed with herself because since when has her appearance ever mattered that much to her? She was just being vain…she thought to her friends. Kai had been injured and he was carrying on. Kai was stronger than he thought. And Mige, he’d spent an entire day straight running to and from town to save a Pokemon, and has spent the entire day hiking and fighting Pokemon on…what, four hours of sleep? Maximum? She worried a little bit for him, because now that she thought about it, he looked tired.
Then there was Nash. A total jerk…that had risked his life to save hers. A jerk that had been injured the same as she had—maybe worse—trying to keep a wild Excadrill from killing her. And it probably would have if it hadn’t been for him. He was in just as much pain as she was, and it was her fault. Crystal ran her fingers through her hair and made a frustrated grunt. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t want to cry because that would probably hurt a lot.
She was snapped out of it by Mige, who’d come back from…checking something out? She hadn’t realized he was gone. She sat up, ignoring the burning in her side, and asked if he was alright; “Were you hurt earlier? Are you okay after seeing all that stuff? I’m here if you need to talk. And you look exhausted; are you tired? You should get plenty of sleep tonight, Mige—oh, but eat something first! And are you staying hydrated? I have a canteen right here—no, it’s okay, Viola filled it with rainwater and I’ve got water purification tablets, so drink up!”
Mige seemed a bit surprised, as he’d come to check on her_. She chuckled—_ow ow ow ow—and once more assured him that she was okay. Honestly! It wasn’t the first time she’d been hurt, you know; she once got into a fight with a Machamp. She didn’t win, but—
Mige cut her off and seemed to see through her act. She just sighed and told him that she was in pain, yeah, but she’d be fine with some rest. Once again, she tried to lighten the mood by joking, “Honestly, I’m more worried about my shoot next month.”
Except that it wasn’t really a joke and Mige seemed distressed and guilty. Realizing that her attempt at levit had backfired, Crystal started back-peddling; honestly, they can probably just use makeup, really, and you’re crazy if you don’t think they don’t digitally give us all touch-ups anyway, and…sorry….
Mige apologized for not saving her soon, but Crystal leaned forward, placing a hand on his arm and telling him that HE was the reason she was still alive. If it hadn’t been for him, her injuries would have been a lot worse. Plus, she was the one who’d gotten herself into that mess. Everything that happened was her fault; she messed up, she and Nash got really hurt because of it, and everyone else got put in danger because she was careless.
MIge tried to convince her otherwise, but she wasn’t really buying. Maybe Nash would have done what he did for any of them, but the fact was that he’d done it for her. She just shrugged, commented that she needed to be more careful in the future. Viola interrupted and called Mige out for a meeting.
Crystal tried to read a book to distract from the pain, the gnawing guilt and anxiety, and the uncertainty about the operation. When Mige came back a bit later, she was very upset that Nash wanted to leave her, Kai, and the university students behind. Crystal insisted that she was fine; she didn’t need to be coddled and she was coming with them. Mige replied that he saw the logic, but also didn’t want to foce anybody to do anything. She could still go with them, but it was up to her.
She sat and stewed for a second before, in a moment, she couldn’t argue anymore. She winced in pain and sighed. She told Mige that she was in so much pain. She felt afraid for him and Kai, and anxious about her job, and…she hated feeling like a weight and she hated people treating her like a porcelain doll. Mige did his best to comfort her, mostly reiterating what he’d said earlier about whether she stays or not being her choice.
Crystal thought on it a moment just shook her head. She’d stay, if just to try to keep the others safe. She didn’t like it, and she didn’t want to, but at the end of the day she knew she was just dead weight. She was useless to the group as she was, so she should probably stay behind.
As everybody settled in for the night, Crystal did not get very good sleep.
The next morning, the camp was roused early by Nash. He explained to the group how the operation would continue from there. He and the others would be traveling north, leaving markers as he had been before, and would check in on a satellite walkie with the group every hour. If at any point Nash went three hours without checking in, the group was to radio the Ranger’s Union using the channel and the passphrase he provided, alerting the Union that there was trouble afoot.
Before they left, Crystal gave Mige three Super Potions, two Full Heals, and one Revive just in case. After bidding Mige be careful, the away team left and Crystal was stuck at the campsite with the others.
The day seemed to pass by painfully slow, with the hourly updates breaking the monotony. Kai dutifully stayed by the fire with the walkie nearby. Kyle began to grow impatient and frustrated, since he didn’t take time off of school and work just to wander into the forest and do absolutely nothing. Crystal told him to stop complaining; he could have gone with the others if he’d wanted to.
A storm picked up around eleven in the morning, and Crystal ended up sitting with Kai and Sasha, in Sasha’s tent. Kyle went into his own tent to pout. The three of them talked a bit, with Crystal asking Kai a lot of questions about how his job actually worked; she realized she didn’t know that much about her new friend and with little else to do decided to sate her curiosity. The conversation turned toward Sasha and her aim to become a great historian, and Crystal told the others about what it was like to model professionally. Sasha seemed to get a kick out of the fact that Koga attended games for the Fuchsia City Arboks, while Kai seemed impressed that she’d had the opportunity to eat at several very famous, high class establishments.
As the afternoon dragged on and it started getting dark, Crystal was getting antsy. They’d be nearing the target zone around now. She eventually threw on a rain slick and went for a walk. Kai didn’t think she should go alone, but Crystal insisted that she was fine. She made her way down from the top fo the rock shelf with a little difficulty, and ended up wandering around for a short time. She had Froakie out, who hopped along with her, splashing in the ponds that they passed. Much of the “desert” they had passed through was flooded now, and there weren’t any of the Pokemon they’d seen the day before, except for what she thought might be a small group Ekans lounging in a dry space under a rock shelf.
She turned around as it got dark, her flashlight illuminating the path in front of her. Along the way, she startled a Machop who lifting heavy rocks on a small hill. Startled, it attacked. She had Froakie fight it, and while it close, Froakie eventually kicked and water gunned enough that the Machop fled. Crystal gave Froakie some berries, as she was very proud of him, before the two hurried back to camp.
When Crystal returned to camp, Kai told her that Nash had missed a call. Sasha insisted that everything was fine; he said not to worry until three hours had passed. Crystal sat with Kai in silence while Sasha made everyone some dinner. Two hours since last contact, and then three. When the third hour rolled around, Kai took out the radio to contact the Ranger’s Union. It took a bit of doing, but Kai managed to contact them and read Nash’s instructions exactly. The Rangers asked for their own location and Kai once again simply read what Nash had written down. The Rangers assured them that they would be sending out a search party immediately, and for their camp to sit tight.
Crystal was anxious now, enough that she felt sick. The thought of the others being hurt or in trouble—or worse—was extremely upsetting. The night dragged on, with Crystal and Sasha both eventually passing out. The next morning, Kai was by the fire, pacing with the radio in hand. Still no contact. The Ranger’s Union had called and reported that they’destablished contact with Nash a few hours before and that was it.
The four of them waited a little bit, with Kai even trying to radio Nash to check in on them, but there was never any response. Crystal wanted to go find them, and even started packing her bag to do so. Kyle insisted that they stay at the camp site; both the Ranger’s Union and Nash were expecting them to be there. If they just left, they could get lost and the situation would only be getting worse.
Crystal and Kyle argued back and forth, but eventually Sasha had to side with Kyle. Right now, the best thing they could do was to wait until they heard from Nash or the Union. Crystal reluctantly relented, but told the others that she was going to look for them in the morning if they didn’t hear back soon.
This second day seemed to drag on as well. As night began to fall, though, Kai began to shout that he saw the group! Here they come! Sasha commented that it looked like everybody had come back in one piece—and they might have brought someone else back, too?
When the away team returned, Crystal rushed over and gave both Mige and Viola a big, relieved hug. Nash and Mige proceeded to tell the group what had happened; the encounter with Team Relic, the tablets, and so on. Eventually, Mige was able to use his HoloCaster to contact help, which would send out an air evac unit.
Since the helicopter wouldn’t have room for everyone, and would need to make two trips, Nash, Viola, Alexis, Kyle, and Sasha went back first; Crystal, Kai, Mige, and Selene would remain on the rock shelf for the helicopter to return. While they waited, the four of them talked in more depth about what Mige had seen and gone through with Team Relic. Crystal deeply regrets not having gone, but she doesn’t voice those frustrations.
The chopper returned to get them around an hour or so later, and Crystal fell asleep on Selene’s shoulder on the ride back.
Crystal felt a small surge of adrenaline at returning back to the city. After a last conversation with Nash, they returned to the Pokemon Center, spoke with Viola, and then discussed what their next step was going to be. Crystal’s shoot was only about three weeks away, so they needed to start heading in that direction—which works out, because that was where one of the only two C-Class gyms in Kalos could be found. A rock gym, as it happened, which Crystal felt more than confident about.
However, she still needed to get her first badge here in Santalune City. They were in the forest longer than anybody thought they would be, so she missed her first appointment. Crystal hoped they didn’t count that against her. She mused that after she went by the gym, she was going to drink until she passed out.
Kai actually thought that sounded nice, and suggested that the three of them all go out together. Crystal enthusiastically supported the idea of a pub crawl, and Mige seemed interested in joining in. Looking forward to their plans, Crystal left the Pokemon Center to grab some food from a cafe down the street.
At the cafe, while waiting for some soup she told Mige she’d pick up, she got a text message from her agent, reminding her about the shoot in Cyllage. Crystal responded that she hadn’t forgotten, but they’ll probably need to talk about something soon. She was recently attacked by a Pokemon while traveling through the woods and she got hurt. She survived, obviously, but she wasn’t sure if there would be any scars left behind or something. Her agent was quiet a moment and told her not to panic. She suggested that Crystal talk to a doctor and they’ll keep in touch. But it should be nothing to worry about. Crystal thanked her and hoped that she was right.
With food in hand, Crystal returned to the Pokemon Center and, after dropping off Mige’s soup, returned to her room and quickly fell asleep.
