[Silver]

The borderlands were blanketed in a cold black mist. What once was fluffy white clouds was instead a peculiar fog. It was unlike anything the locals had ever seen. It was not like warm like ash nor white like snow. It looked like a cloud, but the inky blackness of it was darker than even the most threatening storms.

This was not the usual sort of thing that they did, but the adventuring teams of the guild were sent out to investigate the phenomenon. There was no telling what sort of effect the mist might have, and they would do their best to mitigate any distress. A team of three was sent out to the Nori Volcano to research the area.

[Nori Volcano please!]

[Silver]

The three of them stood at the base of the volcano looking up. They had a lot of climbing ahead of them if they wanted to get to the bottom of this. For some reason, the fog seemed to cling to the higher elevations, leaving the craggy basins untouched.

Mimi took a deep breath and tried not to think about how dangerous this might be. There was no telling what could be up there. For all they knew, contact with the fog could instantly kill them. She shook her head, sending her large ears flopping about. She really didn’t want to think about that.

[Silver]

“It’ll be okay, Mimi,” Rocket said. “They wouldn’t have sent us if they didn’t think we could handle it.”

“Me I get,” Six said, lifting her paw to her chest. “Rocket, too, I guess, but I wonder why you were assigned to this location, Mimi.”

Mimi’s ears drooped. She wanted to be offended, but mostly she just agreed with Six. She had no resistance to fire, like the other two, nor any moves to help her against it. As much as she wanted to help, she felt particularly useless for this mission.

[Silver]

“Don’t say that,” Rocket said in a huff. She pulled Mimi into her chest fur to comfort her, but Mimi looked more uncomfortable than ever. “Mimi, darlin’, I’m sure there’s a good reason you’re here with us. Don’t let her get to you.”

Six rolled her eyes, but she didn’t reply. Mimi was her friend, so she was glad to have her along, but she did wonder a bit if one of the water or ground types might have been a more fitting team member for this particular adventure. All she could do was trust that Charlie knew what he was doing.

[Silver]

“Who knows?” Rocket shrugged. “Maybe you will find a fire stone around here…”

Mimi looked more uncomfortable than ever at the thought of coming across a fire stone. What if it was an accident and she didn’t have time to react? Then she would just be a Flareon forever! She stiffened up and looked down at her own front paws.

“Rocket,” Six growled, whipping her with one of her tails.

“Oh, right, I forgot. I’m sorry, Mimi,” Rocket said. She reached out to pat Mimi on the back again, but Mimi moved out of her reach. She really didn’t want to be touched right now.

[Silver]

“I do wonder, though…” Six said, looking up the steep incline of the volcano. “Do you think that stuff has any weird properties? Like the stones? Maybe Eevee could use it to evolve into a ghost or something.”

“Ghost!?” Mimi squeaked. “No, no. I can’t be a ghost. I like being me! I like being able to touch stuff. We can’t go in there.” The poor thing looked like she was ready to cry.

“Calm down, darlin’. I’m sure that won’t happen.” Rocket paused for a moment before continuing, “Besides, even if it does have some freaky Eevee-mutating powers, you won’t evolve unless you really want to.”

[Silver]

Mimi wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but she wanted to believe it. She choose to think that, no matter what, she wouldn’t evolve until she was ready. If she was ever ready. The whole idea made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to change! She liked being who she was just fine.

“If there are ghosts in there,” Six continued to muse aloud. “Then we’re lucky to have you, Mimi.”

“I guess s-so,” Mimi muttered. She knew that ghosts couldn’t hurt her, but she still didn’t like them. Especially not the wild ones.

[Silver]

“Let’s go,” Six instructed. “Stay close.”

The trio headed slowly down a sharp slope into the craggy wasteland at the base of the volcano. It was slow moving with all of the rocks in the way. Every paw must be placed deliberately to avoid slipping down the slope. Patches of sharp gravel proved particularly stressful as they slid away underneath them.

“Wah!” Mimi cried out. She had put her paw in the wrong place and took a long tumble down the slope. Ears over tail she flipped and flopped until she hit a solid rock which broke her fall. “Owwie,” she squeaked once she got there.

[Silver]

“Mimi!” Rocket called out and raced down the hill after her. She ducked and dove expertly around the many obstacles, but she still wasn’t fast enough. She landed on the rock next to Mimi panting with exhaustion. “Mimi are you okay?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, dazed. She gingerly pulled herself to her feet and tested them to see if they were stable. “I don’t think anything’s broken.” She sighed with relief.

Six wasn’t in such a hurry to catch up with the two of them, lest she go tumbling as well. She wouldn’t want to admit it, but she wasn’t as brave as Rocket who didn’t think twice about crashing down the hill. Nonetheless, she arrived at the rock in a timely manner and looked at least a little concerned about Mimi.

[Silver]

“I think I can keep going,” Mimi said with a confident nod. She didn’t want to hold everyone else up, and she wasn’t that hurt. No worse than a particularly rough training session could be.

“That’s good,” Six said. It wasn’t entirely clear whether she was relieved on behalf of the mission or actually concerned for her friend. Honestly, it was probably a mix of both.

“Let me know if you need help,” Rocket said. She rubbed her nose on Mimi’s head comfortingly like her mother used to do to her. She always felt a particular kinship with the little Eevee, since they were the same species and all.

[Silver]

It was quiet, but not for long. Six froze in place, twitching her ears around to hear something. The other two took the hint and stopped to listen as well. It was a low rumbling sound, almost like a mix between a growl and rocks grinding against one another. There was no mistake here - they were definitely dealing with a rock type. But where?

“There! A Rhyhorn,” Mimi shouted. She then realized that shouting was probably not the best idea she ever had, and quickly clamped a paw over her mouth.

[Silver]

Six and Rocket frowned in unison. They had little in their arsenal to tackle a Rhyhorn. Mimi’s attacks would be almost useless against his thick rocky hide, and their fire was easily brushed off. They lived in volcanoes after all.

“I think we should run,” Six said.

Rocket frowned. She really didn’t like running away, but she also knew that they didn’t have a ton of options. “I guess,” she agreed.

“I think he sees us,” Mimi said.

The Rhyhorn looked right at the three of them and stomped one of its massive feet. Mimi jumped nearly a foot into the air and started to tremble. That was a big, scary wild Pokémon and he would surely crush her if he got the chance.

[Silver]

“Better now than never,” Six said. She leaped deftly off the rock and darted down the rest of the slope. She made sure to weave in and out of the rocks and spikes in the ground to give her cover as she ran.

“C’mon Mimi, we need to go,” Rocket said, giving her a nudge.

“R-right,” Mimi said. She reluctantly took off after Six, trying to keep up the best she could. Her leg still hurt from the fall, so she had trouble with the descent. She was trying her best to hide it.

[Silver]

The Rhyhorn made a charge right at Mimi when she popped into his line of sight. His hefty weight made him slow to wind up, but he was increasing in speed by the second. As his feet hit the rocky ground, everything around him started to shake with his tremendous weight.

Mimi stumbled on her injured leg and started to tumble down yet again, but Rocket was right behind her this time. She grabbed Mimi by the scruff of her neck and carried her to safety. Slowed down by the weight of her teammate, Rocket was falling closer and closer to the charge.

[Silver]

Thinking quickly, Rocket plopped Mimi onto a rock and turned to face their opponent. Six rubbed her face with her paw. This wasn’t going well at all. Would she have to go back and fight? She was surprised to see what happened next. Rocket kicked up a large volume of sand and rocks from the ground right into Rhyhorn’s face.

The Rhyhorn skidded to a stop and shook his head. The sand in his eyes stung and made it hard to see. Who had done that? He was more enraged than ever, but he was having difficulty finding someone to take it out on. He let out a grumbling roar and stomped his feet.