Chapter 29: The Wide And Endless

  Mist clung to the last trees of the Deepwoods, curling around roots and low branches like threads unwilling to let go. Dew glimmered faintly across the moss, softening every step as Auri and Yuki moved through the thinning undergrowth.

  This morning the forest had continuously thinned out as they walked, with more and more of the pale morning brightness leaking between the trunks ahead. And then, almost without warning, the trees simply ended.

  The ground opened outward into rolling grassland that looked like it stretched all the way to the crater walls in the distance. Wind rushed across the boundary like something freed from a cage, brushing through the tall grass and scattering the mist behind them. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

  Auri stood at the edge, paws half-buried in the damp soil, ears twitching at the sudden roar of open air. His gaze swept the vast expanse before him, the sky, the ridges of distant grassy hills, the faint silver trace of a river catching sunlight somewhere far ahead. His heart gave a strange lurch. It wasn’t fear, not exactly. More like a dizzying sense that he could fall upward and never stop.

  The forest had been an extremely limited space to the point that even just walking became sometimes impossible. The canopy above had been a ceiling, something to measure himself against. The same with the roots and

  Yuki stepped out before him, blinking rapidly as the sunlight caught her feathers. And then, as if she’d been waiting the entire journey for this moment, she spread her wings wide, twirled once, and laughed. "Finally! I can see further than two meters again!" she shouted, voice carrying far over the wind. "Look at it, Auri! No shadows, no damp air, no roots trying to trip us! before I entered that forest I wouldn't have though it possible to actually miss the hills we traveled through before!"

  Auri managed a small smile. The sound of her laughter mixed with the wind, bright and fleeting.

  Yuki ran ahead through the grass, her steps leaving soft trails in the dew. "You’ve got to admit, this beats getting tangled in vines!" she called back. "And look, we can actually see the sky and clouds here! That one looks like a Stoutland!"

  Auri tilted his head up. The cloud in question looked like… a cloud. A particularly fluffy one, maybe, but the resemblance escaped him. "If you say so," he murmured unconvinced.

  Yuki twirled again, squinting at the horizon. "Or maybe a Snorlax! Wait, no, that one’s definitely a Corviknight! There you can see the wings!"

  Auri’s gaze softened. Personally, he didn't see all the shapes Yuki pointed out. But he didn’t need to. Watching Yuki try to name shapes in the endless blue was enough, a small spark of joy painted across the immensity around them.

  He finally stepped forward, out of the forest’s shadow and into the open. The change hit him immediately, the warmth against his fur, the brush of grass on his legs, the hum of distant Dungeon Pokemon.

  "Feels strange," he said quietly.

  Yuki slowed her run, glancing back. "Strange how?"

  Auri hesitated, searching for the words. "It's just... it feels even more open than the hills. It feels somewhat unsettling to me for some reason."

  Yuki blinked, then laughed again, softer this time. "That's just imagination, or your nerves! C'mon Auru enjoy yourself a bit!"

  "Maybe that's it," Auri said with a faint smile.

  They walked on together. The treeline faded behind them until it was little more than a dark blur at the edge of the horizon. The wind combed through the grass in rolling waves, bending and straightening it in rhythms that reminded Auri of the tides he’d once heard described but never seen.

  For Yuki, the plains were just one big playground. Every few steps, Yuki darted off to inspect something, a strange flower, a flickering harmless Dungeon Pokemon, a small hollow where the grass bent as if something had slept there. She spoke constantly, her words tumbling over each other in a rush of discovery.

  "This place smells different!" announced at one point, crouching low to sniff at the ground. "Not like the forest at all! Way fresher, really!"

  His fur caught the wind, rippling lightly as he walked. The rhythm of his steps blended together. A bird Dungeon Pokemon cried out somewhere high above, but not one he could recognise from just the voice.

  Yuki eventually fell back to walk beside him again, her feathers ruffled by the steady wind. "You’re too quiet again!" she decided.

  "I’m listening," he answered simply.

  "To what?"

  He glanced up at the endless sweep of blue. "Anything really, the pace these palins seemingly hold, even if they are incredibly deep inside the crater."

  For a long moment, neither spoke. The grass whispered. The wind played with Yuki’s scarf. Somewhere behind them, the forest waited, dark and still, already feeling like a memory they’d stepped out of. Ahead, the plains plains continued to stretch in endless color.

  Yuki, of course, was everywhere again. She really enjoyed the freedom of movement after the very movement-limiting Deepwoods. She darted from one curiosity to another, her feathers catching sunlight with every turn. "Look, Auri!" she called, crouching over a patch of flattened grass. "Tracks! Big ones too... Maybe a Dungeon Mudsdale?”

  Auri padded closer, his steps soft but sure. The impressions were deep, rounded, and filled with water from the last rain. He tilted his head. "Or something heavier," he murmured. "Whatever it was, it didn’t run. It must've walked over the planes slowly."

  Yuki squinted at him, then grinned. "You can tell that just by looking? That's impressive!"

  He shrugged lightly. "Not really. I'm not a trained scout or pathfinder, or anything else like that. You probably now more about that stuff than me. But in this case?The soil’s soft. Running would've probably scattered it. And they're too deep to come from something that's not big and heavy."

  "…You say that like it’s obvious," Yuki muttered.

  He didn’t reply, but the small, amused flick of his ear was answer enough.

  They continued walking. The sun climbed higher, glinting off something white in the distance. Yuki dashed ahead to investigate, and when Auri caught up, she was circling a set of old stones half-buried in the grass.

  "See those?" she said, tapping one with her foot. The surface was smooth and pale, streaked faintly with lines that almost looked carved. "Seeing how we're on these plains I'd hoped we would find them! This plain is the only peaceful area that deep in the crater. And here is where the very first settlement of Newleaf Village was once build! If I had to guess, that's one of their border stone they used to mark their territory! No idea why they bothered with something like that back then, though. The influence the Mythicals have on their respective territories are clue enough."

  Auri blinked. "That… really doesn’t make much sense. Maybe it wasn't just Mythicals that claimed territory in the crater back then?"

  Yuki blinked surprised at that. "I... Actually, I don't know! That's certainly a possibility though! But back to these border stones, they aren't normal stones, you see. According to the guards, there are dozens, if not hundreds of them, scattered all across the plains. Seeing how they roghly form an outline, we believe they were border markers. Also, even after all these years they're still supposed to glow in the dark!"

  He glanced at her, then at the stones again. They looked like ordinary rock "Do they really?"

  She shrugged, smiling. "Guess we’ll see when the sun goes down!"

  He touched the edge of one with his paw, feeling the faint warmth of sunlight stored in its surface. Unlike from his and Yuki's Liminous Stones, he didn’t sense any type energy in these border markers at all. With how sensitive he was to type energy, him not sensing anything meant it most likely wasn't there at all. That made the mystery around these stones just so much more intriguing.

  The path beyond the stones wound downward into another field, where the grass grew shorter and silver patches of wildflowers shimmered like scattered starlight. Tiny insect Dungeon Pokemon hovered above them, catching the sunlight in quick flashes. Auri slowed his pace again, taking in every sound, the subtle crackle of dry stalks underpaw, the rhythm of his breathing matching the steady sway of the world. He could taste the faint trace of iron in the breeze, smell rain far away on soil that was already dry. The warmth of the sun soaked into his fur, heavy but comforting.

  Yuki had gone quiet too, though not for long. "Hey," she said after a while, voice bright again, "do you think Shae ever comes out here?"

  Auri looked toward the horizon. "Maybe. But just like the Deepwoods, I think she doesn’t need to. This entire area already resembles her, if in another way than the Deepwoods. The Deepwoods depict her normal form we know from Newleaf Village. But she's a Shaymin, which means she's capable of a form change. And these plains probably resemble that part of her. But that's just my theory."

  "Hmm." Yuki tilted her head, thinking. "That… sounds kinda pretty actually! You’re getting good at this poetic stuff, y'know?"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  He blinked at her, deadpan. "I wasn’t trying to."

  "Exactly! That’s what makes it work!"

  With an exasperated sigh he ignored Yuki and continued walking. After a moment, she followed him.

  Hours passed that way. The sun climbed, the shadows shifted. Sometimes they walked side by side, sometimes Yuki darted ahead and then circled back, her energy flickering like sunlight through clouds. The plain seemed endless, yet never dull, each soft hill revealing something new.

  Once, they found a small burrow surrounded by delicate white flowers, their petals trembling in the wind. Yuki crouched beside it. "You think something’s home?"

  "Probably not something's but someone's," Auri said warningly. "You told me there are incredibly strong loners in the crater, And they would probably not be happy we’re here rummaging around one of their spots."

  She peered closer, then straightened with a grin. "Fine, fine, we’ll leave them in peace! But I would've loved to actually see one of these mysterious loners the guards sometimes talk about meeting! They may be one of the most tense moments, but probably also the most interesting ones!"

  She crooked her head towards him. "Back when I first found you, I actually thought you're one of those loners, y'know? A Pokemon crazy, but also interesting enough, to wander the crater by themselves! And that you overestimated yourself trying to do something stupid!"

  "Not a very charming analysis of me," he said with an eyeroll and Yuki just stuck out her tongue at him.

  "I changed my opinion, that's something, isn't it? By now I know you're not a strange loner, but just weird!"

  Auri snorted and didn't bother to react to Yuki's teasing comment.

  Later, they passed the shallow stream they'd already seen from afar when they'd left the Deepwoods. It was narrow and barely more than a ribbon of silver that wound lazily between the grasses. Auri dipped a paw in. The water was cool and perfectly clear, running over smooth stones that reflected the sky.

  Yuki joined him, splashing lightly. "I think I like it better out here!" she announced suddenly.

  He glanced at her. "Better than Newleaf Village?"

  "Not better better!" she said quickly. "Just… It's different! These wide and open easy to traverse flatlands... I like them!"

  Auri looked back into the direction the Deepwoods had been swallowed by the horizon. Personally he preferred soft forests over extreme jungles or open fields. That much, he already decided. But still, he could understand Yuki's point of view. "Yeah. It has something, I guess."

  The wind shifted again, carrying the faint scent of flowers and something else. Rain, maybe. Or at the very least the promise of it.

  Yuki’s laughter rang across the plains again, chasing a flock of startled Dungeon Cutiefly into the air. Auri followed behind, his steps quieter but sure, his ears turned toward the wind. The sun burned high above, unbroken and endless.

  They were still far from their destination, still only roughly two thirds of the way done. But they were getting closer and if the reminder of their journey would be like that? He wouldn't complain. He just seriously doubted it.

  Again a few hours later, the plains gave way to a rise of uneven ground, where the grass grew shorter and the wind shifted. Auri noticed it first, the faint shimmer of something unnatural against the horizon, light bending oddly around a shape that wasn’t sky or ground.

  They crested the hill and found them there. Gigantic monoliths, tall and silent, half-buried in the earth. Some leaned like tired sentinels, others still stood proud, etched with old carvings dulled by time.

  At first, Yuki didn’t say anything. Her eyes widened, feathers flaring slightly in the soft wind. Then, with a spark of excitement that was pure Yuki and came from her explorer heart, she gasped, "Whoa, Auri, look at these! They're positively ancient! I’ve actually heard of these as well! They were some kind of place of reverance. For some kind of ritual, I think? But I don't know much more about what happened here.

  Auri tilted his head, letting her voice fill the space as his gaze traced the symbols cut deep into the stone. The lines weren’t random. They spiraled inward, sharp then smooth, almost like ripples frozen mid-motion. Cracks split some of the stones, glowing faintly from within. He even still sensed type energy in them!

  "What type of ritual do you think they were for?" Yuki whispered, stepping closer. Her reflection shimmered on the smooth surface of one, distorted by faint light. "Uncle Kaen said once they respond to power. Like, Mythical strength in power. What would Pokemon with that kind of strength even need a complex ritual for?"

  Auri didn’t answer immediately. For a while, they just stood there, Yuki circling one of the stones, peering through a split that revealed faint threads of blue light beneath. Auri followed the rhythm of her movements with his eyes, not his body. His focus was drawn to the glow again. The more he watched, the more it seemed to respond to something, though he had no idea what.

  He reached out, letting his paw rest gently against the surface. The light dimmed almost instantly.

  It was as if the stone exhaled, a single, soft beat, before the glow returned, brighter than before, rippling outward through the cracks of its neighbors. For an instant, all of them pulsed together, synchronized in slow, deliberate unity.

  Yuki froze. "Uh… Auri did you just somehow activate them!? You may be strong, but you're decidedly not a Mythical!"

  "I didn’t do anything!" Auri replied, his tone defensive. "How would I even go about activating something that ancient?"

  The hum deepened for a heartbeat, then faded again, settling back into its steady rhythm. When Auri stepped back, his paw tingled and he knew he had absorbed a small amount of electric-type energy from it. To his senses it felt... incredibly pure and he quickly started properly assimilating it before it could start to dissipate.

  Meanwhile he watched the light of the monoliths fade again, unsure whether it had truly reacted to him or if that was its normal reaction. "These stones," he said quietly, "seem to be some kind of energy storage. I just absorbed the purest electric-type energy I've ever seen from it."

  Yuki tilted her head, her feathers rustling as she processed that. "Do you think that works for me as well?"

  She promptly went ahead to try and again, the monoliths activated and Auri saw how a mote of incredibly pure fire-type energy was absorbed into her. So it did work for her as well.

  After she was done, Yuki squinted at the nearest stone. "That's impressive. But if they just gift power to you like that, then why are they written off as worthless by the guards."

  At that, Auri shrugged. "I don't know. But it's probably better if we don't absorb any more incredibly pure type energy from somethin we don't understand at all. Maybe the guards thought the same."

  Yuki stared for a long moment, then let out a low whistle and nodded. "That’s fair. Still, these monoliths are kind of amazing!"

  "They are," he said softly. By now the sun had shifted again, its light grazing across the runes until the cracks looked like molten gold. Auri squinted against it, realizing how easily one could miss them from afar.

  A peaceful silence settled between them again. Yuki’s feathers caught the light as she turned to face him, smiling faintly. "Y'know," she said, "sometimes I think you do remember things. Not like actual memories, but… how certain things feel. How they're supposed to be. Sometimes you sound like nothing of all this is new to you."

  Auri didn’t answer right away. His gaze lingered on the stones, on the faint light pulsing between them. There was a pull there, something deep and wordless. Familiar, maybe. He didn’t know what to make of it. "...Maybe," he finally replied. "But we won't get an answer to that for quite some time."

  The wind shifted again, rustling through the grass like waves retreating to sea. As they turned to leave, Auri glanced back once more. The stones had dimmed entirely, their glow gone, yet he could still feel the type energy in them. He didn't know what that ritual had once been. But somehow it felt just the slightest bit familiar.

  The land began to dip again as evening crept in, a soft gradient of gold and grey spreading through the tall grass. The light was fading, but the sky refused to give up its color, lingering in shades of honey and rose. They’d walked for hours without speaking much, the rhythm of their steps matching the rhythm of the wind. When the last hill rose ahead, it looked like all the others.

  That was, until Yuki suddenly slowed, feathers lifting slightly as if she’d caught a scent on the air. "Auri!" she called, nodding toward the horizon.

  He followed her gaze and froze. Below them, stretching farther than the eye could follow, lay a vast sheet of water. A lake so broad it seemed to swallow the horizon whole, its surface calm and pale as molten glass. The setting sun caught on it, scattering light in a thousand soft ripples, and for a moment, even the wind seemed to hush.

  "It’s like the world decided to stop moving," Yuki said quietly.

  Auri didn’t answer. He simply stood there, his eyes tracing where the lake seemed to meet the from here small-looking crater walls. He felt it then just how enormous the crater truly was. And how small they were within it.

  "Yuki," he whispered softly. "I've never asked, but just how big is the Umbral Abyss actually?"

  Yuki absentmindly tapped with a talon against the ground. "I don't think we've ever actually measured it. But we believe it to be close to 90 kilometers in diameter at its longest point. The crater is far from a straight circle, after all. The wall high is relatively constant at 2,4 kilometers."

  Auri could practically see the math going on beyond Yuki's eyes. "Seeing how the lake should be a 25th of the craters surface area, that would make it... 18 kilometers in diameter roughly? Something like that!"

  Auri didn?t know what to say to that. They had crossed forests, plains, ruins, and dungeons. And yet, somehow, the distance ahead looked infinite. The lake glimmered again as the wind shifted, carrying the scent of water. Auri drew a slow breath.

  Yuki broke the silence first, her voice a soft lilt in the wind. "We’re really getting close, huh? I mean, the Blackwater Stream should be on the other side of the lake already! And we've already reached and entered Nayru's territory!"

  They walked again, the hill sloping gently down toward a thin, glittering stream that snaked through the grass like a line of silver. The water was cold and clear, running from somewhere unseen, whispering softly over smooth stones. Auri crouched beside it, dipping his paw in; the chill ran up his arm, grounding him.

  "Looks fresh!" Yuki said. "We could make camp here. It’s not far from the lake at all and I don't think we should camp directly at the heart of Nayru's territory. Let's rather keep some respectable distance, just in case. We don't know if Nayru is as occupied as Sia, Vian and Shae are."

  He nodded, and together they began to settle. The evening deepened, the colors of the sky fading into blues and silvers. Auri gathered dry grass and brittle twigs, stacking them carefully while Yuki searched for stones to circle the fire. When the spark caught, the flames rose small but steady, painting their faces in orange warmth. The world beyond the firelight blurred into shadow.

  Frogs croaked in the distance. Insects sang in soft, pulsing rhythms. The air smelled of wet earth and the faint sweetness of wildflowers carried from the plains. It was peaceful in a way that felt almost deliberate, as if the land itself had decided to rest.

  The fire cracked softly. The stream beside them caught the moonlight, its gentle current threading silver through the grass. Above, the stars began to appear, one by one, hesitant at first, then all at once, flooding the night sky with quiet brilliance.

  Yuki’s voice came again, slower now, gentler. "You ever wonder if anyone’s looking at the same stars from somewhere else? Maybe someone we’ll meet one day?"

  Auri leaned back, eyes lifting toward the heavens. The constellations stretched endlessly, strange, unfamiliar shapes stitched across the black. He didn’t recognize any of them. Not one. And yet… something in him eased at the sight.

  "Maybe," he said quietly. "Should ever start to travel outside of the Umbral Abyss, I'd even say that it's likely."

  Yuki chuckled drowsily. "One day we will! I'm sure of that!"

  "Maybe," Auri murmured again, but there was far more warmth in his tone this time.

  The fire’s light dimmed, flickering softly as the night deepened. Yuki’s voice faded mid-sentence, her words slurring into sleep as she curled closer to the fire. Her feathers glowed faintly in the amber light, and her breathing steadied, soft and rhythmic. Auri watched for a while, not because he needed to, but because it felt right.

  The air was cool, almost damp. The hum of night carried on around them, the world breathing quietly in its sleep. Auri’s eyes drifted back toward the sky. The stars shimmered above the curve of the horizon, countless and bright, reflected faintly in the distant lake.

  Actually going ahead and exploring the wider word with Yuki, huh? She'd already sold that idea to him a few times as a plan for the future. He'd always agreed, because waht else would've been there for him to do if not sticking to Yuki? But maybe, exploring the world with her wouldn't be something he'd do with her because he had nothing else to do. No, maybe it would actually be fun for him as well, should that day ever come.

  Important characters in the chapter:

  Pikachu (Auri) – Level 15

  Ability: Lightning Rod

  Battle Nature: Lonely

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 71

  Attack: 47

  Ranged Attack: 41

  Defense: 49

  Speed: 55

  Total: 263 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Nuzzle], [Tail Whip], [Quick Attack], [Brick Break], [Thunder Wave], [Feint]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Thunder Shock], [Electro Ball], [Swift], [Thunder Bolt]

  Utility Moves: [Nasty Plot], [Charm], [Double Team], [Growl], [Agility], [Dig]

  Torchic (Yuki) – Level 16 (Evolution Requirements Not Met, Stat Boost Applied)

  Ability: Speed Boost

  Battle Nature: Hasty

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 80

  Attack: 47

  Ranged Attack: 47

  Defense: 55

  Speed: 40

  Total: 269 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Scratch], [Quick Attack], [Feint], [Fire Spin], [Flame Charge], [Aerial Ace], [Counter], [Slash]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Ember], [Sand Attack]

  Utility Moves: [Growl], [Detect], [Dig]