I didn’t even stick around for the fourth round. I had to get to Bagatelle. I was wracked with the kind of jitters that made everything else nosedive in importance. I found the league administrator in the Pokémon Centre and handed in my abandonment notice. Then I had another awkward conversation with Darren, though it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. He seemed to have been expecting it. I had time to say some hurried goodbyes to Jade and Luca before meeting Elaine and Meloetta on Bagatelle Road, just outside the city.

  “Are you sure about this?” she asked. I nodded.

  “I mean forfeiting,” she added. “We could delay a couple of days more.”

  “No,” I said. “There’s no point. This is more important. Besides, it’s better if my Pokémon aren’t too worn out.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  We weren’t walking. We were taking Volcarona. There was just enough space for the three of us, since that we were all on the smaller side. The thick fuzz on her upper body was warm against my cheek as I held on tight. Elaine got on behind me and put her good arm around my waist. Meloetta clung onto Elaine, her arms around her neck.

  The drum of Volcarona’s wings beating the air drowned out all sound as we rose. As we reached a nice height, though, she left them stretched out, using them to glide forwards. It was still windy, but quieter, and peaking over the side I saw the ground far, far off. Everything looked so small, like little toys. I squeaked and hid my face from the view.

  “Are you okay?” asked Elaine. I nodded, my eyes still shut. She giggled from behind me.

  “Most people have a similar reaction their first time flying. You get used to it. But I was asking because, well, I know you don’t like flying-types, but I was wondering how you’d get on with Volcarona.”

  “She’s fine,” I said. “I don’t know why, I mean, she has these wings and everything, but it doesn’t feel the same. And I get nervous around flying-types that don’t have the typical traits too, so it’s not just about how they look. It’s weird, I know, but Volcarona’s fine.”

  “It’s not weird. And Volcarona will be happy to hear that, won’t you?”

  The Pokémon in question gave a chirp.

  “She is,” continued Elaine. “And you did very well against Noivern. It was a good battle.”

  “Thanks,” I said, face heating from the compliment. I changed the subject to protect my cool.

  “How are we doing this? In Bagatelle?” I asked.

  “The main issue is finding Landorus,” she said. “He’s hidden somewhere in the mountains, possibly even in the caves. Ducky’s been scouting from the sky, but she’s had no luck finding anything yet. She’s tried locating the source of the tremors, or finding the area with the largest land disturbances, but the location seems to shift, and she can’t find a pattern. It’s likely we’ll need to search on the ground. I’m not doing this how we did in Popplio, though. That was a bit reckless, and the situation is different here. I’m going to contact the rangers, and a few bounty hunters Ducky can vouch for and we’ll have search teams crawling all over the place. If anyone finds anything I’ll take Meloetta there as fast as possible.”

  “Sounds straightforward,” I said.

  “Yeah, it sounds a lot easier than it will be. I know that for sure. On the ground, we’re going to be far more susceptible to land movements, and that’s even before the chance, we’ll have to go into the Bagatelle caves. The very earth will be against us. On top of that, Ducky says the wild Pokémon there are understandably upset. The place is already known for having strong Pokémon and if they’re more aggressive than usual, well that’s another thing to deal with. Then there’s always Killian. He must know we’re going there, and he’s probably waiting for another opportunity to kidnap Meloetta. The plan’s fairly simple, but there are plenty of obstacles in the way.”

  As the flight went on, I got braver, and like Elaine said, I was getting used to it. The drop peering over Volcarona’s fuzz still gave me vertigo, but I could stand looking at it for more than a few seconds at a time. I had Grandma’s wool coat on. I hadn’t thought it necessary down below, but Elaine told me to wrap up well and I was glad I did. I was warm, but where my skin was exposed to the air, the wind chilled it, and I had to be constantly shifting to keep all of me at a nice temperature. And that was with the heat Volcarona was giving off.

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  It was worth the wind and the vertigo to see the landscape below. Up ahead, the Rustdust Mountains rose up in the horizon, becoming clearer with every passing second. Even from where we were, their distinctive redness, due to the iron rich soil and rocks they were made of. Few trees grew on them, their dryness making them barren of most vegetation. Towering above all the others, Mount Anvil wedged itself into the sky as if it belonged there with all its bulk.

  From the mountains, the Copperwine River snaked its way to Caprice City. I’d passed the river plenty while I was in the city, but by the time it got there, it was murky and dull. Seeing it in its more youthful stages, I better understood its name. Tainted a brick-red colour from the same iron found in the mountains, the Copperwine was like an artery carrying blood from Bagatelle to Caprice. Fertile land dotted with vegetable farms spread out on either side of the river. There was a reason the relatively small patch of land was known as Silín’s cornucopia.

  In time, Bagatelle City itself came into view. Built into the side of Mount Anvil, Bagatelle was more vertical than horizontal. It was all dust and stone. From a height, it wasn’t obvious where the buildings began and the mountain ended, they were so meshed together.

  I wasn’t sure what kind of situation I was expecting. It was no Popplio Town; it hadn’t been devastated to the point of being uninhabitable, but it had been on the news with daily landslides and earthquakes. What I saw was a picture of resistance. Cracks ran throughout the city, splitting houses and shops, cutting streets in two, and the earth seemed to be moving, like slow water. They didn’t seem to faze the people living there. Founded on mining and blacksmithing, even as Bagatelle had gone from small town to one of the five major cities in Silín (albeit, the smallest), it had never left its roots, and the people proved it. Their skin was coarse and they were invariably well-built. Even if they didn’t have a physically intensive career, the steep roads which made up the city demanded strong legs and powerful lungs to traverse daily. The barrenness of the place also gave them a rare outlook on life: they were tough and hard to offend, and while they were suspicious, or more accurately, indifferent to travellers, the bonds they did form were powerful and long-lasting. This was especially true for their own communities, so in their current hardship, they confronted it in unity with a coordination that put Durant to shame. Where the earth was split, there was people filling in the gap, where houses were destroyed, the inhabitants were being given shelter, but most impressive of all was the Wall.

  I say wall because that was what they called it, but the barricade was unlike any wall a sane person would dream of. For one, it wasn’t wholly vertical. Made to protect the city from the recent landslides, the Wall was a twisted construct of steel and rock separating Bagatelle from the upper slopes of Mount Anvil. It took whatever shape was convenient, from a rounded mass where the ground was a bit flatter, to overhanging platforms where the edge of the city was a cliff. For a structure that had been raised in the last few weeks, it was massive, like a long, twisted Orthworm sheltering the city.

  Speaking of Orthworm and Durant, they were some of the main helpers. Commonly found in the Bagatelle caves, they were frequent partners to the Bagatelle people, along with a variety of other steel, rock and some ground Pokémon. The culture of the city affected more than just the humans and protecting and mending it would have been impossible if not for all the Pokémon working just as hard or harder than the people.

  Naturally, I didn’t know much about Bagatelle or its people coming into it. In fact, it took me till my second visit and my friendship with Tanva to adequately understand the culture. Even so, as I stepped off Volcarona onto not quite steady ground, it was impossible not to be impressed by the atmosphere of resilience which exuded from every pore of the city.

  “We’ll head to the rangers’ office first,” said Elaine. “Then we’ll see about meeting up with Ducky.”

  We’d landed in Central Plaza, the single largest flat piece of land in the city which was not saying much. Climbing the dusty streets through the traders district, we were surrounded by the ringing of hammers and the gruff voices yelling over the din. The ground rumbled in a continuous heave, and stones cracked, the snaps like thunder. I cursed under my breath; as if the elevation wasn’t enough, walking on living land barely held together by rock and ground Pokémon was too exerting, even for a farm-girl.

  “We’re nearly there,” panted Elaine, more out of breath than I was.

  “How do people live here?” I groaned.

  “It’s not usually this bad,” she said. “When I was here last time, I wasn’t walking on water.”

  “Eeek, eeek,” chirped Comfey on my shoulder having a grand old time.

  We made it to our destination. More than just an office, the rangers’ office was an imposing, sandy building. In the past, it was their main headquarters of the region, and while that had been officially moved to Nocturne some decades ago, it had never lost the prestige or soft power within the association. This, according to Elaine.

  “We’ll find help here,” she said.

  “We will?” I asked, still doubtful.

  “We will. They’ve been the least affected by the cuts and down-sizing. The locals here are too suspicious to be swayed by bribery or corruption, and they value an institution that can protect them from the things found in the Rustdust Mountains.”

  “Alright, let's go in.”