Jack (POV Shift)

You take one look back watching as Amber strips in front of . . . what was his name again? You can’t remember his name. You’ll just have to continue referring to him as Dickhead. How could Amber not tell you about Dickhead? You turn away running into the pokecenter and up to your room. You quickly go about brushing your teeth trying to wash away the taste of Dickhead’s precum. You look at yourself in the mirror, your clothes barely held together. You throw them away not even attempting to save them, putting on a new outfit. You slide a pair of tight fitting pants on, alongside a loose flowing top. Your hand rubs over your head. You feel the stubble of your hair growing back.

You pass through the lobby. A crowd is gathered in the corner, you decide to leave it alone. Men cheering in a group is rarely a good thing for a young female trainer. You sneak out making your way to the opening of Mt. Moon. You look around the cavern, you see another group of people. The crowd is much smaller, most of the people must be inside the pokecenter with whatever is going on in there. “Mt. Moon is currently closed on official Team Rocket business,” a man dressed in black calls out from behind a line of men blocking the path. A couple trainers turn away from the line giving up on making it through today. You watch as one trainer challenges the line of men.

You’re not stupid enough to try and beat ALL of the men, it would just end with your body being used by most of them. And avoiding male attention is usually your main goal. You find a secluded corner to do some training in. If you can’t make it through the mountain today you might as well get some training done.

You spend the morning battling wild Geodude and Zubat. Occasionally a trainer stumbles on your training grounds. After beating them you switch spots so they don’t come back with friends to challenge you again. When you stop for lunch, you notice a strange glowing crack in the wall. The purple light flickers, it reminds you of fire. You stand up looking into the crack, it is fire, you see a small purple flame on the other side. You stand back calling Cubone out of her ball. “Use rock tomb on the wall.” Cubone sends a barrage of rocks at the crack. The wall crumbles leaving a gap for you to climb through.

As you approach the blue-purple flame sitting in the tunnel, it extinguishes itself casting the tunnel into complete darkness. Suddenly the fire reappears further down the tunnel once again lighting your way. When you close in again it repeats its disappearing act once again.

You follow the flame as it makes its way through the dark tunnel. Time evades you as you become consumed with the idea of catching the flame. It calls out to you. Your own fire and drive burns hotter with each disappearance, eventually you’re running through the tunnel ready to finally catch your elusive prey.

As you’re sprinting through the tunnel, you trip over a rock. You fall to the ground scraping your arm against the ground. You stop rubbing the injury. You stare at the flame. What are you doing? Chasing a spectral flame through a dark tunnel. You look back over your shoulder at the dark expanse behind you.

Your hand runs over your head, you feel . . . wait, you feel your hair? It’s not just stubble any more? How long have you been following this flame? No, it can’t be that long you’d have gone hungry before your hair could get this long. You take your phone out to use it as a mirror. The front camera showing your red hair hanging down to your jaw line, the ends running jagged where it had grown out.

What is going on? Should you keep following the flame through the tunnel? Should you turn back and risk the darkness behind you?