The group of five eeveelutions trekked away from the city, heading for the forest.
The sun was bright, and the sky was clear blue. Rivulet took it all in. She'd already went through so much the other day. She sighed. "Where are we going?"
Ember lead the way. "I saw a mark on the map, on a place called the Ruins."
Keith looked at Ember. "How would you know? We lost the map. And failed to get the other. That reminds me, why didn't we get the other map?"
"They're already both gone, mate. Might as well make do with what we have," Ember said. "And in my memory, we need to get to the Ruins."
Rivulet stuck her tongue out. "Yeah, Keith. Make do."
"That's something Rivulet's better than you at," Camille added.
Keith kept walking. "Who are you to talk? I rescued you."
Camille closed her mouth, and backed away to Rivulet, who looked at her, frowning slightly. Then she turned to Keith, but never spoke. The shadows of the trees made him almost invisible.
They continued the walk silently for the rest of the way. The sound of leaves crunched under their pawsteps.
After a while, Ember stopped. The rest did the same. "Alright, we've been walking straight for a while, let's go, uhhh..." He looked right. "This way."
"Quit thinking with your gut and use logic," Keith hissed. "Unless you want us to get lost."
"Believing is the only way to make it true, eh," Ember replied calmly. Then he started walking. Keith bit his lips, but said nothing, and followed, the others close behind.
Cruz drank another bottle. "Okay. Cool."
"Cool what?" Rivulet asked.
Cruz looked offended, and jerked backwards, shocked. "RUDE MUCH!"
She gave him a confused look, but just decided to ignore him. Camille lifted her head confidently beside her.
Keith looked around. "I guess it's safe to assume we're going the right way?"
"Yes," Ember replied. "I'm not stupid." He continued, a focused look on his face. Eventually, he stopped again. "I believe we're close."
Keith stared in disbelief. "And how do you know?"
"Shh. I can hear something," Ember said.
They all went quiet.
"Clover, modernity class," a voice said in the distance.
"Yeah, I'm coming!" another voice replied. Slowly, they heard footsteps, walking away.
Keith gestured to the voices. Ember nodded. Silently, they all crept forward.
The voices continued speaking. "Honeydew. We've been at, like, Ruins, for like, uh, who knows, how, how long, we'll be here and stuff."
There was a long pause. Then they spoke again. "Hey, it's fine. We come and go whenever we want. You don't always have to stay. But I'd be alone without you!"
The other one giggled. "I know."
Keith suddenly stood and sped up. Rivulet narrowed her eyes and followed quickly. "What are you doing??" she hissed.
Keith bent down, pulling her with him. "Shh." Then he pulled over to a bush with her. She peeked out. There was a leafeon and a liepard, walking together somewhere.
The leafeon started speaking. "You know. Cities are a place, I'd, err, love to, to visit."
"You don't have to say that again," the liepard replied. She nudged her shoulder.
The leafeon looked worried. "Oh, oh my gosh sorry, I keep repeating stuff-"
"I wasn't being serious!" The liepard rolled her eyes playfully. "Relax, Clover."
"O-Sorry."
Keith exchanged a glance with Rivulet. The others caught up with them as they did.
"Are you brain dead??" Ember whispered. "Mate, we could've been caught!"
"I believed that I wouldn't," Keith said simply.
Ember paused. "Hold on. I can hear more voices."
"What the FUCK were-"
"Cruz, shut up!" Rivulet scowled.
"Relax baby girllll."
Ember facepalmed.
"Wait, no, Ember's right," Keith said. He peeked out the bush. Clover and Honeydew were gone. "Come on, let's head out."
The five of them slowly creeped out, and walked towards the chatter. As they did, the terrain started to get less smooth. Tree's roots were sprouting out of the ground, huge hills came out of nowhere, and they could spot a pillar atop one.
The sunshine filtered through the leaves. Rivulet narrowed her eyes, her pupils going into slits. "The light is so strong here! And it's being covered by the trees!"
"And the shade is terrifyingly cold," Keith added. "This place is weird."
"This place is called the Ruins, so I'd have expected it to be magical. No?" Ember said.
Keith bit his lips again. "Fair point."
Camille wandered up the hill to the pillar. Rivulet gazed up at her. "Anything?"
But Camille didn't reply. Instead, she stood there, unmoving.
A tingly feeling rode Rivulet's back. Slowly, she walked up. "Camille..?" Still no reply. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked up.
"Rivulet..." Camille breathed.
"Yeah?"
"Look."
She opened her eyes. Upon her was the Ruins--but under no circumstances what she expected. Instead, it looked more like a school. Pokemon were walking around, chatting. Some were sitting in rows, listening to a more elderly pokemon in the front talk. It was, amazing. She gasped. "Wow."
