[h3][color=palevioletred]Eryn Montero[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]Wet Caverns  ||  Day 3: Mid-morning[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent]
The new fork in the road took Eryn aback, and she has to take a moment of silent consideration this time, glancing between the two paths. Common sense told her to follow the river, but where was the adventure in trying to get out of the caverns so quickly. So okay, it might be smarter to err on the side of caution, but she could always lap back after. She wanted to see something, find something in these caverns, not get through scot-free and come out empty-handed. From the river route also came voices, which hinted at an exit, and Eryn figured she could always lap back and meet up with any trainers there.

[color=palevioletred]“Alright Dei, let’s go this way,”[/color] Eryn said, wading towards dry land and setting both Dei and her backpack down when she got there. Then, looking back, she leaned down and spread her hands, making random ‘come hither’ motions underwater until Tula got the message and surfaced in her hands. 

[color=palevioletred]“There you are, Tutu. Not hurt, are you?”[/color] she asked, looking the Magikarp over, gasping and cooing when she saw the damage done. 

[color=palevioletred]“Oh, Tutu, sorry I didn't notice,”[/color] she said, retrieving the Magikarp's ball. [color=palevioletred]“There there,  my trusty little scout. Take a well-deserved rest.”[/color]

Tula wriggled as she was returned, and Eri appeared a moment later, shaking his coat out. 

[color=palevioletred]“Right-o, Eri. I was thinking, as a dark-type, can you see in the dark?”[/color] Eryn asked, motioning into the dark tunnel. 

Eri frowned, peering into the darkness, then moved his head from left to right and back again, slowly. 

[color=palevioletred]“No?”[/color]

Eri repeated the motion, yipping. 

[color=palevioletred]“Alright, kinda, got it, but hey, go ahead and double me again, alright? Makes for better communication anyway,”[/color] Eryn said, shrugging. [color=palevioletred]“May as well make it easier on ourselves.”[/color]

Eri nodded, closing his eyes. His form melded into the shadows, elongating to Eryn’s height before lightening to reveal Eryn’s mirror image. 

[color=palevioletred]“Amazing. Going to take some getting used to, but hey, lookin’ good,”[/color] Eryn said, grinning. 

Her double grinned back, and Eryn suddenly wondered how long Eri had spent observing her before he was able to accurately replicate her mannerisms. She hadn’t been around the Infested Woods for too long—just a day or so, training, grinding, and exploring, and he’d gotten most all of her body language and usual ticks down, admittedly mostly by copying her one-for-one, but still. Would he learn other things just as quickly? And was he still watching her, taking note of what she was doing on a day-to-day basis?

On one part, Eryn didn’t mind this. Eri was free to watch and mimic if her if he wanted, and it’d be flattering if he did. On the other part, though, Eryn knew factually she wasn’t the best trainer yet—not even close. She still had a way to go, a whole journey’s worth of trials to face before she could call herself anything close to a role model, and for Eri to treat her as some sort of standard would be unfair to him, even if he didn’t realize it. 

That said, the matter could be addressed later, or at least when they weren’t in the middle of the Wet Caverns. For now, Eryn would focus on the cave around her and all the possibilities in the darkness around her. The caverns offered a different sort of excitement compared to the Infested Forest, where the humid darkness of the woods obscured her vision. Here, she could see as far as the light could shine, but it was a vast, empty darkness, save for a slew of Zubats overhead that had by now somewhat thinned out, nesting in the overhead crags rather than fluttering wildly. 

Eryn paused to consider bringing out Kylie as well before thinking better of it. Her two Pokemon would draw enough attention as it was, and the caverns were narrow enough as it was. Besides, having Kylie as her back-up was pretty sweet.

Eryn grinned, pointing ahead. [color=palevioletred]“Onwards we go!”[/color] 

Down the dry route they went, and soon enough Eryn found herself facing yet another split in the road, this one forking into three separate paths, two of which were wet. However, from the dry path came sounds, this time of hard objects clashing against each other. The smashing and crashing reminded Eryn of rocks hitting each other, and she grinned.

[color=palevioletred]“This way,”[/color] she said, leading the way down the rocky path. [color=palevioletred]“Let’s check out some rock- or ground-types. Get us a glimpse of the real cave Pokemon.”[/color]

As the sounds got louder and louder, Eryn peered into the darkness as Dei’s flame lit up the first round object rolling her way: a small boulder. Rolling towards her, it seemed to accelerate, prompting her to sidestep it with a surprised “oop” to allow it to crash into the cave wall behind her. Upon hitting the wall, the rock burst open, revealing… arms?

[color=palevioletred]“Oh, a Geodude!”[/color] 

Eryn’s identification, however, prompted the Pokemon to turn towards her, its eyes looking her and her double over critically. Then, withdrawing its arms, it threw itself in the direction of the louder smashes, rolling away.

Peering into the darkness, Eryn was able to make out other small, round shapes, and a much bigger rock rolling around in the makeshift rink of stone. Judging by the size, it couldn’t have been a Geodude, and she pulled out her Pokedex to confirm her suspicions: a Graveler. 

[color=palevioletred]“Well, guess this is the end of the line for us here, or is it?”[/color] she asked, eyes catching on a path in the back. While there was a brawl of sorts going on around the ramp in the room, Eryn was too caught up in the possibilities of what could lay down the path behind the Geodudes. Why had they chosen to gather here instead of somewhere else? Were there, perhaps, rarer Pokemon, or even gemstones in the back?

[color=palevioletred]“Eri, keep up, okay?”[/color] Eryn said, flashing a grin that her double mirrored. Then, making sure the Graveler was starting to roll away from the right of the room, Eryn sprinted down the right edge of the room, making for the path in the back.

[center] [/center][hr][hider=Actions][u][b][color=palevioletred]     Actions:          [/color][/b][/u]
Took the dry route and went down the rocky path. Sprinting through to get to the path in the back.[/hider]
[hider=Pokemon][u][b][color=palevioletred]     Pokemon Party:          [/color][/b][/u]
[indent][table][row][/row][row][cell][hider=Dei — Charmander][h3][color=palevioletred][sup]Dei[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/charmander.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Charmander  [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   Level 12   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   ♂   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]  Blaze   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]  100%[/sup][/sup]
[indent][sup][color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Scratch
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Growl, Smokescreen
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Ember[/sup][/indent][h3] [/h3][/hider][/cell][cell][/cell][cell][hider=Kyllene — Mawile][h3][color=palevioletred][sup]Kyllene | “Kylie”[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/mawile.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Mawile  [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   Level 12   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   ♀   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   Hyper Cutter   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]  100%[/sup][/sup]
[indent][sup][color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Astonish, Bite
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Taunt, Growl, Fake Tears
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Fairy Wind[/sup][/indent]
[h3] [/h3][/hider][/cell][cell][/cell][/row][row][cell]
[hider=Tula — Magikarp][h3][color=palevioletred][sup]Tula | “Tutu”[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/magikarp.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Magikarp  [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   Level 10   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   ♀   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]  Rattled   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] 20%[/sup][/sup]
[indent][sup][color=palevioletred]||[/color]  (Struggle)  
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Splash  
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  N/A[/sup][/indent]
[h3] [/h3][/hider][/cell][cell][/cell][cell]
[hider=Erebi — Zorua][h3][color=palevioletred][sup]Erebi | “Eri”[hr][/sup][/color][/h3][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/zorua.gif[/img][hr][sup][sup]Zorua  [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   Level 10   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]   ♂   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color]  Illusion   [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] 100%[/sup][/sup]
[indent][sup][color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Scratch, Pursuit  
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  Leer, Fake Tears  
[color=palevioletred]||[/color]  N/A
[sub] [/sub][indent][color=palevioletred]—[/color] [i]Silk Scarf[/i][/indent][/sup][/indent]
[h3] [/h3][/hider][/cell][/row][row][/row][/table][/indent][indent] [/indent][/hider]
[hider=Inventory][u][b][color=palevioletred]     Inventory:          [/color][/b][/u]
[indent]Pokédollars — 6173
[list][*]Potion — 1
[*]Pokeballs — 6
[*]Great Balls — 2
[*]Old Rod
[*]Escape Rope
[/list][/indent][h3] [/h3][/hider]
[@PlatinumSkink]