She awoke steadily. Her eyes didn’t need to adjust to the darkness of the cavern. She was one with the darkness. That didn’t mean she moved recklessly, however. With her eggs, she would need to—

She stopped as the memories rose unbidden.

That was right; her eggs were gone. Destroyed by some man-made device that had appeared within her nest. The cave itself had been broken. Her eggs—the small, delicate things that she had struggled to nurture—had split.

She shut her eyes and tried to push away the pain. If she could only deny that it had happened. Without knowing it, she opened her mouth and let out a painful croon.

She’d had things so well set up this time. It wasn’t going to be like the other times when only one egg hatched from a clutch. She’d gotten clean, fine sand to surround the nest while blocking the entrance enough that the wind couldn’t come through like it had in the early days of her claiming her old home.

If she’d still had… No.

She couldn’t think of the past. It was too painful.

She instead opened her eyes and tried to summon the energy to get up.

…

…

…

She slumped down onto the cave floor, and dust bloomed from her body as it thumped down.

Empress sighed heavily.

It was so hard these days to care. Even then, she felt drained despite having just woken up. She felt like she didn’t have any energy.

And why should she get up? What was there for her to look forward to?

The world was a cruel place.

She’d had so much hope for it as of late. With her child’s trainer delivering that warm rock, things had been downright easy! All she had to do was nudge her eggs or run a claw around in the sand to keep the heat even. Not at all like her previous attempts, where she’d had to nearly lay atop the eggs to keep them warm.

So often, that ended in accidents happening.

Empress opened her eyes and looked at the ground where she’d shifted. Clawmarks all along the floor and gouges from where her spikes or her tail had dug into the ground, met her gaze.

Power. She’d chased it for so long, thinking it would project what she wanted, only for that same strength to be the thing stopping her from easily raising a full clutch of eggs.

A scrapping noise had her lifting her gaze from the floor and toward the entrance of the cavern.

Her son appeared and paused, sniffing the air as his eyes swept over her form.

“Mother,” he rumbled in greeting. “Would you like to come outside? It isn’t good for you to remain cooped up down here.”

Empress eyed her son. If this had been another pokemon, such as Bertha, she might have mustered the energy to growl at being approached so casually.

Then again, Bertha was strong enough to not be scared off by a mere growl.

Her son didn’t warrant such behaviour. He had always been a dutiful boy… and a surprise. A very welcome one with how his egg, despite being stolen from an earlier clutch, had managed to hatch. More than that, his scent had a strength to it.

From what she’d thought to be her smallest egg, to the strongest child she’d seen from any of her clutches to date. The world was, as she had learned many times throughout her long life, a strange, cruel place.

“Mother,” Titan said, stepping in and leaning down to nuzzle at her. “Terra is going to fight Cranidos.”

Despite herself, she couldn’t stop the whuff of amusement. Two baby pokemon brawling. They were ridiculous in how harmless they were with their pitiful strength. To see them trying so hard, though… It made her lift her body to get her hands underneath herself before heaving upwards.

“Very well, I shall come,” she said, standing tall.

Titan looked up at her and nodded before moving ahead. Empress watched her son stalk the caverns of his trainer without fear. A surety in his step despite the small markings that showed he still wasn’t fully healed. They walked past the lagoon cavern, which contained a fresh spring along with a group of pokemon that were deemed ‘ancient’ despite most of them being babies in truth.

Atop the highest point, Don, the Aerodactyl, screeched at them.“Don’t even try coming in here! This is my cave! Mine!”

Titan gave him a dismissive huff. “Settle down, Don.” He shook his head and moved on as Don shuffled back and forth. From the lagoon, Shin and Shelly waved at Titan and herself.

“Yeah, you keep walking!” screeched Don.

Empress stopped and turned, her eyes locking on the whiny gnat. She rumbled out a growl that shook the entire cavern. Don’s eyes widened as he seemed to realise he’d made a mistake.

Then, instead of backing down, he gave a savage grin. “Oh! Got some fight!? Good! I’ll fight you!”

Empress narrowed her eyes and considered smacking him around, only for Titan to step back and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Ignore him, mother; he’s always like this. He talks big, but he needs to learn control.” Titan locked eyes with Don. “I shouldn’t need to remind you that of all of us, you were the worst off from facing Moltres. You need to shut your mouth and open your mind more going forward.”

Don’s jaw clicked shut, and he glowered at Titan, but nothing else was said. Titan nodded while Shin and Shelly emerged from the lagoon, having vanished when Empress growled. They still eyed her warily.

Titan waved her on, and they marched up past the crackling electrified cave that housed the strange geodude line. A large golem rolled out of the cavern.

“Top of the morning to you! I’m off to train! Let’s do our best this morning, eh Titan!?” the rolling Golem called back at them.

“Indeed Sanchez,” Titan said to his teammate. When Sanchez was far enough away, Titan glanced at her. “You might need to apologise for scaring Shin and Shelly like that,” he said.

Empress sniffed. “I will not apologise. They had good instincts to avoid a fight.” She smirked. “Not that it would have been a fight. I would have smacked down that overgrown pidgey with a single hit.”

Titan chuffed. “Don is a braggart, but I don’t think you’d take him out that easily,” he said. When Empress merely laughed at her son’s caution, he eyed her. “Well, at the very least, watch out if he uses Hyper Beam on you; he is very proficient at—”

Titan stopped talking when Empress merely laughed louder. “What is so funny about that?” he asked when she regathered herself. Empress merely shook her head and waved his words away. Truly, being warned of another pokemon’s Hyper Beam?

Ah, her son! So young! She thought to herself as she emerged from the caverns.

“Mother!” shouted Terra. Empress raised her head only to find that Terra was in the middle of a ‘fight’ with her friend the Cranidos.

Cranidos didn’t hesitate to leap forward at his foe’s distraction and knock Terra onto her backside. He then whacked her again causing Terra to fall onto her back with a small ‘woof’ of air escaping her.

Cranidos stood tall and raised his tiny arms up. “Ha! I am the greatest! I have defeated you!”

Terra shook her head and stood up. “That wasn’t fair! I was distracted!” she said.

Empress chuffed. “Never grow distracted during a fight daughter. Cranidos defeated you because of this.”

“No! No, I won because I’m awesome!” shouted the Cranidos. When Empress leveled her gaze upon the baby pokemon, the runt quivered but held her gaze.

“That is still to be seen,” Empress said before waving a claw. “Again, daughter,” she said as the human girl who cared for Terra cheered. Terra straightened and widened her stance, keeping her body low.

“That’s it! Just like we practised!” said Yolanda. Empress inspected the human girl as she fervently watched Terra dodge, duck, and weave. She was doing well, but she was thinking like a human, all hands and legs. She still overpowered the Cranidos, much to the loud denials of the Cranidos, but it was scrappy.

Empress crossed her arms and huffed. Titan shot her a look. “Something the matter?”

“She’s forgetting to use her crest. She is grappling and fighting with her hands.”

Titan scratched at his chin. “Hmmm good point; you should tell her,” he said.

“Terra!” Empress said, causing her daughter to snap her head away from Yolanda and to her.

“Yes Mother? Did you see? I won! I’ve been working hard!” said the little Larvitar enthusiastically.

Empress snorted. “You dragged it out longer than you needed to. Neck time, use your crest, it isn’t a weak point, so swat that charging fool aside and take him from the side!” she growled.

Terra tilted her head, her hands reaching up to tap at the base of her crest. She toyed with it while scrunching up her face in thought. It took a few moments, but eventually, her eyes widened. “Ohhhh! I think I see what you mean!” She turned her head and said, “Mummy Yolanda! Mother wants me to smack Cranidos around with my crest!”

This time it was the human girl’s face that scrunched up. Her gaze drifted up to Empress, who met her gaze. She was pleased that the girl didn’t flinch or turn away.

“Use your crest?” Yolanda said.

Terra nodded, and Yolanda tilted her head. “I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose it’s going to be a strong point for you as well. Alright, give it a go!”

A boom and a shake of the earth caused the group to pause and look up. On the other side of their tiny arena, Titan was demonstrating how to roll and get back into a crouched position for Cranidos.

“And then you can launch another attack,” Titan said.

Empress growled at the sight. “Son! What are you doing teaching Terra’s foe how to be stronger!? She is to beat him! Are you not going to support your sister!?” she snapped.

“Mother it’s not like that!” said Terra plaintively as the human girl flicked her gaze between Titan and Empress.

Titan stood and dusted himself off without a care, rankling Empress with his nonchalance. “It is not a matter of only one of them needing to grow stronger. Cranidos is part of the team… or pack if you will.”

Empress snorted at that but turned her head away. She kept an eye on the next fight, however, and this time when Terra locked gazes with Cranidos, she did so with her previous low stance and her head lowered while looking up. Empress approved the correction.

This time Cranidos charged, and Terra met him with her crest. She fumbled the knock away, but the smaller pokemon was still deflected off to the side, where he stumbled. Before Terra could pounce on him, he rolled until his feet were underneath him again. From there, he sprang back up and lined himself up on Terra.

“Good adjustments, both of you!” Titan praised.

Empress sniffed but nodded. Terra kept her eyes forward, and while she won the match, she still had to work for it. Both Terra and Cranidos were exhausted after that, and Yolanda scooped them both up. “Come on you two, let’s get you breakfast!” she said.

Titan smiled and waved them off before gesturing for Empress to follow as he walked. As they did so, they encountered a variety of different pokemon.

She found the large Rhyperior, Bertha, holding out a hand for a tiny Clefairy to Pound away at. At their side, a Geodude demonstrated how to throw punches while a Teddiursa watched on. When it noticed them, it made to follow.

“Teddiursa! Pay attention to this next sequence, as there are some moves Izumi can teach that will be perfect for you beyond just technique!” said Bertha.

“Ah! Sorry!” said the Teddiursa as it snapped its attention back to Bertha.

Titan nodded at Bertha. “Make sure to give them rest breaks!” he called over his shoulder before they moved on to watch a Steelix clash against a rather agitated Poliwrath.

Before the Poliwrath could knock the Steelix unconscious, Titan barked a warning. “Hypno! That’s enough! You’re not fighting to improve; you’re just looking for a punching bag!”

The Poliwrath slumped and bowed to Titan and then the Steelix. “He is correct! I apologise Jormungandr.”

Jormungandr shook itself out. “I do not mind hard training Hypnotoad, but if it is the same to you, I shall rest for a while.” Steelix moved off and lay down in the morning sun while Hypnotoad sighed.

Titan put a hand on Hypnotoad’s shoulder. “I can tell you are frustrated, but remember that control is key,” Titan said. Hypnotoad bowed again, and Titan gestured to the pond. “I would suggest doing some energy work; no one will mind if you destroy some earth with a few Hydro Pumps.” This seemed to cheer up the Poliwrath as it darted away to do that.

Titan continued to walk slowly around the others. Here and there he would pause to offer commentary, or suggestions to the pokemon. Empress walked with him and was surprised when Titan didn’t stop with just the pokemon that she knew belonged to the Elite section.

When he was done, Titan moved back to the area where the other Elite’s were assembled.

“I feel like you have been trying to teach me something,” Empress voiced before he moved to join his fellow Elite, as they were known. She shook her head. “What was it?”

Titan blinked. “Oh? You picked up on that?” He nodded thoughtfully. “I wanted to show you that the pokemon around this reserve?” he gestured in a wide arc. “They are all part of the team… or pack if you would. It is not a matter of limiting growth to only a few but of helping all. We all find a different way to achieve this,” Titan said.

He nodded to the side, and Empress was surprised to find Knight walking towards his fellow Elites with Aron all over him. The smaller pokemon bit and growled playfully, but, without any noticeable effort, Knight avoided stepping on them or brushing them off without hurting them.

Knight smiled at them as only an idiot could, clueless as to how harsh the world was. “Hi Titan and Titan’s Mum!” he crowed, causing the other nearby Elite pokemon to laugh.

Knight brushed off the rest of the Aron and shooed them away before joining his fellows.

Empress blinked and realised she’d been watching Knight so much she hadn’t noticed her son observing her. “What?!” she snapped.

“Nothing,” Titan said, glancing to the side. “I should be going; Brock has woken up and will want to address yesterday’s match.”

Empress snorted. She wasn’t sure what to think of seeing a human fight with all the pokemon matching up against each other. It had been controlled, and orderly. Not at all like the chaos of two wild pokemon fighting for territory or food.

But that hadn’t meant the pokemon hadn’t been strong. She wasn’t sure about some of what had occurred, but she had heard the other pokemon and humans observing the match to understand that Brock’s opponent had done something bad, and still the Elite Pokemon of Brock’s team had rallied.

“Tribe,” Empress said to Titan’s back.

Titan paused and looked back at her. “Excuse me?” he asked.

Empress snorted and turned her head away. “It’s not pack you’re thinking of, but tribe. You are working to make the tribe stronger,” she said.

Titan nodded slowly and turned away, shooting her thoughtful glances as he joined his friends.

Empress remained where she was. Just far enough away to make it clear she wasn’t part of their group but close enough to observe them bickering and playing with each other. She huffed and remembered a different group of pokemon. She remembered a time with a young girl…

“Oh, hey there, Empress, morning,” said a voice, disrupting her memory of a time, long, long past now.

She looked down to find Brock looking up at her without a hint of fear. He met his gaze and felt the memories of that girl stirring up again. There was so much concern in those eyes…

She flicked her eyes down, noting the Oran berry. A memory rose about how the girl had liked to tease her.

She nodded and smirked before reaching out and swiping the fruit Brock had in his hands before popping it into her mouth.

Brock gaped at her before snorting in amusement.

Then he reached out and stroked her on the snout.

Empress didn’t freeze, she wasn’t weak enough to react so poorly to a surprise.

Said surprises usually presented themselves as Ursaring charging her while she drank from the water’s edge rather than something… nice. Something… familiar.

“Good to see you’re feeling better, Empress,” Brock said as he walked off.

Empress watched him go, confused about what had just happened. She touched her nose and rubbed at it. She hadn’t been touched like that in…

“Hey Gang!” said Brock as he announced himself to his pokemon team.

Empress straightened and pretended nothing was amiss. She did step back into the boulders, however, to watch and listen as Brock spoke with his team. He spoke of their match and his dissatisfaction. He spoke of lots of things, but it wasn’t the words that caught Empress’ attention but it was how he said them.

Every pokemon within earshot clung to them, and slowly they became more motivated to grow stronger. Brock gave them a direction, and they responded.

Empress tilted her head. It was like watching a tribe’s chief talk. They would show the way and either lead the tribe to plenty, or to ruin.

A small noise near the end of Brock’s speech alerted Empress she wasn’t the only one listening in. She turned her head and found Yolanda with Terra, but also another man. One that made Empress straighten. Here was a man that was a chief of chiefs.

She could smell the power on him.

He glanced in her direction and merely nodded at her, as one would to an equal. Then his eyes flickered upward, and he blinked in surprise.

Empress snapped her head up only to find nothing there but a shimmer. A trick of the light?

She shook it off and looked down, only to find the man gone and Brock finished with his talk. The various pokemon of the Elite team were breaking off to work on various drills. Titan urged them on while Brock indicated a few tasks for some pokemon such as Teddiursa to work on.

Before long, Brock reached into a pack and began laying out trays with food heaped up onto them. Empress watched as the Elite team moved around the small rocks with flat tops. When they received their food, they bowed in thanks. When every pokemon at their table had some food in front of them, they began to eat.

Titan waved to Empress and indicated to a plate at his and Bertha’s side. Bertha shot her a smirk, and Empress decided she wasn’t going to back down. She joined them for their meal, and it was a meal, if a strange one. She didn’t need to hunt as of late, but this was different from merely collecting her food. It was more organised.

More human. She blinked when she realised that the various groups of pokemon were all talking about how to get stronger or what they needed to watch out for. The youngest of the groups remained quiet as they listened to their older, wiser pokemon amoung them.

Empress found herself interested, again, despite herself. This wasn’t just a meal, but a meeting and sharing of strength. How novel.

When she had finished her meal, one conversation caught her attention. That of the large Lapras, Tide, and Don.

“—need guarantee it hits and knocks them out or else they knock you out. It usually isn’t so bad if you do cause you get the time to recover with a big hit.”

“Perhaps we couldn't use as much energy, though?” said Tide.

“Stronger is better!” Don screeched.

Empress snorted at their antics, causing both pokemon to glance at her. Tide nodded in respect, while Don bristled. “Got something to say?! Huh?! Huh!?”

Empress gave both pokemon a critical look. The Lapras was big, but did he have the energy? She doubted it.

“It’s hilarious that you think you can talk of Hyper Beams when I doubt yours is very good.”

Both pokemon stiffened at that. Tide glowered. “Care to back that up?”

Empress lifted her chin. “I would.”

“Oh! It’s a Beam off!” shouted Sanchez the golem. He was quickly joined by Bertha and Knight.

The other pokemon showed some interest, and soon Empress, Tide, and Don were lined up facing out towards a series of rocks and earth that were being stacked up to assemble a series of walls.

Bertha jogged back with Knight, only Bertha was caked in mud, making it look like Knight had done no work. Empress eyed the Aggron, was it lazy?

Bertha flopped onto the ground, and Empress realised that her assessment was faulty. Knight wasn’t lazy. Bertha just enjoyed caking herself in mud.

Titan coughed and gestured at the assembled rocks and walls. “As usual we have set up the field with ten walls and cleared away any pokemon. Each of you will unleash a Hyper Beam with the strongest pokemon being evaluated based on the amount of walls knocked over.”

Empress nodded; it was a simple solution that should work to prove who was the strongest.

Don puffed himself up. “I’ll go first!” he shouted inhaling and then calling forth the small orb. When he unleashed it, he did so with much more power than Empress had been expecting.

She glanced at the walls and noted that four walls had been blasted through which earned him a smattering of applause from the crowd of pokemon.

Don snapped his head towards the lazing Bertha. “Did you make my walls thicker!? I managed eight the last time we did this!” he growled.

Bertha glanced at him. “Yeah, of course I did, we’re getting stronger than last time. I made each wall a finger wider,” she said, raising up one of her positively thick fingers to demonstrate the width.

Don relaxed at that and then snorted at Tide. “Your turn!”

Tide snorted and shot Empress a look. “Ladies first?”

Empress snorted. “I’m no lady; I kill my meals most of the time!” she said proudly. She flicked her claws dismissively to indicate he should get on with it.

Tide merely nodded and turned his attention to the walls. He too, inhaled and then launched a large blast. He seemed to channel his Hyper Beam longer, however, and when the beam dropped away, it revealed the smoking remains of the walls.

“Six walls!” cheered Sanchez. This drew a louder cheer, and a few pokemon even booed Don causing the pokemon to snap his fangs in agitation.

“We’re going to have a rematch!” Don snarled.

Empress snorted. “No need,” she said, and then, without a hint of buildup or breathing tricks, she unleashed the flow of energy. A Hyper Beam was unleashed instantly, and this blast rocked the field they were all standing on.

Empress held the energy blast for a full five seconds before letting go. She heaved in large lungfuls of air, and slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the damage.

Unlike with Don's or Tide’s walls, a circular hole was not bored through, but rather each wall was destroyed totally.

Sanchez rolled out and made a show of counting. He held up three fingers on both sides, and his moustache pointed up at the tips. “Eight walls!”

“E-eight walls!” cried Don in surprise.

Tide likewise gaped. “How did you do it without any buildup?”

Empress snorted. “Skill,” she said, eying the last two walls of the ten that had been assembled.

She shot Bertha a look, but Bertha met her gaze without a hint of shame. “They’re all the same width,” Bertha said, eying the walls. “Impressive you got to the last wall,” she said.

Empress hummed and turned her attention back to Don and Tide. Tide bowed his head. “Can you teach us?”

Don growled. “Fuck that! Rematch! I had the sun in my eyes!”

Empress snorted before smirking. “Very well, if you boys want to play that game. I shall indulge you.” She found herself smiling as Bertha rose with a huff to rebuild the walls they’d use.

Despite herself, Empress was rather enjoying her time at Titan’s home.

When they were done and it was obvious that she was the strongest pokemon around, she stalked around the plateau to join the Elite team with a meal before going to sleep. She noted that once more it was set up on the raised rocks where the various pokemon could talk and eat together.

Clefairy eyed the plates. “How come Brock sets us up to eat like this while the others eat in feed troughs or separate bowls?”

Titan paused while talking about how to angle an uppercut. “Ah, that is due to Brock wanting to treat us like equals. He makes sure we don’t eat off the ground.”

Empress hummed. What a strange human.

“Does that mean we’re better than the others?” said Teddiursa, who was trying to eat his large plate of food but had to keep being pulled back from falling into it with how tired the little pokemon was.

Titan shook his head. “You don’t know this, but it is actually a choice that each pokemon is given for the pokemon that work for the gym. They are often asked again every few months in case they have different desires.”

Teddiursa. “But I wasn’t asked?”

Titan nodded. “But you wish to grow strong, yes? Eating with us and talking, listening to how matches played out for us, and asking questions are all part of Brock’s method of making you stronger!”

Teddiursa blinked sleepily and turned back to his food. “Good, I want to be strong, as strong as I can be,” said the little pokemon.

Clefairy nodded quickly. “Yeah! Me too! Like you, Bertha, and Izumi, and Jorm! And Titan!” He then turned his beady eyes to Empress. “And you too, Titan’s Mum! You’re really strong!”

The others laughed at her being addressed as ‘Titan’s mum’ once again for some reason, but Empress decided to ignore them. She instead stared at her empty plate.

Empty… like her nest.

“Strength isn’t everything,” she said, instantly shutting down the good mood of the other pokemon.

She stood and marched away. Titan made to follow her only for her to raise a claw and signal him not to follow. She stalked down into the caverns and into the cave she’d been given.

Her empty, cold cave. She allowed herself to fall to the ground and caused a small quake that shook the cave with her careless actions. She couldn’t find it in herself to care, even if the cavern caved in. Part of her might even welcome it.

She languished in her dark thoughts until she heard a small set of feet scraping against the ground. She opened an eye to find Teddiursa sniffing and tapping his way forward. When he reached the edge of her cavern, his nose worked quickly.

He lingered there, unsure, for a long while. Eventually, Empress grew tired of waiting and huffed, “What do you want little pokemon?”

“I… I’m sorry for your loss,” Teddiursa said. Empress hissed and was about to reprimand the little pokemon only for what he said next to floor her. “I lost my mother when Moltres flew… so I know what it’s like to be sad… You weren’t strong enough for your children, just like I wasn’t strong enough to help my mother…”

Empress huffed. “Most of my eggs don’t make it due to me being too strong… you would do well to learn strength, but don’t try holding things too delicate close to you if strength is what matters to you now.”

Teddiursa shifted. “Couldn’t I just learn control and strength? Titan and Bertha can play with me and Clefairy and the other small pokemon without hurting us?”

“... perhaps,” Empress said with a huff.

Teddiursa tilted his head. “Couldn’t you as well?”

Empress didn’t reply to that and instead huffed. “You should go to bed; I saw you almost falling asleep before.”

Teddiursa nodded, only to shiver. “You’re right, it is cold down here in the caverns.” Teddiursa turned and sniffed at the floor. He left, and Empress lay her head back down, her body at rest, as her mind furiously tore over the idea of working with the other pokemon to learn control.

It… wasn’t unappealing.

A light snuffling made her open an eye to find Teddiursa sniffing his way back to her cave. “Are you lost?” she rumbled.

Teddiursa paused and lifted his head. “Uhmmmm yes?” he said as though unsure. Before yawning and shuddering again. “Brr, it’s cold.”

Empress considered escorting him out, but she didn’t have enough energy for that. Still, he couldn’t continue wandering around the caves.

She rolled slightly. “You may sleep with me tonight,” she said.

Teddiursa quickly scamped up next to her, curling into a tight ball. “Thanks, Titan’s mum!” he said.

She huffed and allowed herself to carefully curl around him. “Good night little one.”