As soon as Liko suggested it, Nemona chimed in at full volume: "Yes! Exactly! If we all sleep together we can look out for each other! This place is super dangerous—what if a paradox Pokémon ambushes us at night?"
Iono glanced at Jason, then at Liko—still visibly shaken—and raised her hand in favor too. "I agree! Everyone together just… feels safer!"
Cynthia looked at the girls grasping at any excuse and gave an amused, helpless smile. Of course she knew what they were thinking. She nodded gently and agreed.
They unrolled their sleeping bags inside the biggest tent.
It was spacious enough, but once four girls and one Ditto lay down, it became quite snug and warm.
The layout happened almost on its own.
Jason, naturally, ended up in the very middle.
His soft, springy body made the perfect pillow.
Liko took his left. She lay on her side facing him, one hand lightly resting on him like he was a plush toy. With that bit of security, her breathing soon grew slow and even, and the tight little face that had been drawn taut all night finally relaxed into a small, relieved smile.
Nemona lay on his right.
At first she tried to maintain her "strong" image, deliberately turning her back to him in an "I'm not scared at all" pose. But asleep, the body is more honest than the mouth. Unconsciously she rolled over, drifting back until most of her back pressed into Jason's warmth, sleeping like a baby.
Iono slept outside Nemona, and Cynthia on Liko's far side, ringed around the three girls and Jason.
The tent filled with the even breathing of girls and a faint mingled sweetness.
Jason lay quietly in the center, awake. He could feel the heat and unreserved trust from both sides—Liko's soft breaths to the left, Nemona's steady heartbeat to the right. Liko's hand, resting on him, would occasionally give a tiny sleep-twitch, like confirming that safety was really there.
It felt… really nice.
Morning came.
Liko woke early, moving without a sound like a kitten afraid to disturb anyone. She looked at her companions sleeping soundly and smiled softly.
Jason was still molded into last night's "pillow" shape, rising and falling slightly, sleeping completely defenseless.
Nemona… was less demure. She was sprawled in a full starfish, one foot on Iono's sleeping bag, muttering dream-fight commands—"Go! Quick Attack!" and the like.
Soon Nemona snapped up into a sit, eyes hazy but body already dropping into a fighting stance. She shook her head; her dyed ponytail was a little wild, stray strands sticking up. Realizing where she was, she relaxed and let out a huge yawn. "Muaah… Slept great! Feel fully recharged!"
Her voice woke Iono. The star streamer rubbed at sleepy eyes, first reflex to grope for her Rotom phone. "What time—should I go live—my million fans must miss me soooo much…"
Jason had woken too; he chuckled. "Funny—I recall your chat is spamming 'Jason God' these days."
Iono sniffed and didn't argue.
Cynthia was already tidy, standing outside the tent gazing into the depths. The morning light frosted her black coat's edges with silver; her golden hair stirred in the underground breeze. That calm, that strength—you felt safe just looking.
After a simple breakfast they packed up and pushed deeper into Area Zero.
This time, the formation shifted.
The newly-joined Iron Valiant took point.
Of everyone present, it knew Area Zero best—so it naturally became pathfinder.
With a powerhouse paradox Pokémon opening the way, the road ahead was shockingly smooth.
No wilds came to pester them; even those occasional eerie hoofbeats vanished. Whatever lurked in the rock-shadows felt the strength rolling off Valiant and chose to back away.
"Wow, Iron Valiant's amazing! Best bodyguard ever!" Nemona walked behind it, eyes glittering, shadowboxing as if imagining fighting side by side.
Liko cradled Jason quietly in the middle. The crystal and rock formations were strange and unsettling, but with Valiant reliable ahead and trusted companions around her, that unease faded.
Jason nestled in Liko's warm arms, lulled by the girl's soft hold and even breaths—lazy enough to drift off again.
Half dozing, he kept idly observing. After a while, something seemed familiar: a sword-like crystal thrust into the ground at the left; the yawning, coldly-breathing chasm ahead right…
He'd seen this before.
A bit further on he was sure.
"Huh?"
The tiny sound and his shift in Liko's arms triggered a chain reaction.
"Jason—what's wrong? Is there danger?" Liko immediately looked down, worry plain, hugging him tighter.
Nemona's excitement vanished into vigilance. She froze, scanning shadows, hand on a Poké Ball.
Iono snapped her phone shut and palmed a ball, knees bent, ready.
Even Cynthia halted, turning back with a puzzled look. To her senses, nothing was off—energy flows were steady. Why that reaction from Jason?
Seeing the team snap to combat readiness, Jason blinked—and burst out laughing, his jelly body jiggling. "Hey—no danger. Why're you all so jumpy?"
Nemona rolled her eyes, relaxing. "You startled us! In this creepy place a mon could pop out of a crack anytime."
Jason adjusted himself, snuggled deeper into Liko's softness, and said, a little wistful, "No, just… coming back here stirred memories."
"You've been here before?" Liko blinked, then glanced around as if picking out what was special.
Jason let his body rise and fall in a nod. "Yeah. Last time I ran for my life. Didn't think I'd be back so soon—and this time I'm a whole different level, with solid teammates too."
Others heard different things.
"There's something that made you run?" Cynthia sounded genuinely intrigued, striding closer, gold hair arcing elegantly. "I want to see it. Anyone who could force that… won't be ordinary."
Champion that she was, strong opponents drew her like a lodestone.
Iono's eyes sparked with gossip. "No way! You're this strong and still have counters? Spill—what's it look like? Hideous? Super scary?"
Jason gave a helpless smile and didn't answer.
Memory rose from not-long-ago dust. He'd just arrived in this world, a plain Ditto with nothing but Transform, no real combat strength. And then he met that nightmare.
Roaring Moon.
Bigger than Salamence, dark-blue shell plates, blood-red eyes burning with primal savagery. Crescent wings that could rip the air into shreds with a beat. He'd never forget the terror as it fixed on him—so crushing he couldn't even think of transforming to resist; all he could do was run. By luck he'd hidden among a cluster of Glimmora and slipped away ragged and shaking.
That day branded Area Zero's danger into him—and became one of his reasons to grow strong.
"ROAR!"
A familiar, violent bellow tore up from just ahead, somewhere below the rift—the sound like a hammer smashing into their hearts. Crystals overhead shivered dust loose.
Jason's nerves jolted; his body locked.
A bad, bad feeling surged.
No way…
Back to the scene and meeting the same "acquaintance"?
The sound knifed alertness back into everyone—and this time far higher. Valiant halted, turned, planted itself between them and the rift, twin blades blazing. Garchomp and Lucario popped free, flanking the group, all three staring into the dark with hard eyes.
"Jason, what's wrong? Why are you shaking so much?" Liko's voice wobbled—she felt his body in her arms vibrating at a frightening frequency.
Everyone swung their looks to him.
Valiant's electronic eyes flickered in puzzlement. Just a roar, and he was trembling this hard? A sliver of doubt threaded through its core—had it chosen the right master? Could someone this… skittish really show it the wide world?
Haunter floated over, circling twice, perplexed. It knew its own scared shivers. Jason's tremor was… different.
Under concern, doubt, even suspicion, Jason's voice came—with an audible tremor:
"It's it! That's it! Roaring Moon—the one that made me flee Area Zero—it's here!"
Everyone froze.
So it really was that perfect storm: same place, same beast.
Emotion upended at once.
Liko clutched Jason tighter, trying to pour safety into him, turning her back to the voice as if her not-strong frame could be a shield.
Iono and Nemona slid to either side of her, practically pressing in.
"Don't worry, Jason! With us here, we'll protect you!" Nemona's eyes were iron and sure, thumping her Jasonst.
"Yep, yep!" Iono bobbed. "We won't let that bad thing hurt you again!"
Cynthia's answer was more direct.
She stepped to Liko's side, and her usual mild aura went cold. She set a hand on Jason and spoke low and definite:
"Watch me, Jason. I'll go teach that Roaring Moon a lesson. It needs to learn this: my friends aren't to be pushed around."
There was anger in the champion's voice. Garchomp and Valiant felt it, like frost on steel.
In an instant the team's mood hardened—righteous and protective—hostile to an enemy not yet seen because once it had made Jason run.
And in that tight-wound moment, the "victim" at the center finally moved.
Jason slowly lifted his head from Liko's chest. A puzzled expression spread across his face as he looked at the fierce, battle-ready companions ringed around him.
"Uh… I'm not scared. What're you all doing?"
He paused, feeling that uncontrollable shiver still racing through him, and added:
"I'm trembling because I'm excited. I'm shaking from thrill."
~~~
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