>>53799918The moment Winston stepped foot in Chargestone Cave, tragedy after tragedy befell the team.
First, he entered the cave with four members- and he left it with two. Kapi's departure hit the hardest, but it was followed by a string of other deaths that hurt only a little less badly.
Second, once Winston left, everything rained. Endlessly. It rained when he tried getting to the Pokemon Center, it rained as he was traversing the precarious poles some sadist had decided to call sufficient for a "bridge" over the dangerous tall grass, it rained while he fell in that grass and it rained as he climbed a tall tower to bury the newly-departed.
And while Winston stood there, staring at the new graves he'd made for his few new team members, soaked in the pouring rain and just barely grazed by a bolt of lightning, the trainer could only think one thing.
"I'm done."
He turned to his Deino-turned-Zweilous. He watched her two heads growl and fight, seemingly not aware that he was even there. He looked to his immobile Cloyster, as dumb as it ever was, and he turned back to his fallen members.
What was even the point?
Why was he doing this?
Where was it getting him?
...
Well, it was getting him away from his family, that was for sure.
Winston walked past his mon, not bothering to retrieve them, already headed back downstairs to get away from the damned tower.
He would not continue the gym challenge, from there on out, but he would continue his travels. He needed somewhere to live, after all, and the only place he'd found something he could afford was still further north from here.
So, he continued onward...
