Setting:
•Route 30, Johto•
•Near 4 PM•
•Late February, the same day•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Sixteen
The Dark Cave Trial
Upon entering Route 30 for the second time, I quickly realized the problem with allowing all three of my Pokémon to walk with me. For starters, Chika happily took her place on my right shoulder, but soon enough, Espeon started complaining about it being not fair, thus she decided to jump onto my left shoulder. From there, all hell broke loose as Umbreon, feeling left out, lunged at Chika, who retaliated with Vine Whip.
Meanwhile, Espeon snickered at the two, until she lost her balance and fell right on top of Umbreon, who in turn bit her, causing her to tackle him in turn. Chika, feeling ignored, joined in the squabble, and before I knew it, I had a fight on my hands.
Deciding that the only way to break them up was to return them to their pokeballs, I recalled all three, who glared at me from the transparent tops of their capsules. I decided that this was the best way to walk for a while at least, so I placed their pokeballs in my bag, sprayed some repel to keep away wild Pokémon, and continued my walk.
The walk to the fork in the road that led to Mr. Pokémon's house and beyond went without incident, and a kind man even introduced me to a plant that produced fruit which a special pokeball maker in Azalea Town could craft into special pokeballs if he deemed you a worthy trainer. And so, after being given a few free Apricorns and a case in which to carry them, I went along down the route as I whistled a tune that was stuck in my head, even if I couldn't quite remember the name of it.
I began to really enjoy the pretty fields as I walked along the dusty road, and with the gentle breeze wafting at my clothes and hair, I almost felt in a reverie as I continued along in silence.
Unfortunately, a very rude, very loud and obnoxious voice interrupted my peaceful stroll. "Hey! You look weak! I bet you can't beat me in a Pokémon battle!"
I snapped out of my happy state and looked around to see some ten-year old punk in shorts and a short sleeve T-shirt pointing at me. I looked around me to see if he was talking to anyone else, but the boy simply yelled, "Yeah, you!"
I shrugged my shoulders since I figured there'd be no point in refusing and accepted the challenge. "Okay, sure," I calmly replied.
"Okay, go Rattata!" He threw his pokeball, which released a relatively young male Rattata.
Without really thinking, I plucked a random pokeball out of my bag and tossed it. Umbreon appeared with a battle cry.
"Go Rattata! Quick Attack!" The young boy exclaimed as the purple mouse ran swiftly towards my Umbreon.
"Okay, then, Umbreon counter with your Quick Attack!" I replied, knowing that if this were a speed battle, my Umbreon would have that Rattata beat simply because he was a way higher level.
"Umbre!" He exclaimed as he ran into Rattata head-on, causing the mouse Pokémon to tumble backwards.
"Get up, Rattata! Come on!" The youngster exclaimed as the small Pokémon drunkenly got to its feet. "Tackle!"
Knowing that the Rattata was on its last legs already, I knew how to diffuse that situation pretty easily. "Okay, Umbreon, stand in its path and aim Sand-Attack for its eyes."
Umbreon quickly did as I instructed, which caused the poor Rattata to veer off course and charge straight into a nearby tree, leaving it knocked out.
"Well, I guess that settles that…" I replied, smiling at the boy.
"Aww… And I really thought Rattata could do it this time," replied the boy as he looked at his Pokémon sadly.
He scooped up the tiny mouse and walked towards me. "Hey, miss. You're really good. Sorry for saying you looked weak earlier. I'd give you some of my allowance as prize money, but I already lost it in another battle…" He continued.
Realizing I'd feel like a total jerk to ask for the kid's money, anyway, I smiled. "It's no problem. Truthfully, I don't feel so great about getting prize money from battles, anyway."
"Thanks miss!" He replied before walking off towards the direction of Cherrygrove City.
I grinned as I continued to walk and started my tune once more, only to be interrupted by another young boy five minutes later.
"Hey! My name is Mikey, and I challenge you to a two on two battle!" He called from a few feet away.
These kids must think I'm deaf or something, with all that yelling.
"Fine, I accept your challenge," I replied kind of unenthusiastically.
Quickly the kid called out a really low level, poorly trained Pidgey—I mean, it was pecking his ear for crying out loud.
"Okay, Chika, let's go." I replied as I recalled Umbreon, who was walking with me and let out Chika, who appeared with an enthusiastic battle cry.
"Prepare to be slaughtered!" Shouted the kid, who apparently knew he had the type advantage. "Pidgey! Tackle attack!"
The tiny bird flew towards Chika, who instinctively dodged it without being told. "Okay, Chika, nice and easy. Vine Whip it."
Chika extended her vines and caught the flying bird, who began struggling to get free.
"Urg! Pidgey, no!" Replied the aghast boy.
"Now, throw it into the ground, nice and good."
Chika complied, knocking out the bird.
"Grr! Now you've done it! Rattata, Go!" A Rattata similar to the one I battled about 6 minutes ago appeared. "Quick Attack!"
"Dodge and Razor Leaf once it passes you!" Chika easily sidestepped and sent a volley of razor-sharp leaves in the Rattata's wake, which at least three made their mark, hitting a critical spot, causing the Rattata to be knocked out in a single move. "Nice work, Chika."
"Chikori!" She replied happily as she jumped onto my shoulder.
"Hmph! I won before. Why'd I lose this time?" The boy inquired of the injured Rattata before recalling it and promptly departing.
Man, what is with kids these days? I asked myself as I continued walking down Route 30.
On the latter end of the route, I passed by a bug catcher who was on the trail of a rather large Caterpie. Deciding to keep myself hidden to avoid another pointless battle, I walked on the outskirts of the trainer's line of sight, eventually making my way to the road sign which read: Route 31 to Violet City.
Realizing that straight ahead was a huge patch of underbrush, and I lacked the Cut HM which could make short work of that underbrush, I found a side path, sprayed myself with another repel, and Chika and I made our way through the tall grass at the entrance of Route 31, and one step closer to our first Johto Gym challenge.
I continued walking east, occasionally re-spritzing myself with repels as I walked. Chika contently rode on my shoulder as we finally made it out of the tall grass and onto grass that looked like it had been recently cut.
Up ahead loomed a cave of some sort. Naturally, being my mountain-loving self, I went up to it to see if I could climb it. Chika, naturally curious, jumped off of my shoulder to get a peek inside of the cave.
"Ah, that there's Dark Cave. I wouldn't go in there unless you have a Pokémon that can light it up if I were you. It's real easy to get lost," stated a gruff voice that I placed at a nearby hiker who was standing at the cave's entrance.
"No worries; I hate caves." I laughed good-naturedly. It was thanks to a cave that a Rhyperior almost killed me a few years ago in the first place, after all. And that's not even touching Mt Moon, where I used to work as a grunt in Team Rocket even before that.
"Indeed. I'm more of a mountain man, myself." The hiker agreed.
"I hear ya. I lived on Mount Silver for some time."
"Ah, never been there, but Mount Mortar is quite a beauty on the inside. More like an indoor waterfall paradise than a cave. And climbing on the outside? Whoo-boy, quite a job on the ole legs." He chuckled.
"Hmm… Never been to Mount Mortar. Is it in Johto?" I asked curiously.
"Sure is, though it's quite a long trek from here. It's east of Ecruteak City. Now as for this Dark Cave, I hear it leads to Blackthorn way up north. Never tried going through, though. Heard they had some rare Pokémon in there, too, but that's just a rumor."
"Cool… Maybe I'll come back sometime to see if it's true." I grinned.
"So, I take it you're headed to Violet City?"
"Yep. Going challenge Falkner for my first gym badge in Johto." I nodded.
"Good luck. Violet isn't too far from here. You should make it before nightfall. Anyway, good day!"
"Thanks!" I grinned as I prepared to set off again.
Content on knowing what the whole cave was about, I checked to see where Chika ran off to, only to find that I had absolutely no clue where my Pokémon went since she wasn't in my line of sight.
"Hey! Chika! Where'd you go?!" I called, hoping that she didn't go in the cave, like I was pretty sure she did.
"Chika! Chikori!" Replied a very happy echo from inside the cave's entrance.
I groaned as I realized that Chika was very happy to explore the cave, and I'd have to physically retrieve her if I wanted to get to Violet without this detour. Approaching the entrance of the cave, I yelled, "Chika! Come on. Violet City's just up ahead! Let's get there before dark. We can always come back later!" I heard my voice echo in the cave as I waited for her response.
"Chika!" Replied the Pokémon, as she apparently grew nearer. "Chikori! Chik!" She happily spoke, keeping me to my promise.
Suddenly however, things changed drastically. A sound of fluttering wings drowned out Chika's happy remarks.
A second later, I heard her cry out: "Chikaaaaaa!"
I rushed inside the cave without a second thought as I relied on my sense of hearing to find out where Chika was. I quickly learned why it was called Dark Cave because I couldn't see a thing as I moved deeper inside, feeling along the walls for direction. The sounds of the wings were accompanied by the many voices that only a flock of Zubat can make. Knowing this only made me run faster. A few ran into me, so I started to swat them away.
"Chika? Where are you?" It was like my Repel didn't even affect the swarm of bats, which plain sucked.
"Chik…" Replied a faint voice from at my feet.
Stooping over, I felt the cold stone floor as I tried to locate Chika. Knowing that Zubat were a real threat to her for being both a flying and poison type, and being able to utilize Leech Life, the Bug Type move, I knew I had to hurry. Finally, I came across a lump on the floor that I realized was my injured Pokémon. Scooping her up, I could hear her faint breath.
From what I could fathom, her loud voice startled the Zubat, who then attacked her. From the sound of the wings in the air, I guessed there must have been at least 50 if not more of those blind bats.
I felt for her pokeball with one hand while cradling her and shielding her from the Zubat, who had regrouped and began to attack me and tried to attack Chika. I located her pokeball, grasped it, and recalled her. This action only seemed to anger the Zubat, who began flying straight at my face. Shielding my face with my arms as best I could, I began to run aimlessly inside the cave, not being allowed to turn back as the swarm desperately tried to make a meal out of me.
Running into walls and low ceilings as I went, I was pretty certain I had quite a few scrapes. I felt really horrible too, since all of my Pokémon would be no match for the Zubat thanks to that horrible Leech Life move, which had the type advantage against Grass, Dark, and Psychic Types.
Moving deeper into the cave, I could feel the atmosphere get even more cold and damp. And, I heard larger wing beats. Apparently, the Golbat had decided to join their little Zubat friends. Soon enough, the giant bats began swooping at my head, biting wherever they could sink their fangs.
Too scared to cry out in pain, I only ran faster, running head first into walls sometimes. After this seemingly unending agony continued for what I suppose was five minutes in hindsight, I lost my footing because I simply ran out of ground to run on. In other words, I went splashing head-first into a semi-deep underground lake.
I dove underwater as I hoped that the Golbat would fly on, and the Zubat would follow suit. Gripping something underwater—which I desperately hoped was just a rock—I held my breath for as long as I could before venturing to the surface of the water.
Upon resurfacing, I felt the wing beats flap at the water, so I dove under once more, holding onto the same surface for a few more moments. This cycle went on until the wing beats gradually began to fade away. Apparently, the Golbat and Zubat didn't have enough patience to get a meal from me, so I assumed they just left to find something else.
If only I wasn't wrong about that part. Darting underwater one more time to make certain that I was clear, I searched for my underwater handhold, only to find that it was missing. Turning around thinking that maybe I had lost my bearings a little—after all, I couldn't see—I once more found my handhold, until it nearly clamped down on me.
The good news: I didn't get my hand chomped off since it wasn't quite inside the creature's mouth. The bad news: The creature was a very big, very scary, VERY angry Gyarados…and it was not happy to be manhandled.
I yelped as I heard the familiar cry of a rampaging Gyarados, and I doggy-paddled as fast as I could towards the shore—or at least what I hoped to be the shore. Unfortunately, my bag slowed me down a bit, AND the Gyarados was extremely quick.
Before I knew it, I was feeling the hot breath of its large mouth down my neck. I ducked underwater just in time, so instead of the giant water serpent gulping me up, I landed on top of the beast's colossal head. Hearing a roar of rage, I held on tight for a ride of my life.
The Gyarados, realizing that I was on its head, began bucking like a wild Tauros at a rodeo. Knowing my life was on the line, I held on as I was tossed this way and that on the water Pokémon's head. Then, it decided to start slamming its head into the wall.
After the first slam, my grip loosened but I still held on. After the third hit, however, I was flung off the Pokémon's head and landed with a thud onto the ground on my side. I shuffled to my feet as I ran in the direction opposite of the Gyarados. Luckily, all that head banging gave the thing a minor headache I supposed, so that gave me just enough time to get the hell out of there.
Running down a dark corridor, feeling the walls as I went, I ran until I was pretty certain I was far enough from the lake to get spotted by the underground Gyarados. I then sat down panting and soaking and placed my bag in front of me, feeling to see if I had a flashlight or something. Of course, I didn't—you never seem to have something you need when you need it most, or at least that was usually the case for me.
But then, I saw a flash of light from inside of my bag, which confused the hell out of me. Opening up the main zipper portion, I felt around for a light source only to find nothing more than the egg that Professor Elm had given me.
Perplexed, I sighed while catching my breath. Just as I was about to re-zip my bag, I saw the flash of light again, only this time, I realized it was the egg itself that was glowing. Wondering what was going on, I took the egg out of the bag and placed the incubator that contained it on the ground.
A few minutes passed in darkness then again, the egg glowed, only this time it stayed lit for about 20 seconds. Another minute in darkness, and again the egg glowed, once more for longer.
My curiosity got the better of me as I began to wonder what would happen if I took it out of the incubator. And so, I carefully pressed the button that unsealed the incubator and lifted the glass lid from the egg's container. Another minute in darkness made me wonder if the incubator was what made the egg glow, but that thought was quickly dashed as once more the egg glowed, only this time, it was brighter than before, AND it started to change shape. Before my eyes, I saw the egg transform from an ovular shape to a small form of some type of aquatic Pokémon.
"So that's a Mudkip" I muttered under my breath as the form glowed and then turned dark.
"Mudkip!" Cried the newly hatched Pokémon, who nudged my leg affectionately. "Kip!"
"Nice to meet you too, Mudkip." I replied, feeling somewhat better for the moment with this distraction.
I fumbled for my Pokedex, since I decided to get Mudkip's data. Instead of reading off the screen, I'd just have to get the voice to say it for me. I pointed the dex at my new Pokémon, and it stated:
"Species: Mudkip, Mud Fish Pokémon
Type: Water
Ability: Torrent
Number: 258
Height: 1' 04"
Weight: 16.8 lbs.
Color: Blue
Egg Group: Monster, Water 1
Gender: Male
Level requirement for Evolution is notyet achieved.
Nature: Bold, Somewhat of a Clown
Likes: Sour
Dislikes: Spicy
Stats:
Endurance: 4/5
Attack: 3/5
Defense: 5/5
Special Attack: 5/5
Special Defense: 5/5
Speed: 2/5
Moves Known:
Tackle: Power: 5/10 –Physical—Normal Type
The user charges in with a full-body tackle
Growl 4/10 –Status—Normal Type
The Pokémon growls to intimidate the foe and lower its Attack.
Blizzard 7/10 –Special—Ice Type
The User summons a fierce blizzard in which many foes may be targeted. It may also freeze the foe.
Water Pulse 5/10 – Special – Water Type
The user sends a pulse of water to attack the foe. Variations of the move differ between users, but in any case, this move may confuse the foe.
Pokedex Information:
The fin on Mudkip's head acts as a highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes."
"Wow! Blizzard and Water Pulse?! That's pretty nice. I know; I'll call you Mudflaps," I grinned at the new Pokémon in the dark.
"Kip! Mud-Kip~!" Exclaimed the baby Pokémon happily as he placed his front paws in my lap.
"Okay, Mudflaps, here's the deal: we're lost in this cave… I know that you just hatched and all, but the Pokedex says you can use that fin on your head to know where you're going. So, do you think you could get us out of here?" It was a shot, at least.
"Mudkip!" Replied the Pokémon, who grew silent as I assumed he was searching for the way out. "Kip! Mud!" Replied the Pokémon, who I heard start to run.
"Wait! I can't see you! Slow down!" I replied, trying not to lose my new Pokémon.
"Mudkip~" Replied a voice at my feet as I got up. If anything, at least this little guy was obedient.
"Let's see now…" I rummaged through my bag to find a rope, which I tied securely around Mudflaps' waist. "There, now I can follow you without getting lost. Let's go!"
"Mud!" He took off again, and trailing behind him, I tried my best to keep up.
A few minutes after our running began, I heard a very familiar sound in the air.
"Mudflaps, hold on a second!" I stopped.
"Mud?"
"You hear that noise?"
"Kip" He replied slowly.
"Those are the wings of Zubat. I think we are about to be ambushed. But I have a plan."
"Kip?"
"Climb onto my shoulder."
"Mud!" He happily jumped onto my shoulder with a little help.
"Okay, now let's make a break for it. You steer me in the right direction from my shoulder by tugging on that rope around your waist. Whenever you sense Zubat nearby, I want you to hit as many as you can with Blizzard. Got it?"
"Mudkip!" He stated boldly—I could already tell his nature suited him well.
"Let's go!" I shouted, making a beeline as fast as I could.
Mudflaps steered me left and right to where I wouldn't run into any walls. I could hear the Zubat approaching, growing closer by the second. "Now Mudflaps, Blizzard!"
"Muddd-Kiiiipp!" Replied the Pokémon as he released a very cold wind mixed with snow from his mouth.
I could hear quite a few Zubat drop to the ground behind me as I ran. Growing nearer to the exit—I saw the light at the end of the tunnel—a huge figure blocked our way. A rather large, rather menacing Golbat loomed at the entrance, waiting for me to run into its mouth.
"Again! At the Golbat! Blizzard!"
"MudddKipppp!" Mudflaps released another Blizzard, only the Golbat flew overhead, making the move miss. Untying the rope from Mudflaps' waist, I let him jump onto the ground.
"Alright, then! Tackle it!"
"Kip!" Mudflaps charged towards the Golbat, who flew out of the line of fire, circled around, and emitted a powerful Supersonic.
"Cover your ears!" I warned, doing the same.
Luckily, Mudflaps listened in time, stood on his hind legs and covered wherever his ears were. Using the opportunity, the Golbat lunged forward, aiming a Bite attack.
"Look out!" But it was too late; the Golbat clamped firmly on Mudflaps' dorsal fin, carrying him in the air.
"Mud! Kip! Mud!" Cried Mudflaps, obviously scared as he kicked at the air.
"It's okay, Mudflaps! Use this opportunity! Blizzard!"
"Mudkip! Mudddddkiiip!" He released a powerful Blizzard aimed straight at the Golbat's mouth. I was so glad he was facing the right direction for that.
Immediately, the Golbat dropped him, and I caught him in my arms. The Golbat then flew off, rather in a hurry making certain it wouldn't get another Blizzard treatment again.
Stepping out of the cave, I laughed merrily as I held up my new Pokémon in my arms. I smiled as he smiled back, both of us rather happy to be out of the cave in one piece. Realizing that the sun would totally set within the hour as I glanced at my pokegear and the sunset, I guessed I'd been lost in that cave for quite a few hours, even though it felt much longer than that.
I limped onward with Mudflaps on my shoulder as I continued down the last stretch of Route 31, so that I could FINALLY reach Violet City and my first gym challenge. Now that I had a powerful Ice type move, Falkner's birds would be a cinch.