http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7czptgEvvU
Amelia felt the cold air flow over her face as the red banners waved around in the cave system, the cold air on the surface was flowing in through the air vents. It was fairly dark in the center of the Tigiate square today: The light was being partially blocked by snow. The maintenance crew hadn't come and cleared some of the glass panels above certain sections of the bustling city. Her cart full of honey, adorned beautifully with ribbons, would sell great at the art festival today. Honey was getting into lower supply, since the bees were resting, so this cart would sell well as other vendors stopped selling, to conserve their supplies. They had luckily stocked up.
The soft buzz of her Combee, "Hope" and the delicate cooing of her Pidgey, "Austin" soothed her as she walked down the cold streets. The cart wobbled as the gravel streets were very rough, paying no mind, Amelia kept on at a brisk pace. She passed several artists on her way to her spot. The art festival today would be excellent. She rolled her cart to a halt and commenced placing her jars around in an organized fashion. It was good that she was one of the first ones there, some of the others setting up stalls might stop by.
A couple of painters soon came and started setting up their station up. She listened silently to see if they would be a potential customer. Amelia overheard something fairly intriguing. She motioned for her nearby "Austin" and "Hope" to remain stationary. The two continued on as if nothing had occurred,
"Yes, the chemicals are coming from the unexplored cavern off the side of Maple street."
"Has the commission started yet?"
"I heard that they needed more volunteers, despite the generous pay. I guess most of us don't want to deal with pollution..."
A pollution source, in the city! That was horrid. Maybe there was a leak from the polluted water source yet again caused by those Snorlax-bodied westerners. Or it could be Pokeking, she never trusted those fast food places that had food that tasted like a salt-mine. Blech! Well, anyways she would have to investigate it, maybe the pay could boost her sales.
More people poured into the heavily decorated square, and she received a few customers, but her mind didn't remain on the business , but instead on what horrid thing was happening so close...
"Daniel!" Victor Worthington called to his son. The wealthy owner of Gigarte Construction awaited his son in the living room with the television turned on. "Daniel, are you ready yet?" He called again. Moments later he heard his son barreling down the stairs into the living room clearly packed and ready to leave on his first ever pokemon journey.
"I'm ready! Let's go! Let's go!" Daniel said cheerfully heading out the front door. His first pokemon, a Machop named Hercules, followed after him, marching like a soldier marches into battle.
"Hold on there, Tiger." Victor said, grabbing his son by the back of his pack and pulling him back into the house. "It's pretty cold out there. This is winter time. You should put on something warmer, like this for example." Daniel's father held out a black jacket with "Gigarte Construction" written in white letters on the front pocket. On the back it said "Building a better tomorrow". If Victor's son was going to travel and potentially become a pokemon master, he might as well advertise for the business while he's at it.
Daniel was too eager to leave to make any argument. He quickly set down his pack and put on the jacket, listening as his father gave him instructions.
"Never forget where you come from, no matter how successful you become. And make sure you head down to Tigiate Square before you leave town. Your mother's there showing off her artwork. You know she'll want to see you before you leave. Will Hercules be okay in this weather?"
"Herc? Oh yeah, he's fine. Geb prefers to stay in his pokeball when it's like this though. Bye Dad!" Daniel said and hurriedly darted out the door before his father had a chance to grab him again.
"Goodbye Danny! Make sure to call home so that your mother doesn't worry. Look after my boy, Herc!" Victor called out the front door after his fleeing son. The construction tycoon sighed, closing the front door and settling on the couch before the T.V. They would be covering the art festival today, so maybe he'd see his wife or even catch another glimpse of his son. I'm gonna miss that boy. Victor thought with a touch of sadness. But he sure knows how to make his father proud.
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Daniel jogged through the streets of Gigarte as he headed to Tigiate Square. Hercules kept pace beside him, enjoying the excercise and the smell of the crisp cold air. It always smelled like flowers in this town, even in the winter time. Down a the square, many artists were already gathered and setting up their displays. Daniel searched around for his mother and soon caught sight of her.
Daniel's mother, Marie Worthington, was a pretty and dark-skinned woman. Though she was the wife of a wealthy man, she was never satisfied to sit quietly at home. Around her, she displayed many of her finest works, scenic paintings of areas all around Gigarte, some even featured pokemon. "Daniel! There you are! Look everyone, here comes my son, the pokemon trainer!"
Daniel smiled proudly as he walked over to his mother, allowing himself to be hugged and kissed. Maybe he should be embarrassed by this kind of attention, but honestly he sort of liked it. He enjoyed having everyone know he was a trainer because trainers were people that had adventures and that was the kind of person that Daniel had always admired.
"I'm gonna miss you, Danny boy. You be good and make me and your dad proud, okay. Oh! But one more thing before you go!" Marie said as she released Daniel from her embrace in order to fish around in her purse. She pulled out some Poke and handed it to Daniel. "Sweety, we're low on honey at the house. Could you buy some for me? Buy some for yourself, too, you might like some."
"Mom! Where am I supposed to get honey?" Daniel complained, a whine evident in his voice even as he accepted the money from his mother.
"I saw a girl selling honey right over there. Just look for the girl with the Combee." Marie explained, waving her hand in dismissal. She wasn't about to give in to his complaining. Instead she engaged an onlooker. "Do you like that painting? Yes, I did that in the summer when the Metapod were evolving. Would you like to buy it?"
Daniel huffed and then went on a search for the Combee girl. "Combee, Herc. Let me know if you see a Combee." Before long, Daniel felt his Machop tugging on his new jacket and the trainer quickly looked in the direction that the pokemon was pointing. "Oh yeah, that's a Combee!"
He hurried over to the honey vendor, smiling happily when he noticed that she not only had a Combee but a Pidgey as well. "Wow, you've got a couple of cool pokemon there!" He blurted enthusiastically, and then immediately felt like an idiot for it. Stupid! Stupid! You don't even know her! He flinched and then composed himself. It was hard for him, he liked girls and he loved pokemon. When the two were put together he felt like a stupid, blundering, nervous wreck. "I mean, I would like to buy some honey please."
Alex woke up with a yawn in his bed and got up to stretch his muscles and dressed. Walking out his door to get the newspaper he noticed that there was an article about the art festival in Tigiate Square and decided to read about it while having breakfast. Placing the paper on the table he went into the kitchen and began making himself and his pokemon some breakfast, raspberry jam on toast with orange juice for him and pokechow for his pokemon. The meals ready he released the two from their pokeballs that they'd been sleeping in and said, "Dig in you two hope you like it"
Finishing his meal Alex went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shave his facial hair.Once he was done with that his pokemon and him headed out the door and off to Tigiate Square to see what was happening at the festival grounds. When he arrived there he saw a boy a few years younger than him with a Machop being fussed over by one of the artists attending the festival.
Wandering through the stalls with Bea his Combee swooping around his head and Leif his Turtwig trotting at his heel Alex heard two painters who had just set up their stall talking about a pollution spill in an unexplored cave off of Maple Street. Nearby was a woman with a Combee and Pidgey selling jars of honey wrapped with ribbons, so he decided to check it out and see if he heard any more about the pollution wither from the stallowner or the painters.
After a long trip from Lenoilia, Delainey arrived in Gigarte. She walked down the streets, watching a few kids play. She smiled and walked past them. She was looking for the Pokemon Center.
After a few minutes, she found what she was looking for. As she entered, she was greeted by Nurse Joy. "Hello, welcome. Can I help you with anything?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you." Delainey responded. She walked over to one of the nearby couches. She opened her bag and pulled out three pokeballs. "Come on out guys."
Out of the pokeballs came a Cyndaquil named Axel, a Tailow named Sora, and a little Swinub. Axel climbed into her lap and laid down. She reached over him and pulled out a few berries, one for each of her Pokemon. Delainey watched as her Pokemon happily at the small berries.
After a few minutes, Nurse Joy walked over with a cart filled with bowls of Pokemon food. She laid three on the floor next to Delainey, "Here you go." Delainey thanked her as she walked away, while her Pokemon sat on the floor eating their food. Axel was still sitting on her lap, so she picked him up and placed him next to the untouched bowl of food and proceeded to walk over to the nearest vending machine. She put in what was needed and received something to snack on.
When her Pokemon were done eating, she returned them to their pokeballs and started walking towards the door. She noticed a small piece of paper on the floor and picked it up. It was a flier for an art festival. She looked for a date and realized it was today. She rushed out of the Pokemon Center and walked towards Tigiate Square.
It didn't take her long to find it, for it was brightly decorated. She walked around for a little while and found a little honey stand. She looked at the honey for a while and decided to buy a jar.
A few customers had come to her stall. Business was picking up, but she couldn't stop thinking about pollution. Gigarte couldn't be ruined by pollution, just like Lenoilia was! She would have to ask some customers about it. Not loud enough to scare the majority of those who had come to see the art. Amelia had to take control of her emotions this time, and not get angry or excited like she usually did.
Austin was perched on a banner, lightly floating in the wind above her ahead. Catching a thermal or two, he would rise into the air, but quickly come back down on the more common down drafts of the cool air. Hope was darting around, cheerfully greeting her customers. She smiled, they would help her keep calm.
A young man dressed in a new, leather jacket with a Gigarte Construction logo on it, a few years younger than herself bustled up next to a few other customers. He quickly shouted out,
"Wow, you've got a couple of cool pokemon there!"
Immediately gaining a strange expression onto his face. Before saying,
"I mean, I would like to buy some honey please."
He was a bit nervous, she could tell. She giggled, it was a bit funny after all. Behind him was a Machop who seemed fairly content. Gigarte Construction was pretty successful, if she could remember correctly. Maybe this would be a good person to bring it up with, if a bit young.
"Don't feel bad, I can say some strange stuff on impulse to. Do you mind if I ask your name? Have you heard about the pollution off Maple street? I was planning to investigate it later, would you be interested in coming?"
She smiled and talk calmly, trying as hard as she could to hold back a rapid speech to match her anxiousness. She had brought out a jar of honey with a red ribbon tied around the top, hoping he would buy it while talking, so she realized that she might have said it loud enough so that bystanders might hear her. Hopefully it wouldn't ruin the panic and the destruction of the festival...
As Delainey looked over the honey, she was greeted by an adorable little Combee. "Why, hello there." She smiled. She dug through her bag and pulled out a small berry. "Here you go," she said as she gave it to the Combee. The Combee buzzed and flew around her head, making her laugh.
The Combee flew off, greeting new people that came up to the little honey stand. She noticed two people talking, one of whom she assumed to be the owner of the stand. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she heard something about pollution. She decided that it was a good idea to leave them to their conversation and just wait for them to be done.
Delainey pulled a pokeball out of her bag and called out her Cyndaquil. "Come on Axel."
Axel came out of his pokeball and rolled around on the ground a little. "What are you doing silly?" She giggled.
"Cyn, cynda cyn." Was the reply. She just smiled and looked around at all of the people.
Crystal walked out of the Pokemon Center. "Huh...? What's this?" She said, noticing a poster. "Oh! Cool! I had better get going!" She hurried over to the Art Festival. "Wow..." She said in aw. She walked into a honey shop. "Mmm... Smells good," she mumbled. "Hello. I'd like a jar of honey, please."
The news about the pollution hit Daniel like a slap in the face. His eyes widened from the shock and his smile drooped as worry overtook him. It was nearly unthinkable! Who would be so destructive, so wasteful, in his town? Suddenly the words of his father echoed in his head. Never forget where you come from. After that, his decision was almost immediate. Sure, the delay was a little annoying, but he couldn't exactly just leave with his home town in peril like this. It was his responsibility as a pokemon trainer to right wrongs and triumph over evil! (Now where had he heard that from? And why did it make him want to strike a superhero pose?)
"My name is Daniel Worthington, and I would be happy to accompany you, ma'am. I'm a pokemon trainer and adventure is what I live for," Daniel replied, trying to sound cool. His cool attempt was thwarted, however, when another nearby trainer's Cyndaquil erupted from its pokeball and rolled about on the ground. He couldn't help but turn to it with an obvious "squee!" expression before turning back to her and attempting again to be cool and calm.
"Ahem, but I didn't catch your name. Who might you be? And I'd like two of these please." He said, gesturing to the honey before him. Hercules ventured from behind his trainer to peer into the golden jar of deliciousness as Daniel took out the money to pay for his purchases and offered it to the girl. He also kept a careful eye on his Machop. Hercules had never pilfered food before, but he looked like he might be considering it now.
Iko walked leisurely through the city of Gigarte. He was down from Arasam, visiting an old friend that had moved here. He was now a trainer, his sights set on the Arasam badge, being from his hometown. Iko was planning on meeting up with him at some art festival in town, but first he decided to stop by a Pokécenter and a Pokémart to heal and stock up on supplies. the first he came across was a giant Pokémart, one of the departement store type things, so he strolled in and looked through the items on display on the first floor. He picked out a few things he needed, three antidotes, a giant mixed back of berries, six potions, and a few assorted snacks for both Pokémon and people alike. Deciding to explore a little, he went up the stairs, Nova clinging to his back as always. on the next floor he found a seal case for decorating pokeballs. Not being a contestant, he didn't really see the need for them, but he picked up a case and one that made lots of sparks. Seeing nothing else of interest there, he moved up to the next floor. Here he came across a selection of TMs, but he couldn't afford them, so he moved on up the floors, finding nothing of interest. He moved back to the bottom floor, putting all his purchases up on a counter. all rang up, it came to almost 1200 Poké, a good bit of his money. He was now left with 3000 and change. It was worth it, though. It'll last me a while, he reassured himself. He wasn't the kind of person who was errant with their money. When he was done with his shopping, he headed out, sticking the sparkle seal on Oshi's ball. He hoped she wouldn't mind. He wandered around some more, even seeing the festival once, but he was intent on finding a Pokécenter first. It had taken him a while to get to Gigarte, and he had a feeling his Pokémon were pretty worn out. Finally, he came across one. He went in and handed over his Pokéballs to the nurse, and Nova hopped down from his back and walked around the counter to her.
"Aw, how cute," she said. "We'll have him and his friends in top condition in just a moment." She sat the Pokéballs in the tray, and sat Nova on another counter and dropped a dome over his head. Then she put the tray of Pokéballs in some machine, and, a moment later, she lifted the dome off of charizard and took the tray out of the machine. She handed Iko back his Pokéballs, which he strapped to himself again, then picked up Nova as he came around the counter and sat him back in his customary position.
"thanks," he told the nurse.
"Of course. Be safe!" she replied.
Finally he got to the festival. He walked through all the stalls, not finding much to his interest. One lady offered to do portraits of your Pokémon, but he didn't have anything to do with it, so he let the offer go. At one point, he noticed a banner waving above the crowd advertising honey. Iko loved honey, so he went over and stood in like, waiting. When he got to the front he asked, "Do you have any honey made from Haban berries? It's our favorite," he said, pinting to Nova, perched on his back.
"Where is it? She said it was near that place," Cheri pondered.
Cheri and her Charmander walked briskly through the city of Gigarte and soon found herself lost in Tigiate Square. Today, the young woman donned a simple outfit: a knitted hat, a sweater, and jeans. Taking in a breath of cold air, Cheri picked up the young Charmander and held it in her arms. It cried softly to her and slowly began to drift to sleep. The female looked around and found many stalls showing off their creativity. She remembered fondly as to how much she had enjoyed art festivals as a child. Stroking her Charmander’s orange head, Cheri walked from stall to stall in search of a peculiar item.
Cheri and her family treasured the sweet taste of honey; Cheri had heard that a young woman was selling some delicious honey. This was her purpose for coming to Tigiate Square. Scanning the air for a scent of honey, Cheri continued her long search as she peered into a wooden stall, which contained mini-scarves for pokemon. The woman was fascinated by the varieties of colors and and sizes of the scarves. She could see that there were many sorts of these fabrics. Reaching with her right hand, Cheri touched a white scarf; it felt like as soft as Mareep’s wool. Hmm, I wonder how many should I get.
“One scarf, two scarves, red scarves and blue scarves,” called an unknown voice.
Cheri turned her head around and found a little old grandmother, wearing a magenta robe with a red robe around her frail neck. She asked in a soft voice, “Are you interested in these scarves, my dear? By the way, you have quite an interesting Charmander.”
“Oh, thank you for noticing madam,” Cheri replied, “May I please purchase eight scarves?”
“Why of course you can, my dear. Choose any that you like,” the grandmother replied back.
In several minutes, Cheri grabbed the eight chosen scarves, but woke up the sleeping lizard.
“Char! Char!” Charmander cried. It began to cry from being woken up.
Trying to comfort the creature, Cheri rocked it with her left arm, while placing the scarves around her neck. She then gave the woman money with her right hand and thanked the grandmother for the scarves.
"No problem, my dear. It's always nice to see a young girl buying things from this old rag," the grandmother replied and sighed as Cheri left with the crying Charmander. "Why does she look so familar?" pondered the grandmother, "Perhaps, I'm going senile. Yes, that's probably it. Now where's that cat with my hat."
“What am I going to do with you, Charlie?” pondered the annoyed Cheri. Feeling a bit weary from her shopping, Cheri sat down on a wooden bench and placed the cheap purchases next to her. “I’m sorry for waking you up, Charlie,” cried the girl sweetly, “Would you like some honey?” Drying his tears with his right claw, the Charmander stared at Cheri's eyes and nodded in reply. Placing the scarves into Cheri's purse, Cheri took out a jar of yellow honey and a metal spoon. Open wide Cheri told the Charmander as she began to spoon feed the creature with some honey.
Meanwhile, Cheri's mind began to wander. She continued to look around to find the honey stall, but could only see a an endless ocean of customers with brown plastic bags. Aimlessly, she began to paint Charlie's face with honey and giggled at her mistake. The Charmander smiled, despite his mask of sugar. It too found the event funny, and then it happened. Cheri was puzzled as she watched her Charmander jumped off the bench and ran into the crowd.
"Wait, Charlie I need to wipe your face," she exclaimed, "Where are you going?"
Charlie the Charmander loved honey and in return could sniff out the delicious, gooey snack. The orange lizard ran through the mob as he began to look for the sticky prize. "Char! Char! Char!" it exclaimed. Jumping up and down, Charlie directed Cheri to a stall selling honey. The girl sighed as she realized what made her pokemon jumped. "Come here, Charlie," the girl commanded, "How many times do I have to tell you not to run off? What would I do if you got captured by some random person and then placed in some underwater cave?" Picking up the Charmander, Cheri hugged the pokemon and laughed as she began to wipe off the sugary snack from the Charmander's face. What am I going to do with you. Then again I found it. Well, I guess Charlie found it. Cheri saw that there were several people and their pokemon waiting around the honey stall. The girl walked briskly towards the stall. Hmm, I wonder why everything is taking so long.
Qua, who was in Crystal's arms, leaped out and ran off. "Qua! One moment, please," Crystal hurried off after Qua. Qua stopped at another stall.
"Hello, my dear," the lady behind the desk said when Crystal got there, "Would this happen to be your Torchic? It ran over here a litle bit ago and I thought it was just so cute that I had to make a portrait of it."
"Yes, thank you," Crystal said. "You know what? Could you please do a portrait of each my Pokemon, then with all three together?"
"I will. One moment please so I can finish the one of your Torchic," she very neatly and carefully added a few more brush strocks and it was done. It was extravigent. "Next one, please," she said.
"Here," Crystal said, a smile on her face. She let out Lat.
"Oh...? Why I love doing Nincadas, my dear. I shall do my best," the lady said, smiling. "Oh, and my name is Sheila," she added. She painted it in a way that it gave Lat a extra-strong appearance.
"Wow, here is my last," Crystal said in aw, letting out Zigzag.
Sheila must have years of practice and expeireance, Crystal thought. When Sheila was done, it was amazing. "Ok now, you three, get on up on to thi pedistuall," Sheila got Crystal's Pokemon up on the chair and started painting.
"My name is Daniel Worthington, and I would be happy to accompany you, ma'am. I'm a pokemon trainer and adventure is what I live for Ahem, but I didn't catch your name. Who might you be? And I'd like two of these please."
"Silly me! My name is Amelia. With all the sales I'm ready to go, since your order of honey finishes off the supplies I brought. Uh, maybe for safety, we should bring some others. Oh, those to jars of Honey will be 500 Poke"
She handed him the jars. While she had talked to him, she had also sold jars to others who asked. She smiled she had enough money for awhile. She motioned for Hope to come back, she quickly came back and perched down on her shoulder. She rubbed her a little bit, as she was tired from flying over the crowd who came to see the art.
She pulled down the sign and started pushing the cart down the street. She called out to several customers to get their attention. She continued on untill she left the square, she looked over towards maple street and then over those around her. She smiled. Hopefully some of these people would come with her and Daniel...
"Finished!" Sheila said proudly, showing Crystal the picture.
"Wow. This is... Is... Amazing... Thank you," Crystal commented on the work.
"Your welcome. Enjoy!" Sheila waved her off, giving Crystal the four painting in plastic bags to keep the paintfrom smearing.
"Huh...? Hey! Wait!" Crystal shouted as she saw the lady that was selling honey and some trainers going away from the festival. She ran after them, hoping to catch up.
Daniel paid Amelia before stuffing the honey that he'd bought into his pack. Hercules frowned at Daniel disagreeably as he did this, but simply shifted closer to Daniel as the crowd of trainers around them grew. Daniel agreed with Amelia, they should definitely bring along more trainers, and looking at the crowd around her honey stand it seemed as though almost all of them were trainers. As Amelia packed up and moved on with the crowd of curious trainers behind her, Daniel followed as well. Observing the group, he noticed that two of the trainers had charmanders. He remembered that he'd seen one girl with a cyndaquil as well, and as Amelia moved away from the festival, he heard a shout from behind and turned to see another trainer running up with a torchic in her arms. So many fire pokemon trainers, Daniel thought in a bit of awe. It was hard to find fire types around Gigarte, so Daniel hadn't encountered them terribly often.
He did spy one man ("boy" didn't seem like an appropriate term. He was nearly a foot taller than Daniel and clearly a bit older, though Daniel couldn't tell how much older) walking with a turtwig and a combee beside him. Daniel made his way through the crowd to walk next to the man, greeting him with a grin.
"Hey, what's up?" Daniel said happily and then added before the man could respond, "You are comin' right?" He didn't elaborate on where they were coming to within the bounds of the crowded festival, but he asked this question as though the destination were some exclusive hot party and not some smelly polluted spot around Maple Street. "My name's Daniel, by the way, and I'm definitely comin'!"
Meanwhile, Daniel's machop walked so close that he was nearly tripping his trainer up. His expression registered his increasing discomfort at being so near to so many strange trainers and pokemon at once. It only took Daniel one time of nearly toppling over Hercules to realize what was wrong. "Hey, it's all right big guy. I know you don't dig crowds like I do. You wanna go inside your pokeball?"
Hercules's expression hardened as though Daniel had said something to irritate him. "Chop!" he said, which simply meant "No way!"
"Suit yourself, bro." Daniel said, hiding his concern. If Hercules was nervous, why wouldn't he go into his pokeball? That had never been an issue before. Then Hercules reached a hand up to hold one of Daniel's as they walked side by side. The young trainer couldn't help be smile again. People could say what they would about fighting types, but Daniel thought that his machop was adorable. The size and humanish shape of the pokemon made him look a lot like a small child. It didn't help that sometimes Hercules could behave just like a toddler and get into just as much trouble if left on his own. However, Daniel also knew how dangerous his pokemon could be. Hercules could throw Daniel all the way back to his house if he wanted to, so Daniel had to be careful and respect the power of his pokemon. The day-shift nurse at the pokemon center had taught him that, his first lesson in handling pokemon.
Seeing the honey saleswoman heading off towards Maple Street Alex and his pokemon began following her along with the others who had gathered there and expressed interest in what was going on at the cave. Bea tired from zipping around landed softly upon Alex's shoulder with a happy sigh.
Turning slightly to the younger trainer walking beside him Alex smiled back and replied, "Yeah I'm coming too, name's Alex nice to meet you Daniel." Hearing a girl's voice shouting out for someone to wait and seeing a girl running towards the group he slowed his pace a bit to allow her to catch up.
Axel sniffed the hair and could smell the honey as the girl walked away. Before Delainey could say anything, he ran towards the smell. "Axel, come back!" she yelled.
Delainey ran after her Cyndaquil, who was very fast. Axel weaved through the people, racing towards the smell. Once he made it to the cart, he had gotten distracted by a Machop walking next to a trainer. She reached them after a few minutes, a little short of breath. "Axel... you have to stop doing that... sorry if he bothered you." She picked up Axel, who wasn't very happy about it."
Daniel grinned his usual mischievous grin, happy to hear that Alex was onboard for this little adventure. Next, he heard a female voice approaching, sounding out of breathe. He turned his head to see who it was, expecting it to be the girl with the torchic who he'd seen some ways behind. He was surprised to see that it was instead the girl with the cyndaquil that he had been adoring earlier.
"Axel... you have to stop doing that... sorry if he bothered you."
Daniel couldn't think of anything to say. His face flushed pink, and a much darker shade than his usual when he encountered a female. This girl looked very different from any that he'd ever seen in his life. He wondered if the coloring of her hair and eyes were natural, but he couldn't articulate well enough to ask. Then suddenly it struck him that he'd seen her before. Not just near the honey stand but around town as well. Didn't she go to one of the schools in Gigarte? Not his school, but he'd seen her in a uniform once. He could punch himself for not recognizing her before even though he must have seen her more than once. Her looks were certainly exceptional but perhaps she had a way of blending in and going unnoticed. Like a spy...or a Kecleon.
"N-no b-bother ma-ma'am," Daniel stuttered out, his blush deepening as he used all of this willpower to push words past his lips. "M-m-my name's Daniel. Wh-what's yours miss?"
"Wait!" Cheri exclaimed, but unfortunately it was too late. Cheri watched the shopkeeper leave with all of the delicious honey, and she felt sullen. She stared at her Charmander pitifully; her glowing honey eyes were now darkened by sadness. By the then, the cart and customers were gone; all that remained was a customer searching for a purchase. Sighing, Cheri walked over to the stall next to the original honey stand.
Here was the painter Sheila, who was currently selling paintings of pokemon and their trainer. She was a woman approaching her mid-thirties; she had always lived in Tigiate Square. Sheila was a resourceful woman that always knew what was happening around the area. Her light complexion is outshined by her radiant smile. They say a picture can tell a thousand words, but this creator can tell billions of words with the stroke of her delicate hands.
Greeting the young woman cheerfully, Sheila asked, “How may I help you today, miss? Would you be interested in a painting or two? If you need anything, then please let me know.”
“ Ehrm, no thank you ma’am. I was wondering…,” Cheri said, while forcing a smile, “do you know when the girl that sells honey will be back.”
“Hmm, I’m pretty sure she won’t be back for awhile,” Sheila replied, “she just sold her last jar of honey a little awhile ago. Besides, that girl’s is up to something. I’m sure of it. Maybe, if she can find her she’ll be able to find you some honey.”
“Thanks,” Cheri murmured. Then a question popped into the curious cat’s mind. What was the honey girl up to? Many sorts of ideas formed in the girl's head, but she waved them off. She knew she shouldn't jump to conclusion before knowing all of the facts. “I don’t mean to pry in, but what do you mean she’s up to something?” For emphasis, Cheri formed air quotes with her fragile hands.
“Oh! Did I really say that?” Sheila said surprisingly, “well it’s not my place to say, but come here. Let me tell you.”
Cheri leaned into the stall, turning her head so her hear was parallel to Sheila’s mouth. She gasped when Sheila was done talking. “I can’t believe she would something like that by herself!” Cheri exclaimed, “what is she thinking? I think I should go help her that is if I can find her.”
"No problem, sweetie," Sheila replied, while she handed Cheri a brown leather package, "see that man across the street. Give this to him, and I believe he will be able to help you. Tell him its from Sheila."
"Oh, no problem, madam," Cheri said hastily. Then with a mighty dash the girl and her trusty sidekick ran through the horde of shoppers. The two were punched by various of bags, bumped by various of body sizes, and worst of all tiny droplets of sweat became attached to Cheri's face. She did not like it at all. The girl arrived at the man's stall, who was apparently selling various of bell instruments. Various of silver and gold chimes decorated the stall's exterior, and in the stall was a table gleaming with bells, ranging from different sizes and even sounds. The stall was scented with pine oak and painted with streams of ribbons. Watching over the shop was a middle aged man with his pokemon- a Chimecho, Chingling, and a Bronzor. He gasped as he saw the girl and her Charmander.
"Goodness, what happened to you, young lady?" the man asked shocked, "perhaps, would you be interested in buying something from me?"
"Oh, that's not it," replied the gasping Cheri, "you see, the woman from across the street said you could help me with my problem. She told me to give this to you; it's from Sheila."
"Sheila? What on earth was she thinking, sending you off like that?" the man bumbled, " by the way you can call me Mr. Edgar."
After she regained her breath, Cheri told the seller of her story of how she wanted to help the Honey Seller complete her quest. Holding Charlie's right hand, Cheri wondered as to what was the man thinking. She too wondered as to how he could help her. Bells and chimes can't help me find or reach her. For a moment, Cheri's eyes glanced around the stall, and then something caught her eye. In the background, behind Mr. Edgar was a shiny red bike. It was a bicycle for one person and contained a wooden basket. Of course, why didn't I think of it earlier? I could definitely use a bike; it would certainly speed things up as well."I don't want to be rude, Mr Edgar," Cheri chimed gleefully," could I perhaps borrow your bike for a couple of hours?
"You want my bike?" asked the puzzled man, "well, I guess you can although I wonder as to how she knew about it. Anyway, answer my question and I'll give to you. Let me warn you this could be a very hard question if you don't think."
"Okay!" said Cheri. It was probably a simple riddle or something; after all how hard could the question be.
"What is the symbol for 'Love without end'," asked the riddler.
"That's easy," said Cheri, "it's a circle."
"Nope, good guess though."
"Okay, how about a heart then?"
"Nope."
"Umm, is this a trick question?"
"Nope."
"Okay, you asked for it, Mr. Edgar!" screamed the annoyed Cheri, "here's my answer. Love without end could mean many things. Love after all is a feeling; it can't be shown physically. When two people fall in love, it's as if they will never separate; they would have formed a bond that could never be broken. Like a family, for example. Siblings may argue against each other or against their parents. However there is an invisible bond that links them together. Their love for each other. Then again people can feel love for many different things, and it's intensity can vary by person. There is no symbol for 'Love without end". I believe there is no right or wrong answer; it just depends on the person."
For a long time, Mr. Edgar stared at the Cheri with cross-eyes. "I'm sorry to say, but that was completely wrong. Nice try though. Just make sure the bike doesn't get broken."
Blinking her eyes back and forth, Cheri placed her hands on the bike's handlebars. If I'm not right, then what in the world was he talking about. Well, at least he was kind enough for the bike. Shaking her head, Cheri placed Charlie into the wooden basket and positioned herself onto the leather seat. Then she went. Snaking through the crowd, the girl placed all of her energy into pushing the black pedals, while scanning the environment for the girl selling honey. Charlie too was helping, but with his nose. It had no idea what was going on, but had a feeling his friend knew what she was doing. Blazing past many stalls that would have garnered Cheri's attention, she was determined that she could find the girl.
Back at the musical stall, Mr. Edgar was talking to Sheila. "You know that girl you sent over. Boy, is she quite the girl? You wouldn't have believed what she said when I asked her the question. Looks like she still has a lot to learn."
Sheila remained silent as she stared into her husband's warm eyes. She had been married to the man for at least a decade; they definitely had a strong bond. The wife was grateful that she had such a wonderful and loving husband, and he too felt the same way. Holding her left hand into the air, Sheila stared at it peacefully. Gleaming in the sunlight, a golden ring was attached to Sheila's ring finger. Etched upon it was a phrase that was no longer readable, but everyday Sheila would stare at it. She had memorized it as a child. When Sheila looked at her ring, she sang out a cheery cry. Yes, she does have a lot to learn.
Delainey was still a little out of breath. She hated always running after Axel, but it was good exercise.
"N-no b-bother ma-ma'am. M-m-my name's Daniel. Wh-what's yours miss?"
Delainey smiled a little. She could tell that he was nervous, she was too. Delainey was always a little nervous around people, because she grew up away from them, but she tried not to let it show. She pushed the little strands of hair out of her face and replied. "My name is Adelaine, but just call me Delainey." Axel was squirming in her arms, so she put him back down on the ground. "Don't run off again, got it?"
"Cyn..." Axel loved to run, but he stayed close to her. He walked around a little, playing with the pokemon close to Delainey.
As Iko was waiting in line, the girl ran out of honey and left. Frustrated, he he decided to go look for his friend. He hadn't run into him during the festival, so he decided to go and find his home. Thinking hard, he remembered it was on Maple Street. He walked around the sqare, looking for some street signs. FInally, he came across one that said 'Maple'. He hurried down the street, looking around for his old friend. As he was walking, he came across someone else heading towards the fair. Hoping they might know where he lived he asked them, "you wouldn't happed to know where some one named James Marx lives, would you? He's on this street."
"I'm James Marx," he replied.
"It's me, Iko!"
"Seriously!? I was just going to the square to find you! Awesome!"
"Man, we gotta catch up! Come on, lets head back down your street. There's not much going on at the fair."
"Okay, works for me. So what have you been up to?"
"Not a whole lot, I'm planning on being a trainer. What have you been up to?"
"What do you mean, not a whole lot! being a trainer is alot! I'm guessing thats why you have the Charmander on your back and the Bulbasaur running around?"
"Dude, come on! This is Nova! You know, my best friend?"
"Oh yeah!"
"And thats Oshi, my third Pokémon. I caught him last year in the rainforest." As they were walking, they were so absorbed they almost ran into a large group of people. Iko didn't recognize any of them, exept there was the lady selling honey! "Where are you guys headed?"
Crystal foinally caught up. She was heaving rapid, shallow breaths. Eventually, she got her breathing rate back to normal. "Finally..." she muttered.
"Delainey," Daniel repeated softly. It was a fun name to say, and the sound of it reminded Daniel of the cheerful blossoming flowers in the springtime. He wondered if Delainey's personality was as cheerful as her name sounded. "That sounds very pretty," he said. It came out before he could think to restrain it, this genuine thought of his. He swallowed and looked away from the girl so she wouldn't see how red his face had gotten.
"It's good that you're coming along too," Daniel continued, speaking easier as long as his head was turned away from Delainey. "I mean, we don't know what we'll find there. It could be dangerous, so it's better for us to go in a big group like this."
At his trainer's side, Daniel's machop eyed Delainey and her pokemon warily. With a sharp look, he made it clear to the cyndaquil that he did not want to play. He then continued to stare at Delainey disapprovingly. He never understood why Daniel behaved so oddly around the females of his species with the exception of his mother. Hercules thought that maybe they were using Charm or Attract to incapacitate his trainer. But their feminine wiles would never work on him! He would retain his senses and defend Daniel. Hercules felt determined and filled with purpose, but was snapped from his thoughts of pokemon heroism when his trainer spoke.
"I believe we're almost at Maple Street."
The area around them was starting to reek, and Daniel pulled a disgusted face and covered his nose slightly with one hand. Before them, two others were waiting, one with a charmander on his back and a bulbasaur at his side. "Hey!" Daniel said and waved as they walked towards them. "We're going down that deep, dark, spooky, cave-looking place. You wanna come? The name's Daniel Worthington by the way, what's yours?" Daniel walked up to the trainer who had spoken with his hand extended in offer of a friendly handshake.
He cast a quick look down the path where the road ended. Indeed, it looked dark and forboding. Since no one had explored it, no one had set up the artificial lights that illuminated the rest of the city. Suddenly, this adventure appeared much more dangerous when Daniel considered that. It's okay. Daniel mentally reassured himself. I have a flashlight!
The procession of the few interested continued. She went trailblazing ahead, ignoring whatever happened. It wasn't long before a faint odor became distinct, she called in both Austin and Hope to save their noses from the reek. The green sign clearly read " Maple Street". The street was deserted. They all probably had went away due to the odor.
The rocky gap in the street was apparent. It was at the end of the street, but no one had dared to explore it yet, they were to busy with the other sections of the town, this section was the least used, despite being so close to the popular Tigiate Square. She dropped the empty cart by the wall before getting there.
Turning around she saw a few people who names had been whispered behind her while they walked. She called into the still, but rotton, stagnant air, practically choking on the foul stuff. She could feel her detection watch to beap and go ballistic.
"Is everybody ready to go in?"
"Ya!" Crystal coughed. The stench made her her eyes sting. She coughed again and hurried over.
"As ready as I'll ever be" Alex says with a slight nod to the woman and motioned to his two pokemon to stay close to him.
Delainey smiled wen she saw his face getting red. He obviously had a hard time talking to girls. "Thank you," she replied, "and the more danger, the more I'm interested." She laughed a little. She had a very curious mind, always getting into things she probably shouldn't. Delainey looked down to Daniel's side, at his Machop. He was eying her and her Cyndaquil warily. She turned to her side, to her bag, and pulled out a small berry. She offered it to the Machop, hoping he would take it.
"I believe we're almost at Maple Street."
She looked around until she saw a small street sign that said Maple Street. She could smell the odor coming from a cave-like entrance. She pulled out a small scarf that she had brought with her and covered her mouth and nose.
"Is everybody ready to go in?"
Again, she looked around at the small group that was forming. "Sure." she said. She looked deeper into the cave-like entrance, trying to see if there was anything in there. Axel ran ahead, and lit a small fire on his back, illuminating the entrance.
A boy in the group quickly introduced himself to Iko as Daniel Worthington. "Hey," Iko said. "I'm Iko Toriyama, and this is my pal, James Marx." Iko reached out to shake the proffered hand, using a firm grip that meant business, but in a friendly way.
"Hey." James said.
"I'd love to come. But why are you going?" he asked, curious. "Wait, never mind. It's not like I need a reason to go spelunking. I lived in a giant tunnel system in the side of a mountain for 15 years. One little cave is no big deal. I'm from Arasam, if you didn't figure it out. I came to see James, actually. Are you from around here?" he asked, still in a little bit of motor-mouth mode from running into James. Okay, calm down Iko, he told himself. After a second, he said, "But I can't speak for James."
"I'd love to go," he said.
Hercules blinked, surprised that the female human would offer him anything. His first instinct was to eat it, since he liked to eat practically everything and he always felt hungry despite being well-fed (he'd heard Daniel mutter something about a "growth spurt" to explain that matter). He lifted a hand to take the berry from her fingers, but stopped himself before he touched it. He looked up at the odd human again, his ruby eyes scanning her face. He couldn't see any guile or malice. But still, the machop thought, feminine wiles! This one was clever! He'd have to remain especially vigilant around her. It was then that he noticed that he'd let his trainer get away from him. He twisted around quickly to look and locate the boy before jogging over to stand beside him once more.
"Machop!" Hercules scolded Daniel, giving his trainer a serious look.
Daniel glanced down at his pokemon and gave him a pat on the head. "I'm sorry I left without you, big guy." With that, he turned his full attention to the trainer talking to him. "It's nice to meet you both, " Daniel said. The trainer seemed a tad familiar, and Daniel found himself wondering if he'd been at Castle Vonmoto when he visited a little while ago. Hadn't he glanced a trainer like this, with odd-colored hair and pokeballs strapped across his torso, once or twice among the other trainers on that trip? This passing recollection was quickly chased away by another memory, this one about a song.
Hey now, Hey now
Iko-iko an dey
Chakko mo fino, ah-nah-ney
Chakko mo fi-nah-ney
Listening to Iko, Daniel decided that he really liked the attitude of this group of trainers. Sure, he had a heroic "gotta save my hometown" motive but everyone else just seemed to want to run around in a dark scary cave like it was their idea of a good time. Best. Heroes. Ever. He smirked and replied, "Well, as you might have guessed from the smell, we've got a pollution problem around here. I'm really glad you two are with us. As a Gigarte native, I appreciate the assist."
He turned to see Delainey's little cyndaquil run over to the entrance of the cave, the flames on its back lighting the area and casting spooky flickering shadows on the cave walls. Listening closely, Daniel could hear interesting noises coming from the cave in response to the sudden illumination. He heard the rustling of what sounded like wings, a shifting and shuffling of movement, and even a bone-chilling laughter. "That's not a normal sound for a cave to make," Daniel muttered, doing his best not to sound like he was whimpering.
Daniel swallowed, determined not to be afraid. In one swift motion, he dove a hand into a pocket of his backpack and whipped out a flashlight. He shook it madly for a moment to charge up the battery, the device making a ka-chunk-ka-chunk sound as he did so. Next he switched it on and felt satisfied when it shone brightly.
"Yep" Daniel called over to Amelia with a salute, "I'm ready too." His confidence faltered momentarily and the trainer donned a puzzled expression when he heard what sounded like a bicycle approaching. "What's this? Sound's like we've got one more coming."
Quickly several people stepped up and introduced themselves and turned to the caves. Amelia turned to Daniel and then went straight in. The odor was simply awful, her watch started going off at higher rates. However, from a brief glance she could tell it wasn't lethal. Presumably a clean-up team would be here to fix the odor, but they needed to scout ahead to save on precious time.
The cave had poor visibility, the only way she could see were by the flaming tails of a Charmander who had gone in a bit before her. She suddenly slipped in something. She landed right on her back. That started the flame of anger inside of her. Whoever caused that to be their would pay! Twice as much if they were from the west!
She turned around and put her finger on the oily substance and then put her finger to her watch. The gift from her family was coming in useful afterall! She should think of her parents to divert her emotions, that's right he gives the best gifts. Don't embarass yourself by getting angry over slipping....
The watch finished analyzing the information and came up with sulfur. Sulfur! Sulfur contaminated water. They had to find the cause quick!
"Watch out, there is Sulfur on the floor. Keep fire away from the floor, or else we may catch on fire!"
The little Machop did not take the berry from her, but ,instead, ran off, following his trainer. She followed him, to get back to the rest of the group. Axel was still illuminating the cave, waiting for all of them to join him.
A few moments later, a new girl had walked up to the group. She announced herself to be Cheri. Delainey responded with a hello and a smile, and watched as Cheri, along with her Charmander, walked up to Axel. She saw the look on the small Pokemon face, made nervous by Axel's flame. Delainey walked over to him, bending down to talk to Axel. "Now, don't be rude." She said. Axel had a tendency to try and act bigger, trying to be the tough guy. The smell coming from the cave made her eyes water, so she pulled her scarf a little tighter.
Amelia had gone into the cave first, so Delainey followed her. Axel ran a little bit farther ahead, trying to light the way. She had slipped and fallen on the ground, then announced that there was Sulfur on the ground. Delainey remembered a small shop that she had seen before. She quickley scooped up Axel and ran out of the cave.
Not long after, she returned with a lantern, which she lit with Axel's flame. She believed that it would be safer than Axel walking with a flame so close to the ground.
Smelling the disgusting stench wafting from the cave Alex's face took on a disgusted look, causing him to pinch both of his nostrils closed to keep the smell out of them. Breathing a sigh of relief Alex followed the girl with the charmander and several others into the cave which quickly grew darker the further they went in, the only light that being shed by the charmander's tail-flame. Alex occasionally checked on his pokemon to make sure they didn't got lost in the darkness.
Hearing the honey saleswoman mention sulfur on the ground Alex said "No wonder the cave smells so bad." Shortly after this the charmander girl went running past him with her pokemon and returned with a lantern that she lit with the charmander's tail.
Daniel waited for the few others to go ahead of him, then entered the cave carefully with the light from his flashlight illuminating the area in front of him. Hercules stayed by his side, keeping a careful look out. Being a pokemon, his eyes were better suited for seeing in the dark so he didn't show quite as much anxiety as most of the human explorers.
Suddenly, Daniel heard a thunk and a following warning of sulfur presumably from Amelia up front. "Are you okay, Amelia? Are you hurt?" Daniel called out just as Delainey ran out of the cave with her little cyndaquil. He turned his head and saw her heading back towards the city. "Well that sucks, I guess she bailed." This assumption apparently came a bit too soon, since it didn't take long for Delainey to come running right back, this time with a lantern. "Ha! Well that was some good thinking!" Daniel said. With the discovery of sulfur lining the floor of the cave, Daniel felt much more paranoid considering the number of fire pokemon amongst the group of trainers. He could only hope that they'd all know how to handle the flames responsibly.
As for the smell, Daniel actually felt as though he was getting used to it. Either that or his sense of smell was slowly dying, turning to ashes kind of like they would if a flame touched the floor. He took a deep breath. "Mmm, I love the smell of danger in the morning." This quickly resulted in a severe coughing fit, proving that his sense of smell hadn't been put out of its misery quite yet. "coughcough Bad cough idea..."
"Huh...?" Crystal heard a little scuttling. She turned around to see a little Aron. "Hm..." she said with a smirk. "Go! Zigzag! Tail Whip then Tackle!" The Tiny Raccoon Pokemon came out of it's ball, hit the steel-type with it's tail lightly, then charging it. The Aron took the Tackle full on with it's own Tackle, sending Zigzag flying at Crystal. She caught it, but it had the Xs in it's eyes. "Return..." She murmured. "Go! Lat! Leech Life!" The tiny bug shot a little pin at the Aron, taking some of it's life. It dug down and came back up under Lat. "Harden!" Lat came back down on top of Aron, just barely holding on. "Leech Life!" The Aron just barely held on, but Tackled Lat from underneath, causing it to faint. "Lat! Return! Go Pokeball!" The orb flew threw the air and made contact with the Iron Armor Pokemon. Shake... Shake... Shake... Bing! "Yes!" Crystal shouted in triumph.
Daniel started coughing, not enough to be deadly, but still pretty bad. While he coughed, someone caught an Aron. She quickly payed no heed to this and quickly went ahead of the others, not slipping on the flammable material on the floor. Turning a corner, she saw the entrance was blocked by medium sized rocks.
She immediately picked one up to see how heavy it was, but then it jumped up! "Geodude!" It flew itself into the pile, smacking more of the rocks, they all slowly awakened and then moved towards her. Sending out her two pokemon in into the stagnant air she prepared for the oncoming onslaught.
Delainey watched Amelia as she went ahead of the others. Following her, they rounded the corner and the entrance was blocked. Amelia attempted to lift a rock, but it wasn't a rock. It was a Geodude. The Geodude jumped out of Amelia's hands and woke up the others. The Geodude scrambled and started to attack the group. Two of them came after Delainey, throwing rocks at her and Axel. She jumped, avoiding the rocks and called for Axel to attack.
"Axel," she yelled, "use tackle!" The small Fire Mouse Pokemon did as he told and attacked one of the Geodude. It quickly dodged and Axel ended up hitting the other. The injured Geodude used tackle, but the quick little Cyndaquil avoided it.
"Axel! Ember!" Axel used Ember and hit both Geodude. The ran from the fire, down a different passage. She thought about going after them, but decided to stay and help anyone that needed it. That seemed too easy, she thought to herself.
Hearing a ruckus on one side of him, Daniel shone his flashlight over to reveal the heated battle between one of the trainers and an aron. "Holy miltank!" He exclaimed as the trainer (whom he privately referred to as torchic-chick in his own head) caught her fainted zigzagoon and continued the battle with her nincada. He watched the battle rage on, fascinated and a bit impressed. He knew that there were aron rumored to hang around in the more deserted caverns in Gigarte, but he expected them to be very rare. He figured that this girl must be exceptionally lucky to make such a find. At last, the trainer threw a pokeball and managed to make the opposing pokemon her own.
"Rock on!" He cheered, momentarily forgetting the situation that they were in. He was quickly reminded when he heard the commotion up ahead. The noises sounded like battling and he saw for sure what was coming their way when the cave was briefly lit by the ember attack of Delainey's cyndaquil. "Uh oh, geodudes!" Daniel said, as his machop took on a battle stance, anxious for a good fight.
"Now might be a good time to try that new pokemon of yours, if it's not too tired. But if you need any help, I've got your back." Daniel said to Crystal as a couple of geodudes surrounded them, blocking the two trainers from the rest of the group
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C4nSK4AZlM&feature=related
"Hercules, use Focus Energy!" Daniel commanded, seeing the geodude approach. Hercules obeyed. He flexed his muscles and was surrounded by a strange aura for a moment. The sand and dirt on the cave floor spun around him slightly before settling to the ground. Otherwise, it looked as though nothing at all had occured. The only real change was the look of sheer determination in the machop's eyes.
The geodude glared at the trainer and his pokemon, wild and angry. He hefted a rock only a bit smaller than himself tossed it at the machop in a fine Rock Throw attack. "Ah!" Daniel cried as he moved, too late, to get out of the way. Hercules, however, always reliable, stood his ground and took the hit in order to protect his trainer. It nailed him in the shoulder, pushing him back so that he almost lost his footing. "Herc, quick, use Low Kick!"
"Machop!" Hercules cried in affirmative before running up to the rock pokemon and delivering a solid kick to its chin. The blow only caused the geodude to roll backwards a bit before recovering and rolling right back, increasing its speed as it neared the machop. Daniel flinched before the attack was even made, predicting the outcome. The geodude was moving very fast by the time it reached Hercules and it struck the fighting type in the gut with a severe Tackle attack. The machop staggered, placing a hand over his stomach where he had taken the blow and trying to regain his breath.
"Oh no, Herc!" Daniel shouted, inwardly punching himself. Low Kick, it doesn't frickin' have any legs! What the heck did I think Low Kick would do?! "Okay, give it a Karate Chop, Herc!"
Hercules ran forward again, enraged and sore after the last hit. This time he would show no mercy! Using his good arm, the one that hadn't been hit by the thrown rock, he brought his hand down like a blade across the top of the geodude's head. The force of the critical hit knocked the rock pokemon against the cave floor where it bounced and then rolled to the opposite wall of the cave. This time, it did not come rolling back.
"Good gravy, Herc, I hope you didn't kill the poor thing," Daniel muttered as his machop returned to his side. Hercules shook his head, indicating that he was sure that the geodude would be fine with a little rest. In the meantime, Daniel quickly brought a potion out of his pack and sprayed it on his injured pokemon. "Sorry buddy. I'll take you to the Pokemon Center for a real rest as soon as we're finished here, but for now I really need you in top condition. I don't know what kind of trouble we're going to find and you and Geb are all I have."
"Machop!" Hercules responded cheerfully, flexing his arms and bouncing from one foot to another. The potion had restored his energy for the moment, and he felt ready for another fight. Daniel looked around, using his flashlight to see what the other trainers were up to. He was ready to jump in if anyone looked like they needed help.
"Huh... Geodudes? I know! Hey guys! It is about to get a whole lot easier to see these things! Go! Qua! Sunny Day!" She launched the Pokeball into the air and the chick came out, it's body brightening briefly, then it getting much brighter in the cave. She used Revives on Lat and Zigzag. "Qua! Ember!" The Torchic released flames from it's mouth at the Geodudes. "Focus Energy!" The Pokemon tensed, then untensed with a new determination gleaming in it's eyes.
Amelia dropped down to the ground as Geodudes flung above her across the cave, a few moments ago she felt assure of the way to be safe was to protect herself with pokemon, however it might have been unwise of her, and those stupid Geodudes would pay for making her look stupid.
"Austin. Gust!"
A wind blew into the first geodude and it was flung against the wall. It yelped up before turning around, throwing rocks at her. Amelia let out a scream as a large rock almost crushed her, that Geodude would pay! Austin was hit by a few of the rocks, but her anger was shared with the flying pidgey up in the air. It cooed before flying down and hitting the geodude with its beak. The Geodude recoiled before hitting the floor. Amelia felt a little circulation from the chain of attacks, but the odor was still overpowering.
"Great job Austin! I knew you could do it, take a rest from this air."
Amelia smiled, Austin had showed that Geodude for messing with a Himan. A few hydroponic berries would serve him well when they got back. However, he had done a move without her telling him to do so. He was becoming more impulsive and less obedient every day. He might even need to go to obedient school, but he had done well today so maybe it was only a good thing.
"Hope, we should get rid of another. Use poison sting!"
How ironic that the Geodudes weren't already poisoned from the air conditions. The poison attack flung through the air and hit an unsuspecting Geodude square in the back, it reared straight towards her as a flame shot up from the corner. Quickly Hope was withdrawn as Amelia started Yelling and running farther into the cave. Amelia thought she heard some voices up ahead as she began to run.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBy0M_btXWk&feature=related
Sweat began to bead on her face as the sulfuric fire raced behind her, she couldn't hear anything but her watch beeping and the roaring of the flames, her watch showed the fire was sucking up the Oxygen in the cave. If she didn't hurry she would either be burnt or suffocated!
Things were certainly looking grim. She was way to young to die! She had never even dated someone, barely anyone would miss her, and her parents wouldn't be able to pay off their debts and the business would be lost. She held back tears, if she cried her water levels would go down more quickly and she wouldn't be able to sweat.
Probably nobody would find her body. Actually, she forgot that others came on the journey with her, one might survive. She would have to be optimistic if she wanted to survive. Well, then well good thing the sulfur was in deposits and not covering the entire floor, or else the entire place would have already been burnt to a crisp.
"Oof! I'm coming too guys, wait up," Daniel said as he tried to keep up with the others. He stumbled into a column in the cave and was momentarily dazed by the bright lights appearing in the cave. He heard Torchic-chick use Sunny Day, so he just blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust. But the heat! The heat he was unprepared for and he wondered if the Sunny Day attack should be producing so much heat. The smell in the cave had changed as well. While the disgusting rotten-egg smell still filled his olfactory senses, he was also smelling something smokier that reminded him of birthday candles.
"Machop!" Hercules cried, suddenly clutching at Daniel desperately. The trainer could see better now, and his pokemon was obviously terrified.
"Oh...oh no." Daniel muttered. He could see the flames now, though thankfully they weren't spreading as fast as he would have expected. "Hercules, we just knocked a bunch of geodudes unconscious! Quick! Grab one and run ahead with the others. I'll catch up to you, buddy."
"Machop!" Hercules protested, but was unprepared when his trainer tore away from him and began running back the way they had come, towards the flames. He didn't hold on tight enough, and Daniel escaped from his grasp. He grit his teeth and looked around, easily finding one of the defeated geodudes. He held it tight, but did not run from the flames right away. He was waiting for Daniel to return, looking pitifully at the other trainers around him as though they could help.
Daniel, on the other hand, sprinted back towards where he and Hercules had battled a geodude. It was closest to the flames and it was rendered unconscious and unable to flee because of him. He wouldn't let it burn up! He tried to convince himself that things like death and injury only happened to people who were not Daniel Worthington as he scooped the limp geodude into his arms. It was heavy, but only about as heavy as Hercules and he'd carried his machop around before.
Somehow, it wasn't as easy as he had thought it would be and making his way back away from the flames seemed much slower and harder, not just because of the extra weight. He was coughing and feeling short of breath and even a bit light-headed. I gotta make it! He kept pushing and forced himself to go on.
He met up to where Hercules was waiting for him, carrying a geodude that weighed more than the little machop himself. It was no trouble for the powerful, Hercules, however. "Herc! Come on!" Daniel coughed and stumbled, falling forward.
"Chop! Machop!" Hercules shouted, urging Daniel on. He was doing better than his trainer at this point as a result of being lower to the ground where there was more oxygen and more visibility.
"I'm coming, Herc, but you lead the way." Daniel said, getting back to his feet. He clutched the geodude tight to his chest protectively. Hercules shifted the geodude that he was carrying so that he could have one arm free. Then, he grabbed onto Daniel's coat and dragged his stumbling and choking trainer along, leading the way to safety.
Delainey could feel a powerful heat on her back. At first, she thought it was the heat from Axel's flames, but then she heard screams and turned around. She could see a huge, bright blue flame spreading across the floor. She backed up, trying to get away from the flame, but she hit a wall. She had no where to go, she was stuck.
The fire was spreading, but where could she go? She breathed in deeply and tried to keep calm. She knew panicking wasn't the best thing to do. Delainey pulled out Axel's pokeball and called him back. Almost as soon as the red light vanished, it reappeared and he was back on the ground. "Axel, stay in your pokeball!" She tried yelling, but couldn't stop coughing. Not only had the smell gotten worse, but it was now almost suffocating her. She realized that if the fire didn't kill her, the smell would. She once again tried putting Axel back into his pokeball, but he would not stay. Axel wasn't about to let Delainey do this alone.
A few seconds later, a few rocks flew out of the wall. Three little Trapinch appeared near a small hole where the rocks had come from. Axel and one of the Trapinch stared at each other for a few seconds, then turned back to the wall and dug a bigger hole. Axel tugged at Delainey as if to follow them, then he ran to the hole. "Cyn, Cyndaquil!"
"Okay." She told him. Delainey followed Axel through the hole, but she had too look back. She could see that the fire was still spreading, but she couldn't see any of the group. The Trapinch kept digging until they came to another part of the cave, away from the fire. She climbed out and brushed the dirt off of her.
Not long after, she saw Daniel and Amelia run into the same part of the cave. "Guys, over here!" She yelled, trying to get their attention.
Crystal felt a large heat. She looked around and saw a huge flame leaping and lunging through the cave. She tried to scream, without much prevail, though. Aron popped out of his Pokeball and saw the flames. He then started to dig. Crystal noticed this and was pretty sure she knew what he was thinking. "Good idea," she whispered. She followed him down into a tunnel, crawling on her hands and knees.
Hercules led Daniel into a darker clearing where he caught up with Amelia. They were far enough from the flames now that Daniel felt safe enough to sit on the ground for a moment and catch his breath. He was careful to avoid any sulfur deposits and set the geodude down on the ground beside him. The air seemed clearer here, though it was still smelly. Back the way that the trainers had come, it looked as though the fire was burning itself out though that might have simply been Daniel's hopeful imagination. Hercules set the geodude that he'd been carrying beside the other one and walked over to Daniel, leaning his forehead against his trainer's. The two shared a moment of gratitude and relief before looking around at the surrounding area.
Daniel felt around in his pack for a moment before realizing that he must have dropped his flashlight somewhere behind him. However, his hand hit his pokedex and the little computer fell out beside the geodude.
"Geodude, the rock and ground type pokemon. Geodude is resistant to poison, normal, flying, and rock, and fire type attacks." The pokedex informed them, lighting up with a picture of a geodude.
Daniel tilted his head slightly and grinned to himself while Hercules backed away and leveled a glare at his foolish trainer who had risked his life to rescue a pokemon who was resistant to fire and poison from a burning disaster that would have most certainly caused more damage to the human. "Well, I guess that's good to know now isn't it?"
"Machop," Hercules muttered.
"How about you, Amelia, are you going to be okay?" Daniel asked as he put his pokedex away and pulled out his cell phone to use as a improvised flashlight. Suddenly, Daniel looked up as he heard someone calling.
"Guys, over here!"
He cast the light from his cell phone around until he could see Delainey waving at the trainers from nearby. He headed in her direction, using the faint light to judge whether she looked okay or not. As far as he could tell she was in one piece. He felt a slight rumbling under his feet and scanned the ground in alarm. Hercules could obviously feel it too because he began clinging to Daniel's pant leg in surprise. Eventually the rumbling stopped and Daniel could see an aron appear, poking its head out of the tunnel that it had made. He watched as Aron and Torchic-chick climbed out of the tunnel.
He smiled at all of the trainers. It was perhaps a stupid time to smile, but something about narrowly escaping from certain doom always left him feeling pleased and giddy. "Is everyone all right then? Is everyone here?"
Amelia was nearly scorched when she managed to get into a cave, protected from the flames. Ducking down, she barely survived. But quickly the flames burnt out enough that they could escape. The embers nearly caught her hair on fire, her watch went crazy. The cavern seemed to have a clean air pocket in it. Her lungs relaxed despite the flames flying out around him.
Soon they were able to emerge. Amelia realized that the only person here she could really connect with was Daniel as she stepped into the charred cave. She looked at him, he was kind despite being young and inexperienced. Perhaps his family could help hers....
She moved on ahead, grumpily reminded that she almost lost her life due to carelessness in a fight. Her anger only escalated the farther in they went as crisps of metallic machines glistened in the dark. Her watch detected greases and other lubricants in increasing quantities. There was some sort of factory here, with tons of machines. How could someone build machines of these in a place like this....
Daniel followed Amelia, moving swiftly to keep up. She seemed angry to him. He couldn't see her face, but something about the quickness that she moved with and the heaviness of her breath led Daniel to believe that Amelia's rage was escalating. If felt almost as though waves of anger were radiating off of the group's fearless leader. It took a few steps before Daniel found out what was ticking Amelia off so much.
In the light of his cell phone, Daniel could see glinting fragments. He thought that they might be mineral deposits or maybe moisture in the cave. Curious, Daniel approached one of the objects and explored it tentatively with his hand. He felt the hard touch of metal beneath his fingertips. Some parts were jagged, others smooth, but even with the light of his phone, Daniel couldn't figure out what the machine would be used to accomplish.
"It feels greasy," Daniel announced, wrinkling his nose at the slippery substance that was now all over his hands. "Eww," he complained quietly. He rubbed his hands against his jeans until his hands felt a bit less gross. "It's like a...factory. Who would want to build a factory here? How could no one have known?" Well, he could see how no one would find out about a mysterious factory down here. It's not like people were lining up anxiously to explore this place.
"What the heck were people trying to do here?" Horror was creeping into his voice as the possibilities ran through his head. Didn't whoever was behind this even consider the damage this might do to the natural environment? If they couldn't get to the bottom of this soon, Daniel worried that the pollution in the cave could spread to devastate the entire town.
Delainey walked closer to Daniel and Amelia. They seemed alright. The two of them had probably felt the full force of the fire. They didn't seem worried, but she was. They walked a little bit ahead of her and stopped. They were stopped long enough for her to catch up, and then she figured out why.
She pulled out her flashlight, and an extra she brought which she handed to Daniel, and looked around. There were machines. And quite a few, from what she saw. They didn't look abandoned, but they didn't look top of the line, either. They were covered in some kind of oil. What could anyone do in a place like this? she thought to herself. She looked back and could still see the fire. Pulling out a Pokeball, she brought out her Swinub, Fuyuko, Fury for short. "Fury, Mud Sport!" The small Swinub dug into the ground, throwing dirt onto the fire, which eventually went out. One problem down, one more to go.
All of the sudden, she heard sounds. Sounds of laughter and something hitting the machines. She looked around and all she could see were shadows. Something pulled at her hair, "Ow!" She kept looking around, again, nothing but shadows. "Who's there?" She yelled.
Daniel happily accepted the spare flashlight and tucked his cell phone into a pocket. When Delainey called out to someone that he couldn't see, Daniel shone the light in her direction. There was a heavy pause as the boy's mouth hung open and all of the color slowly drained from his face. He backed up against the jagged metal mechanism behind him, ignoring the discomfort it caused. His mouth worked, trying to form words to warn Delainey of the danger behind her.
"G-g-g-g-gh," Daniel stuttered. He'd never liked ghost pokemon much, not after too many horror movies as a child. His experiences with ghosts in his last adventure had left him even more terrified of the tricky pokemon type. Little did he know that he was much more prepared for this encounter than for his first.
During Daniel's first adventure in Castle Vonmoto, Hercules had no idea how to fight ghost pokemon. Usually, his fighting moves would pass right through them. However, there had been a riolu belonging to another trainer who had used a special move allowing it to strike even the evasive ghosts. It was called foresight, and Hercules had taken careful notes during that fight. By now, the fighting type was sure that he could use the move himself. If he needed to, he would use foresight to help him defend his frightened trainer. He bravely stepped in front of Daniel, preparing for an attack.
"G-g-g," Daniel took a deep breath and tried the word again, "GHOST!!"
Daniel shone the flashlight in Delainey's direction, but still all she could see were shadows. The "shadow" pulled her hair again, and she called Fury back to her pokeball. "Stop that!" she yelled again. She wasn't afraid, but when she looked back at Daniel, there was fear all over his face.
"G-g-g, GHOST!!"
Ghosts aren't scary, she thought to herself, although, most people weren't raised by them. Daniel was pointing behind her, too afraid to say anything. Before she had the chance to look behind her, there was a horrible high-pitched scream. She covered her ears and knelt down, trying to escape the sound. When the screaming stopped, she was able to look at what was causing the noise. A little Misdreavus. She flew around the three of them, first to Daniel. The red "necklace" around her neck began to glow, which caused her to laugh, and in turn, seemed to scare him a little more. One thing she knew, Ghosts, especially Misdreavus, fed on fear. That's where the true fear comes from. The Screech Pokemon flew over to Delainey, causing her "necklace" to stop glowing. The tiny Pokemon gave her a very confused look. "I'm not afraid of you."
Misdreavus tried everything, from making scary faces to screeching again. "You don't scare me," which was true. Delainey was not, and could not ever be, afraid of ghosts. When her parents left, Ghost-type Pokemon were all she had. They took care of her. "Try all you want, you won't get very far."
It seemed to be a new concept for the "scary ghost". It was a very common fear, being afraid of ghosts. She floated back to Daniel, feeding on his fear, but still giving Delainey a confused look. She shone her flashlight over at Daniel, trying to at least comfort him. "It's okay, she can't hurt you. Not much, anyway." When the light hit the Pokemon, Delainey noticed that she had some kind of oil-like substance on her, conflicting with her movements. She walked towards her, wanting to help, but she just moved away. "Stop, I just want to help you."
"I'm not scared,"Daniel told Delainey, much louder than he'd intended. When the ghost was near him, and at the moment it was very near him as it clearly liked something about him, he found it difficult to control his voice. It was a little like how he felt around pretty girls when he first meets them. Strange that those two should both fall into the box of "stuff that freaks Daniel out". "Besides, I don't buy all that 'it can't hurt you' garbage. I've seen ghost pokemon at their worst and it's left me with a certain...uh, respect."
He felt much better when the misdreavus moved on, apparently having satisfied its curiosity with him. He took a deep breath and sagged slightly against the machine. "Oh man, I didn't think of that. This place is probably full of ghost pokemon." He wasn't sure if he would have been so eager to go in this place if he'd considered that ghosts might be lurking around. He felt himself shaking as his body relaxed and he hoped that the girls wouldn't be able to see how afraid he was in the darkness.
"And what's up with that weird glowey necklace of yours? It glows when the ghost is near you. That's sort of spooky," Daniel muttered, but Delainey seemed more interested in the retreating ghost. He couldn't see what she was so concerned about and while he was too scared to get close to her or the pokemon, he kept his attention on her, looking and listening in case something bad happened and she needed some backup.
Daniel said that he wasn't scared, but Delainey knew better. She tried to hold in the small amount of laughter, thinking it was better than embarrassing him. "Okay, Ghosts can hurt you, but a lot more things would be worse. Imagine if a Fire-type or Rock-type attacked you... Ghost-types don't hurt as much. There are probably millions of ghosts in here." Well, maybe not millions, but still a lot.
She was trying to calm Daniel and help the Misdreavus all at the same time, which was turning out to be a little difficult. She walked towards her, but the small thing kept moving away. "It's okay, I promise I won't hurt you." She made her voice more soothing, as if she was talking to a baby. She followed her a few feet and the Misdreavus backed herself into a corner.
Then, suddenly, she turned on the offensive. She let of a Psywave, it wasn't all that powerful, but it was a little disorienting. Delainey had to back up to escape before something bad happened to her. "It's okay!" She felt bad, the poor thing must be terrified. A red flash of light appeared out of her bag, taking the form of Delainey's Taillow, Sora. Sora was flying in the air, facing the Misdreavus. I don't want to capture her, but how else can I help her?
"Sora, use Peck!" The little bird flew straight for the Misdreavus, pecking her head. She shouted at him, using Screech. Sora staggered back, the loud noise hurting his ears. "Two can play at that game, Sora, use Growl!" Sora let out a huge growl, which seemed to scare Misdreavus more. "Peck, again!" While the Misdreavus was recovering from the growl, Sora used Peck. This time, it really got to her. She fell to the ground, mostly because she was covered in some kind of oil. Delainey caught her just before she hit the ground of the cave.
Delainey sat down on the cave floor and pulled out a small towel and a pokeball from her light brown bag. She rubbed the towel over the Misdreavus's small body. It only took her a few minutes to remove all of the sticky substance, probably something she had gotten off of the cave walls. She took the Pokeball and a red light engulfed the small Pokemon.
Shake...
Shake...
Shake...
The ball stopped shaking. Delainey let the Misdreavus out of her Pokeball. "I think I'll call you Phoebe," she said. Phoebe smiled at the name.
"Mis, Misdreavus, Mis"
Delainey pulled out her pokedex and held it up to Phoebe. "Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon. It loves to bite and yank people's hair from behind without warning, just to see their shocked reactions." Hah, that's definitely true.
Amelia slipped ahead yet again not paying attention to the others. She didn't even look back when she heard screaming. She had to get the bottom of this! She scurried ahead as soon more and more mechanical devices came to sight. Fury arose in her as her speed picked up throughout the cavern.
Soon assembly lines could be seen, parts were being strewn together by machines. Gasses and oils spilled out onto the cavern floor. Her watch couldn't stop vibrating. She went down the line until it became clear what they were making. They were making some dark colored pokeballs.
All of this for some stupid pokeballs! She quickly summoned Austin to her side.
"Gust!"
The wind slammed into the machines tearing up some weaker appendages, but otherwise doing little. Smoke was caught up in the wind and it was noticeably cleaner on the other side of the room. She punched a device that was placing a button onto the capsules, only to realize that the machine was made of something very hard. She withdrew with a yelp and stepped back into the cleaner air. The fresher air was clean and good in her lungs.
She heard footsteps off on the other side of the chamber men in black came out and started yelling at her. She barely cared: she knew it was them.
"Hope, it's time to show them what happens to litterers in Gigarte!"
Daniel ventured over to Delainey cautiously after it appeared that she had beaten the ghost into submission and captured it. He couldn't help feeling a touch of admiration at the neat capture even if he didn't fancy the pokemon. He listened to the description from the pokedex and frowned. What a mean pokemon, Daniel thought as he tried not to look repulsed. Hercules still kept himself between Daniel and the ghost, though he appeared less ready to pounce than before. Daniel rubbed the machop's head appreciatively, scratching him gently between his crests. I'm glad that none of my pokemon entertain themselves by biting me for the fun of it.
In the darkness, Daniel didn't see as Amelia ran off further into the cave, but he heard what sounded like her quick footsteps as she pounded ahead. "Oh man, we're getting left behind. Come on Delainey and uh, you too I guess, Miss Dreavus." Daniel's nickname for the pokemon sounded polite and reflected the fear proper respect that he felt for the ghost. "I think Amelia's found something down this way."
He pointed his flashlight in the direction of Amelia's footsteps and took off at a run. It was no easy task, since there were obstacles such as puddles of lubricant for the trainers to slip on and machinery that had to either be climbed over or hurdled. Daniel skid on one of these slippery puddles but didn't fall over. Hercules was not nearly as graceful and slid right into Daniel and knocked them both over. At another point, Daniel tried to vault over some machinery but his pant leg became caught on a jagged edge and ripped. He didn't mind the tear, but he got tripped up again by the snag and it took him a minute to free his clothes and push on. The cavern became better lit as the trainers moved on, illuminated by some light bulbs strung along the ceiling of the cave. Pipes lined the walls of the cave now and they leaked a putrid fluid from their joints. The noise from the machinery also increased as Daniel caught up with Amelia.
Daniel paused in the chamber to try to make sense of all that he was seeing. On the assembly line, high-tech machines built and placed pieces together until they formed what appeared to be a rather sinister form of a pokeball. Amelia commanded her pidgey to use a gust attack on the machines, blowing bits and pieces all over but also blowing the more noxious gasses away from the trainers. Daniel quickly stalked about the place, trying to keep a low profile both to avoid being seen if anyone came in angry that a bunch of trainers were messing in their operation and to avoid Amelia's wrath. It was clear that the young woman's temper had reached a breaking point and he didn't want to be caught in her line of fire when she finally found out who was behind all of this. Daniel pocketed a few items that looked interesting including one of the dark pokeballs and some mechanical bits that had flown off during the gust attack. He looked for logos, brand names, or any clue that might be helpful when they brought all of this to the attention of the police.
Daniel was wondering why all of this pollution and destruction was necessary just to create this funny pokeball. He'd certainly never heard of any other pokeball requiring so much. In fact, weren't early pokeballs made from plants? He grabbed two more of the pokeballs and shoved them in his bag. His other question was what were all of these machines being powered by since he was sure that the Gigarte government would log any excessive energy drain and investigate immediately. Daniel didn't get any more time to wonder at the place because at that moment a hidden door opened on the opposite side of the chamber and three men clad in black came running towards them.
"So yous are the guys causin' all the trouble out 'ere eh? Well ya know, caves like this can be very dangerous. It wouldn't be too surprising if say, none of you ever made it back," the first man, presumably the leader replied to Amelia's challenge. He moved in towards the young woman who looked fired-up and confident in herself.
Daniel didn't feel quite as certain as one of the men walked threateningly in his direction. So much for hiding, Daniel thought as he backed up and looked around. His attempts to be inconspicuous had put him in trouble. He was now cornered between two assembly lines with nowhere to go. The approaching stranger smirked when he saw Daniel's distress and the young trainer got a good look at a scarred face with blue eyes. The man's hair was hidden under a black cap but it was the scars along his mouth that made him memorable. His lips were lined with bumps that looked to be old puncture wounds leaving the man with a permanently crooked grin. It struck a chord in Daniel somehow and he noted to tell his mother about the man later. There had been some faint memory of a story that she'd told to Daniel once when he was little that told of a man who had his mouth sewn shut for telling lies. So I need to remember never to trust this guy. Not that I would trust him anyway. He might as well have "Look at me! I'm the bad guy!" written on his shirt.
"C'mon Herc, we're going to have to fight our way out!" Daniel shouted, intending to sound angry and brave. "We'll teach these guys that they can't ruin our environment. It's payback time for all the damage you've caused!" Shouting did make Daniel feel braver, and he even managed a genuine smirk of his own.
"Maaachop!" Hercules cried, leaping forward to face the man with the crooked grin. The man's grin faded slightly and he backed away from the superpower pokemon.
"I expected as much," the man muttered. With a flick of the man's wrist, a pokeball appeared in his hand. Daniel's eyes widened and he wondered vaguely how the stranger had accomplished the trick. Maybe the ball had been hidden in his sleeve? "Let's see what you've got, kid. Go Nuzleaf!"
There was a flash of light before the form of a grass type pokemon appeared before Hercules. Daniel was shocked. He certainly hadn't expected litter bugs like these guys to come up with a grass type pokemon. Maybe it was Daniel's imagination, but he thought that the pokemon's face resembled its trainer's somewhat.
"Herc, use focus energy!"
"Nuzleaf, use razor leaf!"
The fight was on!
Phoebe floated around Delainey, tugging at her hair playfully. Delainey could still see the ‘respect’ on Daniel's face. Would he ever get used to ghosts...? She turned around when she heard footsteps.
"Oh man, we're getting left behind. Come on Delainey and uh, you too I guess, Miss Dreavus. I think Amelia's found something down this way." Daniel ran ahead of her, after Amelia. He had gotten a few feet ahead of her, leaving her in the darkness.
"Hey, wait for me!" She pulled out her flashlight and pointed it in the direction that they both ran. The light was dim, which meant the battery would run out soon. Crap... Phoebe flew ahead of her also, but not as far as the others.
"Mis, Mis!" Delainey followed her. Phoebe lived in this cave, maybe she knew her way around. "Hold on, I'm coming." She ran after her, not wanting to get too far away from the others.
As she followed Phoebe, more and more machines came out of the darkness. “Where did all of these come from…” she was thinking allowed to herself. Maybe some voice would tell her the answers, but she knew that was crazy. The machines were closely packed, but Phoebe flew right in front of her, guiding Delainey around them.
As she got farther into the cave, she heard noises. Clacking noises. The sound of more machines. She eventually caught up to the others, the smell of some type of gasoline filling the air. It was the same smell as the liquid that was covering Phoebe before. She could see an assembly line. The machines were making some type of Pokeball. She made it in time to see the final destruction, although it wasn’t much, of the Pidgey’s gust. Amelia looked angry, very angry. The sudden burst of wind cleared some of the air, making it easier to breathe.
When the wind died down, Delainey walked over to the assembly line to get a better look of this new creation. She bent over to pick one up, but Phoebe flew in front of her. “MISDREAVUS!” she screeched.
“Phoebe, what’s wrong?!” Delainey was confused. What was it with these Pokeballs that made Phoebe so angry. Phoebe started to respond, but there was a loud thud in the back of the chamber. Three men in black charged towards the small group. One man broke off and came at Delainey. He seemed to be the scrawnier of the three.
He was tall and very thin. His light blonde hair was covered by a black cap, but it was sticking out all over the place. He stepped closer to Delainey and Phoebe flew in-between them. He seemed a little weary of the ghost, but then he sent out his own Pokémon, a Lombre.
“Lombre, Furry Swipes!”
Quickly the man sent out a murkrow. Amelia countered with a a furious yell. The pokemon seemed brainwashed blindly obeying commands without a reply. Was this what the pokeballs did? How could they ruin a city for slavery!
"Stupid jerks! How could you be so evil! Hope, POISON STING!"
Hope flew in for the sting and the murkrow didn't react when it was stung. It just countered by slamming Hope full body with it's wings. Hope flew back waiting for the command.
"Wing Attack that Zombie back, Hope!"
The buzzing of Hope grew louder as she grew closer to the Murkrow. By the time they were slamming into each other they were both badly injured, yet the Murkrow showed no pain. HOpe screamed out in a yelp as the Murkrow landed a strong blow to Hope.
"Hope, that's enough! Austin let's do this."
Anger was even farther against him know, she would downright punch the man's head if her fist wasn't throbbing with pain.
"GUST!"
The Murkrow didn't get up. Amelia jumped up with glee, but as she turned to the man, he was talking into the microphone.
"Activate the self-destruct function NOW. We can't have them find out..."
The man went out quickly. Amelia turned to thew others who were still battling, "Hurry up there going to blow the place up!" She decided to wait for them, they had helped her find this place anyway, she would need to help them or look selfish...
The nuzleaf summoned a group of sharp-edged leaves. With a wave of its hand, it sent if flying directly at Hercules. "Chop!" Hercules grunted as the leaves sliced him, leaving small bleeding cuts all over his body. Daniel was stuck standing directly behind the machop and could do nothing but duck down and cover his head in order to avoid being sliced to ribbons.
"Herc, how bad are you hit? Herc?" Daniel asked as he stood up, noticing that the razor leaf attack was done. He took one look at Hercules and his breath caught. In all of the battles that he'd been in (and those were fewer than Daniel would likely admit), Hercules had never been cut. Daniel had never seen him bleed really. Even when he'd met Hercules in the Pokemon Center, he'd been recovering from a bad bludgeon to the head and the sight of the oozing cuts stunned the trainer. Thankfully, Hercules seemed to be managing despite his injuries. He had a pained look on his face but he still managed to breathe deep and focus his energy.
"Now Nuzleaf, use Nature Power!" The man with the crooked grin commanded, his grin growing ever more crooked as he observed Daniel's concern for his pokemon.
"Nature Power? What does that do?" Daniel muttered and fumbled to retrieve his pokedex. He didn't have time to look up the attack, however, as the Nuzleaf spread its arms wide and began to glow. Is he summoning the powers of nature in this nasty place? Of course, even polluted and corrupted places like this grotto contained nature's magnificent power and the Nuzleaf brought it to life in a rock slide attack.
"Karate Chop, Herc!" Daniel shouted as he hit the dirt once again. He threw his arms over his head as Nuzleaf manifested huge boulders, each one bigger than Daniel, and held them levitating above its head. Nuzleaf used a hand signal just like the one he used to command his razor leaves and sent the gigantic rocks hurtling towards Hercules and Daniel. Standing before his trainer in the face of the oncoming rock slide, Hercules managed a smirk. If it had been another razor leaf attack, he might have been done for, but rocks were his specialty.
"Machop! Machop! Machop!" Hercules said as he attacked the boulders with his Karate Chop attack. The boulders crumbled and broke as he struck them and he didn't let a single one get past him or hurt Daniel. He moved forward with each attack. While the broken bits still struck him and dealt damage, by the time Nuzleaf was out of boulders to throw, Hercules was upon him. "Machop!" He cried as he delivered the blow to Nuzleaf, striking it right across the shoulder and causing it to fall backwards.
Belatedly, Daniel managed to get his pokedex out and working. "Nuzleaf, the grass and dark type pokemon. Nuzleaf is especially vulnerable to flying, poison, fire, ice, bug, and fighting type attacks."
"Good to know, now Herc, give him one more karate chop," Daniel said as he brushed dust and rocky debris off of himself. He stared at the Nuzleaf, thinking it odd that despite being dealt a super-effective attack it neither flinched nor showed any sign of pain for fatigue.
"Nuzleaf, use growth and prepare for another razor leaf attack!"
"Don't give it the chance to hit you again, Herc, hurry it up!"
The nuzleaf looked up at Hercules coldly. This pokemon was so frozen and so empty that it gave Hercules chills just to see it. It hadn't even bothered to get back up from where it had fallen. Hercules hoped that his next attack would knock it unconscious just so that it couldn't look at him with those dead eyes anymore. As he watched, those eyes became bigger along with the rest of the pokemon until Nuzleaf was a fair deal bigger and stronger than it was before. There was no more time to waste on pity! This had to end now! With that resolution, Hercules brought his hand down with another karate-chop and the nuzleaf fainted from the attack.
"You think that's the end, kid? We'll never let you escape. Go Poliwag!" The man with the crooked grin sent out a small water type to challenge Daniel's machop. Daniel almost smiled at the little pokemon. It was cute, or at least it would have been if only it would move or speak on its own will.
"Hercules, use low kick on poliwag," Daniel instructed. Since poliwag didn't have any arms, he was hoping that if Herc knocked it down, it wouldn't be able to get back up too easily.
"Poliwag, use your hypnosis attack!" The poliwag obediently locked eyes with the approaching machop and began to sway from side to side. The spiral shape on its belly began to twist in a confusing but oddly soothing way. Before Hercules could deliver his low kick attack, he fell fast asleep. "Good, now use water gun!"
"Herc no!" Daniel pleaded, but Hercules would not wake up even when he was hit by several jets of water from the poliwag. The poliwag wasn't nearly as strong as Hercules and yet it was doing a good job of defeating him. The fighting type was weary and wounded from all of the day's travel, fighting, and excitement. By the time Hercules finally woke up, Poliwag's water gun attacks had worn him down to such a point that he could scarcely make it onto his feet. He trembled and shook as though he might collapse at any moment. "Hercules, try a karate chop, buddy. Come on, give it a try," Daniel kept his voice gentle, not commanding Hercules to fight if he didn't want to but asking him to please carry on if he could.
Hercules took a deep breath and tried to get a fix on just where poliwag was. He was hurting badly and he felt dizzy but he somehow managed to scrape together the last of his energy and rush at his foe. The opposing trainer seemed surprised by Hercules's sudden burst of speed as the machop leapt forward and brought his hand down over the top of the little poliwag, striking it squarely on its head.
The blow sent the little water type reeling. It was impossible to tell through its emotionless face, but Daniel felt sure that Poliwag must be seeing stars. Hercules's mouth twitched into a brief smile and then a frown. Poliwag still wasn't defeated, and the pokemon pursed its lips and spat out one more water gun attack, which struck Hercules in the chest and sent him sprawling on the rock floor where he lay unconscious.
"Good job, Herc, return now." Daniel called Hercules back into his pokeball and reached for his second. "Come out, Geb!" The nincada appeared in a flash of light and briefly took in its surroundings. He thought that it was odd for Daniel to want to fight in such close quarters, but he kept his complaints to himself and focused on the poliwag in front of him. This last part would prove his undoing.
"Poliwag, use hypnosis again!"
"No way!" Daniel cried but Poliwag didn't care about his protests and used hypnosis anyway, and just like Hercules before him, Geb fell fast asleep. The following water gun attack did a great deal of damage to Geb, since the nincada was a ground type and was weak against water. Unlike Hercules, however, the splash of water painfully striking the trainee pokemon caused it to wake up from sleep. "Good that you're awake. Now use sand-attack."
Geb scratched up dirt and dust from the cave floor with his claws and flung it into the poliwag's eyes. The water pokemon didn't even flinch or try to move away from the attack. It just blinked its sandy eyes, leaving Daniel to feel sorry for the poor creature and a bit guilty for trying to beat it up. His pity evaporated almost instantaneously when Poliwag sent another water gun attack at Geb and managed a direct hit despite Geb's attempts to hinder its accuracy. Geb shuddered and hissed as the water struck him, like he was the Wicked Witch of the West and the water would cause him to melt. Once his shuddering had stopped, Geb seemed to just collapse on the battlefield.
"Geb! Geb?" Daniel ran over and checked the little bug pokemon, finding it unresponsive.
"It's fainted," the crooked grin man told Daniel.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you lost."
"Oh." Daniel scooped Geb back into his pokeball and looked around. Lost? No way I lost. I'm the good guy and he's the bad guy. I have to win! But the battle was already over and Daniel had indeed lost. He had no more pokemon to battle with and suddenly he realized that he was a fifteen year old boy. Even being fairly athletic as he was, he was just some kid who went out to buy honey for his mom this morning. The man that he was facing was a hardened criminal. Moreover, he was a hardened criminal who still had a pokemon left to fight with. "I see." Daniel said as the realization slowly crept into his silly teenage boy brain. "In that case...LATER!"
Daniel made a sudden desperate dive over one of the pokeball assembly lines, but didn't quite make it all the way over. The man in black ran over and grabbed Daniel by one leg as Daniel tried to pull himself over the machine while dodging the mechanical bits that kept poking and prodding him, trying to make him into a pokeball. "Let go! Let go!" Daniel yelled as he kicked at the man with his free leg. He could hear the shouts of pokemon battles just ahead of him and he knew that Amelia and Delainey were still fighting somewhere a short ways away from him. If he could just make it over this machine, he could run for safety. "Let go! Let go!" Daniel finally managed a well-aimed kick, striking the man hard right in the nose. The man let go of his leg as he raised both hands to comfort his bleeding nose, his mouth now forming a crooked sneer.
Daniel pulled himself the rest of the way over the machine, but took a moment getting back onto his feet. Just as he got upright, something struck him on the head. Daniel rubbed the spot where he'd been hit and saw that he'd been hit with a pokeball. Uh oh. "Poliwag, go and water gun that little runt!" Sure enough, Poliwag burst out of the pokeball and Daniel took off running towards the two girls.
"Help!" the boy yelled as he practically dove behind Delainey while the poliwag chased after him, readying its water gun attack.
Amelia impulsively grabbed onto the hands of those out of the chamber and bolted out immediately. She couldn't risk her life, or business. She needed to alert the authorities immediately, or else she would be over her head, and quite possibly dead. She knew not what time the place would be gone, but it definitely wasn't nearly enough. Her big head was going to suffer yet again.
Her senses heightened and her heart began beat out of her heart. A burning sensation spread from her lungs to her feet. The others were still tightly attached to her right arm, as they were all dragged down the tunnel by Amelia's flighting heart, now matching the insane beating of the watch on her arm which had become a constant drone in her ears.
Suddenly she was blinded as fresh air filled her burning lungs. The drone of her watch subsided. An explosion behind her sent her and everyone else tumbling. Her knee was bruised and scraped as the rocks tumbled down. Then everything was black.
Next thing she knew she was being interrogated by police in a hospital room with everyone else. She smiled as she looked to everyone else, knowing that her business would be just fine.
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