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The Johto League

Chapter 10

Rock Slip 'n' Slide

While having breakfast in the Pokémon Centre I took the opportunity to ask Meowth about the people who had tried to kidnap him the day before. He’d been too exhausted after his spectacular attack to chat until he’d had a good night’s sleep.

‘Jessie and James are my old partners in crime,’ he explained while we ate. ‘We were buddies! We were a good team… well, not a good team, we never really accomplished much, but… we were a good team…’

I petted him fondly, scratching him behind the ears. ‘Meowth do you ever… want to go back to your team…?’

‘Having no money for food? Being total failures? Getting blasted off every day…?’ Meowth looked at his food indignantly. ‘It’s not a good life. I kinda miss ‘em, though…’

Feeling bad for him, but not being able to think of anything comforting to say, I looked down at the floor where my three pokémon were happily eating their food. The newcomer, my Sandshrew, now nicknamed Needles, seemed to be apologising to Scout the Sentret for poisoning her during the battle where he was captured. I couldn’t help smiling at them. Pokémon always seem to be good-hearted in a way that can cheer you up, the way they can be at each other’s throats one minute and apologising the next.

Not long after that we were ready to get back on the road again. Back in our usual formation with Meowth riding on my shoulder, the three of us wandered along the dirt track until Gary noticed something.

‘Check this out!’ he ran a little way off to some rock formations much like the ones I’d found yesterday. ‘I think… yeah, there’s a cave down here!’

‘…So?’ I followed him over. ‘Why would we want to go in there? We’re supposed to be getting to Azalea Town, not getting stuck in caves.’

‘No, no…’ Gary quickly reached for his map and studied it. ‘I think… yes…! This might actually be a tunnel! It’s marked on the map as a shortcut from here to Azalea Town…’

‘You really want to risk getting lost down there instead of just taking the easy way?’ I tried to somehow talk him out of it without letting him know I was pretty scared of going in there.

‘Oh, come on! What’s an adventure without some exploration! You’ve gotta take risks once in a while, otherwise you’ll never have any fun!’ And then he headed right on into the cave, and I lost sight of him.

‘Gary?!’ I tried to yell after him, but there was no response. I glanced over at Meowth, then carefully went in after him.

It was completely dark in there. The light from the entrance didn’t go far so I couldn’t see a thing.

‘…Gary?’

Suddenly a light flicked on in the darkness. It was Gary’s torch, and now I could see him smirking.

‘Don’t get scared that easily!’

‘Well, don’t go off without me in here…’ I scowled and went to his side so we could continue.

Heading on into the darkness was unnerving. I got out my torch too and we attempted to light the way, while Meowth went on a little ahead, since he was able to see well even without illumination. The cave started to widen out and we realised that the rocky tunnel was quite large, and from the eerie dripping noises I guessed that there was water down here, too.
It didn’t seem to be going too badly until an unexpected sound echoed through the cave, something like a slow, bellowing roar. We all stopped in our tracks until it faded away.

‘…Gary?’ I murmured, not daring to speak any louder, ‘What was that…?’

‘…I don’t know…’ was the helpful answer.

‘I bet there’s a big pokémon down here somewhere…’ I started to panic, ‘something huge and menacing and it’s going to attack us…!’ I took a few hesitant steps backwards, and stumbled, having tripped over a rock.

Then the rock moved and I realised it wasn’t actually a rock. It was a fairly irate Geodude.

I backed away from it nervously, but it had already decided that we needed to be punished, and picked up some hefty stones to throw at us. Immediately we all ran further down into the cave, trying to escape.

‘Way to look where you’re going!’ Gary voiced his annoyance as we fled.

‘Yeah, well, coming down here was still your idea…’

We all slowed down a little bit, having left the Geodude behind.

‘Let’s… let’s not do that again…’ Meowth groaned.

‘Well, where are we now?’ I said, looking about. The cave seemed the same as ever. ‘Lost?’

‘Nah, we’re not lost,’ Gary replied firmly. ‘We’re just somewhere where we don’t know where we are…’

I spun the torch about, finding that there was solid rock everywhere but the way we came. ‘…Is this a dead end?’

Meowth got scared all of a sudden, shaking and pointing at one side of the craggy wall. ‘Nope, it’s not a dead end!’

I finally saw what he was pointing at – there was an eye embedded in the rock. It blinked. It had already seen us. The entire cave seemed to shift as the monster moved itself, and we realised that most of this section of the tunnel was actually the body of a gigantic Onix.

The ground shook and trembled and we tried to get away, but the Onix’s movement had already sent this section of the cave crashing down. Rocks fell from the walls and ceiling and there was no visible way out, until Gary quickly spotted the small opening left where the Onix had been sleeping.

While the huge rock snake roared and wildly attacked, the three of us attempted to run past it and get through to the safe part of the cave… we all got through, thinking we had managed it, when more boulders fell from nowhere across the path, forcing us to jump out of the way. I focused only on avoiding the rubble, and ran on, gradually making it away from the dangerous area. But then when I looked around, catching my breath, I realised that the others were no longer with me, and I was completely alone.

Well, nothing else to do not but press on. At least I still had the rest of my team in their pokéballs, I rationalised. Surely I’d find my way back to Gary and Meowth at some point… as long as they were okay. For now, I didn’t stop to consider what might happen if they weren’t.
Then I heard it again, the echoing roar that had scared me earlier. I had assumed that it must’ve been the Onix… but now I could tell that it obviously wasn’t. Something else was making that sound… there it was again… and something about it didn’t seem that threatening now. In fact, now that I could listen carefully… it wasn’t a battle cry. Why didn’t I hear it sooner! I scolded myself for missing the real interpretation. It clearly sounded like a monstrous cry for help.
I continued my way into the cave, spurred on by determination to discover what was making these sounds. I found that the tunnel was becoming wider, opening out into a massive open cave…

Then I heard a splash, and found that I’d walked right into some water. Not just a puddle that I’d walked into, as I discovered by following the water with the torchlight – it was an entire lake that filled this cavern. It seemed like exactly the sort of place where a powerful monster pokémon might hide away, just keeping to itself, prepared to attack anybody who dared to intrude…

Something splashed in the water even though I was staying completely still. I didn’t know what to do – stay frozen? Run and hide? Maybe my understanding of the strange sounds was wrong…

Finally I managed to swing the torch to bring to light what was making the noise. …A pokémon, out in the water. It was smaller than what my imagination had expected… it seemed to be about the same height as me. Slowly, it swam closer to me.

Now that I could see it better, the pokémon appeared to be graceful. It was mostly blue, with a long neck and purple shell. Although relatively large, the pokémon seemed to have a calming aura, reassuring and non-threatening.

Speechlessly, I reached for my pokédex and opened it, hoping that it wouldn’t be startled…
‘Lapras, the transport pokémon,’ I was informed. ‘People have driven Lapras almost to the point of extinction. They will wander the sea, singing plaintively, as they search for others of their kind.’

‘That’s so sad…’ I whispered. I looked up gently at the Lapras. ‘That was you making those noises?’

Lapras nodded. I was slightly surprised. It was clearly intelligent. Then it whined again, in a forlorn, musical tone.

‘You’re… you’re really lonely, aren’t you…?’

I slowly reached up and stroked Lapras’s forehead. Her skin was cool and wet, and she seemed eager and nuzzled my hand.

‘I don’t want to just leave you here, so… you’re welcome to come along with me if you like. I’m in a group that travels with a lot of pokémon, so you won’t be lonely any more,’ I smiled, and she smiled back, nodding again and making joyful sounds. Excitedly, I got out a pokéball. ‘You’ll have to get in here, and I’ll take you out of the cave. Okay?’

Again she nodded, and craned her head down to the ball in my hand, nudging it. It opened, transforming her into red energy, and she was sucked into the ball. It snapped shut instantly.

Grinning widely, I left the cavern and went about looking for the exit at last. It took over an hour of stumbling around in the dark tunnels, then finally, it began to get lighter. Following the source was easy enough and eventually I ran out into the sunlight, slightly blinded by it after being adjusted to the dimness of the cave.

Even better, I saw Gary and Meowth nearby, waiting for me.