Ash felt himself get dragged around a corner and into a small side chamber. There were lamps lighting it. At last he could see it was soldiers who had accosted him. They were not in the same uniform as the Cerulean soldiers. In the cave was another soldier, an officer by the look of it.
"Sir, it looks like—" began one soldier.
"Ssh!" interrupted the officer. "Where did you find him?"
"He was sneaking into the tunnel, captain."
"Sneaking?" objected Ash.
"Who are you?" the officer asked Ash.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town."
"Then why are you dressed as a Cerule?"
"The answer depends on who you are."
One of the two soldiers holding him twisted his arm. Ash winced but did not make a sound.
"Easy," said the officer. "He's probably on our side." He examined Ash. "On the other hand, he could just as easily be a Cerulean spy."
"Are you Cerulean or Pewter?" asked Ash.
"Can't you see we're in Pewter uniform?"
"That's something you don't learn growing up in Pallet."
"All I can see before me is a kid in Cerulean rags."
"And if you were from Pewter, you'd know who I am."
Just then, Ash heard a noise coming from the tunnel, footsteps, accompanied by a louder sound, like rocks clashing and scraping. At first, he was alarmed, thinking there was some kind of battle, but the others remained calm. Troops passed by. Then, when the sound reached its peak, Ash saw them. Huge monsters, each made of boulder after boulder joined like a chain, sliding past, like enormous weedles, only far more deadly by the look of it. Ash counted three go past. They were followed by more troops.
The last soldier left the file and came into the chamber.
"Sir, we're ready to—" He stopped when he saw Ash. "Captain, can I talk freely?"
"I'm not certain yet—"
"Look," Ash interrupted, "if you're heading for the entrance, there's a charizard there. You won't get past it."
"What's a charizard supposed to be?" said the officer. "A story to stop us attacking I suppose. If it's a monster, our onix will be more than a match. There indestructible."
The officer walked into the tunnel. He turned to the two soldiers guarding Ash. "Let go of him but keep him here. I'll be back as soon as I can to deal with him." He turned to Ash. "After I've destroyed the Cerulean forces you're spying for."
"Wait—" said Ash but was cut off with an arm twist. The officer went off with the newcomer.
The men let Ash go but told him to sit down. He did so.
"Look, I'm Ash from Pallet. I'm King Samuel's representative. You guys gave me these clothes."
"Shut up," said one of the men. "As if we're gonna believe that."
Ash was not worried about himself at that moment. He was confident that someone would know who he was before he got into any serious trouble. But he was worried about the conflict that would occur in a few moments when they tried to get past Charizard. Someone was very likely to get hurt.
He tried to remember something he read in the book Rose showed him, that different types of monsters are weak or strong against other types. Come to think of it, it didn't say anything about fire-breathing monsters. Maybe whoever wrote the book didn't know about them. It stood to reason that water won against fire, but fire against rock?
Then it hit him. The book did say something about rock monsters, that water was their enemy.
"The squirtles! Cerulean's got squirtles! And blastoise!"
"What are you blabbing about?" said one of the guards.
"You can't win against Cerulean with those rock monsters. They can't win a fights against squirtles because they'll shoot them with water."
"Yeah right. More lies to try stopping us," said the other guard.
"You heard the captain," said the first. "Our onix are indestructible."
"Sorry guys," said Ash.
"Sorry for what?"
Ash shrugged. "For what I've gotta do."
Ash jumped up, pivoted, and side-kicked one of the guards in the guts. He fell back, winded. The other guard tried to grab him. Ash evaded his arms and threw an uppercut into his jaw. The guards were in too much pain to stop Ash escaping. He entered the tunnel and followed the light of the troops' lamps back to the tunnel entrance.
Just as Ash reached them, he heard Charizard's roar, followed by men shouting. He tried to push his way past the soldiers, but was stopped straightaway.
"Who are you?" asked one of the soldiers.
"I'm Ash. I helped free Misty."
"What are you doing here? You look like you're from Cerulean."
Not again! Weren't any of these guys briefed about his mission? Before he had a chance to explain, there was more commotion ahead.
"We're ordered to pull back," said a soldier. "The captain's going to use an onix to fight that monster."
Ash tried to push forward, but was grabbed and pulled back.
"It's too dangerous up there, kid," said the soldier who had relayed the order.
"But Charizard might listen to me."
"Why take the chance? Our onix'll get rid of it."
"But it's on our side—why make it angry?"
He heard roars from up ahead, one from the charizard and another from what must be one of the onix. Then he saw the two soldiers who were guarding him before approach from behind. He dashed ahead into the crowded tunnel, ignoring the shouts of warning and protest, and pushed his way forward.
He spotted the captain. In the mean time there were more roars, a flash of heat and light and a crash of rock against rock. Dust and particles crumbled from the ceiling.
Ash reached the captain.
"Make them stop!" Ash called out.
"Hey, how'd you get here?" said the officer.
Ash saw the onix lunge forward. Charizard jumped back and let loose another burst of flame. The onix received the full force of it and roared.
"Please, Charizard, listen to me!" Ash called out.
The onix lunged forward again, this time striking Charizard's belly. Charizard was pushed back, but remained upright. It attempted to take a breath, but the onix rammed it again. Charizard went down.
Ash made to go forward, but the officer held him back.
"Squeeze it!" called out a soldier who seemed to be the onix's trainer.
"No wait!" Ash yelled out. "Charizard's on our side!"
The onix hesitated.
"What's your order captain?" asked the trainer.
"Go ahead!" ordered the officer.
"No!" Ash cried.
"Squeeze it!" the trainer called out to his onix.
The delay, however, was enough for Charizard. It righted itself up, drew breath, jumped and twisted itself around full circle. At the same time, a pillar of fire issued from its mouth and nostrils. The pillar closed in on the onix. Within moments, it was engulfed in a whirlwind of heat and flame. Dazed and confused, the onix failed to attack. The captain let go of Ash to shield his face from the heat.
Ash was amazed at the power of both monsters. He had never witnessed such an intense battle. While everyone else was likewise distracted by Charizard's attack, Ash seized his chance and darted forward, past the onix and up to Charizard. There was no point to either of them being here—he would have to solve matters his own way.
"Charizard," he said, "can you help me find Pikachu?"
Charizard looked at the onix. Ash could have sworn he saw a look of disdain on Charizard's face. Charizard turned to face the tunnel exit and lowered his left side. Ash jumped on and grabbed tightly.
Meanwhile the flame dissipated. The onix took aim, reared and lunged, aiming to bite Charizard's tail. Charizard leapt forward and spread its wings. The onix's head came down, missed by a finger's breadth and crashed onto the ground. Outside the tunnel, Charizard took off and Ash felt exhilaration once again.
