Chapter 1

I swung the hammer onto the last tent peg. I let go of the tent's tarp, and to my amazement, it didn't blow away. The tent stood firm. Only little parts of the cover swayed with the breeze.

"Whoo!" I shouted, pumping my tiny fists in the air as I jumped up. My pigtails bobbed when I turned around to face my mom, who stood with arms folded and a warm smile. "I told you I could set up the tent myself! I told you!"

Mom patted me on the head. "I never doubted you. I was just concerned for your safety. Girls your age shouldn't play with weapons."

"Mmhh!" I pouted while bending over, dropping the hammer. "I'm finally 10 years old! I can handle tools, just like the guys in class!"

"Guys like to posture. It's in their nature." Mom bent over to pick up the hammer, and then walked towards the bag that used to contain tent supplies. "Let's focus on us. We're finally doing that family weekend we've been talking about, just you and me." She began loading supplies into the once-empty bag.

I contested for a moment, furrowing my brow. "I guess you're right. What's our plan?"

In answer to this question, my stomach grumbled. I glanced around at the Wartortle faucet, the doctor oak trees surrounding us, the Torkoal grill, Mom's tent bag in front of all the other bags she brought, literally anything else in the campsite aside from Mom. Not that I enjoyed looking at the punny labels scattered throughout the campsite.

Mom, during my period of looking at things, walked over to her pile of cooking supplies. "Do you want an early dinner, Brenda?" she asked while opening the cooler.

"Nuh-uh." I gripped my stomach with my arm, scrunching the area of my navy blue logo top around my stomach. "Girls need to control what they eat. Otherwise, they can't get super-fit and wear any size clothing they like. I want options!"

"Don't mind the dumb crud people say on TV." Mom pulled out two Ziploc bags. One had sliced green peppers inside. The other contained chunks of paprika-seasoned Taur-Taur meat, my favorite variety. "Want dinner?" Mom asked.

I ran over to her and started jumping around the cooler. "Yes yes yes yes! Shish ka bobs! Shish ka bobs! Eating, grilling, munching, filling, perfect after day of milling!" Mom put down the bags and we high-fived with both hands. "Hahaha!" We laughed in unison.

Mom shook her head. "I can't believe you still recall that dumb jingle."

"I can't believe you don't have more verses." My attention stayed on the bags currently in the cooler, along with drinks and other perishable foods. Mom put the lid over our cooler. We're the only family in the world without a pokemon-powered cooler, I thought. And why is she closing it? I pouted.

"Why don't we go gather some sticks so I can start the fire?" Mom asked.

I formed an X with my hands. "No! I want faster dinner! I'll get the sticks myself, and you can prepare all the complicated stuff!"

"And let you go off into the woods on your own?" Mom shook her head. "I can't allow that. I know we're in an artificial wildlife-free zone, but there are still tons of ways you can injure yourself. And I won't know immediately!"

I took my backpack off my back and put it on the ground. I then pulled my cell phone from the pocket. "Yes you will! Wait, no, I don't mean I'll get injured. But, well, you know…"

Mom sighed. "I know you're looking to be independent. Like I said, you don't need to believe what the boys at school say. You can gain independence without endangering yourself."

Those words set off my tangent. "But it's at my age that people start doing all the cool stuff! Two kids became the best trainers in their regions by starting at age 10. I can at least do one thing on my own! They went to fight a bunch of monsters and came out on top! I'm just going to pick up some sticks!"

Mom pondered about this with folded arms. "If you're that determined, fine," she consented. "You have to be back in 20 minutes or less. Or I'm coming to find you, and you don't get to try something like this again until your next birthday!"

"Whaaaaah?" I pouted. "That's not fair! What if I take a wrong path?"

"Being independent means such things shouldn't worry you." Humming a tune once played on all of Goldenrod's stations once an hour, Mom started sticking meat and peppers onto foot-long wooden skewers.

I put the backpack on my shoulders. "You…believe in me, right?"

"Of course I do." Mom smiled back at me. "If you have a potential punishment, you'll be motivated enough to not break it, right?"

I set a timer on my phone for 20 minutes, pushed 'start', and shoved the phone into my backpack. "Berightback!" I shouted as I ran off, backpack on its rightful place, into the fake woods. Why am I running? Because it's fun, silly. I've only got 20 minutes for an adventure, and I gotta take advantage of it!

"Gasp, gasp!" I grasped my chest. Running stops being fun after too little time, I thought. I pulled out my phone. '17:33, 17:32', it read. I looked down and saw a couple of sticks. I picked them up and put them in my backpack. A couple steps forward, I saw another small bundle of sticks. I added them into the sack, only to note another bundle just a few steps forward.

I continued to follow these bundles until I walked pigtails first into a metal wire fence. We had entered through a door inside a wall, so I didn't see the what this fence had to do with anything. Weren't we in a walled-in area? My curiosity only built further once I saw a sign that read, "Warning: mountain prone to rock slide. Keep out unless authorized."

What I saw surrounding me caused me to drop the sticks I was holding. Just behind this fence was a huge mountain. I careened my neck upwards, yet I couldn't see the top. An electric current seemed to run through this fence. That contraption likely fended off any potential anthropomorphic attackers. Right? How did I not see this when I came in with Mom, I asked myself.

To my right stood the backside of a cavern. Its surface looked jagged. I couldn't see an entrance from where I stood. There were probably plenty of rock monsters and Zubats in the cave, if the books I've read have credible sources. But they wouldn't leave the cave to attack anyone outside. After all, the ranger promised Mom and I a pokemon-free vacation. Right?

None of my surroundings seemed very camp-y. Did I wander too far? Though Mom did say that I couldn't leave the camp grounds without a guide. Right?

"Someone answer me!" I shouted.

A large round object rolled towards me. "Aaaahh!" I shouted, covering my head and ducking. The round Pokemon rolled past me and collided with the fence. I found myself sitting on the ground, failing to comprehend what I just witnessed. Then, from the sky, I saw a man in a blue uniform fall. I wanted to back up, get out of his way, but I couldn't make myself move. The round pokemon, with its weird rocky exterior and four arms, jumped over me, catching the man in plaid and landing on my other side.

The man gave his pokemon a thumbs-up. "I'm good, Graveler. Thanks for the catch." He stood up, brushing his uniform for dust. His face went to the sky. "Damn patroller. Are these guys so desperate that they'd try to kill the police?"

"P-police?" I stammered out. What's going on? Are the police fighting criminals? But where are the criminals? Wait, why would anything like that be here?

"Oh, is someone there?" The ranger, or policeman, glanced in my direction. "Don't worry. I know the rangers around here. I'll direct you to…wait." He turned around to face me completely. "Oh god, a kid? How did you get here? Are we in the safe area? How far did I fall?"

"We're about to find out, officer." A voice came from behind a large bird as it landed right in front of us. Riding the bird, I could see a man in a full body suit in entirely red. "You coppers get in the way of our plans, so we've got to get rid of you. Nothing personal. It's just business."

"When your business hurts civilians, it's terrorism! Stopping you is our job! Graveler, rock throw!" Graveler tossed rocks at the bird while police-ranger person typed something onto his phone, which he hid behind his back.

Noting the rocks made the red person jump to my left while the big bird felt the brunt. "Pidjaa!" it shouted before falling to its side.

"Return, Pidgeot." The man held up a red and white sphere, which emitted a red light that surrounded Pidgeot, and it disappeared. "Take him down, Milotic!" He pulled out another sphere. After throwing it, another pokemon came out from an emission of red light, and the ball boomeranged back to his hand. "Aurora beam at 2 o'clock!"

"Milooo!" The elegant creature shot a pure white beam. A cold air hit my cheek as the beam shot past my left side and towards the wire fence. The light cut through the fence where the doorknob had been. The door creaked as it opened outwards, just dangling there. This all played out in front of my non-moving eyes.

The man in red spandex pointed at me. "Next time, I won't miss. So, if you really want to protect civilians, leave us to our business."

The danger finally hit me, and I froze in place. I'm going to die. There's pokemon on this turf. I'm alone. Mom isn't here. We didn't bring pokemon with us. What can I do against such power? "Ah…aaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed. Tears streamed down my face. "No! Everyone, go away! Leave me alone! Don't hurt me!"

"You bastard…" The cop glanced between me and the red person. I couldn't tell why he wasn't acting, or fighting, or running. Why just stand there?

For a moment, his face went blank. His right arm moved slightly. "Kid over there! You have pokeballs in your bag, right? Then send out your pokemon! I'll need you to fight too! I can't risk him taking you hostage!"

"W-what pokemon?" I looked up to see a blurry stand-off. "If you're a cop, why aren't you protecting me?

"So, you're resisting me, huh? Milotic!" The red man pointed toward me. "Aim for the brat's legs. A hostage is only useful when it's alive. Eh?"

As milotic prepped its mouth, I could only stare back at the incoming beam of white death.

WHAM!

A hard object hit the Milotic's body, and it fell over. When my senses came back, I saw a 4-legged lizard with armor standing on top of the collapsed Milotic, stomping repeatedly.

"Now!" the policeman shouted. I turned to face him. He pointed at the area of the fence that was once blocked. "Run to the cave nearby and get in the cart! I'll hold him here while you escape!"

"Wh-what?" I asked. "Where….how…"

He snapped his fingers. "Listen to me." I put my posture back together. "The cave entrance is just ahead. Find a cart. Loosen the hatches. He won't follow you. There's no time to explain further. Just go!" He turned back to the pokemon fight. "Lairon, use bulldoze!"

"Milotic, water pulse!"

The two pokemon struggled, but the water pulse pushed Lairon off. The policeman glared at me and gestured.

"G-got it!" I placed my backpack in my arms and ran outside the fenced area.

"Oh no you don't!" the red man shouted. On instinct, I looked back, and saw Lairon caught in Milotic's tail. "Use another aurora beam!" Light gathered in the Milotic's mouth. Preparing for the worst, I closed my eyes and covered my head.

"Graaah!" A strange shout got me to open my eyes. I saw Graveler intercept the blast. With part of his body iced over, he fell over. Though obviously hurt, he started throwing rocks with his upper arms while the bottom arms punched the ice off.

"Go!" police guy shouted. "I'm not letting a kid die!"

"S-sorry!" I nodded and ran away. Sounds of battle and screams occurred behind me. I didn't let any of it deter me.

Finally, out of breath, I arrived at the cave's entrance. I put one hand on the entrance. "Gasp, gasp, is he okay?" I turned around. The battle was still happening, but so far away that I could barely make it out. The Milotic seemed to have Lairon pinned. Is the policeman going to win?

A rumbling sound drowned out my doubts. I looked up and saw a torrent of rocks coming down the mountain. That Lairon had done it, for sure. I guess the policeman must be desperate. Run!

Scared of the death literally rolling towards me, I dashed into the cave. The scenery around me was pretty. Grey granite surrounded me on all sides of the cave. I ran forward, stepped on an uneven surface and fell onto my backpack. A lot of snaps followed. "Owww!" My knees had light scrapes, but the backpack absorbed most of the damage. "Stupid sticks!" I opened the front zipper and dumped out a lot of the branches that were now twigs.

After dumping sawdust from my backpack, I zipped it up and put it on my back. I walked forward, unable to move faster thanks to the pain in my knees. The more I walked, the darker everything got. I followed one of the walls, walking slowly yet assuredly.

Unfortunately, the path soon diverged. Two openings now stood before me. Looking down, I could see a few feet forward, but no further than that. I had to pick a path. The noise of the rock avalanche thundered outside. Whichever path I blindly chose, I couldn't risk turning around.

"Wait! I have a light!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I flipped it open to my Wigglytuff wallpaper. The light shining from my phone cast a tiny bit of additional light to my surroundings. I looked at my left path and saw a wall at the end. To my right, I saw…something different. The vague image looked cube-ish, and stood out from the cave walls around it.

I dashed to the right, keeping myself steady with balancing arms. After a couple steps, I reached the object. I gave the object an inspection from top to bottom. An open space with the opening in the shape of a square, five wheels, a lever holding the cart in place, and a track leading downward. I breathed a sigh of relief. "I made it," I said to nobody. "Why 5 wheels?"

I crouched downward. What I first thought was a wheel turned out to be a sphere. I grabbed it, and since it wasn't attached to the cart, I picked it up. Red upper half, white lower half, and a circular button in the center. It's a pokeball. Right, professional trainers keep pokemon in these. I pushed the button, but nothing happened. Nothing was inside. But something seemed to be outside?

I glanced at the top of the pokeball, and noticed a clump taped to the top. It appeared to be paper covering what felt like a large pill.

An angry shout broke my concentration. "Damned crazy cop. Saving the kid with an actual god damn rock slide." The voice sounded like the red person. My hand put the pokeball and attached whatever into my backpack. I undid the lever and jumped into the cart.

I leaned forward, and the cart started moving. Slowly, at first, only to speed up intensely. My grip weakened, so I hunched into the cart's exterior. Fortunately, a handle had been built into the bottom. I held on. My face winced every time a bump caught me off guard.

A beeping sound came from my bag. I unzipped it, reached inside, and found my phone going off. "Time completed," it read.

"That's right!" I shouted. "I need to tell Mom!" I touched the phone's screen and switched to my contacts. "Gwah!" The cart's path entered a sudden decline. I fell backwards into the cart, causing the phone to slip from my hands and out of the cart. "No!" I shouted, reaching into the darkness, but afraid to loosen my other hand's grip on the handle. Any noise of the phone landing was drowned out by the deafening rattle of the cart.

For the ride's remainder, I sat still and held tightly to my lifeline. "Mom…" Each bump of the cart nulled my longing to reunite. I no longer wanted to escape this cart. I was, at the least, safer than the policeman…or my last line of connection to Mom.