Well, I hope you enjoyed chapter one. This chapter contains battle sequences which I personally think I suck at. Comments are appreciated.

Chapter 2: The Cave

"So…this is beach cave." Deric shivered. "Lets hurry I hear pokemon are getting more aggressive lately." Luke was ready if he had to fight his way to Koffing and Zubat, but he knew it wouldn't be as easy for Deric to make the trip.

"I can do this!" Deric suddenly yelled. He either could sense Luke's doubt or was trying to motivate himself. As they traversed the maze like cave the moss like walls carried an unpleasant scent, the farther they got the more rancid it became. There was also water seeping into the cave creating deep pools of water.

"Shhh…what was that?" Luke heard a strange noise.

"A pokemon?" Deric started to panic. "What if its aggressive? I don't want to fight, I can if I have to, but I don't." Luke realized he was trying to make excuses.

"Look!" Luke was staring at the mossy wall.

"Ah! Oh… its just an anorith, that's not scary. Hey lil' buddy." Deric smiled. It wasn't a buddy of him though, it leaped off the wall at Deric. It was a direct hit and Deric screeched in shock and pain. Anorith was still on top of Deric, so Luke shot it off with a water gun.

"Quick Deric finish it off!" The anorith was stunned by the attack, it seemed it had no battle experience, like Deric, Luke laughed to himself.

"O-ok." Deric tackled the anorith and it ran away defeated. "I-I did it! Woohoo! Deric faced his fear of being a coward, Luke smiled at his little buddy.

"Don't get overconfident yet. Its just the beLukening." That seemed enough to bring back Deric's careful side, he nodded in agreement. As they continued it lead them deeper into the earth's crust. They ran into more and more aggressive pokemon.

"I think that's almost twenty now, its getting tiring, but at least we keep winning. I finally think I got the hang of this."

"First of all, why are you counting? And second we still have to fight Zubat and Koffing." Luke said panting.

"Don't worry I remember, and it's a accomplishment for me." That bruised Deric's growing ego, probably a good thing. They finally reached their destination, the end of the cave, a underwater cavern. It was a flat area, the edges guarded by a mix of stalagmites and stalactites. Beyond the rock fence was water, and beyond that nothingness. Yet in between it all was their target, Zubat and Koffing. Oblivious of Luke and Deric's arrival they continued to boast and laugh about being rich and how strong they thought they were.

"Are you sure about that?" Luke said in his own condescending tone. Stunned by the fact they came Zubat and Koffing were speechless, all they could do was wait, they didn't plan for them to even show up.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Deric said mockingly. Everyone was it was him of all pokemon. "So, are going to fight are what, I want back what's mine."

"Of course… we were just waiting to see if you would run in fear."

"Lies! Now fight!" Luke screamed, prepared for their first big fight. Zubat and Koffing finally realized they weren't kidding and posed themselves for battle. They ran at each other one, against another. Koffing shot out poison gas and mudkip dodged, Deric didn't. Luke countered with a water gun and directly hit Koffing. While Koffing was dazed by the power of the attack, Luke saw zubat creeping closer to Deric. Deric was coughing violently and couldn't focus. Luke quickly ran over and tackled Zubat giving time for the gas to fade and Deric was able to catch his breath, when he was breathing normally again he was motivated to strike and strike hard. Both sides were facing each other again, silent, the only sound were their breaths and the water cascading from the stalactites.

"Lets finish this. We charge, dodge behind them, and strike!" Deric nodded, still having trouble breathing from the poisonous gas. You could see the fear in his eyes but we was also ready to end this. Luke signaled with a nod and they charged, the other side charged back. When they were almost face to face the dashed to the side, spun around, and while Koffing and Zubat were still confused, Luke shot his water gun and Deric his bullet seed. Koffing and Zubat flew across the cavern and crashed into a stalagmite.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Luke said satisfied with his victory.

"Now give me back my treasure!" Deric said shaking with excitement and filled with adrenaline.

"Ow… that hurt…" Koffing moaned, crinLukeg with pain.

"Fine, take back your dumb rock, your lucky I didn't just chuck it." Zubat said throwing the stone back at Deric.

"We'll be back. Next time I tell ya." Koffing protested while him and Zubat wobbled out of the cave.

"I'm so glad we got it back. My dad would be so proud." Deric's eyes were brimming with tears at the thought, but knew it wasn't a time to cry.

"I feel accomplished, now lets get out of this cave." Luke said, his ego growing. With a grin on their faces they made their way out of the cave, chatting the whole way, with no other pokemon to bother them. When they were back at the entrance they both collapsed on the beach with a sigh. They lied on the beach quietly until Deric broke the silence.

"So… thanks again for helping, I couldn't have done it without you." he said smiling.

" Its not a problem." Luke said smiling back.

"I know this is sudden but… would you join a rescue team with me?" Deric's eyes glistened with hope.

"Well…okay, I accept. Anyway by doing this I might be able to discover how I became a pokemon." Luke secretly also wanted to join because it sounded exciting.

"Great! Lets head to the guild! Deric's eyes sparkled. They took the path straight up the beach to the dome shaped guild. Deric explained the grate from his previous encounter as he made his way onto it. After the grate said its usual lines it asked for the next pokemon, Luke, to step onto the grate. He heard the same lines as Deric but it ended with "You may enter." The large gate into the guild slowly opened, as they walked in Deric confessed how nervous he was when the voice called to him on the grate, Luke agreed that it startled him too. The only thing inside the dome was a ladder, a ladder leading down into the ground.

"Th-this is it? Do we go down the ladder?" Deric said confused.

"I think so." Luke stated as they head down the ladder ready for this new adventure.