Author Notes: Ok Readers, I have finally gotten around to rewriting the next chapter of my story, so I hope you enjoy my improvements, please review if you have any comments, even insults (I insult myself all the time, I can take it from you all). Complements (I don't really complement myself much but you can if you want). Or anything else, just don't cuss me out, I get enough of it from my dad.

Intro

It was hours later before the search party was forced to give up the search for Joseph and Leah. The fall of night made the woods unsafe with some of the wild Pokemon, and Team Rocket running around. The group had been searching for the two kids for the past few hours and had had no luck whatsoever, not even finding a clue to their where abbots. The trail of blasts ended at a cliff, leaving no clues. The search party sadly left until the safety of the morning came. Hoping the teens could survive the night in the woods.

The people held their breath as they hoped the pair would be safe, one knew for a fact, he knew his friends and knew how well they knew the woods, they would be fine, he could almost guarantee it. The adventure continues now.

Poke Wars: Chapter 2: The Mysterious Cave

"Ugh" The poor teen said as he rubbed his sore head, his body was aching from the fall they had taken, heck, he believed it to be a miracle they survived, and he heard a faint breathing in the background, which he assumed was Leah.

He winced in pain as his leg throbbed like crazy; it had swollen and was hurting like crap. His muscles ached and were sore from some the battles with the grunt's Pokemon. His head spun around as well as what little of the area he could see. He found it extremely hard to even attempt to stand without collapsing on the ground. He quickly grabbed his hat and put it back on his head.

Hearing Leah budge, he quickly got over her. She was not in good shape either; she was all scratched up and bruised. Her leg was pinned by a rock, and blood was pouring from it. Joseph worked at the rock with no avail; all he could do was to lift it a few inches up. The lessoning of the pain seemed to affect her as she let out a groan, and stirred a little. With a huge struggle, he lifted the rock again and tried to balance it on his leg. The heavy weigh bared on his leg as he worked quickly. He grabbed and carefully lifted her leg and moved it from underneath of the rock. She squired and slowly cringed in pain. With great care, he moved her foot from underneath and out of the way. Quickly moving his leg, the rock slammed down with a great clash. The sound echoed throughout the area and vibrated. Joseph sat back, exhausted even though he had barely done much work. His muscles ached from the heavy lifting. He let out a hard breath.

He heard a loud sigh and a grunt coming from the form behind. Turning around, with great pain, his friend was slowly waking up as she stirred even more. Her eyes slowly opened and she tried to stand up. She shook with pain as the effort and He forced her back down.

"Ugh. What Happened?" She asked in a strained voice, she shook with pain.

"I don't know," Joseph responded back, "Last I remember, we jumped off the cliff to escape the Rocket grunt, and then I blacked out, and nothing."

"Where are we?" She asked as she winced at the pain, she tried to move her leg, and quickly decided against it.

"See previous answer" Joseph responded as he moved over to her leg. He quickly tore off a piece of his shirt and started to dress her wound. She cried out in pain as he tried to wash it. Her teeth were clenched as he tightly wrapped the wound with another piece of cloth. He lifted her leg unto the rock carefully before continuing on with the conversation.

"What time is it?" She asked suddenly as she shot up. Again Joseph had to force her back down.

"Don't worry about it, just relax." Joseph said as he put her leg up again, he then finally managed to hobble up and limp around. It was obvious after a few seconds that they were in a giant round room. Looking up, he could faintly see the stars, but the opening was smaller than he would have originally thought, letting in little light. Hobbling around, he noticed many sticks lying on the ground, he silently gathered them and brought them back to the area where Leah was, a few trips and he was able to make a small pile. After that, he spent the next few minutes frustrated and trying to light a fire. After many failures, some language, and some aggravating yells, he finally managed to get a small blaze going, it soon traveled through the rest of the pile, letting off heat and illuminating the cave.

The walls around them were covered from the ceiling with strange paintings, some look images looking like great warriors, with others showed those killed in battle. Many depicted a great struggle between Humans and Pokemon, while others depicted a battle between one group of humans with their Pokemon, versus another group. There was strange writing all around the walls, looking like some ancient dialect. Looking around for paths, there were a few some paths going from the main room.

"What is this place?" Leah asked in curiosity while looking around at the drawings, she noticed a main focus was the death of many of the warriors.

"It kinda reminds me of some sort of shrine," Joseph said in reply "I guessing honoring those who had fallen in battle"

"Does that mean that this is a tomb?" Leah asked sounding a little frightened.

"Maybe" Joseph said as he walked up to the walls. He briefly went down some of the side tunnels, but was cautious to stay within the light of the fire. "It looks like a labyrinth." He called out while returning to the main room.

"So if this is a tomb, where is everyone buried?"

"Probably all over the place," Joseph responded sitting down near the fire. "The maze is a good place to protect grave robbers and other such people. Those who tried to dishonor the graves could find themselves trapped in the maze of tunnels forever. Heck, I would not be surprised if there were traps of some sort,"

"Really, traps" Leah said in a humorous tone.

"Why not?" Joseph said "Back in ancient times, a warrior was one of the most important things in ancient societies, they always honored the fallen warriors, it'd make sense that they make ways to protect their resting places right.

"I guess" Leah said looking back at the fire. "So what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," Joseph said grimly "I would say we climb up the way we came, but with your leg, it would be impossible for you to climb up, and I refuse to leave you behind."

"So how are we going to get out?" Leah replied back with a grim tone

"I say we wait until daybreak, then try and explore more of the tunnels, seeing if there is an easy way to reach the surface"

"That is kinda a long shot isn't it" Leah asked resting her head on a nearby rock.

"Yeah, but it is the only option we got, not unless you want to live here the rest of your life" Joseph laughed as he grabbed a stick and started poking at the fire. Sparks flew as the stick hit the charred remains of destroyed sticks.

"True" She replied calmly. He immediately could tell she would getting tired

"Get some rest" he said getting up. "I'll keep watch for anything out of the ordinary"

"You sure?" She asked, since when is he courteous she thought to herself.

"Yes, just get some rest; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." He saw as he threw more wood unto the fire. They cracked and then fell into the inferno, Joseph perched himself up on a rock and stared at the starry sky. He was unsure and confused, even while trying to act brave, he saw little chance, anyone who knew they were down here would not do anything about it. They were too far away from any towns to be discovered, and with both of their injuries. It seemed hopeless at this point; he only hoped they would have some luck tomorrow.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T FIND THEM" Delia yelled at Professor Oak. She had just found out that her son was missing, and now she hers they can't find him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU FORCE THE GRUNT TO TELL YOU, YOU IMBECILES?"

"Because he ran off as soon as we saw him we didn't even get a good look at him." Oak snapped back

"Why didn't you capture him" Delia said still furious.

"He was going back to base, we couldn't follow him back to a bunch of Rockets, do you want us all killed." Oak said "Don't worry, they'll be fine"

"They'd better" She said as she looked out the window toward the forest.

A cool breeze awoke Joseph the next morning, the fire had gone out and he was on the ground. He awoke with a grog and picked himself up. He quickly grew tired last night and fell asleep, the early morning sun was shining down into the hole and lighting up the cave, the walls were shining with dew and he heard the sound of birds flying above the hole.

His friend was still asleep near the fire pit, her leg still propped up on the rock like the night before. She was shivering from the early morning cold; Joseph quickly gathered some more sticks, which were sparser than the night before, and built another fire, none the easier than last night.

His stomach growled as he sat down, they had just came out to hang out, and had brought only food for lunch, but now that was at their cave and not accessible from here. There was nothing that looked edible around the cave and he did not want to try to find anything is this hole.

"!" A deep voice vibrated throughout the cave, the fire instantly went out and Leah shot up in surprise, but quickly slumped in pain

"What the heck is that!" She said trying to get up. Joseph quickly shoved her back down and grabbed a burnt stick from the fire. His gloves protected him as he crept towards the tunnels; he heard loud stomps as the source seemed to be coming closer to them. It roared out again as it got closer, the large monster finally came into view, turning the corner and heading right for them.

It was a giant Aggron, the giant goliath steel type clambered right at him. When it steeped into the room it growled and charged right at Joseph who was behind the corner, the small teen barely escaped being pulverized as the giant Pokemon slammed right past him, with amazing speed it stopped and charged at him again. Joseph dodged and slammed the rod into his back, the beast barely seemed to acknowledge the blow as it swiped and slammed the rod in half. The two pieces slid across the floor. The Pokemon finally noticed Leah on the ground and began to charge at the defenseless girl.

Without thinking, Joseph jumped unto the large Pokémon's back to distract it. It bucked around trying to get the small kid off. Joseph held on tight as the Pokemon grew into frenzy, grabbing its horn to trying and control, the Aggron grew even more furious at his grasp. Not my best plan, he thought as the Pokemon started to run around. Leah had slowly gotten up and was not limping out of the way and into a small tunnel off the main room. While he was distracted watching her, the Aggron was charging towards a wall. It rammed into the wall causing huge chunks of dirt to fall from the hole above. It then turned around and slammed its back against the wall, crushing his body into the wall, he barely hung on as he tried again, this time much harder, Joseph slid off and fell to the ground in pain. He felt like all of his bones were crushed and he was gasping for breath, blood poured from multiple wounds as he laid there, barely able to look up, as the Pokemon slowly made its way towards his prize, his giant foot lifted up over his head as it prepare to crush him to death, he gasped for air as he tried to move, he was still to dazed and in pain to do anything.

He was just about slam down when a rock crumbled down on his head. He screeched at the ceiling as another rock hit him in the head. He shot a beam at the ceiling and more rock shot down, many chunks barely missing Joseph as the slammed down, causing the large steel type pain.

A Hyper Beam suddenly slammed into his head, the rock Pokemon collapsed to the ground fainted, turning his eyes up, he saw the grunt from yesterday staring right at him with a ledge.

"Great Job Golbat," The grunt said as he returned the large bat, he looked at Joseph "Looks like the two of them are toast, meaningless in the long run, I'll find someone else to fill my purpose." He laughed as he climbed back up and walked out of view, there was now a huge hole above them, much of the walls were destroyed, and they could clearly see the mid-morning sun.

Leah managed to limp out of her cover and hobble over to her fallen friend. He was in bad shape, there was a lot of blood pouring from his back, and his left arm looked crushed, along with his legs. She could tell that he had already whited out. She got down and started to work on him, trying her hardest to get the plug up the blood. After an hour of work, she finally managed to get most of it stopped up, but some still escaped. He had started to squirm after about 30 minutes, and looked like he was finally waking up.

Looking up at the sky, she could tell it was about noon, the sun was right over them and blazing down, light completely filled the cave, illuminating what little remained of the walls. Besides the fallen Aggron and Joseph, she could see no sign of life whatsoever. The large beast was heavily damaged and was clearly knocked out; he looked like he was not going to wake up for quite some time.

"Ughhhh" the boy in front of her said as he finally came to. He quickly rolled on his back and looked up at her; she noticed he was holding his left arm tightly against his chest. He quickly got up before she could say anything and walked over to the fallen Pokemon, laying a hand on its head, the Pokemon didn't move he grabbed his horn and lifted it. It didn't make any reaction at all. He picked up a rock and slammed it into his head, again no response whatsoever was made, finally he placed a hand and the Pokémon's chest, keeping it there for a few minutes. At that he finally spoke.

"It's dead" He said grimly as he took his hand off of him, the Pokemon and still not moved a muscle. "That is what a hate about Team Rocket, they are willing to hurt anyone they want and they don't care about life or anything." He looked down at the fallen Pokemon, his mouth was severely burned, the blast had obviously gone into the monster's mouth, yes, he did know the beast was trying to kill him, yes, he had attack and wounded him, but he did not want anything like this to happen, not to a living creature.

"That is what makes us different" His friend spoke up. "We care about each other"

"And it causes us pain, while we lose everyone we care about one by one, my father, your parents, Dillon's mom, Tyler, the list goes on and on."

"But we can't stop caring,"

"I not saying we should,"

"Than what are you saying?"

"I can't stand it" He said as he got up off the ground, he then started to walk towards a tunnel. Not looking back at his friend.

"Where are you going?" She asked after him"

"To find a way out" He replied without even turning around. She scowled under her breath and then hurried to catch up with him.

"Slow down!" She called after him. Slowed down by her leg

"No time" He said stopping to wait for her; he then supported her as he went off again

"What is the hurry?" She said as they walked down the tunnels, constantly changing directions.

"That Aggron is dead, if I am right, there are more Pokemon down here, when they discover him dead, and it won't take them long, they will look for anyone who might be responsible, and I'll guarantee that they will find us fast and not be reasonable.'

"Good point" She said as she tried to pick up the pace. The pair quickly made their way along the tunnels, looking for any paths that sloped up. Joseph reasoned that if they kept going closer to the surface, they would eventually find an exit.

It was not long before they heard a loud roar far behind them. Her heart sped up realizing what it meant, they had found their friend, and was not happy about it.

Joseph quickly sped up his pace, nearly caring his friend as he raced down the paths he could hear the wild Pokemon behind them charging closer having already picking up their scents. They could barely handle one, let alone dozens. He swooped down and told Leah to get on his Pokemon, Man I glad my mom made me follow her to the gym all these years, He thought to himself, though his friend did not weigh much for her young age, he still felt a strain on his back as he managed to stand up. He could made his way again at a somewhat faster pace, the weight on his back slowed him down much as he made his way down the tunnels, he soon found himself tired out after about five minutes but he moved on, he had to, for both their sakes.

Quickly rounding the corner, he saw a Rhydon coming down the path he had just taken; he nearly sprinted at the sight of the thing and made for as many side tunnels as he could. At this point it was not possible to tell where they were in terms of above ground, nor could he tell exactly how far they had gone, for all they knew, they could be near the big room again. He slid behind a wall as the giant Pokemon came into view again, he slowly made his way down a side tunnel, finding it a dead end. He crouched down and Leah hopped off his back as they both watched for the giant Pokemon.

Joseph knew it would not be too big for him to easily fit in this tunnel, but Joseph knew he would have no trouble busting through or attacking it or just plain blasting them. He only hoped that it would run right past them.

"Ugh" Dillon yelled as he slammed his fist again the wall, the frustrated boy had been searching for his friends, since dawn. Going through the woods checking any place they might be; now he was back at the destroyed cave, having gone their last and finding it totally ruined. He tried to go about clean up the area, and picking up the drawings and writings, along with throwing out all of his carvings, by the time he had gotten to the cave the sun was starting to set, now it was dark outside as he finished cleaning up the area.

He knew it would be too dark to go back now; the area would be too dangerous. He quickly went to the corner and uncovered the blankets they had carried there during the early winter. The sky looked dark like it might snow, and the air was freezing, he quickly went to fix the makeshift door. Looking out over the hideout, he realized they had done a pretty decent job over the past few months, after agree with the old children that they were too old for school and would not benefit from staying there, they were allowed to roam and do as they wished, as long as they stayed within the city. The trio had not listened and went out into the forest, quickly finding the cave that would be ideal to hide away. They had fixed it up with the help of Dillon's tools, making room for storage, chairs, hiding places, even and escape tunnel, which he did not want to go down right now. They had done an excellent job with it, having, if they wanted to, the things need to live out here. They had even made a good door when it had started to get cold that completely sealed up the cave in case they ever wanted to spend the night, they had never been able to though, since they had to get back to the town.

Dillon went outside looking for the door. The woods were dark and there were many noises about the air. Dillon quickly spotted the wooden door and grabbed it. Putting into place and hearing it snap shut, he quietly opened it and went inside making a makeshift bed from the covers, the moon was up and he pulled out his Poke gear, calling back to Pallet.

"WHERE ARE YOU" A hysterical Delia came on screen, "You had better get back here or you will be in trouble,"

"I can't" Dillon biting his lip want for the yelling

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T, DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE LOST TOO." She screamed

"No, I'm about a mile away from Pallet; it would be too dangerous for me to make it back since my Pokemon are weak from searching all day long."

"Where are y-"

"Calm down Delia" the Professor said pushing her out of the way "Where are you exactly?" He asked.

"Near the cliff" Dillon said

"Do you have any shelter?"

"Well" He said unsure if he should reveal the cave to them, the three would be toast. "I am in a cave" He finally said

"What cave, there are none big enough like the one it looks like you are in, well none that are easy to get into." The professor said "Where did you find it"

Crap He thought at the question, there was no way he could get away with a lie, the professor always seemed to catch them, plus he did know that they were leaving town every day, maybe he might be better than Mrs. Ketchum.

"In a small alcove the three of us discovered."

"What do you mean the three of us" Delia yelled as she came closer, Oak again pushed her out of the way.

"So that is where the three of you have been going all this time."

"What!" She yelled "You knew about this"

"Not exactly" The professor responded again pushing her out of the way. "How covered is it?"

"Completely, there is thick walls and a stone roof, and the other two sides there are thick trees that make a wall with no gaps," Dillon said "With the door we made it completely keeps the could out."

"Door?" The professor asked curiously "Was this door on the ground a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah," Dillon replied "Why?"

"My son should be around there" The professor said looking at the woman who was again beside him "He had been hoping to find a place to get out of the cold so he could begin the search easier tomorrow, he has a few others with him too, would they be able to fit.?"

"Them and then some" Dillon responded back

"Good, then why don't I call them and they can join you, if you don't mind, that would be safer."

"Alright" Dillon said "I'll wait outside for them." He finished as he hung up. He pulled out his Poke balls

"Go Onix, Geodude, Growlithe" He called as he threw the balls; the exhausted Pokemon appeared before him. "Time to relax guys" He said. Onix and Geodude roared in pleasure as they went off, the giant snake Pokemon went up to the ceiling to a few tall crawl space where the giant snake slithered in. Geodude soon followed him and laid down at the entrance. Growlithe walked around the alcove familiarizing himself with it again, his nose was flying as he was easily able to tell someone was here. At multiple places he started to growl. The dog eventually made his way over to the makeshift bed and laid down on the covers content.

"I'll be right back" He said to his rest Pokemon as he opened the door to the cave. He walked around trying to find some wood for a fire, gathering a pretty decent pile in his arm as there seemed to be an excess of branches on the ground. He put them in the middle of the cave and asked for Growlithe to light it. The fire was soon light and blazing, the smoke filing out into the many holes in the ceiling and walls, Dillon opened the door to guide the people to cave when something in the tall grass caught his eye. It gleamed off the light of the fire and shone out. After checking around he moved out into the night to investigate. The mysterious object continued to glimmer from the light of the fire unto Dillon came right up to it and saw it with horror.

It was his carving night, except it was covered with blood. He carefully picked up the handle of the blade, starring at it with horror filled eyes, searching the ground for the body of Joseph or Leah. He was at least calmed down when he found no sign of blood except the pool where he found the knife.

CRACK! Dillon jumped when he heard the sound, on the tips of his toes since he found the weapon.

"Hey Dillon" Samuel Oak said behind him, he saw multiple people enter the small cave. "Interesting place you guys found, I'm impressed with some of the things you have done." It was then that Samuel noticed the young boy's grim expression. "What's wrong" He said suddenly as he looked down at what he was holding so cautiously, he eyes widened as he saw the bloody knife.

"Where did you find that" the man said with extreme interest. "What is that?" He followed up.

"To answer your questions" Dillon responded his voice still shaking from the discovery. "That is my carving knife, which I left in the cave, I just found it right there in that pile of blood"

The man quickly called some guys out of the cave, telling them to search the area for any clues "You go inside and rest up." He said to Dillon before he took off. "You have done enough today." He said as he led the boy back inside, about half of the men were staying back in the cave while the other four went off searching for clues. Dillon laid down beside his Growlithe starting out of the door into the night sky.

The Rhydon was right in front of the pair down the path, the both of them silently slid backwards, trying to get as far away as they could from the Rhydon, there was not even enough space for them to be side by side. The giant beast was sniffing the air for their scent, slowly turning in their direction. Leah backed up again and hit the wall. They had nowhere else to go as the beast finally saw them turning full around to them. Leah backed up again and the wall slid back, a small hole opened up and she fell into it. Joseph dived in after her disappearing into the hole as well. The beast looked confused as the hole sealed up again. His prey disappearing.