Chapter 7: Closed

The resounding echo of footsteps could be heard as Jack and Kai made their way through Oreburgh Tunnel. The cave was lined with smooth walls due to it having been dug out many years ago as the easiest route between the two cities on either side. Lights were also dotted along the main passageway creating eerie shadows on the rock, and highlighting the deep patches of darkness that led to the inner tunnels.

'I'm glad we don't have to go down those other routes,' Jack muttered warily. 'Who knows what could be living in here.'

'How do you know if there isn't anything following you?' retorted Kai, a sly grin on his face.

Jack immediately twisted around in panic, only to see the calm of the otherwise empty cave.

'Don't scare me like that!'

Kai laughed.

'Don't worry. Lucky for you I want to get to the gym as soon as possible. Otherwise I would be exploring those tunnels.

Jack didn't look entirely convinced, but his expression relaxed as a bright patch of light ahead of them indicated the exit.

Oreburgh City was small in comparison to the bustling Jubilife, helped by the fact that it was surrounded by mountains and trees which gave it a much more rural impression. Rows of silver posts stood in between brick buildings; Jack identified these as air vents for exchanging air with the underground network, which ran underneath the entirety of the Sinnoh region.

It didn't take long for Kai, followed by Jack, to weave himself around the empty streets and end up standing outside a large dome-like building that could only be Oreburgh Gym.

'This is it,' whispered Kai, 'time to get myself my first badge.'

He pushed on the huge doors.

Nothing happened.

Kai's expression suddenly fell like one of the many pebbles that would tumble from the walls of Oreburgh Tunnel. For a second he just stood there, but then he started banging against the solid entrance with clenched fists, causing enough noise to put an Exploud to shame.

'Let. Me. In. NOW!' Kai yelled. 'Gyms are supposed to be open all the time and I want my badge! Do you know how many years I have been waiting for this moment?'

Jack attempted to grab hold of Kai's flailing arms, 'Kai, shut up before you wake the whole town up! It's early in the morning and for your information, gyms do have the right to set opening hours.'

Kai moaned in annoyance, but to Jack's immense relief, he ceased his assault on the doors.

'Is something wrong?' spoke a voice.

The boys turned to see the head of an old man sticking out of the window of the house to the left of the gym.

Jack face palmed, and Kai proceeded to taking out his fury on the bespectacled man with receding brown hair.

'How come the gym's locked?' he asked the man accusingly.

For some reason, understanding appeared on the old man's face and he sighed. 'What did I say? I told Rokki to put a notice on the door and what does he do? Run off to the mine no doubt and leaving no message for the trainers who would inevitably want to challenge him today. When that boy comes back he'll be getting a good telling off I tell you.'

'Huh?'

'Oh never mind, come in, feel free to make yourself at home here while we wait for my son to come back.'

'Your son?'

'Yes my son,' shouted the man impatiently, withdrawing his head from the window. Less than a minute later a lock clicked and the wooden door swung open with a gentle creak.

Kai shrugged, and he and Jack entered the house.

Inside, the old man (or the Gym Leader's father as he now was) was in the process of placing a plate of cakes on what they could only guess was the kitchen table. Every surface in the room was covered in stuff including stacks of dusty books, rocks with bits of skeleton sticking out and much more which was unidentifiable to the boys. Two doors, wide open, led to other rooms which were clearly in the same unkempt state as the 'kitchen'.

The boys tentatively sat on some chairs that were miraculously stuff-free.

'You may as well eat something; Rokki will be probably be gone for a while. He spends far too much time down that mine for his own good. Irresponsible.' He shook his head.

'I'm starting to sound like my old dad. The name's Roark by the way. Roark Tunnel. And don't you dare laugh,' he added quickly.

Somehow he navigated the room again to place a carton of juice and some glasses on the table.

Kai took a cake eagerly, but to him it wasn't compensation enough from missing out on his gym battle.

'Jack,' Jack offered his name before gesturing to Kai, 'and Kai. He's the one who was making all that noise, sorry about that.'

'No need to apologise, it's Rokki's fault, not yours.'

Jack wasn't sure whether the existence of a notice would have made any difference to Kai's reaction, but decided against commenting.

'I do hope he remembered to take his hard-hat,' mumbled Roark. Then he spotted the red helmet with an inbuilt torch lying on one of the chairs in cluttered room. 'Typical.'

He rolled his dull amber eyes. Changing the subject, he asked Kai about his plans for the gym battle.

Kai swallowed his cake before answering. 'I dunno actually, I was just gonna go in there and do whatever it takes. Can't be that hard.'

'Kai, you can't face a Gym Leader without a strategy!' cried Jack.

'Hang on, do you even know what type of Pokémon are used in Oreburgh Gym?'

'Ground?'

'No, but you're not far off. Rokki will use two rock-type Pokémon when he battles you,' Roark explained. 'They have good defences and a solid attack too. Don't bother with fire or electric types; they won't achieve much.'

Kai nodded, but then his blue eyes widened in realisation. 'Oh no! That means I only have one useable Pokémon!'

Roark looked confused.

'Surely you have several options? Oreburgh Gym may usually be the first of the eight Sinnoh gyms, but new Card Tamers should have at least three Pokémon at this point.'

'I have Treecko and Shinx…and I'm not going to force Shinx to fight if he's just going to get hurt,' said Kai defensively.

'Then you have a problem.'

'Why don't you borrow one of my Pokémon?' Jack offered, 'None of mine have a particular advantage against rock-types but Flutterfree should at least have a level advantage.'

'You're serious? Thanks Jack, I owe you.'

Jack smiled.

'I'm sure I'll think of a way you can pay me back.'

'Actually, that could be you paying me back for when your Cyndaquil made a completely unprovoked and violent attack on my Shinx.'

Jack cringed.

Roark laughed.

'At least that's sorted. If you're fed up of waiting, you could always go and have a look for Rokki if you want. Tell that boy he should be doing his job properly.'

Kai jumped up immediately.

'Great idea! I'm even more excited for this battle now.'

Jack got up slightly more reluctantly.

'Let's get this over and done with then.'


'Hey, have you seen Rokki?'

The mine worker Kai had asked waved his fluorescent clad arm vaguely in the direction of a dark hole leading into the ground.

''E's prolly down there.'

'Thanks.'

'Mah,' squeaked the worker's small humanoid Pokémon, which carried a large boulder in its arms that was surely too heavy for the Machop.

They made their way over to the hole a few metres away, having evaded tall, black slag heaps and intimidating lorries and cranes. The entrance was slightly taller than Kai, but not much wider than his either. No one seemed bothered that two young Card Tamers were wondering across the evidently dangerous mine – a small explosion had ripped a large portion of cliff away only a minute ago, not far from the boys. They could only guess that visitors were not an uncommon occurrence, but the lack of safety measures immediately put Jack on edge.

So when he realised that he was meant to go inside the gaping black hole on the side of a sheer rock face, he was far from happy.

'You're not seriously going in there are you?'

'Why not?' Kai asked, clearly eager to go into the mysterious depths of the mine.

Jack eyed the hole, trying to make out any shapes inside but it was too dark to even make out outlines. A bright yellow sign was leaning against the wall and read 'Danger. Falling rocks'. This caught his attention.

'We'll get killed if we go in there!'

'No we won't,' replied Kai confidently. He bent down to pick up two red helmets, similar to the one they had seen earlier, which were conveniently lying on the ground. He passed one to Jack, and strapped the other on himself before flicking the light on and off a few times.

'Cool.'

'My light doesn't work,' Jack complained.

For once Kai couldn't think of a snappy reply, seeing as answer number one would have been: Let out a Pokémon to light the place up. But he didn't want to be anywhere near Jack's maniacal Cyndaquil when he was out of his Card so he didn't suggest it.

He didn't hide his worried expression when Jack suggested the idea himself.

'Oh no you don't, that will get us killed!'

'Flutterfree can only light up small areas and for limited time. He's my only choice.'

'But…'

'Do you have any better ideas? You haven't got any Pokémon out at the moment…' Jack couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. His decision scared him, but he knew the only way to control his Pokémon would be to gain his trust, and he would never do that if he was too frightened to let him out. 'I've got to try.'

Kai took a few precautionary steps back as the usual flash of white light dissipated to unveil the innocent-looking fire mouse.

The Cyndaquil raised his snout to sniff the air. Finding no potential targets he wanted to attack, he faced Jack.

Jack looked back cautiously, ready to recall Cyndaquil if he got violent. But he just sat there expectantly, apparently waiting for a command.

Kai breathed a sigh of relief.

'Great, I'm not going death-by-Cyndaquil today.'

Jack wasn't so sure. I just don't understand Cyndaquil. Last time all he wanted to do was battle, but now… He's like any of my other Pokémon.

'Quil?' Cyndaquil squeaked, appearing to ask what the problem was.

'Cyndaquil, do you mind using your flame to light up the mine?'

To general astonishment, Cyndaquil nodded and fired up his back without any complaint, and continued to sit on the dusty ground with his spiky orange flames creating a bright glow around him.

'Wow,' said Kai. 'Well let's go and find Rokki then shall we?'

The thing's actually being normal, he thought to himself in amazement.

The hole which the group entered through turned out to be a narrow tunnel that headed downward steeply, eventually leading to a huge expanse of darkness – a much bigger cavern than the Oreburgh Tunnel had been. The flickering light from Cyndaquil's flame revealed that the place did in fact have lights, only for some unknown reason they weren't on.

Occasionally Jack would glance at Cyndaquil warily. The fire mouse would raise its blue and cream fur and growl fiercely whenever a wild Zubat darted over their heads, or at the sight of any Geodude trying to blend in inconspicuously as small boulders. Every time this happened, Jack's hand moved to Cyndaquil's Card ready to recall him should he get out of control.

Sometimes they would walk past miners and their Machop tapping away at the rocks, their torches casting yellow patches of light which when combined with Cyndaquil's fire, almost lit up the whole vast interior. Pillars of rock supported the mine at random places, and the light also revealed a number of smaller tunnels leading off the main chamber.

The visibility reduced Jack's growing fears of getting lost in the mine, but Kai was mildly disappointed because apparently it was less fun when it was all light.

Suddenly Cyndaquil paused causing Kai to almost walk into him. With the sound of their footsteps no longer echoing around the room, they could hear the steady tapping of the miners and the occasional drip of percolated water falling from the roof of the cave.

Cyndaquil sniffed the damp air by raising his snout, then his flame became a roaring blaze and he rushed down a small side tunnel practically snarling.

'Follow Cyndaquil!' Jack shouted, running after his Pokémon.

Kai obeyed, quickly overtaking Jack in order to chase the fast disappearing glow.

'Maybe he's trying to escape!' Kai yelled, 'maybe he purposefully led us here to trap us in here forever while he makes his getaway?'

There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

'Don't say that!' replied Jack angrily, his breath coming out in sharp bursts as he tried his best not to trip on the bumpy ground as he ran. He refused to believe that Cyndaquil's previous show of obedience had been meaningless. But why would he run away now?

A piercing shriek rumbled from the caves ahead of them.