On the way to Union Cave, Lows met the trainer that battled him during the Trainer Evaluation. Their chat eventually escalated to a friendly battle. After the friendly battle, Jeverson Lukas would like to have a friendly rivalry with Lows, which he gladly accepted. After the event, Lows and Lisa will try their best to go through Union Cave in order to reach their next destination: Azalea Town.

P/S: I've created another poll! This poll asks about your opinions on which Pokémon Lows would get? Be sure to leave your opinions by voting on the poll!

Chapter 8 - Reaching the Town

After the battle with Jeverson, I went back to the PokéCentre as I healed my Pokémon and met up with Lisa. We rested for about thirty minutes before leaving the PokéCentre and headed for Union Cave.

Standing in front of the Union Cave entrance, I asked, "Lisa, do you have a flashlight?"

"N-Not really... Oh no, that's not going to be good..." Lisa replied.

"Don't worry! Here you go..." I said as I handed her a flashlight and took out another one from my backpack for myself, "I brought an extra flashlight, just in case a flashlight is used up! I guess my decision is right."

"Thanks, Lows!" Lisa gratefully accepted the flashlight. Once we were ready to go, we walked into the pitch black cave.

"I think we should stick together as a pair. I'll walk in front and you follow." I said as we started moving with our flashlights on. However, even with the light source, I was still having some troubles to find the right way to go.

"Do we go left... or right?"

"Ah, great! Wrong way again..."

"Wow, the paths are so complicated..."

Oh yeah, did I mention that I was bad at puzzles and mazes?

I guess you know now...

Anyways, I was starting to get frustrated. I knew Lisa was getting tired too as I apologized, "I'm sorry, I can't find the right way, and that took us a lot of time..."

"It's okay... I might do worse than you if I'm leading the way." Lisa said.

"Well, I do hope we can get out of this place soon..." I muttered, as we continued looking for the right path to go, something unpleasant happened...

Our flashlights were suddenly unable to function, as Lisa screamed, "Lows! It's dark here... I can't see you!"

Although I was scared, I said, "Calm down! Hopefully, this thing will work again!"

After some testing with the flashlight, the light finally reappeared from the flashlight, making me slightly relieved.

"That was weird. Both flashlights going off at the same time? Creepy. Lisa, let's just keep going-" I then realised Lisa was nowhere near me, making me scared again.

"Lisa?! Where are you?" I screamed as the echos appeared in the cave. I didn't really care at that point, I knew I had to find Lisa. I searched around the cave, hoping to find the girl.

Come on... Where is she?

Suddenly, I bumped into something as I turned to another direction. I turned my flashlight to that direction to check what did I bump into, and it was none other than...

"Lisa! I'm so worried about you!" I said.

"L-Lows!" She said in fear as she went ahead and suddenly hugged me. I was surprised by her sudden move, but I knew she needed the comfort. I petted her back, slightly calming her down.

After she recovered from the incident, she realised she was still hugging me as she quickly let go of me. She said, sounding flustered, "I-I'm sorry about that..."

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're fine. Now, let's stick together until we get through this cave."

"I'm not sure if I can keep track with you... My flashlight still isn't working." Lisa said, worried.

"Alright, I have a way, I just hope you don't mind..." I said as I held her right hand, "That way, we won't seperate again. Is that okay with you?"

"I-It's okay to me... Let's go, Lows." She still sounded slightly flustered, but I didn't mind as we continued trying to get out of this cave.

I still had trouble finding the right ways to get out of this dreading place, but I tried my best to get out of this cave. I knew we were both tired, and wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. However, my efforts didn't bring out the best results, as we made little progress getting out of the cave. I felt like we were running in circles...

"L-Lows, are you sure we're going to be okay?" Lisa said, I could tell that she was scared.

"It's okay... Calm down!" I tried to comfort her, but I was slowly losing hope as well.

W-Why can't we get out of this place?

I was starting to get frustrated, until I hear a Pokémon's cry.

"Did you hear that, Lisa?" I asked as I pointed my flashlight towards the direction. I saw a yellow, spherical Pokémon similar to a bell. It had stubby arms and legs, as well as beady, black eyes. On either side of its mouth was a large, black spot.

[Chingling, the Bell Pokémon.

It emits high-frequency cries that people can't hear. Once it starts, it can cry for an awfully long time.]

That's weird, I thought I heard its cry just a few seconds ago...

Suddenly, the Chingling somehow made my Pokédex levitate with its psychic powers, startling me. It then levitated away from us.

"What was that for?" I was confused by its actions, but I knew I had to get my Pokédex back. I went towards the Pokémon's direction, but it was moving very fast. I tried my best to keep track to follow the Chingling. After a while, I suddenly realized...

"Wait... Do you see light, Lisa?" I said while pointing at a direction using my flashlight.

"Not to mention it... I think I do see light!" She happily exclaimed.

"That means..." We got closer to the light as it became brighter and brighter. After getting close enough, we finally found the exit of the cave that we really needed after all the efforts and time.

"Finally..." I said in relieve as we got out of the cave. I took a deep breath as I thought, Finally, fresh air!

However, I snapped away from my "fresh air" thoughts after I realized I was still holding her hand. I immediately let it go as I apologised, "Lisa, I'm sorry! Are you hurt?" I asked, worried that I might had hurt her while grabbing her hand. I was trying to retrieve my Pokédex, after all.

She had a flustered look on her face as she replied, "No, you didn't... It's okay, I didn't really mind."

Looking at her expression, I was still worried as I thought, Did I do something wrong? She said she is fine with me holding her hand, but I hope what she said is what she actually thinks...

Although I was curious, I still didn't forget about my Pokédex. I went and searched for the Chingling, and found it standing right in front of me, giggling. I took the Pokédex as the Chingling gladly gave it to me. I was curious of its actions until...

"Oh, you did that on purpose so we can get out of here!" Lisa exclaimed as she said, "Thanks, Chingling." She petted the Chingling, making him very happy.

"Finally, someone knows my motive! I guess my efforts did get recognized in the end." The Chingling said with his male voice.

"Well, thanks for that. I guess.. we have to leave now. Thanks again, Chingling."

The Chingling had a sad expression upon hearing our words, "Aww... You're leaving already? I wish we can play for a little longer..."

I looked at the Chingling, as an idea suddenly popped out of my mind...

"Lisa, would you mind catching him? I can tell he really likes you." I asked.

"Really? I wouldn't mind... I like him a lot too. But why don't you want to catch him instead?"

"I have a full team, remember? I'm happy enough with them." I said with a grin.

"Alright then. Chingling, do you want to come with me?" She asked, as the Chingling happily nodded.

"Thanks, Lows. Can you give him a nickname? I know you could come up with a good one." She asked.

"Hmm... What about Chime? Chime the Chingling." I suggested.

"It's different compared to my other Pokémon's nicknames... But I'm okay with it. Let's do our best, Chime!" She threw a Pokéball as the Chingling happily let himself get caught. The Pokéball caught the Pokémon successfully as Lisa happily put the Pokéball into her belt.

I'm sure she and Chime are happy... I'm glad I gave her that suggestion.


After that, we continued our journey to our destination. On the way there, I started a conversation between us.

"Anyways... How's Union Cave?" I asked.

"I really hate that it's dark in there... I don't like to be in dark places. At least, my biggest fear didn't come back to haunt me." She replied.

"I guess that's a good thing..." I said while being curious about her biggest fear that she was talking about. However, I knew she might feel bothered if I asked her.

Maybe another time...

After what seemed like forever, we finally saw buildings ahead of us. I sighed in relieve as I thought, Finally, we're here...

We saw a well to our right on the way to Azalea Town. I curiously asked, "What is that?"

"Oh, it's the Slowpoke Well. It is one of the notable places in Azalea Town. Well, hearing the name, you should know that many Slowpoke live in the place."

"Oh, that's cool! Maybe, we should check it out..."

"I don't recommend you to go there. The Slowpoke there might be startled if we go down there. I also heard that if you're not careful enough, you might just take a huge fall and injure yourself." Lisa explained.

"That's right, young girl! Especially about that 'taking a huge fall and injure yourself' part. You don't want to be like me!" We were startled by the strange voice as we saw an old man in front of us.

He examined us as he asked with a stern look on his face, "I don't see you two around here before... What are you two doing here?!"

"Hello, sir! I'm Lows, and she is Lisa. We're just trainers trying to explore through the Johto region." I explained politely.

"Hmm... You two don't seem to be bad thugs. I apologize for my behavior. It's just that after the incident in Slowpoke Well, I'll have to make sure no one causes trouble there again. That's also why I'm currently patrolling the town to see if there's any suspicious people. Anyways, my name is Kurt." He introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt," I greeted, "you said that there was an incident in Slowpoke Well? What's up with that?"

"Hmm... I guess I can tell you two. Follow me back to my house, and I'll explain the story. I just hope that no sneaky person will go there..." We nodded as we followed Kurt into Azalea Town. His house was located in the northwest corner of the town.

We walked into the house as I looked around the house. There was a table with some objects that apparently were called apricorns according to Lisa, laying around the table. I also saw something similar to a Pokéball there. There were also tools such as hammers and screwdrivers.

Interesting...

Suddenly, I saw a young girl running around the house as she exclaimed, "Grandpa, you're back! You came back earlier compared to the past few days!"

"I'll be patrolling the place again later, Maizie. Anyways, behave yourself while you are alone, alright?" The young girl nodded at her grandfather's words.

"Here, take a seat!" Kurt told us as we sat on the chairs provided at his house. He then said, "After ensuring that the Slowpoke Well is safe again, I'll have to get back to work again. I make Pokéballs with apricorns, and it's been great even after many years!"

"That's awesome! It's a really good job, especially that it helps all the trainers!" I exclaimed.

"Well, you got that right." He chuckled, "Anyways, that's not the point. I'm here to tell you the story. Here's how it started...

The residents at Azalea Town were living peacefully as usual, until I heard that there was something bad going on at Slowpoke Well. It turned out that a villain team was cutting Slowpoke's tails to pamper their greed! Old Kurt couldn't stay still after hearing their bad doings, so I ran to the Slowpoke Well, wanting to stop them. It was then I took a huge fall... Just like what you're friend said!" Kurt said while pointing at Lisa. I chuckled, but I also thought, Is the villain team doing something else other than cutting Slowpoketails? Sure, it makes them huge profit, but it's kinda worthless... There's much more ways they can make money other than hurting the Pokémon here.

He continued, "It was until two trainers came! They were really kind and helpful. After they heard what was happening in Slowpoke Well and my condition, one of them helped me out, while the other gave chase to the villain team.

Well, with the trainer's efforts, she was able to stop the villain team to ruin the beauty of Slowpoke Well!" He ended with a huge grin.

"Wow, that's amazing! That trainer really helped out the town a lot." I was amused by what the trainer did.

"It sure is! If the two trainers weren't there, I would be still in the well!" He chuckled, "Anyways, after hearing this story, I hope you two could be like those trainers as well, and never be like those people who hurts Pokémon for their own good!"

We nodded at his advice as I asked, "Where are the two trainers now?"

"I think they just left. They were trainers travelling around the region, after all."

"Aww..." I said. It would be nice to meet those heroes...

"Alright! Now that story time is over, I'll be patrolling the place again. You never want to shriek your work if that action might cause big trouble!" He said.

"Thanks, Kurt! I hope your work goes fine." I said as Lisa also thanked Kurt with a bow as we left the house. Kurt also followed along us and went back to patrolling.

"Lisa, do you want to rest up at the PokéCentre for the rest of the day? It is quite a tiring day, after all." I suggested.

"That would be nice... I guess we can do that." Lisa replied. We went ahead and got ourselves two rooms and went to our own rooms before getting dinner at the PokéCentre.

Lisa and I shared a table as I asked, "What are you planning to do in Azalea Town?"

"Me? I-I don't know. There's not many things to do here besides relaxing. I heard that in the next city we're visiting, there will be contests! I can't wait to participate in them." She exclaimed.

"That's cool! You can finally start doing what you like to do." I said as I thought, Maybe I should battle the gym leader as soon as possible... Lisa really deserve to prove that she could be a good player in contests!

After that, we had a great meal before going back to our rooms to relax for the rest of the day. I was especially happy with the dinner that day because...

Yay, today's dinner is ramen noodles! My favourite! Woo-hoo!


Lows' Pokémon Team:

Surfer (Blastoise, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Surf, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam, Iron Defense

Ziggs (Linoone, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Dig, Iron Tail, Facade, Protect

Grace (Gardevoir, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Calm Mind

Woody (Grovyle, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Leaf Blade, Giga Drain, Aerial Ace, Agility

Power (Machoke, Male) Timid Nature, moves: Submission, Seismic Toss, Rock Tomb, Scary Face

Shadow (Absol, Female) Quiet Nature, moves: Night Slash, Payback, Psycho Cut, Protect

Questions of the Chapter:

How do you think of Lisa's new addition to the team?

How will Lows do against Bugsy?