Chapter 8: Well, This is Bad
I was cold. Cold and clammy. My clothes felt damp and heavy and the air around me smelled dank and musty. I tried to move, but my muscles refused to respond. Was I dreaming? Something stirred in the back of my mind. I'd been exploring…somewhere, following…something. The silence pressed in around me. There was nothing around me, nothing…except the faint drip, drip of water.
A soft breeze blew across my face, ruffling my hair and chilling my body still further. I shivered and took a deep breath. Another breeze blew over me and suddenly it clicked. My eyes snapped open and I choked out, "Laila…"
There was no answer. I called again, forcing my arms to move so that I could push myself onto my knees. I scanned the area but all I could see was darkness. I reached up to examine my Trainer Band. A large crack ran through the side. "Analyze," I said, my voice still hoarse. The band sparked a few times and a holographic screen flickered into life, then vanished. I cursed. Without my Trainer Band I was lost in the dark. No light, no way to detect anything in front of me.
The band flashed again and for a moment a beam of light illuminated the area. It flickered out again, but not before I made out the small figure lying a few feet in front of me. I crawled forward, feeling my way along, searching…my hand came into contact with something soft. I ran my fingers over the soft fur and felt my heart sink.
"Laila? Laila, say something." She didn't respond. I moved my hand over her body until it was over her heart. There was one horrible moment when I felt nothing, then the slow thud of a heartbeat reached my fingers. I breathed a sigh of relief and stroked the Vaporeon gently. I had no way of knowing how badly she was hurt and I was hesitant to move her until I did. I leaned back on my shins and reached down to my belt, detaching Laila's Pokeball and aiming it in her direction.
"Hello?" said a scared voice as silver light flashed around the room, pulling Laila inside the Pokeball.
I clipped the ball back onto my belt and looked around. "Joana?"
"Ren? Where are you?"
"I'm," I began, then faltered. I didn't know where I was. "Does your light work?"
"I don't think so," came Joana's voice. I tried to determine which direction it came from, but the echo made it impossible to tell. "I think it came detached in the fall. Yours?"
"Broken," I called back. "Are we the only ones that fell?"
A deep moan answered my question. "My head," said Signalis's voice.
"Signalis, are you okay?"
"Uhn," was his only answer.
I sat still for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do. If I could only see I'd be able to…hey! I reached down to my belt again and unclipped another ball. "Yahzi, I need your Flash!" Silver light flashed through the room again, solidifying then dimming until it was gone.
'Oh, it's dark,' said a slow voice in a mild tone.
"Yes, sweetie, that's why I need you to use Flash."
'Oh, sure, Ren,' said the voice. Light slowly flickered into life, growing brighter until two shining eyes became visible, piercing the darkness. Yahzi's short figure was now visible, his round face, small ears, and chubby pink body standing out against the dark mud floor.
"Cute Slowpoke," said Joana, walking over to us. I looked up and noticed that her long black hair was clumped with mud and she held one arm at an odd angle, but otherwise she seemed to be unharmed.
"Thanks," I said, taking her proffered hand and clambering to my feet. My right leg let out a throb of protest, but it didn't seem to be badly hurt. "Where's Signalis?"
"Here," said Signalis.
We turned and saw him lying on his stomach a few yards away. Joana reached him before I did. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," mumbled Signalis, trying to push himself up. "Might have bruised a rib," he added, trying to smile.
"Can you get up?" I asked, bending down next to him.
"Yeah, just give me a minute." He placed both hands on the ground and pushed, letting out a grunt of pain but succeeding in sitting up. He clutched his chest and took several shallow breaths.
"Maybe you should have your Pokemon carry you," I suggested, looking him up and down.
"Can't," grunted Signalis, wincing, "they're still at the Pokemon Center."
"Okay, I can have Rebel-"
"I don't need to be carried," he snapped, forcing himself into a standing position.
"Suit yourself," I replied, more coldly than was really necessary.
"How are we going to get out?" asked Joana, offering her hand to help me to my feet.
"Well, I think first we have to figure out where we are."
'Underground,' said Yahzi mildly, his glowing eyes moving slowly back and forth as he observed the room. 'There is something here…something old.'
I felt a chill rise up my spine and looked around uneasily. It certainly looked as though we were underground. Dark earth stretched out around us, dotted here and there with rocks and boulders. The nearest wall curved away into a passageway. I turned my head and saw a low sloping ceiling to the left with thick stone pillars descending from it. It would be very difficult to maneuver in that direction. I looked up and saw a dim spot of light high above. It must have been the hole we had fallen through. I considered calling to Sheena, but I doubted she would be able to hear me from this distance. I looked back at the passageway.
'That way,' said Yahzi, taking a few steps in the direction I was looking.
"It's the only way," I replied, glancing at Joana and Signalis. They both nodded and began walking after Yahzi.
I reached down and lifted the Slowpoke into my arms. He wasn't exactly light but I knew he would be more comfortable in my arms than walking on his own. He was the only Pokemon I travelled with that did not battle. I had found him when he was still an egg and I had never felt the need to train him to fight like the others.
'I'm okay, Ren,' he said, wrapping his tail around my arm and bumping me under the chin with his head.
"I know you are, sweetie. I just want to make sure you're protected."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe if you'd held onto that Vaporeon-"
"Don't," I said in a low voice, "just don't."
"I'm sure Laila is okay," said Joana gently, reaching out to lay a hand on my arm. "Pokemon's bodies are tougher than ours. She probably just got knocked out."
"Yeah, I'm positive she's dandy," muttered Signalis, but he didn't push the issue.
We continued to walk in silence for what felt like hours. I turned back several times to look behind me. I had the strangest feeling that something was following us, but every time I looked there was nothing there. Eventually Signalis told me to stop being paranoid and I avoided looking behind me.
After sometime I began to notice a difference in the air I was breathing. Instead of becoming lighter and fresher, it was becoming heavier and the smell of earth and was becoming stronger. I had the horrible feeling that we were moving further underground, but we hadn't yet found an alternate route.
'Listen,' said Yahzi softly.
I paused, straining my ears for any sound. For a moment there was nothing, then suddenly I heard the gentle drip, drip of water. I hadn't heard the sound since waking in the first room. It had to be a sign. "Where's it coming from?"
"Where's what coming from?" asked Joana nervously, peering around at the rough walls and low ceiling.
"The sound of water," I said, gesturing at nothing in particular.
"I can't hear it," said Signalis. I looked at him and noticed that his face was shining with sweat. His hand was pressed hard over his chest and his eyes were glazed with pain.
"We should stop and rest," I murmured, moving towards him.
"I'm fine," he grunted defiantly.
"Nonsense," said Joana curtly, taking hold of his arm and steering him towards a boulder. "Anyone with eyes can see that you need to rest." She forced him to sit on the boulder then swung her bag from her shoulder and produced a small bottle of water. "Here, drink this."
Reluctantly Signalis took the water and swallowed a few sips before handing it back to Joana. "You drink, too," he said stubbornly.
Joana smiled and took a long drink then passed it to me. I took a big gulp then offered what remained to Yahzi. He shook his head and motioned for me to give the rest to Signalis who finished it off. We stood in silence for a minute, none of us sure of what to say.
"Where do you suppose we are?" asked Joana after a while.
"Well, legends have spoken about secret rooms in the Brass Tower for centuries. Maybe this is what they meant," I replied, leaning against the rock wall.
"So you reckon there's a way out?" asked Signalis, not looking at me.
"Of course there is," I snapped. I checked my tone and added more gently, "someone made these tunnels, so there must be a way out."
"I'm not so sure," grunted the boy, "these tunnels don't look manmade. If they were they'd be more…even. There'd be signs of them. Tools or at least tool marks. I haven't seen anything that looks like that."
"Well they were probably carved a long time ago," said Joana, smiling, "so they wouldn't have had any sophisticated equipment."
"Yeah," I added quickly, "for all we know they used their Pokemon to dig this tunnels. There wouldn't have been any tools then, would there?"
Signalis snorted. "And maybe Pokemon made them without people, did you think of that?" His voice was beginning to rise. "Dugtrio have been known to carve out much larger tunnels than this."
"And they just happened to dig out a huge cavern right underneath the Brass Tower?" I snapped back, glaring at him.
"Why not?" He pressed his fist against the wall, his voice rising still further, "it's completely possible. Maybe the people who built the tower didn't even know it was there. Or maybe they did and thought it would be a great place to hide in emergencies. Maybe the tunnels don't actually lead anywhere and if we keep going we'll eventually run out of air and suffocate!" He was shouting now, his eyes wide.
"Don't say that!" cried Joana, clutching her bag to her chest. "I'm sure there's a way out! There has to be!"
"I know there is!" I shouted, cutting off Signalis's reply. "Even Dugtrio would have come to the surface eventually. There is absolutely no point in getting all worked up about this!"
Signalis opened his mouth to retort, his pupils wide and his eyes narrowed in anger. There was a strange rumble from overhead and all three of us looked up to see dust falling in a thin stream from the ceiling. We froze, all of us waiting anxiously. "We should move," said Signalis loudly, too loudly. There was another rumble and a few small rocks began to fall from the ceiling. Something was shifting. A few more rocks fell, then there was a loud snap and the ceiling just behind us began to fall.
"Run!" I screamed, reaching out to grab Joana's hand and pulling her forward. Signalis grabbed her other hand and together was ran, the roar of falling rock and dirt echoing through the tunnel. Dust shot forward, clogging my nose and mouth as I gasped for air, but I kept running, not letting go of Joana or Yahzi. I could feel Signalis sprinting along beside us but I couldn't see anything.
Then there was silence. Slowly, cautiously, we stopped running. All three of us coughed and choked, trying to rid our lungs of the dust still swirling around us. I turned to look back down the passageway. As the dust settled I felt my heart sink. Huge chunks of rock had fallen from the ceiling, blocking our way back to the chamber we had fallen into. If Signalis was right and the tunnel didn't end at the surface we were trapped. Worse still, the rock sealed the tunnel from the only known source of air. If this tunnel didn't extend to the surface, we would eventually run out of oxygen.
"Ren," said Joana quietly, gripping my hand and staring at the pile of boulders, "I'm scared."
I gripped her hand back, unable to reply.
