"I know he said this path hadn't been taken in a long time, but shit. Ever since we went down this way it's like nothing else even exists." Jack tossed himself against the ground and ran his hand through his hair as he pulled out the map for nearly the twentieth time. "And all these fucking rocks look the same! This map's fucking useless!"

"Chill dude." Lappe threw himself up against a rock that was nearby his friend. The Pokemon looked over the boy's shoulder and pointed one of his fingers at a point of the map labeled 'David's Divide'. "There's a sign up just a little ways more, maybe that's what it's for?"

"If it is, then that means we're still only a third of the way through this shit. And I'm god-damned starving! I could eat a whole Stantler right now if there were any around."

"Let's not get carried away. There might be some regular birds around here somewhere… the map says there's a small lake along the divided path, though it's a few hours in the opposite direction of where we need to actually go."

"Fuck it, that's where we're going. Food or no, I still need a bath and something to drink."

"I suppose I could use a good swim too, it has been a while since I've stretched my gills."

"It's settled then. We get to this divide thing, then head North towards… David's Puddle… who the fuck names these things anyways?"

"Probably someone by the name of David, or at least someone close to them I would assume."

Jack shot a glare at the Pokemon which basically read as, 'I don't have the energy, so don't fucking start with me'. Immediately following, the boy and his Pokemon picked themselves up off of the ground and began to trudge along the mountain path once more.

"...You know, you'd think there would at least be some Pokemon up here. I've been mulling over it for a while, and I understand that most people wouldn't freely venture up here on their own, but Pokemon make their homes pretty much anywhere right?"

"True, I grew up in a rather mountainous part of Johto away from other humans and Pokemon, so the seclusion would make this a rather habitable place for many species. I get where you're coming from and I've been wondering too."

Jack nodded his head. "I figured as much. Stay alert, there may be something else going on here."

"When did you get so formal?"

"I'm not, I'm just… don't worry about it… just make sure you're paying attention to what's around us…"

Lappe waved his hand in the direction of Jack before climbing up onto his back. "Just a little ways more and we'll be at the divide. Are you sure you want to take this side-trip? It could mean we end up in danger."

"Then you'll just have to beat their asses, won't you?"

The Pokemon sighed. "I suppose. It's not like you'd really be able to do anything after all."

"What do you really expect me to do?"

The Pokemon paused, weighing its options. "Sorry."

The two continued on in silence for several more minutes until they'd reached the divide. An old sign sat tucked between two stones with arrows pointing down two separate paths. To the right, Cerulean city lay in wait. To the left, the puddle. Jack looked down both paths, and then turned down the road to the left.

The two continued on until they reached the small reservoir and then took a break. Jack removed his clothes and leapt into the water head first. Lappe took his time, waddling into the water and testing its temperature before fully committing himself to entering into it.

"Now this is refreshing. Fresh and clean mountain water. No people, no Pokemon… maybe when this is over, I'll retire here. Just build up a nice little shack off to the side there, start a little hanging garden and live out the last of my years in solitude."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that last part."

"What do you mean Lappe?"

The Pokemon dove under the water, taking a few minutes before rising back up to the surface. "There's definitely Pokemon around. Down at the bottom there, there seems to be some sort of tunnel. I can see a clear pipe which has Pokemon running through it. I don't think they've noticed us though."

"A clear pipe?" Jack looked confused and then also dove deeper into the water, not having paid much attention upon first entering the pond. Just as Lappe had said, only a few hundred feet down from where they were was a clear pipe. Every few seconds, two or three Pokemon would run through the tube to the other side carrying a box or two each. Jack kicked back up to the surface and gasped for breath. "Amazing, that must be where all the Pokemon are living now."

"Yeah, but why? Why would they all choose to escape underground like that?"

"Who knows. Are you really all that curious to find out right now? We can't even tell what kind of Pokemon they are after all, and if they see us it might spell trouble."

"I'm just concerned that something else might be going on around here. What if they're being forced to work against their will?"

Jack grit his teeth and swam up to shore. "We're not strong enough anyways. There's at least a dozen Pokemon down there and we have no idea who or what they are. We'll come back some other time and deal with it, but for now we just need to move on. There's nothing we can do here now Lappe."

The Pokemon dove back under the water, swimming all the way to the bottom. Lappe pressed his face against the glass of the tunnel and tried to look in both directions. One on end, the tunnel seemed to split open into a much larger area that had a great many more Pokemon in it than a dozen, and on the other end it seemed to continue on for quite some ways.

As Lappe was staring through the glass, a Machamp passed through from the opposite end. The massively muscular Pokemon stepped in front of the Totodile and stared him down. The Machamp turned his head and shouted something, drawing the attention of a number of other Pokemon.

This is exactly what they had hoped to avoid. Without the element of surprise, there was no point in trying to break into the tunnel now. As Lappe turned around to swim back to the surface, he noticed that all of the Pokemon wore a similar badge on their bodies with the letters 'ZR' embroidered on them.

"Jack!" Lappe shot out of the water like a bullet and grabbed onto his friend as he was flinging his shirt around his body in an attempt to dry off somewhat. "We've got to go. Whoever they are, they know we're here now!"

"What! You're fuckin' kidding me man. I told you not to fuck with 'em!"

Jack launched the shirt over his shoulder and shoved his feet into his shoes before picking Lappe up and placing him on his shoulder. The boy picked up a sizable rock and then began to run back the direction that they'd came.

"Just in case, y'know?"

"Quit wasting time Jack! Run faster!"