Chapter 10:
The sun rose in the east but didn't shine on the kids for a couple of hours after than because they were surrounded by trees. Drago sat up and saw a sliver of smoke from where the fire went out by itself during the night and turned to looked for the other kid.
Instead of lying where he was when Drago went to sleep, there was no one there, No way. He left? Nah, that kid wouldn't have left me, he shook his doubt in Billy out of his mind and looked around for some berries to eat. He couldn't tell which type the ones he found were but they looked good so he tossed them up for his mouth.
The red berries never came back down as a bird swooped over the kid's head and snagged them in midair. "Hey," he called up at the bird that landed on a branch above his head.
He started mumbling curses under his breath but heard a voice call out from behind him, "You should be thanking him," he spun and saw Billy walking towards him with a small white baggie in his hands. The kid tossed it to him and Drago caught it, instantly smelling bacon coming from the bag. "Those berries taste good for pokemon, but two or three of them would have made you have diarrhea all day long.
Drago gulped at the luck and looked up at the Pidgeotto who was staring at him expectantly while he chewed. "Thanks," he nodded up to it and the bird squawked and flew around happily.
"I finished mine on the way here," he said as Drago pulled out a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich from the bag. "The diner lady said she'd give it to me for free if it was for you and that she hopes you have fun on the journey. Also be safe."
"You told her I'm out here!" the other boy grumbled between bites.
"Well, not exactly," he scratched the back of his head and smiled.
Flashback
Billy walked into town and the first thing he saw was a wanted poster pressed on someone's door and the reason why he was wanted. He could swear that at least ten different people looked at him and recognized who he was but instead of calling for help, they just nodded at him and kept walking.
The pokemart owner didn't seem to know who he was but when he went to get breakfast after getting supplies, the woman who gave him his food saw the poster right behind him as she did. "You," she pointed just seeing the face and not reading the sign.
Trying to see if it would work, Billy said, "I'm just helping Drago." He pulled back ready for her to shout and he would have to run but his sentence seemed to do the trick.
She looked at the sign closer and then smiled, "In that case keep your money." The lady gave him back his six dollars for the two breakfast sandwiches and smiled. "He used to come in here all the time to listen to all the crazy tales passed around my tables."
"We're actually heading away on a journey today," Billy said seeing as the woman seemed like she was nice.
"Oh, I'm sad to here that." Her face looked depressed but she smiled, "I know I'll see him again some day, tell him to be safe and make sure he has some fun."
"I will, thank you," Billy grabbed the bags and ran for the door. He got back out of the city without running into a single Solar soldier but to make sure he wasn't followed he took a long winding route and trained his Pidgeotto up another level.
End Flashback
The kid reached up and zapped his Pidgeotto back into its ball. That's three last night and one this morning, started from the bottom now your here. Pidgeotto was now level twenty six putting it above even Nidorino and he smiled as he clipped the ball back on his waist.
"So, where are we going from here?" the blonde kid asked and Billy looked at him tilting his head to the side.
"I can't tell," Drago looked at him thinking that that was a stupid answer to his question. Billy continued, "How old are you, I thought you were younger than me at first, but then I thought maybe you were a couple years older, but then I saw you sucking your thumb while you slept so…"
"I did not!" Drago shouted and punched his new friend on the shoulder.
"No but really?" the black haired kid waited for a response as he rubbed his bruised shoulder.
He was still angry about the sucking thumb quip but he replied, "I turn thirteen in a week. How about you?"
"I'm twelve too, but your older than me," Drago grinned and the younger boy kept talking, "even though I could crush your team in an instant." He said really fast then coughed and looked up in the sky like he saw something.
"I demand a rematch," Drago stated and Billy looked at him oddly. "I don't mean today or anything, but once we've trained up our teams a lot more, then you have to promise to fight me again to see who's the best."
He didn't ask it as a question but Billy still felt the need to respond and reached out with his right hand. Drago did the same and they grabbed each others' forearms and Billy said, "Agreed."
"Now where are we going?" the blonde got back to his original question and Billy reached into his bag, pulling out a map of the region.
He traced a line straight up and then a little to the right on the map, "Fallarbor is here, in the northeast of Rustboro. We'll have to travel through Meteor Falls to get to the other side."
"Alright, let's go," Drago got his pack on and started walking into the trees.
"Uh, North is that way," Billy pointed and the blonde boy felt his cheeks turn red.
"Yeah, I knew that," the other boy started laughing causing Drago to blush more but then he wound up laughing with them as the walked. They gave the city a wide berth and Billy allowed his Croconaw out of its ball.
After another hour of walking, Drago stopped and turned around seeing that the other boy was trailing behind again, staring into the tree line. "If you keep stopping every time you see a damn Wurmple, were going to be marching all day."
"Sorry," the boy and his water pokemon rushed forwards and caught up with Drago.
"Don't be, we're at the clearing. Be on the lookout, there might be some people around here, we're just north of the city." Billy looked back and saw some towering skyscrapers back behind them. He was disappointed he never got to go inside any of them while he was there.
The two of them started walking down the path and passed another trainer who seemed to be in an angry rush back to Rustboro. "Stupid wall, grumble," Drago turned around and watched the guy walk away mumbling to himself.
"What is it?" Billy asked as the path had some steps and they walked up to another tier of the ground.
"Nothing," the older boy said and they kept moving, going up another flight of stairs to a much higher portion of the trail. There were mountains in front of them and they were getting closer going up a small bit at a time before they could hit the base of the closest one.
They saw another elevated area in front of them that looked like it was the last one before the mountain actually started and walked straight to climb up to it. "Crap," Drago commented as they saw the stairs in front of them. It looked like at one time there might've been a staircase to get up, but a solid wall made of rocks and cement was in their path. On both sides was a steep cliff at least thirty feet high. "There must be another staircase around here," he started going off to the right and Billy walked to the left.
After a few minutes, Drago didn't see anything and went to see if his friend did. The boy walked over then started running as he saw Billy standing still, "Did you find a way up?"
"I don't know," he muttered and just kept staring. Drago walked over to the edge of the cliff he was staring off of and saw a beach down below. There was another beach a little ways across the water that looked like it led up to the mountain.
"How are we going to get there, it's too far to swim," the two boys turned and found a path leading down to the beach. The walked down the stairs and saw a few fishermen but ignored them and walked straight up to the water across from the other beach.
"I know," Thanks Brendan, Croconaw walked up next to him and he asked his pokemon, "Can you carry us across the water to that beach over there?" The pokemon looked across the water and nodded.
"Croc," it said and jumped into the water. The way it said its name sounded like he was saying, 'too easy,' and the boys smiled and walked into the water, each of them sitting on Croconaw's back. There was barely enough room for one and it was cramped up there.
Surprised he doesn't even seem to notice our weight, Drago grabbed onto something as the pokemon started shooting forwards in the water. A huge wake appeared on both sides of the pokemon going either direction.
Billy watched a wave slam into the cliff side on the right of his Croconaw and it broke a piece of rock wall off. Wow, you're getting really strong, he was holding on for dear life but gave his friend a pat on the head. Croconaw took this as a sign to go faster and closed the distance remaining before the beach quickly. Right as they hit the shore, Croconaw stopped short and both kids flew over his head and face first into the sand making drag marks on the beach.
"Croconaw, croconaw," it laughed rolling around as the boys got up allowing piles of sand to pour out of their mouths and ears.
"I'm gonna," Drago raised a hand but Billy beat him to it and stepped towards his pokemon.
"That wasn't funny Croconaw, we could've gotten really hurt," he wiped some sand off his cheek and looked down at his hand seeing some red on it. Crap, got a scratch.
The blue and yellow pokemon didn't like getting scolded by his master but when he saw the blue appearing on Billy's face it looked down at the sand in sorrow and walked closer to the kid. Drago stood there speechless as Croconaw reached up and wiped some of the blood from Billy's face.
The twelve year old met gazes with his friend and understood how sorry he was for hurting him. "It's okay, really," he assured and smiled, "just don't do it again."
"Croc," it nodded its head and took very serious strides as it moved to the front of the group and started walking up the stairs that led from the beach up to the land high above them.
The three of them continued walking for a little before seeing the road ahead of them that was cut off by the broken staircase. "Look," Drago pointed and Billy saw another staircase but this one led up to the base of the mountain, there was no more grass where they were going.
They hiked up the steps, which were more like indents into the rock wall that were getting harder and harder to move up. The next level was somewhat flat but was definitely still increasing in elevation as they got closer to the steep part of Mount Chimney. Billy asked, "What are we going to do once we can't go up anymore on our own?"
"We'll go around," the blonde replied. The next staircase was even more broken up than the one before it. Drago slipped as the rock beneath him slipped out of its hold and tumbled back down the stairs, but Billy reached back and caught the blonde boy with one hand while holding onto Croconaw with the other. The water pokemon dug its feet into cracks in the ground and pulled his master and their friend back up.
"Thanks," the boy nodded and they continued up the stairs.
As Billy got to the top he froze and stated, "I don't think we need to go around."
"What are you," Drago pulled himself up the last step and gawked at the giant hole in the mountain. It didn't look too dark inside the cave that they would need Flash to navigate, "Oh." Why not? "Let's go," he walked ahead of the other two who were just standing still.
Billy and Croconaw looked at each other and then followed behind Drago, "Are you sure this even comes out on the other side of the mountain? It might just be faster," Drago cut him off.
"Nope, this is the quickest way, they wouldn't have made the entrance on this side if they didn't have an exit on the other. Maybe if this was just a tourist spot but this mountain is right in the middle of a major route," Billy was convinced and as he looked around the cave he was glad they chose this way. A towering waterfall fell into an underground lake to his right and it was all so beautiful.
"Whoa," Billy commented and the other two were feeling similarly however Croconaw was looking at something else. The blue and yellow pokemon started growling and the two boys looked up before catching their breath in their throats. "Z-z-z-zubats," Billy stuttered and almost lost his balance.
There were hundreds of them sleeping on the ceiling. Some were flying around the air, and then Billy noticed something else. This time it wasn't a Zubat but it was in the way right in front of him. He looked straight at it and it was shaped like a crescent moon.
"Stop," Drago grabbed Billy's arm and stopped him from getting any closer to the object. Just as the boy was going to ask why, a large black circle appeared on it and he realized the moon was alive.
The center of the eye was red with a small black pupil and the kid pulled out his pokedex, "Lunatone." He saw it was level twenty and looked down at his Croconaw, "You ready for a fight bro?" Croconaw chomped its teeth and glared at the moon.
Not again, Drago thought and then turned to see another Lunatone off in the distance. Actually I can't let him keep training while I sit around, I need to train up my pokemon too. He let loose his Plusle and ran towards the moon-shaped pokemon.
Billy started off by having his pokemon leer at the other but then Lunatone used harden and increased its defense more than the kid was able to lower it. "Alright, use bite," the pokemon before them suddenly closed its eyes and when it opened them they were hazy and Croconaw got caught in the stare dropping to the ground and trying to shake off the weird feeling it had.
The twelve year old looked down at his pokedex and saw his friend was slightly damaged and was confused. "Damn, try to fight it and use water gun Croconaw!" The pokemon was able to shake off its confusion for a second and shoot a stream of water but the moon hovered in the air and moved out of the way.
Circles started coming out of the moon-shaped pokemon's eyes and hit Croconaw's. The blue and yellow one suddenly found it very hard to keep his eyes open and fell face first on the ground. Billy thought his friend was K. but looking at the red device in his hands he saw that Croconaw had fallen asleep mid-fight.
"What are you doing?" he called out but his friend was snoring instead of waking up.
Drago was already finished with his fight and laughed as he walked over with Minun. "It used hypnosis, he's not going to wake up that easily."
"Rgh," Billy growled and started yelling moves at his water pokemon but Croconaw just laid there as Lunatone picked up a pile of rocks from the floor and chucked them through the air where they slammed into Croconaw. "Get up!" a rock rolled off of the blue pokemon's head and it still had its eyes closed. "How do you sleep through that?!"
Drago was laughing like crazy rolling on the ground but the next group of rocks thrown missed Croconaw and a few of them hit him knocking him backwards. "Minun!" his friend stepped forwards and squeaked angrily but Drago called to him.
"Don't interfere with their fight, I'm fine," he stood back up and wiped some dirt off his clothes. Now he was hoping that Lunatone got what was coming to it soon.
Finally, Croconaw was stumbling to its feet, confused at why it fell asleep in the first place and angry that during that time he managed to get so hurt. "Use surf Croconaw," Billy called out finally getting the chance to use an attack on the Lunatone.
More rocks were lifted into the air and hit Croconaw but the water pokemon was lifting up a wave and ignored the rocks hitting it as it brought the wave down on the moon pokemon. Did we win? He watched the Lunatone shake itself off and float back into the air, looking into Croconaw's eyes to use confusion again.
The blue and yellow pokemon clenched its eyes shut and the attack missed, "Now use water gun," Billy saw the moon pokemon was in the red and a stream of water shot out and finished it. Croconaw's experience went up a lot and he got to the next level, but he was still in the red. "Great job, come back for now and take a break," he recalled the pet and him and Drago started walking but Billy froze.
"Hey, why are you stopping?" Drago asked and Minun turned around as well.
"Didn't you call out Plusle before?" he asked and both pokemon and master looked to each other and whistled. "You did," he stated, "what happened?"
"It was nothing," the blonde boy tried to dodge the question.
"No it wasn't is he fainted?" Billy asked.
"Actually Plusle is a girl," the kid saw the younger one's waiting stare and threw his arms up, "yes, yes she is. Happy?"
"No, I'm not," he reached into his bag and pulled out a weird looking potion. "Here, use this to bring him, I mean her back to half health."
"Nice a revive," Drago stopped himself from grabbing it, "I don't need your help."
"Yeah but I could use yours," Billy countered. "We're pretty early in our trip, I don't want our combined power to be any lower than it is if we run into any real trouble. So take this," he tossed it to Drago who caught it instead of letting it drop.
The boy nodded after a few seconds thinking that Billy did have a point and got to healing his pokemon. He left out both Plusle and Minun but they were able to avoid getting in any more battles before they reached an obstacle. Billy reached down and felt the ground in front of him up on some sort of shelf. It was the smallest of all the increases in height and he saw behind it that they'd have to do some more climbing, all on a very slippery surface.
"It's like this path is supposed to be impossible to climb," Drago commented as he tried to pull himself up and lost his grip, falling on his butt.
After trying, (and failing) many more times, Billy fell backwards and scratched his chin. Drago continued trying to climb, now all three of his pokemon were out and trying to get up as well, they had made it as far as the second increment but then slid back down and the wall in their path seemed uncrossable. "Got it," Billy stated slapping his right fist into his other open palm.
"Really?" Drago asked on all fours. He was trying not to slide back down the slope and off the ledge back to the first elevation but he was failing and flopped on his stomach before sliding off. "Because I sure don't," he got off his face and watched as Billy removed two of his pokeballs from his belt.
"Pidgeotto, Croconaw, come out," he tossed the balls up and his pokemon appeared. Croconaw still seemed a little out of it and Billy decided it was time to use a potion and restored his friend to almost full health. I'm going to start needing stronger medicine if they keep increasing like this.
He filled his friends in on the plan and Drago grinned, So he can do some things. The boy smiled and watched as Croconaw allowed itself to be lifted by the bird's talons. His friend commanded the blue one to use water gun and it splashed water all over the slippery liquid on the level above them.
"Now, Pidgeotto use wing attack," the bird pokemon swung its wings down at the water below them and it started getting pushed to the side and making a thin, dry path right in front of the boys that led to the next level. "Do it again Croconaw," they repeated the pattern where the water would mix with the natural cave fluid and Pidgeotto would spread them both to the side allowing the boys to climb up to the next levels.
"Only a few left," Billy stated after climbing up another ledge and seeing three more cliffs he'd have to do pull ups to get on top of. The other boy was fairing much better than he was and the black haired boy was panting already.
"Come on," Drago said pushing ahead of Billy, "It's just a few pull ups. Maybe you should train yourself a little too instead of just focusing on your pokemon's training." Although Billy felt like retorting to the blonde, he also felt like maybe he was right. Whoa, he watched as the boy who moved in front of him stepped off the dry path, it was hard to see where the dry was and where the wet began and Drago began slipping.
Pikachu jumped up and kicked its master back onto the right path stopping him from sliding all the way back down the cliffs. "Pika!" the mouse pokemon squealed as it started sliding and fell off the previous ledge.
"Pikachu return," Drag called out and a red light emitted from the pokeball he grabbed, returning the yellow mouse back to its home. He looked down at the other two pokemon walking next to him and asked, "You guys want to go back in too?" Plusle and Minun shook their heads no and they continued.
Before long they made it up the last ledge and both boys had their hands on their knees, panting like crazy. "Great, job, guys," Billy said between breaths and recalled his also panting pokemon.
Plusle and Minun were the only ones not really winded by the experience and were looking expectantly at the kids, waiting for them to continue going. Before they could even relax, a noise was heard different from the bats on the ceiling and the usual cave noises. Voices? People!
A/n Sorry for ending it there but I realized this chapter was getting a little long so I went back and cut it off here, I've been writing it non-stop, just finding good intervals of when to update it so I picked here because there was nowhere to really stop for the next couple pages. I love to hear feedback from you guys and I hope you enjoyed this last chapter!