Whenever I got to the hot springs part in the game, I thought about going to one. I haven't been to a hot spring in a while. But now that it's winter, it's cold so hot springs are really nice.
And since I brought up hot springs, I always wondered what ground, fire and rock-type partners and heroes did when the wave came and washed them to the hot spring. It seems like it would hurt them. If the hero or partner was a Charmander, then it'd make their flame go out...which means they'd die. Maybe the rules changed since generation one or something, or maybe I'm looking too much into this. What did you all think?
I don't own Pokémon, or the games. I just own my human characters. Thank you for reading!
Springs
"This is amazing," Shiloh gasped, turning around and tilting her head towards the ceiling. I snapped out of my thoughts and nodded agreeingly to her statement. "I've never seen anything like this before." She approached a bright red gem near her right foot and started pulling at it. "I wonder if we can get them loose. We could take them back to Chatot." She grunted as she continued prying at the sparkling gem. "It'd be proof enough that we found something." I watched her pull at the red gem for a few seconds, then glanced back around the cavern at the rest of the gems and decided to wander around. The colorful gems had reminded me faintly of something, but I couldn't place it. Had I been to a place like this before, maybe? If I'd been somewhere this amazing I felt that I would have remembered, but nothing was coming to mind. The cavern felt familiar, at least, but I gave up thinking about it as something at the back of the cavern got my attention. I approached it slowly, wondering what it was, then ran towards it when I figured out what it looked like. It was a pink gem, the same shape as the others, but it stood a lot taller than me by a couple feet at least.
"Shiloh!" I called, turning around eagerly, "you have to come see this!" She was still tugging at a gem, but this one was green so she must have given up on the red one. When I called her again, though, she gave a loud sigh and stopped tugging on the little gem. As she trudged over to me with a slightly frustrated expression, she held up her paws.
"I don't think getting a gem will be possible...I tried to pull a lot of them, but they didn't move even a little." I gestured excitedly to the huge pink gem.
"Look at this for a second!" Shiloh glanced over and gasped, then stepped closer with an astonished expression and tipped her head back to look up at the gem.
"This is...huge! I can't believe how big it is!" Shiloh rubbed her eyes, then slowly began walking around the gem. "It's too big to take back, though, Gale. If the little gems don't move, then I really doubt this one will." She rubbed her paws together and then stretched them out; I heard her knuckles crack. "I might as well try though." She took a deep breath before wrapping her arms around the gem and tugging with all her might. After pulling on it a couple times, she released the gem with a heavy exhale of breath. Her face was flushed pink and she looked pretty worn out. "Phew...never mind...I don't think I can do it. You want to try?"
"Sure. Maybe you loosened it up," I told her, smiling a little as I approached the pink gem. With a little shake of my head, I grabbed it and started tugging, but knew right away that I wouldn't do any better than she had. The gem was too big and if Shiloh, who had trained a lot more than me, couldn't pull it out then there was no way I'd be able to.
"Agh, I really want to take it!" Shiloh burst out, startling me into letting the gem go. "Let me try again." I moved aside quickly as Shiloh gripped the gem again and began yanking on it.
"Don't hurt yourself," I told her anxiously. "It's really stuck."
"I'm just gonna try," Shiloh grunted through clenched teeth, which I noticed again were sharp. She could use them in battles, probably, and I was glad that I was on her side. I whirled as a smacking noise, like wet feet hitting the ground, sounded throughout the cave. It was a Psyduck, and the Pokémon looked a little battered and out of breath; I knew it must be the one Shiloh and I had defeated earlier.
"Hey," the Psyduck panted, looking aggravated, "why'd you attack me?"
"Are you serious?" I burst out incredulously. "You attacked us!"
"I just wanted you to leave," the Pokémon retorted with a glare. "Outsiders don't often come here, but when they do, it's usually easy to chase them off."
"Well, sorry...I guess," I said after a pause. "But come on, of course we'd fight back."
"Well, you don't live here," the Psyduck retorted sharply. "Why are you here, anyway?"
"We're an exploration team, and just came here to..." I trailed off and held my head.
"...To what?" I heard the Psyduck ask sharply, but a flash of light filing my vision made any words of explanation catch in my throat. The vision came and went quickly this time, but I saw the shadowy form of a Pokémon walking through a cavern with colorful gems—the one Shiloh and I were in now—and approach a large pink gem. After standing in front of the gem for a second, the Pokémon approached it and held its paws out. A second later, the Pokémon began turning around as the ground started shaking. Then it whirled around swiftly and began running away from a huge torrent of water that suddenly washed up from the right of the rocky path. I shook my head furiously as the images stopped and massaged my head. It looked like the Pokémon had touched the huge gem, and then had been washed away by a huge wave. Suddenly I got a bad feeling. The wave had appeared after that Pokémon had touched the gem...and Shiloh was still trying to pull it out.
"Hey! You listening?" The Psyduck yelled, and I jumped back. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," I answered, watching Shiloh pull on the gem. She released it suddenly, tossed her arms up in frustration, and moved forward to grab it again.
"You should probably tell her to stop doing that," the Psyduck said. A sudden click made me jump. In the cavern where the smallest sounds echoed, it was a pretty loud noise, and Shiloh hadn't missed it either. She glanced in my direction, a ginger expression on her face, her arms slightly lifted as if she was preparing to run.
"What was that?" She asked nervously, her paws clenching into fists and then opening. I remembered the vision and felt a surge of alarm.
"I can't explain, but we need to get out of here." The cave started rumbling, sending vibrations through the floor. Cracking noises sounded from above and the Psyduck barely managed to jump out of the way of a falling stalactite. "Run!" I yelled, motioning frantically to Shiloh, but she was staring up at something, her jaw hanging open. I glanced up, too, and saw a huge wave towering over us. Even though I knew it was too late to escape it, I ran towards Shiloh and reached my arms out to her. She reached towards me and we had just barely clasped our paws together when the wave crashed over us.
"Are they okay?"
"Let's get them out!"
There were voices around me, and warmth, though as I opened my eyes and tried to move, sudden aching pains in my body made me groan. Something pressed hard on my chest and I grunted, then coughed and felt wetness streaming down my chin.
"He's okay! How about her?"
"Fine, just stunned."
I finally managed to open my eyes and saw lots of Pokémon gathered around; the one standing over me was a Psyduck leaning over me with a tense expression. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Uh-huh," I replied after coughing, and sat up gingerly. "Who are...wait, are you the Psyduck from the underground cave?" The Pokémon nodded once and offered to help me stand; I took both of the Psyduck's paws and stood.
"Sorry for attacking you. Your friend told me what you were doing. I could have told you the biggest gem was a trap." Glancing around, I saw a small group of Pokémon that consisted of a Zangoose, Mankey, Piplup and a Torkoal. Suddenly I noticed Shiloh sitting among them and rushed over to her, ignoring the aches in my body.
"Shiloh!" I exclaimed, relieved to see her. "Did you get hurt? I didn't know if you were alright!"
"Gale, calm down," Shiloh told me, moving her paws up and down in a calming gesture. "I'm right here, and I'm fine. I was more worried about you." The Psyduck nodded.
"Where are we?" I asked after taking a breath. "How'd we get here?"
"The flood washed us through a tunnel and we came out here," the Psyduck explained. "It's one of the ways to get to the hot spring...one of the more dangerous ways, that is." I had finally calmed down enough to study the surroundings more and saw that there was a hot pool behind me, and I realized that Shiloh and I had probably been washed into it.
"You were with us too just before the wave hit," I told the Psyduck.
"Yeah, but I just swam here with the wave," the Pokémon said with a shrug. "I can breathe underwater, but you almost drowned."
"I figured that out," I returned sharply, a little annoyed.
"My name is Jasper, by the way." The Psyduck looked around me, then gestured off behind Shiloh, and I turned to see who he was indicating. The Torkoal I'd noticed before was approaching slowly.
"So, you three were swept here all the way from the waterfall?" He asked in a tired-sounding, but kind, voice. "You must be exhausted. You can rest here as long as you like."
"The springs are really good for relaxing," the Mankey put in, then stepped to the edge of the steaming hot spring and dove in. I covered my eyes until the splash created from the dive had washed over the ground.
"Watch it," snapped the Zangoose, stomping over to the pool, which looked like it could easily fit a dozen or more Pokémon.
"Aren't you going to get back in?" The Mankey asked her lazily while floating in the spring on his back. "You'll get wet again anyway." The Zangoose shook a clawed fist and growled; I looked nervously at her, glad she wasn't mad at me.
"That's not the point!" She snarled harshly. "I don't like being splashed. My fur gets all messed up!"
"Wow...you really need to relax," the Mankey sighed, not sounding the least bit intimidated.
"You do," the Piplup giggled in agreement, then raised her small flippers and pushed the Zangoose into the springs; another small wave splashed over everyone.
"Oh, my," the Torkoal exclaimed, stepping back a bit. "Please be careful," he scolded the Piplup just as the Zangoose surfaced, spluttering and looking more livid than the species usually did. "You need to be calm here."
"Sorry," the Piplup apologized sheepishly, wringing her flippers. "You're right, Elder Torkoal. I won't do that again."
"I hope not," the Torkoal sighed, and quietly the Piplup climbed into the hot springs, smiling gingerly at the Zangoose, who smirked playfully and lightly splashed her. The little Pokémon chittered with laughter and sent a stream of bubbles from her mouth; Zangoose laughed and popped them with her sharp claws, then swam over to the Piplup and began chatting. A second later the Mankey joined in as well. Shiloh chuckled, then turned to me and gestured to the spring. She had pulled her satchel off and it was lying on the ground a couple feet from the hot pool.
"Want to get in? I don't know about you, but I could stand to relax."
"Me too," I agreed, and sat on the edge of the hot spring, gingerly dipping my toes in. It was hot, but not scalding, so I put my satchel on the ground and carefully got in. Shiloh dove in headfirst but didn't make a huge splash like the others had done. I heard a little splash from my right and looked to see that the Psyduck, Jasper, had jumped in as well.
"How long have you two been on an exploration team?" He questioned, a searching expression on his face.
"Well...about a week and a half, I think," I answered back. "Why?"
"Because if you're just getting started out and the team members are as bad at fighting as you, then you need more teammates."
"Huh," I muttered, leaning back and gazing at the sky. "In that case, it's just me who's bad. But even so, I have an advantage over you."
"You forget," Shiloh put in, her voice a little threatening, "that we beat you, not the other way around."
"So?" Jasper shot back, a challenging tone in his voice. "I could have still fought you." Shiloh glanced over at Jasper with narrowed eyes and a little grin.
"Well, if you want to join, you'd better help your team members."
"I am interested in joining," Jasper admitted, seeming to calm down a little. "I haven't been outside of the waterfall cave before. You explore lots of places, and I want to see new things."
"Then you can join," Shiloh told him cheerily. "Right, Gale?" I just nodded once, trying to bite my tongue.
"You mean it?" Jasper asked, his smirking expression lifting into a surprised one.
"Yep," Shiloh answered. "You're a member of Team Seekers now. You can come back to the Guild with us and get registered. You'll get your own treasure bag and badge."
"Awesome!" Jasper exclaimed. "And, listen. I said before that outside Pokémon usually don't go to the waterfall cave, but a while back, one did. I saw him, and tried to talk to him, but he kind of just...danced around and didn't seem to hear me."
"Danced around?" Shiloh echoed, then met my eye. "Does that remind you of anyone?"
"Yeah," I replied, finally knowing who the shadowy figure in my vision had been. "The Guildmaster. He's always dancing around during supper."
"Why did Chatot send us here if the Guildmaster's been here before, then?" She frowned in though, then gave a loud sigh and shook her head. "I guess we'll just ask when we get back, huh?"
"So, what's this Guild like?" Jasper asked curiously. "And this Chatot and Guildmaster?"
"You should see for yourself," I answered. "It's hard to explain what the Guild looks like. I think you'll like it though."
"But you can't stay at the Guild," Shiloh explained, and Jasper looked a little disappointed. "The rooms are full. You could stay in Treasure Town somewhere, I think."
"I'll find somewhere to stay," Jasper said after a moment. "It won't be the same as the cavern, but that'll be fine."
"Should we go back now, then?" Shiloh asked eagerly, jumping to her feet and sending splashes of water everywhere. "Whoops."
"Can we go now?" Jasper questioned eagerly, also standing up. "Then let's go!"
"Okay," Shiloh said with a friendly look at him. "Remember what I said, though." She turned to Torkoal and lowered her head. "Thank you for letting us stay here awhile. It was nice. I hope we'll see you again soon."
"Me too," chirped the Piplup, waving her flippers. "Come back anytime. I bet he'll be able to tell you easier ways to get here." She looked over at Jasper, and he nodded in agreement.
"You came from Treasure Town, you said?" Torkoal asked, and Shiloh faced him.
"Yes, we did...and that reminds me...our map got all wet," Shiloh said, glancing at her satchel as she clambered out of the springs. She reached into her satchel and pulled out the map; it looked soggy with water. "I hope it'll be okay. I don't want to unfold it and tear it." I climbed out after her and stepped out of the way so Jasper could hop out of the spring too.
"I've been to Treasure Town several times," Torkoal stated, then pointed off behind us. I looked and saw that a rocky slope led down to a grassy plain. I couldn't see over the horizon; it seemed like a long way, but we could probably make it back long before it got dark. "If you go through the green meadow and continue on past the waterfall, you'll get to Treasure Town soon enough."
"Thank you! We can make it after that," Shiloh said, then turned and waved to everyone. "Bye! See you again soon!" Everyone waved back, and then the three of us turned and set off on the trek back to Treasure Town.
After we'd made it down the hill and traveled for about an hour, I felt a touch on my shoulders and glanced to my left to see Jasper hiking beside me. "What happened to you back in the cavern?"
"What do you mean?" I asked warily, though didn't have to think very hard to guess what he was talking about.
"You got dizzy," he answered, and I glanced ahead at Shiloh, but she was far in the lead and was glancing all around as she focused on landmarks. We'd just made it to the waterfall and I could make out the cliffs surrounding the cascade looming in the distance and even hear a faint roar from the falls. "Are you sick or something?"
"Not really, no..." I answered darkly. "It just happens sometimes."
"Huh," Jasper remarked thoughtfully. "Alright then, if you say so." I glanced at him and noticed there was a searching glint in his eyes. "I'll find out eventually though."
"There's nothing to find out," I shot back, raising my voice defensively. "Don't waste your time."
"Hey!" Shiloh yelled from up ahead, startling me into silence. "Knock it off. I'd still be able to hear you even if I was back in Treasure Town." I began kicking at the ground as I walked. "And speaking of Treasure Town, it won't be much longer until we get there. Probably another hour. I'll have some questions for Chatot when we get there."
"So, your Guildmaster was the one I saw, right?" Jasper asked with a studious look at me. "And he asked you to explore the waterfall anyway, even though he'd been there before?"
"That's right," Shiloh replied. "I've never seen a place like that, so I don't mind, but it's kind of odd."
"Wigglytuff is an odd Pokémon," I remarked, shaking my head. "I think even Chatot can't tell what he's thinking sometimes, and he's second-in-command."
"I think you're right about the Guild being interesting," Jasper said with a smile. "I asked Wigglytuff and managed to get some information when I met him first, but I lost him after that. He must have pushed the gem, too."
"Yeah, he did," I said without thinking, and glanced furtively at Jasper, hoping he hadn't noticed; he caught my eye briefly, frowned, then looked away towards the horizon.
"Anyway..." Jasper said, "I'll find somewhere to live in town so I can be around to help with explorations."
"I should have done this before, but now I want to look for a place for Crest to stay." Shiloh glanced backward at us. "He's a Marill and he joined just before you did. He won't be exploring with us for a little while, though."
"I'll check to see if there are any places to live," Jasper offered, "and let you know."
"Really?" Shiloh said. "Thanks, then. That sounds great." I exhaled sharply, knowing that the more Pokémon joined the team, the harder it would be to only have Shiloh know about my visions. Jasper was already suspicious about me, and I had no way of seeing how he'd react when he found out what he wanted to know...unless I wanted to try getting a vision about him, and I really didn't.
"I was just kidding, by the way," Jasper said abruptly, nudging my arm, and I looked sharply at him. "I don't really care about what's wrong with you. It was just fun to see your reaction." I scowled and looked away, not believing him. "If we're going to be on the same team," he continued, and I turned my head to stare at him, "you'd better lighten up." I was close to snapping at him, since Shiloh had told me the same thing and I didn't want to hear it, but I just glanced away again. Grinding my teeth, I jogged ahead and caught up with Shiloh.
"When we get back," I muttered to her, "I need to talk to you."
"What's going on?" She asked, looking concerned. "We can talk now."
"It's about the visions," I told her quietly, and her expression lifted into understanding.
"I got it," she whispered knowingly. "We'll talk about it once we get back."
Suspicious Psyduck is suspicious! But hey, he's the second Pokémon to join the team, so hoorah! Gale is really outnumbered by water Pokémon now, though. Even if he's a grass type, he can't take three water types on all at once. Hopefully his teammates won't be so mean as to do a prank and gang up on him! But knock on wood and everything. Thanks for reading!
Sorry for the weird formatting of the paragraphs that happens sometimes. I'm using Open Office, but someday I hope I can use Microsoft Word because I think it's a lot better at doing...well, pretty much everything. For now I hope it's okay though.