Blue was silent and tensed herself for what may happen. All she wanted was to get out of this cave, but people keep saying that she doesn't belong on Mt. Moon. She was an inexperienced Trainer, how else was she supposed to get to Cerulean? None of this made any sense to her.
"I just need to get to Cerulean..." she started, looking around her before returning her gaze to the man.
"You'd get there faster if you followed the signs," was the curt reply, to which Blue's Charmeleon growled at. "Things will go much smoother if you or your Pokemon don't do anything stupid."
Blue frowned, not trusting this man for a minute. She had spotted other people wearing the exact same outfit - or rather, uniform, as it was becoming clearer. Black pants, black hat, and a black shirt with a big red R emblazoned on the front. But this man, he was wearing big black sunglasses. Why wear sunglasses in a cave?
The scarlet-haired man could tell that she was studying him, so he took a step forward. Blue was startled by his sudden movement and tripped trying to move backwards and away from him. "Leave me alone!" she cried from the floor. Coal crouched beside her and attempted to growl menacingly, despite being scared.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed his Pokeball, threatening to release what was inside. Blue's eye widened and gasped lightly. "I can tell you're scared. Don't do anything stupid, and everything will be all right." He took another step towards her.
Blue covered her eyes with her arms but when no attack came, she peered through the gap in between her forearms. The man was stretching out his hand to help her up. She hesitantly looked at it before taking his hand.
An electric shock ran through her body.
A periwinkle-haired man in a white suit and black tie was talking on the phone when Maxie and Archie came before him. "I'll have to call you back," he said. "I believe some information has just come in." He snapped his cell phone closed and put it in his breast pocket before addressing the two. "Did you find out anything?"
"That's correct. The electromagnetic waves of this cave made it... difficult, to say the least. Nonetheless, we have made quite the discovery." Maxie smiled lightly as he turned to his brunette companion.
"Fucked up our equipment for th' most part, but I got it sorted out." Archie puffed himself up proudly and scratched his beard.
The man in the suit rubbed his hand on the bridge of his nose. "The information, if you will."
"We found that the electromagnetic waves found within this cave have the same frequency as the P.P." Maxie began.
The periwinkle-haired man looked attentively at him. "Are you sure?"
"Affirmative. The amount of energy we could harness from this cave will be more than adequate to power it."
Archie rubbed his beard again. "This was after we saw some grunt near the Capacitor. Jus' crusin', he says. Wearin' big ol' glasses an' shit. Don't think he could have seen anythin' from them."
"All of the grunts have their assignments. None of them are stationed near the Capacitor."
"You should keep better track of yer Grunts, Archer. Th' lack of discipline is-"
"Silence! I will not have you talk to me like that. I don't care what deal you have going with our Boss, but for now you are under MY orders, and that means you will follow them to the 'T'! Do I make myself clear?" Archer was becoming visibly angry, despite his attempts to remain calm.
"You must forgive Archie," Maxie interjected, elbowing his companion in the ribs. "His lack of respect for his superior shows how inexperienced and emotional he is. We shall do our best to find the culprit, and bring him to you."
Archer sighed and waved them off. "Get out of my sight."
Maxie took hold of Archie's arm and dragged him off. Despite being a large muscular man and angry, Maxie was his friend so he complied. "You better tell me that was all an act," he growled after they had walked a reasonable distance away from Archer.
"Of course it was. He won't be able to imagine how the energy will affect his precious P.P."
Blue let go of the man's hand after the initial jolt and looked at her hand. What just happened?
He looked as if he was lost in thought. "Hmm..." He looked at her in the eyes once before looking off into the distance from where he came. "If you wish to leave, you must follow me."
"How am I supposed to trust you? I don't even know you!" she shook her head. She couldn't run, her legs were frozen. Coal was helpless to help his trainer.
"I never asked you to. But if you refuse, then I will have no other choice but force you to follow." He looked intently at her. "You better choose now, because you're running out of time here, and my patience is running thin."
Blue let loose a single tear from her eye, but quickly hid it as she rubbed her face nervously. She looked at her Pokemon, who stared straight back at her. "I guess... I have no other choice..."
"Good," he said, even before Blue finished speaking. "Don't fall behind."
Silver stared at the cell phone that was in his hand. He had just got done telling Archer that a certain grunt was to be promoted and be sent to Cerulean City for his assignment, and that said grunt was supposed to be working with a very valuable 'chess piece' for their organization. But these weren't his order, oh no. They were His.
Why would he bother with a measly grunt? Silver wondered, furious at the final decision. After all, he was the one who persuaded the 'piece' to go along with their cause. He, Silver, should be getting a lot of credit.
"But no, Father always has to do things his way," he muttered. "Why can't he see that I am fully capable of running us?" He kicked a small trashcan, knocking it over. Silver exhaled, trying to calm down and return into his normal, collected self. This was no time for him to let anger control him. This mission was too important.
A few minutes later, his cell phone rang, and Silver answered immediately. "What have you learned?"
"Maxie and Archie have confirmed what we've already guessed: the energy from Mount Moon will be perfect for our needs." said the voice on the other line.
"Excellent. Send a Fearow out to the island immediately - tell the scientists to bring all of their equipment. Whatever they need to transport, you figure it out. Tell those goons Maxie and Archie to meet me at The Spot tomorrow at four. They better not be late." With a 'click', Silver hung up the phone, delighted.
What his father wanted with those two he didn't know. All Silver knew was that Maxie was a landmass expert, and that Archie knew almost everything there was to know about the seas. Both were untrustworthy, and could potentially ruin his organizations' plans. What is Father thinking?
Blue was silent as she followed behind the scarlet-haired man, Coal right on her heels. So far he had done nothing to her, but Blue kept herself alert just in case. The fear of the unknown that was instilled upon her body was great, but since he hadn't tried to hurt her, she was safe for the moment. In all actuality, she had a suspicion that the man scared everything away from him.
He glanced back at her from the corner of his eye before continuing on ahead. "Where are you taking me?"
He twitched his eye before shushing her, "If you know what's good for you, you'd be quiet."
In this tense moment, Blue felt a stab of annoyance and, for the first time, stubbornness. She was startled by her own sudden change of personality, but didn't shrink back. "At least tell me your name," she grumbled.
He stopped and turned to face her. Mouth open, he was about to say something when he was interrupted by the stamping of feet. "Move," he hissed, grabbing Coal's Pokeball at her waist and recalling him. He then pushed her against the wall and behind some rocks, stuffing Coal's Pokeball in her bag. He crouched with his back to her as he blocked her from view. A few men and women in white lab coats were rushing towards them, paperwork and maps in their hands.
Towards the 'Capacitor'? Cougar thought. They were certainly going in the right direction.
"That's right, you better move your asses! Archer's gonna beat you real good if you don't move fast enough!" said a woman's smug voice. "Weds, show that fool what happens when you don't hustle," she commanded towards her fierce-looking Beedrill.
Its long stingers were coated in deadly venom. It buzzed once in agreement before rushing at the scientist who had happened to trip. When he saw the giant bug coming, he yelped in fear and covered his head. But the Beedrill merely swooped over his head, missing him by a mile. "That will show you to be clumsy! NOW MOVE YOUR ASS!" she kicked him in the side, cackling in amusement.
Blue had closed her eyes shut and remained still as the woman and scientists ran past them. Cougar had been tense, but his instincts didn't lead him astray. He could feel the soft heat coming from the girl behind him, and he didn't enjoy babysitting. This girl is more trouble than she's worth, he thought to himself, grimacing. Getting into my head already...
He got up, made sure the coast was clear, before moving on again. He had better lead her out of this cave as soon as he could - there was something going on here and he HAD to figure out what was going on. Cougar was positive that neither Spaniel nor Bulldog would know where the giant machine was located or what its purpose was.
He had walked a few steps before realizing that the girl wasn't behind him. "You've got to be kidding me..." he muttered, hurrying back to the place where he had last seen her.
Nothing.
She was gone, nowhere to be found.
Cougar threw up his hands and shook his head, annoyed.
Blue ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction in which her 'captor' had walked. She released Coal from his Pokeball as she ran, thankful for his familiar presence. "Something's going on here, Coal," she huffed, "but I don't know why." She stopped, panted, and allowed her breath to catch up with her. "I... I'm not sure if I want to know - all of these people wearing the same uniform; what does the 'R' even mean? And that man... he could have hurt me, Coal. He really could have. Just being near him... makes me feel..." she trailed off, not knowing how she felt.
She hurried on, frantically looking for a sign that would tell her the way out.
"Ho there, little lady! Are you lost?" said a jovial voice.
"Please... I need to get out of here... I've been... running, running so much..." she coughed and wheezed, unable to get adequate air into her lungs.
"Woah there, easy. Let ol' George help you, miss." The man had a stout belly, a thick beard, and was covered head to toe in dirt. Overall, he seemed like a sincere, caring man. He placed his hand on her shoulder tenderly. "The exit isn't too far from here - jus' about a mile or so over yonder. Let ol' George escort you there, little lady. A lass like you shouldn't be wandering through a cave all alone!"
Ten minutes later, Blue found herself outside of Mount Moon, with the help of George. He had left after she gave exuberant thanks and apologies before releasing all of her Pokemon so they could get some fresh air before they carried on. Blue's stomach growled, and she realized that she hadn't eaten in quite some time.
Birdie, Bolt and Pudge all looked overjoyed at being out of their Pokeballs. Pudge chirped happily and flew into the air, swooping and diving as fast as a little Pidgey could. Suddenly, in a flash of light, she became much larger, the feathers on her body becoming more pristine. "Pidgeotto!" she chirped again, flapping her wings in glee.
"You've... you've all grown so much. Coal, Birdie, Pudge... you've all evolved and have gotten so big and strong," Blue smiled gently at her Pokemon. Bolt the Pikachu released a few sparks from her cheeks, somewhat annoyed. "Oh, Bolt, how could I forget you? You're my little fighter."
A Charmeleon, Nidorina, Pikachu and Pidgeotto made up her team - Blue had never thought she'd have this many, nor did she ever think that she'd become a trainer in the first place. It's only been a few days... But I think I've made some progress. I can't give up, not now, not after what's happened.