Chapter Twenty-One
Colby, Amanda, Josh, Ellis, Smithers and Jeremy approached the gym, of course with Smithers in the lead, looking pretty confident. The 'Sanville Ground Gym' sign was lit up due to the blazing sun that seemed to be baking them all like chocolate chip cookies so to speak. The brick building of the gyms residence stood firm not being budged by the heat, or in this case, melted.
"Well here we are, get in! You're letting all my cool air out," Smithers griped, holding one of the double doors open for everyone.
Colby filed in and was hit by a blast of cool air, tickling her cheeks refreshingly. It was such a relief to be out of the hot for a while and this building felt like a little slice of heaven.
Smithers slammed the door shut, causing Amanda to jump, startled. Ellis looked amused at this and gave her a teasing glance that she ignored. Colby didn't even glance at Josh because everyone already knew his expression, emotionless and blank, like always.
Looking around, Colby noticed that they were in a fairly simple, brick waiting room. A few chairs were sat around the room but barren as if there was an epidemic or something. The walls were a tan brick of some type, which Colby had never seen before and the walls were filled up with pictures of all the Pokémon that you could ever think of! Smithers was in each of the pictures, posing by people, Pokémon, great landforms, or buildings of some type. You could spend all day just looking at all of the pictures there were that many in the small room.
"You look like you are interested in traveling and Pokémon…?" Ellis asked, admiring a picture of a young Smithers and another guy with dusty brown hair posing by a Dragonite along with its trainer.
Smithers sighed and brushed his brown hair out of his face, almost solemnly. "Yes…I traveled to all of the regions when I was younger with my buddy…" Smithers trailed off, looking expressionless but uncomfortable at the same time. Ellis seemed to notice and dropped the subject, continuing to look at the pictures with not as much interest as before.
"Well," Smithers cleared his throat. "I better get a move on, as should you kiddies. Let's battle."
With that he walked down a hallway and disappeared without another word. Colby was in question asking sentence when he left, ignoring the fact that she had many questions.
Jeremy sighed, "He tends to do that a lot, disappear with out another word that is. Since it's my job, I'll tell you what to do past this point. Follow that hallway that he just went through and you will come to a fork in the road so to speak. You have to find your way through the maze that we set up. Get to the bottom, of course after battling the trainers, and then you can battle Smithers. Don't be afraid when the…surprise…pulls you in if you know what I mean. Just let it take you where you are going and all will be fine."
Colby nodded, pretending to understand the last part when in fact she had no idea what he was talking about. Surprises can be good or bad…so she was wondering which was the case this time. It was a gym and they had to keep their participants safe, ruled by the Pokémon League which this gym was a part of. It could be a bit nerve wracking…but at least she knew that she was going to be safe.
Taking a deep breath she nodded to Jeremy, "Thank you for all your help. You are going to make a good gym leader some day."
Jeremy smiled brightly, "Thank you miss, it was a pleasure to help you four out. As for the gym leader part…we'll hope. Good luck on your journeys and off you go!"
Amanda smiled and led the way down the lighted hallway with Colby at her side and Josh and Ellis in the rear.
"Okay…so by surprise did he mean some ice-cream? It pulls me in and I just have to let it take me," Ellis said aloud, practically drooling.
Amanda giggled, "No Ellis I doubt it, though that does sound nice. Haven't seen and Ice-cream Gym anywhere on the map."
Josh just rolled his eyes and crammed his hands in his blasted coat pockets. Great Stellar Spirits! That guy could survive extreme heat!
"After this we will go get some ice-cream Ellis, don't you worry," Colby laughed, agreeing with it.
They came to the end of the hall and emerged into a small room. Just before she got to the end of the hall Colby looked down.
"Stop!" She commanded, stopping and causing Ellis to smack into her back. "What the hell?" Josh growled, jerking to a stop before he ran Amanda over. "What is that?" Ellis exclaimed, seeing what Colby was.
She couldn't believe her eyes at what was on the floor…if you could call it a floor in front of them. Tan sand was churning on the floor, each side twisting into a vortex of swirling sand. All was still except for the circle, churning area in the corners of the room that almost looked like portals of some sort.
"Oh…" Josh said quietly, mesmerized as everyone else was by the scene.
"This is the surprise he was speaking of?" Amanda asked, dumbfounded. "What…? How are we supposed to get anywhere? This is a plain, oval shaped room with no doors or windows…just a weird ass floor," Josh said plainly. "What even is the floor?" Ellis asked.
Everyone seemed to be confused but Colby had an idea about what was in front of them. Jeremy had said something about a maze…so what if the two sand portals were part of the maze somehow? Where did they go and which one was to be chosen? This really was a fork in the road…but not literally.
Mustering up the courage and ignoring her confused friends, Colby adjusted her knapsack straps and took a step onto the sandy floor. Nothing happened as she moved forward, ignoring the gasp from behind here.
"Colby! What are you doing?" Ellis asked, looking wide eyed.
Colby looked behind her, standing perfectly fine in the sand that wasn't swirling, like in the corner ahead and to the left of her. She took a few more steps out where she was now in the middle of the room, looking back at them.
"Guys it's really nothing! Just some sand-" She heard something… like that sucking sound of your feet when you pull them out of mud.
Amanda's eyes went wide, "Colby!"
Looking down, Colby saw that her feet were…sinking into the floor. This wasn't regular sand…this was something else…this was-
"Quicksand! It's quicksand!" Ellis yelled as the top of her shoes started to go under and down to who knows where.
Colby's eyes widened in fear as she felt herself slowly sinking…and knew she couldn't anything about it. One thing about quicksand that she did know was that if you fought it, you'd sink a lot faster. Stupid facts weren't going to get her out of this one.
"I'm going to help-" Ellis started, taking a step.
Amanda yanked him back, "No! You can't! You'll sink just like her!"
Josh looked irritated, "Well are we going to do something or just let her go through the jacked up floor? I'm with the green headed dumbass."
Amanda looked pained and released Ellis's arm, realizing the truth of Josh's words.
"Wait no! Don't guys!" Colby exclaimed, up to her ankles in sand now.
"We aren't just going to leave you there! I'm coming," Ellis yelled, stepping out onto the quicksand.
He walked around a bit, testing the ground and seemed to get an idea. "Hey! As long as you're moving you don't sink! See?" Ellis said, walking from one side to the other perfectly without sinking so much as an inch.
Colby almost face palmed, of course! That's why she didn't sink at first! Just when she stopped moving to look at them is when the ground responded. Amanda and Josh crept out onto the magical floor and kept their feet moving, following Ellis towards Colby. She was now up past her calves in the sand and it was getting hard to move at all…hopefully her friends would come to the rescue!
Ellis came up beside her, moving his feet in a standing jog and grabbing her arm. Amanda and Josh did the same thing, grabbing each of her arms. "Ready? One…two…three!"
On three everyone yanked up on her arms, causing Colby to come free a couple inches.
"Keep going!" Ellis called, bracing for yank number two.
"Go!" Amanda said.
They all yanked again, freeing Colby to the top of her shoes this time.
"One more time," Josh grunted. "Go!"
They yanked one last time and Colby came out, free of her sand prison. Immediately the holes from her feet closed and she was back on the sand, jogging in place like everyone else.
"Thanks guys! You're really the best," Colby smiled, giving each of them a high five.
Ellis grinned his signature smile, "Any time! Ellis Corona and friends to the rescue!"
Josh looked blank, "Since when was I ever established as 'your friend'?"
Ellis ignored him and glanced at the vortex sand that was ten feet away.
"What are we going to do about that?" Amanda asked.
Colby had done some brief thinking…but there was no guarantee anything would work, at least it was worth a shot.
"I have an idea…" Colby said, walking over and doing her in place jogging in front of the vortex.
It surely did look intimidating…but she pushed away her fears and decided that it needed to be done, regardless.
"I think we need to jump in either one of them," she told them, glancing down at swirling sand and back at her friends.
"I don't know…" Amanda said hesitantly, looking a bit intimidated by the vortex.
"Well there's only one way to find out isn't there? Let's get this over with, come on snot brain," Josh said furiously, grabbing Ellis by the collar and jerking him over into the swirling mass where they both stepped.
"Josh what are you doing?" Amanda said, eyes wide as Josh and Ellis began to sink quickly into the floor below.
Josh had surprise on his face as both of their torsos began to go through the vortex and to who knows where. Ellis looked a bit afraid but forced them one last smile before they were both swallowed up, and gone into the unknown.
The tips of green and black hair were swallowed, the portal then making the mud sucking noise again and seeming to collapse on it self. There was no sign that there had even been one there to start with. Feeling a jolt of fear, Colby wondered if they were all right…who knows which was the right choice. That could go anywhere.
Sighing, she looked at Amanda whose eyes were twice the size as normal, just staring at the spot where Josh and Ellis were swallowed up. "We're next," Colby told her, forcing a smile.
Amanda took a deep breath, pushing her glasses up, and nodded, "Alright, let's do this."
Colby and Amanda stepped into the swirling mass together, slowly beginning to sink like Josh and Ellis. It wasn't any different than being swallowed by the quicksand but much quicker. Amanda looked terrified as they were up to their stomachs and descending rapidly.
"Don't worry, we'll make it! Just close your eyes," Colby told her.
Amanda nodded rapidly and squeezed her eyes shut so tight that if she weren't careful they would probably pop out of her head. They were up to their torsos now and she could feel her feet dangling beneath her on the other side…of where ever.
Colby was up to her shoulders now, feeling her arms hit wide-open air on the other side. A burst of fear tackled her, would they fall into air and never stop?
Colby's neck was barley above and she took a last gulp of air, squeezing her eyes shut as the rest of her head was pushed under the rough quick sand and down to the unknown.
Colby was surprised when her feet hit solid ground and they made it safely through the quicksand…portal. Looking around, she saw the room was just a concrete hallway of sorts that had little lights brightening the stretch of hallway. It was like a little tunnel going straight to who knows where.
Amanda and Colby were breathing heavy as they looked around, glancing up at the ceiling (which looked like a perfectly normal concrete ceiling) and seeing nothing that could indicate the presence of a portal of any kind. Colby shook off her apparent confusion and looked at Amanda, who met her eyes.
"Where are Josh and Ellis?" Amanda asked, looking worried as they looked down the semi dark hallway.
Colby shrugged, looking around she didn't see them or a door or anything suggesting that they would be around here anywhere.
"Maybe their portal lead to another place…?" Colby told her, confused as well.
"Alright, well we better get going," Amanda responded, trying to hide her obvious worry.
She was a worrywart, caring about people and Pokémon alike, not resting until they were safe. That was one of the reasons that Colby thought she would make an excellent Pokémon Professor one day. They continued down the silent hallway, as the concrete tunnel around them seemed to widen a bit. After a couple steps, they came to another room that looked almost exactly like the room that they had gone through the portal in, accept this one had three portals and was a lot bigger.
Stepping onto the concrete platform that jutted out from the hallway, they looked down at the mysterious sand and back up at the portals with worry. How would they know which one was the right one, and which lead to their friends and the gym leader?
Just as Amanda was about to say something, a noise was heard to their left…sort of like a gurgling. With wide eyes Colby and Amanda watched, as a figure seemed to rise out from the sand like magic. The person fully came into view and Colby recognized that it was a trainer!
"Who are you?" Amanda squeaked with big eyes.
The young boy, probably around 14 (two years younger than Colby and the other gang, besides Amanda who was 15) smirked at them.
"I am here to battle you! You're Smithers challengers! Congratulations on getting this far, but I'm afraid your triumphs stop here!" He yelled as he threw out a Poke Ball.
Amanda switched into battle mode almost automatically and threw out Rain's Poke Ball, letting her explode onto the sand that didn't seem to be having them sink if stood still on. Turning her Unknown cap sideways, she caught Rain's Poke Ball with expertise and nonchalance. Colby threw out Mara's Poke Ball and caught it when it came back, shakier than Amanda though.
The boy had two Pokémon that he called out, one being a scraggly looking Sandshrew and an energized Gible.
"Sandshrew, swift! Gible, take down!" the boy yelled.
Colby thought the moves were a good choice, considering everyone in their party was around the level 15 through 17 area (accept for Subway…no one really knew how the hell he was level 18 and evolved into a Wailord). The moves that the boy had told them to do were clever, but Amanda and Colby were a better team.
Rain did have the advantage here since she was a water type and Sandshrew was ground, so that's where Amanda told her to aim her water gun attack. Mara didn't have as much of an advantage on Gible, but a bit over normal because of being part poison type.
"Mara, get him with stun spore!"
Oh boy was Colby familiar with that attack. Sandshrew released its fury of stars, some nicking Rain on the side, causing her to flinch, but not let up the power of water gun. An explosion of wet fury burst from her mouth, water knocking the Sandshrew clear off its feet. It squirmed but got up, shaking the attack off and dodging the next giant pump of water that was firing from Rain's mouth.
Gible unleashed its take down, hitting Mara head on. Dazed, Mara lay there as Gible was preparing for another hit, storing energy.
"Get up Mara! Quick!" Colby yelled as Gible came charging again.
Seeming to snap out of it, Mara barely dodged and sent an angry Gible charging back toward her the other way, an endless dance of dodging. Mara was shooting stun spore at him, obviously slowing the other Pokémon down though he tried to fight it. Letting loose another torrent of it, the Gible finally froze up, twitching.
"Acid!" Colby commanded.
Mara obeyed, sending acid all over the Gible and instantly making the Pokémon faint. The boy recalled his broken Pokémon and focused on fighting for control of Amanda's side of the battle. Unfortunately for him, Rain had everything under control, easily taking down the Sandshrew with a smooth looking tackle.
Rain landed back in front of Amanda easily, seeming not to have even broken a sweat from the battle an obviously not injured at all. Amanda had spent hours training her team, making everyone work together in sync and as strong as possible. Her goal wasn't to get the strongest or most powerful Pokémon, but to make everyone strong through teamwork, effort, and perseverance through any challenge.
Countless hours where Amanda could have been sleeping, Colby had seen her out there working with her Pokémon individually and always making sure they were taken care of like royalty. Just like that the battle was over and the boy looked surprised at their strength.
"Wow! You two are really good trainers. I may have underestimated you. Move along across the sand and continue your journey through the Sanville Ground Gym!"
With that he disappeared back into the sand like he came, going back down into the ground like magic as if he was never there. Colby and Amanda exchanged a look before looking ahead of them at the next challenge presented. They had to decide which of the three portals to choose…who knew which one lead to the gym leader.
"Which one should we choose?" Amanda asked, both of them still standing on the concrete square.
Colby shrugged, her guess was as good as anyone's at the moment. She didn't even know if there was any way to tell which one…which one was what. They all looked the same!
"Let's just…go with the far left one just like we did when Josh and Ellis took their leap of faith so to say. Does that sound good?" Colby asked.
Amanda nodded, pushing her glasses up on her face and letting out a deep sigh before both of them proceeded forward onto the weird sand floor, still not sinking in as long as their feet kept moving. It really was the strangest thing, not that it felt any different under her feet or anything…it was just like walking in regular sand, squishing between the soles of their shoes.
Coming to the far right portal, they stepped in, once again going down into the floor, sinking. The sensation of actually sinking wasn't that weird…though the thinking about it made it that way. Who got to sink through the floor on a daily basis? Evidently only the Sanville Gym trainees under Smithers! Colby and Amanda came up to their chests in the vortex, Colby flailing her arms on the other side of the vortex for randomness. Closing her eyes tightly, they dropped easily onto a small platform.
Colby opened her eyes as they landed, and while the ceiling remodeled so to speak, they took a look at what was around. It was a big square room, who knows how many feet under the gym, and had sand everywhere. This was the same quick sand stuff that had been around everywhere. The room wasn't huge, just a bit bigger than the smaller rooms that they had encountered before. The only strange thing was, there was a giant…almost not solid in a way, wall of sand not ten feet from where they were standing.
Colby shot Amanda a questioning look and crept over to the wall, seeing that there were this time four distinct swirling portals.
"Geesh, what is with this place and portals?" Colby thought aloud, sticking her hand through each of the portals and quickly pulling it back as the portal acted as a vortex, trying to pull her through.
"What one do we choose now?" Amanda asked, both interested and perplexed by the strange wall in front of them.
Colby shrugged, she had no idea this time, "I have no idea…let's just choose a random one."
They got their packs situated on their backs and picked the middle left one, going straight through easily.
"Emmera! Use tackle!" Someone yelled as they turned to face in front of them.
They were on a huge sand area with concrete walls. It seemed to be like a sand pit sort of bowl like and huge. They had appeared evidently at the end of Ellis's battle with Smithers, because they were both facing each other, while Emmera took out his Pokémon.
Ellis looked triumphant as Smithers recalled his feinted Pokémon with the slightest of smiles on his face. He had changed from his usual attire into a light green pair of cargo pants and a black tank top that were completely coal dust free. His hair was still wild but Colby guessed it was always like that since he seemed just like that kind of person.
"Congratulations! You battled well, and you've more than earned this Sand Badge. It was a pleasure battling you and good luck," Smithers said, approaching Ellis to hand him the little badge and shake his hand.
Ellis was beaming with his green hair tousled just the least from battle and took the badge with a huge smile.
"Thanks!" He exclaimed simply before practically running over to them, catching sight of the girls.
"You guys made it!" He said, giving them each a hug.
"Did you see my amazing battle? I kicked tail," He laughed.
Colby returned the hug and laughed, "No, sadly we only caught the last part of it Ellis, but I'm sure you were amazing."
Amanda smiled, "Yep! Emmera and Charlie seem to make a good team, so I'll be everything went smooth. Maybe those training sessions with Zero, Rain and Citrus paid off!"
Ellis returned the smile, "They sure did! Even Josh was a little shocked."
"I was not," Josh snapped from beside Colby.
She almost jumped at his voice, not realizing he was there the whole time.
"Scared the crap out of me," Colby breathed, looking at his emotionless state that if wasn't present it would be practically the end of the world as everyone knew it.
"Yep, his face is pretty scary," Ellis said with muffled laughter.
Josh narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, not saying a word.
"Who wants to battle next?" Smithers called, still in the spot and ready for the next challenger.
Colby looked at Josh, "I'm guessing you haven't battled yet?"
She hadn't heard any explosions so that had to be a good sign.
Josh shook his head, "I'll go last…you two go."
Colby shrugged, "Okay, want to go Amanda?"
"Sure!" She replied, looking excited as she grabbed three Poke Balls from her bag.
Looking quite ready she took a deep breath and proceeded to the line that Ellis was just standing on in the middle of the field. It was marked by the usual rectangle and Poke Ball shaped circle in the middle, nothing fancy, and with plenty of room for some serious battling. As her usual routine entails, Amanda turns her cap to the side and pushes her glasses up, rolling a Poke Ball around in her hands.
Smithers had a smirk plastered on his face, "Glad to see you've made it this far! Now let's get this battle started girlie!"
A/N: Hope that wasn't too terrible xD Again, sorry for the not one week updates again, as I said I will try my best guys! Oh cliffhangers, don't you just love them? XP Farewell till next chapter! Review? :D Please?