In the future...

Chapter 24: Chasm Cave

We found an entrance to a dark cave by the stockades. Grovyle raced right in to the cave without hesitation, but Jade and I weren't so eager. I wasn't quite ready to trust a criminal who said that the only way out was by going through a large dark cave.

But seeing as we didn't have much of a choice, Jade and I eventually had to trust him, at least for a while.

Grovyle ran through the cave, leaving us to plod behind as fast as our legs could go. According to Grovyle, it wasn't fast enough.

"C'mon, Chikorita! Can't you move any faster?" Grovyle said.

"I'm going… as fast… as I can…" Jade panted.

"And her name's not Chikorita. It's—" I started.

"Names don't matter to me," Grovyle said shortly.

We didn't talk for quite a while.

I had slightly higher endurance than Jade, so I wasn't keeling over and panting right away. But after about fifteen minutes of running, I began to tire out.

We have to take a break soon, I thought.

But no chance for a break arose. Whenever Jade or I insisted on taking a break, Grovyle just reminded us that the Sableye were still on the lookout for us.

After a few more minutes of running, Jade broke the tense silence.

"Grovyle… Is this… the future…?" Jade panted.

"Yes it is. You sure catch on quickly," Grovyle smirked sarcastically.

"Will we… ever be able… to get back… to our own time?" I asked.

"Who knows? For now we should just focus on getting as far away from the stockades as possible. Those Sableye won't—"

"I know the Sableye are looking for us! You don't have to remind us every two seconds!" I snapped.

A few more minutes passed without conversation. Jade continued to pant. I continued to wonder about Dusknoir and Grovyle and who I should trust.

Finally, we saw a light ahead of us.

"Hey! That looks like the exit to the cave!" Jade exclaimed.

"Finally… Can we take a break there?" I asked.

Grovyle didn't respond. He darted away faster than you could say "future".

Once we emerged from the cave, Jade and I stopped and just looked at the world.

The whole world was completely monochrome. The ground was gray, the sky was dark, and the few trees were black and looked like scraggly hands. Large boulders twice my size were suspended in midair as if they had been frozen in place…

"What the… This is… the future? It's like…" I said.

"So… gray…" Jade said in awe.

"You don't say," Grovyle said under his breath. He continued to run ahead.

"Ugh… I can't keep going… Need to take a break…" Jade panted.

Grovyle sighed. "Well, you're in luck, Chikorita. There's a place just up ahead where we can rest."

"Whew! Thank goodness!" Jade said.

We ran a little longer and eventually found what appeared to be the entrance to a dungeon. Ahead of us was the black mouth of a cave, to my left there was a Kangaskhan Rock, to my right there was a cliff.

Jade collapsed on top of the Kangaskhan Rock and let out a sigh. "Thank goodness that's over."

"Oh, it's not over just yet. Those Sableye are still after us. Once you're all rested, we should get going," Grovyle said.

Jade suddenly looked at Grovyle with a look of repulsion. "Ex-CUSE me?! Who's 'we'? We never said anything about you joining us!"

Grovyle looked at Jade strangely. "You are aware that you cooperated with me while we were escaping, right?"

"Yes, but that was only because we didn't have much of a choice!" Jade snapped.

"Look, do you want to get back to your time or not?" Grovyle asked.

"Yes, but—"

"I know a way to get back to your time."

"No. I don't believe you."

Grovyle looked at me. "Is she always this stubborn?"

"Kind of," I said.

"I heard that! Now, shove off before I make you!" Jade said.

"Sheesh. You're feisty. Anyway, you two should get going. The Sableye will be catching up to us soon." He began to make his way to the cave.

"Wait! Grovyle!" I called.

Grovyle stopped abruptly. "Yes?"

Jade glared at me as if she couldn't believe that I was talking to a criminal.

"Shouldn't we wait until morning to leave? I mean, it's dark out. We won't be able to see much. And don't tell me the Sableye will get us if we take a break!" I added.

Grovyle stopped and sighed, as if we had mentioned a sensitive subject. "We can't," he muttered.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"We can't wait until morning to leave," Grovyle repeated.

"Why?" I pressured.

"Morning… never comes," Grovyle said.

"What do you mean, morning never comes?" I asked. Grovyle's words were really starting to confuse me.

"This place… Is paralyzed."

"WHAT?!" Jade and I exclaimed simultaneously.

"But Dusknoir said that you were trying to paralyze the planet!" Jade said.

"Do you really believe a word that Dusknoir says now?" Grovyle sighed.

Jade didn't answer. I didn't really have an answer either. I mean, only minutes ago, Dusknoir had ordered a squad of Sableye to get rid of us, and Grovyle had saved our lives. But shouldn't this be theother way around?Dusknoir should be the good guy, and Grovyle should be the bad guy… right?

When the silence grew awkward, Grovyle sighed. "I thought so. I'll be going now. You two should get going as well. Don't let the Sableye get you." He set off into the cave, and in seconds he was lost in the darkness.

Jade turned to me, confusion on her face.

"So Dusknoir said that Grovyle was trying to paralyze the planet… But it's already paralyzed… Were we too late to stop the planet's paralysis?" Jade said.

"I… I really don't know…" I admitted.

Jade choked back a sob and put her head on my shoulder. "Emile… I'm so confused… I don't know who to trust… The only Pokémon that I'm sure I trust… is you."

I smiled. "Hey, don't worry, Jade. I'm sure we'll get through this."

A small smile flickered on Jade's face, but it was immediately extinguished when a laugh of "Wheh-heh-heh!" echoed off of the walls.

"It's the Sableye," Jade said.

"We need to go. Now," I said urgently. I ran over to the Kangaskhan Rock and switched around my items. For a strange reason, we could access all the items that we had left in the Kangaskhan Storage in Treasure Town. It wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened to me.

Once we were satisfied with our items, we set off into the cave.

It was very dark in the cave, and I couldn't see anything. I just wandered around blindly, hoping to be able to feel my way around with the walls. But I quickly noticed that there were no walls. Just chasms.

I hoped that the enemies here would be hampered by the chasms. Surely Pokémon with feet like us couldn't cross the gaping holes. But there was no such luck. The majority of the Pokémon in the cave could fly or float over the chasms much to our dismay.

As we trekked through the dungeon, I couldn't help but think about our current predicament.

So we've been dragged to the future by Dusknoir, who secretly wants us dead. Then we narrowly escaped certain death with the help of a criminal. Then we learn the planet is paralyzed. And now we're in a dangerous, unfamiliar dungeon with no way to get back to our own time. That's when I stopped thinking about it. It was giving me a headache that disrupted my concentration.

Deep down inside, I was scared. Very scared. I just wanted to curl up on the floor of Chasm Cave and cry until something happened. But I couldn't. I had to be strong. For Jade…

After nine floors of chasms, Pokémon, and headaches, we emerged into a clearing of sorts. We were still in the cave, but this area was slightly brighter than Chasm Cave. Many small waterfalls cascaded down the gray walls, but the waterfalls were completely still, as if they'd been frozen. Then I realized that they had been frozen. Frozen in time.

Way ahead was a Kangaskhan Rock. Ahead of that was the entrance to another dungeon.

I began to make my way to the next entrance, but Jade wasn't following me. She was staring at a frozen waterfall.

"Hey, Jade. We need to keep moving," I said.

Jade snorted. "You're starting to sound like Grovyle now."

"It's true, though. The Sableye are probably still after us," I said.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll be quick. Or rather, you'll be quick."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to touch this waterfall."

I blinked, thrown by such a strange request.

"Touch the water?" I said stupidly.

"Yes, you doofus. If you touch the water, your Dimensional Scream might activate," Jade sighed.

"Oh. Right," I said.

I approached the frozen spray of water. This waterfall could be holding the key to our escape from this perilous world… I looked at my furry black paw for a second. Then I placed it on the waterfall.

It was a curious feeling to touch a waterfall frozen in time. It was almost like touching ice; it was rock-solid and rather cold. I waited for a vision to appear to me. But nothing happened.

"So, Emile. Do you see anything?" Jade asked after a minute of silence.

"Nope. Nothing," I said, my hand still on the water spray.

We sat there for another minute or so, waiting for my Dimensional Scream to activate. But nothing came forth.

"Nothing's happening…" I said.

"What? You're not seeing a—"

"Wheh-heh-heh!" The cold laugh echoed around the walls and made Jade stop.

"It's the Sableye," Jade whispered.

"We need to hurry," I whispered back.

I raced up to the Kangaskhan Rock and switched around our items. Once we were all prepared, we set off into the dungeon ahead of us.

XxX

I hope you like the newest installment to Follow Your Heart. Don't forget to review. Otherwise, have a nice day...