Chapter 24: Coastal Adventures
Carlos, Sandra, and Lucar stood at attention as Chatot explained their expedition in full detail. Luv, Joy, Michael, and Zuzu were back in their room, sleeping in. Carlos could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He hadn't felt so excited in his entire life!
"Our expedition will be a thorough exploration of Fogbound Lake, a location in the east that is shrouded in a thick fog." Chatot said. "Because of this fog, many claim this place to be a myth. Others claim the fog hides an incredible treasure!"
"Oh my gosh! Treasure? Wow!" Sunflora cried.
"We're going on a treasure hunt!" Carlos exclaimed.
"I hope that treasure doesn't have a booby trap, like at Waterfall Cave." Sandra said.
"Good point," Lucar agreed.
"Nobody knows the truth, though." Chatot cut in. "That is why our Guild has chosen to explore this mysterious place and find out what secrets it holds. Everyone, take out your Wonder Maps!"
Carlos dug through his Treasure Bag, pulling out Team Legend's Wonder Map. Laying it flat on the ground so his teammates could see it, he noticed a lot of cloud cover on the map. He looked up at Chatot for an explanation.
Chatot held up his map and pointed to a spot on the right side of the map. "This is where Fogbound Lake is rumored to be. It is hidden by the clouds on your map, marking it as uncharted territory. Since it is a long ways from the Guild, we'll make camp here." He pointed to a spot close to where Fogbound Lake was said to be. "Because of how far it is, we'll be splitting up to allow us to get there faster. Everyone will travel in groups of three or four, with myself and the Guildmaster being exceptions."
"Why?" Wigglytuff asked.
"You'll know in a minute, Guildmaster." Chatot said. "These will be the groups. Sunflora, Diglett, Croagunk, and Loudred will form the first group. Dugtrio, Chimecho, and Corphish will form the second group. The third group shall include Carlos, Sandra, Lucar, and Bidoof. Team Skull shall be the fourth group. And, of course, the Guildmaster and I shall travel together as the fifth group."
"Huh? Why?!" Wigglytuff whined. "It'll be boring!"
"Guildmaster, please! I'm sure the two of us will be fine!" Chatot said.
"Awww!" Wigglytuff hung his head sadly.
Carlos sighed. "Poor Wiggytuff," he said.
"By golly, I'm glad I'm going with you guys!" Bidoof cried, walking toward Team Legend. "We rookies have to stick together, yup yup!"
"Right!" Sandra agreed. "This is going to be fun!"
"It'll be a long journey, but at least we'll have each other." Lucar said.
"Let's do our best, guys!" Carlos declared.
"Yeah!" Bidoof, Sandra, and Lucar cried.
"Alright, everybody! Let's move out!" Chatot ordered.
/Just like our first few missions, this'll be an adventure that only the three of us got to go on. No Joy to help us, no Luv to encourage us, no Michael to make us laugh, and no Zuzu to spook us. It would be just me, Carlos, and Lucar. It was supposed to just be an expedition, but it would become so much more than that. This would mark our involvement in future events…events that would change the world as we knew it. Everything was about to change, especially for Carlos. Sometimes, I wish I could've stopped it. But if I did…what would've happened to all the friends we made? Bad things, that's what. Very bad things. And not just to our friends, but to everyone on the planet./
After saying their last goodbyes to their other teammates, Team Legend followed the rest of the Guild out of Treasure Town. Chatot gave everyone a specific course to travel on and left with Wigglytuff. Wishing each other luck, everyone split up and headed their separate ways. Carlos, Lucar, Sandra, and Bidoof headed toward the sea coast to reach the base camp.
"Hey, look at that!" Carlos said, pointing out a huge cavern at the end of the winding path they were walking on.
"Finally! We'll be away from the ocean!" Sandra whimpered, pressing herself against the rock wall on her left.
Team Legend and Bidoof were following a path that put them between a rock wall and the ocean, a thin ribbon of rocky cliff path being their only way through. Sandra refused to go at first until Carlos promised that she'd be safe. The Eevee stayed against the wall, refusing to look at the ocean far below to her right.
"What is it?" Lucar asked. Then he smacked into something. "Yow! Not another rock!"
"Wow! That's not just any rock, Lucar! That's a Kangaskhan Rock!" Bidoof cried.
"What's a Kangaskhan Rock?" Carlos asked.
"They're special rocks shaped like Kangaskhan that allow you to have access to all your items back at Kangaskhan Storage." Bidoof explained. "Nobody knows how it's done but you can store or take out any items you want from your Treasure Bag or storage. They're really useful when you want to make more room in your bag or just want to better protect an item you found. I even heard that you can find them halfway through really long dungeons. They're lifesavers for us Exploration Teams!"
"So, which way do we go?" Sandra asked.
"Straight ahead, of course! We're not turning around, Sandra." Carlos said.
"No, which way. Look at that cavern. There are two separate paths." Sandra pointed to the cave.
Carlos stepped inside and gasped. "She's right!" he cried.
"Well, that isn't good. Nope, nope!" Bidoof said. "By golly, which way do we go now?"
"Lucar, can you tell which way?' Carlos asked.
The blind Riolu shrugged, stepping forward. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises. I can't see through rock."
Lucar held out a paw and focus, his ears rising with the effort. After a few moments, he fell to his knees and shook his head. He couldn't see which way was the right path.
"Now what do we do?" Bidoof wondered.
"We'll have to guess!" Carlos decided. "How about…this way!" He pointed to his right.
"Okay, to the right it is." Bidoof nodded. "Let's go, guys!"
The four Pokemon headed to the right, entering the mystery dungeon. The first thing they noticed was that it was dark. They could only see a short distance around them, maybe two steps on all sides. Bidoof and Sandra whimpered in fear. Carlos looked at Lucar, who nodded back.
"I'll warn you guys if anything comes our way," Lucar promised.
"Thanks," Carlos said.
The first floor was pretty quiet. Carlos took this as a chance to gather 32 poke, a Rawst Berry, and 4 Geo Pebbles. When they found the stairs, disaster finally struck. Lucar yelped as a Wingull threw a Wing Attack his way. Carlos quickly defeated it with Thunderbolt and rushed to his friend's side.
"Are you okay, Lucar?" the Pikachu asked.
"Yeah," Lucar nodded. "I should've been paying better attention."
Climbing down the stairs, they fought their way past a pair of East Sea Gastrodon right away. Bidoof was holding his ground pretty well, much to Carlos' surprise. The Normal-type even dealt the finishing blow to one of them, saving Carlos from taking anymore damage.
"By golly, these guys are quick!" Bidoof commented.
"Yeah," Carlos agreed. Then he spotted a shadow creeping up on him. "Bidoof, look out!"
"Huh? AAAH!" Bidoof cried out, crashing to the ground from the Wingull's Water Gun.
Lucar knocked the Wingull out with two Force Palms. Sandra helped Bidoof up and the four Pokemon moved onward. They encountered a persistent Spheal that chased them through the whole floor until it cornered them near the stairs. Sandra and Bidoof raced down the stairs, leaving Carlos and Lucar to deal with the menace.
"I really hate these things," Lucar admitted.
"I think I can understand why." Carlos said.
The Spheal used Water Gun, making Carlos retaliate with Thunderbolt. The Ice-type yelped, backing up and using Powder Snow. Lucar raced through the attack and used Quick Attack, knocking it out. The pair ran down the stairs, reuniting with Sandra and Bidoof.
The next three floors had similar encounters with Wingull, Spheal, and East Sea Gastrodon. When they exited the cave, they covered their eyes as the bright sunlight hit them. When Carlos' vision adjusted, he gasped in shock.
"We're back where we started!" the Pikachu cried.
"You're joking!" Sandra wailed. "We took the wrong path?!"
"I guess that means we have to take the left path this time," Lucar commented.
"Golly, that was a load of bad luck." Bidoof said. "Don't worry, guys. We'll get it right this time. Let's go!"
Going down the left path this time, the four Pokemon entered Craggy Coast. The moment they stepped inside, Carlos picked up 47 poke that was lying in the middle of the room they were in. They traversed the mystery dungeon carefully, escaping the detection of a Wingull. Finding the stairs, they ran down them quickly.
On the second floor, they fought off a Spheal that managed to ambush Bidoof from behind. Knocking it away, Lucar finished it off with Force Palm and dashed after the others. Locating the stairs, Sandra picked up a Red Gummi and handed it over to Carlos, who dropped it in their Treasure Bag for safe keeping.
On the third floor, the traveling went smoothly until a fight with a Wingull separated Bidoof from Team Legend. After a while of searching, Carlos saved him from an attacking Dratini and defeated it with Quick Attack. As they continued their search for the stairs, Carlos found 5 more Geo Pebbles and used them in a fight against a Spheal.
The fourth floor was extremely easy since they were in the same room as the stairs. Unfortunately, so was a Krabby. Sandra knocked it back with Shadow Ball while Lucar used Quick Attack, their combo easily defeating the Water-type.
On the fifth floor, they were immediately confronted by a Spheal that nearly defeated Bidoof. Carlos' quick thinking of using Thunderbolt with Shadow Ball took the seal-like Pokemon out, saving Bidoof yet again. Picking up 43 poke and 5 Geo Pebbles before they left the room, they found the stairs in no time and raced down them as an East Sea Gastrodon approached from behind.
On the sixth floor, Carlos managed to grab a Purple Gummi and 72 poke before a Wingull attacked the group. A single Thunderbolt took it out, allowing them to move on. Upon finding the stairs, they also encountered their first Sealeo. While Sandra, Bidoof, and Lucar fought it, Carlos snuck in from behind and used Thunderbolt. The Sealeo fled before they could defeat it, though.
On the seventh floor, they searched for quite a distance before they were attacked by Wingull that flew over the water bordering the path they were walking on. Carlos used Thunderbolt while Lucar used Force Palm, defeating it. Carrying on, Carlos picked up a Stun Seed and dodged around a Krabby as they dashed down the stairs.
On the eighth floor, Carlos picked up a Clear Gummi and led the group through a few corridors before an East Sea Gastrodon attacked them. After defeating it, Carlos picked up an Apple and 54 poke. Traversing through a few more rooms and grabbing a Max Elixir, he defeated a Wingull in order to grab the 43 poke it was guarding. After fighting a Wingull and an East Sea Gastrodon, they reached the stairs and headed for the last floor.
On the ninth floor, the group ran into a dead end for the first time. When they turned around, Lucar was separated from the group for a short bit but managed to find them again just as Carlos found 5 Geo Pebbles and 73 poke. After defeating a Krabby, Carlos also grabbed their second Red Gummi and 42 poke. They ran into a Dratini that nearly defeated Sandra, only to have Bidoof save her while Lucar distracted the Dragon-type with Force Palm. That wasn't enough to defeat it, though.
"Darn it!" Lucar cursed. "This one's being difficult!"
"Let's tag-team," Carlos suggested.
"Deal!" the Riolu nodded.
"Double Team!" Carlos cried.
The Pikachu created copies of himself that surrounded the Dratini, cheeks sparking. The Dratini huffed and used Twister, tearing through most of the clones. Bidoof and Sandra managed to toss Lucar, who unleashed an aerial Force Palm upon the Dragon-type. Dratini cried out in pain before collapsing, unconscious.
"We did it!" Carlos cheered.
"By golly, look ahead!" Bidoof cried. "There's the stairs! We're out!"
"Finally!" Sandra sighed in relief. "All this water is scaring me."
"Are you afraid of water, Sandra?" Bidoof asked.
"Deathly afraid," the Eevee admitted.
"I never knew that!" Bidoof cried. "That won't be good if you want to be a Vaporeon, nope nope."
"Vaporeon is the last form I ever want to be!" Sandra replied.
"Then what do you want to become, Sandra?" Lucar asked. "You have plenty of options."
"I…don't know," Sandra muttered.
/Well, you all know the answer to that question. It took me a long time to decide on becoming an Espeon. If I couldn't be an Espeon, I definitely would've become a Jolteon. You can probably guess my reasoning for wanting to be an Electric-type. Evolution is a big decision to make. Once you do it, you can't go back…ever. Sure, you get stronger but you never know how your new appearance affects others. Like I said before, most people judge others by their looks and very few ever get to know the ones they judge./
The four Pokemon left the cavern and walked along a large stone path. Stopping to rest, Carlos pulled out the Wonder Map and pointed out where they were. They were in the middle of the mountains, halfway to the base camp that Chatot had described.
"Now we just have to cross these mountains and we'll be there." Carlos said. "That should be easy enough."
"It's getting late, Carlos." Sandra pointed out. "I'm tired and hungry. How about we stop for the night?"
"I'm all for that plan! Let's eat!" Bidoof cried.
Carlos looked up ahead and spotted a familiar-looking rock. "Hey, isn't that a Kangaskhan Rock?" he asked.
"By golly, it is! Let's get to it and eat!" Bidoof said, running toward the rock.
"Wait up!" Lucar barked, running after the Normal-type.
Team Legend and Bidoof finally reached the Kangaskhan Rock, coming across yet another cavern built into the side of the mountain. Carlos knew that it was a mystery dungeon right away. Reaching into the Kangaskhan Rock, he pulled out four Apples and set them out. After Lucar's countdown, the group feasted.
After their meal, the four Pokemon watched the night sky and chatted. Carlos looked at Sandra and finally asked his question. "If you don't want to be a Vaporeon when you evolve, what would you want to be?"
"What would I be? Hmmm…" The Eevee thought it over. "Maybe a Leafeon or an Umbreon, like my sister. I don't think I could handle the heat or the cold very well, so Flareon and Glaceon are out. I might get major headaches from being an Espeon with all that psychic stuff."
"That just leaves Jolteon, right?" Carlos asked.
"Yeah, but…does summoning electricity hurt?" Sandra asked.
"It doesn't hurt. It feels…kind of good, in a sense." Carlos said. "When I got hit with that lightning bolt back at the prison, I felt like I was on top of the world and nobody could beat me. I was full of so much energy, I thought I couldn't control it at all. My strength increased hundred-fold. It was…scary."
"Well, I might be a Jolteon then." Sandra declared. "If you can handle it, so can I!"
"I bet you could handle anything if you tried hard enough, Sandra." Carlos pointed out. "You just have to believe that nothing can stop you."
"R-r-really?' Sandra blushed. "Th-thanks!"
"No problem!" Carlos replied, smiling. "That's what friends are for, right?"
"Y-yeah," Sandra nodded, blushing even more. Why am I feeling like this? Could I really love Carlos? Then why can't I say it to him? "U-um, Carlos?"
"Huh?" The Pikachu looked at her. "What is it?"
"U-um, I…I really like Oran Berries!" Sandra suddenly cried. What was that?! I'm too scared to tell him! She felt ready to cry.
"I like Oran Berries, too." Carlos said. "Funny! You and I have something in common."
Something in common?! Could he mean...? Sandra blushed even more as she imagined Carlos admitting his love for her. No way! He couldn't mean that! He wouldn't be so direct…would he?
"Uh…Sandra? Are you okay?" Carlos asked. "You're looking kind of red. Are you sick?"
"Huh? No! I'm not sick! I'm hot!" Sandra cried. "No! Wait! Not that kind of hot! Like temperature-wise, hot! I just… Please, ignore me!"
Before Carlos could say anything, Sandra flopped down on the ground and curled up in a ball. The Pikachu groaned. Lucar chuckled, sensing the distress in the Eevee's aura. Carlos looked at him weirdly.
"Lucar, what's up with Sandra?' Carlos asked.
"She's stressed, that's all." I'll let him figure it out on his own. Sandra deserves a chance to at least try and confess before I break it to him, Lucar thought. Love is so complicated. I hope I never fall in love with someone.
/Too bad, Lucar! You're going to fall in love eventually, too! Unfortunately, Lucar's romance will be far rockier than mine and Carlos' ever will be. You'll understand why when Lucar's love shows up later. I still feel so sorry for him, even now./
Bidoof yawned. "Well, I'm going to bed. We'll need our strength for the journey tomorrow, yup yup."
"Yeah," Lucar agreed. "It looks like Sandra's already asleep."
"Good night, guys." Bidoof curled up and fell asleep.
"Night, Carlos. Night, Bidoof. Night, Sandra." Lucar said before falling asleep.
Carlos sighed and curled up, too. "Good night, everyone,"
He closed his eyes, falling asleep. That night, he dreamed of a strange glowing blue gear floating at the center of a lake in a cave. A figure suddenly leapt in, stealing the gear and running away. The color soon faded and everything stopped moving. Time had stopped…
Oran Forest…
Snowflake smiled as she entered the tiny cavern. She had waited until after the Guild had left to report back, not wanting to seem suspicious. Heading toward the back, her dark blue eyes scanned the darkness in search of her boss. It was time to set her plan into motion.
"Hello? I'm here," she called.
"About time, baby. What took you so long?" a voice asked.
"I had to wait until the Guild had left. They're going on an expedition to a forest in the east that's shrouded in fog." Snowflake explained. "Team Legend is going with them, but only the three leaders are going. Carlos the Pikachu, Lucar the Riolu, and Sandra the Eevee, in case you forgot."
"The three brats who escaped me," the voice growled. "How could I forget them? So, they're going to this place."
"Maybe you could ambush them by using the fog," Snowflake suggested. "You still want to get your hands on that Eevee, right?"
"You bet, baby! Alright, we'll go to this forest and catch those brats. The Guild won't know what hit them." The voice laughed.
Snowflake smiled. "I'm glad I could help, boss."
"There's one other thing you can do for me while me and the boys are away." The voice's owner held out a piece of paper. "Look into this for me. I want to know what happened and if I could benefit from finding this girl."
Snowflake looked over the article and smirked. "You want to kidnap the princess of the Northern Desert Kingdom, boss? Consider it looked into."
"Good girl," the voice chuckled. "Boys, we're moving out! We've got a couple of brats to catch!"
A single claw began to glow a bright purple. Three voices, Snowflake and two males, rang out in maniacal laughter. A pair of glowing red eyes watched in silence. Their plan was set.