Whew, I'm done. To Zohaku: Ah yes, the one and only horror story in the Pokémon catagory that actually lives up to the genre. Very good fic, and to those who read this one, if you're a horror fan, give Pokemon Bloodred a try. It's actually pretty well written for a fic that is constantly up-dated, and doesn't seem rushed. Thanks for the comment, Coldfire, made me feel good.
Just a note, I decided to check up on information on my Pokémon characters, and found out some very interesting characteristics. I tried to put them here, but not all of them. Sorry if this chapter feels rushed.
Chapter 26: Run for Freedom
It was a dark hallway. No excitement, no rushing, just quiet. There was a slam at one of the doors, but it stayed closed. Another slam on the same door, but still, it remained shut. There was silence for just some ten seconds, and then the door blasted open with a burst of green energy.
The door broke off its hinges and landed on the other side of the hall, and a Smeargle walked out. It was followed by Jill and Darry, and then the gang they released.
Jill had a look showing that she wanted to take a break, but the ground wasn't made for resting. It was slanted and made it very uncomfortable to rest.
"Where to now?" asked Jill.
Darry remained silent. He looked down the hall and turned around to look at the other archway leading into another hall. He looked the other way again, and then sighed, and said, "I don't know."
Jill looked at the Pokémon behind her. She tried to get some kind of information from them, but knew she wouldn't understand.
Then, an idea came. She ducked down and called the Kirlia. Psy reluctantly walked over to her.
"Do you have any hunch of where we might be safe," she asked. "Better yet, do you know where we can find Char—I mean, do you—uh—can you sense when trainers are near?" she added stuttering.
Psy looked at her with a face of confusion, then asked, "What?" telepathically.
Jill tried to find an easier way of saying it, but then Smeargle interrupted.
"Mear!" it said, and pointed straight ahead.
Everyone turned in the direction he was pointing at. There was a dark hall. Almost nothing could be seen.
"What's over there—?" asked Jill, but Smeargle didn't give her time to reply. He ran straight ahead into the darkness. He stopped for a bit, and then looked back.
"Smeargle!" said the Smeargle. He made a 'follow' motion with his hands. Jill looked at Darry who had a face of uncertainty, and then walked over to the Smeargle.
Right when she passed Darry, he grabbed her by the arm.
"Hey!" cried out Jill, "let go of me!"
"Hold on," answered Darry, "I think this is a trap."
Trap? thought Jill. What did he mean by trap?
"Just wait." Darry walked forward first and slowly followed the now impatient Smeargle.
"Smear—gle!" yelled out the Smeargle as he tried to get everyone to follow.
Jill looked behind her and said to the other Pokémon, "Alright, come on."
As they followed Smeargle, Jill kept trying to get in front of Darry. She didn't know why he was acting that way, but why would there be a trap? And was he saying that Smeargle was setting a trap, or that there was a trap? If so that there was a trap, then Smeargle would be the first to fall for it.
After walking for a bit more, Smeargle finally stopped. He looked at the wall to his right. There was a picture hanging and the wall seemed to be made of some kind of steel. That's why it surprised everyone, except Darry for some reason, when he reached at it and his paw went right threw it.
Smeargle looked deeply into his paw. It was threw the wall, but the wall felt like liquid. So, he literally, jumped into the wall.
Jill ran to the wall and stopped right outside it. It looked like any other ordinary wall. There was nothing wrong with it, no tricks needed.
She hesitated on what she was about to do. Marshtomp and Skarmory walked right over to her, and stood behind her. Jill turned to Darry, and said, "Bye."
She jumped at the wall, and went right through it.
"Jill!" yelled Darry. He too jumped at the wall passing the Marshtomp and Skarmory, and went right through it. The Skarmory followed, not even hesitating because of the fact that it would go anywhere with its trainer, then the Marshtomp followed after.
After a few seconds, Psy, Fang, and the Pikachu moved towards the wall. They stayed for awhile, then Fang said (perched on top of the picture), "We're not gonna get anything done by just standing here. Let's follow."
So the three, also jumped in.
Amy was surrounded by the light. The beam circled her, but also shot straight up above the endless ceiling. After awhile, the small aura of light disappeared. Amy didn't stand.
Above, the energy finally hit a hard spot. From there, the rocks holding that place cracked, and it started to fall.
It went al the way down, crashing into the walls and bringing more rocks to fall to it. Then they landed on the ground Amy was on.
The first rock hit straight forward on Alakazam. It didn't stop there. The rock was hit by another rock and the floor below collapsed. An earthquake started, and the floor Amy was unconscious on also broke away, and she fell, unaware.
She fell at the same rate as the rocks did. It seemed to be another endless pit. Darkness elapsed over her. A giant rock just passed, and she didn't even notice.
The darkness below started to get brighter as a ring of fire appeared. She passed that. Unknown to her, the fire was all around a wire substance, and slowly cutting it more.
Darkness surrounded her again. She was still unable to move, or even scream. She didn't know anything that was going on.
Soon, Amy and the rocks smashed into chains. The first rock pretty much broke into the chains and made a whole for the other rocks.
Way down, Houndour glanced away from his current misfortune and saw the rocks coming.
"Oh no!" he yelled, as he was still being brought into the gears. Just then, Amy landed right over him, knocking some air off of him. With the force, and some of the rocks, he was pulled away from the gears and continued to fall.
The other rocks that had passed them broke away any passage for chains. Houndour tried to gain his balance while falling. He called out to Amy.
"Amy! Can you hear me!"
No answer. A rock was about to smash into them, so Houndour (being as close as he was) bite on Amy's neck and pulled her over to his side as the rock passed her.
They were both now flipping through the air, trying to gain balance. Well, at least Houndour was. The gears were deathly close to them, as were the falling rocks.
That's when Amy found the right time to wake up.
"Huh—?" she felt the breeze beneath her. "Ah!" she screamed.
One of the rocks fell in front of the two and crashed into a grinding gear and it stuck out.
"Look out!" yelled Houndour.
The gear slid out of place and started to slide on the side of the rock as it got stuck. Amy and Houndour ended up landing on the gear just as it fell off continued falling.
Now they were both screaming. They were holding on for dearlife; Amy with her claws and her feet hanging miserably, and Houndour with his front right leg and back left leg dug in sharp into an opening.
Amy got to hang on better as the gear shifted, but both almost lost their balance as the gear crashed into the other wall making more gears fall.
Now they were falling with giant rocks and gears, all sharp and telling them only that death was coming for them.
The gear kept flipping making it like a horrifying amusement park ride (not that they've ever ridden in one). Each flip would almost cause certain death.
A rock smashed into the front part of the falling gear and smashed it to pieces, leaving only the back side for Amy and Houndour to hold onto.
"Oh no—!" yelled Houndour.
Amy made the mistake of wondering what he meant. Now she looked up, which was actually down since the gear was flipped, and saw rocks smashing into a ground that wasn't breaking for more ground.
Amy crawled over to Houndour, barely able to withstand the force. She stood and immediately grabbed onto him, in his lower back area, and tripped, to be able to only hold his legs.
"What are you doing!" yelled Houndour.
Amy didn't answer. The ground got closer. She looked at it. Only sixteen feet away.
"Please let this work." She said aloud, then closed her eyes. Underneath her eyelids, they started to glow. "Jump!" she yelled, and pulled Houndour with her. He struggled for awhile, but then fell away too.
A cloudy portal was below them, and they fell right through it. They appeared at some other area, but still not on ground level. When they looked down, they were greeted with the confused face of Umbreon, then fell over her into the water and pulling her under too.
Just as the three were under the water, a splash was heard above them and hit the spot that they fell on. It was a giant rock, too.
The rock fell deeper, about to smash into them, but Amy managed to grab Umbreon (the one who wasn't moving for some reason) and pull her out of the way of the rock's path.
The three arose above, just barely able to take in any breath. Amy pulled Umbreon to the side and started talking to her.
"Umbreon! You're alive!" she looked at Houndour, and then said "You too!"
Houndour gasped in his breath, then replied, "Not entirely."
Suddenly, the water started to feel a little different for the two newcomers. They felt that they were being…drained.
The water wasn't going down, but their energy was. And it started to hurt.
Umbreon could barely say a word, basically because two Pokémon had just knocked the breath out of her AND she was bleeding from her leg since they managed to drag her out of the rocks holding her in place.
"The water—!" Umbreon started, coughing for a bit, then continuing, "It's poisoned!"
Then, the water splashed from all around them. The splash made the water rise higher, and then all the water they were swimming in, disappeared. Amy, Houndour, and Umbreon fell onto a wet and muddy floor, with sharp rocks jutting.
The water went to the ceiling, and then started to get calmer. Umbreon got up and looked around. She looked behind her, in front of her, side to side, then asked, "where did the Gyarados go!"
Amy got up, but with pain now. "What Gyarados?" she asked.
"There was a Gyarados here! I was fighting it! It's gone!"
There was a loud cough, and Amy turned around to see Houndour. He seemed to be coughing out some black substance, but upon closer inspection, you could tell quickly that it was blood.
Umbreon ran over to Houndour's side, just as Amy did.
"What happened to him?" she asked.
"Oh nothing, he just fell through an 'I don't know how long' tunnel with giant things that could kill us in instances far faster than teleportation."
Umbreon chose to ignore that comment. Houndour moved to the wall, and said, "No, it's not that. I've been poisoned."
"Umbreon walked closer to his side, and said, "I'm sorry; it was the only way I could stop that Gyarados!"
"No, not because of the water. I was bit by an Arbo—hey—what are you doing!"
Amy was at Houndour's side. She was concentrating. Her thoughts were all on Houndour. Then, he cried out in more pain.
"What are you doing to him! Stop that!" yelled Umbreon. She was about to attack Amy, but then purple liquid came out of Houndour. It went into the air, and became nothing more.
"What did you just do?" asked Umbreon.
As Amy finished with her supposed 'magic,' she turned to face Umbreon with a confused expression. "I don't know," she said, "I was just thinking because earlier one of the Pokémon here told me I was part poison now." Then, her eyes widened. "And yet I still used a Faint Attack!"
She turned and looked at the wall. Slowly, she walked towards it. She looked at her claws, then at the wall.
"What are you doing?" asked Houndour.
Amy turned around and looked at them, then back at the wall. Her claws seemed to grow out sharply in an instance, and she started to attack the wall with all he strength.
Umbreon ran over to Amy. "Amy, stop!" she said.
She turned around to face Umbreon. "I have my dark powers back!" she said.
"What are you talking about?"
"When I woke up, before I found myself falling, I couldn't make one single dark type attack. But now I can!"
Houndour looked at the wall. Then, he realized something very wrong. The rocks above were about to give way.
"Look out!" he yelled, and passed Umbreon as she backed away and pushed Amy away. The rock broke off and fell right where Amy was standing. Then, the whole wall broke away to reveal a hall.
Amy got up slowly, as the Houndour got up on all fours rapidly. Umbreon looked ahead into the hall, and saw it lead to many other turns in the place. She looked back at the other two. None of them said a word. However, they did run to the wall and go into the hall. That was something they knew they had to do.
There were more twisting halls of rocks in this hall. But still, it gave them more of a selection now.
"Where do we go now?" asked Umbreon.
The group was quiet. Houndour walked over to one of the walls and looked down a hall. It lead straight forward, then slowly curved up. He turned around and saw another hall. It was the same, but curved down. He looked down his left and saw a hall that just led to more halls.
"Which way is out?" he asked aloud.
Amy too started to get anxious about where to go. She looked around and put her claws behind her head with a questioned look on her face.
"I think we should go up," said Umbreon.
"Then where? What if this place never ends?" said Amy, still looking around.
"This place is built like a human facility," said Houndour, "maybe like humans; they have maps to navigate around here."
"Forget that! Where do we start?" Amy's voice was beginning to sound hysterical.
"Amy, stop," said Umbreon, "let's just go up this path. I have a feeling. My feelings have gotten me out of trouble before, so just trust them. Let's go up."
The three looked down the dark tunnel that led upwards. Slowly and reluctantly, they all entered the hall, and started to climb a 110 degree angle. It took awhile before they saw any sign of it stopping. They continued going, not saying a word to each other. Finally, the end came.
It was hard to get there considering that it completely came to a 90 degree angle at the near top. Amy had to climb up first and then lend a hand to help her four legged companions.
Though, when they were all through, it wasn't what they expected. Sure, they expected to find another hall, which they did. Sure, they also expected to find it empty and have to go back. What they didn't expect, was a find a wall, and chained high over it, unconscious, a Smeargle. The real friend of Houndour and Umbreon.
Darry hit the ground dirt near Jill. Immediately, he stood up and started brushing away at his body. After this quick reaction, he sighed, and seemed to frown too, then walked over to Jill who was also still getting up.
"Come on," he said, "I help you up."
Just then, Jill's Skarmory entered the area followed by Marshtomp. Not long after that, the others also came through.
Darry and Jill both went to the Pokémon and stood near them, just waiting for nothing in particular. Jill caught a glimpse of Darry looking at her but then he looked away.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Jill, to which in response, got many different Pokémon cries. She took that as a yes.
Smeargle waited for them at the end, near the darkness leading down a tunnel. Jill walked over to him and asked, "Why did you take us down here?"
Smeargle said something in its own language and pointed into the darkness. It was easy to tell that it wanted her to follow.
Jill turned back and looked for an approval as if it made a different from Skarmory. She received just a shrug from the bird-steel type, with its wings clanging together.
She turned to Darry who didn't give any sign to her. Then, she said, "Come on, let's go."
Smeargle led the way into the darkness. Jill and the others followed. It was dark for a moment, then a flash from Smeargle's tail beamed the whole place to light. It was a tunnel.
It was going down at the angle of a normal wheel chair ramp. Rocks were all around the path making it hard for them to cross, but they managed. After walking for a minute, they reached a lightened room.
It was more like a giant stadium. In front of them was a huge rocky bridge line. It was the only thing that connected the place they were standing on to the other side of the room. Everywhere else beside that was just a bottomless pit.
"This isn't safe," said Darry. "Jill, let's go back."
Jill turned around to face Darry. She then turned back to Smeargle, who was already crossing the bridge, but stopped to wait for them.
"What is there down here?" asked Jill.
Smeargle replied in a jumble of words in his language. Jill turned to Kirlia and asked, "Can you translate?"
She nodded, and said, "He said that there's something down here that you might find interesting."
She turned back to Smeargle. "Like what?" she asked.
Smeargle answered in his words again. Kirlia translated, "He says that it has something to do with a Sneasel."
Everyone was surprised by Jill's quick movement. She jumped to Smeargle and pushed him on the ground, holding him down as he squirmed and yelled some more of his language. "What did you say!" she yelled at the small Pokémon.
"Get off him," said Darry, a bit uncaring.
Jill turned to look at Darry, and Smeargle's tail lit up getting ready to attack. Darry's eyes widened and he said, "Get off him!" and ran over to push her aside. The green energy was shot and hit Darry straight on, pushing him to the floor of the bridge. The other Pokémon ran over to Darry, with only Skarmory running to help Jill.
Smeargle got up, but didn't try to attack. Instead, he looked sorry. Regretful. He said another round of words in his own language, and then did something unexpected. He ran to the side of the bridge and jumped off.
"No!" yelled Jill, while hearing similar replies from the others.
After a minute of silence, she looked over the edge. It seemed to be a bottomless pit. Darkness was everywhere below. She couldn't even see Smeargle.
She turned and looked at Psy, who had finished getting Darry up with the others. "What did he say?" she asked, shaken.
Psy looked over her, as if afraid to answer, but then said, "He said…Sneasel is still alive…and that he couldn't help you get any farther than here…afraid he might be taken over again…"
Jill looked over the fall again. "Taken over again?" she asked herself. "What's that suppose to mean?"
Suddenly, Skarmory moved to the side of Jill at a fast motion, and was hit by black energy making Jill cry out as her Pokémon took the hit.
She was going to try to help Skarmory, but Darry yelled out, "Jill look out!" she turned around and saw another black ball of energy was coming for her. She crawled away and it hit the ground floor, but she walked crooked. She twisted and fell to the floor, slowly falling near the edge.
No—no!" she was screaming, trying to hold on. At the last piece jutting out, she grabbed on, trying her best not to see the darkness below. Then, all over the walls above, an army of Pokémon started to run down, towards them all.
"Hurry, just put him down," said Umbreon.
Amy slowly passed the heavy Smeargle as she clawed herself down too. Houndour was there to make sure that Smeargle didn't land hard.
Soon, the Smeargle was sprawled down on the floor and was surrounded by the three. They looked down, wondering if he was okay. He looked fine. He seemed to just be asleep.
"So, do we just wake him?" asked Amy.
Houndour moved his paw and hit Smeargle softly on the shoulder, trying to get him to wake. Ignoring Amy, he said, "Hey, buddy, can you hear me?"
Silence came from the Smeargle. Amy looked at his breathing. It was with a normal steady pulse. It was possible that he was just dreaming.
Amy walked away and left Umbreon and Houndour to look upon their friend. She looked around the hall and saw even more rooms.
Are we ever going to get out of here? thought Amy.
She turned around and saw the two still trying to awaken their friend. Amy walked back to them and asked, "What now?"
Umbreon turned to her. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, then answered, "Once we wake up Smeargle, we'll go find a way out of here. It's better to have—"
She didn't get to finish. Houndour silenced her, and said, "Did you hear that? Sounded like…" he trailed off.
The three Pokémon listened for nay sound that they could hear. Silently, the noise was getting louder. A soft clatter of footsteps.
"Oh no," said Amy, "what do we do if they find us?"
There was a short silence.
"We should go with them," said Umbreon. "Act like as if we were one of them."
"Didn't we already try something like that?" asked Amy. "And worse," she added, "didn't we fail doing so?"
"We should listen to her, Amy," said Houndour. "If we stay here, chances are we'll be lost forever. We got to find a way out. If we can't act, we'll just silently follow, but staying here is not an option."
A moan came from Smeargle. The three looked at him, but he didn't stir anymore. Houndour continued: "The point is to get out of here. Let's at least follow them."
Amy was quiet for awhile. She looked at both of them, knowing that they would both want to follow the Pokémon. She was about to ask for a vote, but then realized that wouldn't work. Not with Smeargle drunk dead and with those two wanting to leave.
"Alright fine," said Amy, quickly. "Let's just get out of here."
Houndour and Umbreon thanked her, and then went back to their friend. Amy followed and picked up Smeargle, barely able to. Umbreon went to Smeargle's side and straightened him up as she pushed against him. Houndour walked beside Amy and said, "Put him on my back."
She didn't argue. She put Smeargle down carefully on Houndour's unsteady backbone. He found it uncomfortable, but his main objective was getting out of there as fast as possible. He wouldn't be able to move any faster with Amy dragging Smeargle.
The three walked down the hall and came to even more halls. They listened for the footsteps, and then choose which halls to go down. Many other halls were passed, with many other rock formations going up and down, side to side, and all over the place.
Finally, they reached a door. An exact wooden door. The doorknob was wet and made of silver. Amy found it harder to open the door than it was when she was in Ghost's mind. So she went with her alternative.
CRASH!
She broke the wooden door to splinters. Inside the room was a laboratory room. Something you wouldn't normally find in a cave.
There were many small gadgets. Amy touched them with her claws. They were very strange; they didn't seem to be made for humans.
These gadgets were made for Pokémon use only. She could tell by the way that they were formed, but why would a Pokémon need a gadget?
When they were never really Pokémon to begin with, she answered her own question.
Houndour walked over to a basket and put Smeargle down on it. He was tired after carrying his friend, and so far they hadn't sighted one single Pokémon.
Umbreon stood right beside Amy, admiring the gadgets. That's when one of the gadgets caught her eye.
It was some kind of claw-like weapon. It had some sensors on the side and an open area in the center where there were three claws sticking out. She grabbed it from the table and examined it in her claws.
It seemed that it was meant for any pawed or clawed Pokémon. Amy looked at her own claws and saw that they were too big to fit into the steel glove. So she retracted her claws and tried her best to make them like paws, and tried on the glove on her right hand.
Immediately, it beamed to life. Umbreon stepped closer to see and Houndour walked over to the two.
"Wow," said Amy, "this is weird."
The beaming stopped. They stared at it for a few seconds. Amy got bored of it and tried to take it off, but to no avail.
"Hey, it's stuck," she said.
She started flinging it around the air. She didn't want to panic, but the thing wouldn't let go of her.
She let out a small cry and continued shaking it.
"Help me get it off!"
Umbreon started to bite at it trying to help her, but it was still stuck. Houndour just stared. He didn't know what to think, and he didn't know what to do.
"A little help would be appreciated!" yelled Amy.
"What?" said Houndour, then said, "Oh—yeah, uh, hold on."
He went right next to Amy and told Umbreon to step back. He sucked in some air and let out a small flame. Not enough to burn Amy, but enough to try and get the metal thing off. That's what set it off.
The arm started to glow. A small aura appeared where the claws were and then shot out in front of them.
Houndour jumped away along with Umbreon. Amy was pushed back by the sudden force, and fell to the ground. The aura disappeared from the claws. The three gasped when they saw what it left.
The wall it hit was frozen solid with ice. The ice didn't have the effect of melting, it just stood rock solid.
Houndour walked up to it. He put a paw on the ice. He was thinking.
After a few seconds, he let out the same breath of fire he let out to Amy. The ice didn't melt.
Houndour turned around and looked at the small device, surprised.
"Um, I know we're all kind of shocked by this little scenario that just happened," said Umbreon, "but we should really get going now. I don't want to be here any longer."
Amy played with her claws, getting the hang of moving them in the gadget. She turned to Umbreon, then said, "Can we first get this thing off me?"
Smeargle let out another moan, but stayed asleep.
"You know, we'll figure that out later. Right now, let's just get out of here."
Amy nodded to Umbreon. Houndour walked next to Smeargle and was ready to have Amy put him on top of him.
When she picked him up with the metal hand though, she was surprised.
"Should my hand be heavier now that I have this thing on me?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," said Houndour. "Why?"
Amy surprised herself more by picking Smeargle up with one hand.
"Because, Smeargle feels weightless compared to how he was a couple of minutes ago."
This was very surprising to them. Amy started thinking, then slung Smeargle over her shoulder. It seemed to have brought her down as the weight of the Pokémon was put on her.
"He's easier to carry," she said.
"Are you sure?" asked Houndour.
"Of course I am. Why would I lie about something like this?"
"I don't know. I'm just asking—."
"Do you hear that?" asked Umbreon. The two listened. There were footsteps heard again. Except this time, they were closer. They seemed to be…directly above them.
The three looked at the ceiling. There was no denying it. There were definitely footsteps above them.
"What are they doing?" asked Amy.
Houndour shushed her and started to walk towards the sounds, where they got the loudest. He looked sharper ahead, and saw a hall.
"Come on, let's follow these footsteps," said Houndour, "We might be able to find our way out if we follow someone who lives here."
"Do you think those people live in this huge maze cavern?" asked Amy.
Houndour stopped for a moment. He thought about that for awhile. "Might as well," he said, "If they're stuck, they've probably been here for a long time."
Amy and Umbreon didn't move. Amy shifted Smeargle to her other shoulder to make it more comfortable.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
Houndour left into the hall. Umbreon followed right after, and reluctantly, Amy went too.
Deep down in the watery depths of the ocean floor, many harmless water Pokémon swam. It was completely dark.
Then, from above, a small fishing boat floated down and hit the ocean bottom. Inside the ship, water almost completely filled it. In the cramped hallways left, water was more than halfway full.
When it hit the floor, all the empty cabins inside shook. Inside a room, there was a Pokébelt lying on a desk. It fell to the floor as the ship turned. One of the Pokéballs fell off the belt on hit a sharp wooden frame sticking out, hitting it with the release button.
Out came the Pokémon. Derek's Lapras was released into the water filled room.
It looked around, and thought of only one thing: get out.
So it swam. It broke through the remains of the doors and swam through the cramped halls, until it reached an end with nothing but the ocean remaining.
The hall it had gone down was completely cut off, leaving the darkness of the ocean.
The Lapras looked up and couldn't even see the top of the ocean. But it knew it was there. And it knew that that was probably where it would find its trainer. So it swam up, to get to the top of the ocean.
Amy Umbreon and Houndour walked onwards in the halls. Every second, they would hear footsteps. They knew they were getting closer, because now they could identify which footsteps belonged to which Pokémon. Finally, they reached the end, which led to an opening threshold leading into a hall. The difference was that this hall had too many Pokémon to count, going together down a hall.
"Where are they going?" asked Amy. Houndour shushed her.
After a long while, they left. Houndour waited a few seconds, then made his way into the room.
"Come on," he called, to which Umbreon followed into the somewhat bright hall. Amy did too, but slower.
"What's wrong?" asked Umbreon.
"Oh—uh nothing," said Amy, "It's just that Smeargle's getting heavy on me."
She was of course lying. Smeargle had never been lighter. She just didn't want to tell them that she had a bad feeling inside her.
"Maybe you should let Houndour carry him?"
"No, it's okay, I can handle him."
"Okay, just remember that you don't have to be doing this. If you want, Houndour could carry him. That is, if he doesn't mind." She looked back at Houndour. "Do you?"
Houndour had a short pause before he replied. "Not at all. I can carry him, seriously."
"I'm fine," said Amy.
"Alright, then come on. Let's go before we lose them."
Without arguing, the three left the room. They went down more halls. They listened closely and followed the other Pokémon. Then, Houndour heard something.
"What does that sound like?" he asked, "Do you two hear that?"
Amy and Umbreon listened. Sure enough, they heard it. It sounded like blasts. Something you would probably hear with when a trainer is battling another in a Pokémon match.
"Are they training?" asked Umbreon.
"I don't know," Houndour answered.
Amy walked ahead of the two, listening. She tried to make her hearing as acute as possible. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Then, after a couple of seconds in thought, she opened them.
"I hear humans," she said.
Umbreon and Houndour exchanged glances, and then Amy took off with Smeargle. Houndour and Umbreon followed.
Jill grabbed on tight to the side. Darry quickly ran over to her, but then a shadow ball hit right in front of him making dust particles fly up, and him to fall back. The dust fell over Jill's face, and she let go.
She screamed, but then grabbed onto a root. The root stretched out making her fall and dangle dangerously in the air. She didn't want to let go; it was her only thing that meant the difference between her death and her life.
The Pokémon at the opposite side of where they entered got down first, and ran over the rock bridge getting closer to Darry and the Pokémon
"Pikachu!" called Darry. The Pikachu perked its ears up and turned to Darry. "Thundershock!"
Pikachu ran in front of him as the different types of masses of Pokémon got closer. They were only seven yards away from them. The Pokémon on the other side of the rock room, where they entered, reached the floor and started to close in from there, leaving them trapped in the middle of it all.
"Pikachu!" yelled Pikachu, and let out a thundershock. The thunder ran through the rocks, passing many cracks on the floor and reached the first row of Pokémon, shocking them, and they fell of the edge into the darkness of the pit.
"Reverse it, and then again!" he yelled. Pikachu was a bit confused, but then saw Darry was pointing to the Pokémon behind him. He looked down on Marshtomp and ordered, "Use the strongest water attack you know on the row Pikachu just hit."
Pikachu got behind Darry and shot a thundershock again. The same thing happened, and the first row fell flying off.
Marshtomp got all the water he could muster up in his mouth, and then shot the spray. One of the fire Pokémon on the side he shot at threw a Fire Blast and dissolved most of the water coming, but it still hit, dropping many Pokémon down and leaving another gap.
"Reverse it again!" yelled Darry. Pikachu and Marshtomp switched places and shot out, much surprised by the effect. This time, their attacks were much stronger.
They continued this run of attacks four times in a row, but then the Pokémon got closer, leaving no time for the attack. Darry had to try something different, and he had to command it fast.
A blast appeared just in front of Marshtomp, making him jump back. It was a watery blast, and quickly became ice. The ice grew and made a wall in front of him, and the Pokémon on the other side started to attack the ice wall to get through.
On the other side, the same thing happened to Pikachu. A wall of ice formed. They looked to see where it was coming from, but failed to spot any sign.
Way up high where the Pokémon had first entered, Amy set down her hand, as she had just made an overpowered version of Blizzard. Houndour and Umbreon looked as the Pokémon that tried to get through the ice turned around, and spotted them. Not all of them, but then a very few started running back to try and get to them.
"That should buy them some time," said Amy, picking up Smeargle from the floor.
Houndour looked at the bridge. Fire, rock, and water types were hitting the floor of the bridge, trying to break it.
Back below, Darry took the time of the walls being up to help Jill. he looked over the edge and saw her in tears, holding on for the sake of her life.
"I'm coming!" Darry yelled, but he didn't know how he would.
Kirlia came to Darry's side and stood looking over the edge. She closed her eyes and put her hands in front of her. Then, with her physic, she brought the roots up, getting them closer.
"That's it," said Darry. He looked over the edge, and then gasped.
Way below in the darkness, a smoky substance started to form. It twirled in circles, and was rising towards the bridge.
Darry bent down and reached out with his hand, ready for Jill to grab. "Come on!" he said, "I got you!"
Jill was afraid to let go of the roots. Kirlia brought her close enough for Darry to touch the roots, in which he did, and helped Jill onto the bridge. Then came a crack.
As Darry held onto Jill, he looked at the floor they were on and saw the bridge was breaking, from the center. They couldn't escape, the ice walls were keeping the Pokémon outside.
Amy, Houndour, and Umbreon slid down the side of the rock cavern. Flying and water types came up to them, attacking, trying to make them lose a hold of the rocks, but they attacked them every time they got near.
To the flying types that would fly over them throwing gusts and other attacks, Amy would shoot with her new weapon. To the water types, Umbreon and Houndour would dodge with faint attack and get closer to them, then push them off so they fell down hard.
They soon reached solid ground. Almost solid, that is.
Amy threw ice attacks from her weapon and shot at any of the Pokémon that got near, then made an ice road in front making most of the Pokémon slide off the edge.
Amy threw her ice attack forward and made a curve, locking the Pokémon where they were on the bridge. She then used faint attack, and disappeared from Houndour and Umbeon's side.
Both of them used faint attacks to get across the ice and attack at random Pokémon, and then a few seconds later, Amy returned with the subconscious Smeargle in her hands. That's when they felt the bridge teeter.
In the center, the bridge was beginning to collapse. The center was going down every second, leaving Darry to hold Jill and protect the Pokémon he had. Then, the black entity arose from below.
It streaked across above, and more of it flew upwards. It started to float over the entire bridge. It easily was destroying the ice that Amy had created.
The black mist shot for Darry and Jill. Darry pulled Jill back and it missed, hitting Marshtomp square on and pushing him over the edge.
"Marshtomp!" screamed Kirlia in her language as he fell over to curtain death.
More of the black substance crossed, making Darry be more careful and dodge, but he didn't know how to keep it up. Fang stayed above, screeching and dodging the dark clouds.
The dark substance swept the rock bridge again, and dragged Kirlia off the bridge too as she screamed.
Amy, Houndour, and Umbreon crossed the ice Amy created and attacked the remaining Pokémon, crossing the bridge and trying to stay away from the black substance. It was hard for Amy to shoot now that she was holding Smeargle too, who unbelievingly still wouldn't awaken. Apparently, not even the mist of battle could wake him. Even if he was in it.
There were very few Pokémon left as they continued their run and attack along the bridge, but it was getting steeper as the bridge was in collapse mode.
Right when they passed the center, Amy shot an ice attack to seal the damage from the center and prevent it from breaking.
"Jill!" Amy shouted to her trainer, who was being helped by Darry.
Jill turned around when she heard, "Snee!"
"Sneasel!" yelled Jill, and broke away from Darry's grasp. Just then, the black substance hit in front of Darry and made him fly over to the other edge. Jill stopped in her tracks and looked at him, suddenly remembering that they were in a battlefield.
He slowly was getting up, but then the mist hit him directly and pushed him through the opening they had entered through. It didn't stop there. It continued pushing him, right onto the point when he hit the transporting wall that led back to the ship.
Darry flew through the wall as it made a watery feel and slammed into the wall behind him, breaking it and falling into the next room. He didn't get up. He was left unconscious. And now, there were five guns pressed against him.
Rocket members looked down at Darry, then turned to see the wall he came through. They raised their weapons there, expecting to be greeted by some powerful Pokémon. There was nothing.
"This kid just came out of nowhere!" exclaimed one Rocket.
Venn looked at Darry. "He looks like a teen to me," she said. She looked at her comrades. "Let's get out of here. Whatever threw him through that wall could easily do the same to us."
The Rocket's stood there, not moving. "Come on, let's go!" yelled Venn. They snapped back to reality, and followed Venn out. Darry was left alone.
Back at the cave, Amy and Jill rejoiced their reunion for a short time, then jumped away from each other as the black substance crossed them. Houndour dragged Smeargle by the leg, trying to get him up and bringing him to safety at the same time. Umbreon followed behind, occasionally tossing dark type attacks at Pokémon that were still coming.
"Let's get out of here!" yelled Houndour, letting go of Smeargle for a bit, but getting him again and dragging him. Amy was about to get Smeargle, but then Jill ran over and picked him up instead, easily.
"Run!" she yelled, and they ran as the black mist tried to grab them. Skarmory and Pikachu were nowhere to be found anymore. Fang flew below right behind them, being now the only Pokémon that was with Jill, still with her.
Right when they entered through the entrance, Umbreon got stuck with her leg on one of the rocks. She pulled away, but couldn't get free.
"Wait!" she called for the others, "Come back! Please!"
Amy heard this cry for help, and turned around. Jill and Houndour kept going. Eventually, they disappeared through the portal. And that's when the ceiling started to close, going low.
"I'm coming!" yelled Amy. She ran back to Umbreon as the ceiling was closing, and looked at Umbreon's back leg. It was wedged in, and bleeding. When Amy looked into Umbreon's eyes, she saw hopelessness.
"Please," Umbreon made a silent plea, "I don't want to die…"
Before Amy could reply, the dark mist attacked Umbreon, swallowing her whole, and taking her back into the room before.
Amy fell and crawled backwards, unable to believe what just happened. The ceiling was closing, and she just sat there, with tears welling up in her eyes.
The mist came back and tried to grab Amy, but she snapped back into reality and ran up to the portal.
"No…" she said silently, as she had to crawl due to the wall getting low. Just five feet away was the portal.
"Ah!" she yelled and gave a final push, and so did the curse. It pushed Amy as she pushed, and both her and the dark substance went through the wall, where on the other side was Jill.
Jill was attacked straight forward with the darkness, and then brought onto the floor. The curse surrounded her. She found it hard to breathe. Darry and Amy were nowhere to be found.
Houndour tore away at the black substance, trying to get it away, but it was useless. The curse gave a final push into Jill, and then left the room in a flash.
Houndour slowly walked over to Jill, with Fang following him. Smeargle coughed, and was showing signs of awakening. Just for a bit, but then went back into a slumber.
Jill had just been cursed with Amy.
Wow, almost half the cast went out the window! lol
If you're wondering how the heck Darry somehow knew Smeargle wasn't being...himself, I guess, it all has to be here in the story. You'll see. Once again, thanks for the review Coldfire and Zohaku...Oh, and Ezekel. :P