"Ah Ruby! Excellent timing." Professor Oak smiled to me as I managed to finally get through to him on the screen. "I've received the packages you sent me of those evolutionary stones, very remarkable, thank you very much for your assistance."
"Not a problem professor, I'm glad they got through okay." I smiled. "How's Froslass and Vaporeon? Are the eggs okay?"
"Oh, Vaporeon is doing very well and the eggs are perfectly fine. Your Froslass is settling in perfectly well, in fact…" Professor Oak pulled back slightly and sure enough, there was Froslass. She was dressed in an apron and had a feather duster in her hand, dusting off the bookshelves and was cleaning up his lab quite happily. "You weren't over exaggerating when you told me Froslass loves to clean. I barely managed to rescue all of my files and reports before they were put away in a completely different order. Though now I can't remember where I put them…"
"Maybe you should let Froslass arrange everything for you." I laughed cheerfully. "After all, your filing system is something that even confuses me. It's a wonder you ever do find anything." The professor chuckled along with me as Froslass turned and began to dust the screen, calling out a greeting to me.
"Froslass Fross, Lass Froslass!"
"Hello there Froslass, I'm so happy to see you." I beamed at her before opening my ribbons case. "Here look, Kirlia and I won another ribbon, it's right next to yours." I showed her and she beamed again, nodding her head and sending her congratulations before she continued with her cleaning. "I hope you don't mind her cleaning so much professor."
"Oh no not at all, in fact it is rather helpful. Though Froslass tries to arrange things, she is very good at making cups of tea and bringing refreshments to make sure I'm well looked after. Froslass even helps to keep the other Pokémon in check whenever I'm called away."
"That's great!" Feeling a bubble of pride I leaned back in my chair. "Is there anything else you need me to do professor? I'm more than happy to help in any way I can."
"Well now that you mention it, I do have a question about some of the stones you sent me." He mused, scratching his chin before he rustled around, trying to locate them. "Now what did I do with those stones? I'm sure I put them here earlier." He mumbled, rustling papers and opening boxes as Froslass floated into view, carrying the box of stones I had sent to the professor. "Ah! Thank you Froslass, very kind of you." He grinned at her before opening the box and pulling out one of the stones I had collected. "This is something I have never come across before, can you tell me where you found it Ruby?"
"Of course, I found that particular stone with the others in Granite Cave. I just thought it looked so pretty and I wasn't really sure what else to do with it, so I thought I'd send it over just in case." I informed him as he turned the pale yellow stone over, the strange marking at its centre looking like a curving wisp.
"Hm. Leave it with me. I'll run some tests to analyse what exactly this stone is, however if you could find more examples then I would be most grateful to you." Professor Oak said and I nodded my head in understanding.
"Not a problem professor, I'll get on that right away. Leave it to me and my team!" Giving a grin I stood up from my chair. "I'll contact you if I find any more, wish me luck!"
"Good luck Ruby, and remember, if you ever need to exchange some of your Pokémon, just give me a call!"
"I will. Goodbye professor!" Giving one last wave I cut the call then turned, ready to head back to Granite cave. I left the Pokémon centre after collecting my Pokémon then walked a little way away, looking around to make sure that I was completely alone before I tossed a Pokéball up into the air. "Okay Latias, it's time for some speed. Come on out!" I cheered and Latias instantly appeared, calling happily as she shook herself off then flew close to me, nuzzling my face and I laughed before she allowed me to jump on her back. "To Granite Cave, let's go!"
"La!" Singing out happily she flew up into the air, streaking through the clouds then soared across Hoenn at top speed, causing my cheeks to go numb as we crossed over the land and then the sea, heading directly to the cave on its island. It took less than two hours to get there but when I jumped off, I was a little numb from cold and I collapsed, groaning as my stomach was yet to catch up with me. "La? Latias La." Latias nudged me as I groaned, clutching my stomach.
"Next time…maybe go a little slower." I suggested to her and she moaned in apology, nudging me until she had helped me to my feet and I leaned against her for support. "No worries, you were great Latias, thanks to your speed, we were here in no time." I grinned as I rubbed her head before I stood up on my own two feet, now recovered. "Come on, let's go inside and see if we can locate any more of those strange gems we found last time."
"Latias." She nodded then followed along behind me as I led the way inside, pulling a flashlight out of my backpack and shone our way. I followed the path that I remembered, walking as quietly as I could however once I got a fair way in, the ground began to tremble and an Onix lunged from the ground, causing me to yell and leap backwards as Latias darted forwards to protect me instinctively, the Onix roaring threateningly as it faced down upon us. "Holy cow! I didn't even sense you coming at us!" I squeaked as I jumped backwards to put some distance between us. "Careful Latias, this one seems rather agitated."
"Latias!" She called back to me in reassurance as the Onix whipped its head from side to side, smashing it against the cavern walls and caused giant rocks to break away. "La!"
"Look out Latias!" I yelled in fear, stretching my hand and tried to run forwards to reach her as the rocks tumbled straight towards her. Latias reeled back, avoiding the first wave before she ploughed through the rest to break free. "Yeah! Great job Latias. Now, use Dragon Breath." I directed, punching the air before me as Latias sucked in a deep breath then sent the purplish flames straight at the Onix, landing a direct hit though the damage wasn't great.
However with the attack, Onix then became confused, struggling to keep its eyes open and it growled before slamming its head into the ground, attempting to attack but only damaging itself in the process. "Dragon Breath again Latias let's go!"
"La!" Another attack landed and this time, the damage was greater as Latias stored more power to put into her attack, sending Onix back a few paces as he managed to shake off the confusion then roared, coming at us with a Rock Smash attack.
"Dodge it!" Latias flew out of the way however with this confined space, she didn't have the freedom to move as swiftly and agilely as she needed so when the tail swept around and knocked her down, my heart leaped into my throat. "Latias no!" She skidded along the floor, trembling slightly from the hit which left her winded but she shook herself off, eyes growing determined as she turned to face Onix once more as it reared back its head, ready to Headbutt her.
Latias shot out of the way at the last moment, using her superior speed to appear behind her opponent and as I blinked and stared, her aerodynamic wings began to glow bright white, flickering at first before they sharpened in colour and shape, spreading out and she struck Onix with the attack, making it rear back with a cry once more before it collapsed to the ground, defeated.
"Latias…was that Steel Wing just now?" I questioned as she laboured for breath, head hanging slightly as she tried to recover. "Did you teach yourself that move just now?"
"Latias." She nodded her head, turning to look at me with a smile so I flung my arms around her neck and held her close.
"You're amazing, even though you're still so young you're becoming so strong! I'm proud Latias, come on, let's get you fixed up." I said to her with pride and I used a Hyper Potion to help her recover before using the rest on the Onix, leaving behind a berry for it to munch on as we hurried past it, not wanting to still be around when it woke up again. "Be careful Latias, I'm pretty sure there's a sudden drop some-WHERE!" I yelled instinctively as the ground gave out beneath me, making me screech as I fell downwards.
"La!" Latias cried out and dove after me, catching me with her body before she gently lowered me to the ground and set me on my feet. "Latias La La."
"Yeah, I should have watched where I was going better. Thanks Latias, you're a life saver." I chuckled before I shone my flashlight around once more to guide our way. Whenever we came across a Pokémon we tried to run to avoid disturbances, however when we were left with no other choice but to fight, Latias practiced her attacks so that she could gain experienced. With the Steel Wing it was rather hit or miss on whether or not she could get it to work but I theorised that we just needed to make her wings stronger in order to fully develop their potential.
"I don't remember this part of the cave. I think I may have taken a wrong turn." I mused, shining the light around me whilst biting my lip. "Uh oh." Latias looked a little afraid of the darkness surrounding us, gripping onto my shoulders and nuzzling close so I reassured he by being confident and cheerful despite the fact that we may be extremely lost. Just perfect, and this time I don't have Ash to blame.
Trying not to panic I walked forwards, Latias still holding onto my shoulders as she levitated behind me, jumping at even the slightest of sounds. "Don't worry about a thing Latias, we'll find our way out of here, just give it a little time." I assured her, however when I stepped forward the ground beneath me moved and I yelped loudly, leaping back and Latias instantly cried out, darting away in fear to hide behind a rock.
Quickly I shone the flashlight where I had just stepped, shivering and gasping in shock as my heart hammered in my chest but when sweet eyes blinked at me, I relaxed. "It's just an Aron. Hey there little guy, I'm so sorry for stepping on your head." I apologised and the cute Pokémon beamed at me before barking.
"Ar! Aron!" Giggling I reached out and rubbed his head before unslinging my backpack and giving it some food.
"There, I hope that makes up for it. Latias! It's okay, you can come out now." I called to her and she blinked, checking to make sure the coast was clear before she flew forwards and happily greeted the Aron. "You see, we're a little lost down here. We were trying to find some rare stones that my friend, Professor Oak, wanted to study but now we can't find our way back to the top. Could you help us?"
"Aron." The Aron nodded his head then began to walk forwards, leading us towards a very dark and ominous tunnel before lifting a leg to point. "Aron Ar!"
"That way? Okay. We'll follow you." I beamed, glad that things didn't look so hopeless after all. We followed after Aron, letting him guide the way however when things became a little too small for Latias to fit through, I had to return her to her Pokéball so that I could carry her safely through, though the moment I'd clipped her Pokéball safely onto my belt another popped open and Ralts appeared.
"Ralts. Ralts." He lifted his arms up towards me, wanting to be cuddled so with a sigh I lifted him onto my back.
"Hey there Ralts, it's a little scary out here, you sure you want to stick around?" I asked but in answer he only clung onto me closer. It was his way of telling me he didn't want me to be alone. "You're the best little guy." I smiled to him then continued to crawl my way through the tunnel that Aron was leading us through. "Hey Aron, are we nearly there?"
"Aron, Aron Ar."
"Sweet, it must be nearly lunchtime by now and I'm starting to feel hungry." Just as I spoke my stomach growled and Ralts's did the same, making us both beam at one another with a laugh before we continued. Aron led us through the tunnel, helping to dig the way out when it became too small even for me until finally, I dropped down out of hole he'd jumped through and yelped, falling to the ground where I landed flat on my face. "Ow."
"Ralts!"
"I'm fine, I've had worse." I assured him as I managed to get up and dust myself off, lifting my hat to shake that off before plopping it back on my head. "Huh?" My eyes turned to my surroundings and instantly I was frozen in place, staring at the ancient cavern that I found myself inside, Aron hopping happily along towards the opposite wall where embedded in its centre was a large crystal like stone with an almost identical wisp like emblem at its centre. "No way…that's amazing." I whispered as I approached it slowly, Aron sitting rather proudly underneath it. "Did you bring us here to find the stone?"
"Aron." He nodded and I smiled, stopping so that I could kneel down and rub his head.
"Thank you so much little pal, you're amazing." I thanked with a smile before I stood and brought out some of my excavation tools that I just happened to have on me. Hey, when you're travelling around, I'd learned to be prepared for absolutely anything. I carefully removed the stone, Ralts helping me by passing me the tools I needed from my bag before finally, I had removed the stone. It gleamed in my hand and it was distinctly warm, making me start in surprise. "Incredible."
"Ar! Aron!" Aron barked and I looked over to him, seeing that he was digging us a new tunnel to lead the way out.
"Good job Aron, I owe you one!" I beamed, hurriedly stuffing the stone into my pocket and packing my things away into my backpack, dropping my shoulder so that Ralts could jump up before I ran after Aron and let him lead me out of the cave.