Ash was nervous.
As he sat in the waiting room, watching the clock count down until the time of his scheduled battle, he felt the palms of his hands grow sweatier and clammier. His bounced his leg up and down, biting down on his bottom lip as he tried to occupy his body with something.
The walls were grey, boring. A digital clock with bright red, neon numbers haunted him with its slow progression of time. The other chairs were empty, their occupants already having left for their own battles. Ash glanced around, finding nothing other than a television with a blank screen and a small table filled with ancient magazines that could serve as a distraction.
Pikachu muttered quietly as he pulled down on Ash's sleeve. Ash grunted as he looked down at him, surprised to see just how nervous his pokémon also seemed.
"It's okay buddy," Ash said, placing his hand between Pikachu's ears, letting his fingers scratch at the familiar spots. "You'll be my ace in the hole. Otherwise I think we can leave this to Butterfree and Apollo."
The television suddenly hummed as it flickered into life, scaring Ash. He shouted as he fell out of his seat, his fingers tingling with static electricity. He watched as his name appeared on the screen, calling him to the battlefield. The wall opposite him, devoid of anything other than a grim shade of grey paint, began to groan.
He had seen it three times already, with each of the challengers that had left before him. This time, it felt different. His heart was racing, his mouth was bone-dry. The wall moved as if pulled in two different directions by unseen hands, revealing a corridor hidden behind it. Ash pushed himself to his feet and took slow, unsteady steps towards it.
The lights flicked on, one by one, bathing him in their harsh, clinical glow.
Ash took a deep breath and stole a look at Pikachu. "Well, this is where it begins buddy." Grinning as his pokémon jumped onto his shoulder, Ash adjusted the brim of his hat and raced towards the battlefield.
The battlefield appeared faster than he expected. Ash shielded his eyes as he raced onto it, able to feel the difference in the air. It felt like there was a thin layer of dust covering everything, even the air he was breathing. As he looked around, he could see a rocky field with a small grey podium at either side. Across the field from him, the gym leader was already stood in his podium.
His mouth wide, Ash let his eyes roam. There was a large screen hanging from the ceiling, with Brock's name and two poké balls beneath it. At the bottom was Challenger, in large, green text. He saw the stands were almost empty, save for a small gathering of local trainers and fanatics, and what appeared to be a family of almost identical, small children.
Grinning as he saw a familiar shade of orange hair, Ash took a step towards the battlefield.
"Greetings!" boomed a voice. Ash cried out in alarm, nearly jumping out of his skin. A face appeared on the screen; young, with spiky brown hair and dark skin. "My name is Brock. Welcome to my gym, challenger! Take your place on the podium before you!"
At his words, the challenger's podium began to slowly rise up from the ground, displaying a set of stairs he could climb up. With a smile, Ash raced towards them, jumping atop the podium as it continued to rise. He felt his breath catch in his throat as it continued to rise until he was certain he was higher up than the roof of his house. There was a flicker of light, almost in the air, like a giant bubble that he could only see at the right angle.
"There's a safety field being generated to protect both podiums," Brock explained, as if reading Ash's mind. Ash gasped and withdrew his hand, staring in awe. "As this is your first gym battle, allow me to explain some basics.
"I will use two pokémon. You're allowed to use as many substitutions and pokémon as you like. Attacking the opposing trainer's podium or the crowd stands is an automatic forfeit. Pokémon are unable to battle at the point of unconsciousness or at the decision of the match official. The use of lethal force is strictly prohibited and will result in your trainer's licence being revoked."
Ash swallowed, his mind racing. That was a lot of things to consider, to keep track of. Two pokémon to defeat. He tried to focus on that train of thought instead.
"If these terms are acceptable, confirm it on your terminal now."
Ash blinked and noticed for the first time that there was a computer screen staring out at him, built into the metal ledge of the podium. There were two large flashing icons, a simple 'Accept' and 'Reject'.
There was no need to think about what he wanted to do. Ash took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of rocks and dirt, and pressed the accept button.
"Good to hear," Brock's voice echoed. "With that said, I call this gym battle to start! Prepare for my first pokémon, Geodude!"
Metal shutters echoed behind Ash. He glanced behind him and saw that the stairs had been blocked off. Back in the battlefield, he watched as the energy of Brock's poké ball faded, revealing what appeared to be a round rock with two skinny arms and large hands. The pokémon grunted and pushed itself off the ground, where it, despite all logic Ash could think of, floated.
"Challenger!" Brock called. "Bring forth your first pokémon!"
Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulders to sit on the ledge in front of him. Grinning, Ash met his pokémon's eyes and nodded. "Let's show them, Pikachu. We'll prove them all wrong." He snatched the poké ball from his belt and turned his cap backwards as he cried, "Butterfree, I choose you!"
His pokémon appeared in a shower of sparkling light. Delicate wings beating, Ash watched his pokémon slowly begin to adjust to the scenario. He had explained what was happening to all of them, but experiencing it would be something else entirely.
This was it.
His heart began to beat even faster. He was certain it was racing as quickly as Pikachu's. This was the beginning of his League career, the next steps in his career as a Master.
"A butterfree?" Brock sounded almost disappointed.
Ash felt a surge of pride, of anger. He would prove them all wrong.
"Very well," Brock said. "Geodude, let's start this off with a tackle!"
"You heard him!" Ash cried. "Tackle it right back!"
HIs pokémon cried out as he dove to earth, his body almost seeming to become a missile. Ash felt his breath catch in his throat. The pokémon raced towards each other, determination obvious. They impacted with a blow that Ash swore made his teeth rattle. The geodude floated back to earth, almost undamaged. Butterfree wobbled as he fluttered back into the air.
"Tackling my geodude won't do you any good," Brock lectured. "Almost all rock pokémon have top-notch defences. Your butterfree's tackles won't help you win. Now geodude, tackle it again!"
"Keep out of its range!" Ash cried. "Get to a safe spot and harden!"
His butterfree responded immediately. The geodude, still defying the laws of gravity, raced after his pokémon. It moved far faster than Ash thought was possible. Grunting as it launched itself in the air, Butterfree only just managed to flutter out of the way. As geodude reached the peak of its ascent and missed, its eyes widened and its hands snatched for something in the air to hold onto.
Butterfree made a sound like laughter as a soft white sheen overtook its body. As its wings stopped beating, it began to drop straight down to earth. Ash cried out, his heart in his throat. Butterfree recovered with grace, spinning back into the air as if it had been doing it all its life.
The geodude hit the ground with enough of an impact to kick up dust and rocks. Ash flinched as tiny pebbles rained down around him. Surprised when none hit him, he looked up to see them bouncing off an invisible shield above him. He blinked, still awed by the protection, and took another dust-filled breath.
"Could have blocked that from coming through," he muttered. The dust settled in his nose, causing a discomfort that he failed to shift, no matter how much he tried to blow his nose.
"Enough of this!" Brock hissed. "Geodude, knock it out of the sky!"
The geodude growled as it slammed its meaty fists into the ground. Small rocks erupted out of the dirt. The geodude snatched them from the air and began to throw tiny javellins.
"Dodge and keep hardening!" Ash cried.
His butterfree fluttered around the rock spikes, twisting and turning in the air. Ash felt his jaw drop open as Butterfree soared around them, dancing circles around the projectiles. He watched as the soft white glow continued to surround his pokémon.
Then suddenly, one struck true.
Butterfree cried out as the rock smacked against its back, knocking it from the sky. Ash gasped in horror. That rock was sharp - he knew how fragile his pokémon's wings were.
"Butterfree!" Ash screamed.
His pokémon growled, a sound he would not have thought possible would come from such a pokémon. It twirled in the air, beating its wings backwards. Ash heard Brock call out for his geodude to keep attacking. Instead of listening to him, Ash tuned him out.
"Keep it up Butterfree!" Ash shouted. He watched as his pokémon continued to weave around the javelins until finally the white glow seemed to flicker, as if unable to keep hold. "Great job! Now, head to the ceiling and create a gust!"
Butterfree trilled as he soared up to the sky, wings beating. Despite how small and fragile they were, Ash felt the blades of wind, even beneath his protective field. His hat danced on his head, buffeted by the winds. His jacket, caught in the winds, trailed behind him like a cape.
"A slight breeze isn't going to do anything to us!" Brock's voice taunted. "Geodude, blast it!"
Shielding his eyes from the gales, Ash squinted at the geodude. It growled as it slammed its fists into the ground again, though this time spikes of rocks emerged, still stuck to the ground. With a snarl, the pokémon snapped them like twigs and drew its arms back to throw them.
"Dodge!" Ash cried, hoping it was enough. Butterfree stopped the winds and soared around the spears of solid rock, twirling in the air. "Now keep up the winds!" The rocks slammed into the ceiling with continual thuds as Butterfree danced around them.
The moment the geodude lulled, Ash took the chance.
"Now Butterfree, use the winds! Poison powder!"
He felt smug at Brock's cry of alarm. Purple powder began to leak from Butterfree's wings like water from a river. The howling winds of Butterfree's gusts swept up the powder, creating a vortex of toxins that was impossible to avoid. Swept under the ominous winds, the geodude cried out, unable to avoid them.
Ash let out a relieved sigh as the winds slammed harmlessly against the shield above him, keeping his air safe. Whatever technology was keeping him safe was apparently smart enough to know what to let back in.
"I'll admit Ash, that was smart," Brock said. "But it won't matter. Geodude, time to take flatten this bug! Take it down!"
"Tackle it right back!"
Snarling, the geodude pressed its hands against the ground and threw itself into the sky like a rocket. Butterfree, singing a song that could have been a war cry, dove to meet it. The air around them both seemed to split, almost forming arrows around them.
They slammed into each other with enough force to make the hair on the back of Ash's neck rise. Faster than his eyes could see, the pokémon were thrown from each other, hurtling into the ground on opposite ends of the battlefield. Ash felt the ground tremble as they landed on it, watched the dust clouds emerge and swallow the battlefield.
He tried to swallow, but his tongue felt too big for his mouth. His heart was still racing, his hands were shaking even as he pressed them down against the podium. Slowly, the swirling dusts began to dissipate. The poisonous vorex died out. Ash felt his spirits soar as Butterfree's voice carried.
With slow, almost pained movements, his butterfree rose from the ground, its wings heavy and barely able to keep it aloft.
"Well done," Brock said. He pointed a poké ball at the field and Ash watched as his geodude vanished in a flash of red light. "I would not have expected that. Hardening your butterfree to make it more resistant to my attacks and strengthening its own wasn't something I would have considered you to have done."
Ash chuckled, trying to ignore the way the tips of his ears were burning. He was certain he could hear Misty's voice screaming from the stands, cheering him on. "Thanks. I'm glad it worked. I honestly wasn't sure it would pay off so well." He grabbed Butterfree's ball from his belt and pointed it towards the field. "I'm proud of you, Butterfree," he said, activating the recall, "but you're too tired to fight the next battle."
"Halfway there," Brock called to him, "though I should warn you - my next pokémon won't go down easily. Onix!" he cried, throwing forth the poké ball.
Ash felt his jaw hit the floor as the pokémon emerged. He understood why their podiums were raised as high as they were - Brock's pokémon was enormous. Even as high as they were, Brock's pokémon was still taller. It looked almost like a snake, though its body seemed to be formed of large boulders locked together. It took a deep breath and roared. The force of it blew Ash's hat off his head and onto the podium floor.
Its breath smelt stale, almost reminding Ash of the strange smell of caves. His mind went to a hundred different scenarios at once. All of his pokémon were tiny in comparison - there was no way that onix could not flatten them. He thought of calling out Sun, letting the mankey deal with this pokémon directly. It would be the best choice, the smartest course of action.
"That's not what I'm here to do," Ash told himself. "Anyone can win with type advantages." He pulled Apollo's poké ball off his belt and stared at it, marvelling at the way the lights made the red metal seem to shine. "I promised you guys that I'd show everyone what you can do. Apollo, let's do this!"
His hoothoot appeared in a shower of sparkles. Ash's heartbeat began to increase once more. Seeing the tiny shape of his hoothoot next to the monster of Brock's pokémon made it seem like an impossible challenge. He was fairly certain that Apollo was only the size of one of the monster's teeth.
"I won't be taking it so easy this time," Brock promised. "Now Onix! Slam that hoothoot out of the sky!"
The onix moved. Ash felt his stomach drop at the speed of it. It was all he could do to scream, "Dodge it!" before the giant snake was towering above his pokémon, bringing its stone tail down to earth. Apollo, in a flutter of feathers, barely managed to dodge in time. The ground shook as onix's tail slammed down against it. Ash stumbled in his podium, having to grip the railings to stop himself from falling over. Pikachu growled, sparks flying as he too nearly fell.
"Apollo, keep your distance! Try a silver wind!"
Apollo took to the air, flying high above the onix. Tiny wings beating, Ash watched the currents stir beneath his pokémon's body. Small, glittered scales danced in the wind, slicing into the onix's body. Ash felt a grin come to his face as small pieces of rock began to crumble from the behemoth's body. "Alright Apollo! Keep it up!"
The technique was still new, something they had yet to refine fully. Ash watched his pokémon, eager to see any signs of it improving her abilities. He glanced at Brock, silently questioning why the gym leader was doing nothing in the face of his pokémon literally beginning to crumble before his very eyes.
"Thanks for that," Brock said, a smile in his voice. "I'm sure you've noticed that there's little pieces of rock falling off my pokémon. One of the inherent abilities of an onix is that each time they take damage, they shed parts of their body to move faster."
What.
Ash's blood ran cold. The onix, eyes narrowed, glared up at Apollo. At Brock's command it hardened, coiling in on itself. Ash's mind raced. He had to think quickly, if what Brock said was true. "Apollo! Tackle it quickly!"
Apollo dove from the sky. The onix met the challenge with a roar that made the walls tremble. Its mouth was larger than Apollo - Ash was certain it was larger than his house. Apollo dove in, battling the winds of the onix's roar. It twisted and spun around the pokémon's gaping maw and threw itself against the pokémon's stoney head.
Ash watched, crestfallen as his pokémon bounced off the onix's head like a balloon off a flat surface.
"I did warn you, Ash," Brock's voice taunted. "Now Onix! Tackle it back!"
Ash tried to scream out his warning. He had barely opened his mouth before the onix sprung at his pokémon with a speed far greater than he would have thought possible. He imagined it like a larger version of Professor Oak's red convertible, soaring through the sky.
Apollo never had the time to dodge. One moment she was beating her wings, trying to recover from knocking against the pokémon's rock hard skull. The next the onix had thrown itself into the air like a javelin. It slammed its crested head against her tiny body, knocking her into the protective dome above Ash's podium.
Ash winced at the sound she made as she crashed into the protection shield. He looked up to see her body pressed against the invisible wall, her tiny chest rising and falling in laboured breaths. With a heavy heart he pulled out her poké ball and activated the recall function.
"A wise choice," Brock said. "Your hoothoot wouldn't have been able to take much more."
Ash looked at her ball, his mind a storm of emotions. He had wanted to prove Misty wrong. He had wanted to show her, to show everyone that he could do this without natural advantages. He looked at Pikachu and felt his mouth twist in a grimace. They could battle together, like they had promised to do so, but would it be the same?
Pikachu grunted at him, snatching a tiny pawful of Ash's jacket as he did so. Pikachu growled at him, eyes alight with determination. Ash could feel his pokémon's desire to get out there and battle, the need to prove his abilities, the want to prove everyone wrong.
"You're right," Ash said, feeling foolish for ever doubting himself. "Misty mentioned that most Kantonese rock pokémon are grounded. This one is no different. Your electricity won't do anything, which just means beating them will be all the more shocking!"
Arm raised in the air, Ash took a moment to let his words sink in. When they did he began to chuckle, unable to find the ability to focus. "Get it, Pikachu? Shocking? You're an electric pokémon."
He heard Brock sigh over the intercom. Pikachu made a displeased face at him. Ash was certain he could hear Misty groaning in disgust, all the way from her position in the stands.
"Anyway, Pikachu, it's down to you!"
Pikachu sprung from the podium with a battle cry, landing with a small puff of dust in the battlefield. Ash was certain he could feel Brock's curiosity.
"I hope you've got another pokémon after this one, because your pikachu isn't going to have much luck against my onix," Brock warned. "Onix, take it out! Slam!"
"Use a quick attack to dodge!"
Ash could feel his heart in his throat. The onix was fast, there was no doubting that. But his pikachu was a pokémon designed for speed. He became a blur of yellow on the battlefield. The onix moved sluggishly in comparison, bringing its tail down as if the air was made of tar. Pikachu raced around it, taunting it between his breaths. The onix roared, blasting Pikachu back.
As he bounced backwards, falling over rocks, the onix sped in for the finishing blow. At Ash's cry Pikachu jumped back to his feet and raced towards the onix, inside its range of attacks. As the monster bellowed, Pikachu jumped atop its back and raced up its spine.
"Now Pikachu!" cried Ash. "Let's stop its speed! Electro web!"
Pikachu jumped into the sky, chanting loudly. Sparks danced around its body. White-hot lances of lightning thundered against the ground. Pikachu spun and produced a bolt of pure white electricity that split into the shape of a spider's web. It landed over the onix's tail, discharging harmlessly against the monster's grounded body.
"That's not going to get you far," Brock said as Pikachu landed some distance away. "My onix isn't affected by electricity."
"I know," Ash said, grinning, "but that's not what I'm doing. Pikachu, aim another at the middle of his body this time!"
Pikachu raced towards the giant, sparking with electricity again. Onix, encouraged on by his own trainer, remained in place, his stony body almost seeming to glow as it continued to harden its skin. Another web of electricity formed over its midsection, discharging wildly. Lances of electricity met and suddenly, the two webs exploded.
The onix roared in pain. Brock cried out after it. The electrical webs expanded in size, darkening to a brilliant blue. The light that came off them made Ash throw an arm over his eyes. The heat was beginning to filter through the protective dome, making beads of sweat run down Ash's face, behind his ears, down his back.
"Alright Pikachu! He cheered, ignoring the distractions. "Now, form a signal beam!"
Pikachu growled as light began to coalesce around him. The rainbow of colours danced, almost seeming to form electrical sparks of their own.
"Onix, tackle it before it can finish!" At his pokémon's struggling grunts, Brock's tone turned to one of confusion. "Onix?"
Ash laughed. "That's right, Brock!" He pointed to the electrical webbing trapping the pokémon in place. "I know your pokémon is immune to electricity, but those webs are also made using bug energy! They're ultra sticky and right now, they're leaving your pokémon right in place for us to attack. Now Pikachu, rush in with a quick attack and use that to fire!"
Ash could smell the ozone beginning to burn. His pikachu, snarling a war cry, moved with a speed that made him seem to turn invisible. The signal beam left a rainbow trail of light behind him. He raced towards the onix, a bullet of light and electricity. At point-blank range he jumped into the air and as the onix opened its mouth to warn him away, Pikachu fired.
The beam of light rocketed into the back of the onix's mouth. Its angry roars became distressed sounds of pain. It thrashed against the electrical bindings holding it in place. The technique was still new, unperfected. Combined with the rage of the monster, there was not enough force to stop it from breaking free of its trappings. It spun on the spot, coiling in on itself, baring its fangs. Though its eyes were narrowed, its body was shaking. Small rocks were raining down from its body, creating a hailstorm of pebbles and stone shards. Pikachu jumped backwards, staring up at it, letting their eyes meet.
"This is it buddy!" Ash cried. "It's going down with one last quick attack!"
"Onix, meet it head on with a tackle!"
Pikachu moved like a bullet fired from a gun. The onix, despite previously being trapped, hurtled across the ground like it had been fired from a cannon. The pokémon raced towards each other, bathed in the power of their attacks. Ash tasted blood from where he was biting his bottom lip so hard. He could see Brock leaning forwards, his knuckles white against his own podium's railings.
Dust flew in every direction from the pokémons' charges. They met in the middle of the dust storm. Ash watched, his eyes wide. The onix reared up, body tense. It threw its body down with the full force of its weight behind it. Pikachu waited until the last moment, his body almost vanishing under the shadow of the behemoth.
Then at the last moment, a blur of yellow darted out from beneath the onix. The rock snake slammed against the ground. Light fixtures in the ceiling groaned and shook. Spectators screamed as they fell off their seats.
Snarling a way cry, Pikachu turned on his heel and rocketed into the side of the onix. His body slammed into the side of its head, making a sound like that of a building collapsing. The onix screamed, thrashing. Pikachu cried out as he was thrown backwards.
The dust clouds reached towards the heavens. Slowly, they began to disperse. Ash saw his Pikachu, sat on his backside, panting heavily. Before him was the impossibly large onix, flat against the ground, eyes closed, breathing laboured.
Ash saw the stadium screen erupt into a symphony of colour. It pronounced Brock's onix unable to battle. He stared at it, his eyes almost unseeing. It was like a mental block in his brain, not letting him believe it was true until he saw the onix vanish in the familiar glow of a poké ball's recall function.
"We did it?" Ash whispered, not noticing as his podium began to descend back down to the battlefield. It was only when Pikachu raced towards him, crying out joyously, that all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
"We won!" Ash screamed. Pikachu jumped into his arms, shouting his celebrations. Ash laughed as he spun on the spot, cradling Pikachu close. "We did it!" he exclaimed, voice breaking. "We really did it Pikachu! We got a gym badge!"
He stopped spinning at the sound of clapping. He looked up at Brock, meeting him in person for the first time. He was taller than Ash had thought, his skin and orange shirt all covered in a thick layer of dust.
"Well done, Ash," Brock said, holding out a hand. "You've officially beaten the Pewter City Gym."
-0-0-0-
Jessie shivered and forced herself to refrain from rubbing her arms to keep them warm. She had always thought that a network of tunnels would be warm - from what little thoughts she had spared towards such a thing.
Even by the lights their flashlights gave off, however, she never saw her breath fog in the air. She filed it as the latest bullet point under her mental tally of 'Reasons I should get the fuck out of here whilst I'm still breathing.' Meowth's amber eyes caught the light every so often, and each time Jessie felt her gut twist in uncertainty. She was terrified, loathe as she was to admit it. James had been the one to suggest that they keep their pokémon tucked safely away in their poké balls, to reduce the chances of them getting injured unnecessarily. Though she understood the logic in it, Jessie would have felt incredibly safer were her arbok coiled around her.
Beneath her gloves, the stone walls felt damp, cold. The ground beneath them was angled and the roof above them was far shorter than she would have preferred. They moved at a slant, almost crouching as they made their way at a painfully slowly crawl.
"This is beyond stupid," she heard James whispering. Inwardly, she agreed. "What sort of thing could they possibly be planning in here? It's not even like this would be a decent entrance!" He shrieked as he tripped over a rock. The sound made Jessie's blood turn to ice. She spun around, a poké ball already in her hand and her heart racing beneath her breast. When he smiled at her, his teeth impossibly white in the light of their torches, she breathed a quick, quiet sigh of relief.
"These are onix tracks," Meowth whispered, his voice so low that Jessie barely heard him.
Great, she thought to herself, more monsters to contend with.
"Wait!" Meowth hissed suddenly. Jessie froze instantly, holding her foot in mid-air. Meowth prowled around her on all fours - she could see the fur on his back raising, the arch in his spine as something came closer. She had no clue what it was. She could not even be certain there was anything. There were no footsteps. No sounds. No smells.
The only thing she felt was a bone-chilling urge to run.
Meowth growled. Not a human-like sound that they had grown used to, but a guttural, instinctive sound that set Jessie's nerves on edge. James whimpered behind her. She felt his hand close around her arm. She wanted to hold him, to embrace someone in the face of whatever waited for them.
She saw movements in the shadows. The tunnel in front of them flickered and stretched, impossibly wide. She heard cackling, echoing in the distance and somehow in front of her too.
She pictured a mr mime crawling through the darkness, upside down and with an impossibly wide smile.
You'll float too. You'll float too!
She forced the thought out of her mind. That was a movie, she told herself, a movie based on a fictional book that is completely, one hundred percent -
A demonic cackle, somewhere in the darkness. A hissing sound, like a snake's tongue kissing her ear.
The warm breath of another on the back of her neck.
Her back was to the wall.
"Get the fuck away from me!" she screamed, throwing herself from the wall. She saw a face in it, bubbling beneath the stone. James saw it too, shrieked and dove with her. Meowth hissed, placing himself between them. She saw his paws leaking ominous black energy. She feared it would not be enough.
Come play with me.
She felt the words, rather than heard them. They felt like they came from her very soul. She felt impossibly, irreparably unclean. She backed up to the other side of the cavern, pressing her back against the cold, wet, rock wall. James' hand found hers. She could feel his thundering heartbeat through his gloves.
"Show yourself!" she barked to the darkness, faking bravado.
Come on Jessie, just a little further.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. No way in hell, fuck that sideways. She pulled a poké ball free of her belt and covering her eyes, released the creature inside. The familiar blue skin of her wobbuffet calmed her, if only a fraction. He placed a limp hand to his forehead, whilst the eyes on his tail swivelled in either direction. She took his other hand in hers, squeezing it tightly.
He grunted, frighteningly serious.
"It's a pokémon," Meowth whispered, pressing himself close to her leg. "It's gotta be. There's nothing else it could be. Logically-"
Just a little further Jessie. We'll have fun.
"Fuck your logic!" Jessie screamed. She felt the ground beneath them rumble. Her panicked mind ignored the possibility of onix. It had to be something worse - something supernatural. It was a ghost, here to take their souls. An angry spirit, here to bring them down to hell with it.
Her departed mother, angry that she took so long to find her.
"I'm not scared of you!" Jessie shrieked at the darkness.
"I am," James whispered.
"Meowth too."
Her wobbuffet muttered his agreement.
"The three of you are hopeless!" she declared, shaking herself free of them. Snatching the machete from her belt, she brandished it at the darkness. "Whatever you are, you come out here and face me! No more cowardly guerilla warfare!"
She watched the shadows contort before her. One by one, they formed large, pointed objects. It took three of them forming on the wall opposite her to realise what they were.
Fangs. Very sharp, very large fangs.
The mouth was larger than she was. It was comprised entirely of shadows that bleed impossibly into one another. Staring at it made her eyes go funny, the world lose focus. Her arm lost the ability to hold up her weapon. She felt the hairs on her arms stand on end.
You'll float too, Jessie.
"Nope!" she screamed. Jessie turned and she ran. The rock floor was no longer an obstacle for her. Grabbing wobbuffet's hand as she raced past him, she dragged the pokémon along behind her, screaming as she ran.
She heard footsteps beside her. She told herself it was James, keeping up with her. She saw Meowth's shadow on the ground beside her. More than once she felt wobbuffet stumble. She heard him cry out as he tripped. She did not care. He was not dying to whatever that was, and neither was she!
In the back of her mind, she knew that she was racing further into the caverns. She did not care, so long as it was away from the demonic thing stalking them. She was certain she could still feel it breathing down her neck. The errant breeze, impossible to occur so far beneath the earth's surface, followed after them, carrying whispered promises of certain doom.
Ahead, their torches reflected light. Jessie nearly squealed with joy. They raced towards it, uncaring about the source. Light meant salvation. Light meant life. Light meant-
Light meant a colony of large, mole-like pokémon, gathered around a forgotten adventurer's flashlight.
"Oh shit," Jessie whispered, flailing to a halt. She felt James smack into her from behind and barely kept her balance. Meowth skidded to a stop by her feet. Wobbuffet breathed a sigh of relief as she let go of his hand, only for it to turn into a horrified gasp when he saw what waited for them.
"They're excadrill," James whispered. Personally, Jessie did not care what they were. The cavern tunnels had opened up into a chamber of sorts. Stalagmites and stalactites met in the middle of the open expanse, creating the illusion of hungry teeth waiting for them. Lake water reflected off their flashlights. She could hear the echo of dripping water, and only then became aware of how full her bladder was.
"They're blind," Meowth whispered. "We'll be fine, so long as we don't-"
You'll float too.
Jessie screamed.
The excadrill turned as one, their steel-like claws glowing in the gloomy light.
"-make any sounds," Meowth finished, downcast. "It trapped us!" he declared, as the excadrill growled. "That thing led us here!"
The excadrill moved to attack. Jessie counted four of them. Three remained back, their claws outstretched. She saw smaller pokémon between them, sheltered. Protecting the young, she realised.
The four attacking dove into the ground, swimming through it like water.
"Scatter!" Meowth screamed.
Jessie did just that. She raced into the cavern, as far away from the young as she could manage. Going near them would only piss the pokémon off more. She felt the ground rumble beneath her enough as it was. Her wobbuffet shrieked from somewhere behind her, in surprise, not pain. She grit her teeth and continued to run. Though he looked frail, she knew nothing would hurt that blue blob. She had seen him shake off attacks that would have killed other pokémon. She tried to look for James, for Meowth. The lighting was too dark, too restricted for her to see.
She felt the ground rumble near her. Turning on her heel, she raced in a diagonal, swearing. Putting what she thought was enough distance between them, she spun on her heel, snarling as she threw a poké ball into the darkness. "You want a fight? I'll show you the real wrath of the land! Ares, Whack-A-Fucking-Mole!"
Her pokémon appeared in a flash of light that destroyed her night vision. Her pokémon roared as he appeared, the sound echoing in her ears. Thick, tough, muscled arms swept her from her feet. She heard the ground rumble nearby. Something hissed as it exploded out of the dirt. She felt the rain of pebbles and mud as it peppered her.
Her pokémon bellowed its challenge and stomped the ground. She felt the rumbles that it produced. The excadrill closest shrieked and tried to leap free of the ground. The moment it showed its head, her pokémon roared and struck, bringing a fist down with such force that her teeth began to vibrate.
She felt his skin tighten, his chest begin to heat up. She buried her head beneath her hands just in time. The heat of the fire he breathed felt like it was boiling the air around her. Even her eyeballs felt like they were drying out. Looking up, squinting against the darkness, she saw her nidoking keeping two of the excadrill at bay, terrorising them with flames.
She saw James in the far distance, his victreebel by his side. The pokémon was a frenzy of razor-sharp leaves and deadly whipping vines, keeping another two of the territorial pokémon at bay.
Heart in her throat, she looked for her wobbuffet. She saw him near the group of excadrill that had stayed to defend their young, shielding meowth from their attacks. The cat was poking his head from behind the pokémon, trying to converse, to explain their situation. The excadrill appeared to be having none of it. They snarled as they continued to try and attack, clearly only focused on defending their young.
"Jessie!" she heard James shout. "Meowth! Hold your breath!"
Her eyes widened and instantly she knew what was happening. She sucked in air and tasted a sweet smell that began to overpower the dank, oppressing damp she had grown accustomed to breathing. She tapped Ares on the chest, signalling for him to do the same. She felt his chest expand as he sucked in a breath, then felt every impact against his back as he turned it to the excadrill, shielding Jessie from their wrath.
She counted the horrible, long moments.
One.
Ares grunted as he buckled under the attacks, falling forwards a step.
Two.
She heard wobbuffet shout as he threw up a safeguard.
Three.
James was shouting something to his victreebel.
Four.
Three more impacts against Ares; three more times he stumbled forwards, grunting harsh words; his embrace never being anything other than gentle.
Five.
She felt the attacks against Ares slow, begin to lose their power. She readied his poké ball, should it get much worse.
Six.
Everything fell quiet. She continued to hold her breath, unable to trust what was waiting for her when she let it out. It was only when Ares breathed a sigh of relief that she allowed herself to breathe again. The air smelled sickly, like honey and vanilla that had been left to caramelise and burn.
Ares growled a question to her. Jessie, in lieu of giving him an answer, began to laugh as she collapsed against his broad chest.
"Of course I'm fine, darling," she whispered, scratching his chin. "I should be asking you how you are. Are you hurt?" She knew the moment that she looked at his face that he was lying. Scowling, she pushed herself away from him and pointed at the space between them. "Turn around. Now."
Like a sulking child, he hung his head and turned, his tail curled around his body. Jessie barely stopped herself from gasping when she saw the damage. His back, covered in thick, poisonous armour, was a mess. Deep, oozing gashes were opened across his back, his toxic blood flooding like overflowing rivers. She pointed her flashlight into one and felt bile rise in her throat when she realised she was looking at fatty tissue. The harsh yellow was a horrible contrast to the purple of his skin and the red of his blood.
"You poor baby," she whispered, appalled at herself for letting this happen. She wanted to pay the sleeping excadrill back in kind. She saw the two responsible behind her pokémon, sleeping. They were blissfully unaware of the damage they had caused her dear, beloved friend.
Yet she could not find it in herself to attack them. She was responsible - if he had not had to shield her, he could have attacked, could have focused on doing something other than taking hits for her.
"You big, brilliant,; ignoramus," she whispered, pressing a hand to his undamaged shoulder. Grabbing his poké ball from her belt, she held it aloft. "You rest now, okay? Mommy will take you to get all these boo-boos healed."
She pressed the ball gently against his shoulder, refusing to wipe her eyes until he had returned to the comfort of his poké ball. Looking up, she saw James moving towards Meowth and her wobbuffet. She sighed as she stepped over the sleeping excadrill to meet the rest of her team, no longer able to summon the energy to care if there was something haunting them in the darkness.
Her wobbuffet broke into a wide smile when he saw her, slapping a hand against his head in greeting. She chuckled, despite the situation, and mimicked the gesture. Despite the attacks she had seen him take, he seemed impossibly unharmed.
"Meowth?" James asked. Jessie heard the waver in his voice and turned quickly to see her other team mate. Though he was clearly trying to feign wellness, she could see the way he was favouring one side. There appeared to be no blood - a glancing blow, perhaps, but meowth as a species were never known for their durability. Whatever meowth had been through in the past certainly made him stronger in comparison to others of his kind, but he was not made of iron.
"I'm fine Jimbo," Meowth said, obviously through gritted teeth. He sucked in a breath and Jessie pretended not to hear it. "I didn't get much from them, but they told me something's down here. They thought we were part of it, 'cos the only other humans they've seen have all been up to no good. Well, other than this one," he added, pointing to the flashlight on the ground.
For the first time, Jessie noticed the body it was attached to. She wondered if she had been just that panicked, to miss something like that, or if she was just immune to such things.
"Well," James said, crouching above the corpse, "he's clearly been here a while."
"He?" Jessie echoed. She pointed to the remains - as that was all they were. "He is just bones with some tattered scraps of clothing! How do you even know such things?"
"Hips," James explained emotionlessly, pointing his flashlight to them. "The pubic arch is more of a v shape."
"You're a pubic arch," Meowth muttered, just low enough for Jessie to hear. She laughed into her fist, despite the situation.
"What remains of the skull hints the person was white," James continued, oblivious to Meowth's comments. "And… here we have a further clue!" he exclaimed as he pulled free the tattered remains of a journal from beneath the bones.
"You couldn't have just pulled that out first, Jimbo?" Meowth asked. "I mean the show and tell is all well and good, but I'd rather be out of here before all these angry pokémon wake up."
"Solution to that," Jessie answered. She reached into her backpack and withdrew an entire box of poké balls. Dividing them between the four of them, she pressed one to the closest pokémon - one of the infants. "If we don't do everything they want down here, maybe donating some strong pokémon might get us some extra favour."
"True," James conceded.
They moved away from each other in silence, capturing the sleeping pokémon. When all of them had been caught - and Jessie's eyes still had stars dancing in front of them - the four of them convened by the lakefront, away from the remains of the unfortunate victim. The poké balls she had given to Wobbuffet had to be rescued off him before he dropped them all and released their angry denizens.
"Let's try not to anger these pokémon any more, huh Wobbuffet?" Jessie laughed as he slapped his head in response and waddled around to guard her back. "What's the journal saying?"
"Nothing really that interesting," James whispered as he scanned through it, squinting to see it properly. "Some mentions of working for someone with a name beginning with 'Z', some jibberish and then something about his deepest, darkest fears."
"Sounds like what the excadrill were saying," Meowth said. "They said that something was down here, something that the other humans brought. They didn't know what it was, but they said it fed on fear."
"Oh, brilliant," Jessie whispered. "So that's what we're here to sort out, amongst everything else? This is the thing that's broken containment?"
"Hopefully," James answered. "Who even knows? It could be something even worse."
"Let's think about that when the time comes," Jessie muttered. Pulling free her phone, she glanced through the information Arianna had loaded for her. Upon seeing the next set of information, she sighed. "Of course," she growled, running a hand through her hair. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"What's wrong, Jess?" Meowth asked.
"We need to go across that lake," she sighed. "James, I really hope your chimecho's telekinesis is up to scratch, because I do not want to bathe in whatever the hell that is."
-0-0-0-
The Boulder Badge shone in Ash's grip.
"This is amazing!" he declared, holding it aloft for even the heavens to see. "This is so awesome!"
"This is embarrassing," Misty muttered. Her chin was buried in one hand, her forehead resting in another. A tray of food remained untouched on the table in front of her.
"You're just jealous," Ash shot back. He dug his fork into the pale, tasteless portion of scrambled eggs and thought twice about taking another mouthful of disappointment. "I proved you wrong," he sung. "Take that, miss 'I know everything because I ran a gym and don't like fun'."
"Ash."
There was an obvious threat in her tone. Ash grinned to disguise the way he gulped. Instead of saying anything else, he chose to pin the badge to the inside of his jacket and inhale another forkful of his food. "So where are we going next?" he asked around a mouthful of food.
"Urgh, chew first, talk after," Misty chided. "And I haven't thought about that yet. Cerulean… you can guess why I don't want to go there, but I know it doesn't even have a running gym yet. The closest ones we can get to realistically are Vermilion and Cinnabar. Vermilion would mean going through Cerulean anyway, but Cinnabar means heading back towards Pallet and getting a ferry from there."
"I'm happy to go wherever," Ash said. "I'll take on all the gym leaders and prove to them that it's the pokémon themselves that show strength, not something as stupid as just elemental janken."
"Ash," Misty sighed. "You may have beaten Brock, sure. But three of your pokémon are currently being healed and this isn't something you can just hope to do again and again with every gym leader. You need to be realistic."
"Well you need to stop being so grouchy." He stood, swiped his tray from the table and stomped away. "I'm gonna go talk to someone who can at least pretend to be happy for me."
"I am happy for you Ash, I just don't want you going on an ego trip like Gary and getting yourself killed by thinking you can do something like withstand another point-blank electrical blast!"
"Well no one asked you to care!" He slammed his tray back onto the returns counter and stormed off out of the canteen, fully aware of all the eyes on the back of his head. He felt his ears burning and knew full well that argument had not gone in his favour.
"Stupid Misty," he grumbled as he stormed out of the pokémon centre. He picked a direction at random and began to walk, refusing to move out of the way for any of the pedestrians.
It was only when he had walked several blocks that he finally slowed down and began to pay attention to his surroundings again. The street he was on was filled with shops with colourful advertisement posters. He stopped at a street vending machine to buy a bottle of water and sighed at the pokémon accessory store. A person in an onix costume was twirling a sign advertising all of their discounts. It was a strange contrast to the shop next door, with a woman in a school girl uniform, bouncing around and grinning widely as she tried to entice tourists in.
It was lonely without Pikachu or Misty. Ash was keenly aware of how small he was compared to the rest of the street. He found an unoccupied bench a road over from the human traffic and sighed as he leaned his head against the hot metal.
Cherry blossoms danced in the wind around him. He opened his water and took a deep drink, only just becoming aware of how much his brow was soaked with sweat.
He tried to distract himself by ringing home. Once again it went straight to voicemail. He left another message and began to wonder if he had done something wrong without knowing it. That lightning blast had been the catalyst to his journey - maybe something in that caused all his problems too.
He dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. It was a stupid idea. Pikachu was strong, but they were a long way away from being 'capable of rewriting known facts' strong.
He scrolled aimlessly through his pokédex in an attempt to distract himself. He wanted to do something other than head back to the pokémon centre and apologise to Misty. As he looked through his contacts list, he stopped on Professor Oak's number.
It had been a while. The Professor had said that if Ash ever needed anything, all he had to do was call…
Ash hit the video call button and was surprised when the professor himself picked up after only two beats. He was in his office, which looked like a tornado had hit it. His desk was covered in loose sheets of paper that even from the video phone, Ash could see the numerous corrections Professor Oak had made to the text. Books were open and on the floor, and there were several full cups of coffee both on the desk and the window ledge. Judging by the looks of them, some had even been there for several days.
"Ash!" Professor Oak's smile filled him with a sense of warmth, even through a screen. "It's good to hear from you, my boy. Please, forgive the clutter. I was marking my students' summer reports and then got a little distracted by some new research ideas." He laughed self consciously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"Nothing really," Ash said, "I just thought I should try and ring and say 'hi' is all. You gave me Pikachu, and you seem pretty close with my mom."
There was a brief look in the professor's face that Ash found himself unable to discern. It was like a mixture of panic, guilt and embarrassment, all rolled into one.
"But I beat Brock!"
"Ash - that's wonderful news!" Whatever he had started to say was cut off quickly by the smile and quick applause he gave him. "I'm glad to hear it. How did your match fare? I've seen your registry and would I be wrong in assuming that you led with your mankey?"
"I didn't even use Sun," Ash gloated. "I beat Brock only with pokémon that are meant to be weak to his. That's what I want to do, Professor! I want to show everyone that it doesn't matter what some rulebook says, it's the pokémon's heart that determines how good a battler it is."
"My, my," said the professor. He was looking around his office, as if he had lost something. Ash wondered how he ever managed not to lose anything in there. If his mother had seen the place, she would have had a fit before dragging the Professor by the ear to the nearest cleaning cupboard to make him start cleaning. The professor cried out in jubilation when he found a plain white coffee cup, only to spit out the coffee mere moments after drinking it.
"Note to self; check the milk before drinking coffee," he muttered. "Anyway, I'm thrilled to hear you have a plan for what you want to do, Ash. Just remember not to limit yourself, my boy. You're young and the world is yours. Listen to the old man when he tells you to embrace this time as much as you can."
"I'm planning on it," Ash said. "Just wait, I'll show the gym leaders what strong pokémon truly are, and then I'll become the next Master and show the world!"
"I don't doubt it, Ash," said the professor. "Now, before I forget; I'm aware that there's been some League-based interest in Mount Moon recently and that they've cordoned off portions of the trainer tunnels. I think that you should think about taking the route over the mountain if you choose to go that way, or maybe even seek an alternate path entirely."
"Thanks Professor! By the way, have you spoken to my mom at all recently?"
"Delia?" The professor appeared to choke on something. "I-well, that is to say-" he took a deep breath, "- yes, I saw her just yesterday, as it so happens. She did mention that she hasn't heard from you in some time."
"But I call all the time!" Ash protested. "I'm always leaving messages and she never gets back to me! Is she… did I do something?"
"Oh Ash." The professor shook his head. "My boy, don't be so down. It's nothing to do with you. And don't look quite so dejected! I'm too old to deal with the emotional challenge of wanting to hug you whilst being stuck on video phone." He sighed. "Delia, your mother… she's been busy of late. Working longer hours than usual, often forgetting when we've made plans. I'll speak with her, Ash. She talks about you constantly, so I'm sure it's nothing bad. Perhaps she just forgot to pay her phone bill and hasn't been able to listen to her voicemail!"
"Yeah maybe," Ash agreed, even though he knew that his mother would often overpay bills, just to make sure she never ran into any debts. "When you see her, just tell her that I love her."
"Of course I will." The professor smiled deviously at him. "And of course, you know that she'll ask to see if I checked if you've been changing your-"
"Oh for- yes Professor," Ash groaned. He buried his face in a hand and stared at the screen through a gap in his fingers. "Yes I've been changing my underwear. What is it with you old people and feeling the need to embarrass me?"
"It's part of being an adult, my boy. Our elders did it to us, so we feel the need to continue the tradition." He cheered when he found a mug of coffee that actually still had steam coming out of it. "Anyway, I should get back to my work. I'm pleased to hear you're doing well, my boy. Don't ever hesitate about contacting me - I'm here whenever you need me, for whatever it may be." He took a long sip of his coffee and closed his eyes as he sighed. "And don't ever start drinking coffee. Once you start, it's a process you'll never be able to take back."
"I'll keep that in mind, Professor."