After a good night's sleep, Chris left his bunk and went to the desk. Erica was serving some customers, so he settled into one of the plush lobby chairs to wait. Several men, dirty from their hike, walked in, and Chris realized he was in for more time than he had bargained for. He released his team and let everyone stretch and interact.
Bartles was as bubbly as usual, bouncing around between each of the other pokemon. Chris was happy to see that everyone was happy and treated Bartles with respect even as he almost overbearingly hopped around and entered each of their spaces. He showed little restraint in physical contact with his teammates, patting Dara, nuzzling into Elly, even trying to lift Mickey from his comfortably prone position. For his part, Mickey growled, but seemed to consent and stood, much to Bartles delight. Bartles then started organizing a game of tag that Gustavo and Mickey got competitively interested in. As the intensity increased, Elly, Lesle, and Dara took to the sidelines, but Chris had to step in before damage was done to the Center.
Having calmed down, everyone paired off. Mickey and Elly engaged in their favorite activity of casually napping beside each other, Bartles and Lesle experimented with Lesle acting as Bartles' wings so he could fly, to limited success, and Dara and Gustavo seemed to be enjoying each others' company and play wrestling, though gently.
It was a bit more before the flow of patrons finally slowed to a stop and Chris had the chance to approach Eric Joy.
"Good morning, Chris," greeted the older woman, "How are you, today?" The nurse settled herself into a chair behind the counter with a sigh. To Chris, she looked tired, but the shallow smile belied the content she felt in her job.
"I'm okay, Ms. Erica," replied Chris, "you seem to be busy." Erica chuckled.
"A bit, certainly more than usual. It seems that some people are choosing to take a vacation from Cerulean." Her eyes flicked to the silent, but active, television in the corner of the room. Chris looked, seeing a newscast on a string of robberies perpetrated by an apparent Team Rocket member.
"About that…" started Chris, " I ran into one of them, a member of Team Rocket, in the Mt. Moon tunnels." Erica sat up at that, listening intently and leaning forward to encourage Chris to continue. "In one of the smaller tunnels, I found a man digging. I asked what he was doing, who he was, we battled, I won, and then he happily told me what he knew. He even gave me something."
"That doesn't sound like Team Rocket." Noted Erica. Chris shrugged.
"He'd agree with you, I think. He said that things were different in the organization. He had a license for fossil mining and collection. He warned me that not everyone was on the up and up." Chris himself suddenly felt very tired. He felt like he was losing his childhood, having any sense of whimsy pulled away by reality. Even so, the fire of curiosity and adventure burned within him. He now had a mystery to solve.
"Chris," Erica warned, standing and moving closer, "I'm worried about you. You've got that aggressive spark of some great trainers, I've seen. But, that was in the days before the new laws. When that kind of reckless bravado could allow you to pull off some amazing feats. Now, though, it just gets good pokemon killed. You can't just go charging in, riding momentum to victory with belief in your pokemon. Back in the day, even Team Rocket wouldn't murder pokemon. Even the criminal organization members were resistant to do that."
Chris' pokemon had all stopped playing and were paying attention. Chris himself was enraptured, eyes wide. Erica continued.
"It shouldn't have come to this. I remember when the first battle kill happened. The massive court case, the year long legal battle. The subsequent incidents as the courts drug it out. And, finally, when that Gym Leader stood with the defendant… The tide of public opinion shifted so quickly." She took a moment to compose herself, shaking her head to dispel the memories. "Be smarter than that, Chris. Don't lose your friends foolishly. It will only break your spirit."
Erica got quiet, fuming at the end of her speech. Chris let her sit in silence for several minutes. As he waited, he started to systematically return his pokemon. Each stared at him in kind right before he pulled them back into their pokeballs.
"I know." finally, Chris said. "I've been thinking about that since Professor Oak asked me to not kill pokemon on my journey. At first I thought it was just because he thought I was fragile, couldn't handle it. But, the more I've fought, the more I've seen, the more I realize he saw in me something that said 'This kid can do it.' At least, I think so. I need to think so. I want to think so!" Chris was raising his voice, and his pokemon began to gather around him. "I don't want to lose anyone. I want to be an example that death is not the best way. I want to prove to the world that it is unnecessary and wrong. I want to win, to become Champion, and I want to do it standing on the moral high ground."
It was quiet for a long moment, until Bartles started furiously clapping, breaking the tension. Erica burst out laughing, and Chris suddenly felt very foolish, but all of his pokemon were looking up at him. Whether seriously or happily, their eyes tracked him, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Chris," said Erica as she composed herself, "how old are you?"
"Fifteen." He replied. Erica looked genuinely shocked for a moment, then looked the boy up and down again.
"You sure? Between that speech and your demeanor, you sound like an old dreamer, but you also look so young!" She giggled again, but bit it back again quickly. "Jokes aside, I believe in you. Never said I didn't for the record, just wanted to remind you of the potential consequences. It's too easy to hit a hot streak and forget what defeat feels like. As soon as you forget, it comes around to smack you in the behind, sure as dawn."
"I guess the difference is that I can't forget," Chris said sadly, leaning down to pet Elly, "I can't afford to lose even once. So it will always loom over me." His pokemon gathered closely around him, and Erica looked down on the scene, feeling as though she was witnessing a genesis of some sort. This boy, surrounded by pokemon looking up at him adoringly. After a time petting each of his pokemon in turn, Chris started returning them all to their pokeballs.
"You're right, regardless, I need to be sure I'm never reckless, not even when it would be easy to do so. I'm going to head back down the mountain and pick up some more potions and gear in Pewter City. I should be back tomorrow."
Chris spent the rest of the day working his way down the valley. He released Elly and Gustavo to allow them to really stretch their limbs and build up some real speed. They seemed to enjoy the time to exert themselves. Elly started doing many intense swoops and dives that caught Chris off guard the first couple times, but he quickly began to trust Elly's instinct and watched with a smile as she soared along the cliff sides. Gustavo zoomed from grassy patch to grass patch, up and down the hillsides, startling the trainers they passed, and occasionally Chris himself.
Pewter City appeared from the stone as if it was sprouting. It was the middle of the afternoon, so Chris decided to head straight to the Poke Mart to ensure he could get what he needed. A couple extra antidotes, and a few more potions, and Chris felt more prepared to push the rest of the way through Mt. Moon on to Cerulean City. When he stepped out of the Mart the sun was beginning it's descent towards the forest in the west.
When he arrived at the Pokemon Center, Chris was surprised to find a crowd around the front desk. He could even see Pam from the door. A low clamor of dissent emanated from the crowd, making it clear to Chris that something was going wrong in the Center to cause the back up. Despite its slow progression, Chris could see that disgruntled patrons were moving away from the counter in an orderly manner, implying they were being serviced, albeit slowly.
Chris settled in to wait at the back of the line, inching forward with the minutes. As he got closer, he could see the nurse bobbing back and forth. Chris thought he could see a bob of dark hair moving back and forth, and he wondered if Pam had forgotten her wig, and maybe that had something to do with the delay. As the line thinned further, though, Chris could see that it was not Pam at all.
"Welcome to our Pokemon Center," greeted the baritone voice, "So sorry for the delay. May I take your pokemon." Chris blinked incredulously.
"Brock?" Chris asked in greeting to the Gym Leader, currently bowing behind the counter, a frilled pink apron over top of his more rugged attire.
"Oh, hey, you were that challenger from a couple weeks ago… Charles? No, wait, Chris, right?" Brock offered. Chris nodded.
"Where is Pam?" he asked.
"She said she had to take a couple vacation days," Brock shrugged, "called in a favor and I said I'd cover for her. I can put Gym challenges on hold for now." Chris smiled at hearing that.
"Did she go south to Vermillion City, by any chance?" Chris probed further. Brock nodded.
"Yeah, actually, how'd you know?" he answered.
"It was something we talked about before I headed up the mountain." Chris looked behind him, seeing the line was growing again. "But, I'm holding up your work. We can talk after the rush ends."
The traffic stayed heavy for a while more, then slowed steadily to nothing, and Brock stepped around from the counter to sit with Chris for a time. They talked for several hours, getting to know each other a bit better. Brock was surprised to see Dara, captured by Chris, and Chris quizzed the gym leader on all he knew about Mt. Moon. The night grew late quickly, and Chris went to bed, promising yet another visit to a friend he had to leave behind.
Early the next morning Chris hiked back up to the entrance to Mt. Moon. Despite being uphill the whole way, Chris made good time and arrived at Erica's Center an hour before noon. He had an early lunch with his team and set out immediately for the tunnels, determined to make some progress this day.
The familiar paths went quickly, a side effect of Chris not exploring every corner, and he soon reached as far as his map had gone. A quick battle with a lost trainer, and subsequently giving her directions to the exit, and Chris was beginning to steadily add to his map again. He had only sketched a single tunnel corridor and turned a corner when he found another small tunnel going deeper.
Jotting a small stair symbol, Chris headed in with a fresh page to record the passage. The connection itself was low, wide, and short with an exit breaking through the ceiling a short ways away. Poking his head up like a diglett, Chris scanned the room.
The ceiling stretched into darkness as the room was only lit by a single lantern set beside a man lounging against the wall, taking a break from the apparent digging he'd been doing. The black clothes disappeared into the shadows, but the bright red symbol readily identified him as a member of Team Rocket. The man glared as Chris continued to climb out of the hole.
"Hey," warned the man, "We're pulling a big job here, kid. Get lost." Pushing himself to his feet the Rocket member tossed a pokeball forward, and in a flash of light a zubat appeared. Chris summoned Elly to combat the flying pokemon.
The small bat wasn't able to do much damage as Elly proved her superior mobility. Its little bites had no penetrating power and Elly's powerful wings were buffeting the smaller creature about. Grimacing, the Rocket grunt called out in desperation.
"Use Supersonic, Zubes!" He cried. The little bat inhaled deeply before opening its mouth wide. At first, Chris was confused, as he heard nothing, but then the ringing slowly increased, and his vision began to swim. Vertigo hit him just as he saw Elly dip before beating her wings hard and regaining altitude.
"Quick Attack, Elly! Take it out!" Chris called, clutching his ears. Elly reeled back and surged forward, but Chris could see immediately she was aiming high. The zubat easily dipped out of the way as Elly slammed herself into the wall of the cave, doing far more damage than the other pokemon had. Shaking her head, she turned about, wavering in the air and hunting for the zubat. "Just use Gust," Chris ordered, "We can't use precision here."
Elly closed her eyes and started flapping hard. The wind surged around the room, tearing at the two trainers' clothes and throwing the zubat into the wall with enough force to evidently knock it out as it began drifting to the floor, only fleetingly flapping its wings. The Rocket grunt recalled the zubat and almost immediately threw out a second ball.
"Get out there, Eks!" And, with a pop, an ekans coiled itself on the ground. Chris could see that Elly was still dazed from Supersonic, so he quickly recalled her and sent in Mickey to deal with the snake pokemon. Mickey appeared, gave a very feline stretch, and a cute and not entirely threatening growl.
The fight was over quickly, though, as Mickey handily outclassed the ekans. His final Horn Attack was pressed with so much force he drove the serpentine pokemon back and into its trainer, smacking them both into the wall. The man hit his head against the rocks and slumped into the floor, his ekans equally limp in his lap.
Chris rushed forward, but relaxed when he found the man and his pokemon breathing. Using the Rocket grunts' pokeball, Chris returned the ekans and set about examining the room. Curious, he investigated a lone ledge in the cave, finding a dusty TM case with a faded label, barely legible in reading TM01 Mega Punch.
From his elevated vantage, Chris could see that a rather large rock below him had clear drag marks underneath it. Climbing down and investigating, Chris found that someone had, at some point, slid the rock over top of a small hole to hide an item. Chris pocketed the can labeled Ether, and headed out of the cave. Taking one last look at the unconscious man, Chris exited the cave.
Chris continued on in the greater tunnel. A young man who kept showboating for no one and a burly hiker confronted him as he progressed. During the fight, the older man called out an onix. The massive pokemon didn't stand a chance against Bartles, but its immense size disturbed the natural rock formations. A section of wall fell away while they battled, and Chris clearly caught sight of something glinting over the hiker's shoulder in the red glow of the cave lights.
"Kids like you shouldn't be here…" The hiker muttered bitterly as he retreated, and Chris investigated the damage in the cave wall. Digging through the rubble to climb the wall a bit and get to the gleaming point of light. Reaching it, Chris pulled a glossy stone from the wall. It was smoothly textured and cool to the touch. Uncertain, he checked his Trainer's License that kept active track of his inventory. At the bottom of the list was a single new entry; Moon Stone.
Its description read: A stone used for making certain kinds of pokemon evolve.
Great, Chris thought, but which kinds of pokemon?
Wasting no more time, and with his team in good shape, Chris headed down the nearby tunnel, the only way to continue forward. He followed the passage, the longest and most well dug yet, until it reached an opening at the other end. The opening was set in the ceiling, a ladder the only access. The opening was dark compared to even red glow inside the smaller tunnel, but Chris started climbing.
The other side of the hole opened into a full cavern, almost as large as the one he'd left, and Chris took in his surroundings as he pulled himself free.
"Well, well, well," a voice interrupted his observations, "what do we have here? Little kids should leave grown ups alone." A man, wearing the now familiar Rocket uniform, stepped from the shadows. He dropped a pokeball at his feet, it exploded into the shape of a large, furry pokemon with huge teeth. Chris recognized it as a raticate, an evolved rattata. He set his feet into a stance and pulled a pokeball from his wrist.