Gray stood before a narrow pass cutting through the looming mountains, its entrance choked by a guardhouse equipped with a mechanical gate of iron bars arranged in a criss-crossing pattern of diamond shapes, fashioning gaps so narrow not even a Rattata could squeeze through. Iron doors and shutters sealed the concrete guardhouse tight. Gray approached a booth protruding out of the building's side. A man dressed in green with short, dark hair sat lazily inside behind a window and a grill of latticed metal.
Gray rapped on the wall and the guard bolted up to attention.
"Good evening," said Gray, slipping his pass through a small gap beneath the window. "I'm here with a package for the expedition. This is Cerulean Cave, isn't it?"
There had been no signage, not even a dirt path, and without a swimming pokémon to take him up the river he had been forced to scale sheer hilly slopes to get here.
"Yes, it is. I was told you would be come." The guard slid the pass through a machine, then placed it inside a drawer. "This pass is temporary, so I keep it. If for whatever reason you need to leave then return again, the Professor will have to issue you another temporary pass."
"I don't expect that, but thanks," said Gray. The guard twisted a lever. Through the guardhouse's walls came the noise and clatter of complex, heavy machinery at work. The gate gradually withdrew into the earth, inch by inch.
"So," said Gray, "are the pokémon in there as dangerous as this looks?"
"Well, that's the reputation, but it's not fair to say that the pokémon are dangerous," said the guard, looking apologetic for some reason. "It's not that they are especially vicious. They are just wild pokémon, no different than any others. The problem is that they are extremely powerful and unlike most powerful pokémon, they're right next to a major city. The real problem is for rookie trainers come here, specifically to pick fights with pokémon too strong for them, and wind up getting themselves and their pokémon hurt. That's what makes things dangerous. How people behave around them."
"Makes perfect sense," said Gray, nodding. The gate still hadn't finished.
"I hear up in Galar their pokéball transportation network has a new system that restricts a trainer's captures based on their strength. Sometimes I wish Kanto would do that, too, but then again, I'd be out of a job…"
The gate finished retracting into the ground.
"You'll find the whole expedition parked all around the cavern entrance," said the guard. You can't miss it. Be careful now."
Gray passed over the retracted gate, walking through the rugged, untamed pass. He waded through thickly tangled vegetation and stumbled over hidden stones. Bird pokémon cried out distantly from the slopes above. He thought there would be at least some trace of the expedition passing through, a road to follow, but it was as if no one had ever passed through.
A dense grove of slender willows barred his way, but once he pushed through them, he saw the great wall of Cerulean Mountain's slopes ahead and at their base, many large white humps, like a Camerupt's, rising about a gaping cavern in its side, all tents.
Beyond the trees the land flattened out, the shrubbery cleared, and the way became suddenly easy. Gray saw nobody around and found the largest tent in the middle. At first he attempted to knock on his closed flap, but felt foolish when there wasn't a sound. He pushed the lip open, peeked inside, and saw nothing. Gray discovered the same to be true in all the others.
Gray looked into the gaping maw of Cerulean Cave. White crystals dangled like teeth from its curved, throat-like ceiling. Without sparing a thought, he walked straight in. The package needed to be delivered in person and the expedition was clearly deployed into the cavern's depths. In the end, a willingness to go into dangerous wildernesses such as this was why he hadn't been replaced by a Rotom drone.
Still, he could feel his fatigue drag on his flesh as he found himself in a cave for the second time in as many days, having left Mt. Moon behind just hours before. It would be dark again before he left and he did not know where he would spend the night. It was a situation he had stumbled into many times before, however, and did not bother him at all.
Mt. Cerulean stood in the same range as Mt. Moon, so he was not surprised they looked a great deal alike. However, rather than luminous fungi and Moon Stone minerals, the walls and floors were embedded with great crystal spikes that shone a pale, lifeless sort of life. They grew here and there very much like plants, some looming downward as large as canoes, others growing in clusters about the earth like fields of petrified flowers. Ahead, as the tunnel widened—likely into another vast chamber just as in Mt. Moon—Gray felt puzzled to see a whitish, bright haze, as if he were already leaving the cavern. Gray stepped suddenly into a sparse cloud of fog and what he saw as it stepped out took his breathe away.
Gray stood on a ledge overseeing a great open chamber, like Mt. Moon in scope, but not at all elsewise. Enormous crystal spikes thrust from the ceiling, bundled into a tremendous hive, casting their colorless light far and wide, like a cold sun shining into a hollow earth. Underworldly rivers of dark water flowed here and there, occasionally gathering into large ponds, dividing the cavern into islands and shores.
It was hard to know where to start. Just as he took a step down to begin, he was startled by the heavy thud of beastly feet, and he scrambled back up, lunging behind a cluster of boulders. Gray peeked over to watch below as a Rhydon trundled by, its swinging tail dragging the ground. Gray remained still and silent as he watched the Rock-type slouch through the labyrinth and he did not feel safe until many minutes passed, when he could no long even hear its echo. He ignored the shaking and warmth rattling his pokéballs at his waist.
Gray had not brought those empty pokéballs thinking to battle. Even without the cavern's reputation, it would be unkind to set his pokémon against a Rhydon no matter the circumstances. The only scenario where he imagined he could actually catch a local pokémon is one where he was attacked and he tossed a ball to slow the enemy down, only to catch it by freak accident.
With Rhydon gone, Gray scaled down the ledge and began his journey through the cavern, searching the ground for any traces of human passerby. He sprayed himself down with repels, even though with no powerful pokémon the benefits would be limited, and kept close to the walls. Every now and then he would hear the cry and step of pokémon, not distant enough to feel safe, though he met nothing. Even so, the cavern festered with noise, leaving his nerves convinced the turn of the next corner would be the one where he would have to choose between fight or flight.
Gray hopped between rocky islets to cross the water and scrabbled along pebbly shores. After crossing one stream he stumbled onto a pit with a ladder hewn into its sides. It looked very old, but it seemed like the way a human would take, so he descended there. The light became brighter and colder as the crystals only seemed to be more numerous than ever in the depths, almost covering the entire ceiling in places.
Thin waterfalls leaked from above, fashioning small streams he could easily step over, though they molded tunnels diving deeper into the earth's depths. Gray did not want to go any deeper than he could help. The tunnels split and converged and split again, twisting and turning into themselves or into dead ends. Gray could hardly tell when he stumbled upon somewhere new. After it seemed as if he was getting nowhere, something finally happened.
Gray heard a faint, repetitive echo of a clicking noise, with a rhythm not remotely like any sort of footstep. Gray stood very still until he realized the sound would not stop, so he followed the echoes around a bend. Immediately above he noticed the ceiling was purple-and-blue—a great swarm of Golbat and Crobat were napping upside-down amid the crystals.
Beneath them he saw a young woman, her face concealed behind an active camera, snapping pictures of them. She wore a homemade-looking poncho, woven out of soft hues of light-pink and baby-blue, over a dark-blue half-shirt and hiking pants. Her feathery hair was dyed purple with pinkish highlights, and she wore a many-layered ponytail, like a bird's crest.. As she seemed to finish taking snapshot, she noticed him, placed her fingers over her lips, and gestured at Gray to follow. He tip-toed after her, down the long winding tunnel, until she decided they had gone far enough.
She turned, saying, "So, what are you here for?"
"I'm here on a delivery," he said. "I'm looking for a scientific expedition. Professor Mahogany's."
"Oh, yes, Daddy told me to keep an eye out for you! I'll take you right to him. He's been looking forward to your arrival, you know, he can't really start without that Psycho-whatsit."
Gray followed her and after a few steps she turned back and said, "Oh, my name's Noa, by the way."
"I'm Gray," he said. "So, I guess you're a photographer?"
"Yes. I take photos on all Daddy's expedition, both for my own portfolio and to help him with documentation," she said. "So, how strong a trainer are you?"
"I'm not a trainer. I'm just a delivery boy who specializes in remote locations."
"What? Then how did you get past the guard?"
"The same way you did, I assume."
"Oh. Right." She seemed disappointed. Noa led him deeper into the cavern, until the tunnel widened into a broad, basin-like expanse, like an underground lake that had dried up with the shifting of the earth. They left prints behind them in fine, colorless sand, prints that soon blended into a churned mess of disturbed sand as they approached the camp.
Large white tents had been erected in the middle of the basin, all connected through a network of cords to a generator set up beside a nearby stream, feeding off the water's flow. Gray could hear murmuring and talking from within the tents as Noa led him past them, towards the large pill-shaped tent right in the middle.
They slipped through the tent's flaps and found a miniaturized laboratory, much like Oak's lab, but with all the large computers replaced with several laptops and mounted tablets. Slotted shelves bearing rows of Ultra Balls stood to the left, whereas tables dirty with mineral, soil, and biological samples such as hair, scales, and certain unmentionables occupied the right.
In the center, standing by the desk in the cortex of the makeshift computer lab, towered a powerfully built, heavily tanned man with a long, pointed face and forked, dark-brown goatee. His eyes were bright and blue, full of energy and thought all focused on a rusty spoon in his hands, so that he nearly didn't notice them.
"Noa, you're finally back! Good to see you've found our delivery boy!"
"Uh, yes, Dad. How'd you guess?"
"Well, Samuel did send me an image of the lad ahead of time, for the sake of security. Silph is lending us the PPL with the understanding we will be extra careful," said Professor Mahogany.
"And here it is," said Gray, placing the case on the desk. The Professor opened the case, inspected the device, and ran out of the room. They followed him as the device began swiftly beeping. Mahogany pointed out into the cave, and Gray could see a wavelength spiking rapidly on the small screen as he twisted and turned the dial.
"So, this PPL helps us detect psychic waves. Every species of pokémon that can use Psychic-type abilities has their own distinct wavelength which varies in intensity based on their strength and ability." The wavelength and the beeps changed their loudness and length swiftly as he waved it in all directions.
"The Psychic-type pokémon of Cerulean Cave have a reputation for their strength, to the point that just a few decades ago, it was regarded as common sense in Kanto that Psychic-types were the strongest types of all, even more than Dragon-types… Objectively untrue, of course, but still… But that's not the best part."
Mahogany flipped a few switches and fiddled with some dials. "What I really wanted from this thing was its ability to simulate psychic waves. It's like ventriloquism. I can mimic any Psychic-type's 'voice' and throw it out there. I can imitate mating calls, territorial calls, cries for help… Oops!"
Instantly, without the slightest chance for any human to react, a Kadabra appeared among them. Ringing its spoons together, it launched a jagged Psybeam towards the Professor. Instinctively, Gray lifted a pokéball, but a glance from its eyes, full of blue shine, froze him with fear. Laughing, the Professor hopped aside the attack, and tossed out his own pokéball.
"Venusaur, Razor Leaf!"
The saurian plant-beast emerged, its bulb swaying violently as crescent-shaped leaves spun with gleaming edges. They cut through the Kadabra's body, bringing it immediately to its knees, and Mahogany hurled an Ultra Ball at it. The black ball struck, sucking the Psychic-type inside, and wobbled thrice on the ground before settling.
"Splendid! I've been trying to catch a Cerulean Cave Kadabra for ages, now!"
"Oh, Dad, really!" cried Noa, staring Gray up and down in concern. "Are you alright?"
The tension in his arm faded. Gray finally brought it down. "Of course. It didn't attack me."
"You looked like you were about to send out a pokémon, there," said Mahogany brightly. "What stopped you?"
"I…" Gray looked at his pokéball, which rocked angrily. "My pokémon can't possibly stand up to the pokémon in this cave. I was afraid they'd get hurt. I've been to wild places, but not like this."
"Perfectly understandable! Unfortunately, there simply aren't many trainers qualified to be in here that would be willing to do such busy work!" said Mahogany. "Noa, could you process this Kadabra's data and place it with the rest of our catches? I'll take care of our guest here!"
"Sure, Dad," she said, albeit with a doubtful look, as she took the Ultra Ball and returned to the central tent.
Mahogany took hold of Gray's shoulder in a fatherly fashion, but rather than lead him towards the exit as Gray expected, he instead guided Gray deeper in, into another large chamber fanged with crystal. Placing his fingers on his lips, he pointed, and they saw a Raichu just a few hundred feet away from them, its tail planted firmly on a large crystal. They watched it shudder as blue electricity raced along its tail—to or from it, Gray could not tell—until it pulled itself free and wandered off.
"The Raichu of this cavern shed waste electricity by discharging it into these crystals," said the professor. "That is how it is so bright in here. There's nowhere else in the world they're known to do this."
"That's amazing, Professor," said Gray. "I've never heard of that in any pokédex entry."
"Filling in gaps of knowledge like that is what I'm here for," said Mahogany. "And, uh, forgive me… I'm told you have a pokédex? May I see it?"
"Uh… I guess."
Reluctantly Gray handed his old pokédex over and his cheeks burned shamefully at its emptiness. Nevertheless, the Professor scrolled through it excitedly, chuckling as he eagerly pushed the kludgy buttons, and watching the blank entries scroll by at a low FPS rate.
"Oh, splendid! How I miss this old thing! When I set out for the first time, Oak hadn't even invented the pokédex! I did everything with pen and paper! I only received the first model in university. It's long-gone now, recycled, to make way for the model after that which was recycled for the model after that and after that and now my smart-phone has a know-it-all Rotom in it."
Mahogany took out his Rotomphone, which croaked in a warbling, synthetic voice, "Bite me, bite me."
"Oh, come now, Rotom, you know I don't mean it." The professor looked appraisingly at Gray. "We are part of the same brotherhood, you know, you and I."
"What?"
"Professor Oak both gave us our very first pokémon, you see," he said, gesturing at his Venusaur's pokéball. "My daughter, as well, with a Bulbasaur of her own. Back then he was a young professor, taking a big risk by setting up a lab of his own, having little reputation and little funds… And today I have found myself in his footsteps, being a no-name professor starting a little lab of my own."
"Okay."
Mahogany cleared his throat. "Professor Oak, you know, he told me a little about you and well, he likes to keep an eye on his boys and girls when he can. When that Kadabra came out, well, I liked your instincts, boy."
"But I cowered from it.
"Your first instinct was to fight—but you checked it just in time, worried for the safety of your pokémon. That's the perfect mindset for a dangerous expedition such as this. Oak told me you were excited to come here and I can see quite clearly on your face you're excited to be here."
"… Yes." Gray's heart pounded in his chest.
"So, I don't know if you already have some duties with your job you have to address," said Mahogany, "but if you're not occupied, I thought I'd invite you to join us in our expedition. It's just me, my daughter, and the twins, so we could use the help, and I feel like you'd enjoy it. I can't pay you much, but I'll certainly try to scrounge something up to make it worth your time."
"I…" Gray trailed off as he thought. "I don't have any obligations. I get my next job when I return or call back. I… I'd really love to join you, if only for a little while."
"Splendid! Perhaps something more will come out of this, perhaps nothing at all and we'll part ways, never to see each other again, but at the very least, you will have gained a new experience out of all this! That's what's important."
Professor Mahogany pointed onward, dragging Gray forward. "Come now. The twins are observing a band of Lickitung somewhere in this direction. We must introduce you!"
Gray stood there for a moment, thunderstruck, wondering at how this could of happened, how he could have stumbled into such a generous, sympathetic spirit after all these years. It seemed as if his world was heaving beneath his feet and changing all around him, even as the voice at the back of his head niggled, warning him that he would probably go back to Everywhere Delivery soon and return to his old, disappointing routine.
Professor Mahogany called again. Gray decided not to worry that niggling thought anymore, and just followed with a new spring in his step.