AN: Super fast update! Enjoy!
Jekke604: Thanks for being the first reviewer! I'm glad you're enjoying this!
The Tunnel Of The Moon.
It was an almost spiritual experience to walk through this place. People were sure that, not even in unrecorded history, it wasn't humans who had dug this tunnel. According to the TransNet and Droogle, it was largely agreed that it was entirely the work of Pokémon.
It hadn't remained untouched from humanity, however. At least the entrance was illuminated by lamps and there even was an information plaque on a rocky wall, but the rest of the tunnel was kept dark and as natural as possible out of respect for the Pokémon living in here. If one needed light, they had to bring or create it themselves.
So, the four of them were guided by Weiss's Vulpix's Will-O-Wisp. It wasn't a lot of light that it provided them with, but it was enough for now.
"What if we have to fight a Pokémon in here?" Jaune asked, sounding a bit nervous. "We barely see our next steps. We'd be at a huge disadvantage."
"We have Shellder, Staryu, Horsea, Poliwag and Oddish. We'll be fine," Ruby said. "Besides, the tunnel isn't that deep."
"I've read that this place is one of the best to search for Moonstones." Weiss chuckled. "Kind of in the name, isn't it? You should keep an eye out, Ruby. For your Nidorans."
Ruby got butterflies in her stomach just imagining having both Nidoking and -queen in her team. It was, of course, still so very far away from becoming reality, but that didn't mean that she couldn't dream about it. "Thanks, I'll keep my eyes open," she said after a bit of silence.
The next few minutes they didn't see or hear anything other than their slow footsteps, the occasional sound of water drops dripping onto the ground and their own breathing. Left and right from them, there was almost pure darkness; only barely did they see the tunnel's walls, the rough surface of rock and stone.
Out of nowhere, Vulpix stopped and sniffed the air wildly, causing them to share worried glances.
"What's wrong, Vulpix?" Weiss asked as she crouched next to her starter and gently scratched her locks.
"Vulpix! Vulpix!"
The Vulpix then dashed a few metres to the left, leaving their actual route and taking a fork they hadn't even noticed in the darkness. She stopped and looked at them, again barking at them, as if she was urging them to follow her.
"Vulpix, Vul-Vul!"
"Well, let's follow her, I guess," Weiss said and walked towards her starter. "I trust her instincts and when she says there's something worth checking out I believe her."
"Alright." Ruby was the next to walk up to Vulpix and was then quickly followed by Pyrrha and Jaune.
Vulpix barked one more time at them and dashed farther down the narrow path, their group now walking as one behind the other instead of next to each other.
After a sharp curve in the path, a swarm of Zubat flew past them, barely missing their heads and faces, likely startled by the Will-O-Wisp still kept floating by Vulpix.
"Vulpix, wait a moment," Weiss called out and slowed down until she caught up with her Pokémon. Turning to look at them, once they had caught up with her, Weiss spoke up. "I think we should use our flashlights now. The path is getting narrower and there might be holes and whatnot which Will-O-Wisp's light might not catch."
"Good thinking," Pyrrha said while she was searching through her backpack before nearly blinding them with the sudden bright light from her flashlight. "Sorry," she said with an embarrassed chuckle.
Ruby, Jaune and Weiss turned on their flashlights as well, Ruby sighing in relief that they didn't have to walk around in almost complete darkness anymore.
They walked a bit farther down the narrow path when Ruby heard the faint whisper of voices, stopping everyone else in their tracks. "Do you guys hear that?" she asked, her voice hushed. "Someone's there. I think Vulpix led us here because of that, didn't you?" she asked the small Pokémon, who nodded excitedly, her couple of tails – she was still super young – wagging a bit.
"I'm always amazed at how good some Pokémon's senses are. It cost us a few minutes of walking to hear them," Pyrrha said, smiling at Vulpix.
Jaune pointed down the path with his thumb. "Let's see who they are. Maybe they need help."
After everyone nodded, they resumed their brisk pace, but the closer to the talking people they got and the clearer the voices became, the more Ruby felt dread settle within her.
Pyrrha frowned and held up a hand after turning her flashlight off and everyone followed suit – even Vulpix, who stopped her Will-O-Wisp.
"...many more of these rocks do we need?"
"Until every inch of this fucking cave is cleared."
"This is such a shit job. We're stealing them from shops anyway. Hell, we're even working with that Torchwick-dumbass and his stupid eyeliner and that creepy chick of a bodyguard he has following him around. They've stolen so much already. Why do we have to dig for them in this fucking cave?"
"Will you stop complaining already? If Adam says we need to, then we need to. We get paid a shitload to get this done. Now shut up."
Weiss turned to look at them with wide eyes. "The White Fang!" she whispered harshly. "Adam – they must be talking about Adam Taurus! They are criminals! The worst of the worst! They must be behind – they must be behind the evolution-stone-thefts!"
Glaring, Ruby started walking towards the voice of the criminals, her flashlight turned on again. "We have to stop them then!"
They found another fork splitting the path and then they saw light shining into the new narrow path, coming from another fork. Hastening their pace, they quickly walked towards the light and saw a wider chamber. Inside were two men dressed in pure white, wearing white, boney masks, who were searching the ground. One held a shining, greenish-grey stone against the light before he dropped it, startled at their sight.
"Who the hell are you?!" he asked and got to his feet, the red image of a Pokéball with three claw marks running through it now visible on the front of his uniform.
"What the –?!" The other got up to his feet as well, dropping his pickaxe behind him. "I almost feel bad for you kids, but no witnesses. Raticate, Super Fang! Don't hold back!"
The large, hyper-aggressive Pokémon charged at them, forcing them all to dodge. Ruby, forced to go all out, quickly released all of her Pokémon while Vulpix and Weiss distracted the now burning Pokémon with a well-aimed Will-O-Wisp. Pyrrha, Weiss and Jaune released all they had as well.
"Paras, Spore on those criminals! Nidoran and Nidoran, use Leer and Growl on Raticate and Staryu, Water Gun on Machoke!"
The criminals didn't notice that she was aiming anything at all at them until it was too late and their eyes were already drooping. Not even a moment later they collapsed, deeply asleep.
Their Pokémon, however, were still running rampage, the Machoke swatting Eevee to the side, causing it to collapse and get knocked out. Jaune called her back with a worried cry.
"Poison Sting, Nidorans, then again Leer and Growl, then Peck and Scratch! Paras, Stun Spore on Machoke! Staryu, Harden, then Tackle on Raticate!"
"Acid, Oddish! Use it on Machoke! Cubone, Mud-Slap on Raticate! Horsea – oh, no, come back!" Pyrrha cried out after Raticate bit down on Horsea and tossed him to the side, the unconscious Pokémon bleeding from his curled tail and breathing heavily.
Ruby had to call back her female Nidoran as well after a series of furious swipes from Raticate had left her bleeding heavily from various scratch marks. She had at least poisoned the Raticate before she got defeated.
"Buggy, String Shot! Bucktooth, Quick Attack!"
"Shellder, again Ice Shard, we're wearing it down!" Weiss yelled. "Venonat, Supersonic, Sandshrew, Scratch and Vulpix, Will-O-Wisp! Let's finish this!"
The combined attacks were finally enough to knock out the Machoke, which was freezing, burning and hit its head against a piece of rock protruding from a wall. The Raticate had already succumbed to the burns and poison moments before.
Everyone called their Pokémon back, except for Vulpix, who would have to lead them back out.
Ruby looked around and winced, glad that their water attacks hadn't broken the generator providing them with the electricity to keep the light running inside of the chamber. Seeing a crate, Ruby quickly went there and saw a bunch of Moonstones already collected, almost forcing a whine out of her. It would be so easy to just take two of them, but it wouldn't be right. They were the evince for a crime scene, after all.
With a sigh, she looked at her friends. "Let's tie them up and take their Pokéballs. Their Pokémon will probably have to be given to a rehabilitation camp."
After receiving three nods, they all went to work.
Carrying the crate outside was a bit tiring, but they managed. Breathing in fresh air again and knowing that they had arrived at their first major town was well worth the inconvenience, not to mention the knowledge that they had prevented a crime from occurring.
The exit – or entrance, if you came from Stonehold Town – was right at the edge of the town, which caused everyone to grin and move faster.
Just a few short minutes later and they arrived in Stonehold Town with its tall brick houses and mining industry, slowly being modernized, which was evidenced by the tall glass skyscrapers standing out like a sore thumb.
"We'll have to find a Pokémon Center and from there we can call the police," Weiss said while looking through her phone. "The Center should be this way."
It was difficult to ignore the looks they were getting because of the crate and it made Ruby feel very uncomfortable, but she soldiered on. She just looked on straight ahead, a hand on one handle of the crate while Jaune had the other.
After a few minutes of walking, they found the large building and quickly entered. A nurse at the counter looked up and was unable to hide her obvious curiosity.
"Excuse me," Weiss said, stepping up, "could you please call the police? There are two White Fang terrorists in the Tunnel Of The Moon and they tried to collect and take these Moon Stones. We stopped them and they are tied up."
"We'd also like our Pokémon looked after, please," Pyrrha said while they all took the appropriate Pokéballs off their belts and handed them to the stunned nurse.
"My female Nidoran was treated for high fever and food poisoning in Emerald Village," Ruby explained. "Also, this Machoke and Raticate belonged to the White Fang," she added, handing her the two Pokéballs. "I think Pokémon of criminals are taken to a rehab camp?"
"Uh – okay. Of course. Um, just gimme a sec." The nurse pointed at a waiting bench. "Just – y'know – take a seat?"
With mumbled thank yous, they walked to the bench and sat down, no one bothering to suppress their groans of relief. Ruby stretched her legs out and rested her head against the pillar behind her chair and closed her eyes. She hadn't realized just how tired she was until she actually got to sit down.
"That was something," Jaune said. She glanced at him and saw him looking at the crate. "Those two Pokémon were wicked strong. That Machoke defeated Eve with just one hit." He sighed. "I mean, yeah, type advantage and all that, but still…"
"They were obviously more experienced than we and our Pokémon are," said Pyrrha. "We got lucky that we have many Pokémon with controlling and status-change inflicting moves."
"That's right, Jaune," Ruby said. "We managed to wear them down because of our Pokémons' poisoning moves and stuff. Without that, we would've lost."
"'Doubting yourself and doubting your Pokémon is a straight path to failure', is what my sister Winter always told me. So, don't start doubting," Weiss said. "To quote another idol of mine: 'every defeat is a lesson learned'." Ruby chuckled at that. It was her mum's favourite thing to say. "Not that we got defeated, of course," Weiss continued, "but remember that sentence, in case you ever think a loss means you're weak."
"Yeah…yeah, you're right. Thanks."
"Of course, I am."
Ruby snickered lightly, then leaned her head back against the pillar and closed her eyes once more. She did her best to relax a bit while they were waiting for the police to arrive. It didn't take that long, however. Just after a few minutes, the door to the Pokémon Center opened with a hiss and, after she opened her eyes again to look, she saw two police officers, accompanied by what she assumed to be a couple of detectives because of their business casual wear, enter.
One of the officers pointed at the crate and, a moment later, they were greeted by them.
"You the kids playing the hero, eh?" one of the business casuals asked. "I'm Detective Carl Maron and that's my partner, Detective Perry Lave," he introduced himself and his partner as they showed their badges. Ruby took a closer look, having learned from her uncle what to look for in fakes, though they appeared to be the real deal. Detective Maron appeared amused at that but didn't say anything else and just continued with his introductions. "Those are Officers Berry and Honeydew."
Ruby showed him her trainer license. "I'm Ruby Rose."
Pyrrha followed her example as well as Weiss and Jaune. "Pyrrha Nikos."
"Jaune Arc."
"Weiss Schnee."
At Weiss's name, Ruby noticed the slightly raised eyebrows from the law enforcement.
"So, why don't you start from the beginning?" Detective Maron asked.
Weiss took on the role of the storyteller and explained what had happened in the tunnel system. It didn't take all that long for her to finish, though Ruby was a bit disappointed that there wasn't any flair to Weiss's tale. The way she told the story was efficient, which was exactly why it was boring.
"There're a lot of smells in that tunnel, though," Detective Lave said. "Since the new batch of trainers graduated, there have been twenty-three trainers who passed through the Tunnel Of The Moon. I find it odd that your Vulpix got so crazy over a couple of Fangs, not to mention all the Pokémon."
Ruby blinked and looked at her friends, who all seemed to be considering the Detectives words. He wasn't wrong, after all.
"We didn't see that many Pokémon, though," Jaune said. "There were a few Zubat and a couple of times I saw a Geodude…"
"Could be the Vulpix smelled something specific that didn't have anything to do with Fangs themselves," Detective Maron offered, looking at his partner. "We'll have to get some gear in there, see what's floating in the air. No telling what those terrorists are up to." He then looked at them. "Anywho, you kids did good. Really good. So many evolution stones have been stolen and you saved at least these."
"Thank you, Sir!" Ruby beamed at him, feeling mighty proud of herself.
"Not gonna lie...I'd like to give you each one of 'em, but they're evidence," Detective Lave said with a half-grin. "When we're done with this, though, I wouldn't mind sending one each to you. You can give me your contact information if you want. We might have more questions later as well, so it'd come in handy anyway."
"Would it be okay if I just gave you my uncle's contact?" Ruby asked. "He's Qrow Branwen, Vale's Master Investigator."
"No kidding? That'd be perfectly fine with me," Detective Lave said with a grin. "Clever girl. Your uncle taught you well."
Ruby grinned. He really did.
AN: White Fang are no Faunus. There're no Faunus in this fic.