Turns out that while close, the cave they entered was not a vein that entered into the main Terminus Cave, so that means Team Flare got away. There wasn't even any Pokemon. Before saying goodbye to his new friends, Sawyer told them where to look out for the main entrance of Terminus Cave which was where he found it, since the two were going in opposite directions. After taking a bit of a morning nap due to waking up in the middle of the night, he and them split ways. After another couple of days, they eventually did find the real Terminus Cave, which appeared to be an abandoned mining shaft. Everyone got onto either Charizard, Altaria or Aerodactyle and flew down to the ground below the wooden structures due to looking like they could collapse from five people standing on them. Those three Pokemon were then swapped for Greninja, Espeon, Gardevoir and Florges and Gengar. Upon entering the cave, they found it was beautiful inside with glowing moss, giving the cave a bright blue glow to it in the dark.
"Wow, it's just like Sawyer said." Serena marveled the atmosphere. "Abandoned by humans, it's now home to Pokemon if one looks deep enough."
"So cool." Monique was rather enjoying the sights of a Pokemon, like an Ariados clinging to a stalactite, a Shuckle climbing onto a rock and a Lairon eating another rock. Jumping away from the group before Shauna could stop it, Squishy went and started going down a mine shaft.
"Squishy, wait for us!" Shauna tried telling it as they followed the green thing. "Come on, wait please?!"
"How are a bunch of bunch of teenagers having trouble keeping up with something the size of a small sandwich?!" Ash questioned incredulously.
"I don't know, just don't lose-Squishy!" They eventually stopped when they saw Squishy stop on a rock. "Were you trying to find something?"
"Perhaps it's too dark for Squishy to see." Trevor pondered.
"Good point." Ash agreed. "Charizard, come out." Letting his shiny Kanto fire starter out, the group could see the caves much more clearly thanks to his tail as they followed Squishy down certain paths, some of which were difficult.
"Why couldn't Squishy have lead us down an easier path?" Trevor moaned as they kept going until they found what appeared to be an empty chamber.
"I wonder how deep into this cave we're going is?" Monique questioned. "Feels like we've been going down below the surface for a long time." This particular cavernous room had a chasm in the center, which Squishy went to and started to jump down between narrow ledges.
"Squishy, I'm not sure we can follow that deeply!" Shauna tried telling her companion but it wasn't listening. Serena pinched her nose.
"Geez. Espeon, use Psychic to help us all down."
"Same for you Gardevoir." Shauna told her fairy/psychic type. Both Pokemon nodded as almost everyone was covered in a blue glow and were levitated down the chasm, Greninja and Charizard not needing it due to just jumping in between the chasm walls easily and flying. Plus Greninja's immune to psychic moves, even if for utility reasons. With their combined psychic power, Espeon and Gardevoir even forced the walls apart that came within a six feet diameter in between the group, carving their way down with ease. Reaching to the bottom, the group were able to find Squishy heading to a green lit lake in the cave.
"Wow, this is so beautiful." Shauna loved the glow and color of the lake.
"Certainly a phenomena of nature." Trevor agreed with a smile.
"I wonder if this is Squishy's home?" Monique wondered out loud. Going over to the ledge, Squishy then jumped into the lake, swimming around in the green water. It then trilled as it started to glow bright with energy. Soon, it even disappeared.
"Squishy?! Where are you?!" Now Shauna was really starting to panic. "Gardevoir, can you detect Squishy with your empathy powers?!" Yet despite her plea, the Embrace Pokemon only shook her head with a frown.
"Maybe Squishy is just gone." Serena said, believing that if an empath can't find it, then it must not be here. Suddenly, a chill wind with snow and an Ice Beam shot at them and proceeded to splash some of the water at them before freezing into ice, forcing the teens to step back in fright.
"What was that?!" Trevor gasped.
"Well, you kids are certainly in a lot of trouble."
"And with the two of us together, make it double." Looking towards the emotionless, cold voices, the teens spotted Asnix and Exdiox together with a Mega Abomnasnow and Mega Alakazam.
"You again?!" Ash growled.
"You just can't stay out of our business, can you? You may have been able to beat each of us-" Asnix said before her partner continued,
"-but together we're truly unbeatable."
"Charizard/Espeon/Gardevoir/Florges/Gengar, surpass evolution! Mega Evolve!" In sequence, each of the teen's Pokemon evolved into their Mega Forms, and Charizard became its X transformation.
"Alakazam, Shadow Ball against Gengar!" Exdiox went first as he tried to one shot the ghost type, but they were ready this time.
"Light Screen! Serena ordered.
"Also use Grassy Terrain!" Trevor told his Florges. The quickened Pokemon were able to both put up a light yellow barrier and fill the cave with mystical green energy before the opposing attack connected with the pink Shadow Pokemon, the explosion not doing too much damage as it was blown back with a frown.
"Abomasnow, Blizzard!"
"Charizard, Fire Blast!" Firing a 火 kanji, it burned right through the Blizzard and exploded in a fury of flame as Abomasnow was taken down, smashing into a wall. Asnix braced herself from the shock wave before growling,
"What good of a Mega Evolution are you?! Return! Go, Glaceon! Mega Evolve!"
"Alakazam, use Psychic on Charizard!"
"Help Charizard with Psychic!" Serena and Shauna aided. With their glowing eyes, Alakazam was both captured in Espeon's psychic energy, distracting some of its focus to trying to harm Charizard while the Flame Pokemon was surrounded by another blue layer of energy by Gardevoir which helped him as well.
"Dragon Claw on Alakazam!" Moving forward instead of any other direction with green aura covering his claws, he managed to land a strike against the Psi Pokemon. Due to its atrocious physical defense, the Dragon Claw smashed right into the wall behind it, reverting back to normal. What especially doesn't help that Asnix's Glaceon was also knocked out.
"Fine. Metagross, go!"
"Go, Starmie!" Once their two Pokemon were out, they began to make their next move. "Surpass Evolution! Mega Evolve!"
"Gengar, use Thunderbolt!" Monique yelled.
"Florges, use Moonblast!" While Florges made a star appear to trail across above them, the shiny pink ghost type shot a blast of lightning which hit the female agent's evolving Starmie, thus negating its Mega Form, along with Moonblast hitting Exdiox's steel/psychic type. However, Metagross was able to grow four more legs and looked much more menacing.
"Meteor Mash!" Zooming in, the Iron Leg Pokemon rammed into Gardevoir before she could react, and she screamed as she fell into the water, and transformed back into its normal form.
"Gardevoir!" Shauna cried out in worry.
"Fire Blast!" Latching himself onto the Iron Leg Pokemon, he let fire build in his mouth.
"Get it off with Hammer Arm!
"Psychic!"
"Shadow Ball!" While Espeon kept Metagross from moving too much and Gengar distracted the pseudo-legendary with an attack to the face, Charizard finalized it with a blast into the center of the top of its head, creating a fiery explosion. The Flame Pokemon used the point blank explosion to float off while Metagross de-evolved back to normal and crashed to the ground, defeated.
"They're handing us our butts! Stop screwing around Exdiox!"
"How can they beat my Metagross in one move?! Return!" Once he did, the two agents got out every remaining pokeball they had.
"Go!" In order, a Weavile, Mamoswine, Glalie, Espeon, Gardevoir and Gallade were summoned.
"We'll show you that we are not to be trifled with!" Asnix growled with seething frustration. "All of you, attack at once!" However, Squishy sensed the kind of threat they were going for, and let itself appear in between, glowing green all the while as it trilled, the cry echoing through the caves. Similar creatures by the dozens started to appear out of the blue, all having used invisibility.
"So many cells!" Exdiox exclaimed. With a single burst that sent a wave, all the cells zoomed towards Squishy, which soon went from a blob like thing to a black and green canine. "Wait, that's the same thing that hurt my Alakazam back then!" With a deep growl, it used Land's Wrath to cause the earth around it to explode with green power, cracking and bursting that all six of the opposing Pokemon were sent flying into the back wall, not even getting the chance to Mega Evolve. The two Flare members were shocked to see such power. Climbing up over the rocks that were upturned, Shauna saw the powered up dog dash away deep into the caves.
"Squishy!" Shauna yelled after it, having returned her fainted Pokemon back to her ball. Asnix and Exdiox managed to return all their Pokemon.
"Capture failed. We'll have to retreat." The woman said as she and her partner fled into one of the mine shafts.
"Charizard, return." Ash said to his fire starter. "Greninja, let's go find Squishy."
"I'm coming too." Serena proclaimed. "Trevor, stay here with Shauna. Monique, we'll need you to come with us."
"Okay!" The hex maniac complied as the three tried to follow the augmented Squishy. As said Squishy escaped the caves, the creature soon split apart so that it was just the one cell. It became invisible for its own protection. Back inside the caves, the three returned to Shauna and Trevor.
"Did you find Squishy?"
"The caves split off into more than three paths." Monique sighed. "We've lost it."
"We need to find Squishy!"
"Don't worry, we'll find it." Ash assured Shauna. "First, let's get out of this cave."
A/N: Admittedly not my best chapter. But what can you do? At least things will keep rising from here on out.