A/N: Hello :) I didn't forget about this story. I will be honest. I was burnt out from writing, so I took a small break. I should be back to regular (or irregular) updates. I know some people were asking what Misty was up to, and I hope this explains a few things. Let's see if you get some of the references in this chapter. Even if you don't, I will reveal them next chapter. Hope you enjoy :)
Pokemon Journey: Indigo League
Chapter 18: Underground Path
Omanyte watches in awe, as Umbreon comes walking towards him. This is the first time he has seen Umbreon since she evolved. Umbreon grins at him, lowering herself on the ground, so Omanyte can climb up on her back. Soon, they are walking around the campsite. Omanyte grins as he began tickling her, causing her to laugh.
Ava watches from the sidelines with a huge grin on her face, Growlithe beside her. She picks up a ball and rolling it forward. Growlithe barks excitedly, wagging his tail, chasing the ball.
Beside her, Brandon is busy cooking supper, much to everyone's dismay. But as he pointed out, it's great practice. And good news, he hasn't burnt anything lately. So yay, progress. Tonight, under the moonlight of Route 9, Brandon is making soup and sandwiches. With everything that happened lately, he figures they can use some downtime. By his calculation, they should be arriving at Cerulean City by mid-morning. They both decided that it will be a quick stock up stop before heading south towards Vermillion City.
Brandon looks up towards his team. He's curious about how they will react to Wartortle. He watches as Tangela looks up at Wartortle and nods before returning to the jumping back and forth technique. Nidoran, who already saw Wartortle, just gave him a nod, before hitting a tree truck, working on her double kick. Joltik, the newest member, is simply everywhere in the camp. Joltik has been a very helpful Pokemon since joining the team. He's quick to pinch in to help set up their tents, or to help cook. His teammates don't seem to mind, though Nidoran did give him a glare when he tried to help her train.
Brandon couldn't help but notice the different styles between his team. Tangela seems to be more of an agile fighter, Wartortle is more of a balanced fighter and Nidoran is more of a brawler than anything. Joltik is the only one he doesn't really know right now, which is something he wants to change.
He quickly stirred the soup before making some turkey sandwiches. Joltik helping by setting up the seating arrangements. Finally, he spoons out 2 bowls of soup and places the sandwiches on plates.
"Food's ready," Brandon calls out.
Ava sits down, making a small grimace face, looking at the ... soup in front of her. She takes her spoon and makes circles in it, eyeing it. She finally takes a small spoonful. "Not entirely bad. We should sign you up for cooking lessons."
"Practise makes perfect right?" Brandon asks, grinning. He took a sandwich and begins to eat it.
"You do know your practice food is what we have to eat right?" Ava grins at him. Beside her, all the Pokemon are nodding, agreeing with her.
"Well then, you can cook from now on," Brandon huffs dramatically.
"Whatever," Ava says, rolling her eyes, taking another bite. "So what's the plan?"
"We will be in Cerulean City tomorrow," Brandon replies, finishing his sandwich. "A quick stop and then off to Vermilion City."
"I like that plan," Ava says. "So we have three weeks until the arrival of the S.S. Anne. What are your plans for that?"
"Not too sure," Brandon answers truthfully. "Guess get in some training and probably challenge the gym."
"We can decide that when we are there," Ava remarks. She gets up and begins to clean up. "Come on. The quicker we clean up, the quicker we can go to sleep. Not sure about you, but I'm still spent from the last couple of days."
"Good idea," Brandon says, yawning,
He gets up, grabs their dishes and helps Ava clean up the campsite before crawling into his tent. He keeps his team out, allowing them to sleep around his sleeping bag. He stares up at the tent's roof, his gym battle flashing through his mind. He realizes he was lucky that he won it. Replaying the match in his mind, he had complete control at the beginning of the match but he took his foot off the pedal. He can't do that, especially against a gym leader. He needs to do better, train better if he wants to make the league. He sees the improvement already but he still has a long way to go. With that in mind, he closes his eyes, sleep overcoming him.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Ava says, bowing, taking her Pokeballs.
"Anytime. Enjoy the nice weather," Nurse Joy replies with a smile, watching Ava leave the Pokemon Centre.
Ava rejoins Brandon outside in the sun, soaking up the rays. They are standing in Cerulean City, ready to walk towards Vermilion City for Brandon's next gym battle, and the S.S. Anne cruise.
"Ready to head out?" Brandon asks. He was standing in a white t-shirt with blue shorts.
"Ready. Let's hit the road," Ava replies. She takes off her sweatshirt and putting it in her bag. Underneath it, she wore a red t-shirt with blue jeans.
"Brandon?" a voice asks, causing Brandon and Ava to look behind them. Brandon smiles at the voice.
"Hey Saul," Brandon greets the Aloha native. "Saul, this is my friend Ava. Ava, this is Saul, the person I met in Pewter City."
"Nice to meet you, Ava," Saul says with a wave.
"Likewise," Ava replies with a smile.
"How's the surfing going?" Brandon asks.
"So far, so good. I found a nice little place," Saul replies. "It was Misty who recommended it."
"Surfing?" Ava asks, looking between Saul and Brandon.
"Yeah. I come from the Aloha Region," Saul explains. "I'm here in Kanto to help make Mantine Surfing a thing here. Misty has been really helpful, trying to organize events or showing me where good surfing spots are."
"That's awesome," Brandon replies with a smile. "So are you staying in Cerulean City then?"
"Actually, no. I'm on my way down to Vermilion City," Saul says, pulling out a ticket. "Misty gave me a ticket for an S.S. Anne. Said it would help broaden my knowledge on Kanto."
"No way," Brandon replies excitedly, pulling out his ticket. "Ava and I are heading there as well. This will be awesome."
"Since we are going to the same place, want to travel with us?" Ava asks, inviting Saul. She realizes the two can talk for a while, and she would rather get going.
"If it's not too much trouble, sure," Saul replies.
"No trouble at all," Brandon says, smiling widely. He leads the way out of Cerulean City and into the grassy route 6. "So Misty recommended you to take the cruise?"
"Yeah," Saul replies. "She said she took it with her friends a while back. She told me it was an interesting trip though she never went into specifics."
"This will be my first cruise," Brandon says. They are walking on a dirt path.
"I've been on boats before, but never a cruise," Saul says. He looks over at Ava. "What about you?"
"Same though there is one that travels between Kanto and Johto," Ava replies, following her two traveling partners. "One of these days, I would love to take it."
"Where are you from?" Saul asks her.
"Big Town, in the Johto Region," Ava replies.
"That's pretty cool," Saul says with a grin. "Both you and I are visitors of Kanto, exploring the region."
"That's one way of looking at it," Ava replies with a smile. They came to a stop, looking at a sign. Reading it (Saffron City straight ahead, Underground Path to the right), Ava frowns, looking at Brandon. "What is the Underground Path?"
"No idea," Brandon answers her, shrugging.
"If you never been, I would suggest you visit it," a voice calls out behind them. Turning around, they see Colin and Chloe walking towards them. "Hey, Ava and Brandon. Great job on your win Brandon. And hello. I'm Chloe, Brandon's rival."
"Saul," Saul says with a kind smile.
"Hey there Saul," the lad says. "I'm Colin. You look familiar. Were you in Pewter City a while back?"
"I was," Saul says, nodding his head.
"Thought so," Colin says. He turns towards Ava and Brandon. "I can tell you what the Underground Path is, but I would rather show it. Come on."
Colin lead the way where the arrow was pointing towards and soon, they spot a simple brown building. With a grin, Colin opens the door, motioning for the others to follow him. Curious, they step into the cool building. The inside of the building had a sign that read "Underground Path" with a staircase that led downstairs. Beside the staircase was a glass elevator, leading downwards. Colin moves forward, presses the down button, and soon the doors open. Stepping inside, the party looks out the window, as the cart begins its descent. At first, there was nothing to see except stone before they all gasp in wonder.
The roof opens into a wide-open space. Located in the middle of the place, a single stone Milotic Statue with water coming out of its mouth stands tall. The water then flows down into a small pond with a bunch of water Pokemon lazily floating in the water. All around the fountain are shops and houses that are built into the copper walls with stone walkways taking people from place to place. Speaking of people, this place is packed. Trainers of all kinds are seeing walking down the road with laughter and talking filling the air.
"Welcome to the Underground Path," Colin says with a grin. They step out of the elevator.
"This place is awesome," Saul says.
"Thank you," Misty says, stepping towards them. "Nice to see you guys again."
"Wait. You built this?" Brandon asks, shocked.
"I had help, but yeah. This was my idea," Misty explains. She began walking towards the fountain. "Back when Team Rocket took over Saffron City, people were forced to take an alternate route."
"Let me guess," Ava says. "It was this one."
"Correct," Misty nods at her. "People were complaining about how bad this route was. When I travelled around Kanto, my friends and I never been down here, so I didn't realize how bad it was until I decided to check it out."
Misty pauses, opening the door to Masuda Noodle Shop and lead them inside to a table. Their waiter came over and took their orders before Misty continued. "So I decided to make some changes. First, I was able to set up two Pokemon Centres at either entrance. After that, with the help of Bruno, we were able to make the path safer but still leave the foundation for wild Pokemon to roam. Before we knew it, it grew into this."
"This isn't the only one," Colin pipes up.
"Correct, though I don't have anything to do with that one," Misty says.
"To think, if we didn't run into Colin and Chloe, we would have missed this," Brandon says.
"Actually, I would have missed it as well," Chloe chuckles. "I had no idea this existed."
"That's the way we want it," Misty explains. "For the past ten years, we have kept this path for trainers only."
"Wait. So all these people are trainers?" Ava asks, surprised.
"That's correct," Misty replies with a smile. "This gives trainers a safe place to battle and train. Which reminds me, you five might be interested in an upcoming tournament."
"Here?" Brandon asks, perking up.
"Starts tomorrow, and runs for the next five days," Misty nods her head. "Once we are done here, I can lead you to the Battle Cave."
"You said there is another Underground Path?" Saul asks, taking a drink of water.
"Right. My friends Sabrina and Erika maintain that one," Misty replies, as a bowl of noodles are placed in front of her. "The two has different events."
"These are great noodles," Chloe exclaims in delight.
"I would hope so," Misty chuckles. "We only pay top dollar for the best."
"So what other things are there to do here?" Ava asks.
"You guys are in luck. We have a live performance tonight by my good friend Jay," Misty tells her. "He's famous around the Pokemon World."
"Oh man, I love him," Chloe shrieks before clapping her hand to her mouth, her cheeks turning red. The others chuckle around the table. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Misty tells her. "You should hear the place when he begins. The entire audience sings along."
"What else is there to do?" Ava asks, finishing her bowl.
"As you might have noticed, there are plenty of shops around here," Misty explains. "They range from simple items like potions to move tutors."
"What kind of move tutors?" Brandon asks, mentally going through his team.
"They change every day," Misty replies. "So I can't really answer that right now."
"Fair enough," Brandon replies, finishing his bowl. "That was great."
"I agree," Ava says, pushing her bowl away from her.
"So about this tournament," Chloe says, looking at Misty.
"Right," Misty says, standing up. She places money on the table before leading them out and towards the Battle Cave. "Each week, there is a week-long tournament of different types. This week will be a tag battle tournament."
"Tag battle?" Colin asks, confused.
"It's where you team up with someone and you battle together," Ava explains.
"Right," Misty nods her head. "Ah. Here we are."
Misty leads them into a literal cave that was built specifically for battles. Along the walls are lights, illuminating the place. In the middle is a standard rock battlefield, with the stands around the outside. It looked almost like a smaller version of an Indigo League stadium.
"Hey Justin," Misty greets a long black-haired man. The man wore a Psyduck t-shirt.
"Hi Misty," he says, waving to her. He nods to the group behind her. "New trainers?"
"Yep," Misty nods. She turns towards the group. "I will see you guys tonight. I have a few things I need to do. Justin here will help you."
"Welcome to the Battle Cave," Justin says with a warm smile. "This week is the Tag Battle Tournament. Surprisingly, this is one of our most popular tournaments. Currently, we have 59 trainers signed up. If all of you sign up, we can close the sign-ups and start tomorrow."
"I'm game," Brandon says, stepping up and registering.
"Same," Chloe says, following suit.
"This will be fun," Saul says, stepping forward. "This will be my first Kanto Tournament."
"You will be fine," Ava remarks, signing up.
"You got this," Colin steps forward.
"Great, thank you," Justin says, officially closing the sign-ups. "Tonight, during the concert, the pairs will be revealed. Until then, go enjoy the Underground Path!"
Brandon leads them out of the Cave, looking very lost. "So, eh, where too?"
"Come on," Colin says, taking the lead. "First, we get rooms at the Pokemon Centre."
"Right," Brandon mutters, following Colin. They weave through the crowd as they finally get to the Pokemon Centre. Colin leads them inside and towards a free receptionist. Stepping inside the building, it felt like a castle the interior was all stone.
"Welcome," the lady smiles at them. "Looking for rooms?"
"Yes please," Colin nods.
"We have two rooms left," she replies, looking at the PC.
"You guys mind sharing?" Colin asks Saul and Brandon.
"Not at all," Brandon replies.
"Sounds like fun," Saul responds.
"You want to share a room?" Chloe asks Ava.
"Sure," Ava nods her head.
"Perfect. Here are your room keys," the receptionist says, handing them each a key. "The boys will be in room 302 and the girls in 307. Take the stairs, or the elevator to the third floor and turn right."
"Thank you," the five trainers say in unison before walking up the stairs.
The steps themselves are made of stone with torches alongside the walls, lighting the way as the party walks upstairs. They step onto the third floor. Soon, they find their rooms. Opening the door, the room was completely cobbled with an old-fashioned-looking chandelier hanging on the ceiling. There is a PC and a TV in the corner with two sets of bunk beds along the wall. There is a door, that presumably leads to the bathroom.
Taking off their bags and placing them on a bed, the three guys decide to freshen up before heading back down to the trainer's lounge to wait for the ladies. Soon, all five trainers are sitting in the lounge, relaxing.
"Can't believe Jay is playing here tonight," Chloe exclaims excitedly.
"I know," Colin responds. "As Misty said, he's famous around the Pokemon World."
"I heard he plays at the Indigo League opening ceremony," Chloe says.
"We got a few hours to kill. What do you guys want to do?" Ava asks.
"Relax," Saul says, leaning his head against his chair. "Don't know about you guys, but I'm pooped out."
"Might as well, since it sounds like it will be a long week," Colin says, also leaning his head back. He closes his eyes. "Enjoy any downtime you get."
"Sounds good to us," Ava says, also leaning her head back. Soon all five trainers have their eyes closed, resting for the week.
Team Listings:
Brandon Adams:
Wartortle - Male, Torrent ability. Knows Water Pulse, tackle, Withdraw, Rapid Spin
Tangela - Male, Leaf Guard ability. Knows Bind, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Growth
Nidoran – Female – Poison Point ability. Knows Growl, Poison Sting, Double Kick
Joltik – Male, unknown ability. Knows: Shockwave
Ava Mcarthur:
Umbreon - Female. Synchronize ability. Knows Snarl , Quick Attack, Double Kick,
Omanyte - Male. Weak Armor ability. Knows: Withdraw, Constrict
Growlithe – Female. Flash Fire. Knows: Ember.