Between A Rock and a Hard Place
The lights had blown out during the cave in but nobody could really open their eyes with all of the dust hanging thickly in the air. As it began to settle they could breathe again. The air tasted dusty and sent them into coughing fits, even if they covered their mouth and nose; there was just so much of it. Ray squinted into the darkness but the dust still made his eyes water.
"Is everyone okay?" he called out, muffled behind his hand. His chest tightened in dread; his hopes for his friends were low. High pitched screaming rang throughout the tunnel but it wasn't long before he managed to catch some groans and coughs close by. "Sound off if you're okay."
"I'm here," came a weak reply that sounded like Hilary. Max also made a shaky reply. Daichi's voice was croaky with dust and a small wail indicated Shido was there as well.
He waited for a few seconds but nobody else made a sound. "That isn't everyone," Ray said worriedly. "Where are Tyson and Kai? Mari?"
"Gee, thanks for worrying about us," Jono piped up, spluttering after speaking.
"As if we'd be worried about you!" Hilary retorted, coughing heavily afterwards. "You're responsible for this!"
"Doesn't matter," Blaise said matter-of-factly. "Looks like your friends are probably dead, buried under that rubble. Team Aqua too, hopefully. That's just less of you that we have to deal with."
"No way!" Max gasped. He grabbed a boulder in the rubble pile behind them and tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge.
Shido stared at the rubble, teary-eyed an in disbelief. It blocked the passage from floor to ceiling, making Rusturf tunnel completely impassable. "Sk-Skorupi…" she sobbed. "My brothers…"
"Don't listen to him!" Daichi coughed. "They could have made it out on the other side just like us. He's just trying to psyche us out."
"Believe what you want," Blaise said, taking out a white Pokéball and releasing Mightyena again. Jono and Julie released their Ponyta and Torkoal on either side of it.
"Tell you what," Julie giggled, "we'll help you reunite with them. How does that sound?"
"It sounds gross!" Hilary retorted, releasing Wurmple in front of her. "No matter what happens I'm not just going to let you do what you want to us."
"Count me in for that," Daichi grinned, releasing Geodude. Max released Mudkip on Wurmple's other side and the three trainers stood defiantly in front of Team Magma. Mudkip squeaked at the sight of their larger adversaries and cast a doubtful look at his companions. Wurmple eyed the fire-types worriedly but when he turned to Hilary she had a fire in her eyes. He turned to face the Mightyena in front of him more confidently.
Blaise sighed in exasperation. "Whatever. Pablo, use Fire Fang. Get that puny Wurmple out of the way and then go straight for the girl."
Hilary paled and her knees knocked as flames started to flicker out of Mightyena's jaws and it leaped for Wurmple. Jono and Julie respectively commanded their Pokémon to launch Fire Spin and Flamethrower right at Wurmple.
"N-n-not so fast," Hilary whimpered but then a thought struck her. "Use String Shot."
Wurmple spat out a jet of silk, waving his head to spray it around as large a field as possible. It twisted around the bodies of Team Magma's Pokémon. The string tangled up the Mightyena's legs and it stumbled, snapping empty air and then face-planting on the floor right in front of Wurmple. Even with the string, Ponyta and Torkoal unleashed their fire attacks. Wurmple's stubby legs were too slow to move out of the way but he didn't need to when Mudkip and Geodude appeared on either side of him. Geodude shielded his face with his arms and Mudkip put his front feet over his eyes as they both stood strong against the flames.
"That's great, Mudkip!" Max cheered. "Keep it up!"
Mudkip didn't look up from his curled position but did lift a foot to give an approximation of a thumbs-up (as much as he could without opposable thumbs).
Daichi pumped his fist in the air. "Alright! Rock Throw!"
Geodude uncurled his arms, disregarding the ring of fire still burning all over him. He pitched a large boulder at Ponyta, smacking it in the face as it pawed the ground in preparation for Stomp.
"Right, and we'll fight too," Hilary added, pointing to Wurmple's opponent. "Bug Bite on Mightyena."
While Mightyena was still pulling uselessly at the sticky restraint Wurmple leaped at it and got a good grip on its shoulder. Then he bit down. Mightyena's fur was easy to hold onto as he scrambled all over it and chewed at its flesh. Mightyena yelped and squealed, rolling over and flailing its legs to try to stop the relentless assault of painful, itchy bites.
Blaise clicked their tongue angrily. "Pablo, shake it off with Take Down."
The Mightyena at first didn't do anything except try to scratch Wurmple off but once it struggled to its feet it charged at the wall of rubble, almost bowling over Hilary in the process. It slammed against the rocks with Wurmple squished under it. The squash caused Wurmple to spit up violently as it almost passed out from the hit. Hilary swallowed back her own nausea at the brutal sight and ordered him to use Poison Sting in a voice that was strong yet shaky. He jabbed his stinger into Pablo's belly, causing it to yelp. It peeled itself away from the wall and staggered with the effect of poison spreading through its body. Wurmple fell to the ground, wounded. Hilary returned him and looked at his Pokéball gratefully.
"You did great. Just stay safe now, okay?"
On either side of the battlefield the fight continued, despite the screaming and crying getting louder. Mudkip unleashed Bide onto Torkoal after weathering a hit from Stone Edge, knocking it onto its shell. Meanwhile, the fight between Ponyta and Geodude became more and more one-sided as Ponyta struggled to stand up to his rock attacks. However, Mightyena wasn't finished yet. It stumbled away from the wall and growled at Hilary, hackles raised. She shuffled away from it fearfully, even as she picked another Pokéball from her pockets.
Suddenly someone stepped in front of her. She looked up just as Ray glanced over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Hilary. I can take over from here."
He expanded a Pokéball but Hilary grabbed his arm before he could throw it. "Wait! I've got this. Between the two of us I think I have the best shot." She pushed past him and threw her Pokéball. "Take it from here, Ralts!"
Blaise chuckled upon seeing the little creature facing down against Mightyena. "Not afraid of fairies, are we Pablo. Got this covered: use Iron Tail!"
"Double Team!" Hilary shouted.
Several copies of Ralts spread across the tunnel as Mightyena's tail glowed in shining silver. It charged at Ralts and swung its tail out to slam down on her but it cut through a mirage. The copies disappeared, revealing Ralts leaning away from an attack that had hit too close for comfort. Mightyena winced due to the poisoning.
"And while it's close, Disarming Voice!"
Ralts let out a cute squeal that was alarmingly loud and powerful enough to manifest visibly as pink soundwaves. Mightyena's ears nearly burst and it yelped in pain, hair standing up all over its body. The sound bounced on the rounded walls, bothering all of the other Pokémon and people but the other battles were already winding up. Jono returned Ponyta and Julie realised that Torkoal had had enough after it was doused by Water Gun. Blaise clicked their tongue and returned Pablo.
"Got carried away by the battle and lost focus," they grumbled. They turned to Julie. "Get out Slaking."
She grinned and exchanged Torkoal's Pokéball for Slaking's. "One Retaliate coming right up," she cackled.
However, before she could release it a supersonic cry echoed throughout the cave, so strong that they could feel it vibrate their bones and the air around them looked like it was wobbling. This was followed by another scream that rattled their bodies physically, so much that it was actually painful and sent the less sturdy humans to their knees. Mudkip wailed in pain and collapsed on the floor, unable to stand against the horrible sounds after taking so much damage in his battle. Max tried to return him but missed several times with the return beam before he finally succeeded. For some reason he had been seeing triple of Mudkip.
"Crap, this is bad," Julie chuckled uneasily. She tried to get up but stumbled and fell on top of Blaise. They shoved her off roughly but managed to smack themselves in the face in the process.
"We should get out of here!" Jono screamed as a Zubat suddenly dived on him.
They swarmed into the air above them and whirled around and around, some of them crashing into the rubble barrier and then screeching some more. Crawling out of openings in the side of the tunnel and running down the path were crying Whismur looking for a way out, scared and confused by what had befallen their tunnel. Without Pablo to dig them out, Team Magma were reduced to crawling away as fast as they could with Zubats nipping them aggressively and Whismur bumping into them as they ran around.
"I hate to say this," Max yelled, trying to be heard over the din, "but I think we should follow their lead."
"No!" Shido screamed back. "What about Skorupi and my brothers?"
"Not to mention Tyson, Kai and Mari," Hilary added.
"But we can't do anything with all this ruckus!" Daichi argued.
"Maybe, but we'll barely get out at this rate too," Ray pointed out, nearly falling on his face when a Zubat crashed into the back of his head and then fluttered off confusedly. "Unless we calm them down somehow. Any ideas?"
The group went quiet while their ears rang from the noise. While they all internally deliberated the cacophony slowly took its toll on any Pokémon still out of their balls. Finally, Hilary shook her head.
"I don't think I have anything that could help," she said. She turned to Ralts, "unless we knock them out. Ralts, Disarming Voice!"
Ralts looked back at her, trying to understand the command. When she thought she did she faced the crowd of wild Pokémon and let out her squeal. However, it didn't affect the Whismur at all and the Zubats barely took any damage. The closest individuals tried to focus their swoops on Ralts but mostly crashed into each other. A couple of them managed to get low enough to land a poison-soaked nip that had her falling to her knees.
"It'll take forever to knock them out one by one," Daichi complained. He punched the air in front him. "Geodude, use Mag-"
In a split-second Ray leaped from the other side of the tunnel and tackled Daichi to the ground, holding a hand over his mouth. "Do not use that move!"
Daichi wriggled out of his gag. "Then what else can we do?"
"Maybe we can try to calm them down some other way," Max said, trying to reach for his other Pokéball with Wingull in it but his hand kept going to the wrong place. And anyway, he wasn't sure why he was reaching for it – the Zubats' Supersonic had already made everyone confused. "If Tyson were here Shroomish could paralyse them with Stun Spore."
"Ray, doesn't Skitty know Sing?" Shido asked. "It might not work on the Whismur but it'll put the Zubats to sleep."
"He doesn't know that yet," Ray answered.
Daichi blinked in realisation. "Sleep? I know a way to do that! Ray, lemme go!"
He squirmed until he wrenched himself out of Ray's hold and threw another Pokémon onto the field. Slakoth lay on the ground looking lazily content for a few seconds but then his expression morphed to a troubled one in a delayed reaction to the screaming around them.
"Slakoth, use Yawn!"
Slakoth just lay there frowning for a moment but then lifted his head, conceding to his trainer's order. He yawned widely and blew out a puff of air that astonished some of the nearby Whismurs and Zubats into pausing. They yawned back. The cave started to gradually calm down as the yawns passed around the cave and Slakoth dished out more Yawns like he was blowing kisses. One by one the Whismurs either fell over or curled up on the ground to sleep while the Zubats attached themselves to the ceiling to roost or dropped out of the air. The uproars died down and the tunnel fell to dead silence. Everyone collapsed wherever they sat or stood, heavy with relief and with their ears ringing.
"Thank goodness for Slakoth," Ray said, voice hoarse from yelling over the noise. He didn't expect an answer since he could barely hear himself but he looked up anyway to check on the rest of the group. They were all lying still, almost as exhausted as their Pokémon from the screaming attacks and Ray conceded that they'd need their rest. His head still felt like it was full of fuzz after the Supersonics, he didn't even have any idea how long they'd all been lying there—his only frame of reference was that Team Magma was long gone—but some clarity was cutting through.
He struggled to his feet and turned to the rubble. With all of the lights in this part of the tunnel blown out by the cave in it was hard to judge it but there had to be a way to knock it down or at the very least make a large enough opening to squeeze through to the other side. In that case, his best bet was at the top of the rubble. Between the dizziness and the darkness, it was difficult to scale the rocks but it wasn't too steep for him to handle. Once he was at the top, he pushed on the rocks between the ceiling and rubble. Most of them were solid and wouldn't budge but there were a few small ones that rolled away with quiet clatters and a small sheet of dust.
Ray scaled the rubble sideways, trying to find a better point of weakness. He slid his hands over the rocks to search and eventually came across a small hole. Grinning with the hope that this would be exactly what he was looking for, he reached into it but he didn't even reach the back before he got a stinging bite and he drew his hand back with a cry. A small creature flew out with it. He nearly lost balance on the wall but with a firm grip and good footing he managed not to fall and turned around to face what he'd awoken.
He could only barely see fluttering wings in front of him but when it screeched at him he realised that he'd just disturbed one of the Zubats that had fallen asleep around them. Ray looked down at his bitten hand but couldn't assess how bad it was in the dark. The Zubat shrieked at him again and swooped. He rolled out of the way and it pulled up quickly when it was clear that it wasn't going to hit its mark. Ray instinctively reached for Grovyle but then paused. These Zubats were poisonous and they flew. It shrieked, so before it could decide to swoop at him again he reached for a different Pokéball.
Taillow appeared in mid-air and stretched his wings out when he realised that there was no ground beneath him. His head swivelled as he looked around his surroundings, noting that there was no sky or any openings to the outside in this dark place. In front of him a Zubat squealed Supersonic but it was so off target that the sound barely ruffled his feathers. Behind him, Ray just quietly hoped that he wouldn't regret this.
The Zubat fluttered from side-to-side aggressively. Ray ordered Taillow to use Quick Attack. Taillow barrelled into the Zubat so fast that it went tumbling through the air but he didn't stop there. He kept on flying towards the exit.
"Hey!" Ray shouted, scrambling down the rubble to run after him. "Where are you going?!"
Zubat quickly recovered and took off after the Taillow that had attacked it. It screamed another Supersonic that captured Taillow in its waves. Taillow's vision went strange – the walls appeared to be moving and the ceiling seemed to alternate between being closer or further. In a bout of confusion, Taillow veered up sharply and smacked into the ceiling. He fell to the ground, head smarting from the collision. Zubat saw the opportunity to dive on him, fangs bared.
It was knocked off course by a small rock and it squeaked indignantly. Taillow and Zubat both turned to the direction it came from. They'd flown out of complete darkness and under the dim tunnel lights that were still operational Taillow saw Ray coming towards them with another rock in his hand. He pitched it at the Zubat again but this time it was focused on him and it whirled out of the way of the rock's trajectory.
"Damn, that creature's fast," Ray muttered. The human and the Pokémon stared each other down. Although it didn't have eyes Ray swore he could see the Zubat calculating as it considered him.
Suddenly Zubat charged at him. Ray dodged it to the left but at the last minute Zubat was still able to adjust, sinking its fangs into his arm and sucking hard. Ray cried out and tried to smack it off but it was stuck fast and still draining blood. A silver flash rushed past so close that he felt the wind it generated. It yanked Zubat's fangs off him. He examined his wound worriedly – two red dots around which his flesh was starting to bruise – before he looked up. Taillow hovered near the roof of the tunnel, facing Zubat again and Zubat turned its full attention towards him.
Ray and Taillow looked at each other, Ray staring at him in surprise. But the moment was cut short by Zubat flying in and sinking its fangs into Taillow's wing. He flapped hard and squawked in panic.
"Taillow, use Wing Attack!" Ray shouted, cutting through the Pokémon's panic with his voice. Taillow's wings shone silvery and he dived low to the floor, zipping across it to drag Zubat along the ground. It fell off and rolled in the dirt before struggling back into the air. Taillow turned around to face it again instead of running away, to Ray's surprise. "Okay, before it gets its wits back, use Quick Attack!"
Taillow listened, tackling Zubat so fast it was over in a blink. Ray grinned giddily in even greater surprise. He even listened when Ray commanded him to use Focus Energy to charge up for the next Quick Attack, which knocked Zubat out of the air. It landed on its belly and flailed its wings uselessly, having trouble getting back up. Ray's uninjured hand went straight to his pockets to fish for an empty Pokéball. The Zubats had seemed like the type of creature to be powerful in flocks and individually worthless but this one appeared to be a cut above the others. He could make something of it if he trained it well. The Pokéball sucked Zubat in before it could get off the ground again. It took three slow, tense wiggles before the lock on the ball clicked and it went still.
Ray sighed heavily and plonked on the floor as Taillow landed beside him, straightening his feathers. Ray looked down at him and the little bird stared back.
"That was a good battle," he told Taillow sincerely, albeit with a lopsided quirk of his lips. "Did you get worried when it attacked me? That's oddly sweet of you."
Taillow's shoulders rose and its eyes widened in alarm but it quickly turned away with a deliberately surly expression. Ray giggled at the bashfulness. Taillow sure could surprise him; this was far too unexpectedly cute. However, Taillow turned around, jumped off the ground and took flight, heading towards the exit at Route 116.
"Hey! Come back here!" Ray yelled, hastily returning Taillow before he flew too far away. He glared at the Quick Ball sourly before he put it away. And here he was thinking that Taillow could be cute. Evidently he still had a long way to go before he could crack that Pokémon, if only he knew where he should start.
He got up to collect his Pokéball, smiling with a warm satisfaction that put his problems with Taillow to the back of his mind for now. It was almost surreal that he'd already caught his fourth party member when he'd barely gotten to know his Skitty yet. Bringing them both up to scratch at the same time would be a challenge, especially with Taillow in the mix. Ray groaned at the thought.
"Please be a good Pokémon," he prayed, wondering if Zubat could understand him or even hear him in the Pokéball.
"Ray!"
He heard the call and looked to the dark end of the tunnel. Daichi ran towards him from out of the gloom having apparently recovered from being struck by Supersonic earlier. He skidded to a halt and grabbed Ray's wrist, urging him to get back on his feet.
"You gotta come quick! Something's happening… huh?" Daichi looked more carefully at the limb he was yanking on with the puncture wounds on Ray's hand and upper arm visible under the working lights. "What happened to you?"
"I got bitten," Ray replied with a wince. The wounds stung but he wasn't sure if he'd been poisoned. Probably not by the first bite (he would have felt it by now) but perhaps the second.
"What!? Did a Zubat do that?" Daichi asked. Ray shushed him, warier now of the sound-sensitive Pokémon in the area. He nodded. Daichi glanced at the Pokéball in Ray's other hand and his eyes lit up. "Did you catch it? Show me!"
"Daichi! Be quiet!" Ray hissed, standing up properly. "It's weak after the fight so let it rest. I can show you after we figure out how we're getting out of here and getting through to the others."
"If they're even alive," he added grimly in his head.
"Oh, right!" Daichi said as if he'd just been reminded. "That's what you have to come and see. And we need to get you fixed up but come on! We think the others might be okay."
"Really?" Ray said hopefully. He put Zubat away and followed Daichi back down the tunnel. Could the rest of the group really be okay? The pessimistic thought crossed his mind that whatever was happening could have been caused by Team Aqua but he couldn't give up hope. And even if it was the case, he still had Grovyle in fighting fit condition. If his friends weren't alright, Team Aqua would pay.
A/N: Where I am, Christmas has technically been over for a couple of hours now. But for those of you who are still on December 25th, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This is my humble gift to you - this chapter that you have waited a much longer time than I intended you to wait for. As for the next chapter? Well, as they say: another side, another story.