Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Pokémon or the story of Dinosaur, only how the story goes. The characters of Pokémon belongs to its creators and the story of Dinosaur belongs to Disney. The only thing that I do own are the OC's of the story. I apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: I know that Megan joining them is a bit different than how the story normally goes, but I thought that it was a nice chance of pace.

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Chapter Nineteen: Dark Times

It had been some hours since Drudd had also sought shelter from the storm. The even larger Pokémon herd had found refuge in quite a large cavern. While Drudd and a few others stayed awake while the others took the chance to rest after having to leave the oasis. Drudd watched over the Pokémon from a point to where he could see them all and glanced over to where Dragara and the Axew twins were sleeping. Dragara was laying against the wall with the two young Pokémon against her sides and her wings draped over them. The Druddigon felt a little bad for making his sister unhappy, but he didn't like how the Charizard was trying to undermine his authority.

The sounds of the rain starting to slow down made him look to the entrance of the cave to see that the storm was passing. He rose from his spot and let loose a roar that alerted the entire Pokémon herd. They all looked up to the Druddigon as he came down from his spot and made for the entrance of the cave. Behind him, Drudd slowed a bit when he could hear a few groans from the other Pokémon. He gave an annoyed snort as he continued walking out of the cave. From her spot, Dragara saw her adopted brother and other Pokémon starting to leave the cave. Gently she woke up the Axew twins and ushered them after the others. As they were among the last of the herd to leave the cave, Dragara glanced back the way they came and wondered if Blitz and his friends and family and Tar were doing okay.

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Speaking of Blitz, he, Cynthia and Megan had left the cave entrance and what had happened behind them as they rejoined the others. The rest of the group looked between themselves and the trio before they too started walking again through the dimly lit tunnels. Every now and again, Blitz would let loose a small blast of flame from his mouth and it would light up the tunnel a bit for a moment. From her spot, Bonnie asked, "How long do you think this cave is?"

"I'm sure that there's an exit to this." Megan said to keep everyone's hopes up. Donna agreed with a snort, "I sure do hope so. I'm ready for this trip to be over with."

"I can't help but agree with you on that one." Aurora said as they kept walking through the darkness. Blitz was silent while the others conversed with each other. His eyes were focused on what was ahead of him, but his mind wondered back to Tar's last moments and final words. From her spot up on Donna's back, Cynthia could tell that he was feeling guilty about what had happened during Tar's final battle. She leaned her head towards him and said, "Blitz. Look at me."

The Charizard looked to the Raichu and she told him, "Tar's death weighs heavily on us all, but I know that he wouldn't want you to blame yourself for what he chose to do."

"I know." Blitz nodded. He scrunched his eyes when he said, "I just wish that-"

"We all do." Megan cut in, having heard the conversation by standing not too far from them. Megan came a little closer and said, "You're not the only one whose wishing that they could have done something more to save Tar.

"Not to mention all the others that are gone because of those monsters." Megan bitterly remembered what had happened at the oasis. She solemnly remember Kobra's final words to her and the kiss when she said, "We all wish that the outcome of things could be different."

The group didn't say anything more as they continued down the dark tunnel.

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The sunlight felt good to the Tyrantrum as it walked through the barren landscape. He found a whiff of the Pokémon herd, but it was very faint because of the storm last night. He was very frustrated when he couldn't find an tracks, burn marks, scuffs or anything from the different Pokémon to go by. The Despot Pokémon leapt onto a tall rock and let loose a roar that shook the ground and echoed through the rocky terrain. He stopped to see if he could hear anything, but huffed when all was quiet. With another huff he jumped down and continued his search.

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The Pokémon herd continued to walk through the rocky terrain after what had seemed like hours. Everyone was starting to become tired again from the nonstop traveling. The exhaustion could be seen on just about everyone, the younger Pokémon included. Both the Axew twins were panting from all the walking that they had down and they were beginning to fall behind the others. One of the Axew brothers suddenly collapsed from fatigue and his brother stopped and turned back to him. The brother still standing looked about and called out, "Axew! Axew!"

From the head of the heard, Drudd could hear the sounds of the young Pokémon calling out. But not knowing exactly who it was, he just turned his attention forward with a snort.

The Axew tried to help his brother back onto his feet by trying to pull him up, but the tired little Pokémon was very tired. The Axew hugged his brother's head for a moment before trying to pull him up again. But when his brother still didn't get up, the Axew looked to the herd and cried out again, "Axew!"

But he became disheartened when none of them stopped. The Axew cried for help once more and this time it was answered when a shadow fell over them. They both looked up to see Dragara standing before them. She kneeled down to them and said, "Don't worry, little ones. It's going to be alright."

It seemed to brighten up their moods and even more so when she said, "We're going to make it. I promise."

The two Axew brothers looked to each other and squeaked at one another. Dragara then took one of the fallen Axew's arm in her hand and gently pulled him to his feet. The Axew squealed a little before finding his feet. When she was sure that he could walk again, Dragara gently nudged him and his brother after the herd again. As the Axew twins started walking away, Dragara couldn't help but look back down the way they came. The trail was full of tracks and she could only hope that Blitz and the others would be able to find it. With a saddened sigh, Dragara turned and followed after the others.

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The cave didn't get any darker for them, but the mood didn't change much for Blitz's group as they continued to walk. Sam was riding on Donna's back while Cynthia sat on Blitz's shoulder and Brock and Bonnie were on Aurora's head. Megan and Barry were walking between the group. Brock decided to pass the time by playing a game. He looked down to them and said, "Okay, okay. Let's do it again." Then he said, "Uh, I spy with my little eye-"

"A rock." A bored looking Sam said with a deadpanned look. Everyone looked to each other and wished that Brock would stop. They understood what the Pikachu was trying to do, but it was starting to get old. Brock looked down to his father and complimented with a grin, "You got it again! You are good!"

"Hm." Was all that Sam said as they kept moving. From behind them, Barry glanced to Megan and commented, "Two hours of I Spy can really get on one's nerves."

"Easy, we're trying to keep morale up." Megan tried to ease the Machoke's frustrations. They all looked to the Bastiodon when Donna said, "Well, I know what I'm spying right now.

"A dead end." She observed as they had come to the end of the tunnel. All that was standing in front of them and maybe a way out was a rock wall. Not seeing any other way to go, Blitz sighed in disappointment. Sam glanced to the group and asked, "What do you all think we should do now?"

"We may have to go back." Blitz dejectedly said. They all started to turn around to go back, but Brock suddenly started to smell something in the air and quickly said, "Hold on a second, you guys. I think I'm getting something."

The Pikachu moved a little on Aurora's head and sniffed again. His nose made him look to the rock wall and was starting to get an idea. Bonnie climbed up to join her uncle and asked, "What is it, Brock?"

"Take a whiff." Brock said and made room of his niece. Bonnie came a little closer to the edge of Aurora's head and sniffed. Brock asked her, "Do you smell it, Bonnie?"

"Yeah, I do." She nodded. They both dropped down from Aurora's head and landed on the ground before rushing towards the rock wall. Blitz hurried after them and looked up as he watched the two Mouse Pokémon started digging through the wall. The older Pikachu grunted as he was able to pull a few stones away. Blitz had to move when the rocks fell to the floor before looking back up. Brock wrapped his paws on another rock and it took a little effort to pull it out of its place. When he was able to get it out of the way, light suddenly shone from a newly made hole in the wall. Everyone in the cave gasped at the sight and Donna said with an impressed smile, "Get a load of that sight."

"Good show, Brock." Aurora commended with a nod. Blitz looked back to the others and said with a grin, "Okay, everyone, stand back. We're out of here!"

"I'll help too." Barry said and rushed forward to help him. Blitz started pulling some away while Barry called upon his Strength to lift boulders out of the way. But after getting a few out of the way, the entire rock wall started to shake. From their spot on the wall, Brock and Bonnie whimpered from the shaking and jumped off the wall. When they hit the ground they ran back to the others. Donna looked up and gasped when she saw a loose boulder starting to fall from the wall. She shouted to the two Pokémon, "Boys, look out! Move!"

Blitz and Barry looked up and they too gasped from seeing the rocks starting to fall towards them. Both Pokémon jumped out of the way as the large rocks crashed to the ground. When they had made it to a safer spot, they looked back to see a few more rocks falling. They all looked up to the ray of light coming from the hole in the wall. The light started to flicker because of all the shaking. The hole was soon covered up by rocks and it blocked out the light of the outside world. When the rocks finally stopped falling, Blitz took a step forward with a look of disbelief on his face. His face turned into a glare and he roared, "No!"

His shout echoed through the caverns while he rushed towards the wall and slammed his head against one of the boulders. The rock broke in two from the hard hit. Everyone else in the group took a few steps back as the Charizard started unleashing all sorts of attacks onto the wall. With his claws he used Dragon Claw and breathed really hot Flamethrowers. Each attack created large clouds of dust that started to envelope the rampaging Flame Pokémon. When the roaring stopped and the dust cloud dissipated, it revealed Blitz still facing the wall. The Charizard was breathing heavily and seemed to be covered in a few bruises. Blitz glanced back to the others and saw that they were watching him with concerned looks. But the Flame Pokémon didn't seem to care as he gave another angry roar and started beating on the wall again. Cynthia watched her adopted son for a moment with a sympathetic look before carefully making her way towards him. She noticed Sam trying to say something to her, but she reassured him with a hand gesture that it was going to be alright. She came a little closer and waited a moment when Blitz fired another Flamethrower at the wall. When he stopped, he started to move back again as if to get ready for another attack. Cynthia quickly moved in front of him and Blitz looked down at her with an angry glare, but the look quickly fell. Blitz took deep breaths, backed away from the wall and tears started to well up in his eyes as he sat down on the ground. Cynthia jumped onto Blitz's knee and hugged the Charizard to try to make him feel better. She patted his belly when she said, "It's going to be okay, Blitz. We'll find another way out."

Blitz just clenched his eyes shut as a few tears fell. He placed a clawed hand against his head and shook his head, "I-I just," He breathed heavily and he said, "I just wanted to get us to safety."

"We know." Cynthia nodded and moved to where she stood on his shoulder. She wiped away the tears when she said, "And we'll figure something out." He opened his eye to her smiling face and she said, "We just need to keep calm as we think about it."

"Right." Blitz nodded and his breathing started to ease a bit. The others were impressed by how the Mouse Pokémon had handled the situation. Aurora stepped forward and it made the Charizard and Raichu look up to her. The Aurorus lowered her head and said, "You know, even after watching that little anger spell, I'm still willing to follow you anywhere, Blitz. You and your family…

"And our new friends as well…" When she glanced back to Megan and Barry. She looked back to Blitz and said, "You've done quite a lot for us. You were the only ones to care about us. And we're all here together, aren't we?"

Blitz nodded when he thought about it and it made Aurora smile to see that she had helped to lift his spirits a little. The Ice Type Pokémon then said to him, "And we're not going to simply give up and waste away in here are we?"

"No." Blitz shook his head and rose to his feet. Aurora stepped around Blitz and said with a look of determination, "There is still a purpose for us all in this world." She stopped before the rock wall and said, "And I for one, am not willing to let any of us die here."

With a low growl, Aurora slowly rose up on her hindlegs. When she was standing fully on her back legs, the Aurorus came down with a roar and slammed her front feet against the wall. Her blow caused the rock wall to shake and stones fell from their spots. From her spot, Donna decided to help her friend out by scratching the cave floor with her foot and rushing forward with a roar and hit the rock wall with a Heavy Slam of her head. The Bastiodon backed up and shook her head before repeating the process. Twig soon got involved by rushing forward and used Wood Hammer to smash the rocks. Aurora let loose another roar when she came down while Donna smashed into the wall again. Blitz, Barry and Megan all looked to each other before moving forward to help out too. Barry called on a great deal of his Strength to move rocks out of the way while Megan Body Slammed into the wall. Blitz took to the air and his claws glowed when he used Dragon Claw to swipe at the rocks. The Mouse Pokémon watched from the back before jumping in as well. They leapt into the air before coming down and they all used Iron Tail on the rocks. With each attack or push, the rocks seemed to come more and more loose. Aurora gave one final push and she ended up bringing the whole wall down. The Pikachu and Raichu all backed from the wall while Blitz, Barry, Donna, Twig and Megan all braced themselves from the large cloud of dust and intense light. Everyone coughed from all the dust that was kicked up before looking to the newly made entrance. Blitz landed beside his family and they all came forward. They all became amazed from what they were seeing in the outside world. Aurora stepped out and smiled when she said, "Dear Arceus. What a sight."

Everyone took their first steps into the place that they had been searching for. The nesting grounds were indeed very beautiful. There were lush forests here and there, large waterfalls against the sides of the mountains and a large lake in the middle of the whole thing. Dona looked very happy as she took a step further and said, "The Pokémon Nesting Grounds. We finally made it and it's untouched."

They were greatly amazed by the place and could see different types of Pokémon running, flying or swimming around. As they started walking down the slope, Cynthia brought Sam and Bonnie into a hug and said with a grin, "Our new home."

"And it comes with its own pool!" Brock excitedly shouted and it made Bonnie giggle. The two Pikachus, Barry, Aurora and Twig all moved deeper into the Nesting Grounds and Brock shouted, "Watch me swim like a Lapras!"

Bonnie laughed as she ran after her uncle. Even the other three were laughing from the Mouse Pokémon's silliness. Brock hopped onto Twig's back before jumping onto Barry's shoulders. When he reached the other side he jumped onto Aurora's back and climbed up to the top of her head. When he stood at the edge, Brock jumped off and shouted, "Banzai!"

He whooped all the way down before splashing into the water. It was a small one and Aurora didn't look impressed by it, "Ha, what an amateur. Let me show how it's done."

Brock had managed to swim to a piece of drift wood and cried out in surprise when Aurora threw herself into the lake. She created a much larger wave that carried a smiling Brock across the lake, "Ha, ha!"

From up at the top of a tree by the lake, Bonnie laughed from watching her uncle and their friend having fun. Twig came to a stop under the tree and set his rock down and sitting down. He panted while watching his friends having fun. Barry ran to the water's edge and shouted, "I bet I can make it to the other side!"

With a whoop he jumped into the water and started swimming to the other side of the lake. Aurora and Brock took up the challenge by paddling or swimming as well.

Over at the cave entrance, Blitz and the others hadn't moved much from the opening. Blitz looked over the place again and nodded, "This is a great place." But he noticed something that wasn't there and asked, "But I don't get it. Where's the Pokémon herd? I thought they'd be here by now."

"Especially Dragara." Cynthia playfully said to Sam. Her father only chuckled from the light joke and nodded in agreement. They looked up to the bigger Pokémon as Donna reassured the Charizard, "Oh, don't worry, they'll be gettin' here-" She looked to her left and noticed something as she finished, "Soon enough."

"She's right." Megan nodded when she looked to the Fire Type. They looked over to Donna when she moved away from them and they noticed a look of worry on her face. Blitz walked over to her and asked, "Donna?"

The others moved to stand with them and they all looked to where Donna was looking. Donna was staring up at a rock wall when she said, "That's going to be a problem."

"Hm?" Blitz asked and he started to get an idea of why she was worried. The Bastiodon shook her head, "I think I spoke a bit too soon."

"What do you mean?" Blitz and Megan asked, feeling her worry growing. Donna glanced to the two and revealed, "That is the way that we used to get into the valley.."

Blitz's eyes widened from what he was seeing. He knew that some of the Pokémon in the herd would be fine, but some would end up losing their lives if they tried climbing that thing. The Charizard shook his head and turned to the entrance, "They won't all make it over that!"

He quickly started running back to the entrance. The others turned their heads and Donna shouted to him, "Blitz, wait a minute! Hold on now!"

Blitz stopped running and turned his head back to her. Donna warned him with a serious look, "Drudd will eat you alive if you-"

"Let him try." Blitz said, not caring if the Druddigon were to get upset about him trying to help. But before he could go any further, Megan then questioned, "Are you seriously going to run through that tunnel find them? Why don't you just fly?"

"Oh, fair point." Blitz said when he looked to his wings. Barry had come running up the hill and asked, "What's going on?"

"The herd's in danger. Or most will be if they try to go over that." Blitz pointed to the rock wall. He was about to take off when Barry placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "If you're going, then I'm going with you."

"You don't have to." Blitz said, not wanting his friend to get hurt. The Machoke gave him a smirk when he said, "I don't believe you have a choice."

"Maybe I should come with the both of you." Megan thought and said. Then she pointed out, "Maybe I can help talk some sense into Drudd."

"I can at least carry you up onto the rock wall." Blitz offered. Megan then said, "You might have to make two trips."

"I'd rather not waste anymore time." The Charizard disagreed by grabbing the Machoke and had him ride on his back. He then grabbed the Meganium with his arms. Megan glanced to Blitz and said, "This feels a little weird to me."

"Me too." Barry agreed with her. The Flame Pokémon's wings opened up and he acknowledged, "Noted. Here we go!"

The two passengers screamed as Blitz took off into the air and flew towards the mountain that the cave ran under. From the ground, Sam and Cynthia looked really worried for the trio as they disappeared over the cliff. Donna sighed and looked over to the wall, "I sure do hope that Drudd's in a listening mood when they get there."

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When they reached a good spot to land, Blitz set Megan down and Barry quickly got off. Blitz looked to them and said, "We need to hurry."

"We're right behind you." Megan said and the three took off. As he flew ahead with Barry and Megan running behind him, Blitz was hoping that they would make it in time.

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The Pokémon herd was entering the final stretch to the Pokémon Nesting Grounds. From the head of the herd, Drudd smiled as he thought that their journey was about to be over. But he had no idea what to expect up ahead.

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A good distance between Blitz's group and the Pokémon herd, the Tyrantrum leaned towards the ground. He picked up a scent from the herd and turned in the direction. With a roar, the Despot Pokémon quickly headed down the path to seek its revenge.

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Author's Note: As you can see, I have done this chapter a bit different. And I can proudly say that we are nearing the end of this story. I do have a few surprises planned, but we'll just have to wait and see. All part of my Triple Nineteen attack. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See you next time.