Chapter Six

Ken

I continued letting the current pull me into the far end of the cavern, ignoring the monster behind me. There would be nothing I could do about it unless I was out of the water.

I could see that the water was gushing through a small hole in the wall, large enough to admit a human but not a giant fish. I swam straight into it, finding myself plunged into a narrow, semi-submerged tunnel. I threw my arms and legs out, managing to gain a grip on the walls and stop myself from being swept away.

The thing chasing me slammed headlong into the wall, unable to enter the small opening. It rammed the hole a few times before giving up and swimming away.

I heaved a sigh of relief and began searching for an escape.


Emily

I'd managed to locate Marle and Jane and we were heading for the cave with our Pokemon - my Meowth, Jane's Espeon and Marle's Ninetales - when Vicky and Kate came running up to us. Both girls were gasping for breath, clearly terrified out of their wits by something they had seen, and it took several minutes for them to get their breath back.

"What's going on?" I asked, sensing that whatever it was had to be serious. "What happened?"

"Monster . . . cave . . ." was all Vicky could gasp. But I didn't press her; she was only just ten and colonising Terranova was a stressful business. I admired the way she'd coped so well, but there were clearly some things that would prove too much for her just yet.

I turned to Kate, hoping she could give me a more complete answer.


Max

During this whole thing, I was just watching. I had no idea what to do. Then, I started to wonder why on Terranova I was outside the cave. I didn't care what anyone else said about this being a bad idea; since I was adventurous and a lake monster was an adventure, I jumped through the opening. I let Abra out and had him Teleport me to the bottom, where there appeared to be land.

"What the . . ." I managed when a rush of water came over me, throwing me into the air. I recalled Abra just as we fell into the water. Then, I saw the others. I tried yelling to them, but I was pulled underwater right at that moment . . .


Emily

Bit by bit, Kate told us what had happened.

"It was a monster," she said, her eyes still wide with fright. "We were in the cave and, all of a sudden, this huge tentacle appeared and started attacking us. Vicky and I only just got away."

"But what about the others?!" demanded Marle, a shocked expression on her face.

Kate shook her head and I knew immediately what we had to do. Whatever that thing was, we had to go after it and rescue our friends. "Quick!" I told Marle, Jane, Kate and Vicky. "Grab your Pokemon and come on! Our friends need us!"

"We won't stand a chance!" exclaimed Vicky.

I responded by grabbing her by the hand and urging her on. "That doesn't matter," I told her. "What's important is that our friends are in trouble, so we've got to at least try to save them." But, even as I spoke, I wondered how we could do anything if we didn't know what we were up against.


DS

Charmander! Fire Blast!" I ordered. The huge block of flames hit the monster dead center and I heard it roar, probably in pain. Suddenly, a tentacle shot out and wrapped itself around Charmander.

"Charmander!" I yelled. "Jack, help!"

"But what can I do?"

"Your Wobbuffet!" I shouted. "Get that thing to attack your Wobbuffet!"

"Why?" he demanded.

"So your Wobbuffet can use Counter! Come on!" I urged, wincing as I heard my Charmander's choked cries and realised the monster was going to crush her to death.

"Oh, fine," said Jack. "Wobbuffet, get that thing to attack you!"

"Wobba?" the Wobbuffet said questioningly.

"Just do it!"

"Wob! Wobba wob wobba Wobbuffet!" Jack's Wobbuffet began taunting the giant thing, provoking it into lashing out with one of its huge tentacles.

"Now what do I do?" asked Jack.

"Tell Wobbuffet to use Counter!" I yelled.

Jack did so and Wobbuffet suddenly began glowing, deflected the tentacle just as it was about to hit and whacking the monster with three times the force it would have hit Wobbuffet with. Momentarily stunned, the the thing released its grip on Charmander, who fell limply to the ground. I raced over and picked up my fallen Pokemon, before putting as much distance as I could between us and that thing.

"Wow, Wobbuffet, did you do that?" I asked.

"Wob!" said the Wobbuffet proudly.

I suddenly remembered the Pokemon eggs. One of them was down here, unharmed for the moment, but the other was still outside the cavern. I could only hope that Kate and Vicky had found it and taken it for safe-keeping.


Ken

After much clawing, grasping and climbing, I was finally able to get onto some ground not far from the hole. I could make out the sounds of a monster and a Pokemon battle and, swearing under my breath, started running back to the waterfall, the only visible route back to the cavern where the whole mess started.

Finally, I raised myself up onto a niche just inside the cavern. I could see the battle unfolding. Some creature had just incapacitated a Charmander, but was stunned by a Counter Attack from Jack's Wobbuffet. It was then that I suddenly realised I had an energy cannon slung over my back.

Cursing myself for forgetting, I swept the cannon up and braced it against my shoulder as it powered up. But I realised what I was doing could be folly since I had never been trained in the use of weapons and might hit one of my friends by mistake. Or, I could lure that thing away from them . . .

I pulled back a small scroller on the side of the cannon, reducing its energy until it was powerful enough to burn but not kill. As I fired wildly at the creature, I realised belatedly that some of the crystal shards had reflected the cannon's energy. Still, one of the reflected beams struck a tentacle and the beast submerged in a shriek of fury. I quickly raised the cannon to maximum power and pointed it at the water, waiting nervously for the monster to emerge.


DS

"Hey! Get up the rope! That thing's gonna try and knock you into the water!"

Ken was shouting at Jack and me. My brain was still a little frazzled, but it caught the warning in his voice and, without a second thought, I jumped off the platform and headed for the entrance hole with Charmander and the egg in tow.

Before Jack could follow, a tentacle exploded from the surface of the underground lake and wrapped itself around him and his Wobbuffet. Luckily, Wobbuffet was sharper than he looked and used Counter just before the tentacles tightened their grip. Breaking free, Jack and Wobbuffet got as far away from that thing and the water as they could.

I was just about to tell Ken that now would be the perfect time to blast that thing when it submerged again. Things were silent for the time being, but we didn't known how long that would last.


Emily

Luckily, the others - all except Max - got out of the cave unscathed when the monster went back under the water and Trent was later found safe and well. But it frightened me to think that creature was lurking out there, ready to pounce on us in a moment of inattention. For days afterwards, I didn't dare let Meowth out of my sight.

The grown-ups were pretty worried too when we told them and called everyone together to inform us that no-one was to go into that cave again under any circumstances. From that day forth, it was known as the Forbidden Cave.

It wasn't long after this before the Pokemon eggs DS had began to hatch. I was washing my hair in Lake Arrival when she and Vicky ran up to me, their eyes wide with excitement.

"It's happening!" Vicky said in an excited rush.

"What's happening?" I asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

"One of the eggs is hatching!" DS replied. "Emily, you gotta come see!"

I followed them to DS's cabin, where one of the two eggs had been placed on a makeshift table, a large crack visible in the shell. As we watched, the shell broke away and a furry brown head with pointed ears emerged; it was an Eevee and we all "oohed" in delight at the adorable Pokemon. But there was something I was curious about. I'd assumed all Pokemon hatched on Terranova would be Shinies, so why was this Eevee normal?

"It might be because it wasn't conceived in space," suggested DS. "I've had that egg with me since I left Earth."

I picked the Eevee (it was a male) up as he emerged from the egg and hugged him close. "Hello, Eevee," I whispered. "Welcome to Terranova."

"Would you like to keep it?" asked DS.

I nodded; I'd always wanted an Eevee and he would be a companion for Meowth. "I wonder when the other egg will hatch," I mused as I sat stroking my new friend.


DS

In truth, I was a little reluctant to part with the Eevee, but since I would still be living the miserable life of a fugitive if it wasn't for Emily, I decided it was the least I could do to repay her.

My Charmander was far more reluctant when it came to giving the Eevee to someone else and I could tell by the look in her eyes that no amount of coaxing and arguing would convince her to allow the Pokemon in the remaining egg to be given away. Truth be told, Charmander kept a very jealous guard on that egg; once, Emily's Meowth wandered over to peek at it and Charmander went into a near frenzy, pouncing on the Meowth and commencing with a rather brutal succession of Slash Attacks. I pulled her off and scolded her for being so overprotective.

I assured Charmander that no-one was going to harm the egg, but she wasn't sure and all the other Pokemon and trainers made sure to stay far away when she was around. I hoped that egg would hatch soon, so my Pokemon's reign of terror would stop.

Then, not too many days later, my wish came true.

"Mander . . ." Charmander said as she and I watched silently as the shell began to crack. Soon, little bits and pieces of shell began to fall off and a long pale yellow snout came poking out. Then, the whole top half of the shell fell off and revealed the Pokemon inside to be a male Cyndaquil. I named him Hinochisanii, which means "small brother of fire". Hinochi for short.


Vicky

I ran forward and glared at DS. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?!" I demanded.

There was a bit of hesitation at first, but eventually DS told me. "I'm sorry, Vicky, but the other egg hatched and I'd rather you kept away because Charmander's still a bit overprotective."

Even though DS gave me a good explanation, I kind of took it the wrong way and stormed off in any old direction, away from everybody.


Emily

Vicky was missing.

DS told me she'd had to tell Vicky to stay away from her and her Charmander, something to do with the second egg hatching and DS's Charmander being a little too protective of the little Cyndaquil. Then, Vicky had gone off somewhere in a huff and hadn't been seen for ages. "I hope she's OK," DS said anxiously.

I hoped Vicky was all right as well, but there were no guarantees of anything on Terranova; that business with the monster had shown us just how vulnerable we were on this uncharted world. "Don't worry," I told DS. "I'm sure she's just sulking somewhere. She'll be back by nightfall."

But, when night came, there was still no sign of Vicky and we were all getting decidedly worried.


Ken

We sat under the two moons of Terranova, alone by the shores of Lake Arrival. The breeze was cool and gentle and the stars were out in force, more so than from any place on Earth. The unfamiliar constellations reminded me of our alien environment.

"Do you remember where we first kissed?" Jane asked.

I gazed out across the Lake as memories flooded back once again. "Yes. It was night, near the slopes of Mount Mortar. The air was chilly and the wind was, basically, a gale. It blew away my hat and your coat. Remember?"

She smiled. "Yes and you tried to raise my spirits by cracking around fifty terrible wind jokes!"

I winced at that. "You know," I said, leaning closer to Jane, "we haven't had the time to get together since we landed."

"I noticed," she replied. "And I've been waiting for that time to come." We got closer together, but, just as our lips were about to touch, my PokeGear went off.

"Aw . . ." I stopped just short of swearing. "It's not fair!"

Jane fell backwards onto the grass. "Always happens to us, doesn't it?" she laughed.

"Seems that way." I turned on my PokeGear. "This is Ken," I said into it. "Who's calling?"

"It's Emily. Have you seen Vicky? We can't find or contact her."

I frowned - this was not going to be good - and glanced at Jane, who shrugged. "No, we haven't seen Vicky all day," I told Emily.

"We?" Emily replied after a slight pause. "I thought you were going on a quiet walk, alone."

"Never mind. I'll wake Pads and we'll go look for her."


Emily

"Vicky!" I shouted, cupping my hand round my mouth. "Vicky! Where are you?!"

We were out searching for Vicky. Marle's Ninetales and Ken's Growlithe were trying to follow her scent trail and Trent had sent the Murkrow he had brought with him to search from the air. But none of us had any real idea where to look; there were God knew how many places a ten-year-old girl could have gone.

I patted Meowth's Poke Ball through my pocket and turned to look at the Eevee perched on my shoulder. He was only a baby and I knew he could prove a liability if we got into trouble, but I'd had to take him along because he hated being left on his own. The one time I tried, he whimpered so loudly that I had to run back to my shelt and get him.

"Are Ninetales and Pads having any luck?" I asked Ken.

He shook his head. "Not that I can tell," he said. "Think we should split up and try to cover more ground?"

I considered for a moment. Maybe we would get further if we split into two teams, but that would also leave us vulnerable if one of the groups got attacked. However, it turned out we didn't have to worry about that because, at that moment, Trent's Murkrow came winging back with a loud caw.

"What is it, Murkrow?" Trent asked. "Did you find anything?"


DS

Before the Murkrow could answer, a loud screeching noise pierced the air, swiftly followed by the sound of crashing foliage. Then came a startled: "Krowww!" Apparently, the Murkrow had found whatever it was that was making the racket.


Emily

We hurried in the direction of the noise, all of us wondering what it was but hoping it wasn't another alien monster. We had seen enough of those already.

Eevee whimpered softly and I gave him a reassuring pat. Pads was growling threateningly and so was Marle's Ninetales, both Pokemon put on edge by the unknown menace that lurked out there. Presently, we caught up with Trent's Murkrow, who seemed rather excited by something, though we couldn't tell what.

"Murkrow, what is it?" asked Trent. "Have you found Vicky? Where . . .?" He was cut off abruptly as the screeching began again, a noise so loud and high-pitched that I had to clamp my hands over my ears to avoid being deafened.

"What the hell was that?!" demanded Jack when it had subsided and we were able to talk to each other.

"I don't know," replied DS. "It sounds kind of like a Pokemon using Screech Attack, only about ten times louder."

"Whatever it is," I said, "we can't go back. We've got to find Vicky before that thing does." Steeling myself, I shouldered my trembling Eevee and stepped into the forest.