Mirus and Heron had let out their pokemon for a run as they walked towards Ancrock. Heron was leading the way, pretending- Mirus suspected- she knew the path, like usual. He let her, and said nothing, instead preferring to watch their pokemon play together.
"How far?" he asked her casually.
She bit her lip. "Well, the cave's visible from here, and Ancrock's almost straight after the cave ends."
"How long's the cave?"
"Long," she said, and nothing else.
Suddenly Mirus recalled his pokemon. "What's up?" Heron asked.
"Trainers."
Heron looked about and smiled. "Come on guys," she said, taking out her pokeballs and recalling Ekans and Vineslice.
"Hey!" Mirus called to the two figures. "Fancy a battle?"
One of the figures looked up. It was a girl, about their age. Mirus glanced to see how many pokemon she had. One?
"Hey," she said, approaching them. "We were just on our way back to Plainstown, but I reckon my pokemon can still battle."
"Why d'you only have one pokemon?" Heron asked her. "What kind do you train?"
"I'm a solo pokemon trainer," she told them, ignoring Heron's rudeness. "Mark is as well."
"I didn't know there was a type like that," Heron said thoughtfully.
The girl nodded. "It was introduced last year. Basiaclly, it means that you can only have one pokemon with you at a time. Whenever you catch a new one, it's sent to your PC. The only problem is double battles. That's why Mark and I are travelling together."
A boy caught up with them. "Hi," he said.
"So, you want a battle?" Heron asked, looking over both of them.
Mark nodded. "Sure, I'll take you on. Have to be a one-on-one though."
"I'll battle you then," Mirus said, shaking her hand. "What's your name?"
"Peta."
"Isn't that a boy's name?"
Peta laughed. "Everyone says that. No, it's short for something complicated, but I've been called Peta all my life."
"OK, so one on one it is. I'm Mirus, I train dogs."
"Nice." she stepped back. "I might as well choose first. Go, Scrape!"
She threw her only pokeball and a primeape appeared, jumping form foot to foot. "Ape!"
Mirus took only a second to choose. "Go, Chlli."
"A vulpix!" Peta said as Chilli emerged. "I love vulpix!"
Scrape jumped up and down happily, which made Mirus smile. He nodded at Chilli. "Use Ember!"
"Scrape, Cross Chop!"
Chilli attacked first, sending a blast of flames at the primeape. It paused, confused, before taking to the air in a high leap.
"Chilli, dodge with Quick Attack!"
"Vul!" she agreed, and ran out, just as Scrape landed on the ground. It turned around, angrily, in time for Chilli to hit it.
"Nice one, Chilli. Use Growl and Ember again."
"Scrape, Seismic Toss."
Chili stood her ground and growled at her opponent, but was forced to jump as the primate pounced on her. At that, she was caught, and flung out across the ground in a very rough way.
"Chilli! Are you all right?" Mirus asked her desperatly.
"Vul," she told him, standing up.
"Right Scrape, Brick break."
"Counter it with Ember!"
The barrage of flames stopped the primeape from coming closer, and it backed off. Mirus thought it was burned. He nodded at his pokemon. "Another Ember, then finish it with Quick attack!"
"Oh no you don't. Scrape, dodge the Ember and use Counter!"
The primate moved quite fast at the dodging command, so Chilli, unaware of the new tactic, switched into Quick Attack. Mirus saw what would happen and tried to stop her, but she slammed into a punch aimed by Scrape, using her own momentum to send her flying.
"Chilli, please get up!" Mirus said. He remembered the confident command. "Get up!"
"Scrape, Cross Chop," Peta commanded.
The primeape leapt into the air and hit Chilli full on. Mirus, sighing, took out her pokeball and called her back.
"You did it!" Peta shouted to her pokemon. "You definatly deserve a rest- we'll get you to a centre soon."
"Your primeape's really strong," Mirus told her as he minimized Chilli's pokeball.
"Thanks," she said. "But remember, he's the only pokemon I use."
Mirus nodded. "Right. Still, you beat us easily. is this your first league?"
Pet shook her head. "No, but I used a new pokemon for this league."
Mirus nodded, and turned back to Heron's battle. They were shaking hands- Mirus guessed that Heron had won, or else she wouldn't be smiling.
"Well, thanks," Peta said. Mirus took some notes out of his pocket. "Here. Thanks for the battle."
"You too. Well, we'd better got going."
Mark nodded at Heron and he moved off as well. Mirus waved once and ran to catch up with Heron. "How was your battle?"
"Easy," she said. "He had a rapidash, so I just used Onix. How about you?"
"I lost," he admitted. "In fact, I need to heal Chilli." He stopped and retreived a potion from his bag, and let out the fox pokemon. "Hey, Chilli," he said. "I'm just going to heal you, and you can go back to sleep."
When he was done, he straightened up aagin and recalled the vulpix. Heron grinned.
"What?" he asked.
"You're becoming so much better at being a trainer. I reckon it comes naturally to you, but it's only just woken up."
"You think?" he asked as they kept walking.
"Yup," she told him. "And, against all modesty, I should know."
"This is Ancrock Cave?" Mirus asked, staring up at the cliff face.
"Actually, that's a cliff. That's Ancrock cave." Heron pointed.
He sighed. "I know that. It's just huge. How long is it?"
"You asked me before."
"Yes, and you said 'long'."
Heron sighed and drew out her pokedex, pressing a few buttons. "Apparently, it's just a really, really long curving tunnel. But Ancrock's at the top of that cliff, apparently. Behind a wall of rock." She pointed upwards, and Mirus stared.
"It's huge," he repeated.
"Which is why we use the cave," Heron said. "Come on, there're bound to be all sorts of pokemon here."
"I doubt whether there would be dogs or snakes."
"There's a lake," Heron pressed.
Mirus sighed. "How many water dogs do you think there are?" he asked.
"Suicune."
"And I'm really going to find a suicune in there."
"That's the spirit," Heron said. "The quicker we get through this place, the quicker we can get out."
Inside, it was very dark. Mirus immediatly threw Jazz's pokeball for some light. The pokemon emerged happily, the sparks on his body flickering as usual. Heron sighed in relief. "Thanks."
Mirus nodded. "You say this place hasn't got any forks or anything?"
"That's right. It's just a long, annoying tunnel, generally just to add excitement to your day."
He sighed. "Let's just go. Jazz, I'll need you to keep off zubats or anything."
"There'll be rock types," Heron reminded him. She threw her own pokeball. "Vineslice, you can get rid of any geodudes that come our way, right?"
"Ssslice!" agreed the snake.
Mirus nodded again and they set off into the long and winding tunnel.
E/N: Well, I can't think really of anything to say (though every time I say that I end up with a ridiculously long E/N) so I'll just say that I don't own pokemon, Dannichu does. Mwafafa. Anyway, what pokemon should our hero/ine catch next? Be realistic in your choosing, if you want to choose.
Remember, nicknames for a grass-type dog still appreciated; the suspect victim- I mean pokemon- will be appearing a little while after Ancrock.
Anyway, before I call upon my infamous Pokemon orchestra to play you their latest hit, "Review, review"... well, if you don't recognise that as a hint, I won't bother.