Chapter 5
Brian:
We spent the night in Gapton and after a quick breakfast we went to the park so our Pokemon could get some exercise. As they played together Phillip and I sat on a bench not far away and studied a map, trying to decide the best route to take. Well, honestly, the others played while Snorlax continued to sleep. It was still a little early for him I guess. Phillip and I both decided that it would be best to take a road less traveled, so to speak, and stay off the main roads where we were more likely to be spotted.
"Hmmm…look here Brian," Phillip commented, pointing to a ridge of mountains to the north. "Maybe we should take a path up there." I wasn't so sure.
"Well I don't know. There is no Pokemon Center for several miles after the mountains, and the guide book here says that those particular mountains are pretty rough on climbers." Phillip nodded.
"Yeah, maybe your right." We continued to look the map over until I spotted something.
"Hey, look at this!" I exclaimed, jabbing my finger at a place on the map. "Igneous Cave, right here. It's only about what, a mile and a half long? And look, there is a small Pokemon center about twenty minutes from the other side of it. I think we should head over there." Phillip nodded.
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," he replied. Then he thought of something I hadn't. "Wait, do you have any flashlights?" He asked.
"Oh, no, I didn't think of that." I said. We ended up going to a small store on the way there and picked up some canned food and a pair of flashlights and batteries. After the quick stop we headed out of town. It was about noon when we finally got to the mouth of the cave. There weren't any lights or anything inside and it looked a bit spooky to be honest.
"Well, I guess we better get going." Phillip said, not even slightly enthusiastic as he peered through the black cave.
"I guess your right," I replied with a grin. "Here, you take the point!" Phillip playfully punched me in the arm.
"Yeah, right." He said with a roll of his eyes.
"Hey, just get Ivysaur to go in first! He can take it I'm sure!" I said with a bigger grin. Phillip punched me again. A little less playfully this time. "Owww…okay, okay, I'm going." I muttered, and made my way into the cave, with Phillip following close behind. We clicked on our flashlights and shone them against the crags and stalagmites that hung from the ceiling like fangs in the mouth of a beast. We crept on at first, slowly and cautiously but eventually our confidence grew and we started walking at a more normal pace. The cave was dark, let me tell you. There was almost no light, save for our flashlights. We finally arrived at a place to rest after nearly an hour of walking in the darkness. There were a few relatively smooth rocks that we were able to sit down on and some light filtering down from a crack in the cave ceiling above. It helped us to overcome that sort of creepy feeling that you're buried beneath the earth. We were taking a drink of some water because the cave's humidity was pretty bad and we were fairly sweaty by this time, when we heard a strange screeching sound that echoed off the cavern walls. We looked around frantically, as if we expected to be able to see anything through the darkness. The screech continued and grew louder each second. Then there were two screeches, then three and then four. Soon there was too many to count. The whole cave was filled with the high-pitched screams of hundreds of Zubat. We could see a few flickering through the limited light here and there but we were nearly completely blind otherwise.
"Holy…" Phillip gasped. The Zubat began to dive bomb us. They would swoop in and hit us in the head or bite at us and our clothes. We tried to cover up and duck as best as we could, but it was no use. I could feel the attacks as they bit into my arms and legs. It felt like hot knives were slashing at me. I could feel blood trickling down my legs and arms as the bats continued their assault. I was swatting like mad, hitting them away, but there were just so many of them. One of them got at my face and I felt a searing pain rip through my body as it managed to sink one of its teeth into my forehead. I struggled and broke away from it but when I did it flew the opposite direction and tore a large gash in my face. Blood began to fog my vision as I tried to stop the bleeding while still fending off the assailants. Phillip had managed to back into a small corner and was fending off the Zubat fairly well considering the situation. I, however, was not so fortunate. Batting away the bats as best I could with my hands and flashlight, I knew that there were far too many of them and couldn't keep up the battle for much longer. Through the pain I managed to reach over to my left wristband and seize Snorlax's Pokeball. I tossed it out into the cave and after the intense flash of red light the ball returned to my hand and Snorlax was left staring into the dark, fending off the Zubat as much as desperately as I was. Several Zubat squealed as Snorlax's paw connected with them in midair, stunning them and flinging some others away back into the abyss. But it wasn't enough; there were simply too many of them.
"Snorlax!" I yelled over the screeching as I swung at the Zubat. "Aim Yawn attacks up into the air, now!" Snorlax understood and began doing just that. The Yawn bubbles were large enough that they would connect with several Zubat at a time. Countless Zubat began to fall from the sky like fighter planes that had taken fire. Phillip was able to use the confusion to bring out his Ivysaur, which was spreading its Sleep Powder into the sky, forcing still more Zubat to come crashing to the damp cave floor. From out of nowhere though, a piercing screech rang out, drowning out all the Zubats noise. Phillip and I covered our ears as the screech grew louder, threatening to deafen us. Strangely, all the Zubat began to back off and fly back up and out of our way. Snorlax, Phillip, Ivysaur and I all fended off the last few remaining Zubat and then began searching with our flashlights as best we could. All the sound had stopped completely now, and the eerie quiet had us both shaking like little kids. We moved our beams slowly across the cave walls and ceilings, probing the darkness for the source of the horrific noise. Then, in my beam, a flash of shadow, larger than any Zubat, and quite a bit faster too. The thing whipped through the beam of light and disappeared again into the darkness.
"D…did…did you see that?" Phillip rasped.
"I…I sure did." I managed to reply softly. Then all of the sudden, there was the sound of an impact and Snorlax groaned and rocked forward, just catching and holding itself up on a large rock in front of it. Whatever this thing was, it was serious and had attacked Snorlax.
"Snorlax!" Phillip yelped. Snorlax couldn't do much though, as the thing continued to slam into it. The attacker was so much bigger than the Zubat but was so silent in its flight. Phillip looked over at me. "Brian, I think it's a Golbat!" I nodded.
"I think so too, but how do I fight it? We can't see a thing! There's hardly enough light coming down from the crack in the ceiling…" the idea hit me hard and sudden. "Snorlax, aim a Hyper Beam at the roof!" Snorlax obeyed and the blazing stream of energy illuminated the cave as it tore through the air and blasted the cave ceiling. Rock and dust rained down like a meteor shower and Phillip and I dashed over to the wall for cover, Ivysaur and Snorlax trailing us at our heels. When the dust had settled however, the much of the cave was lit up from the sun, now shining directly through he roof. We could see it then, a huge Golbat, fluttering soundlessly back and forth through the cave and the remaining shadows. Snorlax looked in bad shape so I called it back into its Pokeball. Besides, I wanted to battle this thing on its own terms. So I immediately called out Scyther from its ball.
"Scyther, scy!" it said, raring for battle.
"Scyther!" I told it. "We have to fight this thing in the air, so go say hello!" Scyther barely acknowledged the command before it blasted into the sky like a rocket. It wasn't as quiet as the Golbat, but it could defiantly match it for speed. "Scyther, catch up and give it a Slash!" I commanded as I cupped my hands over my mouth to amplify my voice. Scyther blazed through the air and cut to the left to catch the Golbat. It delivered a cold-blooded strike to the surprised foe. The Golbat screeched in agony but it recovered quickly and bit into Scyther's shoulder, the same one that has been hurt about a week earlier. Scyther grimaced but refused to cry out in pain. It bit down harder and I could see blood trickling to the cave floor below. Scyther was in serious trouble. "Scyther, you have to disengage it now! Back off!" Scyther swatted the Golbat and managed to land a partial blow to its head with the flat side of his bladed am. The Golbat reeled and released its grip as blood that would have been sucked up by the vampire Pokemon flowed freely. I called for a Quick Attack but as Scyther blazed through the air to meet its foe the Golbat nimbly dodged the blow and delivered a Wing Attack to Scyther as it flew past him. The force of the attack sent Scyther slamming into the wall. The bleeding had worsened and blood gushed from several wounds now. The Golbat fluttered in and clamped its jaws down on Scyther's shoulder again. This was not turning out well at all. My Pokemon managed to swat the Golbat away enough to escape. Scyther landed near me and tried to use its scythes to stop the bleeding a bit as the Golbat shook out the cobwebs from Scyther's last attack. We needed to do something to end this battle quickly before the loss of blood could become too severe. The Golbat was charging through the air now, its fangs glistening with red plasma as it came in, thirsty and ready to suck more blood. I intended for it to do no such thing. "Scyther, dodge it with Double Team!" I called. Despite its bad shape, Scyther obeyed and vanished like some shadowy ninja into a swirling circle of blurry illusion clones. The Golbat realized too late what had happened as it bit down on a clone which disappeared. We had to seize the opportunity. The Golbat turned and began retreating to a higher elevation having become a bit flustered at Scyther's disappearing act. This was the chance we needed. "Scyther, hit it with Pursuit!" I called. I couldn't see Scyther myself, but I and Golbat both heard its war cry as it suddenly appeared seemingly from the darkness itself and struck the Golbat hard with its wings. The Golbat went spinning around end over end like an out of control planet on its axis. "Follow up with Slash!" I told him. Scyther faded away into the abyss again only to reappear less than a second later on the other side of the dizzied bat, and delivered a huge Slash to the blood-thirsty Pokemon. The Golbat had had it and plummeted towards the ground. It crashed there into the rocky terrain and remained motionless. I tossed a ball at it and after a very short time of resistance the Golbat was mine. Scyther returned to the ground and nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Phillip and I both dashed over to it and began to try to stop the bleeding on its shoulder. I applied nearly a whole can of potion to the wound and then bandaged it up with one of my spare t-shirts. It was clearly tired but seemed as though it would be okay. No doubt the blood loss had it feeling a bit woozy at least.
"Wow Brian, who knew your Scyther was such a cold-blooded battler?" Phillip grinned, obviously impressed. I could do little more than grin back.
"I know, did you see that? He was like some stone-cold ninja! That was so sweet!" I crowed, swelling with pride even as I tied a cloth around my head. "Scyther, 'nice job' just doesn't cut it pal. That was fantastic work!" Scyther only smiled mildly and closed its eyes with a small sigh. I called it back into its Pokeball for some well-earned and needed rest.
"I think we better get going," Phillip commented. "That took a lot of time and Scyther really needs to get to a Pokemon Center as soon as possible." Phillip looked at me. "You need a doctor pretty bad yourself, and I have more cuts then I ever though possible," he muttered, glancing down at his bloodied arms. "Let's get out of here." I nodded in total agreement.
"Yeah, you're right, let's get moving." We gathered up our stuff, battered and bleeding almost as bad as Scyther from the ordeal, and continued our trudge through the cave with more caution than before. Thankfully we were able to make it through the rest of the cave with little incident. I felt bad because we were forced to stop a few times on the way on my account. I suppose I had lost more blood than I though because walking was quite a strain and dizziness never left me. By the time we reached the exit of the cave and emerged back into the blessed sunlight I was holding on to Phillip to help me stay on my feet. We reached a clearing that was almost immediately after the cave's exit and collapsed to rest for a moment. I really wanted to continue to the Pokemon center as I was worried about Scyther but my body simply wouldn't keep going that far without periodic rest. I reached into my pack and drank some water from my canteen as Phillip glugged down some from a bottle. I sat breathing heavily and lowered my head, feeling as though I might vomit. The dizziness was really bad but the bleeding had stopped at last and I was beginning to feel better, if only slightly. Phillip was cut up pretty badly but he had gotten off a lot easier than I had.
"Hey, are you ready to keep going? I mean, can you stand back up yet?" he asked. I nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I think so." He moved to help me up but dropped me when we heard a loud shriek from the treetops. We both looked around frantically to find the source of the terrible noise. Our fears were made a reality as a large Pokemon soared out from a huge oak tree in front of us. It was a Pidgeotto, a large bird Pokemon. Its dull tan color blended into a blur with the clouds as it went screaming over our heads. It turned back towards us and dive-bombed us again. Somehow I managed to ignore the agony and scramble out of the way in the nick of time. It flew over to its tree and landed in a big nest on a lower branch that we hadn't seen. We were in its territory. Just great. I thought. Phillip climbed to his feet quickly and moved to stand in front of me.
"Don't worry, let me handle the big turkey." He called back over his shoulder to me as he reached for his Pokeball from his belt. Good thing he was ready, I was in no condition to battle anymore and my Pokemon certainly weren't. He tossed the ball out and it exploded in red light as his Ralts appeared. She looked right at the Pidgeotto and yelled at it, seeming pretty angry.
"Wha…what's up with your Ralts?" I stammered, surprised by the little Pokemon's angry outburst. Phillip just shrugged.
"I don't know, she gets like this sometimes, I guess she's kinda protective of us," he flashed a sideways smirk. "She reminds me of my mother sometimes..." Phillip's attention snapped back to Ralts as the Pidgeotto took flight from the branch and aimed straight for her. "Ralts, use your Barrier!" Phillip told her. Ralts' eyes lit up with violet light as a shimmering transparent wall of psychic energy appeared in front of it. The Pidgeotto saw what was happening and flared its wings. It was able to slow enough and then climb into the air and only scrapped its belly on the psychic shield. It soared into the sky and circled back around, this time more cautious of the Pokemon it now viewed as a threat instead of a pint-sized pipsqueak. It dived down and spilled air from its wings as it swooped in low. It fluttered just short of Ralts and flapped its wings violently, kicking up a tornado-like Gust attack. Ralts' Barrier attack had faded by now and she was caught up in the cyclone of wind and sand and was sent spiraling into the bushes behind us. Phillip looked back anxiously and called out to Ralts to see if she was okay. His little Pokemon emerged from the brush a moment later and ran back over towards the Pidgeotto. The bird Pokemon came at it again and kicked up another Gust with the beats of its large wings. "Ralts, use Confusion!" Phillip commanded. Ralts' eyes sparkled with its psychic power. The Gust attack that was bearing down on it was engulfed in a blue glow and reversed course suddenly and instead slammed into Pidgeotto. It staggered back into the air but recovered from the attack and aimed its beak straight towards Ralts as it dived at it again. Pidgeotto blasted through the air like a bullet as it turned its dive into a Quick Attack. Ralts didn't have time to dodge the speedy onslaught and Pidgeotto's beak connected with the little Pokemon. It fell back and winced as the attacking bird soared into the air once more. Phillip and I could see the Pidgeotto was getting tired from flying around so much and battling as well as taking Ralts' attacks. It was getting careless and dived towards Ralts once again. Phillip saw this and took his opportunity. "Ralts, dodge with a Double Team!" he told it. Ralts blurred from sight and blended into a small army of illusionary Ralts copies. The Pidgeotto dived right through a fake and slammed into the ground. It wobbled around and fluttered weakly as it tried to climb back into the air, but it was too slow and dizzied from the crash landing. "Ralts, take it down with Psychic!" Phillip yelled. Ralts' whole body illuminated a blinding purple glow of energy. It released a shockwave of psychic energy that traveled through the air and across the ground, ripping a trench of earth away as it went. The Pidgeotto didn't even know where it was anymore as it flopped around in midair just above the ground. The powerful psychic attack bashed into the bird and it went flying through the air, only to crash into the trunk of a massive tree. It fell to the ground completely knocked out. Phillip grabbed a spare Pokeball from his belt and slung it towards the fallen Pidgeotto who was barley able to put up any fight at all and within a few seconds Phillip had a new Pokemon. He called Ralts back to its Pokeball and collapsed next to me on the ground. "Whew, what is it, do we have targets painted on our chests or something?" he asked rhetorically as he took another swallow of water from his bottle. I would have congratulated him but I was just so worn out still I didn't even feel like opening my mouth. He stood up after a few seconds and helped me to my wobbly feet. Well, all things considered it had been quite an active day, to put it most inadequately. After gathering up our things we continued on towards the Pokemon Center. When we finally got there the sun was setting. It cast a warm and inviting glow across the building and it was most likely just about the most beautiful building I had ever laid eyes on. Phillip and I managed to drag ourselves inside and shuffle up to the front desk. Nurse Joy was no where to be found but there was a small service bell on the desk so I rang it. The soft ding was followed by someone's voice from the back room calling "Just a minute!" It was a woman but not Nurse Joy. Office Jenny appeared from the room and walked over to the counter. She took a good look at us and gasped. Our clothes were tattered and our hair was messy. I had a large cut running from above my right eyebrow down across my eye and down my check nearly to my jawbone. Blasted Zubat. I was lucky I still had my eye at all. Phillip didn't fare a whole lot better; his hat looked like an Ursaring had used it as a chew toy for a few years and he had several minor little abrasions all over his arms and shoulder, which protruded from a rip in his jacket, but at least he didn't have anything too serious. We looked like we had been sent to war and back in a day. I was pretty sure we had. Officer Jenny looked horrified.
"Oh my goodness, what happened to you two? Did you get mugged?" her face instantly twisted into anger. She whipped out a pad and looked back at us. "Okay, give me a description of the perpetrators!" Phillip remained silent and I managed to speak up.
"Oh, they were about yay tall," I told her, holding up my hands about a foot apart. "They had these really sharp looking teeth and wings as well. And there were a lot of them too." Funny how things like this always seemed to bring out this sarcastic side of me. Officer Jenny looked a little upset at my sarcastic response but I guess she decided to let it go.
"So you got attacked by Zubat, is that it?" she asked, not amused with me. Then her face brightened a bit with understanding. "Oh, did you two just pass through Igneous Cave?" Phillip spoke up, not wanting me to further anger Jenny nor make us look like fools.
"Yes m'am we did." He told her, giving me a quick glare. Officer Jenny nodded.
"There has recently been a rash of illegal digging operations in that cave." She picked up her walkie talkie and clicked a button, stopping the static that radiated from the speaker. "This is Jenny, Officer 279. Do you read me?" A moment more of static before the reply came.
"This is Jeffery 409, go ahead Jenny." Came a crackling male voice.
"We have a possible code 37 in the cave again. Can you check it out, over?" More static.
"Sure thing, I'm near their now. Stand by, over." We stood their, me barley able to keep my feet, bloodied and torn to pieces while Jenny waited for a response. After a good five minutes the radio crackled to life again. "Jenny, this if Jeffery 409, code 37 confirmed. There was only two of them though, and we got them. Heading back to book them, over and out." Officer Jenny smiled brightly at us.
"So that was it. Those operations in the caves really get the Zubat riled up a bit. It can make traveling through there quite dangerous. But thanks to you boy we caught two more criminals. The Zubat can rest easy tomorrow!" She smiled even more. Phillip was could see that I was about to say something along the lines of "Oh, good for the Zubat, as long as they're okay…" and nudged me as he shot me another icy stare to silence me. Officer Jenny understood I think. She placed he hands on our shoulders. "I'll understand if that's of little consolation for you guys though." She said with a concerned smile. She turned back towards the counter and hollered. "Nurse Joy, we have a few trainers out here who could really use your help!"
"I'll be right out! I need to finish up with this Zubat; it was brought in a little while ago in bad shape." I'm telling you, the irony of my life is just a little on the heavy side at times. Officer Jenny turned around and saluted me and Phillip.
"Thanks for your cooperation and the best of luck to you both!" With that she marched out of the Pokemon center and disappeared around the corner. Nurse Joy came out at that moment and smiled.
"So, what can I do for…" she trailed off and gasped as she got a good look at us. She rushed around the desk and started looking us over. "Oh my, you both need some first aid right away!" she ushered us into an examination room and had us sit on two separate tables. She began to collect various bottles and things from the cabinets on the plain white wall. She came over to me but I stopped her before she could get started.
"Actually, Nurse Joy, I'm more worried about my Pokemon, especially Scyther. I can hold out for a while more, just please help them first." She smiled.
"That's awfully nice of you but you could have a serious infection," she said, eyeing the gash across my face. "Your friend needs help pretty badly too, I simply can't let you sit here untreated any longer."
"Please, I'm really concerned about my Pokemon, please look at them first." She looked a bit torn. Then she got an idea.
"Chansey! Chansey I need you all in her now!" she called out the door. In less than a minute four Chansey wearing little nurses' caps had assembled inside the room. "Chansey, please administer first aid to these trainers, I need to look after their Pokemon." The Chansey nodded in unison and Nurse Joy left in a hurry after collecting our Pokemon. The Chansey sprung into action like a well oiled machine. Phillip had two of them attending his cuts and mostly just simple band-aids and antiseptic spray were sufficient, but my face was in bad shape from one of those Zubat that had nearly bitten a piece out of me. Actually it just may have succeeded. As one of the Chaney was slapping band-aids on some of my more minor cuts the other one fished around in a drawer and produced a small brown bottle. I squinted until I could read the label and when I was able to make it out all the blood drained out of my face; Iodine. The Chansey moved towards me with a cotton swab dabbed with the killer liquid. Though it hurt to move I started to get up to leave.
"Oh that's okay, really, I have some antiseptic spray in my backpack," I lied with a cheesy smile. "I'll just…" The Chansey cut me off by calling the others. They rushed me and pinned me down to the table. I struggled as much as I could but who knew Chansey we actually strong? The three of them were more than enough for me in my weakened condition, but I struggled anyway.
"Chan-sey!" the one with the wand of doom cried happily with a smile as it stabbed at me with the swab.
"No, oh God, no! Don't do this, please!" I pleaded with it as I bobbed and tried to dodge the swab. The Chansey was un-phased though and anticipated my move and caught me with it, pressing it into the gash several times.
Let me tell you, if you have never treated a cut with Iodine, much less an extremely severe one in a sensitive area like your face, you can't imagine the pain. You just can't. I jerked involuntarily as my muscles contracted out of reaction from the agony. I hadn't screamed like I did then in years, but who wouldn't? It was like searing fire, burning through my whole body. The stout group of Chansey-turned-orderlies held me to the table though as the one with the swab continued to put more iodine into the wound, happily swabbing away as I writhed in absolute anguish. Nurse Joy, apparently hearing the roars of suffering rushed into the room and saw what was happening. She grabbed the swab from Chansey's hand and commanded the others to back off.
"Oh my gosh, Chansey, didn't we have any Hydrogen Peroxide?" she asked. The Chansey seemed to understand what it had done now. Like the screams of agony hadn't tipped it off. "Brian, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Nurse Joy asked me, her voice full of concern.
"I…I'm just…fine…" I managed to squeak, my vision blurry as my eyes watered on their own.
"Chansey means well, I assure you, it just isn't used to treating humans." Nurse Joy explained. The Chansey looked over at me. It seemed like it was about to cry and had the look of a puppy left out in the rain. Those eyes, those darn manipulative eyes. How did it make me feel like I had done something? I felt so guilty for some reason that when it came over to me I gave it a pat on the head.
"It's…okay…Chansey…I know…you were only trying…to help me out." I wheezed. The Chansey smiled a little bit and then left with the rest of them. Nurse Joy offered to finish cleaning my cuts, thank God, and I wasn't about to refuse. Although I wasn't entirely sure I had any skin left on my face for her to doctor. She actually had to give me a few stitches. She said she was out of painkillers. I started to wish for the Chansey to come back during that little experience.
"I apologize again, but we don't get many human patients." She smiled. "I'd imagine you'd like a room for the night?" she asked. I managed a decent nod. "Okay, right this way please." She responded and started to lead us out of the room. I looked over at Phillip who had this amused look on his face, like he wasn't sure weather he should laugh or offer condolences.
"Just…don't start…just don't." I moaned, rolling my eyes as he started to open his mouth. He fell silent but that blasted smirk stayed right on his face. We trudged back into the main hallway in time to see Nurse Joy rummaging behind the counter for the key to our room. She found it and handed it to us; room one, which was actually visible just down the hallway to the left of us. It was a good thing too; I doubt I could have made it much farther, let alone up any stairs, in my condition. Phillip opened the door and tossed our stuff on the floor. He closed and locked the door and turned around in time to push me to the right so I fell on the bed instead of the floor when my legs went out from under me. It was no surprise either. With what we had been through today and then the Chansey and how I had not been sleeping well, it all came together in that moment. I think Phillip said something about taking a shower but I was already mostly asleep.