The Fight in the Cave

The only good thing was that the combined Psychic powers of Starmie and Golduck was enough to keep Kadabra at bay. They were all unmoving, locked in a battle in their own heads.

I have to stay calm, I thought. The opposing Pokemon are too strong but we could get out of this if I kept a cool head.

I pointed at Marowak and shouted at Misty.

"Switch targets!"

"Right," she understood my plan.

All at once I had Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, and my rock-throwing team aim their ranged attacks at their Kadabra. I had Pikachu distract Rhydon from blocking the way of this combined effort. It worked: Kadabra, with his Psychic abilities used to the limits by fighting against Stamie and Golduck, was unable to use any Telekinetic powers to block the incoming attacks. They all landed and he went sprawling.

I threw an empty Pokeball at Kadabra and it seemed to almost make contact, but… it bounced off of him as if it didn't touch his body.

Misty and I looked at each other. What the hell was that about? But there was no time to be Sherlock and Watson about it.

Starmie and Golduck being free from dealing with Kadabra, they were now able to attack Marowak with Psychic powers. It was effective against the fast-moving Pokemon that depended on speed and dexterity to fight. With her movements severely slowed, I had Mankey and Geodude go up to her and start punching her as fast and as hard as they could. They do have massive fists, you know.

And just as a test, I threw an empty Pokeball at the unconscious Marowak, and it bounced back without any effect. Misty noticed it as well.

"Something's not right!" Misty shouted. "Whatever it is, it's probably the same thing that's making these Pokemon so hyper aggressive!"

And strong, I thought.

"I think I know what's up," I shouted over the din of the battle. "And if I'm right, we can't solve it just yet. We gotta get out of here. Two left."

She nodded. We still had Rhydon and Arbok to deal with.

"Distract him, we'll deal with that last," I shouted at Misty, pointing at Rhydon.

While Misty had her Pokemon team up to deal with Rhydon, I needed to deal with Arbok as quickly as I could.

This Arbok was quite big, and the unknown psychic force was making him very aggressive and powerful. It thrashed around with its large and powerful tail, and threatened my Pokemon with her venomous fangs.

I had Squirtle and Charmander each launch ranged attacks at his eyes. Not all of it landed, but it at least stopped him from trying to bite them back.

Bulby tried his best to hold onto Arbok's body with his vines, but there was just too much of a weight difference. Mankey and Geodude helped by holding the vines, playing tug-o-war, Squid Game style.

Once Squirtle made the large snake sufficiently wet, Pikachu delivered a powerful Thunderbolt. But instead of knocking Arbok out, the attack made him go berserk. He used all of his strength to pull Bulby towards him and sank his venomous fangs into his body and bulb.

"No!" I shouted as Arbok threw Bulby's unconscious body into the wall.

I ran over to Bulby, while Squirtle and Charmander became enraged at the abuse their oldest teammate had suffered. They both jumped on Arbok's upper body and started biting and scratching him. Their screeches reminded me of Baby Groot. Arbok was damaged, but he was able to throw Squirtle and Charmander off of him. My two little guys also went sprawling.

Then the Arbok came straight at ME with his venomous fangs. I stood in front of Bulbasaur, protecting him from this coup de grace.

Oh, no, I thought. This is how I die for the second time.

Then I felt an energy behind me as I have never felt before. I turned around to see Bulbasaur, who seemed to be on the brink of death, stand up on all fours. His body then started to physically transform in front of my very eyes. His entire body started to enlarge in a way I never imagined possible against the law of physics and physiology. The plant bulb on his body also grew, and opened up into 4 palm leaves, revealing a smaller but obviously more mature red bulb inside.

Ivysaur grabbed my waist with one of his vines and brought me out of Arbok's fangs. At the same time, he grabbed the top and bottom jaws of the large snake with other vines and brought Arbok's face close to his own growling face. It was like a scene from Aliens vs. Predators.

"Whip him into shape, Bulby! I mean, Ivy!" I shouted, as I ran towards Squirtle and Charmander.

Ivysaur was now powerful enough to handle Arbok on his own. He gave me the opportunity to take care of my other two starters.

They were weak and tired, but they were alright.

"Do you guys need to rest?" I asked, taking out my Pokeballs.

But they looked at Arbok and Rhydon over my shoulder and roared with rage.

"Watch out!" Mistry shouted at that instance.

Rhydon had gone out of control and was whipping his tail. Squirtle, Charmander, and I were about to be smashed with it. I turned my body to block the impact, and it hit me right on the shoulders. I had Squirtle and Charmander in my arms and all three of us flew into the opposite direction. It hurt like hell, like being tackled by a football player. If Squirtle and Charmander hadn't moved to take the impact with me, then my bones would've been shattered.

We were flying into the wall, and I remember thinking "this is gonna hurt more" when I also felt Squitle and Charmander transform in my arms. As his body grew, Charmander also had a transformation of his bones. They stretched out and became more rigid and stronger. A part of his skull came protruding out from the back of his head. His forearms became bigger and more defined, and the front claws grew even bigger and sharper. Overall, his body changed into a deeper, darker shade of red. And the biggest change of them all: his tail flame became significantly bigger, brighter, and hotter. World, say hello to Charmeleon.

Squirtle's change was no less. His entire body almost doubled in size, his shell along with it. His front claws also grew bigger and sharper. His body turned into a darker shade of blue. His tail grew fluffier and more voluminous, and two ears became more visibly bigger. Later I would learn from Bill that these ears make it easier for Wartortles to assess what's happening even when their heads are inside their shells.

Wartortle grabbed me and met the wall with his shell, dampening the impact and saving my spine. He had my back. LITERALLY.

Charmeleon had already bounced off of the wall and grabbed Rhydon's tail. Ivysaur, with Arbok defeated, came to join the fight. He held Rhydon's legs with his vines, making him unable to move.

"Go for the upper body!" I shouted, pointing at the general area. All of Misty's Pokemon provided powerful Water gun and blasted Rhydon in the face and torso. He came tumbling down. Charmeleon ran up to his face and started scratching him many times until Rhydon passed out from the pain.

There was no time to celebrate. I could already hear other feral Pokemon trying to close in on our location. There would come a time when my Pokemon would be powerful enough to handle them, but it was not this day I grabbed Misty by the hand and ran out of the Cerulean Cave.

We had to get out of Mewtwo's lair.