Disclaimer: Thanks for the reviews!
And Ash does have Hoppip… but well yeah I guess that doesn't really counts. I'll see what I can do about getting him new Pokémon… but I doubt it'll be an egg, though. People don't generally give you eggs for no reason. He does know he needs a Pokémon though… especially after being beaten by Michelle so bad.
A baddie though… that's one thing I've been considering for a long time; IMO it adds a lot of cliché "omg-rockets"… but I thought it'd be quite a cool thing to do… so… and all… yeah. Maybe a bit in the future… like after the 2nd badge, as R'N'Rer suggests.
And I did a sketch of some sort of Pokémon Go! cover page today… the significance of the sunglasses there isn't… well there isn't much significance that way, but… well it was easier to draw.
Project's been claiming a lot of my time… getting to start on the chapter only now, with two hours left. Same time as yesterday, I guess. Anyways, taking all your reviews to heart… here comes the next episode of Pokémon Go, chapter 23!
The cold stone walls seemed to close in on them as they stepped cautiously through the long passage. They were still heading downwards now, but the slope was less steep here. It was also obvious trainers had rarely come down this deep; at points, Machop actually had to crush rocks in their way.
"So long as this doesn't cause the entire tunnel to give way…" Dave whispered.
There was less phosphoresce down this deep; as they continued to descend, Espeon was forced to create the light again. Occasionally it casts shadows on the walls; shadows that were not theirs, but these were fleeting; the Pokémon down here seemed to have no desire for a human encounter.
"I do wish we'd actually find a Pokémon worth coming down this deep for…" RJ said in a low voice, rubbing his hands together for warmth. Time seemed to stretch in the darkness; while they had only been in there half an hour at most, it seemed they'd been heading downward for hours.
"We'll probably reach the bottom soon…"
Dave's words could hardly have been truer; at the next corner, the two of them stopped abruptly. A fork, leading right upward, left downwards. Down the left, a flight of stairs, carved so smoothly that it could hardly have been man-made, wound downwards from where they stood. RJ looked down a moment, then nodded.
"Figures… this was probably created as a river ran along this route…"
RJ traced a route leading from the right path, downwards. Dave stared down the long, winding trail.
"A… river…? Well; at least it isn't running anymore…"
Dave stepped down the smooth rock step, a breath catching in his throat as he almost tripped. Gaining confidence, he ran the rest of the way down, stopping only to call back to RJ.
"What're you waiting for…? At last… something not so boring…!"
RJ shrugged, following Dave down. Espeon followed, easily catching up with Dave due to its agile dexterity. Machop followed behind RJ. Dave watched Espeon as it led the way once more, noticing that the light on its forehead was beginning to fade.
It can't get tired so easily…
As the four of them descended, it was almost as though the path was a staircase between levels. As RJ and Machop cleared the upper level, Dave and Espeon had reached the bottom, and were fully astonished.
"It's not that Espeon's light was getting dimmer…"
RJ nodded, stepping off the winding path behind Dave.
"This place… was just getting brighter…"
It was hard to believe they hadn't entered a different dimension; the temperature here was freezing; RJ shivered as he detached a Pokéball from his belt.
"Vulpix; come on out!"
The Fire Pokémon practically jumped out of its Pokéball; it looked around for a second, unsure of where exactly it was.
The walls here was almost entirely covered with the light-blue phosphor; compared to the darkness, the light here was almost blinding. The ceiling was entirely covered, as well, with the exception of a large dome-shaped projection which hung from the ceiling; it stretched over the entirety of the underground lake which lay in the center of the cavern. A steady drip-drip could be heard as water condensed on the sides of the dome, trickling towards down and falling into the center of the pool.
The crystal-clear waters reflected the blue light off the walls, lighting the entire cavern up in beautifully patterned strokes. All was silent; vague shadows indicated the presence of Pokémon in the water, but that was all. RJ walked over to a sign which hung to a side; he read it, and then motioned to Dave to come over. The sign had only once sentence written on it.
Welcome to Lake Baria.
Erynn stepped back into the room, her hair still wet from the shower. Sitting down on the lower bunk of her bed, she continued to towel her hair as she turned to Michelle.
"Thanks, Michelle… for everything; we'll see you tomorrow?"
Michelle shrugged, sitting in one of the black armchairs; her hair was loose as she reached behind her head, re-tying her hair up.
"Unless I'm attacked tonight and incapacitated, I believe I'll probably be with you tomorrow. The likelihood of that happening is halved though; house break-ins are usually the result of thieves more than armed murderers."
Erynn sighed.
"Are you always like that…?"
"No; sometimes I'm worse."
It was at that point that Ash entered with dinner. Ditto, who had been lying on the bed all the time, now perked up at the sound, and the two of them quickly set into eating.
"Erynn… the…" Ash swallowed, "the two bags of food there are for you… and Michelle can have that one," he indicated the two bags, "if she wants."
Michelle watched, her mouth open in an O as she watched trainer and Pokémon demolish their food.
"Don't worry about it… I'm having dinner at home."
Ash shrugged.
"Ditto; you want to try some tofu?"
He paused from his meal, reaching for the extra packet of food and dumping it in front of the pink Pokémon, who wasted no time in swallowing it as well. Erynn rose from her seat and took her share, settling into the black chair beside Michelle to eat it. She poked at it with her fork, before turning to look at Ash.
"How much did these cost you…?"
Ash took a break from demolishing his meal.
"Why…?" he caught the look in Erynn's eyes.
"Oh… don't worry about that… I'm surprised you have money left over after all your shopping sprees… just eat it."
Erynn nodded, and began to eat. Michelle watched as Ash stood to throw away the inedible remains of his meal. Standing, he turned to Ditto.
"Hey… where're your… Ditto! No more plastic bags…!"
At the sight of Ash forcibly removing two plastic bags and a fork from Ditto, Michelle was tempted to take her sketchbook out once more. But then she thought better of it, letting her hand drop to a side as she looked to Erynn, who watched the entire incident more than a little bemusedly.
Ash groaned, rushing off to the recycling bins with what looked to be a pink, sodden mess in his hands. And all over his shirt as well.
"Is he… always like that…?"
Erynn hummed a little note as she poked at her food, nodding.
"Every time… but while it gets annoying, it's also kind of funny."
Michelle nodded thoughtfully, turning to leave.
"I'll see you tomorrow; then…"
Erynn nodded, her mouth too full of vegan goodness to speak.
As she left the room, her eyes lingering on the trail of pink slime which marked Ash's path, she spoke to herself in an undertone.
"This… should be more interesting than I thought…"
Leon followed her out of the PokéCentre and into the evening light.
RJ paced around one side of the lake; Dave followed purely because he didn't have a Fire Pokémon to keep him warm.
"This… this projection is most probably the bottom of the lake above…" RJ speculated.
It was tremendous; the bulge looked like it was on the verge of giving way, and yet it somehow still managed to keep the place together.
"If this… this place is Lake Baria… then the land above…?"
RJ turned from the sight, pondering on Dave's question for a while.
"I guess… both of them are, in a way. There's the tourist's version… and then there's this… probably the real one, here."
Dave checked his PokéNav; it was getting late.
"There's no one down here at all…"
RJ shrugged; he didn't understand how no one seemed to come, either.
"The Pokémon here should be less than common, anyway."
Dave looked as RJ gestured over the large lake.
"What… you aren't catching any of these…?"
RJ smiled.
"There are other Pokémon I've got my sights on… let's just say these Pokémon are not my type…"
Turning, RJ released Azurill from his Pokéball.
"Azurill…?"
The creature emerged from its Pokéball, fast asleep. Dave sighed and woke the Pokémon up.
"Azurill… go try and lure one of the Pokémon in the lake up here with a Charm."
Azurill nodded, turning and walking away from her trainer, taking a step into the water before squealing and rushing back again.
"What…?"
RJ laughed out loud.
"Azurill's finding it too cold, Dave."
And he was right. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't persuade the Pokémon to leave his body. After a while, he finally gave up and recalled the Pokémon. It disappeared in a flash of red immateria as Dave turned to Espeon. The two of them exchanged glances.
"Espeon; Confusion attack!"
Espeon's ruby glowed red again as she began to concentrate. Dave could feel the power she concentrated at the water…
All of a sudden, Espeon's power seemed to fade. Before anyone knew what was happening, the jewel on Espeon's head glowed black and sent the energy back at the feline. RJ tensed as Espeon got to her feet shakily, a strange Pokémon rising out of the waters.
It was a lot larger than Espeon; it looked like an octopus, but instead of tentacles, dark immateria hung from its bulbous body. Somehow, its body, too, looked racked.
"What is… that?"
Espeon shuddered as it was racked by a series of spasms. Dave turned to the Pokémon nervously, but it wasn't doing anything…
RJ removed his PokéNav from his pocket, pointing it at the strange creature as he switched to the PokéDex function.
Spectropus, the Hollow Shell Pokémon. Spectropus makes its home in the bodies of dead Octillery. It is rarely found in the wild because it requires a host to survive. Sailors used to fear this creature as the incarnation of the giant Kraken; among its various attacks, its Curse is the most potent, giving some justification to their claims.
A rare Pokémon. Dave's eyes glittered at the prospect, but he was not without a little apprehension. A Ghost-Water Pokémon would be hard to take on with any of his Pokémon… especially since…
Espeon writhed again.
That's… its Curse attack…?
Quickly, Dave recalled Espeon into her Pokéball; the Psychic Pokémon was too weak to resist. Snapping it into his belt, he was left with three choices.
Mudross… the water would kill it, without a doubt.
Rattata…a Normal type… would be entirely useless.
Azurill… she'd probably try to hide and fall into the water…
Weedle…?
Dave lifted the Pokéball from his belt.
I'd hate to say it… but it's my only choice…
RJ stepped a step back. This was going to get serious.
"Dave…"
Dave turned to RJ.
"Would you mind if I borrowed your Omanyte…?"
RJ goggled at him; he hadn't expected him to say that.
"It's just… Weedle's the only Pokémon that can even damage that guy… and…"
RJ nodded, handing the Pokéball to him. With a flourish, Dave released both Pokémon at the same time.
RJ looked doubtful, though, as he stood to a side.
"Weedle and Omanyte… I'm not so sure they can handle it…"
A/N: Meh… I hate projects and everything… they can really suck away story-writing time… and I've got third language tomorrow, too.
Whatever it is though, it's also way past my bedtime, but I still hope you enjoyed it. I've gotta go to bed now, so please review, all of you! Thanks very much!