Chapter 2: Aaron
"It's been a while Spirit." the Ninetales said.
"Who...are you, and how do you know me?" a confused Spirit asked the Ninetales. His red eyes glanced at the floor, and he took a deep sigh. "Wait. If you do know me why were you running away from me? Something is not adding up here" Spirit started to get closer and closer to the suspect. "You know something about me...because I don't ever remember telling you anything about me." Spirit locked eyes with him. The whole group sat in silence as they witnessed Spirit get up close and personal.
"The name's Aaron. I was running after you that night when you fell off the cliff. We traveled for a while before hand" Aaron looked at the perplexed Spirit, just shocked to actually see her again. "For about a year we had traveled together. You wanted to go look at something and pewter city, and we ended up being chased" Aren broke eye contact with the Espeon and looked at the floor. Filled with guilt that he wasn't able to protect her. "He managed to get ahead of me, and he chased you off the cliff. After that, they managed to capture me before I was able to go after you." Aaron shifted his eyes to the side, unable to look at her after his failure as a friend. "That still doesn't explain why you were running from me you know…" Spirit didn't have time for pity feats, she wanted answers. "You see, I escaped Rocket and have been on the run ever since. I thought you were after me. That was until I got a closer look at you." Spirit couldn't wrap her head around all of the information given to her. She felt as if her head was going to explode. "Why don't I remember anything before the cliff...it's like none of it even happened…my head hurts..." she grabbed her head and tried comprehending everything that was taken in. "You have to be lying...I don't believe you." Spirit stood up and contested him. "Is he the person that keeps showing up in my flashbacks? Is he the person I can't remember? No...it's too convinent." Spirit thought to herself.
"Spirit you need to settle down. I know it's a lot to process, but you need to take it in slowly. We already found our guy for today, so let's just take the time to question him." Lance reassured the Espeon. "No. You honestly expect I can believe such a story?" Spirit screamed. "Spirit, now is not the time for this. If what he says is true, it will all come back to you the more time you spend with him." After a few minutes, she regained her composure and started to ask Aaron questions about him and the Umbreon.
"Alright. We were sent on a mission because there has been a suspicious duo wandering around consisting of a Ninetales and Umbreon pair" Spirit looked around, searching for any signs of deceit in his eyes. "We believe that Umbreon might be our friend. Do you have any idea where he is?" the Ninetales showed no signs of deceit when he had answered her. "No. I'm afraid not. We separated from each other not long before you guys found me." Spirit let out a load sigh. Would she ever find Soul if he keeps moving around like a roaming legendary? "If it's any help, I can tell you where we separated from. Maybe we can find him from there?"
"I think it's worth a shot," Lance told Spirit. "We should take the rest of tonight off though. You still aren't in any condition to move." Spirit tried to get up and prove him wrong, but after nearly collapsing again, she decided to lay back down and heed his advice. "Aaron…where did you last see him?" she looked towards him, looking for an answer. "I last saw him in Cerulean city. We parted ways near route 4." Not much to go on Spirit thought to herself, but it's more of a lead than she expected to get. "Alright guys. Tomorrow morning we head out to Mt. Moon" she announced to the group. "If we stick together, there should be no issue getting through the cave in a few hours at most." Everyone agreed on the plan and proceeded to set up camp for the night.
Evening
Outskirts of Pewter City
11:02PM
Spirits P.O.V
The night sky was lit up with millions upon millions of stars. A nice dim light was cast over the trees, producing a comforting shadow over the group. My mind raced with multiple thoughts, like what had happened the day of the cliff? Why do I not remember? Noctowls could be heard off in the distance hoo-ing from their nests built from high up in the trees. Everyone else was asleep in the group except for me. I still wasn't able to get any sleep. My ears perked up when I had suddenly heard some leaves and branches snap under the weight of an unknown entity.
"Is anybody there?" walking off into the dark night, it seemed as if someone was standing at the end of a path laid before me. "Hello?" I said, hoping they would respond. I walked closer to the individual, but could not make out any facial features due to a hood covering his face. He sat there watching me get closer, his cloak blowing in the wind. "Soul?" No...think about it. Finding Soul wouldn't be that easy...he wouldn't just appear out of thin air. My paws continue to move towards even though there is no point. It felt like I was sleeping, but wide awake. A snap echoed throughout the woods as my weight broke a branch beneath my foot. The hooded figure disappeared into the dark forest, leaving no trace behind.
"Spirit what are you still doing up?" Lance came up from behind. "I thought I saw someone over in the woods by the trees." They both looked over, but saw no trace of any lurking figure. Lance sighed and looked back to the others who were sound asleep. "Spirit, it's been a long day with you finding more about your past and all. Don't you feel you might be imagining things? I mean you're up in the middle of the night looking into the dark depths of the forest." he reasoned with me. I didn't want to think it was nothing. Someone WAS watching us, I just know it. But there was no point in arguing, it would just wake everyone up. "Maybe you're right Lance…" I didn't believe myself when saying this, but I went along with it. "I've just been having trouble sleeping and I guess my imagination got the best of me. I'm gonna try to go to sleep now." anything to end this nightmare of a conversation. Lance nodded and headed back towards the group. Once I was sure he was gone, I headed to where the shadow figure was. In his place, there was a set of footprints. Following them led to nowhere, since they cut off at a certain point. "Something was here….but what?"
Next Morning
7AM
"Spirit it's time wake up." Scarlett nuged the sleeping Espeon.
"Ugh...what time is it?" she groaned. Spirit looked around and saw everyone packed up and ready to go. "Is it morning already?" Tori had started making sure the campfire was completely out and wouldn't cause a fire once they left.
"Yeah. It's about 7. If we want to get through Mt. Moon today we have to start heading out right now." Lance told Spirit. "Alright guys everyone let's move out. We head for Mt. Moon and head to cerulean city today. Make sure you have all of your gear because we won't be coming back." and with that everyone headed off to Mt. Moon. "After we go through Mt. Moon we head directly for Cerulean city and start finding any leads on the whereabouts of Soul."
"Huh...So they're headed out to Mt. Moon today. I guess I'll have to trail them." the lurker emerged from the bushes once he had waited a bit. He didn't want her to see him again. "Soul...guess these are the right guys to follow. I was thinking they would never come along."
Mt. Moon
9:30AM
The group arrived at Mt. Moon nearly 3 hours later. The entrance to the cave stood nearly a story tall, its pathway filled with sharp and jagged rocks that would pierce the feet of those careless enough to step on them. Groups of Geodudes hung out over the rocks and boulders far off from the path.
"Hey guys I found a sign over here. It says beware of those that venture into the cave. It is highly recommended that trainers venturing into the cave have at least one Pokemon with flash and plenty of options due to the aggressive Zubats in the cave…" Lance warned the group.
"Hmmm….maybe we aren't well equipped for Mt. Moon. I don't think we have any potions on us, and I don't think any of us know the move flash." Tori thought about the dangers that might be ahead into the cave. Possible trainers, zubat attacks, and pitfalls. Spirit heard her and spun around to see the rest of the group.
"We can't do that Tori. Mt. Moon is our only way to reach Cerulean city by today. To take a detour and go around could take us a few days. By that time we might not be able to find any leads on where the Umbreon had went." Spirit turned back around and signalled everyone to come in the cave. "So this is the famous Mt. Moon huh?" Spirit said as she looked up to the roof and saw rows upon rows of stalactites hanging down, water slowly dripping from some of them. "Well….it seems this place is even bigger than people say. Careful you don't get lost guys and watch out for any pitfalls." she pulled Scarlett closer to her. "Especially you Scarlett. Lance, you take lead since this is a rock type area. Tori you cover behind us. Aaron you stick close to me and Scarlett. Last thing we need is someone getting lost." Lance took the lead and made sure no one was up ahead. Since it was the weekend not many trainers were around to cause any issues as gyms were closed on the weekends so travel in this kind of area was limited. The temperature in the cave was frigid, and the water droplets coming from the roof were like raining ice cubes. The fire types of the group may not have had much of an issue due to their naturally warm body, but members like Spirit had trouble dealing with the cold as it cut through both her fur and cloak as it was a sword. Spirit shivered, hoping the cave would be a short and sweet trip. "Wow it is getting kind of dark in here…" Spirit's voice was low and shaky, her teeth chattering. "It's so cold in here…" Spirit adjusted her cloak firmly around her neck, hoping that if it acted as a scarf it might help warm her up.
"Damn...I'm starting to have trouble seeing. Aaron do you mind taking the lead? Could use some fire type moves to light the way." Lance asked him.
"Sure I don't mind taking over." Aaron found a stick close by and used ember on it to create a makeshift torch. He picked it up and proceeded to lead the others through the cave.
"Wouldn't that hurt to have a stick on fire in your mouth even if you were a fire type?" Spirit asked as she got closer to the torch, trying to soak in the warmth as much as she could.
"No. I mean we breathe fire so why would it burn us? It's our typing so why would we get hurt by fire that we made?" Tori told her. "It would be so nice to be a fire type right now...this cloak isn't doing much for me heat wise. Aren't you cold Lance?" Lance looked back at Spirit shaking his head. "Vaporeons don't really have a hard time dealing with cold climates unless it's harsh cold. Not to mention we can also learn ice type moves. This is a very tame temperature." Lance took off his cloak and handed it to the Espeon, who gladly accepted the sentiment. "I guess since your fur is very light you would have more trouble dealing with the cold than us. So you can use my cloak for now." The cave was no longer as dark as it once was thanks to the makeshift torch, but you would still have to be careful of pitfalls and such in the caves. "Man...why am I the only one that has a problem with this temperature? Thanks Lance, the cloak actually helps a bit more." She thanked Lance for his kindness. Spirit couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night. She kept thinking about how she found a footprint near the camp-site. Was someone following them? Aaron did still seem suspicious after all, even if he seemed to be telling the truth. No one would believe her if she brought it up. It would just be brushed off as she was imagining it because of the trauma she had dealt with the previous day. Spirit hung her head down low and shook it in confusion. "Maybe it is just me being paranoid. I was the one that started off the Rocket escapade a year ago due to my paranoia…." Spirit thought to herself.
"Hey are you alright Spirit? You seem to be deep in thought over there. Not still cold are you?" Scarlett asked the lost in thought Espeon.
"Huh? Oh no….I was just thinking about last night Scarlett. Nothing to involve yourself with." Spirit tried to shut down the conversation as fast as she could. She didn't want to have to deal with more people telling her she's crazy. Aaron was still leading the group. An hour or so passed and the group was almost through the cave.
"Woah!" Aaron stumbled after nearly stepping in a huge pot-hole. In avoiding the pot-hole, slips up and lands in another small pot-hole.
"AGHHH!" Aaron cried in pain. A large thud echoed through the cave as the torch rolled off into a dark tunnel. Aaron had got his paw stuck in the tiny pot-hole.. "I think my arm is stuck... I'm trying to move it around, but I can't really move it or get up…" Aaron tried wiggling his arm around, but was not able to get it unstuck.
"What should we do Spirit?" Tori asked.
"Well none of us can really see without the torch. Scarlett can you go grab the torch?" Scarlett raced over to the dimly lit tunnel while the others focused their attention on Aaron. "I'll try using my psychic powers to pull you up off the ground some. Maybe then you can move your arm around."
"Alright. Just don't pull too hard. You might hurt something." Spirit lifted Aaron up as he kept moving his arm around trying to free himself. "It's not working. Maybe if I shift myself to the left?" Aaron moved a bit over to the left hoping to be able to see where he could move his arm around. Lance scanned the premises while Tori and Spirit tried helping Aaron get unstuck. "I don't think there is anything around us, but it's hard to say since I can't see much." Lance was uncertain about what possible dangers could be lurking around the corners. At any minute something could come out at them and they wouldn't be able to see a thing.
"Scarlett are you done? It's been a few minutes since you've been over there. We can't see anything over here." Spirit awaited a response, but only heard the silence of the cave. "Tori, you go check on Scarlett." Tori ran off into the dimly lit cave. "Nghhhh…." Aaron kept trying to pull his arm out "I'm making a bit of progress. Spirit can you pull a bit harder?" she began to lift him up a bit more.
"RUN NOW!" A loud voice echoed in the cave. Large sounds of screeches could be heard coming closer and closer.
"Huh? What's going on with those two?" Lance could see a bright light coming closer and closer towards them at the speed of a barrelling train. It didn't take long to see what the issue was. A horde of Zubat emerged from the tunnel and started to pour out into the cave.
"Oh no….QUICK WE GOT TO FREE AARON BEFORE THEY START SWARMING US!" Lance grabbed the torch from Scarlett and swung it at the Zubat trying to shoo them off. Aaron was still struggling to get his paw out of the pothole.
"Ow!" Spirit was starting to get swarmed by a horde of Zubats using leech life on her.
"Duck! I'll use flame-thrower to deter them!" Aaron warned the feline before opening fire on the horde. They spread out wanting to avoid the bright lights and heat of the fierce flames. Flames consumed the room, leaving almost no empty space left. You could see the ashes slowly fall from the ceiling with bits of rocks that cracked from the impact of the intense pressure. Some of the Zubats dropped to the ground, knocked out and wings singed and smoked like a barbecue.
"Tori and Scarlett you cover behind Spirit, I'll try to keep them off us from in front!" Lance commanded them. each team member got into position to fend off the Zubats. One could feel the rise and drops of the temperature as one moment it would be freezing because of Lance's ice beams, then got because of the two fire types using flamethrower and ember behind her.
"Aaron I'm going to have to pull a bit harder. We need to get out of here fast." Spirit pulled even harder on Aaron, disregarding if he was in any pain. If they stayed there any longer they would become a feast for the golbats soon to come. "Are you almost free Aaron? We can't hold them off too much longer!" Lance asked while he helped Tori and Scarlett fend off the life suckers. Zubats started to attack Tori and Lance with poison sting and leech life. They held them off as best as they could, but some were starting to slip through. A group of 7 Zubats came flying towards Aaron. Aaron pulled one final time and got his paw free from the pot-hole, then used flamethrower to burn the attackers to a crisp. "Yeah! I'm free now, let's get out of here!"
"But which way is out? We can't exactly just run if we just get stuck in another part of the cave with a more dangerous situation!" Tori exclaimed, slowly draining her energy from a combination of the leech life usage and using flames to deter the Zubats. Spirit had to think fast. She searched for any openings in the walls that showed any cracks of light. Suddenly she felt a gust of wind from the tunnel the Zubats were still swarming out of.
"Guys! The Zubats are near a way out!" Spirit explained to the group.
"Are you crazy?! You want us to dive head on into the swarm coming to kill us?!" Tori screamed at her. "Do you have a better idea? I felt a gust of wind coming from that direction, and that's our best bet!" Spirit dashed towards the flood of Zubats, leading the rest of the group to the exit. "I'm starting to see light up ahead guys! I think this is the way out of the cave!" Spirit started to race towards the exit faster than a Jolteon. Aaron picked up Scarlett and put her on his back so she didn't fall behind.
"Come on guys! Let's go!" Aaron screamed at Lance and Tori. Lance looked behind him before spraying scalding hot water at the Zubats following them. Spirit could finally see the daylight pouring in from the exit. Within mere seconds she had tripped on the rocks right outside of the cave. "I made it…" she uttered to herself. Following suit was Tori, Aaron, and Scarlett. All of them immediately ducked from the still oncoming horde of Zubat coming out of the cave.
"Where is Lance?!" Tori asked Aaron.
"I saw him stay a bit behind us to fend off some of the Zubat. He should be here any moment now…" Aaron said as he saw the mermaid like-fox jump over him. Zubats followed him out of the cave, dispersing high up in the sky. Lance landed on all fours, then swiftly turned around and shot an ice-beam at the exit, sealing off any chance the Zubats had of coming out or entering the cave again for a long time.
"Phew….that was a close one." Lance said as he was gasping for air. Everyone layed down, exhausted from the zubats chasing them. "Is everyone alright? I think I bought us enough time to get far away from the cave before they are able to get out." Lance puffed as he built up enough strength.
"Yeah….I think all of us are ok. Thanks for the save Aaron." Scarlett snugged up to the Ninetales, his silver face becoming cherry red.
"Y-y-Yeah….no problem. Just making sure no man gets left behind." he stuttered.
"Well...it's not too far off from here guys. Cerulean City is about an hour's walk from here. Let's get moving." Spirit told the group before getting up and shrugging off all the pain from leech life like it was nothing.
Back at the Village
12PM
Angie slept soundly on a hill near the outskirts of the village. This was her favorite place to come to in the village, as nobody really came out there to bother anyone. She could sleep there as long as she wanted, and it was her day off.
"Angi got up. There's a mission for you." Angie groaned as she could already tell who was hovering above her, demanding she wake up. Cinnamon stood over her, waiting for her. She thought about just playing asleep, but something told her it wouldn't work on Cinnamon.
"Ugh….it's my day off. Spirit already has the last few guild members. What could you possibly need me for?" she whined. "Come on back to my office in thirty minutes. This is also a case that needs attention right away." Cinnamon started to walk off, but she forgot to mention "Oh. And pack your bags. You're probably gone for awhile." she then continued to walk down the hill. "You've got to be kidding me…" Angi thought "what could she possibly need me for? Guess I'll go pack my stuff real quick." It took her about ten minutes to get home. There she packed her cloak, cloth, a stick, and some blueberries since she didn't know where she would be heading off too. "Really hope she's sending me somewhere not too far. I don't feel like walking all the way to a Johto location…" swinging the russack on her back, she started heading towards the Guild.
"Hey wait up!" Jenny shouted.
"Huh? What's up Jenny?" Angi was surprised to see the Ninetales. She hadn't seen her in a while, mostly due to the fact she has been sleep deprived and busy working the guild nurse station for the past month non-stop. She still looked depressed even after all this time. David's death really took a toll on her. "I got a request from Cinnamon to come into the guild on short notice. What about you?" "I was asked as well. It was my day off. Not that I know exactly what I'm doing for her." Angi was furious she couldn't even have her day off the way she wanted. "Well that's Cinnamon for you...pops out of nowhere and next thing you know you're doing something. She would've made for a better ghost type rather than grass with the way she can sneak up on people." Angi couldn't help but laugh. Off in the distance they could see the statue of David and Crimson, along with new banners of the guilds logo plastered on the wall. "It's still really hard to think that it's been a year since I've been in that horrid place" Angi's eyes started to well up. Jenny looked away from the statue "Yeah...I know the feeling all too well." The cobblestone path lay ahead, and it led up to the giant wooden door. Once they entered, they could see all the statues dedicated to all the fallen Pokemon that had worked with the guild.
"I see you made it. Come on back to my office guys." Cinnamon waved them into her office and had them sit down in the chairs. "I guess you guys are wondering why I brought you in today?"
"It was my day off...of course I would be wondering why you brought me in." Angi retorted, still tired from her earlier catnap. "If you can recall, I sent out Spirit, Tori, Scarlett, and Lance on a mission two days ago. I've just received some more information about the case but we have no way to relay it to them." Cinnamon informed the two, and immediately turned to Jenny.
"So what does this have to do with me? I'm not a guild mercenary, I'm a stationary guild medic." Jenny asked Cinnamon, as there was no one to cover her shift if she did leave. "Well...it may be more dangerous than we initially thought." The room went silent after she spoke. "What do you mean it could be more dangerous than we thought? What new type of information could we have that makes this more dangerous?" Angi looked worried for her friends, Jenny listening intently to Cinnamon. "Well...it's still about a Ninetales and an Umbreon. That much hasn't changed. But there's someone after them as well and we don't know who." "If you don't know who is after the two of them, then how can we know it's dangerous?" Jenny asked. "That's the problem. We don't know for sure. But we need to warn them before things could possibly go south. That's where you two come in. I want you guys to head to Celadon City." both of them confused by the green fox, they had her reiterate what exactly needed to be done. "The train won't be back for another week or so, so you'll have to find other methods of travel. I could possibly arrange a ride for you in Viridian City. But first we need to get you geared up Jenny" she looked at the kitsune and immediately went to her desk to write a note for the designers. She had one of her assistants come in and take the note to the designers. "Wait but who is going to take over my job?" Jenny was insistent that no one else would be able to fill her role. "We will be having Luna fill in while you're gone. You just need to focus on the mission at hand. Now I want you to go to the clothing room and once you're done there, you need to head out to Viridian City. The Village needs you."
If you guys want more context on the Spirit/Aaron relationship you can always visit Fragmented Memories which goes over the past lives of each character a bit more than what you see in the main story. However this relationship will also be explained more in later chapters. Arc 2 Chapter 3 will have our heroes continue on towards Cerulean City.
