Chapter 4

Lavender Cave Enterance

2:50PM

Aaron/Scarlett

"Spirit!" They screamed as they saw her sink into the river like a brick, slowly being carried away by the rapid river. Scarlett ran towards the river ready to jump in and follow before Aaron snatched her out of the air before she jumped into the river.

"What are you doing?! We have to go after her! She's going to die out there! We have to save her!" Scarlett cried, trying to break free from his grasp. She thrashed around trying to get out of her cloak but to no avail. "Do you want her to die?! She's passed out in the fastest river in Kanto! We need to go after her PLEASE AARON!" She pleaded with him, but wasn't able to make him budge.

"You wouldn't be able to withstand the rapids as a fire type. We may be able to deal with rapid water but we generally have a harder time swimming than most Pokemon. It would be a death wish for you." Aaron still trying to hold her back from foolishly diving in to save her friend. She was thrashing around like a Magikarp caught in a Urasings mouth. He had to harden his grip on the little Vulpix just so he could prevent her from breaking free.

"Then why don't you at least go in and try to save her if you're worried so much about me? We can't just let the current take her away." Scarlett gave him an angry glare as she pestered him with questions. He set the Vulpix down, but put her in such a position she couldn't jump in after her so he could answer her question.

"Because I can't leave you alone." he tried explaining to the temperamental Vulpix. "I know where the river leads to and she will be fine there. I can't even take you with me since I can't carry both of you when you can't handle the rapids. Trust me when I say it's for the best we don't go after her." He let go of her, as she stopped fighting back. She was too tired to even try struggling anymore. At this point she was lost in the water with no one to help her thanks to Aaron.

"Now she's too far away for either of us to help thanks to you. How can you be a friend of hers when you don't even try to save her?" her voice was sad and filled with hatred for him.

"Scarlett, I know it's hard to lose someone you care about, but mindlessly throwing yourself into danger is not the solution to the problem." Aaron comforted the Vulpix. His shiny tails carassed her head and wiping away the tears from her eyes. Scarlett turned her head away from his gaze, not wanting anything to deal with him even if he was doing it for her safety. Nothing could convince her that watching their friend and teammate drowning instead of helping was the right thing to do.

"Guys! Reinforcements are on the way. We managed to fight some of them off, but there are too many for us to fight off." Lance called out the Vulpix and Ninetales. He was out of breath and nearly down for the count after racing to reach them.

"We have a squad of Houndoom, about 4 Mightyenas, and 4 trainers coming our way right now. We need to find Spirit right now and get out of here." Lance demanded the silver tailed fox tell him where the Espeon was.

"Did you guys ever find Spirit? Or did you guys lose her?" Tori asked him with a concerned look on her face. She looked around for the purple feline but found nothing that indicated her whereabouts. She turned to Aaron for an answer, and his face fell flat, a loss of words for her. Then turning to a crying Scarlett giving Aaron a death stare.

"She was dropped into the river by a Rocket member and carried away by the tide...we weren't able to make it in time and she got swept" Tori's eyes shrunk when she heard the news, and waterfalls came down from the young foxes face as she tried to explain what had happened, "I tried to go in, but Aaron said it was too dangerous for the both of us due to being a fire type, and me being too weak to handle the tides."

"Oh my God….Lance we have to go after her." Tori looked at him for an answer on the situation, because their leader was gone.

"We can't. We've got Rocket on our tail with at least 10 more units. We can't risk going after her right now. Besides the point, even if we did go after her, the three of you guys are fire types. I would be the only one here who would be able to go after her. She's far ahead of us, and even with my speed I couldn't make it to her." Lance didn't really know what to say. As much as he wanted to save his leader, he was put in the position to risk everyone's safety for one team member. There was no right answer, but he prioritized everyone's safety over Spirit. He quickly took a peek at his map and found where the river had led to.

"I know exactly where that current leads to. The abandoned Kanto power-plant is that way. If she does come back, she'll be there. We have to keep going otherwise we'll all be caught and we won't be able to tell anyone about where she is." Aaron told everyone. If she did end up reaching the Kanto power plant, she would be safe there as no one would be there, or think to look for her there. However she wouldn't be able to contact them due to her mic being underwater for an extended period of time most likely. Hopefully she would regain consciousness and find a way back to them.

"With a heavy heart and in this time of Spirits absence, since no one else here has as much experience in battle as I do I will be taking over. We head to Lavender town and continue our search from there." Sad as everyone was, they all decided it was best to listen to Lance. He was much more experienced in tactics and battle than any of them were, proving him to be a fit leader in her absence. This was the best plan as sitting still was asking for Rocket to show up.

"There isn't any other way to get to Lavender town from here, and we can't go back where we came. So hopefully everyone is prepared to journey through another cave." Lance took the first steps into the cave to ensure everyone was safe to walk in. After he checked, everyone followed him inside the cave. Before they ventured too far, he grabbed a large stick from outside and asked Scarlett to use ember on it.

"Be careful in this cave guys. It may be narrow, but there are lots of split paths. You can easily get lost in here if we don't stick together. Scarlett this goes double for you. Stick close." Lance informed everyone. Nobody really talked as they traveled through the cave, all of them focusing on the friend they lost along the way. The wind blowing through the cave made it sound like there was a symphony of wind chimes. This was both a hindrance and asset to them. Since by now Rocket surely had caught on to where they were going, this would help them hide better due to their footsteps being drowned out by the chimes. But it also worked against them because they couldn't hear anything that was ahead, or if one of them got seperated it would make it night impossible to find them. Aaron once again was the front man holding the torch for everyone, with Lance and Tori being the caboose. Scarlett was in the middle, still sulking about losing Spirit.

"Hey Lance...do you think Spirit is alright?" Tori wondered if she was even alive. Lance thought about it for a moment, taking into account how she was tired, frightened, and was dropped into the river.

"I think she will be fine. After all she's one of the most stubborn Pokemon I've ever met. She won't give in until she's found what she's looking for. Water is nothing to her." Lance couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the feisty feline. In all his years he's never met someone that determined. He hasn't known her for too long, but within that timeframe she's proven herself to be more than capable of handling herself. Psychic types usually relied on mental fortitude alone to get through in life, but not this cat. She was as durable and as cunning as an Espeon could be.

"On another note, what exactly is the plan once we get to Lavender town? It's not like we can be out in the open with Rocket following us now. Anybody got some ideas? Anybody ever been there before even?" Lance asked the group. No doubt by now Rocket knew who was associated with Aaron and was going to go after them as well. It wouldn't be easy trying to blend in with other Pokemon since they were all evolved Pokemon except for Scarlett, which most evolved Pokemon have trainers and they didn't. It was a few hours and they still had been only halfway through the cave. Just more winding dark paths for them to follow and get lost in. According to the map Lance had been reading, they were still going on the right track, so at least they weren't lost just yet. There weren't any signs of them being close to the exit, or a possible water source. Normally one would use the wind to figure out where the exit is, but with the absence of wind this far into the cave they had to rely on an old map to figure their way out of this mess.

"I'm getting kind of tired. I think we should just sit down for awhile." Aaron suggested.

"Yeah. We should set up camp for the night. This area has a bit of light source besides our torch, so we should be fine." Lance told the group to start setting up the camp for the night. Everyone had taken off their cloak and laid it down on the cold rocks, trying to eliminate what little cold they could and make themselves more comfortable. Cloaks made by Viridian forest were usually made by really soft and fine silk so they could be used as bed mats in dire situations. Lance stayed up for a while looking at a map of the Kanto region, trying to plot a different route out of Lavender. He was looking at the underground tunnel in particular, but that was near Saffron and would lead to Celadon. They could just skip searching Lavender town and go through the Lavender Fields on route 8 to avoid any possible confrontation with Rocket since it was a relatively dead town anyways.

"If I were Soul...I would be hiding where there weren't many people, and nobody would think to look. Lavender town is the place I would hide." Lance said to himself. It was the most likely lead they had on where Soul could be. They couldn't skip Lavender Town, no choice but to look around for clues on the Umbreon.

"Guys," he grabbed everyone's attention to fill them in on his thoughts. "So I've come to the conclusion that we need to look around Lavender Town. From my suspicions, the Umbreon we are looking for is avoiding Rocket. What better place to look than a dead town?" Everyone looked at him with a confused look, wondering why they were going to take the risk for a small chance of actually finding him. It was a really big risk.

"But Lance why are we risking it? Especially since we've lost someone, we already know Rocket is after us and they have our general location, and we don't know for sure he's there. We shouldn't be taking a gamble in our current state. We should instead see if we can figure out a way to find Spirit." Tori argued with Lance, not seeing the sane reasoning behind this idea. There was none in her opinion, and he was just acting rash because of Spirit.

"Because if he's there, he doesn't know about Rocket coming so he will still be there. If we just skip town, he's more likely to leave because of Rocket. At the very least we could figure out information on him. As for Spirit, the only way back there is through this cave unless we go through Vermillion City and come back around. We already know that Cerulean has Rocket members posted out there and possibly in Saffron so it's too dangerous to go back." Tori didn't agree with the plan at all. There were too many things that could go wrong. What if Rocket was already there? What if they hadn't even been in Lavender Town?

"Lance we could also ask around after a few days. We lose nothing by just skipping town and camping them out. Why are we going to risk everyone's safety just to find him?" Her voice raising, sounding more furious with each passing second. Tories eyes filled with such curiosity and rage about the plan, about how it was so stupid and most likely would end up being useless in the long run if they ended up getting caught.

"Because we could lose him. Plain and simple. If he's gone by undetected for this long, and the only thing we have on him is a sighting and Aaron who doesn't even know where he is by the way, if we don't take this opportunity we might never find him." Lance still having his calm demeanor and smooth as butter voice. "I already have an exit plan for when we get to Lavender." he moved the map to where everyone could see what he was planning. "If we take the trail and head to Saffron, we could take the underground tunnel and head to Celadon. We avoid the big city because it would be easier to spot us there due to wild Pokemon not being common there. At least in Cerulean and Lavender town they have routes nearby where Pokemon can come in. Saffron is a fully closed off city. I know this isn't the ideal plan, but you guys have to stick with me on such short notice." Everyone nodded in agreement. It was solid plan. Most people would think that after an encounter with Rocket you would want to stay on the move, not sit in one place. However Tori still had to voice her opinion on the fact that it was still dangerous.

"This is still really dangerous Lance. We could be making a mistake here." Tori insisted, but dismissed the thought and packed the map away.

"So if we're all good on the plan, then we head out tommorow into Lavender town and search for clues." Everyone went back to their spot and had started to prepare for tomorrow. Tori ignored Lance's good night and went over to her area. Everyone, except for one small fox in the corner.

Scarlett P.O.V

Lavender Tunnel

10PM

Words couldn't even begin to express the guilt I had felt not being able to save Spirit. For the past year, even though she had been going through so much trauma and grief after losing Soul, she was still the closest thing to a mother figure I had ever had since that night. The only thing visible in my mind was Spirit pawing at the surface trying to breathe before sinking below to her possible demise. She had always hated water and used every opportunity to get away from it. Aaron may have tried to save me, and maybe we wouldn't have been able to save her, but I can't help but feel helpless that I wasn't able to save someone close to me. Never able to do anything because I'm too small, I'm too young, I'm too weak….more like I'm too helpless. It was like when they rescued me. I watched them kill my mother without being able to do anything to stop them. I fluffed my makeshift cloak mattress and laid back down, looking at the pitch black ceiling with big brown spikes coming down. Rain drops echoed throughout the cave, which sounded like the footsteps of people approaching. It didn't feel like they were alone, it was like someone was watching them from the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike. I shook off the feeling as it was just me being paranoid because of our current situation, and the zubats were resting for the night. As long as we didn't draw any attention to ourselves we should be fine I told myself. Even then I couldn't sleep at all, restless tossing and turning for hours on end.

"Here," a low and soft voice came from behind. It was Tori taking her cloak off and handing it to me. "you need this more than I do." Tori laid her cloak over my body before laying beside me. "I've been awake as well. I don't think this is the right idea either. So much could go wrong...is that what's been keeping you up?" she questioned me. Her eyes met mine, her dark emerald green eyes expressing the worry she had about the whole situation.

"Not exactly. I just feel so helpless whenever I go on a mission with anyone. I just stood there and watched Spirit in need of help, but wasn't strong enough to help her." My eyes became rivers, I was just a bystander and would be nothing more.

"Scarlett you can't pin that on yourself. That isn't your fault." Tori rubbed up against me, creating a soothing warm sensation that coursed through my body. "You couldn't do anything about Spirit running ahead. And you certainly wouldn't have been able to jump in the rapids after her. That would've put us all in a bad position." No...she was wrong. If I had been stronger I would've been able to help them in battle, I would've been able to chase after her, I could've done something useful instead of being dead weight on the team everyone had to worry about. Tori was just trying to make me feel better with empty words. "It'll eat you up if you continue to think the way you do. There's a saying I like to go by. "Sometimes there are things in life that can diminish one's spark, but when you use your will and determination as Flint and steel, you create a bigger and better one." my parents taught me that when I was an Eevee." Tori smiled and wrapped her tail around me.

"But what does it mean Tori?" I asked curious about the meaning of the quote.

"The gist of it is hard events can sometimes destroy ones mind, but if one uses will and determination to get past it, they become stronger than they use to be." I never had thought about stuff as she had described it to me.

"You're a cool little Vulpix. Wounds are what make a person who they are. Don't you forget that Scarlett." She smiled at me, but there was something about it I couldn't describe, a lingering feeling that stuck with me.

"So if wounds make a person who they are, how did you become so wise and smart Tori?" Even though her fur was a fire red, I could see her blushing from such praise. She paused for a bit, trying to think of what to say to such a question, but she figured it out quickly.

"You see, I had to grow up very quick. My parents had saved me and sister from a wild Urasing when I was little. They didn't make it sadly...and I got a scar from it as well," she used her paw to move away some of the hair covering her scar. It was a deep and dark scar that would be clear as day to see if it weren't for her orange mane covering it. "so I had to grow up by myself for the most part while also raising my sister." Her smile quickly turned to a sad expression, with one tear drop rolling down her cheek. "I still managed to overcome any obstacle that came my way. It wasn't easy, but I used my will and determination."

"If you don't mind me asking, where is your sister?" It was probably inconsiderate of me to ask, but it was a blank that had to be filled in my mind.

"I don't know where she is. She was taken from me when I wasn't able to do anything about it. I was too weak at the time." Eventually her frown subsided, and with one last sniffle she was back to her cheery self. "You remind me of myself when I was younger. Full of energy and wanted to help protect those close to you, but always ended up blaming yourself for being work. I eventually got over my sister because I realized it wasn't my fault. One day you'll come to realize it isn't always your fault either. There's only so much one can do alone." she wrapped her tail around my body to comfort me, and put her head down. "You should get some sleep Scarlett. It's going to be a long day tommorow and you'll need the energy for it." I felt safe around her, like everything was going to be ok. My head decided to use her stomach as a fluffy pillow and went to sleep.

Saffron City

10:30PM

Angi and Jenny

Jenny's P.O.V

"Jenny wake up our stops here." Angi nudged my shoulder, waking me up. Still running on low hours of sleep I was groggy and cranky when I got up.

"Mmm...where in Saffron did we stop?" the lights illuminating the night sky, and the huge silph co building ever present. It didn't look like a highly populated area, but then again it could've just been because of the holiday season.

"We're by the Saffron Poke'mart. The truck driver just went into the store to drop off his shipment. You've been asleep since Viridan."

"Geez I've really been asleep for that long?" Shocked that I had slept for 5 hours on a bumpy trail. And shocked that it had only been 5 hours. I would've rather slept even longer due to my work shifts. Better get a week off for going on this mission.

"Yeah. I just let you sleep because of your hours. But we need to get out of this area before the trucker takes off again. Let's not travel from Fushia to Celadon." Angi helped me gather my footing since I was still waking up. We jumped down from the trailer, managing to land on all 4s and not on my face even with my lack of sleep.

"I don't think there will be many people around here to ask about that Ninetales and Umbreon." Angi said. It was very dark, and nobody was out to ask, with the only thing in the streets being the bright lights and shadows of the looming poles.

"Maybe we should just find somewhere to camp for the night. We can ask around and look for the others tomorrow." I suggested to her. Both of us seem to agreed it would be best if we used this time to rest and plan our strategy, plus figure out anything we could about the third party.

"So where do we go? Wild Pokemon aren't usually here since Saffron is a closed off city." Hopefully not in a dark alley I had thought to myself, I'd hate to have that stench in my fur.

"We could try sneaking into the loading dock for the Mart and setting up camp there. It's the only place we'd really be able to find this late with nobody able to see us." Angi pointed out the dock carelessly left open by an employee eager to go home. It was their ticket to a comfortable sleep. We hopped up onto the crates and then snuck into the massive storage dock.

"Angi over here, there's a bunch of crates surrounding one corner. We'll be less likely to be seen over here." I pointed out to her. It was far from the most comfortable place to sleep, but finding out where Spirit and the rest of the group was going would be a tiring challenge, they would need all the sleep they could get.

"Night Jenny. We should probably get up around 6 to avoid being spotted by the dock people. Rather not have to fight them off." She said as she laid down to drift off.

"Alright. Wake me up when you get up Angi…."