Chapter Nineteen: Let's Go Digging – For Answers!
"Come on Alaska, your slowing me down!"
"I'm going slowly because, frankly, I've been injured enough for a lifetime over the past few days, and I don't want to get hurt again. Besides, the last time I followed after you, we nearly got killed, did we not?"
"Egh, are you going to keep playing that card? You can't keep blaming me for that one, and do not use it as an excuse for you being slow and lazy!"
Alaska simply rolled her eyes as she followed after Sandy, following her lavender dress for afar as it managed to stick out in the darkness. Two nights and a day had passed since the incident with the reality stars, and Alaska was still disgusted by what had happened. Yesterday they had seen a team come into clear away the rubble, and by standing on the top of Sandy's Onix to blend in, they heard them mention that a dozen Clefairy bodies were found crushed by the rocks. It had sickened Alaska to her very core, and all she wanted to do was train and find the reality stars again and defeat them all with a move apiece.
She was stunned that Amanda could have done such a thing: she was a complete bitch from what Alaska had gathered, but killing a group of Pokemon to save themselves… that was the lowest thing Alaska had ever seen, and it disgusted her. She half expected the reality stars to have all quit, but Alaska and Sandy saw them doing another game involving solving a rock puzzle. All three, even Damian, seemed unfazed by it, and Alaska had felt personally hurt by it. No doubt the incident with the Clefairy would be wiped from the series, the stars told to forget about it, and it took all of Paige, Sandy and Butterfree's strength combined to stop her running over and shouting at them all.
That wasn't to say the day had been all bad. The little Paras Alaska had rescued didn't seem to want to leave them, though it didn't seem to want to stay with them either. After nearly an hour of running away and then running back, squeaking every time one of the other Pokemon moved and cowering behind her claws, Alaska rolled a Great Ball she had found towards the shy little Paras. It took only a few moments to decide, but than Alaska had a brand new Pokemon in Frances.
But though Alaska was desperate to leave Mt Moon, and put all the bad memories behind her, Sandy had been spurred on by a comment Amanda had made: fossils. The blonde haired girl was kind hearted and well intentioned, but obsessed on single thoughts, and refused to leave until they managed to find any fossils. Alaska had been unwilling, but after remembering what had happened at Pewter Museum, she became intrigued. If there were any fossils of Kabuto or Omanyte down here, and they managed to find them, maybe Alaska could get them back to Mark, and possibly get a better explanation of things in the process.
Unfortunately, Sandy had an interesting way of finding things.
"You do realise that by simply staring at the walls, we aren't going to find any fossils?" Alaska called out. Sandy simply gave her a look that read 'stop whining' and kept walking, Butterfree out and scanning the rocks for anything with her Compoundeyes. Alaska sighed once more, and kept on walking with Paige flying overhead, Darwin scaling the walls for fun, and Frances nervously walking beside her, seeming scared at everything that happened.
"How much further do you think we'll go?" Alaska asked, scooping Frances up and nearly causing the mushrooms to leap from her back in surprise in the process. Sandy came to a stop and turned around, giving Alaska a look that was meant to be cross but looked more comical.
"Well Alaska, I am not going to find any fossils if you keep being snappy, am I?" She growled, and Alaska merely shrugged, figuring she had a fair point. They continued moving, Paige getting so bored that she settled on Alaska's shoulder, and Frances looked very comfortable as she stared up at Alaska.
"We are going to have to test your abilities out at some point," Alaska said, and the Paras gave a little nod of agreement. Paige smiled warmly at the two, and Alaska had high hopes at that moment for the rest of her journey. If she could get Frances up to scratch in time for Cerulean City and its Water type gym, than she could breeze through there and hopefully reach Saffron City and its Psychic gym, where Frances' Bug abilities would definitely be useful. But for now, Alaska just wanted to focus on getting out of Mt Moon and moving onto better pastures.
"I can hear something!" Sandy suddenly shrieked, doing a little dance on the spot. Alaska snapped out of her chain of thought and listened: she could definitely hear the sound of the something striking the wall, and as well as something… sparking?
"Someone must have found the fossils for us!" Sandy shouted, and before Alaska could say anything, she began skipping away towards the source of the noise. Butterfree looked at the ground and sighed, and gave Alaska a sort of pleading look before quickly flying off after her.
"I don't know what the noise is, but whatever it is, I highly doubt it is going to be good," Alaska said, and Paige nodded. Sandy was already speeding off into the distance, but Alaska saw Darwin suddenly leap after her, and smiled, glad to have someone on her tail. "SANDY, WAIT UP! BE CAREFUL!" Alaska shouted, her voice echoing dramatically around, and took off as fast as she could. Paige leapt up and began to fly after, while Frances simply curled up and covered her eyes. "Come on now Franny: if you're going to be a member of this team, you're going to have to get ready for crazy stuff."
"Para Par," Frances responded weakly, and Alaska simply laughed, though it faded when she realised a sudden change: there wasn't any noise. Alaska could hear Butterfree calling out to Sandy, and Sandy snapped something back, but they hadn't registered the sudden change in noise. Instead, something seemed to be glowing behind them… something circular…
"Shit," Alaska growled. "SANDY, RUN! PAIGE, TWISTER!"
"Thunderbolt," a voice that was all too familiar ordered, and before Sandy could register anything, a powerful blast of electricity fired between her and Butterfree. Sandy screamed as Paige squawked, her feathers standing on end. Alaska nearly dropped Frances to the ground as she sped forwards and caught her, Sandy fleeing past on the other side.
"Are you alright?" Alaska asked quickly. Paige's eyes were half closed and she looked slightly scorched, but she managed a nod. Alaska smiled down at her as Darwin appeared at her side, fists clenched and staring towards the light that was casting gloomy shadows across them all. Footsteps echoed in the silence that was only broken by Sandy's occasional screams, and Alaska looked up with an angry scowl, furious to see she had been beaten to the chase.
"Ah, Alaska," Gideon said with his creepy smile, "how nice to see you again. Well… not really. It is very disappointing to see my devices are not up to the task of killing you, but oh well. I can always kill you myself."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Alaska snapped, and Darwin took a step forwards, an angry, determined scowl on his face. Gideon's Electrode rolled forwards, sparks continuing to fly from its body. "You're here for the fossils, aren't you?" Gideon simply smiled and raised up a large metal pick axe.
"Guilty as charged! After all these years, it was quite easy to find them again," Gideon said, "but I had forgotten how deep I have had placed them – that was a bit of a silly mistake on my part now, wasn't it?"
"What do you want the fossils for?" Alaska asked quickly, not sure if he would answer or not, but Gideon simply laughed and looked down at Electrode, who laughed in quite an electronic manner.
"Now Alaska, I could tell you what my plans of revenge are, but than I would have to kill you… well, I am going to kill you anyway, but there is always a chance it would get out. And while we are having this nice chat, who is your lovely new friend whimpering pathetically over there?" Alaska wanted to punch Gideon with all her might, knowing an insult would not improve Sandy's views on this. But as she turned to face the blonde haired girl, Alaska was surprised to see her straightening up and wiping away the tears, staring determinedly over at Gideon.
"My name is Sandy Samson, but only my friends call me Sandy, so you can call me Alexandra," Sandy said boldly, and Gideon simply smiled.
"Hello than Alexandra Samson, it is lovely to meet you," he said with a wide, sickening smile. "Unfortunately, I am going to kill you both now so I can get back to digging for my fossils. It was lovely to see you again Alaska, but it is even better to know you are not going to get in my way again."
"Don't worry Gideon, I have a way of staying in the way," Alaska snapped. She was sick of Gideon and this whole messy drama she seemed to be involved in: all Alaska wanted was to get this out of the way and concentrate on her league challenge. The only way she could get that done was by eliminating Gideon. "Darwin, Karate Chop on that pick axe. Frances, Stun Spore on Electrode!"
"MAN MAN!" Darwin shouted, leaping forwards and striking the pick axe before Gideon could react. It snapped cleanly in two and cluttered to the ground, and Darwin swept the pieces up with his tail. Frances, however, just look at the sparking Electrode as if Alaska had asked her to mate with it. Electrode smiled and fired another bolt, moving once again with excellent speed. Alaska screamed as it blasted her in the stomach, causing Paige and Frances to fall from her arms and Alaska to roll through across the ground, a hole blasted through her red shirt.
"Fricking bloody shit," Alaska cursed, the pain creeping through her entire body. She could imagine arriving back home right now and her mother screaming at the amount of injuries she had gained in only a week a bit of being away. There was a scream and Sandy rushed over, looking at Alaska with hands clasped over her mouth.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Can you move – oh my god, you're paralyzed, aren't you?" She cried, looking horrified.
"I will be fine if you just help me up," Alaska growled, though her anger should be directed towards Gideon. Sandy nodded and grasped Alaska's slowly healing hands, helping her get back to her feet. It appeared that Paige and Butterfree had entered the battle, the Pidgeotto whacking Gideon constantly with her wings while Butterfree aided Darwin in fighting Electrode from above. Frances simply backed away, looking petrified by the entire situation.
"We need to capture him and take him to the police in Cerulean City," Alaska told Sandy, staring at the scientist as he pathetically tried to bat away Paige. Sandy nodded, and than her face lit up like a lightbulb.
"And I know just how to do it!" She cried, and grabbed a Great Ball from her pocket. Alaska was intrigued to see Sandy had a second Pokemon, and then froze when she remembered that she already knew this fact, and knew what was within that ball.
"Sandy, no, sto –," Alaska began to cry, but Sandy had already rolled it forwards. Alaska growled and pulled Sandy out of the way as her Onix began to form, blue energy spilling out of the Great Ball as if a very small pipe had a very large leak. The two girls ended up back with their Pokemon, staring up as Onix rose up towards the roof, letting out a gigantic roar. Alaska looked down at the Pokemon and Gideon, all who had stopped fighting in order to stare at the beast. Paige and Darwin simply looked up at Onix, and then turned towards Alaska and gave her a look that quite clearly read 'you're serious?'
"Paras Paras Paras Paras Paras Paras Paras Paras!" Frances squealed, rushing forwards and scaling Alaska's body, looking like she was about to explode. Onix glared down at them, looking positively angry about being sent out, though Sandy seemed to have a confident smile on her face.
"Let's see you try and fight this one!" She called out to Gideon. The scientist was staring up at the Rock Snake with as much surprise as the rest of them, but turned towards Sandy at her words and smiled.
"Nice move Alexandra, very nice move indeed," he said. "It appears that I am a beat… for today, at least." Alaska looked surprised, but Gideon simply laughed coolly. "I am a smart man Alaska, I know when I cannot win a battle. Fighting an Onix of this size would be foolish. Besides, you cannot stay in Mt Moon forever. I will be back once you have gone, and I will definitely succeed in getting my fossils."
"I will get them first then!" Alaska shouted back. She didn't care if Gideon wasn't going to kill them today or not: she wanted to end this and find out the truth about his plans and get back to focussing on her journey. "I am not going to let you get away with whatever twisted plan you have! You can either take the fossils right now, or I will get them and destroy them!" Gideon looked rather taken aback by this, but a scowl suddenly appeared on his face, his fists clenching up. Electrode rolled back towards them, sparking and glowing more than ever.
"I warned you about getting involved, thinking you would do the smart thing and stay away, but I can see I was wrong!" The madman shouted. "You are a fool Alaska, and I hope you can get that through your head before I blow it off! GYRO BALL!"
"Trode Elec Elec Electrode," Electrode said robotically, and suddenly flashed silver and shot forwards. Alaska realised in a second there was no chance to flee, no chance to escape, and simply held her hands up to her face to shield herself, forgetting who was still in her arms…
"PARAAAA!" Frances yelled, and Alaska opened her eyes in shock, but saw the little Paras do something amazing: one of her tiny claws flashed silver and swung forwards, just as the deadly Electrode appeared. Alaska nearly toppled over as Electrode came up close, but the powerful Metal Claw sent it flying backwards, straight back to the opposite wall. There was a thud that shattered through the silence, even Onix appearing stunned at what had happened, and they watched as rocks slid aside from the force of the attack, Electrode rolling away unconscious.
"Well that's new," Alaska said, staring down at Frances in shock. The Paras seemed terrified by everyone staring at her, and simply curled back into a ball and shielded herself from their view. "At least we've made some progress…," Alaska said, and looked up at the others. Paige and Sandy both shrugged, but Darwin and Butterfree were focused on something else. Alaska looked in the same direction they were, and saw they and Gideon were staring at the place Electrode had just crashed into. A large section of rock had fallen away, leaving a chamber unhidden, along with its contents.
Fossils.
Alaska couldn't see if the Dome or Helix fossils were there, but the Old Amber's distinctive colour allowed it to stand out in this light. Gideon looked at Alaska, and Alaska looked at her Pokemon. In a split second everyone moved except Sandy and her Pokemon, who still didn't quite understand what was going on, and they all moved towards the gap.
"STOP HIM!" Alaska roared. She wasn't going to let Gideon get the fossils, not after they had come so close. Darwin leapt forwards with surprising speed and heading towards the chamber, but Gideon quickly struck out and sent the Mankey sprawling.
"OOOOTTOOOO!" Paige cried and began attacking his face, stopping Gideon in his tracks as he tried to bat her away, but only walked straight into Electrode and sprawled over to the ground. Alaska beamed and sprinted as fast as she could, wondering if she should rescue the fossils or destroy them before Gideon could get them.
But as something rumbled nearby, Alaska knew her day wasn't going to end well.
She looked to the left as a rumbling filled the cave, slowly getting louder and louder. The entire cave was shaking, and Alaska couldn't run due to the vibrations occurring. She simply looked around and could see something coming rapidly towards them: it was large and circular and moving at a rapid pace.
"BOULDER!" Sandy screamed, and Alaska had to agree, though was left stunned at the sheer size of it and wondered how it was even moving, no sloped areas anywhere near them.
"Free Free!" Butterfree cried as the boulder got closer, and her eyes flashed pink. The Confusion would have been strong enough to knock the boulder off course, but the thing simply was covered by a pink wave and kept moving in the same direction. Alaska was ready to run to higher ground, but than the boulder did something that made several very rude words form in her head.
It jumped.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Sandy screamed, watching as the boulder suddenly sprouted legs and leapt up. It was beginning to move, arms sprouting out along with what could be a head. The boulder creature moved past a chasm of light, and Alaska saw an ugly brown head and a segmented body, and knew it was no boulder.
"It's a fricking Golem!" She shouted.
"OOOONNNNNNNIIIIIXXXX!" Onix seemed to take this as his cue to start being loud and noisy once more, and bolted forwards to fight. Golem's arms clasped onto his head, and the Rock Snake began flailing his massive body around as he tried to fight with it, a battle of giant beast on giant beast. Alaska was so confused and annoyed that she wanted to scream, but more importantly wanted to be safe. She heaved Darwin off the ground and saw Paige was still pecking at Gideon, who was yelling and trying to fend her off with rocks.
"HE'S NOT WORTH IT!" Alaska shouted, and Paige looked up, clearly disappointed that she couldn't attack him. "We need to get going. Let the bloody Golem kill him!" Paige seemed to nod at this and flew away. Alaska gave Gideon one last look of resentment before kicking him in his bleeding legs, savouring his yell. She would gladly grab the fossils, but she couldn't carry them along with Darwin and Frances, and there wasn't enough time to bring them back with the flailing Onix nearby.
"RUN!" Alaska shouted to Sandy and pushed her forwards, Butterfree and Paige already hovering behind a safe pile of rocks. Sandy continued to scream as Onix roared and tried to shake Golem off, and they only just got behind the pile when Onix thought of a new tactic. He turned his body around and arched up before diving forwards head first, Golem still holding on. If any of them had been there, they would have been crushed, and Alaska briefly applauded Onix's tactics as he smashed Golem to the ground.
Unfortunately at that point, Golem exploded.
This wasn't a Pokemon move such as Selfdestruct or Explosion: the Golem literally exploded. Orange light lit up the entire cavern, and Alaska pulled Sandy and the Pokemon behind the pile as she saw rock formations and packs of Zubat and Geodude she hadn't seen in the darkness. The force was enough to blow their pile of rocks apart, and Alaska kept her face to the ground as the stones washed over her body. Onix's roar was louder than the actual blast, and the pain he must be going through of getting an up close explosion was unimaginable.
The whole thing lasted only ten seconds, and Alaska only moved once she was sure things were safe. She leapt to her feet to find dust clouding the few, but Onix's body was visible through it. Sandy leapt to her feet and moved before Alaska could stop her, racing towards Onix screaming.
"ONIX, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" She yelled.
"BE CAREFUL!" Alaska cried out. Paige fluttered her wings to clear the dust and smoke, and Butterfree used Confusion to clear a safe path. Alaska wasn't surprised by the large amounts of rock or several damaged ground that got moved, but froze up when she saw more unusual things: twisted metal, sparking wires and circuit boards, the flaming head of the Golem that had shattered glass where its eyes should have been.
"Oh Onix!" Sandy cried, and Alaska looked over briefly to see Onix was charred but otherwise unharmed, deep rumblings sounding from his body. Sandy appeared to be trying to wash the ash over with a handkerchief, and Alaska would have told her not to be silly or laughed if she hadn't noticed something else.
Gideon was gone.
Alaska ran forwards, Paige flying overhead, and rushed past more damage to where she had last seen the madman. But he was no longer there, and neither was Electrode… and neither were the fossils.
"FUUUUUCK!" Alaska screamed, throwing her bag against the wall and kicking several loose stones. Sandy gave her a shocked look through her teary eyed face, but Alaska didn't care and continued to scream, putting Darwin and Frances down as she clutched her head in her rage, pulling at her hair and kicking more rocks.
"Pidgey Pidge Pidgeotto," Paige called softly, but Alaska ignored her, too confused and too angry to listen: angry at Gideon, angry at the Golem robot, angry at herself for letting her guard down and not getting the fossils. Now Gideon was somewhere with the fossils, his plan even closer to succeeding than before. But the one thing Alaska wanted to ram her head against the wall for wasn't that.
Another robot had appeared, and based on the fact it had risen quickly out of nowhere with no slopes should have been warning enough that it wasn't natural. Someone other than Gideon was trying to kill her, possibly both of them, and Alaska wanted to know who and wanted to know why.
Darwin was going to evolve in this part, but I decided that he isn't quite there yet, so he will be evolving sometime before Vermillion instead. I also wasn't going to expand on the robotics after the giant Beedrill, but I think Beedrill got well received and I figured it would actually help the plot more, so its stayed in :D
Another note: In Interlude Three, I put Articuno instead of Zapdos, which is incorrect as Leaf owns Articuno and Red Zapdos. It has since been corrected.
