Chapter 9:
When it came to nightfall, our group was now fully prepared and ready to set off. But when we walked out the door, a couple of different friends were there to see us off. "Caterpie... Metapod... Dust and Fluff... and I can hear little Diglett underground too," I smiled, him popping his head from under my feet afterwards.
"How did you know I was under you?" Diglett asked.
"I could hear and feel you underneath my feet," I smiled at him.
"So you guys know, we're supporting you throughout the whole ordeal," Dust smiled.
"Right. Nobody deserves to be killed," Caterpie said, Genji smiling warmly instead of his wicked grins I was used to seeing on him.
"T-Thanks, kid..." he said at that as we then saw that the town had all their lights turned off.
"It's time to go, guys... we've got a long journey ahead of us," Roll said, me nodding as well as all of Team Meanies.
"Good luck, everyone," Metapod said.
"We're supporting you the whole way!" Fluff exclaimed, me smirking as we then proceeded off down the path and towards the east, me then asking Genji a very important question.
"Genji... do you happen to know where Ninetails is located?" I asked him, that making him look at me in worry.
"You trying to save me or spread out my suffering?" he asked in annoyance.
"Listen, if I'm right, Ninetails is the only one we could go to to prove to everyone that you're not the horrible person that the legends say you are. And if Ninetails can vouch for you and say that killing you wouldn't change a thing, that should be more than enough to get everyone to stop chasing us," I said.
"Hmph... fine... Ninetails, the one that cursed me and Gardevoir, is at Mount Freeze... but that place is very far from here. In order to get there, we'd need to go through Mount Blaze, Frosty Forest, and across a lot of places that are sure to have natural disasters galore... from here, it'd take roughly 3 days to get there if we only have short rests," Gengar frowned.
"Damn... that sounds tough... We'll need to bring our A game for this adventure, then," I frowned.
"We're actually a bit worried ourselves... besides, we're only a group of five and we'll need to go through Mount Blaze, which is said to be impassable. Only fools would dare go through that place.
"Well place a hat on my head and call me Joker, because I'm going to go there to clear Genji's name whether you like it or not," I said, Genji sighing and giving me a small smile.
"You have such confidence in me, despite me being a pretty big jackass to you in the past... why?" he asked.
"I feel that this whole situation is partially my fault... if I hadn't put all that pressure on you back in the square, nobody would've known your true identity. I'm doing this not because I like you, but because I want to right the wrong that I caused," I said.
"Hmph..." Gengar puffed out as we trekked for about two hours until we got to a large field of fire, which was caused by the natural disasters. And the smoke made the sky barely visible and the fire was the only light we had from it. We continued onward until we reached a cave that looked to be full of glowing rocks, where we then decided we'd take a rest stop, since it was nearing midnight and we were a very good distance away from the town.
"Whew... okay, we should rest up now, but one of us will need to keep watch," I said with a smile.
"Leave that to me. I sleep with my eyes open, so I can detect danger incoming," Ekans said.
"Good thinking, Ekans," Medicham smiled, me smirking as I slept on the ground on my own, Roll sleeping next to me, but not touching me, since it wasn't hot at all... and then, I had the dream again.
It was one of the dreams that I was wanting to have. The one with Gardevoir speaking to me. I felt her presence almost immediately.
"Gardevoir... I have some things that I have to tell you," I smiled at her.
"Oh? What may they be?" she asked.
"Well... you remember Genji?... We found him," I said, Gardevoir gasping at that.
"You found him?... Where is he?" Gardevoir asked.
"He's currently on the run with us because he told everyone that killing the cursed human would end the natural disasters... and I, being an idiot, put pressure on him and, in front of everyone, he said he was the human of that legend... he's currently a Gengar and... well... he has some things he wanted to relay to you," I said, Gardevoir smiling kindly at that.
"And what things may they be?" she asked with a smile.
"Just visit his dreams for a change and I'm sure he could tell you himself," I said, Gardevoir smiling at that.
"Okay... next time he falls asleep, I shall visit his dreams... right now, it's nearing the sunrise, so I'm going to end the dream now, since you are all on the run," Gardevoir smiled.
"Understood... until next we meet, Gardevoir," I smiled, me waking up immediately after the dream ended.
When I woke up, it was to the sun instead of anything else and I immediately got everyone else up and they all looked at me with annoyance, but compliance.
"Okay, it's sunrise now, so the people in town are going to be sending everyone to come attack us. We've gotta push on through this cave to get to Mount Blaze, according to the map," I said as I inspected it.
"That means this is Lapis Cave, then. We'll need to go through this to get to Mount Blaze," Gengar said, us then getting our stuff prepared and heading into the cave ourselves. Upon doing so, we saw the cave had lots of watery patches as well as different types of Pokemon in it, such as Nidorina, Nidorino, Zubat, Tangela, and Bagon, which was the first Dragon type Pokemon we'd come across during our adventures. But with our skills, we managed to take all of them out easily and we got some more experience in the process as well as finding a TM on the ground for the move Thunderbolt! I immediately used it and learned the move over the weak move of Tackle that I had.
We managed to make it through the area without any further issues and we then ran down the path some more until we came across Mount Blaze in the distance. And I now understood its namesake. It was a gigantic volcano! And it looked very active. "That's Mount Blaze. It'll be tough to get through that place," Genji said.
"We have to, though," Roll frowned.
"Yeah... I know..." Genji said as we then heard stuff from behind us.
"There! I see them! Get Gengar!" someone yelled, me gasping at how they managed to track us this far in so fast!
"Everyone, let's rush forward right now!" I exclaimed, all five of us rushing ahead of our pursuers until we got to an area where we were out of sight, right at the foot of Mount Blaze. We didn't dare move until we heard their footsteps leave and their voices fade out.
"Okay... I think we're safe now... someone go out and check," Medicham said. Ekans was the one to do so and he then motioned us out of our hiding spot soon after.
"Now the tricky part. Scaling this massive volcano. We'll need to do it quickly before anyone else gets wise to our location," I frowned.
"Yeah... hey, I have a question for you, Cher," Genji said.
"Yeah? What is it?" I asked him.
"Did you talk to Gardevoir last night? When you were asleep?" All I could do was smile and nod.
"Yes, I did. And I told her that, when you fall asleep next, that she talk to you in your dreams," I smiled, Genji shuddering at that before tears came from his eyes.
"What would I tell her, though? That I abandoned her out of fear?" Genji asked with sadness.
"Trust me, Gardevoir is a very caring Pokemon. She misses you just as much as you miss her," I smiled at him.
"R-Really?... O-Okay, then... we should continue through Mount Blaze now. The other Rescue Teams should be far enough in that they're going to not notice us entering," Genji said.
"Right, time to scale this impassable volcano," I smirked widely. We then set off for the giant mountain of lava and found the inside had a lot of fire type Pokemon such as Slugma, Numel, and Ponyta, which were pretty tough, but not as tough as the Arcanine and Rapidash we would encounter later on during the trek. During this escapade, Roll learned a new move in the form of Brine, which was more powerful if the opponent was weakened prior. And we would need it for what lay ahead.
We ended up getting to the summit after a midway point similar to Mount Thunder, it being coated in heat that made me immediately remove my wool on the ground because of how sweaty I got.
"Hoo... this is very hot... a bit too much for my blubbery body," Roll frowned.
"It's not any better for us," Ekans frowned.
"Either way, after this, it's all downhill, so let's continue on," I smiled as we were going to move forward some more... only for the whole place to erupt in flames and it made us gasp.
"The mountain's fire is erratic! It's as if it has lost its balance! ARE YOU THE ONES RESPONSIBLE?!" asked a very loud and powerful voice as, out of the fiery pit in front of us, a gigantic bird of flames emerged and it looked pissed.
"Crud... Moltres... I think this is why people claim this mountain impassable..." I gawked.
"You! You dare to trespass and hurt my mountain?!" Moltres exclaimed.
"Not at all! We're being chased by people and we need to get over this mountain! And do you really think that Pokemon like us would be the cause of these disasters?" I asked, Moltres shrieking at that and getting more ticked.
"Those who befoul this mountain shall pay!" he exclaimed, me knowing that we had to fight him.
"Okay then, you want to fight, then let's fight," I said as I rushed over to Moltres and immediately hit him with a Cotton Spore attack, managing to make him slowed as Roll then went to him and used Ice Ball, which all of them hit, giving Genji the chance to use Glare to paralyze Moltres. Medicham then answered with a Thunder Punch attack and Ekans used Wring Out, which managed to do some more damage to Moltres! I then answered with a Thunderbolt attack followed by Roll using Brine... and then it was finished, Moltres falling to the ground and looking very weakened.
"Whoa..." was all that Genji could muster out of his mouth. Moltres then jumped off the ground and screeched again, going into the lava and then coming out with a glare on his person.
"Listen, Moltres. We don't have time to argue. We're not the ones that are hurting your mountain. In fact, after we clear my friend's name, we're going to try to put a stop to all of these natural disasters!" I said, Moltres folding his wings and lowering to the ground at my words.
"Do you speak the truth?" Moltres asked.
"I am speaking the truth. This mountain isn't the only place to have natural disasters happen to it. Hell, we had to battle your brother, Zapdos, because he was enraged by the thunderstorm abnormalities in Mount Thunder," I said, Moltres gasping at that.
"Oh my word... to be strong enough to not only defeat me in a battle, but also my brother Zapdos... hmm..." Moltres frowned as he then looked at our group. "I will allow you passage, so long as you hold true to your promise to end these natural disasters. And once that day comes, I shall join you in future endeavors. What is your group called?" Moltres asked.
"Team Snowfleece," I smiled.
"Hmm... if you're continuing northeast, you may face off with my sister, Articuno at some point. It'd be very amazing if you managed to trounce all three of us in battle. And you say you are being chased, so I shall thwart anyone from getting past this mountain!" Moltres exclaimed as he then screeched loudly and then disappeared back into the lava.
"Well... that happened..." Medicham gawked.
"Let's hurry before anyone else makes it here," Roll said, all of us nodding and rushing down the path off of the giant mountain of fire, now with another Legendary Pokemon added to our team in the near future.