Chapter 53: Mission in Granite Cave
Lucas stood in front of the Pokemon Center's PC, grinding his teeth as he waited for the system to boot. A series of rolling blackouts were affecting the island of Dewford Town, and with the Pokemon Center running almost exclusively on back-up generators, all the systems the facility normally provided became slow and unreliable. But this was part of the reason why Lucas was at the PC now. After talking to city's mayor with a little prodding from busy-body reporter Gabby, the teen Trainer learned that the blackouts were being caused by Pokemon attacking power lines buried in Granite Cave. Since coming to Hoenn he had chosen to use a lower level team to challenge the League, but now Lucas knew he had to rely on his older, more powerful Pokemon to help in this mission. He had a nagging suspicion he knew what was causing the behavior changes, and desperately hoped he was wrong. But if he was right, he would need all the power he could get.
Accompanying the Trainer was the reporter Gabby, hungry for a scoop, her largely quiet and affable cameraman Ty and Skyler. Skyler was a Trainer Lucas first saw from afar in Granite Cave, only to meet face to face in the Pokemon Center's line. The two quickly became friends as they chatted in line, but more than that Lucas found himself deeply attracted to the taller, slightly older teen Trainer, a problem that could quickly turn into a liability. For as brash, outspoken, and often rude the tattooed Trainer could be, around people he was attracted to his brain seemed to always turn off. While Skyler's kind, outgoing personality made him easier to talk to than other people Lucas had crushes on, he still found himself acting idiotically.
After several tense minutes where the PC threatened to fail, Lucas finally swapped out his team. Deciding to only keep his Mightyena Diablo from his new lineup, the teen added Hotrod, his Charizard, Franky, his Gyrados, Luna, his Lopunny and Donna, his Espeon. Donna was Gizmo's mate, and after weeks of not seeing each other, the two Eevee type Pokemon were thrilled to see one and other. With Lucas' lineup finalized, he left the center to meet his team. As expected, Gabby was practically a wound ball of impatience, raring to go and find the truth behind the mysterious events of Dewford Town. Ty double checked his equipment and Skyler let out a friendly wave when he spotted the shorter teen.
"We finally ready?" Gabby asked eagerly.
Lucas nodded curtly and added, "We are, but I gotta warn you guys. We have no idea what we are dealing with, so stay alert and watch out for anything out of the ordinary,"
"I'm the best investigative journalist in the Region, I'm ready for anything," the woman smirked.
"Lead the way, Champ!" Skyler said affably, which made Lucas blush slightly.
With all preparations finally finished, the party headed to Granite Cave. Like Lucas' last visit the day before, things started out ordinarily. There were a few random encounters with the cave's rock and fighting Pokemon, and they were constantly ambushed by Zubat, which was the way of caves of in the Pokemon world. Using the directions the mayor had given them, the group headed deeper into the caverns towards the buried power lines built decades ago.
The group headed down a tunnel that split two ways. It was clear that even before the modern industry of man that the caves had been used for as long as people inhabited the islands. One fork that split off showed signs of ancient runes and a marked path for olden believers of a far off time. Skyler commented on it, "This is the way I went yesterday when I was checking out those old Rayquazza rumors. This is also near abouts where I fought a Lairon,"
"So then this other path is where the cables go," Lucas concluded.
As the two Trainers strategized on where to go, Gabby motioned for Ty to start rolling as she began narrating their adventure, "This is Gabby with Hoenn Today investigating the mysterious blackouts in Dewford Town. After an evasive interview with the town's mayor, Hoenn Today has learned that these events are not natural, or even accidental, but caused by Pokemon sabotage. I'm here today with current Sinnoh Champion and Pokemon League representative Lucas to discover the cause behind the Pokemon's odd change in behavior. We have been in Granite Cave for several hours, and so far, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Was the mayor telling the truth, or is there an even more sinister conspiracy at work?"
As the group walked down the correct fork and Gabby continued her commentary, a loud rumbling came in front of them. A pair of raging Lairon came charging down the tunnel. Ty whirled his camera towards the Pokemon and called out to the Trainers. Skyler and Lucas spun around just in time to avoid being gored by the stampeding steel types.
"Go Celes!" Skyler cried out as he summoned his beautiful Dragonair to the field.
"Franky, show time!" Lucas roared as he threw his own Pokeball to the fray.
"Nice Gyrados," Skyler said with a whistle.
"Amazing Dragonair, I've never seen one in real life," Lucas returned the compliment. The two Lairon turned their raging attention to the Pokemon combatants, both trying to charge the water and dragon beasts.
"Celes, use Flamethrower!" Skyler commanded.
"Hydropump, Franky!" the two Pokemon obeyed their Trainers without hesitation. Both Lairon roared in pain and fury at the attacks and rather than risk further damage ran from battle. With the fight finished the Gyrados turned on his Trainer and charged. Skyler leapt out of the way with a start while Lucas greeted the rampaging Pokemon with open arms. The Trainer was knocked from his feet with a fierce nuzzle, "I know, I know Franky, it's been too long since I last saw you. You're a good boy,"
Skyler watched in awe as Lucas scratched the sea monster's belly and carefully approached. The Gyrados looked at the blue-haired Trainer curiously before headbutting the newcomer as well, "I've never seen a Gyrados so happy-tempered before. I mean, I have my own Gyrados and while he isn't vicious, he's not exactly a cuddlebug either. It's extraordinary,"
Lucas' heart jumped in his throat again as the compliment washed over him, "Um well, I guess I treated him especially well as a Magikarp,"
While the two Trainers were praising one and other, Gabby stepped forward and made an observation, "That was...bizarre," the teens looked at her and then at Franky, "No, no, I don't mean the Gyrados, but yeah, we're going to talk about him during the interview, Lucas. But Lairon are supposed to be fairly uncommon in Granite Cave, but two to be together like that. That isn't supposed to usually happen,"
"How do you know?" Lucas asked seriously. The point was sounding alarm bells in his head again.
"While you were busy fiddling with the Center's PC, I was calling the home office for some research info for the cave. Lairon aren't common, and they usually aren't in this part of the cave,"
"Now that you mention it, that Lairon I fought charged me from this part of the tunnel," Skyler added.
Lucas recalled Franky and called out the party, "Let's keep going. We don't know what else is in here,"
Aside from some vicious Golbat, the trip down the tunnel was largely quiet and the cables were just ahead. Transistors every hundred feet or so marked were most of the cable remained buried but in the deeper, wider part of the tunnel they found what they were looking for. The marking transistors were thrown around, and the ripped cables lied out in the open like dead snakes. The group approached the wires carefully, not sure if some of the cords were still live. Skyler took out a flashlight and let out other impressed whistle as he took stock of the scene.
"The mayor wasn't kidding, this is definitely the work of Pokemon, and powerful ones at that. And from the looks of things, the Pokemon that did this were seriously pissed off," Skyler explained.
"Think whatever did that is still around?" Lucas asked.
"Hard to say, but I hope not for our sakes. These cables are buried several feet. Not only that, but you see this, they weren't chewed through, they were ripped. And these cables are three-inch diameter copper, not exactly easy to tear," Skyler continued.
The group huddled together from pure instinct, watching their surroundings even more carefully than before to avoid the monstrosity that caused the damage. As the group stood around in anxious anticipation, Ty made his first direct comment towards the group. It caught Lucas so off guard he didn't recognize at first who was speaking, "Uh guys, you need to take a look at this," With his the light from his camera he pointed to near one of the transistors that was pulled out, from it was a secondary cable.
"What is it?" Gabby asked her cameraman.
"It's a junction. It diverts power from the mainlines to somewhere else. Normally you don't see these until above ground when the electricity is split up to deliver it to people's houses and stuff. I don't think this was put by anyone from Dewford Town,"
"How could anyone have missed that?" Gabby continued.
"Very easily. These cables go on for miles. I don't think the Pokemon keep messing up the exact same place, just the general area. Junctions like this can go undetected for years, that's how people in poor countries steal electricity," Ty finished.
"We're going to follow the junction. Wherever it's going, we'll find our answer," Lucas stated.
The smaller cable proved to be harder to follow that the big transistors. They had minimal light and when they flashed their light in the wrong direction they were immediately ambushed by Golbat. At one point Gabby and Ty had to have their own Pokemon in the fight. As the fights got more frequent Lucas observed that the Pokemon were getting much stronger. Too strong for the area. Those warning bells in Lucas' head just kept getting louder. The cable finally lead to a dead end in the cavern wall. As Lucas and his team looked around the area, Skyler kept clutching his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Gizmo, who had been sitting on Lucas' shoulder as watch and Diablo who had followed behind on foot kept shaking their heads.
"Anyone else's ears ringing?" Skyler asked weakly.
Gabby and Ty just looked at each other and shrugged, but Lucas' gut was telling him he was close, "This is a false wall, look for the way to get it open. The answer is on the other side,"
Gabby frowned and narrowed her eyes at the Champion, "You know what's going on, don't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lucas responded emotionlessly as he tapped his fingers on the walls and wiggled surrounding rocks in attempts to trigger a door.
The reporter snorted, "Oh Lucas honey, I don't say I'm the best reporter in the Region because I'm cocky, I say it because I'm extremely observant. First you switch out your new team for your old heavy hitters even though the Pokemon of Granite Cave don't go above level 20. And lo and behold we've been running into Golbat and Graveller about level 40. You have us follow the secondary cable without even second guessing, and now you are sure that this is a false door. There's instinct and then there's being psychic, and I only believe in psychic Pokemon, not people,"
Before Lucas was forced to come up with an answer Ty stepped back and pressed his foot against one of the rocks on the opposite side of the cable. Three feet away from where the cable ended, the wall rumbled and a heavy steel door with a false rock front went up. Ty with his lighted camera stepped in first and as the group went in Lucas' ears start to buzz as well. At that moment he knew his worst suspicions had been confirmed.
"Oh my God..." Gabby gasped as she looked around the room. It was a dimly lit laboratory filled with tables and empty cages, "This is Gabby with Hoenn Today. After following the Champion into the cave my cameraman and I had discovered an illegal junction in the power lines. Having followed it, we have discovered this secret lab behind a false wall deep in Granite Cave. As to who this lab belonged to, and what was its purpose we are yet to uncover,"
Gizmo and Diablo staggered as they moved and Skyler looked like he was about to be sick. Meanwhile, Lucas' own head was splitting with an all too familiar pain. He ignored it as he set about finding the familiar device. Gabby started going through the scattered papers left behind. Whoever was using the lab had clearly abandoned it in a hurry. There was the residue of evaporated coffee in mugs by microscopes and several chairs had been overturned in addition to the scattered papers. Shriveled tissue samples rotted in trays and several bones peeked out of a trashcan marked with the bio hazard label. Lucas did his best not to think about the unfortunate Pokemon these samples belonged to. His goal was to find the device without Gabby figuring out what was happening. He didn't have much time, Gabby was already suspicious.
Suddenly a seismic rumbling tore through the lab. A wall right behind the reporter and cameraman exploded as a colossal Agron burst into the lab. Its eyes were wild and seemed in pain, but worse was the monstrosity seemed twice as big as an Agron was supposed to be. The behemoth verged on Godzilla level proportions. As Lucas edged towards the back, Diablo collapsed to the ground, thrashing and snarling like he was having a seizure. In fear, Ty and Gabby threw out their own Pokemon to face the Agron, a Magneton and an Exploud.
"No!" Lucas cried out but it was already too late. Within a split second the two Pokemon went from preparing to defend their Trainers to twitching and turning against them. He had seen this once before, on Iron Island in Sinnoh when the Trainer Riley's magnificent Lucario turned against him. All attempts to hide his mission went out the window in favor of protecting human and Pokemon life. He started tearing through the cabinets. Skyler, suffering the same killer migraine that was plaguing Lucas weakly tried to come to the aid of the journalists but the tattooed teen cried out to him, "Skyler, you gotta help me!"
The blue-haired teen hesitated with his Pokeball in hand, but turned to the frantic shorter boy and put the Pokemon away. For now, Ty and Gabby were on their own, and heavily, heavily distracted. He swallowed his pain and ran over to Lucas who was desperately ripping open doors and shelves and throwing the lab into further disarray, "What are we looking for?!"
"Box thing, glowing green lights. You'll know it when you see it because it will make you want to puke," Lucas stated. Suddenly Gizmo started shrieking wildly. Falling off of his Trainer's shoulder and when he recovered started chomping at Lucas' leather boot.
"Lucas, your Eevee is-"
"Don't worry about him!" Lucas continued even though the normal-type had managed to grab the muscle of his calf and his leg was now bleeding. With the biting Pokemon clamped to his leg, the tattooed Trainer grabbed a crowbar and started smashing on the last, locked door in the lab. Skyler grabbed some other heavy tool and helped the other young man.
The door swung open and their prize was inside. The box was the size of a coffin with eerie green lights blinking all over it. The high, whistling noise that was torturing both boys was the most intense now. Gizmo let go in a start and started to convulse. Both Lucas and Skyler vomited from the intensity of the pain. Skyler leaned against a wall weakly, trying desperately not to collapse, "Now what do we do?"
Lucas finished his own bout of retching and wiped his mouth, "Smashy, smashy,"
With the last of their strength the two teens beat the glowing box with their implements. They pounded the device until it sparked and exploded. With the device dead the sound instantly stopped, and mercifully, the pain with it. Both boys collapsed to the ground and struggled to catch their breaths. As they waited for their strength to return, Lucas forced himself to sit up. He took one of the pieces from the broken device and slipped it in his pocket.
After an unknown amount of time their haze finally cleared. Lucas pulled himself up and then collapsed as he realized his leg was cut worse than he had thought. Skyler came to his aid and supported him. Only sheer exhaustion stopped the smaller teen from falling to the ground in surprise. Gizmo came to and rubbed at his muzzle, not understanding the substance that was in his mouth. When he saw his Trainer's bleeding leg he ran over and begin licking the wound, whimpering small, remorseful 'viis'. Lucas called to his Pokemon reassuringly, "Hey buddy, I know it wasn't you, don't feel so guilty,"
The two Trainers moved back into the main lab to view the damage. Diablo got himself up and shook out his fur, though he was still wobbling slightly as he walked back to Lucas. Gabby and Ty were barricaded behind an overturned table, and to their credit, Ty got the entire fight on film. Their Pokemon looked around in confusion, before wandering back to their Trainers' sides, the reporters not sure how to react to their previously traitorous Pokemon. The massive Agron shook itself off before pulling its head back out of the cave and wandering back into the caverns.
With the Pokemon safely gone, and their own creatures back in their balls, Ty and Gabby finally escaped their refuge and turned to the two Trainers. Gabby stormed towards the injured Lucas, "Okay kid, no more cute stuff. You know what's going on. The world has the right to know, and I sure as heck have the right to know why I almost died,"
"This lab was set up to do experiments with ultrasonic devices, and I imagine that that Agron was an experiment that went 'Jurassic Park' on its creators' asses. Ultrasonic devices mess with Pokemon minds and make them artificially more powerful. It also causes immense pain to Pokemon that can hear them, or to young people like ourselves who have better ranges of hearing than geezers like you. Skyler's hearing is better than mine because he hasn't been as many heavy metal concerts as I have, which is why he started getting sick first. Steel, rock and ground Pokemon get affected the worst, followed by Pokemon with sensitive hearing like your Exploud, which is why it turned on you when you summoned it. The nearby Pokemon kept ripping the cables to try to stop the device because it cut off power to the lab. Each time the people from Dewford fixed it, the junction got power again and the device started back up. This time around they ripped the wrong side, they cut off power to the city, but not the lab," Lucas stated matter-of-factly.
"You seem to know a lot about this. Whose lab is this? How do you know about all this?" Gabby further probed.
"You'll probably want to get this footage to your station soon. You never know when another journalist might show up. And I'll probably end up telling him what happened as well," Lucas said casually.
The journalist blanched at the threat of her story getting scooped, "Ty! Let's go! We've got to get this stuff to the station and edited! Now!" she turned back to Lucas, "Oh, and don't think you got out of our interview, you might have sidetracked me but I'm stubborn,"
"So I've noticed,"
Using Escape Ropes the group headed out of Granite Cave. Skyler took Lucas to the medical center to get stitches for his legs and then to the Pokemon Center to have their teams checked out. They sent a message out to the mayor and within the day the power lines were fixed again, this time to stay fixed. After a few days to make sure an infection didn't take hold, Lucas came back to the Pokemon Center to find that Skyler was still in town.
"How's the leg?" Skyler asked as he saw Lucas still limping slightly.
"I'm fine, but why are you still here? I figured now that the Pokemon and the Pokemon Center are safe you'd be back on your mission to find that legendary Pokemon," Lucas said with some surprise.
Skyler looked sheepishly at the Mohawked teen, "Well, actually I was hoping to talk to you again,"
Lucas almost missed the chair he sat down on, bumping his tailbone on the hard edge and putting too much pressure on his still injured calf. "Go on," his voice cracked, much to his embarrassment.
"Well, I don't know if you know this, but you're kinda a badass. The way you handled everything in the cave. Not everyone can puke their guts out with a migraine and still have the sense to smash some weird doohickey. And I don't know if you agree, but we make a really good team," Skyler smiled, "So I was wondering if you wanted to travel together. Safety in numbers and all that. I know you're doing the League but my Rayquazza hunt won't interfere,"
Lucas had spent most of his Journey traveling alone. It wasn't even something he thought about much. He was never truly lonely because he had his Pokemon, but the short times he had traveled with the snarky and grim Morgan had actually been pretty fun. And the idea of spending so much time with the sexy Skyler had its own set of appeals. As well as its own set of hazards.
The blue-haired Trainer seemed crestfallen at Lucas' hesitation, "I mean, I get it if you don't. You're a Champion and everything so I get if you're worried I'll slow you down. Either way it was cool to meet and fight with you. Maybe we'll cross paths again some day,"
"No, no! It'd be great to have someone to travel with. Nice to have the company!" Lucas blurted out more eagerly than he intended.
"Then to partnership," Skyler offered out his hand.
"To partnership," Lucas took the other man's hand and shook it. As he clasped Skyler's hand part of him wanted to shout from the rooftops. The other part wanted to scream.