Amber stared up at the ceiling, watching the condensation drip from the stalagmites. Neither she nor Leo wanted to be the first to try entering that tunnel with the angry turtle Pokémon in the way. She couldn't help kicking herself again. Figures what was supposed to be relaxing would end up like this: lost in some underwater cave unable to get back out. She looked down the tunnel further. It seemed to extend some ways into the darkness, but there was no way to know what was ahead. It was much safer to stay here by the water's edge...right?
"We better try to get out." Leo said, following her gaze, "The others are gonna be worried about us."
Amber bit her lip. She should have known that was going to happen. "How are we gonna do that? It's dark ahead..."
"We just need to be careful. If we're quiet, Pokémon probably won't notice us." Leo shot a glare back at the water, "Besides, that damn Wartortle is gonna be blocking that way." He shook his head and sighed. "Sorry for getting us into this mess. I had no idea I was standing on a Pokémon until it started using Whirlpool..."
"I hope Gloria and the others are doing okay." Amber replied, "They're probably fighting that Wartortle now."
"I bet they're fine." Leo said with a smile. "If I remember right, Wartortles are water-types. That means grass and electric are great on it. Gloria has Bulbasaur and Luxray and Sarah has that Dragonite. Dragons are resistant to water-type moves. It's a clear victory for them."
Amber smiled back. "I'm glad you remember all the Pokémon stuff you learned in Flocessy! I feel a lot better now."
Leo scratched his head and frowned. "Really? I have no idea where I learned this stuff..."
"Oh. You still don't remember anything since that ambush?" Leo fell quiet, staring into the watery tunnel. He seemed to be contemplating something. Amber felt a little awkward. Should she have mentioned that?
"Amber," Leo turned to face her, his brow furrowed in thought, "What kind of person was I before the accident?"
Amber blinked in surprise. She wasn't sure what he was getting at. "Huh? What makes you ask that?"
Leo shook his head again and leaned against the wall. "I dunno...I guess I wonder how much I really lost that day. You talk a lot about the things I knew and the stuff I did..."
Amber was a little puzzled. Up until now, Leo hadn't really asked about that. She wondered what made him think like that all of a sudden. "Well, you weren't that different. You were a lot less dark though. I don't really blame you. I'd be kind of moody too." Amber noticed that Leo was staring off into the tunnel again. "Leo?"
He lowered his head and sighed. "Amber...what were we like?"
"Well..." Amber was getting more and more confused. Just what was Leo trying to ask here? "We both grew up in Aspertia Town. We've been friends for as long as I can remember."
"Childhood friends, huh?" Leo smiled at her. "I guess that's why I get a feeling of déjà vu when I'm with you."
"About six months ago, you left to find a job in Flocessy Town. That's where you got Flare. A trainer was breeding his Arcanines and had one too many eggs to take care of, so you took care of Flare's egg yourself. You don't remember that either?" Leo shook his head again, but he was still smiling at Amber. Amber blushed a little. She was starting to feel awkward. "Uh, Leo? Is something wrong? You're acting kinda funny."
"Wrong? Nah." Leo walked over to Amber, taking up a spot next to her against the wall. "Just push me if I'm bugging you."
Amber laughed. "No, its okay. Everything's been happening so fast, and its so scary...I'm glad to have a moment with just us for a change." Amber smiled and looked up the tunnel path, "Its so peaceful here. Its like Silicon doesn't exist down here."
"Yeah, its nice. Very nice" Amber jumped in surprise when Leo put an arm around her, spinning to face him. Leo pulled away awkwardly, staring down at the floor and flicking a pebble with one toe. "Sorry. I just...That is...I... Haha." He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, turning back to Amber and smiling again. "I'm glad you're my friend. It's actually a big relief to be with someone so understanding."
Amber's grin widened. It felt good to hear that out of him. Eventually, she hoped he'd remember all they'd been through before their journey, but it was a great relief to know he still valued her as a friend.
"Say, Amber...I was wondering...well...do you..." Leo fidgeted and seemed a bit flustered suddenly. Amber was starting to get confused again. Just what was he up to?
"Leo? Are you okay?" Amber asked.
"Ah, yes! Of course. I'm fine." Leo cleared his throat and bit his lip, still grinning. He seemed like he desperately wanted to say something. Finally, he said something, but it was a completely jumbled mess, and Amber couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"Huh?" She said, scratching her head, "What did you say?"
"Er..." Leo took a deep breath and spoke again. "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"
"Oh crap! Zentra, get up!" Sarah shouted, vainly trying to rouse the fallen Pokémon.
Gloria knew the calls were useless. The poor Dragonite couldn't stand up to three Ice Punches in a row. Zentra did manage to land a Thunder Punch of his own before he fell. She ran through the situation once again, thinking her strategy over. Wartortle was obviously angry at the intruders in its territory, and it was blocking the path to the tunnel that Leo and Amber were sucked into. Gloria knew there was only one way to do this, but the wily turtle was giving them all kinds of trouble. Shawn had run off in search of an alternate route to the tunnels, and that left Gloria and Sarah to defeat the furious Pokémon. Gloria wanted to end this quickly. She was worried about Leo and Amber.
Sarah withdrew the KO'd Pokémon. "Well...that was embarrassing."
"Don't worry about it. I've got this. Back me up if things get ugly." She called Bulbasaur over to her side and let out her Luxray. Gloria had an idea to finish off the weakened turtle, she wanted to avoid that. A Wartortle presented a good opportunity to capture a rare Pokémon. She knew she had to be careful, though. She didn't want to drive it down the tunnel.
"Luxray, use Magnet Rise!" The Luxray suddenly seemed to float up in mid-air, barely dodging a Mud-Slap out of Wartortle. The angry turtle suddenly sprang out of the water, latching onto Luxray's right foreleg with a lunging bite. She yowled and bit down on Wartortle, unleashing sparks as the surprised Pokémon released Luxray. Gloria took the chance to throw a Great Ball at it. The turtle tried to leap back into the hot spring, but the ball hit it on the tail, sucking the protesting Pokémon inside. The ball thrashed and wriggled violently as the snared Wartortle fought to escape. The squirming went on for several long moments before it finally held still.
"That's that." Gloria quipped, scooping up the ball. She smiled and tossed it up and down. Who would have expected a wild Wartortle here of all places? She recalled Luxray and set all three balls down by the water's edge. "Sarah, I'm gonna swim down and check up on them. You should stay here and keep an eye out for trouble."
"Speaking of which, don't you think you should take a Pokémon with you?" Sarah nudged Bulbasaur's ball towards her, "I doubt you can fight as Illicuno down there in such a small place."
Gloria scratched her head. That was a good point, but she wasn't sure about bringing Bulbasaur down there. She knew he hated tight places. Just as she reached for Luxray's ball instead, a loud cry got her attention. Gloria spun around just in time to see Shadow charging down the rocks, scrambling and skittering across the loose stone. "Mama! Shadow no see mama! Where mama go? Mama gone! WHERE MAMA?!" Shadow tripped and tumbled down the hill, landing in an uncomfortable-looking heap at Gloria's feet.
Gloria laughed in spite of herself. Seeing the frantic Absol in such a panic was just too cute, even though she shared his worry. She picked Luxray's ball up and knelt at Shadow's side. "Shadow, calm down. Amber's down there, but I need to swim down and find her. Stay here and-"
Before Gloria could finish talking, Shadow squalled again, shaking his head. "Mama down there? Shadow help mama! Save mama! No want mama hurt!" Shadow sprang off the ledge, diving head-first into the water and trying to swim around. The fluffy Pokémon couldn't swim quite right, and he bobbed back up like a cork. He thrashed and splashed, floundering around in an awkward dog-paddle. All the while, he kept shouting "Mama!" as he clumsily swam in circles.
Gloria chuckled again and looked back at Sarah. "I better help Shadow before he drowns himself or something." She tucked Luxray's Pokéball into her top and jumped in after Shadow. She had no trouble treading water and scooping up Shadow as she came to the edge of the tunnel. Contrary to her earlier lie, Gloria was actually a very talented swimmer, mostly thanks to her tail. "Ready, boy? We're gonna go down that tunnel."
Shadow blinked and stared down. He seemed unsure about this. "Cave? How big?"
Gloria shook her head. "I dunno, but I need to find Amber and Leo. I'm worried about them. Take a big breath, Shadow. Here we go!" As Shadow took in a big breath, Gloria did the same and nimbly dove into the tunnel. She decided to use her tail to gain more speed and steer with her legs. That helped her move even faster. Normal swimming would usually suffice, but she knew she needed to go as fast as she was able: she could see the tunnel was longer than she thought. It twisted and spiraled about, and many ordinary swimmers would have been slowed down by the turns. Gloria was glad that she could swim as fast as some water Pokémon, but as she swam the tunnel's length, she begun to wonder if going down here was such a good idea. She was starting to run out of air quite quickly. That was her one weakness when swimming fast, and Gloria was starting to regret her decision to do that. Gloria had to press on; turning back now was not an option. Just in time, she saw a light from above and surged for it. Her head burst from the water, and she gasped as she lunged for the edge of the opening. She pushed a panting Shadow on the stone ledge as she caught her breath on its side.
"Mama!" Gloria saw Shadow rush up to Amber, almost bowling Leo over as he leaped up and licked Amber's face.
"Shadow?! How on earth...?" Amber looked back at the water, clearly only just now noticing Gloria's arrival.
Gloria hauled herself up as both Amber and Leo turned to her. "I'm glad I found you two. Are you guys okay?"
Leo sighed, looking slightly disappointed for some reason. "Yeah. We're fine...just fine." He shook his head, the displeasure disappearing as quickly as it came. "Are Sarah and Shawn coming here too?"
"Shawn went to look for an alternate route down here. Sarah's helping him. I came down because I'm the fastest swimmer." Gloria started looking around at her surroundings. It was foggy in here, and condensation dripped rhythmically from stalagmites above. "Wow...You guys are lucky you wound up here huh?"
Amber nodded. "Yeah. It looks like it continues some ways down, but it's too dark and we left our Pokémon up there..."
"No worries. I came prepared." Gloria pulled Luxray's Pokéball out of her bikini top and released Luxray.
Leo raised an eyebrow at her. "How about that. Nothing but her clothes and she still manages to stash stuff away. You're such a Patrat."
Gloria gave Leo a look. She wasn't sure if he was poking fun at her or not, but she was in no mood for joking around. "What's that supposed to mean?!" She growled, lashing her tail, "That's a fine thank-you!"
"Uh, nothing!" Leo sputtered, "I, that is, I, um, I meant that that's quite a talent you got for always having stuff on you." He turned away, scratching his head. "Yeesh, that could've gone better."
"Um, how about we get outta here, OK?" Amber cut in.
"Just watch that snark, Leo." Gloria shot back, turning to the tunnel. "Luxray, go use Flash!" Luxray's tail-tip lit up, and the tunnel became a bit more visible.
Gloria almost wished she still couldn't see. Luxray's Flash revealed that the they were not alone. There was a small, round machine sitting in the middle of the tunnel. The moment the light unveiled it, several green lights blinked to life. After a moment, silver sphere popped out four, spider-like legs and the machine "stood" up.
"INTRUDER ALERT. ATTACK PROTOCOL INITIALIZED. THREAT LEVEL: HIGH. ACTION: DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY!" The robot fired a bright laser, barely missing Gloria.
"Arceus! What the hell is this!?" Leo blurted, pulling Amber behind him as he glared at the thing.
Gloria thought fast. This machine was clearly designed to attack intruders. It was still just a machine, so electricity should work well on it, right? "Luxray! Spark!" Luxray shot forward, unleashing her electricity as she tackled the robot. The attack knocked it over, stranding it upside-down like a turtle. Its legs flailed and it whirred, clearly trying to right itself.
"Now! Let's get outta here!" Leo grabbed Amber's arm and shot off down the tunnel, and Gloria took off right behind them. They didn't get far before encountering a fork in the cavern path. Leo bolted to the right, and Gloria wound up turning left before she realized her mistake. She turned to head the other way when she heard Leo shouting and cursing. Gloria rushed ahead, catching up in moments. That was when she saw what Leo did. There were several dozen of the round robots in this corridor.
"What the hell is this!?" Leo blurted, "More of these robots?!"
Amber turned and ran the other way, screaming. Leo spun around and followed as Gloria brought up the rear. Amber took the left-hand path this time, and they rushed down the passage. Gloria could see light approaching. She smiled and happily emerged from the tunnel.
Her joy was quickly shot down when she saw what awaited outside. There were three people here. Or were they? The more Gloria looked at them, the less human they seemed. They looked like robots with random parts still resembling a real human's. Gloria's eyes widened and she took a step back in shock.
"The hell?!" Leo's response spoke for everyone.
Gloria could see that Amber was stunned too. "Are they...people?!" Amber blurted, backing away.
"Sshh." Gloria raised a hand and whispered, 'Let's try and sneak around them..." No sooner than she said that when one of the things turned and raised a weapon at them.
"INTRUDER ALERT!" The machine blared, "INTRUDER ALERT!" Both of its "companions" turned and raised their guns, clearly bent on attack.