Chapter 4
A/N: Review please! Pray tell me what do you want do read, okay? Thank you all. Thanks, Raichu, for correcting my kezillion mistakes in the story.
Disclaimer: Apart from minor characters and a few people, I own nothing. All characters belong to their rightful owners.
As they went down the dark chute on the platform, they were silent. Ash, Dawn and Brock did not know what to expect. They were going down in a dark chute on a round metallic disc without a clue about what was at the other end, and Jack's presence did not reassure them. To be frank, they were scared and nervous.
After a minute or so, they reached the bottom. They were shocked. Ash expected it to be dark and gloomy; instead, the chute led them to a beautifully decorated room. There was even a welcome mat here. They stood there like fools for a while before Jack waved his hand in front of their eyes, asking for them to follow him. They went into another tunnel.
"As you can see, each room is connected by tunnels between them. They are like the roads in the outside world," said Jack. Ash, Dawn and Brock nodded.
As they approached the opening, Jack looked at his watch and jumped. It seems that he was late for something.
"Could you all handle yourselves? Straight up ahead is the Pokemon centre. Talk to Nurse Joy. Tell her you're visitors and that I brought you here, OK? I got to go," said Jack in one breath. He looked nervous. They all nodded. He then proceeded to run past them into the other room. Ash shrugged.
"Guess let's go then," said Ash, who started to walk again. The others followed. There was no turning back, because they didn't even know what Jack said to command the platform so that it could go up again. They could only go forward.
They went into the room and saw streams of people in it. Everyone wore the same long white and semitransparent robe they saw Jack wore, so they felt very out of place. One man even looked at Dawn's clothes before shaking his head.
They made their way to Nurse Joy, trying not to melt into liquid under everyone's gaze before reaching the counter.
"Hello, Nurse Joy. We're travelers and Jack sent us here," said Dawn, her voice shaking slightly. Beside her, Brock's lips were wobbling. Before they knew it, Brock was down on a knee and had his hands in a heroic pose. Ash bent his cap down to cover his reddened face while Dawn cringed, quickly tilted her head downwards, letting her long blue hair cover her face. Fortunately, Brock's Toxicroak came out, poison-jabbed Brock in the stomach, threw him over the shoulder and walked away before he could say anything.
"Is your friend all right?" asked the concerned nurse.
"As long as Toxicroak is with him, he is all right. Though I think he's developed an immunity from the poison already," said Ash.
"Okay then." She then handed Dawn neatly folded clothing. "Change into this quickly. Your clothes are a little too revealing here. The changing room is that way." She jerked a thumb towards her right hand side. Dawn hurried to the place.
"I don't think her clothes are too revealing," said Ash.
"Sleeveless tops and miniskirts are not appropriate here. The people here dislike excessive revealing of skin; girls and women should cover as much of their bodies as they can,"
"Oh."
A few minutes later, Dawn came out in a white robe.
She looks beautiful in it, thought Ash, wait, did I just said that Dawn Berlitz was beautiful? Ash Ketchum, you block that thought right this instant!
At the same time, Brock limped over.
"Nurse Joy, could you tell us where our rooms are?" asked Brock.
"You're the first visitor I have seen in 30 years, you know. But we still have rooms for you. Here's the key," said Nurse Joy.
Dawn was fiddling with her poketch. It still wouldn't work.
"May I see that please?" asked Nurse Joy, stretching out her hand.
She took a crystal casing and fit it over the poketch. Then, she pulled a very thin wire from the poketch and plugged it into the computer. A few minutes later, the computer beeped, "transmission complete!" She handed the poketch back to Dawn. To her surprise, it was working perfectly. It showed 3:00 p.m. The poketch also notified her of a new map application.
"The high concentration of magnetite here renders almost impossible to use any type of electrical appliances here. Fortunately, we managed to find a kind of crystal that has the ability to neutralize the magnetic field of magnetite, among other things. The new map is the map of the underground city. The crystal casing is embedded with a microchip that enables you to identify your location as the walls here are fitted with crystal receptors."
"There are crystal receptors here?"
"Every wall except the private rooms."
"Oh."
"Oh and one more thing before you follow the map to your quarters," said Nurse Joy, smiling.
"Yes?"
"Welcome to the town of Xaben."
XxXxXxX
Somewhere else at an unknown location,
"Director! Our informant at Xaben is requesting to see you. The person seems to have information." said someone.
"Put him in," said another.
"Yes, sir."
The electronic speaker crackled to life. A tinny voice came out. It spoke for a few minutes before closing.
"Asly, put Commander Salium through and tell him to change course. They're heading to Hoenn tonight."
"Yes, sir."
A/N: Damn, who is that Commander Salium, anyway? All will be revealed in future chapters. Review please. Thank you.