Chapter 15

The air was cold, thin, and smelled of dust and soil deep inside the mountain. The two trainers continued to travel in silence for the next few days. Not even stumbling upon a Moon Stone could break the ice. Felix battled many tourists on the main path, as well as a few Team Rocket patrols. Between battles, Felix trained his Geodude hard. He was impressed with how much Geodude loved to fight, so he sparred with every wild Pokemon they encountered. In the meantime, Daisy would sit by herself on a rock, writing furiously in a journal.

On their sixth day in the mountain, Felix noticed something up ahead. They had been ascending a man-made hill when Felix saw a pile of strange rocks at the top. He picked up his pace toward them when suddenly he heard a voice echoing through the cave.

"Hey! Stop!"

Felix stopped in his tracks. He feared an ambush from Team Rocket. Daisy slowly caught up to him.

"I found these fossils! They're mine!" A boy with long hair and large glasses emerged from the shadows behind a few large boulders. He looked about seventeen. "Grimer, go!" A pile of purple sludge with eyes, a mouth, and hands came forth from the Pokeball.

"We're not here to–" Felix began. "Oh nevermind. Geodude, go!"

"Geodude!" the Pokemon cried, coming out of his Pokeball.

"Grimer! Pound!" the nerdy kid commanded.

The purple sludge grabbed Geodude by the bicep and proceeded to slap him across the face. Geodude braced himself and felt little pain from the attack.

"Rock Throw, Geodude!"

Geodude hurled a large rock at Grimer, but Grimer slunk down his sludge causing Geodude to miss.

Grimer went in for another Pound attack, but Geodude's hard exterior easily withstood the blows. Geodude sent out another Rock Throw, this time making contact with Grimer. The two went back and forth until Grimer couldn't take the punishment anymore and fainted.

"I worked hard to find these fossils! I won't back down!" the nerdy kid declared.

"I don't want your fossils! I just wanted to look!" defended Felix.

"That's what they all say!" the nerd shouted as he threw another Pokeball on the ground. A Pokemon that resembled a Pokeball with eyes appeared before them.

"Voltorb! Tackle!"

The red and white ball called Voltorb hurled itself toward Geodude, striking again for a small amount of damage. Geodude countered with a Tackle of his own. The electric orb and the rocky orb wrestled until the electric one could go no more.

"This isn't over yet! Koffing, your turn!"

Immediately after Koffing emerged from his Pokeball, Felix's mind transported him to the night Magnemite was taken. He shuddered and froze, his eyes wide with terror.

"Koffing! Use Smog!" the nerd directed.

Toxic fumes began to fill the air. The struggle to breathe brought Felix back to his senses as he ordered Geodude to perform another Rock Throw. The throw was a direct hit, knocking Koffing backward, causing a large bruise to form on the top of his purple, spherical body.

"Quick, before he sends out another Smog, Rock Throw, Geodude!"

Geodude scooped up a rock and flung it in one motion, instantly knocking out Koffing on impact.

Off the high of easily defeating three Pokemon, Geodude began to glow with a white light. The light got brighter and brighter until all Felix could see was an ever changing, amorphous ball of light. After a few more seconds, the light began to dim, revealing an even bigger rock with a face, this time with four arms and stubby little feet.

"Graveler!" cried the new Pokemon in Geodude's place.

"Whoa! Cool!" shouted Felix, running over to Graveler and patting him on the head. "You evolved!"

The two embraced, but released and returned to a battle stance when they heard whimpering.

"P-please don't hurt me," the nerd pleaded. Tears began to swell in his eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, unless you're a member of Team Rocket," said Felix reassuringly.

The nerd looked up. "You're- You're not a member of Team Rocket?"

"No," Felix chuckled. "Are you?"

"No," replied the nerd. He wiped the tears from his eyes. "I just really like fossils. I've wanted to become a palaeontologist since I learned about fossils as a young boy. When I heard Team Rocket was digging for fossils, I just had to rescue as many as I could."

"I love that," Daisy chimed in. "I'm Daisy, and this is Felix. What's your name?"

"I'm Miguel. Nice to meet you both," said the nerd. "What brings you two to Mt. Moon?"

"We came looking for answers out of Team Rocket," said Felix. "They stole my Magnemite."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You two are braver than I! I've been avoiding Team Rocket like the plague. I'm just trying to preserve the fossils," said Miguel. He walked over to the pile of fossils and picked two up. "I'll let you have one of my fossils, if you promise to take good care of it."

"Wow, really? You don't have to," said Felix.

"I insist. An enemy of Team Rocket is a friend of mine, especially ones that go hunting for them," said Miguel. "In my left hand is the Helix fossil, said to be the remains of an ancient Omanyte. In my right hand is the Dome fossil of the ancient Kabuto. Go on, take one!"

Felix stood for a few moments caressing his chin. They were both just some stupid rocks. How was he supposed to decide? Every second that went by built up pressure in Felix's mind. He reached for Miguel's left hand for the Helix fossil just because it rhymed with his name.

"Good choice," said Miguel, putting the fossil in his pocket.

"Thanks," muttered Felix. "Hey, you don't happen to know if we're reaching the end of the tunnel, do you?"

Miguel adjusted his pocket protector then pushed his long, dark hair out of his face. "If you're headed to Cerulean, you aren't far at all. Just follow this path around until it descends. There's a ladder that will take you back up to the surface and straight out of the mountain. It's about a two hour walk. I'll come with you!"

Felix and Daisy glanced at each other, but before they could say anything, Miguel tossed his pile of fossils in his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. They shrugged and carried on. For the next ninety minutes, Miguel talked his two new companions' ears off about things they didn't care about. Felix couldn't read Daisy's expression, but all Felix could think about was how to ditch this nerd. Suddenly, a loud cackle snapped Felix out of his daydream.

"What was that?" asked Miguel, a little spooked.

"I- I'm not sure," stammered Daisy in reply.

"Prepare for trouble!" announced a female voice from the shadows. The party formed a circle with their backs up against each other, Pokeballs at the ready.

"And make it double!" echoed a male voice. The three trainers still couldn't see the origin of the voices.

"To protect the world from devastation!" declared the female voice.

"To unite all people within our nation!" declared the male.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" she exclaimed, emerging from the shadows.

"James!" he exclaimed, following suit.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" said a talking Meowth, a cream-colored, cat-like Pokemon with a large oval coin embedded on his head.

Miguel looked from left to right, then took off running back in the direction they came, screaming.

"Did he set us up?" asked Felix almost rhetorically.

"I don't know who that kid was, but I also don't care. I'm much more interested in you, twerp," said the girl of about seventeen with long red hair named Jessie.

"Well, I'm not going to surrender, so it looks like you have a fight on your hands!" said Felix with his new found confidence.

"Excellent! But let me warn you! We're no pushovers like our associate you left for dead in an abandoned mining tunnel. Are you sure you don't want to join us? You'd make an excellent member of Team Rocket!" taunted the boy with shoulder-length blue hair, also about seventeen, named James.

"Never!" cried Felix, deeply offended by even the sarcastic offer to join. "Now tell me exactly where my Magnemite is!"

"From what I've heard, you already know," said Jesse. "Now let's avenge our toasty friend! What do you say, James?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" sneered James. "Go Koffing!"

"Ekans! Go!" commanded Jessie.

Felix turned to Daisy. She sighed then nodded.

"Nidorina! Scratch!"

Ekans writhed in pain as Nidorina clawed her across the face.

"Rock Throw, Graveler!"

Just as he did right before he evolved, Graveler hurled a boulder right at Koffing. He missed as Koffing dove out of the way.

"Ekans, Wrap!" Jessie shouted.

Ekans coiled her body around Nidorina, binding her claws against her body.

"Smog, Koffing!"

A puff of toxic gas traveled straight for Graveler, causing him to cough and sputter. Graveler could feel the toxins fill his body and he started to wear down.

"Ha! Your Graveler's been poisoned!" scoffed James.

Felix couldn't hide his anxiousness. With wide eyes, his hands balled in fists over his heart, he commanded Graveler to tackle Koffing. Graveler's solid, rocky body bruised Koffing's fuzzy, latex-like exterior. As battered as he was, Koffing still seemed he had a lot of fight left in him. He blew another cloud of smog toward Graveler, exacerbating the toxicity already coursing through him.

In the meantime, Nidorina desperately wiggled and squirmed to free herself, but Ekans' grip tightened with every attempt. With every passing moment, Nidorina darkened a half shade of blue.

Daisy looked on in desperation, half-tempted to pry Nidorina free herself, but thought better of it. Ekans' head was still free and her venom would flow through her veins faster than it would a Pokemon's. She looked around for Pikachu. She didn't see him next to Felix or in his backpack. She looked around the ground but didn't see him either. She wondered if he was fighting the talking Meowth, but didn't see him on the battlefield. As a matter of fact, she didn't see the Meowth either. She scanned the vicinity when, to her horror, she finally spotted them.

"Felix, look!" shouted Daisy, pointing up toward the cave wall.

Felix gasped as he looked to where Daisy was pointing. Above them, Meowth was stealthily scaling the cave wall, carrying Pikachu in a rubber sack over his back.

"Where do you think you're going? Graveler, Rock Throw at Meowth!" cried Felix, pointing up at them himself now.

Right as Graveler initiated his heave of a giant boulder, Koffing blew yet another cloud of smog into his face. The boulder missed its target by a wide margin, but the tremor from the impact of the boulder hitting the wall caused Meowth to slip a little. Meowth reconsidered his position, and leapt down next to Jessie and James.

"You wouldn't dare," growled Felix, seeing another one of his Pokemon captive.

"We already dared," cackled Jessie.

"This whole battle was a diversion!" exclaimed Daisy.

"I can see who the brains of this operation is!" snickered James.

"Just needed the soft paws of an innocent feline to finish the job," added Meowth proudly.

"I'm not letting you get away! I'm not losing another Pokemon! Graveler, Tackle!" roared Felix.

"Koffing, show them a real Smog," said James calmly.

Toxic fumes filled the cave, making it harder to both see and breathe. As Graveler flung his body toward Meowth, who was still holding Pikachu in the sack, Ekans whipped Nidorina into Graveler's path, causing a collision between the two teammates.

Felix charged Team Rocket himself, but before he reached them, Ekans dove in front of him and bit him in the arm. Felix wailed in pain. Jessie and James called back their Pokemon into their Pokeballs and took off toward the ladder that led out of Mt. Moon. Felix started after them, but with every step he got slower and slower. Before long, despite his best efforts, he couldn't run anymore, although it sure felt like he still was. From Daisy's perspective, he was barely lifting his feet, dragging his shoes in a Slowpoke-paced limp. His shoulders fell to a slump, his arms dangling from either side. Daisy caught him before he completely collapsed, face-first, on the ground.