Chapter 2
Rusturf Tunnel
''You sure this is the right way?" Selena asked.
"I don't even know which way is up right now. It's so dark! Didn't anyone bring a flashlight?" groaned Kazo.
You see, Maxie, Archie, Kazo, Selena and Felix were in the pitch-black Rusturf Tunnel. There was the constant noise of water as it hit the ground. One drop created a massive echo through the cave that scared them to death.
"Hmm…"
"What is it, Maxie?"
"It's that Kabutops… someone's coming after us… I don't know why, but they don't want us around."
Kazo shuffled around a bit. Until now, he had kept his history a secret to these people. But he felt they should know.
"It's my fault." He admitted reluctantly.
"You unleashed that Kabutops on us!" Archie howled.
"No… But whoever did, they did it because of me."
"Are you feeling okay, Kazo?" Selena asked, with a touch of nervousness in her voice. The worst thing that could happen now was that one of them went insane.
"Listen. I don't know why, but I'm being targeted. Ever since the first day of my journey… I don't want to bring any danger towards any of you. I don't want anyone to get hurt. And that Kabutops was the first and last straw. I'm gonna turn around now, and live in this cave forever, so I won't bring trouble to anyone." He turned around, and in the pitch black, began walking away. A lone tear slid down his cheek as he realised this could be his destiny, and the tear hit the floor. The "plink" of the tear coming in contact with the cold, dark ground echoed several times before becoming fainter. No one said a word. Kazo's walk steadied itself into a run, and every footstep became farther and farther away.
"We should stop here." Archie said. Selena and Felix hadn't said a word since Kazo left. They had tried to stop him, but Archie and Maxie stopped them. They all sat down on the floor as Maxie took out some food. He took out some oran berries, and a few tomato berries and a hondew berry.
"Who's gonna eat the Tomato?" Felix asked.
"Camerupt. Duh. Who else can digest a tomato berry without losing their taste buds?" They settled down, and slowly began eating.
Kazo stood on a rock. If someone would target him, now would be the time. He knew he was losing it. He knew it all too well.
But he was ignoring it.
If he were to die in this godforsaken tunnel, so be it, as long as it wouldn't put anyone else in danger.
Felix tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. It was huge, considering it used to be Maxie's. He lent it to Felix, though, for the trip to Verdanturf.
He thought about Kazo. He had just remembered something. The news report in the Vermillian pokecenter… when he tried to call the police… It was Kazo! Kazo was the one on TV… The one attacked by the Gyarados! Felix panicked. He also remembered a news report about the Vermillian pokecenter being destroyed right after he left… It wasn't Kazo's fault… It was his!
The more Felix thought about it, the more obvious it became. Why would they target Kazo? After all, he was a normal kid that lived in Mossdeep. Felix, however, lived in a huge metropolis and was the only nephew that Sabrina had. Maybe it was a trainer who had lost to Sabrina? He knew it right then. He would leave too. He would find Kazo, tell him the truth, and it would end. He would teleport back to Saffron and he would never leave the city again.
"Where's Felix!" Selena asked, panicking.
"I… don't know…" Maxie said, looking at the floor. Archie was shuffling around the sleeping bag.
"Camerupt! Fire Spin!" Maxie called. "It can only use powerful flame attacks after it eats a tomato berry. Birth Defect." Archie explained, showing why they hadn't used it earlier. His pokemon came running and blasted a circle of flame in the air, lighting up the whole tunnel. It did look cool now, but they had to find Kazo and Felix. Selena took charge right away.
"I'm going this way. Archie, Maxie, you guys go over there. Meet back here." Archie and Maxie nodded, and they all set off in their own directions.
Kazo heard a scream. It wasn't very high-pitched or shrill, but it was a scream. He turned around.
"Maybe it isn't me…" He thought. Then, he realized what he had done. He had deserted his friends and they needed him now… maybe more than they ever would. He ran. His constant panting was drained by the loud echo of the footsteps. Then, he collided with something, and fell to the earth.
"Sorry." Came a muffled voice.
"Felix?" Kazo started, picking himself up. "Is that you?"
"Kazo?" Felix said. "I'm so sorry… It's my fault, not yours."
"Felix. Not now. Something's going on." A huge "whish!" was heard and a blazing circle of flame appeared to their far left. No one had to say anything. They both charged, heading to the flame.
Selena saw two shadows running along the side of the wall. She thought they could help her. With any luck, they could be hikers and they might have a first aid-kit.
"Help!" She screamed.
Both shadows stopped running and everything was silent. Exept, of course, the loud noises of the flames.
"Selena?" One of the shadows asked.
"Kazo?" She asked hopefully.
"Yep. And Felix too."
"That's great and all, but could someone help me out of here?" She was stuck in between two rocks.
"Oh, yeah, sure." They each grabbed on of her hands and pulled until she was free. "Now let's go." They all ran towards the fire.
There
was a truck at the scene. There were also two people casting long
shadows on the wall. There were cages too. In one was Maxie and
Archie, and in the other was Camerupt, blowing flame. Archie and
Maxie were swearing like mad, and the two figures turned around,
revealing two Team Galaxy grunts! One was that Oboe guy from earlier,
and the other girl was there too. Molly was no where in sight.
"What the hell is going on?" Kazo asked Selena, whispering.
"I don't know, but I don't like it."
Felix spoke now. "We go on three."
Before anyone could argue anything, Felix began a countdown. "One…" Kazo clenched his fist. "Two…" Selena and Felix gulped. "Three!" He shouted. The grunts heard him, and turned around as well. Kazo, Felix and Selena jumped out from behind a rock and immediately got into attack mode.
"Murkrow!" Felix shouted, revealing the crow pokemon.
"Chinchou!" Kazo screamed, sending out his electric fish.
"Tyrogue!" Selena ordered, showing her fighting-type.
The grunts seemed amused.
"Think we can take them, Amy?" said Oboe.
"No doubt." She smiled evilly. "Duskull! Go!" She sent out a skull-like ghost.
"Shuppet, Go!" Another ghost type appeared, this time it was a puppet pokemon.
"Murkrow! Use Faint Attack on Shuppet!" Murkrow vanished in thin air. Then, it reappeared behind Shuppet and slammed into it, causing it to squeal. Oboe bit his lip, and didn't seem too phased. "Shuppet! Use Confuse Ray!" A Multicolored ray blasted at all 3 pokemon, and they were confused.
"Tyrogue! Use Mach Punch!" Selena ordered. The pokemon, still seeming woozy, ran into a full fledged punch, and slammed into Chinchou! Kazo turned to Selena. "We can't go offensive when they're confused!" He yelled. "So we're sitting ducks?" She asked snarkily. "I've got it!" Kazo said. He turned around to face Chinchou again. "Use Spark!" Chinchou sparked the floor, still in confusion, and Murkrow, Tyrogue and Chinchou himself were sparked out of confusion. "Now Tyrogue! Use Mach Punch on Shuppet!" "Use Water gun on Shuppet too, Chinchou!" The poor Shuppet didn't see what was coming. It got sliced across the face by a punch, and then got doused with water. It seemed very worn out, so Oboe did the reasonable thing.
"Return!" He returned his pokemon. What no one had noticed was that Amy had tied up Archie and Maxie's cage to the truck, and had recently finished doing the same for Camerupt's. She climbed into the truck, and ushered Oboe in as well. They got in, and the truck revved up. Selena, Kazo and Felix rushed to the truck and tried to derail Archie and Maxie's cage. Archie began talking, quickly.
"Wait for us in Verdanturf. If we can't make it, our top executives will. Do not take any course of action without u-" He got cut off as the truck sped through the tunnel, leaving only dust and rocks in Kazo, Felix and Selena's faces. They coughed.
"There's the exit!" Felix pointed out after another half hour of walking. It was pretty obvious, a hole in the wall that flooded the whole cave in light. Although they were extremely tired, they ran to the most of their strength towards the exit and reached it in record time.
A Seviper moved in the shadows of the cave. A Shadowed man walked beside it. "I can't blame you for not liking fire, but next time; get the kids no matter what, understood?"
"Vipaairr!" The snake nodded.
