Pokémon: Adventures in Sinnoh Chapter 13: Where Dragons Dare, a pokémon fanfic

Note from the author: apologies for the gap between this chapter and the last. A hectic schedule has affected how much time I give to this story, but rest assured that it will continue indefinitely and that I will try to update more often. Thanks.

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He was awoken by the sound of laughter. The morning sun hurt his eyes as he sat up, wiping back the hair that had stuck to his sweaty face during the night. Yawning, he looked across to Pearl, who was sitting with Wailmer, a wide smile both their faces. She turned and, seeing he was awake, instantly regained a stern persona.

'It's about time you woke up – we'll never get to Hearthome if you just sleep all day.'

'Good morning to you too.' smirked Nick, pulling himself out of his sweltering sleeping bag.

She pulled a face at him and began to pack items back into her bag.

'We need to continue along this route and cross part of Mount Coronet to get there.'

'That's fine.' he replied, rolling up the sleeping bag and stuffing it into his backpack. 'What's Wailmer doing out?' he grinned.

'Oh, errr…' she began in a fluster, 'I was just making sure it was okay.'

He turned and surveyed the road ahead, smiling to himself; Wailmer seemed to be changing Pearl's attitude for the better.

The area was a lot more pleasant to walk through than it had been at night; the trees were a pleasant shade of green, the wild grass long and soft, and the Old Chateau less intimidating as it sat quietly in the distance. Conversation between the two was infrequent, but there was little tension in the air. As they passed a large pond at the roadside, Nick's attention was caught by three small creatures sitting on the bank. They were blue in colour, their shapes round with a large black and white spiral under moon-like eyes and beak-like lips.

'Hey, what are those?' asked Nick.

'Wild Poliwag.' said Pearl, paying little attention.

'Maybe I should catch one!' he exclaimed, reaching into his pocket for a Pokéball. Pearl grabbed his arm.

'You already have a water-type.' she sighed, as though he had made a crucial error.

'Uh… yeah?'

'Well, do you really need another?' she continued. 'If you're taking on the Pokémon League, it helps to raise a team of varying types. It means you have a higher chance of winning through type advantages.'

'I guess you're right.' he nodded, dropping the Pokéball. The Poliwag somersaulted into the pond, each with a poleee!

They continued around the bending road, clouds slowly gathering overhead. Bushes rustled as they strolled and they occasionally saw wild creatures that they surveyed with their Pokédexes: sleeping Cherubi hung from a branch, swaying in the breeze; a Kricketot sat on a ledge playing a discordant tune with its antennae; Sandshrew popped their heads out of the ground, peeking at their surroundings, and Starly circled the treetops while chirping merrily to each other.

'This place is really lively.' smiled Nick as he observed the various monsters.

'We're essentially in the wilds of Sinnoh,' replied Pearl, putting her Pokédex back into her pocket, 'So there's a high concentration of untamed Pokémon. Every area around Mount Coronet is supposedly like this.'

As they turned another corner, something that looked out-of-place came into view; a large cement structure sloped into the green canopy, rubble falling from it into a pile sitting amidst the wilderness.

'What's that thing?' he asked.

'It looks like the Cycling Road, but… it's collapsed!' gasped Pearl, starting to run ahead. Nick hesitated before following her, some nearby Sandshrew withdrawing into their burrow in fright at the trainers' sudden movement. He was almost out of breath by the time they reached the base of the cracked column that had held up the bike path. It was resting at a slant, the road snapped in two like a twig, crushing the trees it had fallen into.

'This is terrible.' muttered Pearl.

'Hey, you kids!' came a voice from behind them, 'Get away from there! It's dangerous!'

Turning around, they saw a portly, sallow-skinned man approaching them. He was wearing a yellow hardhat and his thick gloves were covered in dust.

'What happened?' she asked, taking steps away from the destruction.

'The Pokémon that live in the caves underneath Cycling Road went nuts!' he barked, his voice naturally aggressive. 'They started tremors and made the ground unstable by digging everywhere!'

Nick's eyes widened; he did not like the idea of Pokémon being the cause of such damage.

'What kind of Pokémon live down there?' he asked.

'We got mostly Geodude down there, and the odd Onix…' the man replied slowly, rubbing the back of his head in thought, 'But there's only one kind livin' down there that could have done this.'

'What kind?' gritted Pearl, growing frustrated with the man's slow explanation.

'Gible.' he sighed.

Nick took out his Pokédex; it had automatically displayed the entry for the creature. It was a small turquoise animal, possessing a huge mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth and a pointed fin protruding from its back.

'Gible, the Land Shark Pokémon. It lives underground in the geothermal heat of caves, jumping from holes to catch prey.'

'Seems like a tough little character…' coughed Nick.

'They can be really temperamental things.' nodded the man.

'That, and they're capable of this kind of destruction if they get riled.' asserted Pearl. 'Dragon-types are very powerful, and it's a ground-type too, so when it uses its attacks underground… things like this can happen.'

'Yeah.' grumbled the man. 'And yesterday morning, the whole thing came crashin' down. Something must have spooked the little critters bad. In all the years that the road has been above the caves, nothin' like this has happened. What's more, the bridge is as strong as can be, so it was some powerful quakes to have this effect.'

'Has anyone explored in the caves yet?' asked Pearl, concerned but trying to keep her cool.

'Nope – it's too dangerous. If they went wild again, the tunnels could collapse.' frowned the man, frustrated. 'Plus, we ain't got Pokémon powerful enough to take on a pack of Gible if they attacked.'

Pearl looked to Nick. She had the same look in her eyes that he must have had in his when he decided they should enter the Old Chateau the night before.

'Well?'

'What?' he replied, flustered, 'You want us to go down there?'

'Why not? Our Pokémon are strong.' she stated, as though he had missed an obvious point. He was touched that she considered his partners as formidable, but was hesitant on venturing below the ground with her.

'You can't do it, it's too risky! You might not come back!' bellowed the man, flailing his arms. His tone, however, was synthetic; he seemed to want them to go ahead and help sort things out while trying to act in a responsible, grown-up manner.

'We'll come back.' shot back Pearl, as though completely sure that no harm would befall them.

'H-Hey, I didn't agree to this!' stuttered Nick, still unsure.

'Yesterday you nearly fell to your doom while chasing a Chingling.' she sighed. 'Where's that clueless sense of adventure went?'

He was speechless; resentful of Pearl's manipulation but, for some reason, feeling compelled to live up to her expectations.

'If you're going down there,' began the man, lifting a finger, 'It's at your own risk. If you get stuck, our Pokémon can try dig you out… but I can't promise nothin'.'

She nodded, and the man led them through the trees and rubble. Nick walked slowest.

'You can't let these kids go down there!' hissed another worker.

'Shh! If they wanna do it, it's up to them!' whispered back the man who had led Nick and Pearl to the cave entrance. He had revealed his name as Joe and that he was the boss of the Oreburgh City Mining & Construction Force. He and his recruits had built the Cycling Road originally.

Several yards from where the group of men huddled, Nick and Pearl looked into the darkness of the tunnel, like a gaping wound on the earth. It sloped down under the land at almost as steep an incline as the fallen bicycle road. They would definitely require light from Elekid and Ralts.

'Should we be doing this?' he asked timidly, looking sideways to her. She continued to look at the cave.

'A good Pokémon Trainer strives to help other people and Pokémon.' she replied, closing her eyes in thought. 'I think… that it's our duty to do this.'

Nick looked away again. He was unsure of how accurate Pearl's wisdom was but, in a way, he admired her words.

'So… what do we do?'

'We go in and see if we can find whatever annoyed the Gible, and we put it right.' She said sternly. 'We may need to battle whatever Pokémon are down there… so be ready.'

Joe approached them and thrust a telephone-like device into Nick's hand.

'Use this to contact us if you have to. Just hold down the big button and speak.'

'Have the caves been documented in a map?' asked Pearl, her tone still suggesting that she was not fond of Joe, and that she felt obliged against her will to go through with the mission.

'Yes… It's one of the areas charted in the Pokétch,' replied the man, nodding to Nick's wrist, 'But the landslide may have drastically changed the layout of the area. It's sure affected the surface.'

'Hmm.' frowned Pearl. 'Ralts, Flash.'

It took Nick a moment to respond.

'Oh… you too, Elekid.'

The bright light from the two little Pokémon was harsh on the eyes at first, but softened as they made their way into the unknown.

After following the winding tunnel, they found themselves staring at the shattered, leaning pillar that had previously held up the road. Earth had fallen from above and partially obstructed the path; it had since settled, but looked dangerous, as though it could collapse again at any minute.

'We need to be careful,' started Pearl, looking up and down at the structure, 'Too much movement could trap us… or worse.'

Nick swallowed and followed her over the rubble as they continued on their way. The cave was staggeringly hot, their skin starting to dampen. This was obviously the reason why the Land Shark Pokémon inhabited this underground area. They battled their way through the heat and darkness, feet aching on the harsh terrain and sweat stinging their eyes, until something made them stop; a pointed fin was protruding from the ground.

'Is it…?' he whispered.

'Yes.' she snapped back silently, as if hushing him.

The Gible leapt from the hole it hid in and looked at them. Nick could tell it was a ferocious species as the creature's cold eyes looked into his.

'Stay… still…' urged Pearl.

'Giiiii…' growled the Gible, its small but razor-sharp teeth gleaming in the light coming from Ralts and Elekid. Its legs tensed, as though it was about to leap at them.

Nick was not afraid of it, but he knew if they had to battle then it could do severe damage to their surroundings and the land above. He gulped. Suddenly, however, there was a tremor, knocking all humans and Pokémon to the ground. The Gible snarled, its eyes closed as though in pain, and it burrowed out of sight

'W-What w-was that!' exclaimed Nick as the tunnel stopped shaking.

'I d-don't know,' replied Pearl, 'But we had better find out and try to stop it.'

She took out the walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

'We just encountered a Gible. It was pretty agitated. There was a rumble from deeper inside too.'

'We felt it. Keep us posted.' Came Joe's distorted voice, seconds later.

Getting to their feet, they began to walk at a quicker pace.

Several more quakes happened as they continued deeper, but none of them were as strong as the first. The small burrow-holes of Gible became more frequent as they went on and, eventually, they turned a corner into what was a surprisingly large cavern. They both stood and looked in silence at what was ahead. A group of Team Obsidia members were surrounding a large, vibrating steel machine, casting whips at the many Gible who writhed in pain around them. A large cage trapped several more of the dragon-types, who were bound and unconscious. Nick's stomach sank at the scene; it was horrific. Suddenly, one of the villains caught sight of them and bellowed.

'Hey! I remember that brat! The one from Oreburgh Museum!'

Nick looked into the man's eyes and his heart leapt up from his collapsed stomach; he was indeed one of the men that had stolen the cloning machinery not so long ago.

'Yes, I remember, Duane,' replied another man, stepping up beside him, 'He certainly took care of my Seadra.'

Nick's throat closed up as he recognised the other man too; he had defeated him while defending Gerald. But now he was cornered underground – did they seek revenge?

'I don't believe we were introduced properly before,' continued the man, 'I am Golding, Admin and Second-in-Command of Team Obsidia.'

'Good for you, would you like a medal?' snapped Pearl, adopting a fighting stance. 'What are you doing to these Gible?'

'Well, the young lady's got some fangs.' sneered Golding to Duane, who smiled wickedly. 'But if you must know, we're using this machine to create tremors. It drives the wild Pokémon crazy, makes them easy to catch… and these dragon-types are rare and valuable.'

'So it's you who caused the Cycling Road to collapse! The Gible were confused and caused the earthquake!'

'Are you done, detective?' he replied, an evil grin stretching across his face.

'You make me sick!' spat Pearl. Nick was taken aback by her anger, and thankful he was not on the receiving end. 'How can you treat Pokémon as a commodity? And what kind of person buys an ill-gotten Pokémon from creeps like you?'

'Oh, you'd be surprised!' piped up Duane, 'There's the casinos who give them away as prizes, young trainers who we trick into spending their money on them and, of course, others who aren't opposed to doing business with us-'

'Silence!' bellowed Golding, giving his comrade a sharp look. He turned back to Nick and Pearl. 'We can't have you two meddling in our affairs anymore, I'm afraid.'

The rest of the Obsidia members, after subduing all the present Gible, stood behind Golding and Duane as they withdrew a Pokéball each.

'Go, Porygon-Z!' cried Golding.

'Hitmontop, come on!' said the other.

There were two bursts of light and two figures appeared. One was small and looked very strange; it floated in mid-air, its smooth, blue and red body contorting wildly, its eyes nothing more than rapidly-twisting spirals. The other was balancing on its head, thrusting its sharply-clawed feet round in circles.

'Huh?' muttered Pearl, as both trainers held up their Pokédexes.

'Porygon-Z. A recently-discovered Pokémon, it is an upgraded version of the manmade creature, Porygon. Despite its instability, it escaped to the wild where it survived and multiplied.'

'What an odd thing…' she mused, seeming caught up in research and forgetting her immediate situation. Nick's Pokédex spoke:

'Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokémon. It attacks while spinning like a top. The velocity allows it to burrow into the ground.'

'Are you ready, Nick? We need to save those Gible!'

'Right!' nodded Nick. He was willing to do all he could to stop Team Obsidia by this point in time.

'Wailmer, go!' cried Pearl. A Pokéball soared into the air and the round creature appeared, its usually playful expression now one of determination and anger.

'Nosepass, let's do this!' cried Nick as his rock-type entered the battle.

Their two Pokémon faced off against their opponents, glaring at each other. This was not a competitive battle; it was one of good against evil, for morality and decency. Elekid and Ralts stood by the feet of their trainers, their light no longer required since their enemies had lit the whole area with machinery.

'Wailmer, Water Gun!' commanded Pearl.

It opened its wide mouth and a gushing jet of water shot at Porygon-Z.

'Protect!' snarled Golding.

The virtual Pokémon quickly produced a glowing aura around itself, and the water bounced off of this shield instead of coming into contact with its body.

'Conversion 2!' continued the Obsidian Admin.

There was a flash of blue, and the protective forcefield faded. The Pokémon was still unharmed, however, and floated contentedly in the jet.

'Now use Discharge and Tackle!' he finished, grinning toothily and maliciously.

Porygon-Z suddenly darted down the stream of water, releasing an electrical surge that followed it into Wailmer's body, delivering a blow and burst of power.

'Wailmer!' cried Pearl. Golding had reacted much faster than she had and now her Pokémon was out of commission. It rolled over onto its side, shaking in pain.

'Let me try!' exclaimed Nick, trying to sound both comforting and headstrong. 'Nosepass, use Stone Edge!'

'Nuu-pa!' it cried as several stones rose from the ground and flew at Hitmontop. The fighting-type started to spin rapidly and kicked them all away from itself before starting to move towards Nosepass.

'Hi Jump Kick!' laughed Duane, his eyes still not as savage as those of his leader.

His Pokémon span forward, leapt high into the air, and brought a spinning kick down on Nosepass' head. The rock-type – particularly weak to fighting moves – rolled back several yards, but found its feet again.

'Try using Thunder Wave!' Nick continued.

Nosepass released a ring of electrical power towards the Hitmontop. Its spinning decreased in speed before it fell to one knee, twitching.

'Dig, Hitmontop!' shouted Duane.

Struggling, the creature began to spin again and tore its way under the earth. Moments later, it emerged from under Nosepass, sending the rock monster into the air before kicking it back into the ground with a force that made the stones it landed on shatter into pieces.

'Too easy!' snorted Duane.

'Now,' began Golding, 'Are you going to leave or do we need to take drastic action to get rid of you?'

Nick looked into the man's burning eyes with hatred; he did not want to give up against them, but they could never defeat all of the criminals. Pearl, however, had other ideas:

'We'll never surrender to you, you… scum!'

'In that case…' he sighed, closing his eyes. 'Zap Cannon.'

Porygon-Z made a sinister, electronic sound and began to glow. Moments later, a sizzling ball of energy was hurling towards the trainers and their Pokémon. Its light blinded Nick until the silhouette of a creature erupted from below and hovered between him and the attack before somehow defusing it.

'Grrraaaaaaahhhh!' cried the tall blue dragon-type. Its fin was much larger than that of Gible, and scythe-like ones protruded from its long claws, its legs and arms lined with spikes. He looked to Pearl in wonder, to find her already opening her Pokédex.

'Garchomp, Gible's evolved form. Extremely powerful, it can fly faster than a jet plane and create blades from wind.'

The creature roared again, and Team Obsidia all started to step back, their faces now stern with fear.

'It… blocked the attack!' gasped Nick.

'It must be protecting its family, and knew we were doing the same…' replied Pearl, dazed.

The Garchomp suddenly leapt from the ground and, spinning faster than Hitmontop, soared through the air, into one side of the machine and out the other. The contraption instantly quietened, smoke billowing from its hinges. The dragon then thrust its claw in a slicing motion, a sharp ripple of wind cutting open the cage in which the Gible were held.

'No! Not those!' cried Golding, reaching out in a futile gesture.

'It's amazing!' laughed Nick, still in awe.

'We need to go.' gritted the leader to the others.

'And don't come back!' shouted Pearl.

'If we were to meet again, you would pay!' he snarled back at them. 'But you won't meet again after this!'

He withdrew a small device and pushed a button. Several blasts came from the tunnel they had entered through. By the time the debris settled and they had unshielded their eyes, rocks had fallen and completely sealed the path.

'No!' cried Nick, turning back to face his enemies.

'And before we bow out,' he continued, 'Fancy thinking you could defeat us with our own Pokémon.

'What… do you mean?' stuttered the girl.

'Where did you catch them?' he asked, sneering.

Nick looked to Pearl, but she did not reciprocate.

'Near Mauheru Town…'

'I met Elekid at Lake Verity. What's it to you?' barked Nick, adopting the aggressive tone that Pearl seemed to have lost.

'Strange places to find those species, no?' continued Golding. 'Look at the odd markings.'

Pearl slowly turned to look at the strange symbol emblazoned on the injured Wailmer's fin.

'Look familiar?' he snorted, gesturing his hand toward the same symbol, decorating the chest of his black uniform. Nick instantly understood, and looked down at Elekid. He had never realised it before, but the circle pattern was tattooed onto the side of his companion's foot. It growled in anger at its previous owners, its antennae crackling wildly.

'You see, those Pokémon were part of a haul that escaped from us while we were transporting them.' concluded Golding, folding his arms and closing his eyes again in accomplishment.'

Nick looked at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed; this news meant little in the grand scheme of things, but it was still hard to take in. Pearl reacted differently:

'You monsters!'

She began running towards them, as though prepared to battle with her own fists. Golding opened his eyes quickly and held a clenched fist in front of his face.

'Alakazam!'

Nick wondered why he was shouting ridiculous magic words, but moments later a strange animal-like creature appeared from behind the villainous crew, carrying two spoons in its arm-like claws. It held them together and, in a bright white flash, it disappeared along with the rest of Team Obsidia and their Pokémon.

'We're stuck here?' groaned Nick, staring at the fallen rocks.

'Looks like it.' gritted Pearl. 'This thing's busted too.'

She held up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button. It made no sound.

'So we can't call for h-help?' asked Nick, his voice breaking in worry.

'What do you think?' spat back Pearl, turning to survey the blocked tunnel. Several moments of tense, uncertain silence passed before she spoke again. 'Unless…'

She turned to the massive dragon Pokémon that stood behind them, an army of Gible around its razor-like feet. Nick had almost forgotten it was there, but was relieved that it seemed to be docile around them.

'Would you help us, Garchomp?' asked Pearl firmly.

'Grraaaaaahhh!' it replied, its piercing howl resonating round the room, burrowing its way into their ears like an audio counterpart of Sandshrew. It crouched into a defensive stance.

'Please, Garchomp. We want to stop the people who hurt your family.'

Nick looked at Pearl. Her eyes were locked with those of the creature, but not full of pleading or worry; they burned with a determination and sense of equality. She was trying to convey to the Garchomp that they had tried to help it, so it should return the favour. She was not trying to command it like it was a tamed Pokémon.

'Grrraaaah! Grrrrrraaaaah!' it eventually barked and, quicker than they could comprehend, it darted into the wall, spinning and thrashing it claws wildly, before disappearing out of sight. The pack of Gible followed after it. The trainers watched.

'Is it safe for us to follow them?' worried Nick.

'Where's that sense of adventure?' grinned Pearl.

With that, they darted across the dusty earth and began to scale the rugged way out on their hands and knees, slipping occasionally as the stones and dirt beneath them gave way, until daylight rained down on their heads from the distance.

'What happened?' asked Joe as he helped Nick out of the tunnel and into the revitalising fresh air; the wind on his face felt like a blessing. Readjusting his eyes to the sunlight, he saw Garchomp and the Gible standing with the group of nervous construction workers. Pearl was by his side, her clothes grubby from the ascent.

'Team Obsidia were poaching Gible.' she explained sternly. 'We got rid of them, but the underground paths have caved in.'

'We shouldn't have even sent you down there,' he admitted, looking to his feet, 'But thanks for getting rid of those darn crooks.'

Nick smiled at the men who were obviously in awe of the presence of Garchomp.

'I knew we had Gible… but look at this thing!' came a voice from the crowd.

Everyone looked to the man who had spoken. A white splotch ran from his shoulder to his breast. His eyes slowly moved from the beast to meet those of all who were staring at his stained attire.

'Oh, err…' he began, embarrassed, 'The tremors scared some Starly from the trees and they flew right over us…'

The crowd began to laugh – except Pearl, who rolled her eyes – as the pack of dragons disappeared back into their once-again peaceful home.