**Quick reminder: Michael's current party consists of Apollo the Espeon (m), Rose the Mightyena (f), Rogue the Houndour (f), Kaizou-ou (Kaizou for short) the Spheal (m), Kodama the Nuzleaf (f), and Silica the Trapinch (f)**
Michael stretched out under the shade of a desert palm, enjoying the respite from the day's heat, while his full party of Pokémon played around him in the shelter of the oasis that Duking had dragged him to. Apollo and Kaizou-ou splashed in the shallows, Silica (his new Trapinch) and Kodama play-wrestled, and Rose and Rogue napped in the bright sunshine.
He definitely didn't regret accepting Duking's invitation to accompany him to the second Poké Spot he'd discovered, as thanks for taking part in the news report. Well, he'd regretted it during the night, because it was too late for them to make it all the way to the second Poké Spot, so they'd had to camp out. It was the first time Michael had camped in the desert, and it was far colder than he'd anticipated, even though they'd set up under an outcrop of rock for shelter from the wind. Also, he could have sworn he saw lights and activity from authorities in the direction of Cipher's Lab, and it had really creeped him out.
But it was worth it.
"See, there are a number of oases in this here desert, but this is the only one that supports Pokémon! I'm… still not sure why that is," Duking had admitted as they arrived at the site and Michael saved the coordinates of the place into his P*DA. The unpleasantness of the night seemed to melt away in the ambiance of the oasis. All the wild Pokémon had been scared off by the noise they were making, but Michael was happy just lounging by the water and sticking his feet in. And making friends with Silica, who occasionally wandered over to give him a curious nip. Once it had become clear that Michael was a source of food for the underfed and likely recently hatched Trapinch, and was not a danger, Silica had decided that Michael was someone to befriend. Of course, Michael would be working on moderating the strengths of her affectionate nips for a while; even an underfed baby Trapinch had enough bite strength to break bone if she was really trying. Thankfully, she didn't seem at all inclined to inflict that strength on Michael, once they'd gotten past the initial stage of wild-caught panic.
Dealing with a regular wild Pokémon instead of traumatized Shadow Pokémon was a relaxing change of pace, Michael thought happily.
Eventually, Duking wandered over and said, "Hey kid, I gotta head back to Pyrite. Much as I'd like to, I can't spend all my time out here looking for wild Pokémon. So, I got a request for you, since you seem like a responsible young lad, and from the Pokémon Lab to boot… maybe you could help me scope out this other Poké Spot I've been investigating. Top secret, you know, I haven't told anyone else about it yet."
Michael shifted upright, his interest caught. "Yeah? What kind of place is it?"
"It's an old lava tube on the southern flank of Mt. Battle that's been colonized by some Zubat. Still not sure what other Pokémon are in there, but I've been seeing signs from more than just Zubat. Not even sure if the place is totally safe… it seems like it's been cut off from any active lava flow for a long time, but without heavier equipment for ground-penetrating radar, which would disrupt the Pokémon, there's no way to be sure. There's a larger chamber fairly close to the entrance that's safe; don't go beyond it! Just see what you can lure in that cavern. It's dangerous farther in, and if you get lost back there without a light, there's no telling if you'll make it out." Duking hesitated. "This place is more dangerous than the first two. But are you up for checking it out?"
Michael nodded, grinning. Cave, shmave; if he could make it out of Cipher's Lab in one piece, there was no way a simple hole in the ground could do him in. "I'd love to!"
Duking nodded in acceptance and programmed the coordinates of the cave into Michael's P*DA. "Be careful, now. If you're not back in Pyrite in, say, three days, I'll have to come after you, you hear?"
Michael nodded before settling back down against one of the palms lining the oasis. "I'm not going immediately – want to spend a little more time here." He wasn't going anywhere for a while, not when he could relax in his own little slice of paradise.
Duking grinned widely, reading his intentions. "Well, I'm off. Best of luck to you!"
Michael camped at the oasis that night and decided that the first thing he did when he got back to Pyrite would be to buy some proper camping gear. He had a feeling he'd need it, and he was sorely missing the gear that Duking had brought with him and shared. The outdoorsman would no doubt have some pointers on where to find quality gear, assuming that Michael could afford it. At least the food and water he'd packed for Pyrite would be sufficient for him and his Pokémon for a few days away from civilization.
Nett hadn't gotten back to Michael yet – not that he was expecting him to. The security on that flashdrive was enough to stump the best the Pokémon Lab had to offer; it would probably even give the genius pause when breaking into it. So he definitely had more time to kill, enough to check out the cave Duking had shown him for a day or two, at least.
It took a few hours to get to the cave, some of which Michael had to spend navigating the base of the mountain. Thankfully, his scooter was up to the challenge of climbing at least a little of the mountain. And Duking had marked out a rough trail to follow on his P*DA, which helped.
Michael arrived at the cave and found that it looked like little more than a hole in the side of the mountain. He hid his scooter on habit, patted his Pokéballs, walked to the entrance of the cave, and peered inside.
Michael was expecting… well, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. Some sort of cave, obviously. Which it was, from what little he could see inside without a light. But he was definitely not expecting to hear voices echoing from the cave. Hadn't Duking said that no one else knew of this place?
He crept past the entrance, keeping a hand on the wall to keep his balance and forgoing the light on his P*DA for stealth. He couldn't see where he was putting his feet, but he could see a glimmer of light up ahead. As he stepped further into the cave, the voices became clearer.
"…figure the boss is going to do now? I'm tired of this life, man. I need to put down roots somewhere."
Michael's brows furrowed. He thought he recognized that voice.
"Eh, don't whine too much. You know what… always says. He'll get Team… together one day, and we'll… Pokémon in the world!"
Michael crept closer to try to hear better, keeping his footsteps light.
"Sure… Do you really think we could pull off something like…"
Michael's foot caught on a protruding lump of stone and he stumbled forward, scuffing the rock loudly and just barely avoiding falling.
"Wah! Boss?!" one of the men shrieked. Michael grimaced and cautiously advanced to the edge of the light, which was thrown off by a lantern on the floor. Two men were seated around it – two men he recognized from Pyrite, Trudly and Folly, though he wasn't sure which was which.
To his surprise, they recognized him, too. "Oh, whew, it's just a kid from Pyrite. Don't sneak up on us like that!" one of them chided. "Why are you even here, anyway?"
"Why are you here?" Michael shot back.
"None of your business, kid," the other answered before turning to the first man and reassuring, "Don't be so jumpy, Trudly. I've got my radar. We'll know if the boss is coming around."
"Oh… Yeah, that's true—"
A small boxy device on the ground suddenly buzzed, rattling loudly against the uneven rock. Trudly yelped in surprise, and the other man, Folly, pounced on the device.
"The radar's got a strong signal…" the blood drained from Folly's face, "…right on top of us! It's the boss! He's here!"
Michael skittered away from the tunnel leading to the entrance, not wanting to draw attention to himself from a man who had a couple of ruffians like Trudly and Folly cowering. He turned back just in time to witness the tallest man he had ever seen smoothly moonwalk backwards into the chamber. How the man managed it, between how uneven the floor was and the thick wedge heels the man wore, Michael didn't know.
He also sported the largest afro Michael had ever seen on a human being, split in the middle between red and white. In comparison, the garish purple jumpsuit, opened to show off the man's chest, and the glittery gold scarf that the man wore were almost afterthoughts.
Between the afro and the heels, Michael only managed to reach the man's waist. He hadn't felt so small in years. He idly wondered how the man managed to get through doorways; maybe that was why he and his flunkies were hanging out in a cave with a very high ceiling.
Michael almost didn't notice the Ludicolo trailing after the man. It was holding a boom box that was playing some smooth jazzy tune and bouncing along to the beat.
"Miror B.," Trudly greeted in a squeak.
"Fuhohoho! Hey, my posse!" Miror B. exclaimed, spinning around to face his minions. He swayed side to side with the music, though he'd stopped moonwalking. "Have you rounded up Pokémon like I wanted?" Was this guy some sort of eccentric collector…? Or something more sinister?
Neither of his flunkies answered, cringing away guiltily. But Trudly did look pointedly at Michael, and Miror B. followed his gaze to see Michael hovering warily in the shadows by the wall.
Michael wanted to leave and get away from these weird and fishy people. But with Miror B. blocking the exit, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He fingered Apollo's Pokéball warily.
"Hm? Stop the music!" The Ludicolo obviously knew how to work the boom box. Silence fell, but neither the Ludicolo nor Miror B. stopped swaying side to side with an imaginary beat.
Miror B. dramatically sniffed the air in Michael's direction and proclaimed, "Oh, oh, oh! I sense the pleasing scent of Pokémon, oh yes I do!"
Michael glared. "Are you sure it's not Zubat guano you're smelling?" Because Michael could smell a hint of it, in the air of the cave.
But Miror B. was eyeing the six filled Pokéballs on Michael's belt with a greedy look on his face. "Maybe you're just a little brat, to bring up scat like that, but maybe you're also one fine trainer with the goods for combat?"
"…what?"
Miror B. flashed him a blinding smile. "I'll lay it straight. Since you're skulking around in this cave like we are, how about you get with it and join my posse? Be one of us, and you'll soon be owning all the Pokémon around the world."
Michael gaped. "No?" he shot back. What kind of goal was it to "own all the Pokémon in the world"? Were they trying to recruit him to a gang?
Two goons and a crazy boss. Of course they were trying to recruit him for a gang, the kind that spawned every so often in Orre for Pokémon thievery or drug smuggling or what have you. It was easy to forget that these kinds of criminals existed when Cipher had weighed so heavily on his mind lately. Michael backed away, his hand firmly grasping Apollo's Pokéball, and dearly wished that the thugs weren't blocking the only exit to the cave, trapping him.
Miror B.'s smile took on a sharp, sinister edge that Michael did not like at all. "Fuhohoho!" he laughed. "I thought you'd say that! You did have this smell to me, you see, that you would be our enemy. How I deal with a threat is to nip it while it's a bud yet."
That was a threat if Michael ever heard one. He sent out Apollo and Kodama in anticipation of the inevitable battle.
Miror B. just laughed. "Fuhohoho! I'll be showing you my power now. Try not to get blown away with a sense of wow! Let the music play!"
A new song began to play, and Miror B. backflipped and danced for a moment before sending out his Pokémon, two Ludicolo. Michael wasted no time ordering Apollo and Kodama to attack, but the Ludicolo shrugged off their attacks like it was nothing.
"Let's set the atmosphere and move to the beat!" Miror B. cried. Apparently, those were orders, because one Ludicolo used the powerful weather-changing mood of Rain Dance and the other used Surf to swamp both of Michael's Pokémon. Michael was soaked in an instant as the Ludicolo created their own micro-rainstorm in the cave and then swamped both Michael and his Pokémon with a powerful wave of water. Michael barely managed to stay on his feet and was knocked back, while his lighter Pokémon were slammed straight into the wall of the cave and cried out in pain. The summoned water sloshed around Michael's ankles.
Miror B. didn't give Michael or his Pokémon time to catch their breath. "Already swept away by my excellence? What a pity our dance couldn't last longer. Let's finish up this coda and move on to the next song, shall we?" Somehow, the rain wasn't affecting Miror B.'s distracting afro in the slightest. It was more infuriating than it should have been.
"Confusion and Giga Drain!" Michael ordered desperately. Apollo was just fast enough to fire off the psychic attack before a pair of Mega Drains slammed into his Pokémon and put them both out for the count.
But, in a stroke of luck, the Ludicolo that Apollo had just attacked suddenly fell over to the floor, splashing and quacking in disarray and confusion. Michael decided to focus on that one as he sent out his next pair, Rogue and Rose. Ludicolo's dual typing meant that Rogue's fire and wouldn't be as effective as it should, but if he could just get the Ludicolo burned, he might have a chance, especially since the status condition would counteract the minor recovery effect the Ludicolo seemed to have in the rain.
"Keep that confused Ludicolo between you and the other one at all times, and focus your attacks on it!" Michael ordered, shivering. That water was cold.
"Tch, taking advantage of some sour notes, hm?" Miror B. complained. But the man didn't seem all that worried, and, with a sinking heart, Michael could tell why.
Ludicolo weren't Pokémon that were known for their battle prowess. But these ones had obviously been with Miror B. for a long time, and probably growing stronger all the while. Michael could see why Miror B. liked them, given how they danced, but it was terrifying that the man had taken Pokémon known for singing and dancing and turned them into powerhouses for battle.
Michael was outmatched, and they both knew it. Worse, this was no friendly battle; Michael was trapped in the cave, and he didn't see Kaizou being strong enough to turn things around. He refused to make a battle like this Silica's first; there was no point in sending her out to just get creamed.
What could he do?
"I do so dislike dragging things out past the end note," Miror B. sighed dramatically, withdrawing two balls from his belt. He recalled the confused Ludicolo, robbing Rogue and Rose of their shield and chew toy, and sent out a Voltorb.
Michael didn't think anything significant about the Pokémon, just somewhat glad it wasn't another Ludicolo, until his Aura Reader beeped and revealed that the Voltorb was a Shadow Pokémon.
"You can't be a part of Cipher?!" he demanded before he could think better of it.
Miror B.'s dancing faltered for a moment before he picked the beat back up, the first time Michael saw the man be caught off-guard. "My, I would have thought you'd be too young to know anything about that. I'm no longer a part of Cipher's posse, but I know how to listen for their sympathetic vibrations in the underworld."
Michael gritted his teeth. If a former member of Cipher was this strong, how strong were the current members? He'd only gotten lucky at the Lab, with only a skeleton crew of the weak members who could be spared, thanks to them being in the middle of pulling out of the location.
"Oh, and Mega Drain and Shadow Rush," Miror B. added, almost as an afterthought.
Michael recalled his downed Pokémon. He had one chance to make this work.
"Kaizou!" He sent out the little Spheal alone and loaded a Pokéball into the Snag Machine.
"Stubborn thing, aren't you?" Miror B. noted. "Not going to use your last Pokémon? Ah well. Dazzle that Spheal, my Pokémon!"
Voltorb and Ludicolo double-teamed poor Kaizou; Michael would have to make it up to him later, especially since he'd sent the Spheal out knowing that he would take two attacks he was weak against right to the face. But sending out Kaizou to distract Miror B. gave him a brief window of opportunity to try to snag that Voltorb.
Without weakening it first, because Michael didn't have any Pokémon left that could possibly hit it. But it had worked on Ursula. Maybe he'd be lucky enough for it to work on this Voltorb, too.
He threw.
"Oh, what? A Snag Machine?!" Miror B. exclaimed at the Pokéball opened and dragged the Voltorb inside. When it landed, the water from the conjured rainstorm was just deep enough for it to float.
"Of all things to run into in a cave in the middle of nowhere…" Michael heard one of the goons comment, amazed.
The Pokéball shuddered, sending ripples through the water. Then it shattered into pieces, releasing an angry Shadow Voltorb, to Michael's dismay.
He had no more cards left to play. He'd lost. He had lost battles before, but he'd never been crushed so badly.
It hurt.
Miror B. cackled. "Fuhohoho! You think you're like Wes, trying to snag my Pokémon, hmm?" With a flourish, he withdrew the Shadow Voltorb to the safety of its ball. He stepped forward towards Michael. "However, you're a lot weaker than I thought! Ah, that win makes me feel fine! I'm in a sunny spirit today, so I'll forgive you for the attempt and let you walk away without touching a hair on your head… so long as you hand over your Pokémon and that Snag Machine. Have we an understanding, my friend?" The man used every inch of his height to loom, suddenly menacing in a way Michael couldn't have imagined from the way he was dressed. He couldn't help but feel a spike of fear.
This man, not the carefree dancer… Michael could see him being part of Cipher. Adrenaline surged through him.
There was no way he was going to hand over anything to these men. But he had few options.
Miror B. and his goons were blocking the tunnel to the outside. There was no way to fend off the three men, all of whom were larger and heavier than Michael, and no way to get past Miror B.'s Pokémon. Michael had only one option if he wanted to have a prayer to keep his Pokémon and Snag Machine from being stolen: he had to go deeper into the cave.
Between the caves and the thieves, Michael knew which one he preferred to take his chances with.
"Hey, no, get back here!" Folly yelled as Michael took off into the utter blackness of the tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. It was mere moments before the lantern light was swallowed by the pitch darkness in the cave.
Michael flung his arms out, trying desperately to avoid crashing into walls or tall protuberances from the ground. The ground was, thankfully, largely flat and smooth enough that Michael didn't trip so long as he picked his feet up enough. He heard shouts echoing behind him: Trudly and Folly giving chase. Light glimmered behind him, and he desperately wanted to turn around so he could see. It took an alarming effort of will to keep going into a void of nothing. Michael was acutely aware of every fall of foot on stone, both his own and his pursuers'; the echoes from the cave made him feel like he was being chased by a whole army.
Abruptly the echoes changed, as if they were coming from farther away. Michael couldn't see a thing, but between the changed noise and a sudden face-full of hot, steamy air, it wasn't hard to guess that he'd moved into a different space in the cave. He pivoted 90 degrees to the left, his heart in his throat, and started moving. If this was the same as the tunnel, with the walls close on either side…
But it wasn't. Michael moved forward unimpeded for a good distance before he felt the wall under his fingertips. Actually, no, it curved around and around some more, like it was the base of an outcrop…
Michael crouched down, his heart in his throat, hoping that he was "behind" the outcrop from the perspective of the tunnel. Had he gone far enough? Had he gone too far? He couldn't keep running forward blindly, not with the suffocating steam in the air warning of dangers ahead.
And not a moment too soon. Michael could see again, just a little, the outlines of shapes, and then more as Trudly and Folly caught up.
He was behind the outcrop, he found, which was in fact a column stretching all the way up to the ceiling. He covered his mouth and nose, trying to keep quiet, as Trudly and Folly swore at the large chamber and heat that they'd found.
"He could've gone anywhere!" Trudly exclaimed, dismayed.
"Can't hear his footsteps; he's stopped moving," Folly inputted. "C'mon, that Espeon ain't gonna just hand itself over. He's sopping wet; can't we follow his trail?"
Michael's heart almost stopped. Between the adrenaline and terror from the chase, he had forgotten that he was soaked to the bone, even though his wet clothes were weighing him down. He'd no doubt left easily followed wet footprints behind him.
"This whole damn chamber is wet," Trudly grumbled. "Brat couldn't have picked a better place to hide if he tried."
Michael tried to breathe again. It was okay; he'd gotten enormously lucky that the chamber naturally covered up his trail. But he couldn't quite convince his lungs to take in air in anything other than a short gasp.
Michael didn't dare to peek from behind the column. He tracked the thieves' proximity by how close their light was. It seemed to be moving away from him as the two headed straight forward through the cavern instead of checking all the nooks and crannies along the walls.
His stomach churned with adrenaline and fear, memories of hiding in Cipher's Lab hovering at the edge of his awareness. He tried to separate the incidents in his mind. This cave did not have any mysterious blood and tissue hiding in the corners for him to find, and it was far hotter now. The cold water he'd been drenched with was helping, but he wasn't sure how long he could withstand the heat, if he was being honest with himself. But he had to, for his Pokémon's sake.
He jumped when he heard one of the men suddenly screech in agony, along with splashing. The sound echoed from the roof of the cavern. The man moaned and cried as his partner fussed over him; Michael couldn't quite make out the words, or even which one had been wounded.
"Fucking— hot!" the injured man caterwauled. Michael couldn't take it; he risked a glimpse around his column and saw Folly seated on the ground, cradling a leg that from a distance looked fine, while Trudly hovered over him. Both were well distracted. Michael thought about making a break for the entrance, but even if the goons were out of play, there was still Miror B. in the first chamber to consider.
He looked around the cavern while he had light. His column was hardly unique, and lumpy stalactites and stalagmites jutted from the ceiling and floor. Beyond Trudly and Folly were multiple pools of water sunken in to the ground. They looked cool and serene, but between the steam and Folly's moaning… they had to be hot, hot enough to burn immediately. Michael shuddered, glad that he'd chosen to turn instead of continuing forward blindly.
"This isn't worth it," Folly moaned. "Kid might even be dead already!"
"Didn't hear anything that sounded like that, but… yeah, you need to get that burn looked at, that looks bad…" Trudly assessed. "C'mon, let's get back to the entrance."
Michael quickly ducked back behind his column and waited for an agonizing amount of time as he waited for Trudly and Folly to leave. He only peeked one more time as they entered the tunnel heading out, so he knew exactly which way to go when he had to leave himself.
He hoped it wouldn't be long before he felt safe to leave. The heat was getting to be unbearable. He felt dizzy. The light was almost gone, but it was leaving at an agonizingly slow pace.
Something slimy gnawed on Michael's hand, and he almost screamed. He snatched his hand away and then fumbled around in the almost dark. He found a slimy, bulbous shape almost immediately.
"Woo-pah!" the shape announced cheerfully before trying to eat his hand again.
A Wooper. A hungry Wooper. It had to be wild. How was it even surviving in this heat? Wooper liked cooler temperatures than this. It didn't matter right now, though. Michael extracted his hand from the Wooper and dug around in his bags for the Poké snacks that Duking had made. He held out a couple of them blindly for the Wooper, which happily took them as a substitute for his hand. He didn't even try to go for his Pokéballs to catch it; it was just so hot, and with the thugs outside, he just couldn't muster the energy to care.
"Don't suppose you have any way to cool down," Michael muttered, his words slurring a little as he drooped.
"Woop!" was the only warning before Michael was being doused, again, by a Water Gun from the Wooper. It was warmer than Ludicolo's Surf, but it was enough for Michael to feel more awake and aware.
"I need to get out of here," he muttered, horrified. He knew full well the dangers of heat from living in Orre.
He couldn't protect his Pokémon if he died from heat stroke. No wonder Duking had warned him against venturing further into the cave.
"Thanks, little friend," Michael said, hurriedly grabbing a couple more Poké snacks for the Wooper and then whipping out his P*DA. It didn't give off much light, but it would be enough for Michael to see where he was going. Other than his P*DA, it was pitch black. Trudly and Folly were long gone.
Michael didn't plan on catching up to them. He just needed to get out of this cavern and out of the heat.
He managed to find his way back to the tunnel he'd emerged from that led to the entrance. It didn't take long heading through the tunnel before the temperature noticeably dropped. Michael sighed in relief and turned off his light, not wanting to give himself away on the off-chance that Trudly or Miror B. himself had come back in.
But there was no one. Michael wasn't sure how long he sat there in the dark, cooling off long enough for his wet clothes to start to feel cold. He didn't take his P*DA out to check the time to be safe. Time seemed meaningless in such a complete void of darkness. It could have been five minutes or five hours, and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.
He waved a hand in front of his face out of boredom and was astonished to see a black shadow like a hand where he expected it to be. He whipped around, looking for the light source – had the thieves come back? – but there was nothing. He couldn't see the walls, or the floor, or his clothes. Just a black hand when he moved his hand in front of his face.
I need to get out of here, I'm going crazy, Michael thought, shivering as he stood and continued toward the entrance.
Sudden light made him wary. He didn't think he was close to the entrance, but he'd also lost track of distance, so who knew? All he knew was that he was going the right way.
He ever so cautiously advanced to the edge of the light, blinking. He could make out the edges of a hole leading to a wider space, which must have been the original chamber.
Were Miror B. and his goons still there?
Michael edged forward on his hands and knees cautiously, sticking close to the wall. Carefully, carefully, he inched forward, until he could see in the chamber.
There was no one there, just a lantern on the floor that had miraculously survived the battle. Much of the summoned water was gone, though there were a number of large puddles that remained.
Michael slumped, almost weeping in relief. He was never ever coming back to this cave. He stood, stretching, and hurried across the chamber towards the other side. He kicked something that skittered across the floor in a way that definitely did not sound like stone. It was the device that had buzzed to alert the goons to Miror B.'s presence. He wasn't sure how it worked, but he didn't want to leave it behind, so he scooped it up and put it in his bag.
Michael emerged from the cave with a stumble, his eyes watering at the sudden light he was bombarded with. He whimpered and rubbed his eyes.
This was ridiculous. It was sundown, not noon; the light was hardly at its brightest. He was surprised he'd been in the cave for so long.
There was no sign of Miror B. or his goons, and his scooter was untouched. He wasted no time revving the scooter and getting the hell out of there.
He and his Pokémon would rest and recuperate in Pyrite. There was no way Michael was spending another night outside.
He was getting a little old to be turning on the waterworks like this and expect it to work, but he was tired and hungry and he'd just spent the better part of seven hours getting back to Pyrite and it was too late to find a normal hotel. He was willing to pay, anyway, and was disturbingly grateful that they'd let him through the door again.
"Showers are this way, hun. We'll have some food ready for you and your Pokémon when you're out. Do we have anything in his size so we can wash his clothes?" one of the ladies of the Pyrite Super Grand Hotel called to another. Michael thought her name was Tiffany.
"Poor baby," another of them cooed. "Being cornered by a gang in the middle of nowhere and getting stuck in a cave for the whole day and getting your Pokémon all beat up…"
"Does anyone have anything he could wear to sleep?" Tiffany huffed.
Michael didn't care, so long as he could get that shower and food and a bed in a safe place. He was tired.
So I definitely want to know what happened after I got my butt kicked, but first… Nice pajamas, Apollo greeted the next morning.
"Shut up," Michael grumbled, blinking blearily in the sunlight coming in through the window. The slip was obviously tailored for a female body and sported bright pink polka dots, but it was clean and comfortable enough to sleep in and that was all he cared about.
…Really, though, what happened? I was not expecting to come here again, especially so soon, and you seem a little… unnerved, Apollo observed.
Michael put his pillow over his head. "Stop talking. My head hurts. I want to go back to sleep," he complained.
Apollo was still for a moment before curling up at Michael's side.
They would talk later. Whatever had happened that day after Apollo had been so effortlessly knocked out, Michael was very obviously not okay about it. But Apollo still couldn't talk to Michael without causing at least a little pain, and it could be tiring for both of them.
Maybe Silica could provide some insight. She was the only one who hadn't been incapacitated in the party. But she was also very young, and her grasp of communication was shaky. She and Michael's other Pokémon were still asleep anyway.
Right now, though, all Apollo could do was keep his best friend and trainer comforted as he rested.
Apollo stayed as underfoot as he dared, darting between Michael's legs as he listlessly wandered through Pyrite. His hypersensitive fur let him do so without tripping Michael up or getting himself accidentally trampled on, for which he was grateful. He wanted to make it as explicitly clear as possible that he was there for Michael. Sitting on Michael's shoulders just didn't seem attention-grabbing enough.
Something vibrated in Michael's bag, and he halfheartedly dug around for whatever was making the racket. When Michael laid eyes on the small boxy device, however, he froze, and all the blood drained from his face. Apollo was alarmed by the reaction. With a shaky hand, Michael clicked one of the buttons to stop the vibrating, then turned towards Pyrite Colosseum at the end of the town. He was stock-still for long enough that Apollo wondered if he was ever going to move, but finally he started walking towards the Colosseum.
Apollo nudged Michael gently. What's up? he sent.
Michael grimaced. "Just something I need to check on," he mumbled.
What's eating at you? Apollo dared. Silica had been no help; she hadn't yet figured out how to pay attention to the goings-on outside of her ball.
Michael's frown deepened. "I'd rather not talk about it right now," he replied.
Apollo mentally sighed. He knew, from watching human interactions, that forcing the issue was far more likely to backfire than to help, but he didn't like seeing his trainer in this unsettling mood, and he didn't want to wait for Michael to open up on his own.
He wished he knew how to help.
The Colosseum turned out to be split from the rest of the city by a ravine so deep that its depths were completely obscured. The only access to and from the Colosseum was a suspension bridge. Michael stopped at the beginning of the bridge, and Apollo could tell that he couldn't bring himself to take another step, with the way he was staring into the ravine and trembling ever so slightly.
How strange. Michael had never been afraid of heights before.
An old man, who had been peering over flimsy railing into the depths of the ravine, noticed Michael frozen and approached. Michael jumped as the man got his attention; he'd been paying less attention to his surroundings than Apollo had. The man looked sickly, with pale skin, sunken eyes, and a bowed back.
"Say, lad, you wouldn't happen to be from the Under too, would you?" he asked.
"Th-the Under?" Michael repeated, off-guard.
The man sighed. "I saw you looking into the ravine, and thought… never mind. Forgive an old man his nostalgia. So few people nowadays look upon my hometown with kindness."
"Your hometown?" Michael parroted.
"There once was a town ruled by Cipher beneath the cliff here, an offshoot of the Pyrite mining operations, for people to live closer to where they worked," the man explained, gesturing to the ravine. "'Course, since the town was ruled by Cipher, all mining operations were highly illegal, and it was a very unsafe place to live. Then, when Cipher's hold over the town was broken, the Under citizens moved out into the sunlight. I'm one of them. ONBS's Nett is another former resident of the Under. They went and buried the Under to prevent people from getting to the abandoned town site. It's sad to see my hometown go like that. It was a shithole, but it was our shithole, you know?"
From the look on his face, Michael didn't know. Apollo had been gifted to Michael when he was ten, not long before his father disappeared. Apollo knew Michael had lived in Gateon before moving to the HQ Lab and commuting for school, then switched to living at the Lab full-time and being homeschooled.
The old man caught the look too. "That's a shame. There's nothing quite like caring for a place, and having that place care for you in turn."
Confusion flashed across Michael's face. "Er, right." He stepped backwards onto the bridge, a shaky smile on his face. "This was interesting, but I do have to go." On any other day, Apollo knew, Michael would be bombarding the man with questions about Cipher and this buried town, but whatever had happened, it had unnerved him so badly that his normal curiosity was completely absent.
Michael hurried across the bridge and entered the Colosseum. There was a small reception area with a couple of attendants, but no spectators. From the muted roaring Apollo could hear through the walls, it seemed like the current Colosseum tournament had already started.
"Welcome to Pyrite Colosseum! Unfortunately, slots for the current tournament are already filled, but you can still sign up for the next tournament," one of the attendants greeted with a nod.
"Oh, I'm not interested in participating," Michael replied, which was very unusual. Apollo flicked his tail; he would have expected his trainer to jump at the chance to compete in a bona fide Colosseum. "I would just like to spectate."
A ticket was paid for in short order – Pokémon under a certain size could get in free – and Michael and Apollo were seated in the stands in short order, surrounded by miners and other Pyrite natives. Apollo resolved to ask Michael again what was bothering him so badly after the tournament had concluded. His patience had worn thin with Michael's skittish behavior. Hopefully, watching the battles would cheer his trainer up some.
The battles did lift his spirits some, Michael had to admit. It was a challenge to follow the action sometimes, what with the Colosseum's sound system being broken and much of the battlers' words being lost in the cheers of the crowd. Most of the participants only had two Pokémon and were amateurs, battling with little technique or finesse. But they were obviously having fun. It would be fun to join himself, Michael thought, and compete in these low-stakes battles.
His meter for high-stakes and low-stakes was broken. Battling in front of all of these people would have been stressful just a few short months ago, but now, after battling for his life so many times…
Then Miror B. showed up on the Colosseum. He was met with boos and jeers, obviously familiar to the people of Pyrite.
Michael gripped his pants tightly. The radar hadn't been wrong. Apollo, noticing his distress, pressed close. Michael turned to his neighbor, an obvious native, and asked, "Why is he here? Doesn't he have a bad history with his town?"
The man snorted. "Can't keep 'im out. Bastard's a right eel. But he usually just comes to let off steam at the Colosseum. Can't blame a man for that."
Michael couldn't take his eyes off the flamboyant man, who was so far creaming the competition. No doubt Miror B. would easily make it to the semi-finals of the bracket at this rate, and likely the finals too.
As predicted, Miror B. made it to the final round and faced off against an old man who had obviously fought against Miror B. before. The old man's Pokémon were weaker, but he anticipated all of Miror B.'s strategies and was a canny battler to boot. Michael watched with rapt attention, committing each battler's strategies to memory.
Miror B. and the old man were about neck and neck when Miror B. brought out the Shadow Voltorb Michael had failed to snag in the cave. He was not expecting, once the Voltorb started using Shadow moves, for all hell to break loose.
A wave of discontent and booing rippled through the stands, followed by people shouting furiously and hurling blistering insults at Miror B. Michael tensed, gripping his seat, as a handful of people decided to climb over the rusty, crumbling barriers separating the stands from the arena and bull-rush Miror B.
Michael flinched and clapped his hands over his ears as Miror B. ordered some kind of sound-based Shadow attack that grated against his eardrums and made him feel slightly dizzy. He could only imagine that the effect was much worse for those who were in the arena, closer to the Voltorb.
With his pursuers now tripping over their own limbs and each other, Miror B. withdrew his Voltorb and sprinted towards the challengers' rooms to escape. The old man's Pokémon fared a little better, with one helping steady its trainer and the other pursuing Miror B. until it tripped over its own hooves and fell flat on its face. Michael started climbing down to the arena himself, less to try to pursue Miror B. – who was too far away to catch up to, and whom Michael couldn't beat, anyway – and more to help the victims of the Shadow attack, who were all flailing on the floor.
Michael made it to the victim closest to him, a woman who was clutching her ears and shaking, just as Miror B. reached the door to the challengers' rooms. But the door burst open from the other side and Cail from the city gates launched out, socking Miror B. in the gut with enough force to nearly bend the man in half. Three other men ran out behind Cail – bracket participants who had already been beaten – and all four pounced on Miror B. with various expressions of savage glee and fury. But it didn't take long for Miror B. to slither away from the group and into the challengers' rooms, where Michael could no longer see him. The three participants rushed after Miror B., but Cail remained in the arena, his fists clenched.
Michael turned away and focused on the woman, who Apollo had been comforting more than Michael had in his distraction. Miror B. wasn't his business right now. It looked like other Good Samaritans had climbed down from the stands to help the victims; two of them joined Michael. Michael was grateful for Apollo's unwavering presence by his side, keeping him grounded.
Michael just about jumped out of his skin some time later when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around to see Cail beckoning him with a crooked finger.
"Come with me, kid. Got some business to talk to ya about in private," he said.
Michael followed apprehensively as Cail led him to a door in the arena wall, which led to a maintenance closet for the arena floor. After Cail closed the door, he shoved his fist in Michael's face awkwardly. Michael took a step back as Cail turned his hand over and opened his fist to display a shrunken Pokéball sitting in his palm.
"Nabbed this from Miror B. before he could slip away. Figured you'd know better what to do with this than any of us."
Michael swallowed with apprehension as he took the Pokéball, enlarged it to full size, and released the Pokémon inside. Michael couldn't truly be surprised at the Voltorb that emerged. Before the Voltorb could decide to attack them or wreck something, Michael hastily returned it to its ball.
"How'd you get this?" Michael asked shakily.
"There're more ways to steal a Pokémon than just a fancy-schmancy Snag Machine, you know!" the man grinned, proudly displaying his missing teeth. "I ain't used these skills in a while, but they can still come in handy sometimes, you know?"
Michael didn't know. He had enough trouble shutting up his conscience using the HQ Lab-made Snag Machine; he couldn't understand how someone could stand to steal Pokémon using less "authorized" methods.
But he had to hand it to Cail. He wasn't sure if he could have wrested the Voltorb from Miror B. himself, not anytime soon, at least. But Michael was going to stick to his Snag Machine, thanks.
"Thank you," Michael finally said.
Cail snorted and ruffled Michael's hair; Michael scrunched his nose and batted Cail's grease-covered hands away – and now that grease was also in his hair. Great.
"Better work on that poker face of yours, brat. Anyone could figure out your next move in a battle. Or get insulted by your reaction to something." Cail lowered his voice. "Comin' from the Lab, you're probably used to nicer people than what's around here. Not everyone has the luxury to do cushy legal work to get by, you know? Thought just about anyone from Orre would understand that."
Michael flushed, ashamed by the rebuke. He did know better, he just… didn't have a lot of opportunity to apply that knowledge to a real person, having lived in the safety of the better districts of Gateon Port and then the Lab.
Cail snorted. "Poker face, kid. But don't feel bad, it's not such a bad mistake, 'specially at your age. You're still learning. Just remember that people are more than what they've done and what they look like on the outside. And that people can grow and change."
"Like you," Michael said.
"Like me! I used to be a right asshole," Cail replied cheerfully. "Of course, don't forget that this is Orre, and you want to keep one hand on a knife and the other on a Pokéball when you meet someone new. Just don't be so quick to judge someone, yeah?"
"Yeah," Michael nodded, chewing on the words. He had a small, handy utility knife, but getting something bigger for self-defense wouldn't be a bad idea if something got past his Pokémon, like Miror B. did.
"You're a good kid," Cail grinned, ruffling Michael's hair again. Michael squawked indignantly.
"Oh, yeah," Cail said as he and Michael headed to the entrance of the Colosseum. "You were looking for info on the first incident, right? I think I covered most of what happened here in Pyrite, except – that bastard, Miror B.? He was the admin in charge of Cipher's operations here. He's off doing his own thing now, though. He better not show his mug around town anytime soon after busting a Shadow Pokémon out in the Colosseum," Cail muttered under his breath angrily.
As they passed through the lobby, the ancient, staticky TV suspended from the ceiling flickered to one of the ONBS news anchors, interrupting the program that had been playing.
"We bring you a special news bulletin! Professor Krane, the abducted head of the Pokémon HQ Lab, has been safely rescued! Professor Krane had been held captive in by an unknown group in an old desert research facility, which was widely believed to have been abandoned. Reports say that Professor Krane was rescued by a lone teen. The authorities fear that there could be more serious incidents in the future. Citizens are urged to be vigilant and cautious."
Cail raised an eyebrow. "That your doing, kiddo?"
Michael nodded, scowling. "Cowards. It was Cipher. It was obviously Cipher. They should say it."
"Those poor kids from the Under ran a network spreading the uncensored truth during Cipher's reign, then come up here and run straight into official censorship. I have no doubt they're spreading the information less officially, though," Cail said affably as they left the Colosseum and reemerged into the harsh Pyrite sun. "And anyone who's got brains knows that that desert lab is bad news."
Michael said nothing, his thoughts on the matter written plainly in the scowl on his face. Cail chuckled and nudged him. "C'mon, no use getting all worked up about it. What do you say to getting some of the best grub this town has to offer?"
Michael almost preferred the Pyrite Super Grand Hotel to the place Cail had directed him to. The beds at the Super Grand Hotel were comfier and there were fewer bugs. But at least he didn't have to negotiate with the women of the night, as his mother called them, for the room, and he didn't have to shove his pillow over his head to block out unwanted noises.
Michael had to admit, Cail knew Pyrite like the back of his hand. The greasy diner they'd gone to served delicious food of a quality that Michael would never have guessed from the dingy building. Then Cail directed him to the best place to get knives and helped him pick out a beautiful, sturdy fixed-blade knife. Michael would have to be sure that his mom didn't know he had it, but having it did make him feel safer. Finally, Cail directed him to a real hotel when Michael asked, laughing uproariously when Michael admitted to where he'd stayed before.
Michael? Can we talk? I've been worried. You've been off all day today, Apollo said once they were finally alone.
Michael swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He knew what Apollo wanted to talk about, and he also knew it was way too soon for him to want to talk about what had happened in the cave.
"I… can't, not now," he admitted, shuddering with the thought of touching memories wrapped in darkness and humid heat and terror. "It's too fresh."
I want to know sometime, Apollo said. You're acting almost like you did after Cipher's Lab, so I know it had to have been bad. Whatever it was, don't let it eat you inside out. I'm here. I love you. I want to help.
"I know," Michael said, scooping up the Espeon and holding him close. "I know. Just give me some time, okay?"
Michael woke up from nightmares three times in the night, convinced he was trapped in a darkness so complete that he'd stopped existing. Each time, Apollo was there to calm him down and help him back to sleep. Really, Michael would be completely lost without his first partner.
The next morning, Michael was woken by buzzing from his P*DA, with a short message from Nett waiting for him in his inbox.
Michael! I haven't completed analysis on the flashdrive, but I did make a stunning discovery about Cipher's plan. Please come right away—we need to discuss this in person.
That woke up Michael in a hurry. "Finally," he breathed. He hurried through his morning routine and all but threw his clothes on, hoping for good news that would take his mind off of all the stress he had endured lately.
A/N:
Next time: ONBS.
I wasn't planning on traumatizing Michael here, but Miror B. and his goons had other plans. Also, fair warning, I've gone completely feral nerd in the notes about some of the science in the chapter. This one's also a bit shorter than the others thanks to all the content being from between plot points in the game… and I'm also posting in an airplane, because that's literally the only time I've had lately...
I had to work to purposefully lose to Miror B. in the game, he was nerfed so hard from Colosseum. I literally put all my Pokémon away except Trapinch and it still took forever to lose so I could get the dialogue. Ugh.
So the developers kinda messed up their cave geology and. The Cave Poké spot is on the flank of Mt. Battle. Which is a volcano. Which means that the Cave Poké Spot can only be an old lava tube, because igneous rock is the only thing that would be present there. But the design of the Cave Poké Spot is very heavily based on limestone and other sedimentary rock caves. You can get lava stalactites and stalagmites, but those terraces? Those are features that you cannot get from lava (afaik), you can only get them with water. And water that's been in the area for a long time, thousands of years at the very minimum. Now, normally, a stratovolcano of Mt. Battle's size would be tens or hundreds of thousands of years old, but. Because this is Pokémon, and because I have a very specific history of the Orre region in mind, I'm making Mt. Battle significantly younger. Honestly, it's pretty much a baby in terms of volcanoes, it's only a few hundred years old. But! Even if Mt. Battle was the age of a normal stratovolcano, it's,,, still not working right because stratovolcanoes do not have the runny well-behaved (comparatively) lava that you see in the higher levels of the 100-battle challenge. This is basaltic lava. Stratovolcanoes have lava that's much higher in silica content, therefore it's much less runny and much more explosive. Think of the difference between the lava that you'd see on Mt. Kilauea vs. the lava from Mt. St. Helens. You can't even really see the lava from Mt. St. Helens because it explodes into the air and cools into ash almost immediately on contact (and again, the cooling is relative… cool enough to make molten rock a solid, which could still be hundreds of degrees hot…). Anyway. Because of how sticky the lava is when it comes out, stratovolcano lava tubes are all way underground because the lava can't flow, it's differentiated too much from the basaltic lava that it started as (shield volcanoes spit out their lava like immediately, relatively speaking, which is why it's still runny, while stratovolcano lava just. sits. for a while. getting enriched in silica and other explosive materials like water). The only way you get stratovolcano lava tubes on the surface where they can be accessed is millions of years after the volcano has gone extinct and has undergone all that time being eroded down enough to maybe reveal some of the higher tubes. Or, if the lava has just solidified in place, you get formations like buttes. But the origin I'm giving to Mt. Battle does allow for a lava tube to form, empty, and fill with water in the space of a geological heartbeat, so we can put aside some of this volcano's less natural features for now.
So my inner geologist just went wild. Uh. Tldr, the Cave Poké Spot has no terraces, does have stalactites and stalagmites (they're just formed from dripping lava solidifying instead of dripping water depositing minerals), and that water that you see in the background is groundwater that heated geothermally and is therefore hot. Hence the steamy cavern. The cave Pokémon get their hydration from water that condenses from the steam onto rock and cools when hot steamy air meets cool outside air. Incidentally, this is why the Wooper are really rare in the game: they normally live in cold water. The springs themselves are way too hot for them (or most anything that's not a fire type), but the puddles that have formed from condensation are cool enough for a handful of them to survive in. (And it hasn't been long enough for them to evolve into a new Orrean regional form. Not that regional forms were a thing when the game first came out.)
If you wanna know why Michael went downhill so fast in the steam cave, look up Naica Crystal Cave. It's super cool, scientists love going in there, but it is absolutely pushing the bounds of human tolerance for heat. People are only allowed to be in there for a max of 10 minutes because you risk heat exhaustion and heat stroke if you're in there any longer. Even with a specialized refrigerated suit, packed with ice that keeps you cool by melting, you can only safely push that limit to half an hour. Absolutely brutal. Michael barely manages it between already being slightly hypothermic from water from Ludicolo, then water from Wooper, and being a twig (smaller than adult = higher body surface to weight ratio = lose heat more easily).
The black hand that Michael sees in front of his face? Actually not his hand; it's a phenomenon called the spelunker's illusion. When you're in pitch blackness like in a cave – not a hint of light – your brain freaks out when you wave a hand in front of your face, because it knows it's supposed to see something there, but because there's absolutely zero visual input, the brain kind of conjures a blacker than black shadow for the visual cortex to "see". This only works with your hands (and maybe other body parts like feet if you wave them close enough to the face, but I can't confirm); even if you know someone else is waving their hand in front of your face in these conditions, the illusion doesn't appear. It seems very likely that the illusion occurs thanks to some interplay between the cerebellum (which is responsible for proprioception, aka knowing where your limbs are in space) and the visual cortex, but I couldn't say for sure. Research indicates that the spelunker's illusion – not everyone sees – may be some form of synesthesia (a blending of senses, like associating colors with letters, or sounds with colors), likely between proprioception (which is technically a sense) and vision.