Chapter 63 – Separation Anxiety
Before we left Bill's house, he'd given us a little gift – two tickets for a cruise aboard the S.S. Anne in Vermillion City, with no expiration date. He got a couple extras by mistake a while back, and he told me that after all that May and I had been through, we could probably use a vacation more than him! We thanked him for the tickets, but neither of us was ready for a vacation just yet, so we decided instead to proceed through Cerulean City and then head east, to the Rock Tunnel, as planned. We both decided to hold off taking any major vacation until after I'd won my 8th Kanto badge. Anyway, the Rock Tunnel was supposedly a shortcut that would lead us directly to Lavender Town, and from there, we could go to Saffron City. We decided to stop at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center first, to have all of our Pokemon given a thorough checkup before proceeding down the route that would lead us to the Rock Tunnel. I also decided that my Zubat might come in handy to guide us through the tunnel, since Zubats are used to living in dark caverns, so I talked May into including him in her party so that I could keep my entire current party. Having a non-training trainer travelling with me was proving to be very handy, since she wasn't limited to 6 Pokemon – and, I really appreciated her company. We also stocked up on supplies at the local Pokemart. Once we were ready, we mounted onto our riding Pokemon, May with Amber in her lap, and me with Flamefox in mine, and Firestorm, Redfur, and Inferno alongside us. Tauros and Fierymane then galloped us out of the city, and into the wilderness.
As we traveled along, I asked May, "You've been through the Rock Tunnel before, right?" She answered, "Actually, no. In case you forgot, I didn't go to Saffron City to battle Sabrina." I said, "Oh, yeah. I guess I did forget." She laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be fine." I said, "Well this should be interesting, since neither one of us knows our way through it." She said, "I'm sure Zubat will guide us just fine. Besides, other trainers have used the Rock Tunnel without any problems. We just need to be careful of the rock types that live there. I'm sure there are lots of Zubats, as well, but I don't think they'll be much of a worry." I agreed, and we continued ahead through lots of fields, foliage and trees, the only sounds being the calls of wild Pokemon and of Tauros' and Fierymane's hooves hitting the ground beneath us. Soon we reached thicker forest, which led up to a large hill ahead. At the foot of the hill, there was a sign that read "Rock Tunnel ahead - shortcut to Lavender Town. Use at your own risk." I asked, "I wonder what that means?" May answered, "It means that we need to be careful, since tunnels like this can be dangerous." We dismounted from our Pokemon and entered the opening to the Rock Tunnel, accompanied by Flamefox, Amber, Firestorm, Inferno, Redfur, Fierymane, and Tauros. Near the entrance, it wasn't too dark, but as we continued ahead, it got much darker, and soon, we all appreciated the illumination from Fierymane's mane and tail, which brightly lit our way. I released Zubat from his Pokeball and said to him, "We're counting on you. Make sure you find a safe way to lead us through here!" He chirped, and flittered ahead, and we all followed him. As we walked, we entered a huge chasm, and could barely see all the Zubats hanging from the ceiling of the cave. "Wow, it sure is dark in here! Good thing we have you, Fierymane!" May exclaimed, and petted her large equine Pokemon. I said, "Good thing those wild Zubats are the only wild Pokemon we've seen so far." May replied, "Just be careful. I'm sure there are rock types in here somewhere!" With that, there was a slight rumble. "Did you feel that?" I nervously asked May. She answered, "Yes. I hope that was just some minor ground shifting." Our Pokemon all just kind of looked around, but we didn't hear it again. I got up onto Tauros again, with Flamefox in my lap. I felt a bit more secure being up on the back of my mighty buffalo. I think May felt exactly the same way about her Rapidash, because she and Amber quickly mounted onto Fierymane. Zubat continued to flitter ahead, and our large quadruped Pokemon slowly followed, their hooves slightly clomping on the rocky floor as they walked. We passed through another opening, and into another large chasm. May and Fierymane were leading the way, since Fierymane was our source of light. There was rumbling again, this time a bit louder, and our Pokemon stopped. "There it is again!" I exclaimed. May said, "I know. Oh man, I hope there isn't going to be an earthquake in here or something." Suddenly, some of the Zubats on the ceiling got active and began to flutter about, high above us. "Something's bothering them" I said. May said, "It's probably us. They're probably not accustomed to being disturbed by humans that much." Then we heard the rumbling once again, this time much louder! "Look!" I exclaimed. There was a Golem rolling straight towards us! I took out a pokeball and shouted, "Vaporeon, go!" My aqua colored water Eevee materialized from her pokeball, and stood in the path of the oncoming Golem. "Use your water gun, Vaporeon!" I ordered. She shot out a heavy stream of water from her mouth, which stopped the rolling Golem in its tracks! I said to May, "Head over to the opening on the other side. I'll meet you there as soon as I catch this Golem!" She asked me, "You're going to try catching it?" I said, "You bet!" So Fierymane walked her and Amber over to the opening, where she dismounted and stood with Fierymane, Amber, Inferno, and Redfur, to watch the battle. The Golem stood back up and tried using earthquake on Vaporeon, but she jumped out of the way as the floor opened up underneath her, and I shouted to her, "Use whirlpool!" She created a tornado of water, which wrapped around the wild Golem! "You got him now, Joe!" May exclaimed. I said, "Right!" Golem crashed to the ground when the typhoon dispersed, and I took out an empty pokeball, which I tossed at the downed Golem. However, it bounced back. "What the…?" I began to ask, when I saw the Golem was glowing. "Got down!" I shouted. The next thing I knew, it used self-destruct! The explosion hit Vaporeon, knocking her backwards to the floor, and I ran over to her, as did May, Flamefox, and Amber. "Vaporeon, are you okay?" I asked. Just then, some boulders came crashing from the ceiling! I grabbed Vaporeon, and jumped out of the way as they fell, and Amber jumped our way, as well. May jumped the other way, as did Flamefox. The ceiling caved in, creating a barricade between us! When it settled, everything was dark on my side, but I could see Fierymane's light coming through a small hole in the rock barricade. "Is everyone okay?" I asked. I heard a loud "Vulll!" as Amber did a flamethrower. I could see Vaporeon, Tauros, Firestorm, and Zubat, and they each let out a call. "Good!" I replied. I noticed that the way we'd come in was also caved in. Then, through the hole, I heard, "Joe! Are you guys okay?" I shouted, "We're fine, but we're trapped on this side. The entrance we came through is also blocked." May said, "We're all okay, too. I have Flamefox. The passage leading ahead is still open, so once you guys are on this side, we can still continue ahead." I heard Flamefox shout, "Vul!" I replied, "We're okay, Flamefox. Amber is just fine, too. We just have to get through this barricade." May said, "We'll start digging on this side." I replied, "And we'll work on our side." I tried to have Vaporeon use her water gun to bust through some rocks, but she was just too weakened from that self-destruct attack, so Tauros pushed boulders out of the way with his mighty strength. Meanwhile, Fierymane kicked at the barricade with her diamond hard hooves, gradually breaking up boulders. We were at it for hours, and the Pokemon were getting tired. Once we were pretty close, I said, "May, stand back!" Then Tauros charged at the barricade, and rammed it with his horns, crashing through! "All right!" I shouted. The opening was now big enough for us to get through! I said, "May, we're coming!" As we started to walk ahead, I heard rumbling again. "Now what?" I asked. May said, "Hurry up!" Just then, the floor gave way beneath us! "Joe!" I heard May shout. I could just see the opening getting further and further away as Tauros, Firestorm, Vaporeon, Amber, and I fell through the air. I clutched Amber tightly. Zubat fluttered down frantically, following us, but it got darker and soon, the opening was nothing more than a tiny hole in the far distance upward. After that, we must have hit the bottom, because I blacked out.
I woke up to the sensation of my face being licked by a very warm tongue. It was Amber! She stood on my chest as I lay on the hard rock floor, aching all over. Firestorm, Vaporeon, and Tauros all ran over to me, and Zubat fluttered above me. I only knew it was them from their calls – it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. I managed to sit up and got the flashlight from my backpack. I turned it on, and now I could see that we were in a cavern far below from where we'd entered. "Is everyone okay?" I asked my Pokemon. They all had minor abrasions and were dirty from the fall, but otherwise, okay. I, myself, had cuts and scrapes all over. I stood up and shouted, "May!" I shone the flashlight upwards, but there was no reply. Looking up seemed to go on into infinite darkness. I shone the flashlight around and looked for an opening in the wall. I found one, which Zubat fluttered to. At least I had Zubat, who could guide me through. Even though May had Fierymane, who was a much better source of illumination than my flashlight, I was worried for her, since she was on her own finding a way through the tunnel. My Pokemon and I achingly followed Zubat through the opening, which led to a large chasm that had a natural pool of water in the center. Stalactites hung from the high ceiling, as did more Zubats. My Pokemon were all in rough shape and needed rest, so I decided we would camp here for the night. Luckily, I still had lots of energy bars and Pokechow. We all had a little something to eat, and I treated my Pokemons' minor injuries as best as I could. Vaporeon swam around in the pool. I managed to get a small fire going, with help from Amber and Firestorm. I sat on the floor, and Amber sat in my lap and whimpered. I hugged her and said, "It's okay, Amber. I miss May and Flamefox, too, but we'll see them again. We just have to figure out a way to get back up a few levels. But right now, we all really need some rest." Tauros lay down behind me and Firestorm and Vaporeon to either side of me, while I held Amber in my lap. I lay my head back on Tauros' soft mane, and Firestorm curled up next to me. Huddled together like this, I kept very warm as I drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, several caverns above us, May, Fierymane, Flamefox, Redfur, and Inferno had found a similar cavern. Her Pokemon were all in fine shape, since they were out of the way of the cave-in, and after they ate, May lay her head on Fierymane to keep warm, with Redfur lying to one side of her, Inferno on her other side, and she held Flamefox in her lap. Flamefox also whimpered, missing Amber and I as much as we missed him and May. May hugged Flamefox and told him, "I miss them, too, Flamefox. But everything's going to be okay. We'll look for Joe, Amber, and the others first thing in the morning!" With that, she and her Pokemon drifted off to sleep, as well.
During the night, I had a dream. I saw May, but she was in danger! An Onix was attacking her and her Pokemon. Then Sage Li appeared to me and said, "Look for the light!" I gasped awake, and my Pokemon all raised their heads to look at me. I said, "I'm sorry, guys. It was just a bad dream." With that, we all fell back to sleep. The next morning, I awoke to see Amber asleep on my belly, her little pink bow perfectly in place, but her light tan fur was quite dirty. We all got up soon, and my Pokemon were feeling much better today. I turned on my flashlight and after we each ate something, I said, "Let's find the others!" Zubat led us through another opening in the wall and we followed him. We walked ahead through more caverns. I could only hope that Zubat knew where he was taking us. At the same time, May, Flamefox, and her Pokemon were also continuing ahead through caverns, which Fierymane illuminated well, but she wasn't at all sure where they were going. She told Flamefox, Redfur, and Inferno, "Keep your noses sniffing. Right now, your strong sense of smell is our best hope for finding Joe and the others."
Hours passed as we walked what seemed like eternity through caverns. I was still sore from the fall yesterday, and so now I rode on Tauros and held Amber in my lap. The next thing I knew, the flashlight batteries wore out. We were in the dark again. "Amber, I need you to light the way with your flamethrower. You, too, Firestorm." I realized that using them like this would soon wear down their firepower. I said, "You'll do it in turns. That way, you'll each have a chance to rest. And you'll use your lowest intensity to conserve energy." So Amber lit the way with her lowest intensity flamethrower for a while, and then I let her rest and Firestorm took over for a while. I kept giving each of them special treats that would help them keep up their flamethrower PP. Amber began her crying again, and I hugged her, saying, "It'll be okay, Amber. I promise." After a while, we heard rumbling coming from above us. "Now what?" I asked.
Up above, May continued to ride Fierymane, with Flamefox in her lap, and Redfur and Inferno to either side of her, through more caverns. Soon, she, too, heard rumbling! Just then, an Onix shot through the floor, scaring Fierymane, who reared up on her hind legs and knocked May and Flamefox off her back and onto the floor. "You okay, Flamefox?" May asked him. "Vulpix!" he replied. The Onix roared. May didn't have any water types on her, nor anything else that was particularly good against a rock type. Fierymane leapt at the Onix and kicked it in the head with her diamond hard hooves, knocking it back! The Onix retaliated by swinging it's large, rocky tail around and slamming it into Fierymane, which sent her crashing against the wall, where she fell. "Fierymane!" May shouted and she ran over to her fallen fire horse. Inferno, Flamefox, and Redfur stood in front of May and Fierymane, facing off the Onix. The Onix charged at them along the ground, and they all shot a simultaneous flamethrower at the Onix's face, which caused it to roar in pain, before it leapt up and dove through the ground.
Down below a few levels, still riding on Tauros' back with Amber, Tauros stopped in his tracks. "What is it, boy?" I asked him. He just mooed and grunted loudly, looking up. I heard loud rumbling getting closer, and closer, until right in front of us, an Onix crashed through the cave ceiling and through the floor in front of us! I said to Tauros, "Thanks for stopping! I owe you one there!" Zubat began to fly upwards, and I could see a bit of light. I shouted, "Zubat, wait!" Then I heard a voice, far above, shout, "Joe? Is that you?" I shouted back, "May! Yeah, it's us! Are all of you okay?" She answered, "Yeah! But Fierymane has been badly hurt!" I said, "I need to figure out a way to get up…" Suddenly the rumbling started up again, and the Onix shot through the floor again, and up through the ceiling! "May, watch out! There's an Onix coming!" She shouted, "I don't have any Pokemon that can handle an Onix!" Just then, the Onix must have reached her level, and I heard her scream. I had to act fast! I shouted, "Go, Fearow!" and tossed his pokeball. I quickly recalled Tauros and Firestorm to their pokeballs and said, "Fearow, we need to get up there, stat!" He nodded, and grabbed me by the shoulders with his large talons, while Vaporeon hopped onto his back. I gripped Amber tightly in my arms as Fearow quickly flew us upwards. We got through to the level that May was at, via the hole that the wild Onix had made, and I could see that it had May, Flamefox, Inferno, Redfur, and Fierymane trapped in a corner! Fearow flew us right above the Onix and I shouted, "You know what to do, Vaporeon!" She leapt off of Fearow's back and onto the Onix's head, where she attacked it with whirlpool! It roared as it was wrapped up in water! Fearow landed Amber and I near May, and Amber ran over to the others. I released Jolteon, and shouted, "Use thunderbolt!" He did so, shocking the wet Onix severely. It finally collapsed to the ground! May and I ran to each other and met with a hug! "I was so worried about you!" we both said, simultaneously. Then she said, "Joe, this is the second time I thought I lost you in just days! Please don't do that to me again!" I replied, "I'm doing the best I can." With that, she gripped me again, in an even tighter hug. Flamefox and Amber, meanwhile, nuzzled and licked each other, as did Firestorm and Inferno. May released her grip on me and said, "Fierymane!" We both ran over to her. She had taken a hard hit and lay on the ground, unconscious, her flames getting significantly less intense. "Have you got any potions on you?" she asked me. I said, "Yes, but she's going to need more than that! She needs proper medical attention right away! If her flames go out completely, she's had it." We gave her a hyper potion, which helped a little, but she still remained unconscious. May recalled her. This added to our problems, since Fierymane was our primary source of illumination. Luckily, May's flashlight still worked! I said, "Come on. Let's get out of here!" I decided to collect the Onix in a pokeball, and then we followed Zubat, as he fluttered through more caverns.
A couple hours later, May said, "This tunnel goes on forever! We'll never find our way out! And Fierymane…" At that point, she started crying. "Fierymane was just trying to save me from that Onix." I said, "I'm sure she'll be fine, May. I know it! Tauros was in rough shape after he battled my Onix, but he recovered. And now, he and my Onix are really good friends." Flamefox and Amber soon exclaimed, "Vulpix!" I asked, "What is it?" They ran ahead. We all followed, and Zubat headed down a small opening that slid downwards. We all slid down the small opening, landing in another cavern. Flamefox and Amber stood by what looked like another caved-in opening. We looked around, and the rest of the cavern looked sealed off. "Great! A dead end!" I said, disappointingly. "Now what do we do?" May asked. I frustratingly said, "I don't know! I just don't know!" Then I remembered Sage Li's words, "Look for the light!" I turned off the flashlight and through the top of the wall where Flamefox and Amber stood, I could slightly see light coming through! "That's it!" I exclaimed! "That's the way out! It must have caved it!" Then I ordered, "Flamefox, Firestorm, Amber, Inferno, Redfur, Vaporeon, and Jolteon, line up here!" They all lined up in a row. "Use your most powerful attacks, and combine them, aimed at that wall!" They proceeded to combine flamethrowers with a thunderbolt and a water gun, aimed at the wall, and I said to May, "Get down!" We ducked as the wall exploded open! All we could see was dust in the air, and we had Fearow and Pidgeot use their gust to blow it away! "Thank goodness!" May said, as sunlight streamed into the entrance! We all exited the tunnel, into an open field! "I can see Lavender Town!" I exclaimed. It was just down the hill! We ran with our Pokemon, into town!
The waiting was difficult. May just sat in the waiting room, holding Amber in her lap, while Redfur licked May's face. I just paced back and forth. I remembered going through this with Tauros, right after the Union Cave. There's'nothing worse than the uncertainty. I kept reassuring May, "Fierymane will be fine. She's got a strong will!" Finally, Nurse Joy came out of the ER. "Good news! Fierymane is conscious again, and her flames are getting more intense!" she told us. "That's great!" I exclaimed. May asked, "Can I go see her?" Nurse Joy said, "Of course." We entered the room, and Fierymane was lying down, but conscious. She looked up at May, and May said, "I'm so glad you're alright, Fierymane. Thanks for trying to save me from that Onix." She then hugged her fire horse, and Fierymane licked May's face. Nurse Joy advised May to let Fierymane rest for about 2 weeks before we moved on. I told May, "We could use the rest, anyway."
So we stayed in Lavender Town for the duration. Fierymane got stronger every day, and May always spent a lot of time with her. While we were there, we met Mr. Fuji, who took in unwanted Pokemon, and he finally got to meet Vaporeon – he was going to take her in when she was an Eevee, if I hadn't come along. We also learned about the Pokemon Tower, which was rumored to be haunted by Gastlys, Haunters, and Gengars. Once Fierymane was fully recovered, we headed out to route 8, which would take us to Saffron City. Fierymane looked stronger than ever, and she was more than anxious to get going, with May and Amber on her back. We headed out into the wilderness again. This time, I had the oddest feeling, like we were being watched. I dismissed this for the time being, and was happy to be under way once again.